{"head":{"counts":{"debateCount":158,"resultCount":158}},"results":[{"contextDate":"2026-02-04","debateRecord":{"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-11T03:08:27+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":57,"speakerCount":11},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_3","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":8},"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_4","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":14,"speakerCount":8},"showAs":"Tributes to Deputy Head Usher of the Houses of the Oireachtas","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_9","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":61,"speakerCount":17},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Work Life Balance (Right to Remote Work) Bill 2026: First Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_11","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/12","event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/12\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Work Life Balance (Right to Remote Work) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2026: First Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_12","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/13","event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/13\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences (Amendment) (No. 2) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_13","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Ninth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection: Motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_14","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2021: Referral to Select Committee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_15","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/51","event":{"stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/51\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Judicial Council (Amendment) Bill 2021: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_16","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":37,"speakerCount":20},"showAs":"Programme for Government","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":45,"speakerCount":34},"showAs":"Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/11","event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/11\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Residential Tenancies (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":275,"speakerCount":31},"showAs":"Bord Bia: Motion [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_19","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_20","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Public Transport","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_22","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Public Transport","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_23","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Cancer Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Urban Development","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_25","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_26","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26"}}],"counts":{"divisionCount":1,"billCount":4,"debateSectionCount":21,"questionCount":22,"contributorCount":165},"house":{"chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34"},"date":"2026-02-04","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/main","debateType":"debate","formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-02-04\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}}}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-05-12T02:08:41+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"date":"2026-01-29","counts":{"contributorCount":127,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":47,"questionCount":26,"billCount":5},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Inshore Fisheries","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  The Minister will know that the National Inshore Fishermen's Association has made a submission to all of us on an inshore fisheries income stabilisation and climate compensation scheme. Essentially, this would be a basic income scheme similar to that which was provided to artists in recent times. This is critical. As the Minister knows, in the past fishermen would have said, \"We just want the fish; we do not want financial assistance.\" They need the latter now, and they will need it moving forward. I wish to engage with the Minister on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I thank the Deputy for the question. I know that, like others, he has had a considerable ongoing engagement with all aspects of fisheries, and his input is welcome and being considered.  I am very aware of the challenges facing inshore fishermen and fisherwomen and have met with representatives of the sector, including the National Inshore Fishermen's Association, NIFA, on a number of occasions in recent months and have received a copy of the submission to which the Deputy refers. Our Department also engages regularly with representatives of the inshore sector, including NIFA, the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, and the National Inshore Fisheries Forum, NIFF, on developments affecting the sector.  There are many common challenges facing Ireland's seafood producers and many interdependencies across the fisheries, aquaculture and seafood processing sectors. The reductions in quotas for 2026 present a significant and particular challenge to the affected fleet segments, with the potential for downstream impacts on inshore fishermen and fisherwomen and seafood processors.  When considering and developing the measures we can put in place to respond to these challenges, it is important we consider all impacts, and all opportunities, across the sector as a whole. That is why I have announced the establishment, with the support of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, of a group under the framework of our food vision strategy to consider and respond to the challenges facing the seafood sector. Preparatory work is under way to establish this group. I expect that it will be in place in the coming weeks. As I have previously indicated, Mr. Michael Berkery, former general secretary of the Irish Farmers Association, has been invited to act as the independent chair of this group. All fishery producer organisations will be invited to participate in the group, and it will provide the appropriate forum and opportunity for NIFA to outline the challenges its members face and to put forward the proposals outlined in its submission. This will allow its proposals to be considered in the wider context of challenges across the sector as a whole.  I do not intend to comment on the substance of NIFA's submission at this stage because to do so would pre-empt the work of the group we are establishing and would not necessarily be appropriate at this time. However, there will be plenty of opportunity, and I know the Deputy is an active participant in the fisheries and marine committee. As we work through the framework of this, I think we will have the opportunity to discuss it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  As the Minister of State knows, the impact of Brexit hurt all fishermen, not just offshore fishermen. There was no tie-up scheme and no fuel subsidy for inshore fishermen. They have really struggled, and I have seen a big change. As I said at the outset, when I talked about a support scheme similar to what farmers have received for many years, the initial response from fishermen all around the coast was that they just wanted to fish. I absolutely respect that, but we have now got to the point where I think the likes of a basic income scheme would allow them to fish but also to have some type of financial support. This is crucial for coastal communities and fishing communities. This is about protecting this crucial heritage for our people, as we did with artists, and rightly so. This is a timely proposal. I accept that the task force needs to be established. I ask that this happens as a matter of urgency and that we engage on these matters, make quick decisions and get these financial supports to fishermen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I assure the Deputy that it will happen as quickly as possible. Later today I will be meeting with Michael Berkery, the independent chair, to continue the discussions we have had about establishing this as quickly as possible. There is concern among the representatives of inshore fishermen and fisherwomen that the task force is a response to the large quota cut for the pelagic sector. That is true, but because we are doing this under Food Vision 2030, it is my view that we need to take into account all those who are affected. The pelagic sector has experienced a dramatic impact in terms of the fishermen and fisherwomen and the processors involved in that regard, but there is a downstream impact regarding the cost of bait, etc., in addition to the difficulties the inshore sector has already encountered, as the Deputy said, as a result of Brexit and other losses of fish. I am very conscious that the response we are putting in place as a result of the quota cut is not just concentrated on the pelagic sector. There will be an interim report to address that aspect of it, but my desire would be to see a longer term and more strategic approach to see how we can sustain that fishing effort within the inshore sector. It will be broadly based and all-encompassing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  I welcome that. It is crucial that the likes of NIFA, NIFF, the regional inshore fisheries forums, RIFFs, and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation, IIMRO, are at the table too. There are about 900 inshore fishermen, according to NIFA. Imagine if we could protect their livelihoods with a basic income scheme, which would mean that they would not have to go on the dole. It is economically sensible to do this, as we did with artists, but such a scheme would acknowledge that it is just not sustainable any more for them to be on their own and try to earn a living due to conditions beyond their control, including climate, increased costs and so on.  This is a really positive contribution. It is real leadership from NIFA on this issue. My view is that it has been coming for a long time. There will be engagements in the Oireachtas fisheries committee on this soon. I imagine there will be strong cross-party support for this proposal. We need to deliver it in the short term as opposed to the medium or long term. I look forward to continued engagement with the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I am very conscious of the impact the small inshore fishermen and fisherwomen have on their communities. Sometimes it is just a living for their own families, but it is also part of the cultural life of some of these little villages and hamlets along our coast that many people take the opportunity to visit as part of their getaways from the larger cities, a tourism component. At the heart of it, however, are the people who are struggling to survive. As regards the loss involved, there are other opportunities. They could probably leave and get other jobs more easily, but that would be a huge drain and a loss to the communities involved in terms of the cultural and historical dimension, and it would suck the life out of those communities. We have a responsibility to address that. I heard some statistics on the news earlier about the population drain in certain rural areas, including a few in Donegal, where some schools are down to having maybe just two or three students now. We have to address that aspect of this as well insofar as we can. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Inshore Fisheries"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Farm Safety","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  The Minister and the Minister of State are aware of the recent fatal farm incidents involving Donal O'Connor, who was in his 90s, in County Limerick and T.J. Sweeney, who was in his 30s, in Clare, in light of the provisional Health and Safety Authority figures showing that 23 people died in the agriculture sector in 2025. That is 40% of all workplace fatalities, despite farmers being only 4% of the workforce. What actions is the Department taking to improve farm safety and prevent further loss of life? I take this opportunity to send condolences to Mr. O'Connor's and Mr. Sweeney's families and friends. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for raising what is a really important issue. I also offer my condolences and sympathies to those affected by recent bereavements, whether they finally get categorised as farm safety fatalities or otherwise.  The HSA, as a statutory body, has work to do. There are an unacceptably high level of fatalities on farms and, as the Deputy quite rightly outlined, ours is the most dangerous workplace in all of Ireland - disproportionately so when you consider the size of the workforce in comparison with those in other industries.  My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, has special responsibility for farm safety, who unfortunately cannot be here today, and I are very concerned by the sharp increase in the number of fatal incidents on farms in 2025, with older farmers proving particularly vulnerable. That was the tenet of the original point of Deputy O'Donoghue's question. As regards the nature of these things, circumstances have changed in the Limerick region since the Deputy submitted the question, as he has outlined.  The 24 confirmed farm fatalities in 2025 were double the number for 2024. The Health and Safety Authority, which has primary responsibility for health and safety on farms, is investigating the death of an elderly farmer in a farm incident earlier this month. I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of this elderly farmer and the many other families dealing with the loss of a loved one in a farming incident.  Farm safety, health and well-being are an absolute priority for the Government. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to continue to prioritise improvements in farm safety, health and well-being. My Department supports the efforts of the Health and Safety Authority and the Farm Safety Partnership to improve health and safety on Irish farms. Last year, I allocated \u20ac1.6 million in funding for 36 farm safety, health and well-being projects under an open call.  I secured dedicated funding of \u20ac3 million for farm safety, health, and well-being initiatives in budget 2026 to build on existing, and to support new, initiatives in this area, which the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, has responsibility for. I will go into more detail in my supplementary response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  I thank the Minister for putting that funding in. Given the many fatal incidents involving farmers attending livestock alone, can the Minister outline what targeted, practical measures are in place to support farm workers to work safely and whether he will consider enhanced supports and conditions through farm schemes or incentivised safer practices? We need measures as we have an ageing agricultural workforce and many farmers are isolated. We need better measures to protect them. Will the Minister consider introducing a targeted wage subsidy or financial support scheme to enable older, more isolated farmers to hire part-time assistants to reduce workplace risk? Has the Department already examined models that would allow lone farmers on farms to access safety-focused employment support. We will need to implement such schemes to protect farmers' health and safety and workers' rights. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Obviously, anything we say now is in general and not in relation to any specific case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  We talked about a range of issues. Generational renewal has a role to play here as well because, in general, the figures show a disproportionate number of old people are dying on our farms. When people asked me before why so many people in their 70s, and some in their 80s, are dying on our farms, it is because so many people are farming in their 70s and 80s. In any other profession, they would not still be working and in harm's way to that extent.  In terms of the practical measures in place, when I was a Minister of State, I secured a dedicated budget. I got a separate funding stream under TAMs for farm safety measures, and that has been hugely popular. As well as the farm safety budget, my Department provides 60% grant aid for a range of farm safety-related investments under the farm safety capital investment scheme in TAMs. Further health and safety guidelines are included in all building specifications and all TAMS applicants are required to complete a half-day of farm safety training. That training is included as part of ACRES, the knowledge transfer programme and the suckler carbon efficiency programme, SCEP, as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  We do know this is a problem. It is acknowledged. We have the statistics going back many years. As an aside, I wonder how much loneliness has to do with people still farming into their 70s, 80s and 90s, like Mr. O'Connor was? We know there are certain schemes out there but if a targeted wage subsidy could be considered as part of the Department's work, that would be fantastic. I welcome the funding, the \u20ac1.6 million and the \u20ac3 million, that is going in. We have acknowledged the problem and, hopefully, the measures the Minister is taking will bring us to a better place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy. I also want to mention the accelerated capital allowances scheme for farm safety equipment which was expanded to cover a broader range of farm safety investments in budget 2025. A suite of different financial supports are there.  In relation to older farmers, three quarters of farm fatalities last year involved farmers over 60 years of age. The HSA's farm safety partnership has designed a leaflet entitled, Farming in Older Age , and this will be distributed along with the 2026 BISS, basic income support for sustainability packs to over 125,000 farmers. It will be going out in the post to them. Additionally, my Department is providing funding for the delivery of farm safety awareness programmes for primary and secondary school students to instil the message of farm safety into children from a young age. It is not just to make children more aware. As a father of four young kids, I can tell you the pester power of kids to give out to the older farmers who are doing stuff that is dangerous. Ultimately, at the heart of all this, we have a poor attitude to risk on our farms. We take risks, we put ourselves in harm's way and we think near misses are a normal way of life. No other industry finds that acceptable, and until we change that attitude to risk, we are going to continue to have an unacceptably high level. There is no level that is acceptable because one death is one too many and where are now right now has to change. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Farm Safety"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Agriculture Industry","counts":{"speechCount":30,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The Agri-Food Regulator has an important role in Irish agriculture. We need to restore confidence in the system because it has broken down. We still do not know the names of the three companies that imported Brazilian beef earlier this year. Has the Agri-Food Regulator told the Minister the names of these three companies? When are we going to find out? Was Dawn Foods one of these three companies? I ask because we have a situation where the head of Bord Bia is also importing Brazilian beef. He simply has to go, yet the Minister seems to be absolutely determined to protect the well-connected rather to protect the sector. That needs to be called out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  That was quite a pivot, Deputy.  First, the recall and the food safety elements are a matter for the Food Safety Authority of Ireland, FSAI, which comes under the Department of Health. Any queries in that respect should be directed towards it.  The Deputy has touched on the Bord Bia issue here. There needs to be a proper debate and explanation. Obviously, Mr. Murrin will be in front of the joint committee, and happy to engage in that. There is a complete lack of perspective in this debate given the integrated nature of global trades and the fact that this specific trade deal covered over 42 countries. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  It is in reference to the sector in general. The farming community has lost confidence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  We have the IFA protesting, and the people who are protesting are being denied that detailed briefing by their leadership. Of all the things I am dealing with this week----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The confidence of the farming community has been lost. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  I am sorry, Deputy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I am dealing with a lot of things this week, including the outbreak of bluetongue, working on issues around the Agri-Food Regulator, making sure the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, does not have a bad impact on farmers and reform of the CAP. I was in Brussels on Monday doing that. I was in the Seanad yesterday on nitrates. This other issue is one being conflated and hyped up, and farmers are being done a disservice because there is not----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The writing is on the wall. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  ----practical and fair space for the discussion on this issue. The Deputy standing up here calling for a head and for a witch hunt against someone who has not broken rules, and not wanting any debate----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Have a debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  -----and like the IFA, not wanting clear information out there, is not doing farmers any service. It is not. I am going to leave it there.  In relation to the actual question the Deputy put down, I am satisfied that the Agri-Food Regulator is fulfilling its overall statutory role to the highest standards, in particular on the unfair trading practices, the UTP legislation, and continues to work on behalf of stakeholders along the agrifood supply chain. In relation to its price and market analysis role, the regulator reported that while the majority of operators had submitted all information requested, a number of operators failed to comply with its requests for information on a voluntary basis.  As a result, in December 2025, I signed new regulations to fulfil the programme for Government commitment to confer on the Agri-Food Regulator enhanced powers to compel price and market information from businesses to deliver additional transparency in the agrifood supply chain. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  On the agrifood sector, the regulator has stated it does not have enough powers and resources, and this needs to be brought up to speed. As I said, confidence has been lost in the system. The Minister may say this is a pivot but it is all part of the same issue. The farming community has lost confidence in the system because it is being forced to keep standards, and it is quite welcome that they keep to the standards Bord Bia sets and the standards Europe sets in terms of food safety and all those things. They are all in place. Yet they see the people at the top, who are in charge of marketing Irish beef, importing Brazilian beef at the same. It is just untenable that this man can stay in that position. The Minister knows this and the writing is on the wall. Everybody knows it. The farmers are not protesting because they want to. They should be at home. Their cows are calving at this time of the year and they do not want to be up here protesting. They want the Minister to do the right thing by the sector. That is the problem here. It is not a witch hunt against this person. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The price of beef----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  It is a witch hunt against the sector. The Minister is standing over something that is totally untenable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It is ironic that we are standing here dealing with a question about transparency, the Agri-Food Regulator and the importance for farmers of having transparency----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Absolutely. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  -----when the farm organisation that is currently protesting outside Bord Bia is denying----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The farming organisation did not import Brazilian beef. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Hold on now, the Deputy wants to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Deputy Kenny, allow the Minister to answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The heckling is a Sinn F\u00e9in trick. Let us park that one for a minute. The farm organisation currently protesting outside Bord Bia is refusing to allow its county executive chairs and the chairs of its commodities committees to receive the detailed briefing from that very chair about the nature of that deal that is being conflated and sold in a soundbite way to farmers. No wonder farmers are upset the way it is being sold to them, and the way the Deputy and others have sold this to them. There is a level of detail there. Once the board of Bord Bia received that briefing, 12 of its 14 members found it absolutely acceptable because----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Was Dawn Foods one of the companies? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Deputy Kenny, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  -----that specific trade deal is worth hundreds of millions of euro to Irish farmers and to our industry. The chairman of Bord Bia has overseen exponential growth in the value of Irish food exports year on year----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  All the more reason to restore confidence in the organisation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  When the CSO figures come out in the next couple of weeks, we will see more record growth. This is money going straight into farmers' pockets. They benefit from the integrated nature of global supply chains. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  This is all the more reason to ensure we have confidence in Bord Bia. It has done an excellent job in marketing Irish beef and Irish food around the world. We all know that and it is not in dispute. What is in dispute is that the chairperson of a board charged with marketing Irish food is importing Brazilian beef.  It is untenable for him to remain in his position. Everyone knows that. The Minister is trying to suggest the that IFA is to blame. Come on. With respect, the Minister has to recognise that there is a serious issue for the whole system. He is eroding the confidence of farmers and consumers in that system. That is what is happening. The Minister is trying to suggest that this is a witch hunt. If that is the case, then it is a witch hunt to ensure that proper standards are maintained and that people can have confidence in the systems that are in place, which they have to adhere to. If the Minister is going to erode that confidence by keeping this person in place and standing by him, he will have to look at this own position because it is simply untenable to allow these circumstances to continue while farmers are outside the gates of Bord Bia's headquarters protesting about this. They are not there because they want to be there. They are there because the Minister will not take appropriate action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  For once, I agree with the Deputy on something. Responsibility for confidence in Bord Bia is spread broadly. It is not on any one entity or farming organisation. Deputy Kenny also has responsibility. The soundbites he is coming out with here, which lack information and are designed to whip farmers up, are also undermining Bord Bia. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The Minister has known me long enough to know that is not the way I do business. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The IFA's rash decision not to listen to the explanation and to rush straight out to protest - it had its mind made up before the meeting that it was going to do that - has also played a considerable part in damaging Bord Bia's reputation. We all have to work to rebuild that reputation. That does not mean getting a head on a plate. Government does not operate by mob rule in such scenarios. I will leave it at that, because this question was supposed to be about the agrifood regulator, which is a very important issue. That will take time. This is novel legislation. We are going further than the rest of Europe. This is about providing the transparency that some others are denying to farmers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 4 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Agriculture Industry"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Common Agricultural Policy","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The Minister has known me long enough to know that I do not engage in soundbites. I engage in genuine debate. I hope we have respect for each other in that context.  The Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, is the most key element in farmers' income because it is sustainable and long-term and they know it is there. However, there is talk of cutting it by 20% to 22%. That equates to a shortfall of about \u20ac2.4 billion. What measures will be taken to restore that level of funding for farmers in the forthcoming CAP? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I am delighted to have the opportunity to discuss a matter of real substance and of real consequence for farmers for this year and from 2028 to 2034. The decisions we make this year and going into next year will be absolutely critical. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy and colleagues on the Oireachtas joint committee and to working in the very collaborative way we have done for the past year. Members on all sides of this House have delivered. While not everyone is of the same perspective regarding the approach I have taken, we have largely delivered for our agriculture sector on major matters like TB reforms and fixing issues with ACRES. I have had support from around the House in doing those things. I have also been held to account, which is only right. I have also had support on the nitrates derogation and the steps I took to defend farmers' interests by opposing the Mercosur deal. Farming is in a better place because of the work we have done together over the last year.  Nowhere will that be more important than in the context of the CAP. We will have to make loads of small decisions. Last week, we spent three and half hours in a committee meeting discussing a range of different measures and how this will turn out. At the heart of the question are the decisions that are to be made on the multi-annual financial framework, MFF, which is the overall budget for Europe. As the Deputy outlined, we do not have a sufficient amount of money ring-fenced for the CAP. It is not that the decisions we make will be academic, but they will absolutely be impacted by how big a slice of the cake the agriculture sector gets. If the CAP gets less, that will be a major issue.  I have raised this consistently at every meeting of the AGRIFISH Council. Commissioner Hansen wants the same thing as us. He wants more funding in that area. I said last summer that the 80% that has been ring-fenced is a starting point we can build on. There is also a proposal regarding a national regional partnership plans structure. As I again raised in Brussels last Monday, some of the constraints within that structure are concerning. The percentage for social cohesion could impact our ability to use that mechanism with absolute flexibility. There is also the question of how the rural clause 10% will be used in the end. These are key decisions that have not yet been made. With regard to the overall amount of money, we need a CAP that is sufficiently funded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  There was a meeting of the EU's AGRIFISH Council this week. Was progress made on additional funding at that meeting? What is happening? Farmers and people in the sector want to know where matters stand and what progress has been made. I appreciate that the Minister is saying that everything possible is being done and that he is trying to talk to people and so on but we need information and communication around this issue. Without that, farmers will naturally feel they are not being sufficiently looked after.  There is also talk of scrapping entitlements. Many farmers, particularly young farmers, had to spend a lot of money to buy entitlements. How is that going to work out? That is key for farmers, particularly young farmers who are not seeing a return on big investments they have put in. Is the Minister in favour of scrapping entitlements? Does he want to see a one-size-fits-all payment across all hectares? What are we looking at in the future? We need information in respect of all of this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The overall level of funding will obviously be dictated by the negotiations on the MFF by the Heads of State and Government. The Departments of Finance and foreign affairs are the lead Departments in these negotiations, in consultation with the Department of the Taoiseach. Ireland's position is very clear. We cannot support a weakening of the CAP budget. Our priority in the negotiations is to secure an adequate overall budget and a CAP that is simpler, fairer and sufficiently flexible to respond to economic, social and environmental needs. I will continue to engage actively with the Commission, the European Parliament and other member states to ensure Ireland's interests are fully reflected as discussions progress.  On the Deputy's specific point about entitlements, these are key decisions that we will have to make but, right now, there is no provision for entitlements. This is not a major issue for most member states because most of them have fully flattened and converged payments, as discussed at Cabinet last week. We have to make decisions on what to fight for. If we did get entitlements back as part of our element of flexibility, it would probably be conditional on further movement on convergence. These are the types of negotiations and discussions we need to continue to have. We will be able to make decisions in some areas earlier but others will take a bit more time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I appreciate that. The Minister also mentioned simplification. Most farmers who have been hearing about simplification for the past 40 years would almost wish that somebody would talk about complication, because it seems to be the opposite that always happens. Every time schemes are brought out, we are told there will be simplification but, in actual fact, it means more paperwork, more red tape and more measures to comply with. We need to start doing what we say. If things are to be simpler and easier for farmers to comply with, it needs to be like that. ACRES is an example. The Minister might say that has been ironed out. I accept that there has certainly been progress in his term as Minister. However, when that scheme was brought out, it was such a mess that the Department did not know how to administer it at first. That again erodes farmers' confidence in the whole system. That is what I am getting at here. All of this is about farmers' confidence in the system. They need to know that, when they are set a particular objective, they will be rewarded when they attain it. That is not how they feel. They are afraid the next CAP will be very much the same. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I share the Deputy's concerns about simplification. Historically, we have seen complication. You see this with measures coming forward from Brussels, particularly from directorates general other than DG AGRI. We have the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, and we had the EU deforestation regulation. Those proposals came from a good place but their practical impact on farming and so on had not been fully considered. We then had to unpick some of those measures. We discussed CBAM for a considerable length of time on Monday.  The Presidency of the EU in the second half of his year, when I will chair the AGRIFISH Council, which comprises me and the 26 other ministers for agriculture, gives us a huge opportunity to shape discussions. I am on record as having stated clearly before that I really do want to deliver simplification. If our budget is going to be constrained, or even if we get it up to 100%, the purchasing power of those funds in 2028 and 2029 will be very different from what it was in 2021. That is a challenge for us. Ultimately, simplification means fewer schemes. It means the greatest amount of money possible is directed at farmers and that it is not tied up in bureaucratic schemes. The Deputy mentioned ACRES. I am very proud of the work my Department and I did to address those issues.  It is operating like a perfectly normal scheme now, with more than 96% of farmers paid. On the record of the House, just to clarify, almost \u20ac750 million has been paid to farmers since 2023 through this environmental scheme. This is a serious success in supporting our farmers in the work they do. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Common Agricultural Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 6 and 7 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Animal Diseases","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  This question is on the bluetongue outbreak. We saw yesterday that three more farms have been found to have animals with bluetongue. It is a very serious problem and a lot of farmers are very concerned. What is missing from all of this is that we do not know what the plan is. I appreciate we will have a meeting with members of the agriculture committee in respect of this after these questions. We do not know what the plan is. We know that vaccines have been approved. Are there stocks of them? What will happen as we move forward? Where did this come from? That is one of the big questions a lot of farmers have and it is their real concern. What do they need to watch for? How do animals get infected? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The positive case was found last week due to stringent routine investigations and testing of a culled cow that had been slaughtered. Antibodies were found, which showed the culled cow had been infected with bluetongue virus, BTV-3, last year on a farm in Wexford. We went in with our follow-up tracing and testing of all of the animals on that farm and the contiguous farm surrounding it. As of yesterday, unfortunately, we are up to 11 positive cases across that farm and three neighbouring farms. There are 11 positive cases on four farms.  We were monitoring all last summer. I pay tribute to farmers for their surveillance and to our private veterinary practitioners for how they all work with our regional veterinary officer teams from the Department. We worked well to do our best on surveillance last year, when it was rampant across Europe and the UK, to keep this disease off the island until now. It is unwelcome but it is not hugely surprising. We were monitoring wind activity and the risk of this blowing over in warm weather. Midges are the vector for spreading this disease from animal to animal. They are likely to be blown over in the wind from Wales and France in the warm weather, and that is most likely where it came from.  We have responded in real time. Our approach was always to identify this early, lock it down and try to eradicate it. We have lost our disease-free status. It is important to reassure the public that there are no human health or food safety concerns with this disease. It is very much a production disease but it is a big cause of concern for farmers. Some of their animals will get sick from it and there are trade implications now that we have lost our disease-free status. We have lost our beef access to China, which I announced yesterday. We have been working with third countries over the past two years to reform our veterinary health certificates we will continue to do so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I thank the Minister and I appreciate all of the work that has been done. When I ask where it came from, there is the monitoring of the wind but we are in the winter and the weather is very cold. The likelihood of it coming from midges blown across the Irish Sea is probably minimal, I expect. How much investigation of this has been done? A lot of straw is being imported. Could the disease come with midges in the straw? These are the kinds of questions farmers ask me. People are perplexed that it is here at this time of the year. While I doubt it is the case, is there a connection with the outbreak in County Down before Christmas? That is very unlikely seeing as the cases were in two opposite ends of the country. People would like to get information in respect of this. We tell farmers to be vigilant but what do they need to be vigilant for? This is really what we need to focus on. The Minister did not get to speak about the vaccines and where that is at. Perhaps we will hear about it at the meeting later. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I focused on one part of the question. I will respond now on the vaccines. The first animal that tested positive did so for antibodies, which proved the culled cow had it last year. As we know, midge activity can only spread disease when the temperature is over a constant 12\u00b0C, so we are really in the high-risk period from April or May until October. This animal had it last year and did not present symptoms. The other ten animals that have tested positive since are not displaying symptoms. Many of them tested positive for the antibodies, which means they had it last year. An animal is only infectious for approximately 60 days but it retains the antibodies. When we test we can see they had it last year but they did not present symptoms. Most do present symptoms, and when we ask farmers to be vigilant what we are saying is that if an animal is sick or if farmers see unusual behaviour, they should contact their private vet. The private vets are completely plugged in with our regional veterinary officers and beyond. I am out of time again but I have a reply on the vaccines and I will provide it in the response to the next supplementary question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I thank the Minister. I want to follow up a little on this. Obviously, these are animals that probably got infected last summer. This will concern many in the agricultural community. Does this mean there are animals on a lot of farms around the country that contracted it last summer but it was not identified, they presented no symptoms and it will only be when they go to the factory and a test is done that it will be found? This is a big concern I have learned about this morning from the Minister. I was not aware of that before now, and I am sure a lot of people were not either.  With regard to the spreading of the disease, we are in cold weather now but climate change is probably at the root of a lot of this. With the weather getting warmer, we will see a lot more of these diseases, which have probably been confined to hotter climates, starting to move up. This will be an issue as we move forward. We could get a couple of weeks in March when temperatures are 15\u00b0C or 16\u00b0C. What will happen then? That is the issue we need to focus on and it is where the vaccine comes into play. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It is not as big a concern that an animal had it here last year. A number of animals displaying antibodies now, showing they had it last year, gives us the concern that midges in that area were infected with it last year. These midges are lying dormant at present. Will some of them still have the disease when the temperature goes back up to spread it? That is the real concern. This disease is not passed from animal to animal. It is passed through a midge landing and biting an infected animal and then biting another animal. That is how it is spreading across Europe and beyond.  It is fair to say that the response in January is very different from what our response would be if we were in July. The fact is that an animal is only infectious for 60 days, so an animal testing positive now will not cause the disease to spread through a midge landing on it because by the time the temperature gets warmer, the animal will no longer be infectious.  In terms of the vaccine, we changed our approach. Our approach was always to identify it and move in quickly. If we vaccinate, we mask the disease because we cannot tell the difference between a positive test result and a vaccinated animal. Late last year, when the disease appeared in Northern Ireland, I approved vaccines for this year. That was a commercial decision. I ask people to engage with their veterinary practitioners to see whether vaccines are suitable for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  With the permission of the House, I will go back to Question No. 8. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Animal Diseases"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Climate Action Plan","counts":{"speechCount":15,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Over the past few days, we have seen how unprepared the State is for even moderately extreme weather, with the likes of yellow weather warnings and Storm Chandra. My question is about something much more severe, which is what contingency planning the Minister has in place for Irish agriculture if the AMOC, which includes the Gulf Stream, collapses, as researchers now believe is likely to start happening between 2050 and 2063. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy Murphy. Is \"moderately extreme\" a thing or is it an oxymoron? When I was in Australia somebody pulled me up for saying something was \"terrible bad\". I was told something is either bad or terrible but that it cannot be both. Deputy Murphy caught me with \"moderately extreme\".  All joking aside, I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this important question concerning the resilience of Irish farming in the event of a significant disruption to the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation. AMOC is a massive system of ocean currents, often called a conveyor belt, that transports warm, salty surface water from the tropics north toward Europe and North America. The movement of this warm water plays a crucial role in regulating our climate and helping to keep Ireland and much of Europe warmer and milder than other regions at the same latitude. This circulation helps Ireland to maintain generally mild temperatures, reducing the severity of prolonged cold weather, and plays an important role in shaping rainfall patterns and the occurrence of extreme weather events across Ireland and Europe.  The Department played a key role in developing the climate risks identified in the national climate change risk assessment, working closely with the Environmental Protection Agency, Met \u00c9ireann and other Departments to ensure that risks to agriculture, forestry and seafood were fully reflected.  Climate adaptation and long-term resilience planning are core priorities for my Department under the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2021 and the updated national adaptation framework, NAF.  My Department does not treat the AMOC risk in isolation. Rather, we continuously review climate risks as part of our co-ordinated cross-government planning frameworks, including through the national climate change risk assessment, NCCRA, and subsequent adaptation planning processes, which provide evidence-based assessments of hazards that could impact the economy, environment and society. These things cannot be looked at on their own. We have just been discussing a virus, bluetongue, that is found across Europe and climate change is probably having that impact. These things are all interlinked. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  What is the contingency plan? The Minister says he does not treat AMOC in isolation. That is good, but does he treat it at all? The national climate change risk assessment explicitly states that events such as the collapse of the AMOC are not addressed in the scenarios used within the NCCRA. The assessment does not account for this type of scenario. What is the contingency planning? It will be utterly devastating. It is a sign of the severity of the climate catastrophe. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC, said it might happen by 2100 or later. Now, it could begin to happen from 2050. There was a report in June by Dutch scientists who said the collapse of AMOC could see Dublin experiencing temperatures of -22\u00b0C, with one day in three out of the entire year having sub-zero temperatures. Met \u00c9ireann said that an AMOC collapse would be a high-impact, transformative event with severe consequences. Obviously, the consequences for agriculture would be very severe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  When I first got this job a year ago I got many regular briefings on disease threats, risks, plant diseases, animal diseases, weather risks and everything else. It is a bit overwhelming and then after a while one realises we have our mitigation plans and our approach, which I will go into in a minute. However, it is important we do not catastrophise. The NCCRA, published in 2025, identifies over 100 climate risks and prioritises 43 significant risks across sectors. While AMOC is noted as a system concern, a full collapse is considered a low-likelihood, high-impact event. More immediate risks to agriculture include increased weather variability, storm impacts and shifts in rainfall and temperature patterns. My sectoral adaption plan for 2025 strengthens resilience in agriculture, forestry and seafood. The key objective is to embed adaptation, enhance resilience and integrate adaptation and mitigation measures. Priority actions cover a wide range of areas, to respond to the direct question, such as advisory and technical capacity, sustainable land and water management, which involves improving soil health, water retention, hedgerows, flood resilience and other measures, which I can address in my next supplementary contribution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I heard the Minister's answer and, unfortunately, he is saying we do not have any contingency plans for the collapse of AMOC. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I just listed actions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  No, those actions are all based on not addressing AMOC. The NCCRA explicitly states that its assessment is not based on the collapse of AMOC. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It says it is low likelihood. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I do not know if the Minister knows that climate scientists are now saying this is likely to begin in 2063. AMOC is already weakening. There is lots of evidence to indicate AMOC is already weakening. A high-risk event, even if there is a low likelihood of it happening in the next 20 or 30 years, is something we need to plan for. The year 2063 is not that far away. There are people who are taking up a farm now who could be affected by the collapse of AMOC. Are we looking at things like drought resistant crops, nature-based solutions, early warning systems and community resilience building? These are all measures recommended by Professor Peter Thorne, chair of the Climate Change Advisory Council's adaptation committee. What work is the Department doing on those? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  To finish the point I was making on the sectoral adaption plan, as well as priority actions in areas such as advisory and technical capacity, sustainable land and water management, we also have forestry resilience, species diversification, improved management and early warning for pests and fire. We are the fourth largest spending Department on research and much of that research is focused on the impact of our changing climate and building our resilience, whether it is in forestry sector, the crop sector or animal health and welfare; the marine and coastal adaptation; climate resilient aquaculture infrastructure and coastal protection; research, knowledge transfer and innovation; or sector-wide learning, innovation and local preparedness. These all feed into the broader approach. I know the Deputy's question is focused on AMOC but we have to have a hierarchy of risk. The plan is delivery focused and evidence based, with 102 actions designed to mainstream adaptation across policy, regulation, funding and advisory systems, to demonstrate measurable progress over time on all of these key areas. We cannot just focus on one specific area, as the Deputy's question does. It is the broad range of issues and changes that are coming in that space. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  We will move to Question No. 11 before returning to Question No. 9 to give Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa a chance to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I am ready. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  Can I be indulged as I am supposed to be chairing a committee? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  That is fine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I appreciate the collegiality from my constituency colleague, Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Climate Action Plan"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Artificial Intelligence","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It is great to see such collegiality among the Louth Deputies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  Louth and proud. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy McGreehan for raising an important point on the role carbon sequestration can play in agriculture and the opportunities there are in this space. I acknowledge the Deputy is wearing a St. Brigid's cross. Both Louth and Kildare are very proud of Brigid. We are looking forward to the public holiday this weekend in her honour.  Innovative technologies to improve our measurement of carbon sequestration on Irish farmland are important. My Department is committed to improving the measurement, monitoring and reporting of carbon sequestration, which is central to both climate adaptation and mitigation efforts. We are actively considering all innovative technologies to enhance the accuracy and efficiency of national carbon assessments. This may include AI in future work, in line with Government guidelines on its use.  Initiatives such as the soil sampling and analysis programme, the National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory, and the Teagasc Signpost programme are currently helping to provide a more detailed and spatially resolved insights into carbon stocks and changes over time. This investment in research helps develop the science that shapes and improves the accuracy of our national greenhouse gas, GHG, inventory reporting. The Deputy will be aware that the Environmental Protection Agency, EPA, is responsible for the reporting of emissions and removals associated with land use activities on an annual basis to the EU and the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. Developing accurate, evidence-based tools to track carbon sequestration is a key priority and my Department will continue to investigate other emerging technologies to support Ireland's climate and farming objectives.  In essence, to be able to monetise and give a financial return for farmers on carbon farming down the line, and to ensure we are in line with what Europe is coming with, we have to do our baseline measurement. We have invested a lot of money, through Teagasc and the Department, in flux towers to measure the baseline activity of carbon in current soil types. We will have to be able to prove additionality down the line in order to monetise it with increased land management measures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  We have a real opportunity here. Louth could lead on this. The use of AI to develop a national carbon map for farmland could be a game-changer, not just for our climate targets but for fairness, accuracy and farm viability. Farmers deserve clear, credible data that recognises the carbon they are already sequestering through hedgerows, grasslands, wetland and soil management. I see the potential in Louth. I live in a rural area. I see the biodiversity highway we have in our hedgerows and what it is producing. We are sequestering carbon every single day. That network of hedgerows and field margins is so important. An AI-driven map would be beneficial for Irish farmers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  We continue to monitor the latest technology and the opportunities and the amount of work under way in this area is significant. The National Agricultural Soil Carbon Observatory is part of my Department's strategic investment in soil carbon research. Funding was supplied to the establishment of the observatory by supplying the scientific infrastructure to measure GHG fluxes from soils under agriculture management. There are 28 flux towers across a range of soil types. The observatory will place Ireland at the forefront of EU carbon sequestration research and enable Ireland to better quantify soil carbon emissions and sinks from agricultural land on peat soils, enable mitigation measures to increase carbon sequestration to be included in the national inventory, participate in the EU Integrated Carbon Observatory System, ICOS, network, and enable Ireland to benefit from the 2018 EU effort sharing regulation.  The Teagasc signpost programme has a critical role to play. Our national soil sampling programme has also played a role, as have farm carbon research projects. I mentioned earlier the Department of agriculture has the fourth biggest State Department spending on research. A lot of it is in the areas of climate mitigation and carbon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I am really glad to hear there is a lot of work going on. AI can make it collaborative, bring the work together and make that carbon map.  For the weekend that is in it, we will think of our nature and heritage and what our plants and trees mean to us. St. Brigid's tree was the birch. It is about fertility, new life and rebirth. If you slap the arse of a cow, you would have a fertile cow and a healthy calf. Trees and nature are entwined with our history and our carbon future. Protecting that history and native Irish flora and fauna is really important. Our farmers know this and have known it for thousands of years. We need to appreciate it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  As we head into the weekend of Imbolc and the start of spring, St. Brigid taught us many great things. She might have been connected with the birch but in Kildare she gave us our county name - Cill Dara being \"the church of the oak\" - where she built her first male and female monastery. She was ahead of her time. As the patron saint of milkmaids and brewers, she had a huge connection to all things agricultural and would very much approve of the work we are doing to improve the sustainability of our agricultural system. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Artificial Intelligence"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Renewable Energy Generation","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I am delighted the Minister has recognised the huge importance of St. Brigid from Faughart, not to get into a contentious issue.  The Minister dealt earlier with the question of using AI to develop a carbon map. Sequestration is something I would support. We need to get to grips with renewables. We are talking about solar schemes that work for farmers. We know they have issues at times when the best of land is being used. Regarding other renewables, relations of mine have spoken of issues around getting wind turbines, particularly replacement wind turbines. That is everything from planning right through to the schemes that work for farmers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy. We will not let St. Brigid completely dominate today but while the people of Louth are proud that she was born in Faughart, I note she moved to Kildare pretty quickly and spent most of her life there. You cannot choose where you are born but you choose where you live.  The targeted agriculture modernisation scheme, TAMS 3, which is EU cofunded, provides grants to farmers to build and-or improve a specified range of farm buildings and equipment on their holdings. The solar capital investment scheme, SCIS, is one of the measures in TAMS which provides support to farmers wishing to invest in renewable energy, thereby reducing their dependence on fossil fuels. The objective of the scheme is to enable farmers to consume solar PV-generated electricity onsite to meet their farm electricity demand, including in respect of the dwelling house. In order to encourage the purchase of solar investments, the scheme is ring-fenced with its own investment ceiling of \u20ac90,000, and grant-aided at the enhanced rate of 60%. The SCIS has been hugely popular with farmers, with 5,529 applications received under the first ten tranches of the scheme. To date, a total of 3,167 approvals have issued, with payments of \u20ac22.9 million issuing to 1,232 applicants. Approvals continue to issue on a daily basis.  TAMS 3 operates in tranches, with generally four tranches per year. The timeline for approval of applications under TAMS 3, including those received under the SCIS, has been agreed with the relevant farm bodies and laid down in the farmers charter. The issuing of approvals following the selection of valid applications will take place within three months of ranking and selection of files under each tranche, and no later than six months following the closure of a tranche. Ranking and selection is the process whereby the overall cost of applications received in a particular tranche is assessed, taking into account the available budget. It is a regulatory requirement that ranking and selection must take place on all eligible applications. On average, all eligible TAMS 3 investments, including solar PV applications, where there are no issues with the application are processed within three months following the ranking and selection process. I believe the processing of applications using the current structure is the best way to ensure applicants receive timely approval to proceed with their investments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire. I appreciate most of what the Minister said and am doing my absolute best to ignore the disgraceful commentary he made at the beginning. I commend the work being done to remember St. Brigid by the community in Faughart. Dundalk BIDS and Martin McElligott have done a great piece of work. We need to ensure not only Kildare but also Louth gets Government support in relation to that.  I welcome the information the Minister has provided on TAMS 3. I have heard anecdotally of issues. We have all heard farmers say they want to ensure the majority of the ground they have that could be used for solar, particularly sheds and so on, is used. That could be of benefit to farmers and the wider environment.  I would also ask the wider question about wind turbines. I have been at many meetings of the IFA and I know farmers sometimes get hammered in relation to their position. A huge number of them want to do more. Can we review this to provide the best solutions for farmers and renewables? That will bring real benefits in the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I will make a last reference to St. Brigid. I was jesting earlier. Kildare and Louth will both enjoy our public holiday next week, the third since it was established. I fought hard in government for the public holiday for St. Brigid. It makes great sense in many ways. With Councillor John Reilly and the community in Faughart and the broader area, we all share in the legacy of Brigid. There is a phenomenal opportunity for tourism and so on in that story, even beyond our shores. We all share that in Kildare, Louth and beyond.  There are different elements to the question the Deputy is posing, and all are relevant. TAMS support for the rooftop solar scheme was largely for large energy users on farms to offset against large energy bills. Not every farmer has a large energy bill. If you are dairy farmer, you certainly do. It has been an intensive cost on the TAMS budget. That budget is not infinite and has to be managed out to the end of 2027, hence the ranking and selection. My colleague, Deputy Peter Burke, the then Minister for planning, brought in an exemption for solar PV on rooftops of agricultural holdings in 2022 and that was a key component in Government facilitating this roll-out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I suppose I would agree with the Minister's commentary. It was a lot less contentious that time. I would probably have agreement from my councillors, Ant\u00f3in Watters and Fiona Mhic Conchoille, on the necessity for support. At times, the county of Louth probably did not get the support and recognition for St. Brigid's close connections. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Martin Kenny)  I think we will have to have a special debate on St. Brigid on a later occasion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Maybe it is down to lack of representation. I do not know. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  That will be the last reference. I thought we might have been having a row about other issues. I had another question on Bord Bia that might have been taken but we will leave that for another day.  I accept what has been done is working for a significant number of farmers. I ask the Minister to meet farmers on the whole piece on renewables to a greater degree. Deputy Kenny, who I nearly called \"Minister\", has spoken - and we have spoken before - about the need to streamline schemes and facilitate people. The Minister spoke of the perfect scenario of having one scheme to deal with everything. We need a piece of that done, both technically and from an administrative point of view. Can we look at a review of everything from solar to wind turbines and what works for all farmers and wider society? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Absolutely. This is all about balance and giving farmers opportunities to offset costs. It is open to farmers, as landowners, to pursue opportunities to derive or manage income from renewables. That is where rooftop solar has been important. Under TAMS, it is only to offset high energy bills but if farmers put it on their rooftops through a normal system whereby they can sell it back to the grid and make an income from it, there is nothing to stop a beef or sheep farmer generating an income of \u20ac5,000, \u20ac6,000 or \u20ac7,000 per year from the roof of a shed while the core agricultural activity involving cattle, shed or grain continues in the shed.  When one thinks of income volatility and the ups and downs in market prices, anything that can provide a steady income for farmers that offsets that income volatility definitely helps with incomes, but also helps in terms of generational renewal and providing certainty for the next generation to look to take on. We all agree that we want to work here in a balanced way.  With 3,167 approvals, almost \u20ac23 million paid out to 1,232 farms and approvals on a rolling basis, this has been hugely popular and hugely successful. I just have to manage the overall TAMS budget under my priorities. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 10 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Renewable Energy Generation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Agriculture Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Maxwell  Will the Minister consider the current compensation paid to farmers who have to cull animals under a notifiable disease order, such as TB or bird flu, and can this be reviewed so that a fair compensation is paid, over and above the market value of the animals, to include a proportion of the consequential loss? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The control of all animal disease is an ongoing challenge for Irish farmers and my Department. I am acutely aware of the emotional and financial impacts that an outbreak of any disease can have on farmers and their families across rural Ireland. My Department provides a range of financial supports for farmers affected by certain animal disease outbreaks. Section 31(2) of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013, as amended, provides that compensation shall not exceed the open market value of an animal before its killing or natural death or destruction - less any salvage value or payment under a policy of insurance in respect of it - as if the disease did not exist. I am, therefore, obliged to work within the provisions of the Animal Health and Welfare Act when compensating farmers for the loss of animals associated with disease where a compensation scheme exists.  The primary support scheme in relation to the valuation of animals affected by a disease outbreak is the on-farm market valuation scheme under the bovine tuberculosis, TB, programme. Most people are familiar with that scheme. Further supports are available through the income supplement scheme, depopulation grant scheme and the hardship grant scheme. In 2025, of the 39,790 animals valued under the on-farm market valuation scheme, just over 91% of animals were valued below the scheme ceilings. Other examples include financial supports for farmers under the bovine viral diarrhoea, BVD, programme, where animals are removed from a holding under the programme, as well as compensation to farmers who had birds culled due to an outbreak of avian influenza.  Significant financial resources are expended each year by my Department on supporting farmers affected by animal disease outbreaks directly as well as supporting farmers to reduce their risk of an animal disease outbreak through facilitating engagement with their private veterinary practitioners on improving on-farm biosecurity, which is the first line of defence in preventing an outbreak of disease on a farm. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Maxwell  I suppose every TD's office is getting phone calls from farmers. Farmers are losing out. Over the past 18 months, the price of cattle has increased and that is good for Irish farming. In one case, a farmer reckoned his animal was worth \u20ac5,000 in the mart and he got the \u20ac3,000. It is a big loss. Cattle prices could drop, though we hope they will not. Going forward, can we look at a scheme whereby, if prices have increased and they stay at that level for six months or so, farmers will be compensated? Never mind the monetary loss for a farmer, it is the emotional loss that a farmer feels when a cow or bullock goes down with TB, the herd is restricted. It affects the whole farm. Is there something we can look at, on the side of the compensation, when prices remain high over a number of months? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I absolutely empathise and understand. I remember when we had a reactor at home in the 1990s. I was still at school at the time. The devastation and the impact of having a restricted herd and of the cow going off to the factory was devastating. Financially, it had a significant impact, but emotionally, even beyond that, it created huge turmoil.  I would very much like to be able to not have any caps on ceilings here but I have to manage a budget within the constraints and balance the interventions and the allocation of that money to make sure that ultimately it is driven to reducing the overall incidence of this happening and having fewer farmers having to deal with this awful impact on them, their families and their farms into the future. That is what my new TB programme does. I will monitor this situation. As we say, we do not have a crystal ball as to what the price of beef will be over the course of this year. We do not want to see it drop. Farmers are getting an income now that they need to get and that is very important. In terms of managing my budget, the TB programme in 2025 alone cost \u20ac121 million. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Maxwell  That is good news. I want to move on to the poultry. Before Christmas, a couple of flocks in Monaghan were affected by bird flu. From speaking to one of the owners, I know that, never mind the loss of the birds you have in your house, it is the cleaning of the house and the disposal of the bedding and shavings. Even shavings that were on-site had to be sent to a specialist for disposal. Following the cleaning of the house, you have let the house lie fallow for a number of months before it can be brought back into use. The owner was saying that, never mind the loss of the birds, that year you will lose at least one more rearing session, probably two, and that is a big hit. For the poultry end, is there anything we can look at or what is the set-up with compensation for those poultry farmers who were unlucky enough to lose out before Christmas with the bird flu? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The Deputy will be aware that last week we received our HPAI disease-free status again because we have gone three months without an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. I pay tribute to our poultry farmers, to private veterinary practitioners, to my staff in the regional veterinary offices and my chief veterinary officer and her team in my Department because this has been a huge effort. At the start of the high-risk period in November last, it looked as though we would have a lot of instances. Everyone worked together. Obviously, I introduced the housing order and we had the mandatory biosecurity measures, but people really worked together in the sector and what could have been a very bad outbreak was controlled.  From the compensation perspective, last year \u20ac2.384 million was spend on compensation for avian influenza across five different sites. Compensation occurred in turkey flocks in Ireland in November. Ireland is still in a higher-risk period for further incursions of the HPAI, as winter is a higher-risk period for avian influenza, as the Deputy will be aware, due to the migration of wild birds and the extended survival of the virus in colder periods. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Martin Kenny)  Deputy O'Rourke is the longest waiting, although we have two more Deputies coming in. Will we go to Deputy O'Rourke and then revert to the list? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I do not mind. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Agriculture Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Trade Agreements","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  What assessment has taken place of the potential impact of the Mercosur trade deal on the Irish beef industry? What measures will he will take to mitigate this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  In 2019, the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment commissioned an independent economic and sustainability impact assessment, ESIA, which both my Department and Teagasc fed into. The ESIA, which was published in July 2021, estimated that beef imports from the Mercosur countries into the EU would increase by approximately 53,000 tonnes. The study noted that, assuming the additional imports were in high-end cuts only, and depending on other factors, producer returns in Ireland could fall by around 2%, due to the increase in imports to the EU. This would translate to a maximum reduction in the value of Irish beef output of between \u20ac44 million and \u20ac55 million based on export figures available at the time of publication.  On sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, standards, the study notes that the implementation of the agreement does not in any way lower EU standards regarding market access for Mercosur, including on beef. The EU's SPS standards are amongst the highest in the world and are non-negotiable. The Government is firmly of the view that these standards must continue to be rigorously upheld for the benefit of European consumers. This is a matter I raised directly with the Commissioner, Mr. V\u00e1rhelyi, following the recent recall of Brazilian beef and the need for Europe to increase the number of inspections, both in third countries and at our border control posts, which was agreed to by Europe before Christmas. We have Mercosur beef coming in to Europe and have had 200,000 tonnes at a very high tariff rate. The Mercosur agreement is about what the tariff is for it. It is not that it does not come in. In some ways, the food safety and SPS standards are non-negotiable. We do not allow hormone-fed beef. We have very strict control on our antibiotic use here among our farmers and consumers are reassured of that, and we expect any produce that comes in from anywhere outside of Europe to meet those same standards. The issue for farmers has been on the environmental standards, which I can talk to later.  The Government has been very clear about Ireland's concerns in relation to the EU-Mercosur agreement over a number of years, particularly its potential impact on the beef sector, the strength of its climate and sustainability commitments, and the food safety and environmental standards in Mercosur countries, due to which we had to have safeguards, irrespective of what tariff rate the product comes in at. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  The impact is tens of millions of euros and a very significant question mark over food safety, standards, quality and the environmental impact. \u201cNon-negotiable\u201d is an easy thing to say but we know in practical terms, whether in food safety or technology, that there are many examples and huge potential for this to be the thin end of the wedge. That is the reality of this. It is a concern, and all we have to do is look at the Irish Farmers\u2019 Journal to see this. All of the incentives are there, of course.  Regarding the environmental concerns, the Minister said \u201cnon-negotiable\u201d but what measures are proposed? It is my firm opinion that there are no cast-iron guarantees that the standards that currently apply to European countries, including Ireland, will apply to these products coming in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I remind the Deputy that the Government opposed the Mercosur trade deal, for very good reasons, which I have articulated. In line with our programme for Government commitment to work with like-minded countries that oppose the deal, I very much took a twin-track approach over the course of the last year. Every month that I attend the Agri-Fish Council in Brussels, trade is on the agenda. I have raised our concerns on the sensitivity of the impact of the Mercosur trade deal on our beef sector in particular. There is an economic impact of somewhere between \u20ac44 million and \u20ac55 million a year on a beef sector worth over \u20ac3 billion.  On the environmental element, our farmers have been on a journey and a trajectory of increased ambition around environmental sustainability, while producing top-quality food in line with the regulations set down by Europe, which farmers have signed up to. That has increased the sustainable credentials of their food but it has impacted their margins, and it has definitely had an impact on the cost of doing business. We then chase the higher markets to get better value for that product. That is why we do not compete with Brazilian beef abroad. We are in the higher value markets, where we get a better return. We are not in the commodity market in that space. Therefore, those environmental standards have stood to us well. However, allowing other beef into Europe to displace us in this market is inherently unfair to our farmers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  The twin-track approach the Government took in relation to Mercosur was that it was for it and against it at the same time. If we look at the Government\u2019s actions and efforts to oppose it, they fell far short of what was required, and they certainly were not successful in delivering what Irish farmers needed. We look at how Government MEPs voted on the referral to the European Court of Justice. They literally did both things, yes and no, and spoke with both sides of their mouths. There are real concerns as to the potential for the European Commission to move to provisionally apply the Mercosur trade agreement, which would be completely unacceptable, given the vote by the MEPs and the referral to the ECJ. What efforts will the Government make to ensure the Mercosur trade deal is not provisionally implemented? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Irrespective of what way the Deputy tries to spin this, the record shows very clearly what way Ireland voted. If he talks to anybody in Europe who is in favour of the deal, they are very clear that the Irish Government opposed it. Irrespective of what he tries to tell people, the facts are the facts, and they are there. The Deputy can put down questions to the Minister for trade on all elements of trade deals. I do not have that competence but I have the role, as Minister for agriculture, to defend my sector and talk about its important role.  The point I was making was that our beef farmers meet all of that extra conditionality around environmental standards, which means they have been able to chase a higher return for their produce. It was the right thing to do. However, giving a preferential tariff rate to 99,000 tonnes of beef that comes in from outside third countries, and does not satisfy those same environmental standards, would cut to the hearts of farmers, who have continuously raised these issues. We know that beef already comes in due to the integrated nature of the global supply chain but it comes in at a high tariff rate. It was the giving of the preferential tariff rate for beef that is of a lower environmental standard that was unacceptable to me. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Trade Agreements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Trade Agreements","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  We all know that Mercosur will have a significantly detrimental effect on farmers throughout the country. The Minister mentioned the headline figures for the damage it will do to the sector. What kind of modelling and research has the Department done in relation to the downward pressure it will have on farmers\u2019 incomes and the loss of jobs that Mercosur, if implemented, will create in the sector? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  In 2019, the then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment commissioned an independent economic and sustainability impact assessment, ESIA, which both my Department and Teagasc fed into. As part of the ESIA, and specifically on the macroeconomic impacts of the agreement for Ireland, it was noted that shifts in employment across sectors were forecast to be marginal and to mirror changes in production across sectors. Employment was found to generally increase in manufacturing and decrease slightly in the agrifood and services sectors.  The forecast change in employment in the agrifood sector is minimal. The main impacts were found to be in other processed foods and extraction, where a 0.3% decrease in employment by 2035 is noted. For beef, sheep, other red meats and other primary products, the decrease in employment by 2035 is predicted at 0.1%, whereas dairy and other meat products see no change. In terms of the agrifood sector market impacts, the study primarily focuses on the impacts on beef producers. Assuming that additional imports would be in high-end cuts only, and depending on other factors, it states that producer returns in Ireland could fall by about 2% due to the increase in imports to the EU. This would translate to a maximum reduction in the value of Irish beef output of between \u20ac44 million and \u20ac55 million based on export figures available at the time of publication.  I put on the record of the House earlier the impact on farmers who have attained higher environmental standards but then see food coming in at a lower environmental standard given a preferential tariff rate. This is not about blocking food. The nature of global supply chains is that they are highly integrated, and we need to explain that. In the context of other rows that are happening here at the moment, there is a lack of honesty in this debate. However, giving preferential access to 99,000 tonnes by Europe was unacceptable to me, and I continuously articulated that. We all have a responsibility regarding the challenges we face in agriculture, and we have talked about bluetongue this morning, CAP reform, CBAM and different things. It is important that we do not catastrophise this. Our farmers are the most resilient businesspeople in this country. They have faced many headwinds in the past, and they will face and deal with this as well. We did our best to try to stop it with the Government vote. There is still a way to go as to whether it will come in or not, but irrespective of what happens, farmers have proven their resilience in the past and will prove it again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Minister talks about resilience. A third of farmers are making their living off the farm, according to Teagasc, a third are only making a living because someone in the household is working off the farm, and a full third are currently either going into debt or are in poverty. That is an incredible figure. Every year, the number of farmers is reducing in this country. The Minister is saying there will be an extra reduction in employment as a result of this particular deal, and he refers to a \u20ac55 million reduction in income in the sector over this period of time. That is catastrophic for farmers, who are already clinging on to economic survival.  Last week, my colleague, Deputy Paul Lawless, was in Strasbourg lobbying MEPs. Luckily, he and others won the vote there. Incredibly, MEPs in the Minister\u2019s party voted against farmers in Strasbourg last week, which is shocking. Is it going to be a situation where the Minister makes sure this deal is not implemented unless it gets the democratic assent of Europe, or is he going to allow this deal to be implemented before there is even a proper vote or judgment on it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I have been very clear in my role since 23 January last year on every given occasion. Four days after I became the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, I was in Brussels at my first Agri-Fish Council, and I put on the record my concerns and opposition to the Mercosur trade deal. I have worked very closely with individual like-minded countries to build a coalition and try to get a blocking minority. I have also worked to get the safeguards improved so that if the blocking minority failed, the safeguards would better protect the very farmers the Deputy is speaking about. The change in the safeguards from 10% to 5% will be very significant if this deal comes in. Nonetheless, our view was very clear: that is not enough for us and we oppose the deal.  I would challenge the Deputy\u2019s catastrophisation of the issues. We have seen record year-on-year growth in the value of our agrifood exports. I have no doubt that when the CSO figures for 2025 come out in the very near future, they will again show another year of record growth to over \u20ac21 billion in the value of the agrifood exports that our farmers produce, compared to \u20ac8 billion or \u20ac9 billion a little over ten years ago.  Teagasc income surveys last year for every sector proved very significant percentage increases for each sector as well, and those percentage increases are income going into our family farms on the ground all across rural Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The problem is that anybody can pick an individual year and say, \"This year is above the previous year.\" The fact is that in the previous year Irish farm incomes were extremely low. In the beef sector they were a fraction of the average industrial wage in this country. Most beef farmers in this country were making a fraction of the average industrial wage two years ago. Plucking last year as an example of movement in income does not give a long-term trend with regard to the figures. The figure I mentioned, that one third of farmers are in poverty or in debt, is a Teagasc figure. One third of farmers are operating in another job off the farm to be able to make sure the farm works. That is a Teagasc figure. The Minister said he has been very clear but I still do not know what he, as Minister, is going to do to prevent Mercosur being implemented before there is a court judgment or a final vote in the European Parliament. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I am sorry but I think the Deputy is mixing me up with the Minister for trade and that sector. The Deputy is welcome to put that question down. What I talk about is the role I have played. I have said very clearly on the record of the House, in response to the Deputy's first question, exactly what I have done over the last year and what I continue to do to advocate for our sector. I would pull the Deputy up on the fact that he is catastrophising here. We face loads of challenges and I will always defend the agriculture sector for the best interests of our farmers and our agriculture sector first. That is my job. It is my job in the Department and at the Cabinet table. I do it to the very best of my ability and I will continue to do it. I will also protect our farmers who feel vulnerable to being told that any one thing, whether it is this or the bluetongue virus, is the end of the road. We grew up as young children on farms hearing that there would be no future in farming because Maastricht was going to change everything. We have heard that the Fischler reforms, Covid, Brexit and the high cost of input following the Ukraine war were going to change everything. Farming has endured and continued and it will continue to do so in the future with the support of the Government, like it always has in the past. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  It is not the same. Why can the Minister not push back against----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Please, Deputy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Why can the Minister not push back----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Sorry, Deputy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Why can the Minister not push back against the deal being implemented? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  We voted against it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Trade Agreements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Animal Welfare","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  We can all recognise the importance of animal welfare groups and the work that they do. I particularly welcome the increase in funding to them, to \u20ac6.5 million, in accordance with the commitment in the programme for Government. The 94 groups which will benefit from that do incredibly important work. Can we, however, put a bit of certainty in place for organisations like that? Multi-annual funding allows them to plan more into the future and increase the quality of the work they do, for example to provide support for the Minister's Department in prosecutions under the animal welfare Acts. Can we provide that multi-annual funding and that certainty for them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy Ward for raising what is a very important issue. It is fair to say that sometimes we sit in here for oral questions on agriculture, food and the marine, and predominantly the questions are raised by rural-based Deputies but animal welfare is in everyone's interest. I have no doubt that Deputy Ward's constituents in Dublin and D\u00fan Laoghaire are passionate about animal welfare. I am determined to continue the improvement we have made in these spaces. Society as a whole is changing and our standards and expectations change along with that. I reassure the Deputy on this very important point that animal welfare is a key priority for me as Minister and for the Government. Considerable funding is provided to support eligible animal welfare charities nationwide through the animal welfare grant programme, which is administered by my Department. I thank the Deputy for his kind comments on the increase in that space.  Each year my Department invites eligible animal welfare charities to submit a funding application under the animal welfare grants programme. To qualify, applicants must meet specific requirements that are clearly set out in the application process. The process is robust and comprehensive. Applicants are asked to provide information on their activities, including reporting specific data and metrics, with successful applicants allocated funding on the basis of objective criteria which are reviewed on an annual basis.  The awards support a wide range of criteria and can include: the number of animals assisted; rehoming figures; the provision of education and knowledge-sharing to the public on animal welfare and responsible pet ownership; and helping to raise animal welfare standards. Veterinary inspection results are also taken into consideration when grant amounts are determined. In December 2025 I provided funding of almost \u20ac6.5 million to 94 animal welfare charities across the country. This figure represents the highest allocation of funding awarded under the animal welfare grants programme, greatly exceeding the programme for Government commitment to double the \u20ac2.4 million funding available to animal welfare charities from the 2020 budget. Eligibility is determined each year and allocations and grants are dependent on resources available and the number of applicants. I am happy to discuss some further supplementaries and other work I am doing beyond grants in terms of reform of animal welfare legislation as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I note the Minister's comments about rural Deputies raising issues here but I agree with him that agricultural issues and animal welfare issues are not just for rural Deputies. There are farms in the D\u00fan Laoghaire constituency. I am a member of the Irish Farmers Association, IFA. They are mostly drystock farms in the south west of the constituency but agriculture affects everybody and it is important. Animal welfare is something that is very close to my heart. As a barrister I prosecuted animal welfare offences for the Minister's Department in the past. I worked with organisations like the ISPCA and the DSPCA which did incredible work supporting the Minister's Department in bringing those prosecutions and bringing evidence in relation to them. Those are the organisations I am talking about. They are the ones that supplement the work of the Minister's Department. They carry out hugely important work to ensure there are people on the ground who are familiar with animal welfare issues and have the capacity in the context of a prosecution to help rescue those animals and present the Department with evidence so it can proceed in those prosecutions. I also acknowledge the Minister's commitment to reforming that law so that those prosecutions can be more effective. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The Deputy will be aware that I have just concluded a public consultation on my new animal welfare strategy for 2026 to 2030, which I will introduce this year. I thank everybody who made contributions on that. Animal welfare crosses so many different areas. The control of dogs legislation came back in under my Department since last summer with some significant work. I am really happy about that. As part of the negotiating team on the programme for Government I was very keen on this. There had been a fragmented nature to the control the dogs. It was under the Department of rural affairs but my Department has the main responsibility for animal welfare legislation, as the Deputy is aware from his other work. I am also mindful that the role of animal wardens and animal welfare officers in our local authority system remains under the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, but it is better co-ordinated. There is a huge opportunity for us, working together across this House, to identify ways of improving the structures around animal welfare while also ensuring the very high level of enforcement that exists at present continues. We really do take animal welfare very seriously. It is something I am passionate about. I want to continue this and grow it in the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I absolutely accept the Minister's commitment to these issues. With animal welfare, everyone in this House has something to do with animals, whether they are domestic pets or agricultural animals. I think the prosecutions in the Department focused particularly on agricultural stock, and obviously there is a food safety issue there as much as anything else, but it needs to be expanded to include domestic animals. I remember as a child getting a rescue dog. He was a cross between an Old English sheepdog and a black Labrador. We still talk about that dog and there are pictures of him in the house. These animals are so important and they are part of all of our lives. Animal welfare, as the Minister has acknowledged, is more than just the prosecution of offences that are plain. It is also about the maintenance of standards for animals, whether it is in the agricultural or the domestic context. Part of that strategy has to be about improving the standard of animal welfare across the board, and I know that it has been because I am aware of submissions that have gone into it. Reforming the system has to be about doing that but, perhaps more importantly, also funding the organisations that do it on the ground, funding the prosecutions of those who refuse to abide by the law, and ensuring that animals are safe and well in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  We are very much at one on this. This is something I want to work on with colleagues. This is something we discussed in the Fine Gael Parliamentary Party. It will also be debated and discussed at the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Agriculture and Food, and beyond the House, working with my colleagues at the Department of agriculture, the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley, Grealish and Healy-Rae. It transcends and covers all parts of society. I genuinely believe, as somebody who grew up on a farm with animals, that you can judge a person by how they treat animals. If you teach a child to treat animals well, they will probably also treat humans well. This gets to the heart of our core values as a country. This goes to the Deputy's points on domestic animals as well as farm animals. Obviously, the enforcement of animal welfare legislation is a key component in our trade element because of our very high standards. We normally talk about high environmental standards and high traceability standards but our high animal welfare standards are a very important part of the higher value markets that we export into. I am determined to build on this and to grow it. Although we have extremely high standards that are beyond the European norm, there are always things we can do better and improve and I will drive on further with them. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Animal Welfare"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Fishing Industry","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  We know of the 70% losses that were announced in early December in the EU for Ireland's fishing quota. This 70% loss in our fishing quota means that 57,000 tonnes will be lost.  What has been happening in Europe to turn matters around since this dreadful announcement was made? Are we taking legal action in the European courts in the context of the Hague preferences, which are a guarantee and safeguard and which appear to have been discarded? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  As the Deputy knows, the Hague preferences are negotiated annually. Over the years, many member states have objected strenuously to their application because the additional quota for Ireland comes from their allocations. These objections have intensified in recent times, arising from reductions in quota due to quota transfers under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement and scientific advice based on a considerable reduction in fishing stocks. Some of that reduction has been as a result of overfishing by other countries and some, potentially, as a result of climate change.  Regrettably, during the December Fisheries Council, a group of member states chose to block the invocation of Ireland\u2019s Hague preferences for 202. The Danish Presidency did not include the Hague preferences in the final Presidency compromise on the fishing opportunities regulation. This will unfortunately result in severely reduced fishing opportunities for Irish fishermen and fisherwomen in 2026. While Ireland voted against the regulation because it did not include the Hague preferences, the regulation was adopted with a qualified majority.  Ireland has already expressed to the Council, the Commission and other member states its intentions to invoke the Hague preferences at the appropriate time in respect of fishing opportunities for 2027. The Department is currently examining the position to determine potential next steps, including in the context of what legal redress is available to us. The Deputy will be aware that the European Court of Justice, ECJ, addressed this issue in a past finding, which indicated that the acceptance of the Hague preferences was a matter for the Council. That creates potential challenges.  I have stated publicly that we will look at all potential opportunities to try to address this matter. With the support of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, we are establishing a working group under the auspices of Food Vision 2030 in order to develop a framework of supports to address the substantial challenges currently facing the sector as a result of the significant reduction in quota to which the Deputy referred. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  It appears that there was scientific advice available, but the nature of that advice was to destroy the Irish fisheries, and it worked. They used that weapon to beat Irish fishermen out of Irish waters. It did not affect the quota of other countries that are taking fish from of Irish waters. I have often stated that between 16 and 18 articulated truckloads of Irish fish leave Castletownbere and head off through west Cork. There is no gain out of this, other than the council trying to repair the roads as a result of the damaged done by the articulated trucks going up and down with fish that have been taken from of our seas. People are telling me they cannot buy Irish fish. Irish fishermen are not allowed to fish in our waters.  The bottom line is that the decision in this regard has to be appealed. Surely there has to be some mechanism that can be used to lodge an appeal. The Hague preferences are there to provide protection, but this has not happened. The scientific evidence was used against Irish fishermen and to protect foreign trawlers. How is that going to be turned around? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I understand that the Deputy comes from an area where fishing is important. To be clear, the quota reduction, based on the scientific advice, applied across the board regardless of the member states involved. It did not seek to penalise Ireland in favour of any other state. It sought to try to protect, insofar as possible, the future of certain species. The Deputy is right in the sense that Ireland has a significant quota when it comes to species like mackerel, in particular, blue whiting and boarfish. In the case of mackerel, we have 50% of the European quota based on track record. However, stocks of that species are considerably low. The quota reduction of 70% was applied to each country in the context of its quota allocation. It would be wrong to suggest that what was done was unnecessarily discriminatory towards Ireland.  As stated, the Hague preferences have been under pressure for some time. We will seek every possible way to try to find a mechanism to have them restored in due course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  The Minister of State indicated that there have been quota reductions across the board, but Irish fishermen have been hit with a 70% cut - the greatest of all. Basically, that is sending them home. People have massive debts having paid for trawlers. They are paying back bank loans they got in order that they might have the best trawlers available to allow them to compete. I am not referring to competing with super-trawlers from Norway, Spain and other countries that are stealing our fish. However, they bought those boats to allow them to compete in some way and to be safe out in our waters. This is a terrible infliction on them.  When is the task force being set up? Has it held any meetings yet? As far as I am concerned, this is an urgent crisis that has, very unfairly, been foisted on Irish fishermen. It is similar to what happened with Brexit, decommissioning and all of that. I hope to God that the task force is not being set up to talk about further decommissioning, because if it is, the Irish fleet will be wiped out completely. When is the task force going to be set up? What bodies will be represented on it? When will its first meeting be held? What will its role be in the context of bringing fishing back to the top of the agenda? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  The task force will be part of the Food Vision strategy. Later today I will be meeting with the independent chair, Michael Berkery. We have a draft of the terms of reference, which I hope to have agreed shortly. I hope that the first meeting can take place within the next two weeks. We have a clear agenda about the necessity to address the crisis in light of the fishing opportunity that has been lost for 2026. I also want to broaden it out to include the impact of the reduction in fishing opportunities for this year. Its work will also address not just the impact on the pelagic sector, which has been hit to the greatest extent, but also the impact on inshore fishermen. Their representative bodies will certainly be part of the task force because they will be impacted by the cost of bait, etc. We have to look at this is a comprehensive way. I am of the view that a multiplicity of actions will emerge from the work of the task force. I look forward to engaging with the Deputy and his team on that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Fishing Industry"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2026: Message from Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  The Select Committee on Defence and National Security has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimate for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2026: Vote 36. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Estimates for Public Services 2026: Message from Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Student Accommodation","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  When will the student accommodation strategy be released? Will it contain proposals to allow the providers of private student accommodation to hike rents more often than those in purpose-built student accommodation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy James Lawless)  I intend to publish the national student accommodation strategy in the coming weeks. The strategy will support access to suitable housing for full-time students in publicly funded higher education institutions and aims to deliver additional student beds to meet projected demand out to 2035, without the need to have additional recourse to the private rental market. The aim behind the student accommodation strategy is to address the student accommodation requirements relating to purpose-built student accommodation without imposing additional pressures - the idea is to relieve such pressures - on the wider private residential sector.  The provisions relating to tenancy legislation fall under the remit of my colleague the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne. His Department sets the rules and implements the legislation relating to rent, rent resets and so forth. I have worked closely with the Minister to ensure that the legislation relating to the new rent pressure zones, RPZs, which was published on Tuesday, having been approved by the Cabinet, contains a provision to protect students by means of a three-year moratorium on rent resets within purpose-built student accommodation. As a result, we will avoid the scenario that was feared by many, including me, of an annual reset as students left their accommodation each summer. It would have been unfair to have such students facing rent resets. The legislation was predicated on the end of a tenancy. For student accommodation, we have predicated it on the property, which means that regardless of how many students come and go - and I expect that there will be a group of students coming in each year and that they will be replaced by another set of students the following year - they will not be facing annual resets. There will be a three-year moratorium for all those students in the purpose-built student accommodation sector. That is important, and I thank the Minister for housing for taking my submissions on board. We had detailed engagements on this matter and, as a result, that protection will be built in.  As well as rent protections, there are significant supports in terms of affordability. This was one of the reasons why I increased all the non-adjacent maintenance grants in the budget, thereby assisting 30,000 students and bringing the total allocation for the non-adjacent student grant to \u20ac146.5 million. There are also things like rent-a-room relief, the student assistance fund and significant other funding I have put in place for students in order to help them to meet their accommodation needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  On 6 February 2025, the Minister announced that a new student accommodation strategy was in development, which would be completed in 2025. We were then told that the much-awaited strategy would be delivered in quarter 4 of 2025. We are now in 2026. While we are told the strategy will be published in the coming weeks, we still do not have a definitive date and the gap between strategies is growing further apart.  From March, student-specific accommodation providers will be able to reset rents to market value, and every three years thereafter. Is that correct? While it is welcome that these rent hikes will be attached to the property rather than the tenant, is it fair that students are being unfairly targeted for more rent hikes than others? While I welcome the rise in extra payments to help them, it simply is not enough.  We know the majority of students rent from the private market. What protections is the Minister fighting for to be put in place for these students who, as we know, renew their lease on an annual basis? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I do not know whether the Deputy listened to my answer but that is exactly what I just talked about. I know she has probably prepared a script but I will reiterate and repeat what I said a minute ago. Working with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Browne, I have secured protections for students in purpose-built student accommodation to ensure they do not have that annual rent reset every year. I wish to be crystal clear for the benefit of the House and everyone listening: I have secured a three-year protection window for students in order that they will not be facing rent resets until 2029 at the earliest, that is, three years from now.  The original situation that was put forward in the rental Bill - I appreciate it applies to the wider residential rental market - talked about rents being reset when a tenant left. We were all students once and we know that the nature of student accommodation is that students typically leave every summer. It would, therefore, have been unfair and unduly adverse on those students to have those same rules. I have managed to negotiate with the Minister, Deputy Browne, and ensure they do not have those same rules. In fact, they have a three-year protection window. The reset will be allowed on the student property in three-year cycles rather than when the tenancy ends. That is a significant achievement. I talked to AML\u00c9 and other student groups about it in advance. I hope the Deputy will welcome it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  As I said, it is welcome that the rent hikes will be attached to the property rather than the tenants but the Minister is talking in the context of purpose-built student accommodation. What about those in private accommodation such as digs and private homes? Will they get any protection? We know housing is one of the biggest costs in a student's life, and the majority of students are in the private rental market. While rents are already unaffordable, if we continue to rely on private rental supply, rents will continue to increase to the point where they will push young people away from attending college because they simply cannot get student accommodation or afford it. What will be put in place for those in private accommodation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  Students living in the private residential sector have the same rules as anyone else living in that sector. This is something I have looked at and discussed with the Minister, Deputy Browne. I have a limited remit because the Minister for housing and the Department of housing have full control over the rental rules and landlord and tenant legislation. I make submissions and I have engagement with them, as I successfully did in the case of purpose-built student accommodation, PBSA.  With regard to the private residential sector, there are challenges in trying to come up with student-specific rules for houses in which students might be living. To take a typical three-bed, semi-detached house in one of the university towns as an example, of which there are many in Maynooth in my constituency as well as all around the country, how can it become a student house if four people are living there, two of whom are students and the other two are working? What happens if there are three people in a house and one of them is doing a course at night? Similarly, I refer to houses in which there are a couple of student doctors or teachers on their first year of placement. Are they student houses or not?  I will be publishing my strategy in the coming weeks. I would have liked to have published it by now but it is complex with regard to the rules. I have implemented a number of the measures within it already, such as the increase in grants that I spoke about to help with affordability. Purpose-built student accommodation is the sector I will be focusing all my efforts on to deliver more beds. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Student Accommodation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Expenditure Reviews","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I am taking this question on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Eoghan Kenny. Will the Minister inform the House of the steps his Department has taken to investigate the significant overspend on the new SUSI IT system, and will he make a statement on the matter to the House? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  The City of Dublin Education and Training Board, ETB, made reference in its annual accounts to a legacy IT project for SUSI that started in 2015 \u2013 before either of us were in this House - but experienced a number of problems and delays. Ultimately, it did not result in the successful delivery of a completed system.  Although unacceptable, IT projects, unfortunately, can encounter difficulties both in the public and private sectors. It is often the case, having worked in IT many years ago, that IT projects fail. Sometimes, they can be rebuilt or remodelled and other times they are thrown away. Sometimes they are consolidated into a new system. In any event, where projects are funded by public money, it is imperative, as the Deputy suggested, and I expect he shares this view, that the reasons for the issues are fully understood and specific actions are taken to prevent any recurrence.  In the case of the SUSI project, a decision was taken in 2021 to terminate the contracts on the basis that it was not on track to deliver the expected benefits. Effectively, it was pulled up. It was realised in 2021 that it was not going to deliver the benefits expected. It was not on track or meeting the cost targets, etc., and the project was pulled and halted. I welcome that because sometimes, we see projects running overboard and over budget and no one shouts, \u201cStop\u201d. In this case - it was the previous Minister not myself - credit is due that the rug was pulled and the decision was taken that enough was enough and that the project was out of order. Of course, that was done in line with the public spending code and legal advice following consultation by City of Dublin ETB with departmental officials.  An independent report was then commissioned which looked at why the problems occurred and it made multiple recommendations for any future project. I might get into those recommendations in my supplementary reply.  Notwithstanding the cancellation of this project, the need for a robust digital system for SUSI is as strong as ever. We need to deliver a resilient, efficient and modern service for over 100,000 students and their families who depend on the scheme. In this context, the City of Dublin ETB has a new IT project up and running since then, which is progressing. I will come back to that in a moment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  The Minister will be aware that this was highlighted by the Comptroller and Auditor General at a meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts recently. Obviously, concerns were raised at that meeting that, as the Minister correctly said, this project was initiated in 2015. At that stage, the cost was \u20ac2.2 million. The cost indicated to my colleague, Deputy Kenny, is that it has now risen to \u20ac6.4 million, and we are still at the pre-project phase. What lessons have been learned? The Minister mentioned the report he received. What lessons have been learned about the overrun of almost \u20ac4 million? I have no doubt, given the job the Minister is doing, that an extra \u20ac4 million in his budget would be very welcome for him as well as for the many students about whom I and all colleagues in this House ring the Minister. What has happened in the meantime in the Department? What is it doing about the \u20ac4 million overrun? What will the final cost be on this project which, as the Minister said, is badly needed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I agree with the Deputy. Following the notice of termination in 2021, the City of Dublin ETB commissioned KPMG accountants to draft a report focusing on lessons learned arising from the project and what had gone wrong, which included looking at supplier issues, the delays and all the factors that combined to render the project unsuitable. A number of recommendations came out of that. I will not go into them all because there are almost a dozen of them but I can share them with the Deputy afterwards. I think they are on the public record already. They include things such as having a clear business vision, the importance of getting the requirements right at the outset, having a layered approach and having a front-loaded design stage front and centre. For example, the new project uses a cloud-based architecture which means it sits on the web as opposed to a single server. That is meant to have better distribution and fewer failover issues. There are a number of recommendations that range across procurement, business planning and IT robustness. There are ten recommendations and they are all being implemented. The new project is up and running and adhering to those recommendations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I will ask the Minister again whether he can give the House some indication as to what this project will finally cost. I am sure he has that information by now. The initial cost was to be \u20ac2.2 million. A total of \u20ac6.4 million has been spent on it so far. Questions remain as to what steps the Department has taken to investigate this. Has anyone been held accountable for the fact that there has been a \u20ac4 million overspend on money that is so important? We all appreciate the importance of education in this State and the job the Minister does day in, day out for third level and higher level education. Has anyone been held accountable? What steps has the Minister put in place? What will the final cost of this project be? In 2015, it was to cost the Department \u20ac2.2 million but - I will say it once again - there is already a \u20ac4 million overspend on this project. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  In respect of the cost overrun on the project, the figures that I have available to me tell me that the cost of the project was approximately \u20ac3.8 million between 2015 and March 2022.  That figure emerged at the Committee of Public Accounts recently. The project included internal staffing costs, external providers, coding and software that were built up and engineering work that was carried out. Some of that was carried forward, but much of it was not. Approximately two thirds of it had to be abandoned but around one third of the work product was carried through into the new phase.  Some of the process improvements include things like better business requirements. Before one starts to write a line of code, one should know exactly what one wants it to do. That would be good practice in any software system, as would mapping the processes, the ins and outs, the workflows and the toll gates within it. That basic process mapping is important. Improvements to reporting structures will catch these things early or earlier than was the case previously. Project management capability is so important in this, as does ensuring that somebody has an eye on things and that there are reporting structures, toll gates, Gantt charts and all of the things we would expect. That is all ongoing and under way within the new system.  I have asked my officials for a detailed report because I am not satisfied with this. It happened before my watch, but, at the same time, it is not good enough. I have also asked for a detailed investigation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Expenditure Reviews"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Grant Payments","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  Why do SUSI grants show a steady yearly rate of difference between funds awarded and funds paid? Given the consistent numbers being refused SUSI grants annually - with the largest number of refusals being on the grounds of insufficient documentation to confirm eligibility - will the Minister introduce reforms to reduce the rate of refusal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  Over \u20ac351 million has been allocated for students supports and related activities this year. In addition, it is estimated that the free fees initiative costs for the current academic year will be in the order of \u20ac450 million. That is just shy of \u20ac1 billion in student supports in the current year alone. When we are engaged in budget planning and negotiations, student supports are the primary item on the agenda and take up the lion's share of available moneys. Significant moneys and effort are being put into supporting students across a very wide range of needs and areas. Taken together, the allocation figures I have just given reflect the Government\u2019s continued commitment to ensuring student access. Access is the fundamental premise here. We want to create maximum opportunity for people and that means access. Nobody should be deterred from going to college because of the cost involved. If people feel deterred, I very much want to hear about it in order to figure out why and to get into the permutations of each individual case such that I can fix any loopholes or anomalies in the system.  The student grant scheme, with which the Deputy is very familiar, provides assistance to students attending courses. A part-time fee scheme was introduced last year in respect of a number of undergraduate courses. This provides fees support to eligible part-time students for the first time. Previously, part-time students were outside of the system.  Just under 80% of applicants are successful every year. The Deputy's question is about those who are not successful, but it is worth pointing out that around 79% of applicants are successful. The vast majority of students who apply actually succeed and are awarded grants. In the context of the 20% who do not get grants, 3% to 4% of those students pull their applications themselves. For whatever reason, they withdraw their applications and leave college. That is one issue. There are a number of other reasons that I will get into when I make my supplementary reply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  In 2023 and 2024, approximately 22% were unsuccessful. In the subsequent academic year, the figure was 21%. There seems to be a percentage that is common across the years. I am given to understand that SUSI is a demand-based scheme. In other words, whatever moneys are not spent are handed back. Is there a cap on the number of SUSI grants that can be paid out or is the fund indefinite in nature?  While I welcome the year-on-year drop in the numbers refused due to the increase in the household income threshold, I am still concerned about the number of applicants being refused due to a lack of documentation and, more generally, the number of refusals and grants not paid out. Mature students who are 23 or older have no choice, due to the housing crisis, but to live at home. They are being unfairly treated because they are being assessed on the basis of their parents' income, despite the fact that they are trying to live independently. What can be done about that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  SUSI operates an appeals process. It continues to refine its processes. I have asked it to do that. We ran advertisement campaigns last summer for the first time. I initiated that because some students were not aware of their eligibility for the grant. The income thresholds are now very high. They are up to \u20ac120,000 for certain grants, which was unheard of previously. Some families on middle incomes may not have been aware that they were eligible for grants. As a result, we ran advertising campaigns to make sure that they found out.  In terms of the reasons students may not succeed in getting grants, sometimes they are in receipt of other State grants. For example, if a student is receiving the back to education allowance from the Department of Social Protection, he or she cannot be paid on the double. Another reason is if an applicant does not progress. If students get to a certain point and drop out of the course, fail exams or do not progress for various reasons, they obviously cannot get grants. In addition, grants are not awarded if the course selected is not eligible. There are various courses, some of which are outside the system and would not be eligible. Another reason for refusal is if students have been studying for beyond the maximum period. Students who have been studying for a number of years and have exceeded their allowable term will not be awarded SUSI grants. Likewise, those who are in receipt of scholarships or bursaries from somewhere else will not be awarded grants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  I have the figures in front of me. A total of 4,924 applicants were refused because they were over the income threshold. However, the means test applies to the previous year and does not take into account things like job losses, although I am aware that there is a fund for people to whom that happens. One of the main reasons for refusal is insufficient documentation to confirm eligibility. Within that, many applicants from the North are not able to access SUSI because they do not conform and do not have the right documentation. That is a big concern. A total of 5,373 applicants were in that bracket, up from 5,064. It is a big concern. What can be done for those applicants? I am particularly concerned about those trying to claim independence from their parents who cannot do so because their parents will not give them a letter because they are not talking to each other. It is a big concern. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I understand the issue the Deputy raises about mature students and returning emigrants. Deputy Roche has tabled a question on that matter to which I will respond to in more detail later.  In terms of documentation, that is a difficult issue. I am sure the Deputy is not suggesting that we should give grants out without any application process or robust checks. It is taxpayer's money that we are talking about. The last question I answered was about the MySUSI project which went over budget and I am sure we would all agree that we need to get value for money and be prudent and robust when it comes to taxpayer's money. Obviously, certain documentation is required. If students are not providing it, that is a Catch-22 situation. They cannot really get their grant until they provide the documentation and I would not expect the system to work any other way, frankly. What we can do is provide guidance. We have online wizards and I intend to continue to improve and streamline that process and provide information earlier. As I mentioned, we ran advertisement campaigns last year in the various media to make sure students knew what they had to do and knew how to get the grant.  The Deputy mentioned that some students miss out because of income. The income levels are now at \u20ac120,000. As a result, the children of Members of this House can now avail of SUSI grants. That was not the case historically. We have gone right into the squeezed middle and beyond to a situation where 80% of households are now eligible for some kind of SUSI grant. That is historic. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Grant Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Grant Payments","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I would like to discuss a sensitive issue with the Minister. How is he planning to support students who are estranged from their parents? How can such students access SUSI grants and other supports on campus? A number of students who are in quite challenging situations due to estrangement from their parents have contacted me. Their circumstances leave them financially vulnerable and potentially prevent them accessing third level education. The current system is bureaucratic and difficult to navigate. Sometimes the systems are seen, not the people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  This is a difficult issue, and it is one that I have engaged with the students unions on. I have also spoken to my officials about it on a number of occasions. If students are living with their parents, there is a working assumption in the system that they are being supported by their parents to some extent at least. Perhaps that support is not through direct funds. Rather, it comes in the form of accommodation, meals and so on. These are the supports that we would normally expect within a family environment. How can we fairly and reasonably, with a view to prudence with taxpayer's money, correctly identify the student who may be still living in the family home and still having meals at the family table but who is not dependent on his or her parents or is estranged from them? That is not an easy one, and I am very mindful of the need to support any students who find themselves estranged from their parents. I have had individual representations made to me by Members in that regard. How do we ensure that we do not broaden support too wide such that every student suddenly becomes eligible? Effectively, we would see the millions of euro in student supports referred to by Deputy McGettigan mushroom into several billion.  It is a difficult one to get right. Having said, a number of the measures that I introduced in the last budget do not actually involve a means test. The \u20ac500 permanent reduction in fees, for example, does not require any means testing.  There are a number of other benefits available such as the student assistance fund, which now stands at \u20ac19.3 million, an historical high. That funding did not even exist until recent years. I increased it again in the latest budget. There are a number of discretionary measures and in many cases they are not means tested, so the estrangement issue does not apply, but I get that it is difficult. I am continuing to engage with student unions on this. If it is any comfort, although I know it is of no comfort in the individual cases, it is a very small percentage of applicants, a couple of percent, who are refused for reasons of estrangement not being proven. I might come back to the detail in the supplementary response but that is a general observation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  The number of people involved is not huge. I accept that in cases where people might be taking advantage of that potential, it would have to be ruled out because we have to protect taxpayers' money. However, I am focused on the small number of people who are estranged from their parents, for whatever reason. There has to be a trauma-informed mechanism in our education system and through the SUSI grant to support those students. What I mean by that is, if you are estranged from your parents, something awful has happened. I am aware of students who live in the same household as their parents and their parents have nothing to do with them. AML\u00c9, formerly the Union of Students in Ireland, has made a number of suggestions to simplify proof of estrangement. The system still needs to be robust and broader reforms need to be brought in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  The trauma-informed view is extremely important. Having chaired the justice committee in the previous term, we saw many examples of trauma and how it led into addiction and triggered a certain path in life. I fully support a trauma-informed approach. It is one of the reasons I committed additional funding to the mental health budget in higher education institutions this year.  On mature students, to recap the rules, a student can be assessed as independent if they have reached the age of 23 on 1 January of the year they start and have not been ordinarily resident with their parents from the previous October. As such, if a student is outside the home and is aged 23 years or over, they can apply. For the avoidance of doubt, there is an estrangement option within the SUSI system. Applicants can declare on their application form that they are irreconcilably estranged and a specialist team works on those applications. Sometimes student unions and others will say this or that document was not accepted. I am told there is no prescriptive set of documents. It is case by case; it is discretionary. It may be a court order, although it does not have to be, a letter or a form. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  We hear from students and groups who support them that the current system cumulatively creates hardships for those students. It is bureaucratic and burdensome. The proof requirements are narrow and assumptions about family supports perhaps do not match the student's reality. Given that there are so few of these students, could a body be set up to meet these young people and take a trauma-informed approach? I am not talking about the over-23s. I am really talking about finding a way to support those at undergraduate level who have come straight from school and are aged 18, 19, 20 or 21. The SUSI grant is one part but there are other grants. I am happy to see the Minister has put resources into mental health because, as we know, at third level, that is important, as are other aspects of health, for those young people who are estranged and living an independent life at a premature age in terms of what they need. As we know, being in your early 20s is still quite a challenging time for many young people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I have the figures for those who cited estrangement on their application form. In the 2023-24 year, it was 184 students; in 2024-25, it was 165 students; and in the most recent year, 2025-26, it was 213 students. When I said it was a couple of percent, I exaggerated. It is 0.19% of total applications. However, that makes it even more pertinent that we address it. There might be a tendency to say it is a very small number but if is very small, let us fix it. That is my view. I welcome submissions and inputs. It would be very constructive if the Deputy or AML\u00c9 or other Members of the House were to share their thoughts on that in a way that protects taxpayers' money, involves a robust process that is fit for purpose and has checks and balances, while ensuring that students who are estranged are supported appropriately. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Grant Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Third Level Education","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I fully recognise the distress that has arisen from defective concrete block situation in the Deputy's constituency and in other constituencies. The Deputy may be aware that I met some members of his group. I have not had a Ministry directly relevant to the issue but at the MacGill Summer School two summers ago, I sat down with some of the group's councillors and we had a very good discussion. It really brought home to be the trauma the Deputy and his people are experiencing due to that.  I am pleased to tell the Deputy that payments under the enhanced defective concrete block grant scheme constitute a grant for a specific purpose which has been put in place to support homeowners to remediate their dwellings, and we know how that works. That will not be classed as reckonable income for a SUSI application. Effectively, it is disregarded and will not be taken into consideration in assessing. That is good news and very positive. There is a means test in the system for all. Other things are considered as part of that but in the Deputy's particular case, the defective blocks scheme remediation payments will not be taken into account as income. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  I thank the Minister. To elaborate, for someone in Donegal, the cost of getting through a course at the Atlantic Technological University will be around \u20ac24,000 and it will cost \u20ac60,000 for someone who goes further afield and rents accommodation. For parents living in structurally unsafe homes, the issue is that when they go to rebuild the home, there is a shortfall. With the shortfall comes a decision as to whether to send their children to college. Over a five-year period, they have to decide whether to rebuild the home, at a cost to the family, and then whether they can get the funding from the banks. It comes down to that. I am glad and grateful the Minister is committing to this, but I want to make him aware that this shortfall will come into place for people as the scheme starts to ramp up, particularly in Donegal and in less economically well-off areas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  More broadly, in terms of supporting students and families, particularly on lower income levels, my focus has always been on targeted supports. While I have introduced universal measures on fees, and I will continue to do so, my focus is on ensuring that, for people who are on the verge of missing out and would not experience college otherwise and for vulnerable families and people who may be the first in their family to access third level education, the focus of student supports is to get those people elevated into a situation where they can make that leap. At the moment, some of those students just cannot make it, which is a tragedy. I want to target measures to help students do that. To give an example of that, the student grant was increased this year. I also increased all the non-adjacent grants so any student travelling beyond 30 km will now benefit from that, some by up to \u20ac430 or \u20ac350, depending on the band. I did likewise for postgraduate courses and apprenticeships, which are equally important. All those figures have been addressed and brought down through increased subventions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  That is all welcome but looking at the University of Ulster study on the impact of defective concrete crisis, the profound lasting effects on mental health and well-being going down the line have to be addressed. Last year, there was a 34% increase in youths seeking mental health service supports in Donegal, which is crazy. From day one, I know the Minister has been focused on making education more affordable. He said that and we can see it. Most of all, these young people need support. They have gone through trauma. The Minister has committed to funding mental health supports for students. Will he commit to ring-fencing mental health funding for students impacted by defective concrete? That will be vital as we move forward. We have 25,000 houses to rebuild in Donegal. It will take a long time. Families are developing and growing and we need to make sure they are looked after in the long run. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  To reflect on the educational opportunities in Donegal, the Deputy's constituency, and I know he is a proud Donegal man, the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, and Deputy Gallagher have also made representations to me on many of these matters. I launched the veterinary school in ATU Letterkenny recently. It is great. There will be 40 vet places in the north west, primarily for large animal practice. This was badly needed because students had to go to either the UK or Dublin and many also travelled to Poland previously. Some did not come home so this is important.  I also visited the ETB in Killybegs with Deputy Gallagher and saw some of the supports it has put in place, in particular around the fishing community and changing lifelong learning there as people adapt to different skills. There is a lot of investment going into Donegal. The Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, opened the new sports facility adjacent to the ATU campus, which is a big win.  I increased the mental health budget. The Deputy referred to ring fencing but I try not to be prescriptive in terms of telling colleges how they award that funding. There is significant discretion for access and welfare officers. I also increased the student assistance fund to just under \u20ac20 million this year. Again, there is discretion. The Deputy knows very well the situation around defective blocks. I expect colleges to have regard to that. Local knowledge will be important. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Third Level Education"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Third Level Admissions","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I would like to ask about the number of extra college places being created in September 2026 and 2027 to ensure there is an adequate supply of new speech and language and occupational therapists to meet the increasing demands of our care system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  This is an all-of-government priority in terms of meeting the disability needs of our people. We made a decision at a Cabinet subcommittee early in the term that my Department can increase the number of therapists coming through third level and into the workforce. An interdepartmental working group is working with the Ministers for Health and Education and Youth and will examine the number of places we need to fill.  We have produced a list of the occupations with the most critical skills shortages in terms of disability and health care supports. That has led to a first-round call. Having worked with my colleagues to identify the particular therapies and occupations that were most critically needed, I made a call, through the HEA, to third level providers to ask what colleges were in a position to meet the call and demand. From that first response, starting in September an 478 additional places are being created across the different therapies. There is a second call under way at the moment.  The first call asked colleges with existing course provision through schools of nursing, therapy, medicine and healthcare whether they could increase the number of places on their courses. That call has now been completed and, I understand, 461 places have been created, rising to 478 over the next year or two. The next call asked colleges that do not currently provide those sort of courses and do not have schools in the relevant area whether they are in a position to provide such courses. For example, Maynooth launched a school of nursing which did not exist this time last year. That is one among many colleges that will ramp up its provision of different therapies. This is an all-of-government priority. As I said, I am happy to be able to deliver an additional 478 places in the first round. I have many more rounds to go, and I continue intend to continue to grow that workforce. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I thank the Minister for the response. It is very heartening to hear that there will be at least 478 new places coming on stream next year, or even this year if possible. The situation facing families across the country because of staff shortages in critical posts is beyond difficult. I am sure every Member of the House has heard from families on a CDNT list who are waiting for care. Across the HSE Dublin and south east region, which covers Carlow and Kilkenny, over 1,700 children have been waiting for CDNT services for over a year. Nationally, that figure stands at over 6,000 children. We must urgently prioritise the provision of these crucial services. I acknowledge that, as the Minister said, over 478 places coming are on stream but I ask him not to spare any ambition in the number of additional places he can provide for speech and language and occupational therapy students. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  We are very much on the same page. I will give the Deputy a list of courses that have been identified in consultation with the Ministers for Health and Education and Youth and myself. Occupational, therapists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dieticians, radiation therapists, radiographers, medical scientists, podiatrists, social workers and educational psychologists are on the list. That is not to say that there will not be further courses within that but they were the courses identified for the first round of expressions of interest.  The Deputy mentioned CNDT groups, which I deal with in my constituency at a local level. I can provide training courses through the system, and have done and will continue to do that, but they need to be matched by placements in the HSE and health service. Without that, people will not complete their courses. Some colleges have told me they have or can make capacity for additional places but they need a guarantee from the health system that there will be placements when people get to the relevant time in their course. I have engaged with the HSE and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this. It is a critical gap or challenge in the system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I thank the Minister for the response. I am heartened to hear that solid measures are being taken to provide more training places, not just for speech and language and occupational therapists but also for dieticians, physiotherapists and educational psychologists, in particular. It is a welcome measure.  We are all aware that this challenge is not just about training staff; it is also about retaining them. I know the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, is working on reforming how therapies are delivers to ensure services are delivered more efficiently and effectively to those who need them without undue delay. However, Carlow CNDT still faces one of the highest rates of staff shortages. The most recent figures show that almost 45% of positions in the CDNT are vacant, despite sustained efforts to provide specialists. With that in mind, does the Minister have any plans to introduce an apprenticeship-style avenue for health and social care personnel to allow for continuous professional development in while in employment, perhaps even up to PhD level, to encourage higher retention in the sector? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I have explored that and my officials are actively exploring the apprenticeship route. There is also the recognition of private learning where somebody has worked in a related discipline and rather than starting on day one in year one they could come into the system midstream or at a more advanced stage, if we take into account their prior learning.  The issue the Deputy mentioned in respect of CDNTs is a common one. She referred to Carlow CDNT as having vacant places. A placement often determines where a student progresses long term in their career. A student who has a placement in a private practice, for example, may be more likely to stay with that practice and in the private sector long term. However, if a student is placed, for example, in a local facility in Carlow, Kildare or wherever it happens to be, they are more likely to stay there. It is critical that during their training students are exposed to different practice types. I have discussed with my colleagues on the Cabinet subcommittee the need to rotate placements so that a student has exposure to many different fields rather than just one and is more likely to return to that field.  They can be difficult and stressful environments in which to work. We need to encourage our graduates to go into those sectors when they leave college. I agree with the Deputy that we also need focus on retention measures. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Third Level Admissions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Further and Higher Education","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy John Connolly. The programme for access to higher education, PATH, 4, is the universal design for learning. It supports HEIs in making teaching assessment and student supports more inclusive. Does the Minister or Department plan on developing or expanding any phases of PATH 4? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I thank the Deputy. The PATH 4 programme is extremely important. I am very proud of it and the Taoiseach is very supportive of it as well. We have discussed it directly in Cabinet. It supports the goal of enabling all learners with disabilities, including intellectual disabilities, to avail of higher education. I have visited a number of PATH 4 locations, including in Cork - I think it is called the field of dreams. I have been to the Trinity centre for people with intellectual disabilities. Each one is remarkable in terms of the participation, enablement and autonomy it provides students who can avail of the service. I am keen to continue to support the programme.  The two phases of PATH 4 aim to strengthen universal design for all students. Universal design means making sure that buildings, courses and how we navigate them internally are geared towards students with various different disability types in mind. The programme also enhances opportunities for the engagement of students with intellectual disabilities to fully participate in courses in a way that suits them and from which they can fully benefit.  A total of \u20ac5.8 million has been allocated under PATH 4 since 2022. Some \u20ac3 million was allocated in 2022 and I was pleased to bring forward last year a further \u20ac2.8 million for the period 2025-2026. To date, that funding has been introduced on a phased basis year by year and is something I hope to mainstream. I plan to update my Cabinet colleagues on proposals in that regard to make the funding a permanent feature of the system. I expect to make an announcement on that in the near future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I thank the Minister for his reply. There has been a concerted effort from the Minister and the Department to ensure that PATH 4 is expanded. It is about realising the potential of every young person through education, in particular. PATH 4 certainly offers that.  There has been strong uptake across higher education institutions, improved staff capacity and awareness, and inclusive training and teaching. There is early evidence of more accessible learning. I pay tribute to some positive examples. Maynooth University has delivered universal design for learning, UDL, training to academic staff and developed inclusive assessment pilots; University College Cork has embedded UDL principles into first-year curriculum redesign projects; and Technological University Dublin has introduced UDL-aligned digital learning standards and staff workshops. However, there does not seem to be a standardisation or an even implementation across higher education institutions. I know we are still at the early stages of UDL adoption, but if there were a standardisation across the higher education institutions, that would make it more accessible to more people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  Yes, that is fair. I think 193 students are enrolled in PATH 4 phase 2. The original target or expectation was that it might hit 160 students, so it has gone well beyond that, which I am delighted to see. They are running across 11 different programmes. I will not list them out but there is a reasonably good spread geographically and they include the technological universities and the traditional universities right across the board, with multiple institutions participating. The way in which those courses or colleges were identified and chosen followed a competitive call for proposals. The Deputy asked how this was decided. There was a PATH initiative under strand 4 whereby an independent expert panel was commissioned to say which of these applications should be supported and, following a competitive call, these 11 were chosen. The courses are typically between one and two years in length. I hope this does not need to be said but I will just say it anyway. The courses are free and there is no charge for participation. There was a significant consultation across many Departments. The National Learning Network, SOLAS, the Irish Universities Association, the inclusive national forum, Down Syndrome Ireland and many others were also consulted in devising the courses and the allocations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I understand the phased approach, but ensuring multi-year funding would allow higher education institutions to move from pilot phases to full implementation. I ask as well that a national UDL benchmark be established so we can measure consistency across higher education institutions. We need to ensure there are benchmarks that show what is success, what is working and not working, and what we can learn from, change and improve. Finally, I ask for further support to institutions with dedicated UDL co-ordinators or teams. Having a team on campus supporting these students is particularly important. Seeing those types of measures in place will certainly benefit those students now and into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I will address the UDL piece first. I thank an Teachta Connolly. I know Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail is taking this question in his stead. Deputy Connolly has invited me to a UDL conference in University of Galway later this year, which he is involved in arranging and which I very much hope to attend. That will be a very important milestone in rolling out UDL more widely and discussions about this issue.  In terms of mainstreaming our permanent funding, this was, to an extent, a new pilot programme when it was introduced in 2022. It was funded until, I think, 2024. When I came into office I allocated a further \u20ac2.8 million to it to continue for this year and last year, the intention being, having done a second phase or second tranche of funding, and all going well, and it has done very well, to look then to mainstream that and put it onto a more permanent, sustainable footing. As I said, I intend to bring a memo to Cabinet in the near future on that note. I hope I will have good news to share with the Deputy in the House at that stage. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Further and Higher Education"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Third Level Costs","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  What measures are being considered this year, in 2026, to support students with accommodation and living costs, including any planned adjustments to SUSI thresholds, particularly in our constituency of Kildare North and the Maynooth area but also as students from across our constituency are travelling into Dublin. Not everybody goes to Maynooth, as I did. A lot of people go into Dublin. What plans, if any, are there for 2026? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I am very familiar with the challenges of commuting from Kildare to various colleges. I have two daughters, one attending Maynooth and one attending UCD, both of whom recently graduated, and I have seen the commute, the grind and so on. The Deputy and I have worked together on improving public transport on many of those services.  When I came to review the grants this year, I was mindful of non-adjacent students, that is, students who live 30 km or more away from college. The Deputy will appreciate, representing as we both do a commuter-belt constituency, that non-adjacent previously meant 45 km and it is now 30 km. Just because we are close to a college, be it UCD or any college in the city centre, does not mean it is easy to get there, put simply. That is because of congestion, commuting and so on. I was very mindful of that, so the distance is down to 30 km.  As to what supports are available for students facing accommodation pressures, commuting costs and so forth, I have increased all the non-adjacent grants this year - the first five levels, from the base grant right through - some by \u20ac350 and some by up to \u20ac420. Every single non-adjacent grant for students living 30 km or more away from their college has increased this year.  I have also increased the postgraduate contribution fee. That means that postgraduate students have \u20ac500 less to pay this year. I have increased the subvention to the student contribution fee more broadly, in a universal fashion, which means there is a \u20ac500 permanent cut to student fees across the board. In particular, in terms of targeted measures, that additional money allocated to people on non-adjacent grants is real money into their hands, additional money that I expect will support them significantly in making the costs add up.  I also increased the student assistance fund. That is a discretionary fund available through college hardship officers. I am increasing thresholds as well. The threshold to avail of the various grants has increased now to \u20ac120,000, which means Members of this House, for example, can benefit from a SUSI grant, which would not have been the case historically. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I acknowledge the efforts and measures the Minister has taken in increasing the non-adjacent grants, the student assistance fund, etc. I spent a year in student union politics just after university in Maynooth students' union. An issue then, which continues to be an issue, is that there are those who sit right above the threshold for grants, for whatever reason. It is similar in a way to when somebody is applying for social housing and there is an income limit of \u20ac40,000. In circumstances where there is a \u20ac40,000 income limit, as in that instance, or a \u20ac50,000 limit, in terms of the SUSI grant, there is sometimes a reason that the threshold should not apply to someone earning \u20ac51,000. In that circumstance, is there any way view of assessing difficulty or hardship or reasoning when assessing that hard line of a threshold? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  In any social democracy, where do we draw the line and where should income levels and thresholds be? We are at a situation now where the threshold to avail of the minimum form of a grant is \u20ac120,000 per household, which means 80% of households in Ireland are eligible for at least some form of SUSI grant intervention.  To the Deputy's broader point about how we draw the line, and there are a number of lines as you go through the graduated system, I mentioned to Deputy Charles Ward earlier that there is a disregard for mica scheme payments. There are also disregards for disability payments and bursaries, for example, the 1916 scheme. I think there are several dozen of those because I signed a statutory instrument last year to give effect to them. The many disregards should go some way towards making it easier to hit the thresholds. One thing I intend to explore in the upcoming budget is whether, in the case of larger families with a number of children in the household attending college at one time, there is a measure we could take to ease the burden on them and whether that is a factor or criterion we could take into account. I am pursuing that at the moment to investigate for this year's budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I welcome that. It is really positive. Deputy Jen Cummins mentioned earlier children who are estranged from their parents, etc., and having to rely on their parents then when they are looking for student grants or if they are not getting student grants, even though they are estranged. The Minister's response to that made complete sense. It could increase the number of people claiming they are estranged when they might not be.  The Minister and spoke outside the House about the other issue I raise. He stated that about 80% of the population are eligible for some sort of SUSI grant. I do not know if this is being planned but it would be great to see the Department promote that message in secondary schools. It could also work with the CAO to get that news out to students.  A lot of people who are eligible for it do not claim it, like me. As we spoke about before, I did not claim it in first year, but I did in second year when I realised I was eligible for it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I wholeheartedly agree with the Deputy. Many of the thresholds are now so high and some of the benefits are so broadly available that maybe people have not realised they are eligible for them. I did launch a communications campaign in the national media last summer as a result of that to make people aware. Deputies may have seen it running across national radio and TV. That did actually drive an increase in applicants, which I was glad to see because we devise these schemes so people can avail of them. That is the whole point of having them. I agree with that and we will continue to do more of that as well.  I will mention too, because I think it is relevant in terms of the wider supports, that the student assistance fund, which the Deputy might be aware of from his students union time, is a broad-based fund at the discretion of each individual access officer or welfare officer in the colleges. It is a pool of money worth \u20ac19.3 million. That is there and I increased it again coming into the new year. That is for things like books, the cost of materials, rent subvention if necessary, food, travel and medical costs. There is a relatively wide list and it is not prescriptive. Significant trust is rightly given to the access officers or welfare officers in each college to make a call when they have a student coming to them for assistance. They can judge and I think they get that call right. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  That broad-based fund is available and it is an additional student support on top of the other schemes there. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Third Level Costs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Apprenticeship Programmes","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  What progress has been made on expanding apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities? Are additional measures planned to increase participation and completion rates? I ask the Minister to make a statement on the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy Marian Harkin)  I thank the Deputy. His question relates to expanding apprenticeship and traineeship opportunities. As he is aware, work-integrated learning, where learners apply their studies in real-world settings, is a cornerstone of Ireland\u2019s tertiary education system and this includes apprenticeships and traineeships. Apprenticeships provide structured routes into employment for roles requiring hands-on learning and guaranteed workplace experience, whereas traineeships offer shorter, much more flexible options where work experience is essential. My Department remains committed to investing in apprenticeships and traineeships.  In budget 2026, the Government invested \u20ac79 million in apprenticeship delivery, bringing the 2026 current apprenticeship budget to over \u20ac410 million. That is more than double the allocation in 2020, when this Department was established. The investment has grown the number of apprenticeship programmes from 58 in 2020 to 78 currently, so we can see that investment is increasing significantly, as is the number of different apprenticeship programmes available. Regarding traineeships, SOLAS allocates funding to the education and training boards, ETBs, and that depends on local needs, where they support flexible, targeted training. There are over 75 traineeship programmes available nationally across sectors from construction to retail.  A wide range of supports are also funded by my Department to support the participation of apprentices and trainees. I can elaborate on some of those in my further replies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I wish to briefly underline the importance of apprenticeships in the context of the very significant investment the Government is making in infrastructure and housing. If we are serious about delivering on our housing targets, retrofitting programmes, transport projects and wider public capital investment, we must ensure we have a strong and sustainable pipeline of skilled tradespeople to match that level of ambition.  In that regard, I wish to acknowledge the excellent work being carried out at Mount Lucas in County Offaly, where the Laois and Offaly Education and Training Board is delivering high-quality apprenticeship and training programmes that are making a real difference for learners, employers and the local economy. We also know that many qualified tradespeople are now earning substantially more than their peers who pursue other degree pathways, with strong job security and clear progression opportunities. Apprenticeship is no longer a second-best option. It is increasingly an attractive and viable first-choice career. Given this reality, can the Minister of State outline how her Department is actively promoting apprenticeships? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I absolutely agree with the Deputy regarding the great work being done at Mount Lucas. I think I have been there three times at this stage, looking at its work on modern methods of construction, MMC, its flagship development. Of course, it also has what is called the Skillnet MMC Accelerate platform. That showcases the different career pathways that are available to participate in MMC. It is one thing to have it and to have it developed and have really good work going on, but is another thing to make sure apprentices are aware of it and of the opportunities.  The Deputy's question is broader, though, and includes reaction to our NDP, our climate plan, our housing targets and how we are going to ensure we have a sufficient pipeline of apprentices and trainees. Just this week, the Minister and I launched the careers in construction action plan. It includes 36 actions building on the previous plan, which was quite successful. Actually, it was very successful. Again, if the Deputy wants more detail, I can tell him more about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  Many young people enter mainstream third level education and subsequently drop out for a range of reasons, including being pushed into or choosing the wrong course. There remains a degree of snobbery within our educational system and wider society that prioritises traditional college routes at all costs, even where apprenticeships would better suit a young person's skills, aptitude and learning style. Given that many young people are well suited to apprenticeships and would thrive in that model, what steps is the Minister of State taking to challenge this mindset, ensure apprenticeships are presented as an equal and respected option in schools and better capture those students who disengage from traditional third level education but could succeed through apprenticeship pathways? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  This is again a very important question. I agree with what the Deputy is saying. Perhaps up to now, though it is changing, apprenticeships and sometimes traineeships were seen as a second or third option. They absolutely must be a first option for those for whom they are suitable. We are starting in the schools. There are a number of programmes in transition year. We have the initial vocational education and training, iVET, programme, which is a taster programme in construction available to transition year students. We have SafePass programmes. We are also looking at other programmes to not just encourage students to look at construction as a possible career, but also to break down some of those barriers that exist, including the gender barriers and the underrepresented groups. We are dealing with it from that aspect first of all. We are also having quite a number of promotional activities. The Deputy may have heard of Building Heroes, an excellent programme, with 12 ambassadors who are already in the construction sector undertaking peer-to-peer engagement, telling their colleagues about why it is a career of choice, why it is a top-class career and why they should consider it. There is a lot of work going on. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Apprenticeship Programmes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Grant Payments","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maeve O'Connell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maeve O'Connell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maeve O'Connell  I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy Peter Roche. Has the Department examined the impact of the current means-testing arrangements for the SUSI grant for those applicants who continue to reside in the family home and thus have to be assessed on their parental income? Obviously, the number of people in this situation is rising, potentially, because of the housing crisis. Has the Department engaged with the Department of Social Protection regarding potential reforms to these arrangements? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I think the Minister will be back in a few minutes, but I will respond to this question. The reply states the student grant scheme is a universal scheme and the rules including the means-testing of reckonable income are applied on an equal basis to all students who make an application. In general, for student grant purposes, students are categorised according to their circumstances, either as students dependent on their parent or legal guardian or as independent mature students.  Students may be assessed as independent students if they have attained the age of 23 on 1 January of the year of first entry or re-entry to an approved further education course or an approved higher education course and they have not been ordinarily resident with their parents from the previous 1 October. Otherwise, they are assessed as dependent students, that is, assessed with reference to parental income. Applicants who do not meet the criteria to be assessed as an independent student for grant purposes or who cannot supply the necessary documentation to establish independent living for the required period may still apply to the awarding authority, SUSI, to have their grant eligibility assessed as a dependent student.  Mature students living at home may have benefited from recent improvements to the scheme. This academic year, all income thresholds to receive a student grant increased, with standard rate thresholds increasing by at least 15%. In budget 2026, the Minister introduced the first permanent reduction in the student contribution of \u20ac500. Families whose household income is under \u20ac115,000 can also receive a \u20ac500 grant towards their student contribution for this academic year. The threshold for this grant will also increase in September to a very significant \u20ac120,000. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maeve O'Connell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maeve O'Connell  According to the Skillnet Ireland talent report for 2025, 58% of businesses report that they have difficulty in attracting required skills. There is a huge opportunity for society and for the individuals themselves in people reskilling and upskilling, thereby contributing more to society and improving their own lives. However, we are effectively putting barriers in place, preventing people from engaging in this upskilling by not enabling them to fully access all the supports that would be available to them were it not for their personal circumstances. In order to finance their return to education, people are returning to live at home, having been in rental accommodation or overseas. Many people in Dublin Rathdown have been in touch with me to highlight how they were not aware that, if they allowed their children to move back home, they would suddenly no longer be eligible. These are individuals who regard themselves as fully mature and independent. They just want to make a greater contribution to society and improve their own opportunities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I think an Teachta O'Connell is standing in for an Teachta Roche. I acknowledge that he raised this issue with me during Questions on Policy or Legislation earlier in the week. It is an important issue. This is a universal scheme. Means testing of reckonable income is applied to students on an equal basis.  I will recap the rules that pertain to mature students. A student is considered to be independent or mature if he or she has attained the age of 23 at the start of the calendar year and has not ordinarily been resident with his or her parents from the previous 1 October. By contrast, if students are living in the family home, they are assessed as dependent students. I know the Deputy is asking whether it is correct for that to be the case. I appreciate it is difficult, particularly at a time when housing needs are not always met and people are living in the family home by necessity rather than necessarily by choice. It is a difficult situation intergenerationally as well.  A number of improvements have been made to the scheme. The eligibility thresholds have increased by about 15% across the board. The student contribution was permanently cut by \u20ac500, which could contribute towards affordability. In addition, all the non-adjacent grants have been increased. The student assistance fund has also been increased to an historic high. Various other supports for things like disability and mental health were also brought into the system through the recent budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maeve O'Connell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Maeve-O'Connell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maeve O'Connell  I acknowledge the improvements that have been made to the various schemes. The overall scheme does not take into account how the world in which we are operating has changed. We are now in a world where people are expected to engage in lifelong learning. People return to education, then go back to work and then return to education. We need to demonstrate our support for that. As we know, we are also facing a housing crisis. As part of that, we are changing the rules to allow modular homes to be built on the site of the family home. We will now see in Dublin the situation that pertains in the country where people share an eircode with their family while living completely separate from them, resulting in all of the income being rolled in together. The system as originally designed is not fit for purpose in the modern era. It needs to be looked at. We need to ensure that people can access these supports because we need to have people consistently upskilling and reskilling in order to contribute to society and improve their own outcomes. Of course, we need to ensure the system is not taken advantage of but we need to provide those supports for people to encourage that lifelong learning. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  Lifelong learning is at the core of everything I seek to do in the Department. It is one of the reasons I brought the proposal for a national skills observatory to Cabinet last week. This dataset will enable future labour force needs to be forecast and emerging occupation trends to be modelled, predicted and met well by the education and training systems. Just last Friday, I attended a Skillnet event in Dundalk with my colleague, the chair of the committee, Deputy Erin McGreehan. We saw at first hand how Skillnet working with local employers can be extremely useful. We also have microcredential courses. These are short courses that can last six weeks or six months and can be offered online, through a hybrid model or in a local centre. Those microcredentials can be stacked upon one another. You walk away with a qualification that can be increased and augmented over time.  The reason a student living at home is not considered to be independent is that they do not necessarily pay rent, although I appreciate that they make a contribution in some cases, although not all. They also benefit from certain supports that are not provided to students living in an independent residence. I take on board the point on the prospect of modular homes and the planning system. That is progressing and it is something we need to look at to see what its knock-on effects might be. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 92 and 93 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Grant Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Third Level Fees","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  What are the Government's plans to reduce university fees? Is the Government committed to fully abolishing university fees? When will this happen? In the context of the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, these fees are putting undue pressure on families and students. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  The Government's commitment is set out in the programme for Government. It is no more and no less. The programme for Government commitment is to reduce the student contribution fee in a financially sustainable manner over the lifetime of the Government. Budget 2026 was my first opportunity since taking up office to begin delivering on that programme for Government commitment. I did so with an immediate permanent reduction of \u20ac500 in the student contribution fee. That became effective straight away. Students are benefiting from that in the current academic year. That flat-rate reduction is universal. It is not means-tested and is available to all students, regardless of income. It has resulted in the base-rate fee reducing from \u20ac3,000 to \u20ac2,500 for the current academic year. That is the first permanent reduction in fees since free fees were introduced in 1995. It is significant and I am proud to have been able to deliver it. That fee reduction will benefit around 108,000 undergraduate students. A further 14,000 apprentices will also benefit, as will postgraduate students.  In addition, I have increased the income threshold for grant applicants to \u20ac120,000. As I said earlier, there are Members of this House who could now benefit from that. The new threshold reaches into the middle income bracket and, I would suggest, even a little bit beyond. Some 80% of households are now eligible for at least some form of SUSI intervention, whether in respect of fees, maintenance or both. I would welcome debate as to where to target further moneys. Further moneys have been pledged. I am of the view that we should be progressive and target these funds. We should look at investing moneys in the sections of society where they are really needed and where they will make a lifelong difference. That is why, as part of the budget, I invested in mental health and disability supports and increased all of the maintenance grants for the first five basic layers. I also increased the student assistance fund. We give help to everybody but we should give the most help to those who need it most. That is a fundamental principle of social democracy and social justice. I would welcome the Deputy's comments on that at some stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  As the Minister mentioned, 108,000 students and their parents will get a second bill for student fees through the door. I know because I am one of those parents who got a bill this week. I am in the privileged position of being able to afford to support my daughter but many parents are not in that position. I was interested in the Minister's response to Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail earlier with regard to parents who have multiple children going through college at the same time. He said there may be a commitment to address that further down the line or in the next budget. That would be really welcome.  I know the Government has a promise to reduce fees but the reality for most parents and children out there is that there has been an increase of \u20ac500 from last year to this year. The reason I know this is because I am one of the parents who had to pay the money. Is there any commitment to address this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I was also one of those parents, not this year but in recent years, and I will say I did not need that support. I will be honest about it. Those on an upper income, such as Members of the House for example, are in a privileged enough position. Having said this, I have extended the threshold and Deputy Ward will now benefit from the \u20ac500 cut. Presuming his income is the TD's income we all have, he will benefit from the \u20ac500 subvention. This means the fees will be \u20ac2,000, the same as they were last year. It is arrived at through a different formula but it is the same thing. It is a little bit fairer and more progressive because it is based on means, albeit the means threshold is at \u20ac120,000 now, which is the highest it has ever been. The combination of the flat cut of \u20ac500 and the student subvention cut of another \u20ac500 on top means that effectively it is the same thing. As much as I can, year on year I will continue to reduce the figure.  There are many other aspects to it, such as the cost of accommodation, the cost of travel and the cost of books. I have engaged with student unions across the board on this in terms of their needs and there is a range of measures. The minimum thing I will do in every aspect of my brief is to follow the programme for Government. Deputy Ward can take it as read that I do my very best to follow the programme for Government in its fullness. I also look to go beyond it. For example, reaching the families that I mentioned is not in the programme for Government but I want to do it. There are many other things I want to do to support students and families. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I do not want to talk about my own stuff but if there is more than one income coming into a house, it is taken out of the threshold. Talking to students and parents, all they see is that the Government broke its promise. They thought they would get a reduction of \u20ac500. The simple maths is that last year I paid \u20ac2,000 for my child's education in university and this year the cost is \u20ac2,500. You do not need to be a college professor to work out there has been a \u20ac500 increase. There is a bit of spin in this and the Minister has to admit this. What parents want to see is actual change in their pockets. The question they want me to ask is when they will see a further reduction in college fees and when they will see college fees totally abolished. This is what that people right across Dublin Mid-West and throughout the country want to know. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I am not sure where the mention of abolition came from. It certainly was not in my party's manifesto. I never promised it to anybody, not once in this brief, and not once in the campaign did I or my party promise this. I do not know what other people might have done. It is for them to speak about that. I am not aware of any such promise in any manifesto. What my party promised to do was to address the cost of education and this is what we are doing aggressively. We are going full steam ahead on it. This is why I have introduced a range of measures. The \u20ac500 permanent cut is the first of its kind. There is the fee subvention for households with an income up to \u20ac120,000. The student assistance fund is being increased. All of the basic layers of maintenance grants are being increased. It is worth recapping and restating that 80% of households, if we look at the ESRI income distribution chart, will now benefit from SUSI grants. The question is whether we will continue, and we will, with flat reductions, but the 20% of top earners are the ones who will benefit most from ongoing fee reductions. I will do this but I will also do things that support those in the 80% and the 20% at the bottom because it is socially just to do so.  Deputy Ward raised the issue of fees. His party in the North recently had an advertisement about student fees being \u00a34,800. This is two and half times more. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  The money comes from Westminster. If the Minister is that interested in the North he should run in an election up in the North. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  Deputy Ward's party boasted about fees being \u00a36,000 on social media. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  The purse strings are held by Westminster and the Minister knows this. He is being disingenuous. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Third Level Fees"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Funding","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I very much welcome the substantial provision the Minister secured in the national development plan for capital developments in the further education sector. Thankfully, there has been a welcome emphasis in recent years on the development of the further education sector. Will the Minister outline some of the projects that will be progressed and will benefit from the funding available to his Department in 2026 for capital developments? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  As part of the national development plan review, which was conducted last summer, I secured for the Department a capital allocation of \u20ac4.55 billion over the next four years from 2026 to 2030. This is significant and it is almost double what it was previously. It is the largest budget in the history of the Department. It is aligned to the overall capital envelope of the NDP. Part of this is because the Department's activities are so aligned with the whole-of-government missions, such as infrastructure needs to roll out housing for our people, the metro, transit, grid upgrades and water upgrades. The Department will train the tradesmen to do these jobs through the apprenticeship paths and programmes. There are also all of the skills that go with the digital agenda. We are entering an AI age. There is also the energy revolution with offshore wind and all of the opportunities that come with this. There are also healthcare and therapy needs, and we are scaling up the provision of courses for nine different occupations.  Additionally to this, the research and innovation aspect of the Department has received significant funding. Before Christmas I launched the \u20ac750 million INSPIRE research framework programme, which is fundamental to our knowledge economy, the ideas that we generate and how we succeed, innovate and remain competitive in a very robust and changing world. These are all significant capital projects. I was delighted to be able to secure these moneys and we have published the sectoral plan for the Department which provides a detailed breakdown. One project that might be of interest to Deputy Smith is the college of the future in Cavan. I thank him for the invitation to visit Cavan Institute recently. I still wear the top with pride; I was presented with a sporting jersey which I wear on my runs every week. The Cavan Institute is very much one of the projects I look forward to seeing progress in the time ahead. I might come back to it in a supplementary reply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I thank the Minister for his response. With regard to Deputy Ward's concluding remarks, I very much welcome the fact that the Minister was the first Minister who was able to announce an all-Ireland university. He has worked very assiduously, along with Dundalk Institute of Technology and Queen's University, to have Dundalk Institute of Technology as a college of Queen's University. It is the first all-Ireland university we will have. This is practical and I very much welcome it.  I very much welcomed, as did the board of management and the staff and students in Cavan Institute, the Minister's recent visit. As Councillor Clifford Kelly, the chairperson of the board, indicated that day, a number of us have worked over the years to develop the college. We have seen it grow from being an extra class at second level in Breifne College to being a substantial provider of further education. Today it is one of the largest colleges in the country. We need additional accommodation, as the Minister saw himself at first hand. I sincerely hope his officials, working with Cavan and Monaghan ETB and Cavan Institute, will be able to progress the particular college of the future to the next stage so we can advance towards construction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  To pick up on Deputy Smith's remarks about Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology, I had a meeting on it as recently as yesterday. I am really excited about it. Going back to the wider question, I will do everything in the programme for Government to the best of my ability but I will do other things. The Queen's University and Dundalk Institute of Technology merger was not in the programme for Government but I am doing it anyway. It is something that is very important and I am very excited about it. The all-Ireland dimension is huge. Deputy Smith is a big supporter of the all-Ireland dimension, as is Deputy McGreehan. We were at a function yesterday in connection with it. It is progressing and it is a very important milestone.  With regard to funding and capital for the Cavan area, with the relocation of the army barracks Cavan Institute received \u20ac5.3 million in funding in 2023. The centre of excellence for supply chain logistics was completed in September 2024 with \u20ac207,000. There is a minor capital works application in the pipeline at present for Cavan town. There are also electrical works, roof works and other ongoing and emergency works. The college of the future campus on the Cathedral Road is progressing and I am glad to be able to inform Deputy Smith and the House that I was successful in progressing it to the next stage of development. It is at pre-tender project design planning, procurement and supply stage and I very much hope to be in a position to update Deputy Smith and the House on further progress on it in the near future "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I thank the Minister for his response and I know of his personal commitment to the project. As I assured him previously at the Oireachtas committee and at other meetings, when the project gets to tender stage it will be advanced as quickly as possible by Cavan and Monaghan ETB. We have an opportunity to work in conjunction with Monaghan Institute and South West College in Enniskillen. It is being practical, for which the Minister and I have advocated for many years. Thankfully, we are in a position today, with the political initiative since the signing of the Good Friday Agreement, to have greater collaboration across different aspects of society. We have seen the all-Ireland economy grow. We now need to upskill our people, and to provide skills and training on an all-Ireland basis. Earlier today, the Oireachtas committee on further and higher education heard from representatives of IDA Ireland, Enterprise Ireland and Skillnet.  They were talking about a skills shortages. Thankfully, today we are talking about skills shortages in Ireland because in the past, unfortunately, we did not have employment opportunities. There is a great opportunity to utilise the potential of the further education sector to contribute to training and upskilling people for very worthwhile employment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  There is a real skills shortage. It is a factor of success because we are at almost full employment in the economy. Recently my Department produced a labour force modelling report which looked at our construction skills needs. I am working closely with Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, on the development of that report. That showed we need to continue to grow our pool of skilled tradespeople from our craft trades right across the board - all the skills we need to build the big infrastructure projects we aspire to develop over the course of this term which are funded through the national development plan. For almost the first time we actually have funding. What we need is an intermesh between the labour force and the skills to deliver. There are a number of ways we can do that but primarily it is through skilling and training our people. Things like modern methods of construction can be embraced which, as well as being more productive, also bring the employment opportunities to a more regional level because there can be factories developing modern methods of construction in a regional, rural location which are then shipped off to a building site in the big town or the big city without the worker having to commute every day. It addresses the gender balance in the workforce and things like that as well because it permits women with caring responsibilities and people with disabilities to work on a site like that because they may not be able to travel to a traditional construction site. It is beneficial for many reasons and is something we will continue to progress. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Further and Higher Education","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  I thank Teachta N\u00ed Raghallaigh. Supporting students with disabilities is a key strategic priority for me, for my Department and for the Government. Indeed, we have a Cabinet subcommittee on disability which I sit on. My Department has taken on a number of actions through that because it is something we are determined to address across all of Government.  The National Access Plan identifies students with disabilities as a priority target group for subvention and supports. I spoke to the Deputy's colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, and others in the House about targeting supports. It is important that we target resources at those most in need. That is a fundamental principle we should adhere to.  The most recent figures show that new entrants into higher education with a disability have increased from 12.4% to 14.7%, so we are getting more participation in higher education from students with disabilities. That is really positive. We have a target of 16% which I think we will surpass. That is very good news but we need to continue to do that and to continue to explore the ways we can support such students.  One of the ways we can do that is through a flexible and agile system with many different pathways for learners to take as they navigate the further and higher education systems. One of the vehicles for supporting that is the fund for students with disabilities. That is a critical fund and in the recent budget, I was pleased to increase that by \u20ac3 million across both further and higher education. That will make a significant difference to over 22,000 students with disabilities for targeted supports they can avail of in the further education and higher education spheres.  We are also looking at things like the universal design which asks how we develop buildings with everything from sensory needs to textures to colours to navigation of spaces. That whole area of universal design for learning approach is critical and under the programme for access to higher education, I have provided \u20ac5.8 million to improve universal design across higher education institutions and to further educational institutions. It should not just be the colleges that get it; it should be across the board in every centre. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire as ucht an cheist seo a fhreagairt. I thank the Minister for outlining the work being carried out by himself and his officials. I will specifically turn to PATH 4 funding. I wholeheartedly support the advancements made in relation to universal design the Minister has been speaking about for learning in phase 1 and the course offerings provided for people with intellectual disabilities in 11 HEIs across the State under phase 2. I have had engagement with Trinity College, in particular, and I have been learning about the immense benefits of its programme in terms of empowerment, agency and work readiness. The programme for people with intellectual disability is state of the art. It is a world leader in the design of inclusive education and is ambitious in what it envisages for its students.  I look forward to reading the review of PATH 4 when it comes out and I hope to see funding for the programme mainstreamed in the next few years. However, in the meantime, there is a lot of uncertainty. Phase 2 funding is coming to an end this year and, as it stands, planning for the academic year 2026-2027 is at a standstill. Students do not know if enrolments will continue. Staff do not know if they will have jobs in September. Some colleges will not have an entire cohort through the programme by the time funding is due to expire. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  The PATH 4 programme is a wonderful programme. It is a programme I am very passionate about. I am glad to hear the Deputy visited the Trinity Centre for Intellectual Disabilities. I have also been there. I met with the students, the learners and the educators. I have also been to the Field of Dreams in Bishopstown in County Cork and a lot of other centres, including in my own area of Naas and Sallins. The project there is for people with disabilities participating in education. They are all wonderful centres, and it is really great to see them doing so well.  We have, under PATH 4, a target of 160 students to participate. We actually have 193 students participating through PATH 4 in higher education institutions. That programme is currently spread across 11 different HEIs with a budget of \u20ac11 million. There is good regional spread. It was done on a competitive call basis with an expert independent panel to assign the funding. That has proven very successful. The model has to be responsive.  I take on board the Deputy's points about mainstreaming the funding. Our colleague, Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail, raised that earlier as did others. It is something I am very mindful of. When I came into office I increased the funding by \u20ac5.8 million for a further two years, which was this year and last year. I will return to that very soon. I aspire to put that on a more sustainable, long-term basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  I believe the goal in this sector in the medium term, alongside mainstreaming courses for students with intellectual disabilities in our colleges and third level institutions, must consider a national centre to co-ordinate those courses and ensure standards across them. We should be looking at introducing a separate stream of funding to pilot a programme for neurodivergent learners, learners with complex needs and learners with rare diseases based on the same model.  As all-Ireland education has come up already in this debate, it relates to the potential to expand this model to the North. I see the real potential here to export a world-class model and make a 32-county initiative of this. Strandmillis University College has produced a feasibility study and there is plenty of scope and interest. At the moment, there are 11 courses open to learners in the Twenty-six Counties but there is none available across the Border. I have spoken with my colleague in the Six Counties, Caoimhe Archibald, and she is enthusiastic about this project, and I am sure she would be interested in collaborating with the Minister's Department on this issue. Dundalk IT and Strandmillis University College fall under the same governance structure, which should facilitate this. I encourage the Minister to consider extending PATH 4 funding to support this initiative through DkIT. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  Absolutely. The PATH 4 initiative is something I am very committed to and intend to mainstream. Certainly, I will be revisiting that in the coming weeks. I intend to speak to Cabinet colleagues on that and t o look to roll that out on a more permanent basis.  The Deputy makes an interesting point about the opportunity to have wider participation for students with complex needs. That is a good point and something I will take on board. We have a thing called the disability demonstration project at the moment, which is an exercise supported by academic research and a dedicated researcher to look at what interventions are appropriate at different levels and how we can broaden that. The Deputy mentioned Minister Archibald. I meet regularly with her and we have a very good working relationship. There is a number of items on our agenda which are shared. Just before Christmas in Farmleigh we announced all-island apprenticeships and the accounting technicians' body is on an all-Ireland basis. We talked about the Queen's University Belfast and DkIT consolidation. That is something I am really excited about, namely that all-island university potential that is coming to bear there and the disability supports and what we can do on an all-island basis. It is certainly something I would be very happy to support and explore with Minister Archibald. I do meet with her regularly in the North South Ministerial Council and in bilaterals. I have visited both Magee Campus in Derry and Queen's University in Belfast on a number of occasions since my appointment as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Further and Higher Education"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":88,"speakerCount":12},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Caithfidh an Rialtas bata agus b\u00f3thar a thabhairt do Larry Murrin mar chathaoirleach ar Bhord Bia. T\u00e1 muin\u00edn na n-eagra\u00edochta\u00ed feirmeoireachta agus an phobail i gcoitinne caillte aige. Caithfidh s\u00e9 imeacht. We are now nine days into a serious and escalating crisis of confidence in Bord Bia. It is a crisis entirely of the Government's own making. At the heart of it is a clear and undeniable conflict of interest. The chair of Bord Bia is head of a company that imports Brazilian beef that is produced to lower standards and is the subject of weaker safety requirements. At the same time, he is presiding over the State agency charged with promoting Irish beef, which is produced to the highest environmental, welfare and food safety standards. The contradiction goes to the core of Bord Bia's credibility, and farmers know it.  Yesterday, the Taoiseach's response to my party leader was confused, evasive and, frankly, all over the place. Instead of showing leadership, he appeared either unwilling or unable to grasp the clear powers the Government holds in relation to this appointment. Instead of addressing the substance of the issue, Ministers have resorted to dismissive language, talking about witch hunts and hikes and suggesting that farmers are somehow doing their own sector a disservice by speaking out. I met with the farmers protesting at Bord Bia headquarters yesterday. I spoke directly to them and to their representative organisations. All farming organisations are unequivocal: Larry Murrin's position is untenable, confidence has been lost and he has to go.  Matters deteriorated further this morning. In response to Deputy Martin Kenny, the agriculture Minister launched what I consider to be an unprecedented attack on the largest farming organisation in the country, the IFA, seeking to blame it for this crisis. That was, frankly, unbelievable and deeply irresponsible. It shows a Government lashing out rather than facing up to its own failures.  Bord Bia, we all acknowledge, plays a pivotal role in promoting Irish food on global markets, but that role is based on trust. Above all, what is required is the trust of our primary producers. Farmers are out in all weathers. They are meeting ever higher environmental, animal welfare and regulatory standards. They are doing what the State asks of them. Their confidence in Bord Bia is depended upon. Their confidence in Bord Bia has been broken.  Irish agriculture is already under immense pressure, facing new challenges all the time, including the emergence of bluetongue disease. Farmers do not need a self-inflicted crisis of governance at the very top of the agency that is supposed to support them. The Government appointed Larry Murrin. It has the power to act. My question is direct and plain: will it use its powers to restore confidence in Bord Bia and remove its chair? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We will not remove the chair. The Deputy has come for a head and he is not getting one. That is the position of the Government of Ireland. This is a Government that follows due process. This is a Government that does not decide that protest removes people from office. This is a Government that listens and engages. We believe that if a person puts up their hand for public service, which is what serving on a commercial semi-State board is, and makes a positive contribution, then they have the support of the Government.  The Sinn F\u00e9in position on this has not involved looking for explanations or facts. Its deputy leader is not here today, but he was here last week. Before the board meeting had even taken place, Sinn F\u00e9in wanted the chair of Bord Bia gone. It did not even want the meeting to take place. The position was \"Go. Off with his head\" before there was any chance to engage at all.  I said to Deputy Doherty then what I say to Deputy Carthy now. Conflicts of interest and perceived conflicts of interest are always important to raise in any corporate governance structure - 100% - but it is also important that processes are followed and that people are given an opportunity to discuss information. I will get to that in a moment. I believe there is information and complexity here that are deliberately being overlooked - possibly even suppressed - in Sinn F\u00e9in's presentation of this situation.  Mr. Murrin appeared before the board last week. That was the right thing to do. He is the chair of the board. He answered all the questions board members had and had the support of the overwhelming majority of the board of Bord Bia. I understand that he is happy to appear before the Oireachtas agriculture committee, and he should do so. Again, that is an important process. The committee is the right place for the people's representatives, including those from the Deputy's party, to have the opportunity to probe, ask questions, discuss and see, beyond social media posts and gut instinct, whether there is an issue here or whether the chairman actually has a robust and credible explanation. The Oireachtas agriculture committee either has invited or is about to invite the chair to attend a meeting. I know he is willing to attend. A date is being arranged. I hope that meeting can take place next week. It would be helpful for everybody to have a proper, thorough examination.  I agree with the Deputy that there are more important issues we should be discussing on the floor of the D\u00e1il today, including bluetongue, which deserves more than a passing reference, the Common Agricultural Policy and the fact that significant parts of the country are under water. Let the agriculture committee do its job, rather than having a rinse and repeat of the same question I was asked last week. The Government's position has not changed.  I also want to say that Bord Bia and its chairman, Mr. Murrin, have presided over massive growth in Irish exports. Does that count for anything in Sinn F\u00e9in's book? We have not seen the full figures for 2025 yet, but I will be surprised if the value of Irish food exports does not exceed \u20ac20 billion. That is a remarkable achievement and would be a new record for our largest and oldest indigenous industry.  There is complexity involved in any trade deal. The Deputy is around here long enough to know that in 2008, when we had the pork dioxin problem, there was a global recall of Irish pork and contingency plans were needed. In any major global deal, contingency plans are needed. To win major global deals that benefit the Irish economy, Irish workers and Irish taxpayers, we have to have a contingency plan. If Sinn F\u00e9in's position is that a food company cannot have a contingency plan in place, then that company cannot compete. If Sinn F\u00e9in's position is that if a person is running a food company that has a contingency plan in place in case anything goes wrong with Irish produce and there is a recall, that person cannot be on the board of a semi-State, then I believe our commercial semi-States would be the worse for that. I hope it emerges at the committee that Irish farmers have benefited significantly from the deal this company, Dawn Farm Foods, has in place.  The position of the Government is clear. We look forward to an opportunity for the agriculture committee to pursue this. I would also ask the IFA and ICMSA to take up the offer of meeting with the chair of the board. Every country chair in the IFA is welcome to meet, together or on their own, with the chair of Bord Bia. It is very disappointing that the IFA has not taken up that offer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The T\u00e1naiste talks about the success of Bord Bia----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  -----but it appears that he is oblivious to what that success is built on. It is built on the work of our farmers. It is not Larry Murrin or Bord Bia that are out in this weather milking cows. It is not Larry Murrin or Bord Bia dealing with cows calving in the middle of the night. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Wow. We do not need Bord Bia. Get rid of Bord Bia. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  It is not Larry Murrin or Bord Bia that is delivering the highest standards met by farmers anywhere in the world. It is our primary producers, who are doing so. They - not just me or some backbenchers in the Government parties----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Not in mine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  -----are telling the T\u00e1naiste that confidence has been lost in the chair of Bord Bia. The Government is trying to be evasive and to look for different ways out of this situation. The ultimate truth is this: the chair of the State agency charged with promoting Irish produce across the world is also head of a company that is importing beef from Brazil. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Soundbites. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  That is untenable. There is a clear conflict of interest. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  That is not right. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Stop trying to dodge. Stop trying to protect your man in Bord Bia. Instead, protect Irish family farmers by removing the chair of Bord Bia and restoring trust in that organisation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Usually when you deliver your response, it should be in some way linked to what I just said. You have accused me of being evasive. Here it is, really clear: I support the chair of Bord Bia. I think the chair of Bord Bia should continue. I think he should go in front of the agriculture committee. I do not accept Deputy Carthy's smears. I do not agree with his position. That is my position. How is that evasive? It is pretty clear to me. That is a pretty clear position to have. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  It is an unacceptable position. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Instead of the prepared lines that he has been working on in front of the mirror this morning, maybe the Deputy should listen to what the Government is saying. We are very clear in relation to our position on this.  There is significant value. I do not like the way the Deputy just dismissed the work of those in Bord Bia because they are not out in the rain. Bord Bia is doing incredible work across the world at a time of extraordinary global----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  On the back of our farmers. Do you not accept that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy just dismissed them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  You have to accept that it is our primary producers who are doing the hard work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Bord Bia is doing incredible work promoting our farmers' goods right across the world. I am so proud of the work of our farmers and of Irish produce. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  And the financial malaise being experienced by our farmers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Do not come into this House and attack the Minister for agriculture, who has achieved more----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  He is the one who attacked the farming organisations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----for Irish farmers than Deputy Carthy will ever achieve----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  He attacked our farming organisations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----whether it was nitrates----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----whether it was Mercosur, whether it is TB or whether it is work on bluetongue. Let us be honest----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The IFA is not at one on Brazilian beef. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----when it comes to Sinn F\u00e9in, this is not about food on the table; it is about a head on a plate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  The housing completion figures announced earlier show that we are thousands of homes short of the target the T\u00e1naiste set. The number of homes is almost 5,000 short of the 41,000 that he promised to deliver. Of course, the Government is trying to run away from that target now. The housing Minister has decided that annual targets are a distraction. A distraction from what? This is the number of new homes that the T\u00e1naiste said are needed and that he promised to deliver. The 41,000 target is there, in black and white, published by the Government just weeks before the election. If the T\u00e1naiste needs to jog his memory in this regard, he can consult the Fine Gael election manifesto because the 41,000 target was printed in black and white in that as well.  We all know that this is not the only housing target the Government has missed by a country mile. In the run-up to the election, the T\u00e1naiste was categoric that 40,000 new homes would be delivered by the end of 2024. That was another bogus figure, trotted out despite mountains of evidence that it was pie in the sky.  Out of ideas and with their housing plan in tatters, Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have now reverted to type. They are offering tax breaks for developers and sweetheart deals for investment funds, along with new legislation with the sole purpose of letting already record rents rips. Instead of providing affordable homes for people to buy, the Government is, in the words of the Taoiseach, pivoting \"more strongly to\" the private sector. This means turning hard-pressed renters into cash cows for investment funds and bleeding them dry to feed the vultures.  This is not an academic debate about numbers. It is about people in their 20s, 30s and 40s who are still living in their childhood bedrooms and feeling hopeless and helpless because their lives are passing them by. They are missing out on milestones, relationships, career opportunities and even starting families. It is about the growing number of elderly renters who are at risk of homelessness. It is about the 5,321 children who are growing up without homes, all because successive Governments have doubled down on failure. What is happening is not an accident; it is a choice. Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have led us here. Today's housing numbers are yet another monument to their failure.  Under the T\u00e1naiste's watch, a housing crisis has morphed into a housing disaster and from a housing disaster into a social catastrophe. Despite this, the T\u00e1naiste is going to stand up in a minute and tell us about what a great job he is doing. The gall is incredible. Will the T\u00e1naiste admit that he has broken yet another election promise. Why did the Government publish annual housing targets just before the election and then tear them up straight afterwards? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  You would swear the number of new houses was down today, based on that. The number of new homes completed last year represents an increase of 20% on the previous year. For the people listening at home - and just in case they missed the bit at the start - there were almost 6,000 homes built last year than the year before. We are now living in a country where 600 first-time buyers are buying their first homes every week. The Deputy talks about people living in box rooms. Yes, there are too many. He talks about hopelessness. It is not hopeless for those 600 people this week who will get the keys to their homes and begin their lives. These are the people I see, right across my community in Wicklow and right across this country as well.  We have completion figures today that show momentum. They are a positive sign. There is now momentum back in the housing market. The Deputy is correct. That did not happen by accident; it happened as a result of the policies that we are pursuing and that are injecting confidence again in an ability to build in the private sector and a realisation across all parts of the State that this housing emergency is the responsibility of all parts of the State to fix. I refer here to Uisce \u00c9ireann, the ESB and local authorities, which need to zone more land as opposed to just passing motions condemning the housing situation. The local authorities actually need to help.  Let us be honest. I would say the Deputy was a bit surprised that the figures are as high as they are today. I would not go as far as to say that the Deputy was disappointed, but I would say he was surprised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Stop. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The ESRI forecast that 35,000 homes would be built. We have exceeded that. The Central Bank of Ireland forecast that 33,500 would be built. We have exceeded that. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council forecast an assumption for this year of 34,500. We have exceeded that. We need to continue to do much more. The plan that this Government has is to deliver 300,000 homes by the end of 2030. This is a positive contribution towards that. It is a significant increase. If the Deputy looks at the graph, he will see that it was the highest number of housing completions since 2011. The Deputy likes to talk about my party being in government a long time. When I came into the D\u00e1il, there were approximately 7,000 homes completed. Has the Deputy looked at the graph? It is the highest number since 2011. Do we want it to be higher? Of course, we do. There is momentum now, and we have to build on that.  The Deputy and I have different policy views, and I respect that. We debate them and we will continue to do so. However, I suggest that some of the policies that we adopted in the budget we have yet to even see the full potential of because they were obviously introduced later in the year. During the course this year, we will begin to see their impact. That is not just my view. The Deputy will have seen the Bank of Ireland economic analysis published this week and what it is hearing from the market in terms of the positive signs of the decisions that we took.  We will work constructively with anybody in this House. We have seen the number of planning permissions increase significantly. We have seen positivity on commencements, namely a doubling of the number between December and November. More first-time mortgages were approved in the first 11 months of 2025 than every before. There is a housing emergency in this country,. It is an emergency if you do not have a roof over your head or are trying to move out of the box room. However, today's figure represents an increase in housing supply, and that is a good thing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Just over a year ago, the T\u00e1naiste promised voters 41,000 homes in his party's election manifesto. Just weeks before the election, the Government promised the delivery of 41,000 homes in 2025. The Government failed to meet the target it set for itself by almost 5,000 homes, and the T\u00e1naiste is dressing up this failure as some sort of success.  The Government is presiding over a situation where rents are at record levels, where the numbers of adults living in their childhood bedrooms are at record levels and where house prices are at record levels. Almost 17,000 people are now homeless. That is a terrible indictment of the T\u00e1naiste's and Fine Gael's time in office. Two hundred and sixty-seven of those people are pensioners. There are 5,321 children growing up without homes. That is another record level, and the T\u00e1naiste is presenting this as somehow being progress and success. Will he admit that he has broken his election promises? Will he explain why the Government has ripped up its annual housing targets? Why does it not have annual targets anymore? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We have a target. We have a whole plan. It is fully funded, it is published and it contains a commitment to deliver 300,000 homes. We are making progress in relation to that as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Why did you get rid of annual targets? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We have explained that very clearly. We made a decision. Whether a home is built in December or January does not make a fundamental difference. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  It does. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  What makes a fundamental difference is the total amount of supply built over a five-year period. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  We do not know your targets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Sorry, Deputy O'Callaghan is the deputy leader of his party. Maybe Deputy Hearne will get a turn one day. Deputy O'Callaghan is well able; he asked the question.  We built 6,000 more homes last year than the year before. That is progress. We built 30,330 in 2024 and 36,284 homes last year. The Deputy does not want any hope in relation to this. The Deputy wants to continue to talk down the progress that is being made. It is the highest number of completions----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  That is untrue. You are so cynical. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The cacophony from those opposite is hard to take. It is the highest number of completions since 2011 - from single-digit thousands to 36,200. Let us build on that. Let us come forward with ideas as to how to take that forward, but let us take at least one minute or a couple of seconds to acknowledge that the number of housing completions for last year exceeded the forecasts of the ESRI, the Central Bank of Ireland, the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council and, probably, the Deputy's own expectations as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  You are going to evade your targets and your promises. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Let us build on that work and help more young people get out of their parents' homes. While we are comparing figures, let us compare apples with apples. The population of this country has increased by more than 750,000 over a ten-year period, but the Deputy never wants to factor that in----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  You have known that for a decade. You have been in power for a decade and you have not delivered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----as well when the term \"highest ever\" is used. We have had the highest number of first-time mortgage drawdowns ever since figures began and 600 people are getting keys to their first home every week. That is progress. We have a lot more to do, but these figures today give us momentum to build on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I am amazed that the T\u00e1naiste is trumpeting success in light of the housing disaster that people face in this country. Tomorrow, we will have the end-of-month figures for homelessness. At the end of December, 16,996 people were homeless. A record number of people, including 5,321 children, were living in the misery of emergency accommodation.  Whatever the figures are tomorrow, there will be an unacceptable level of homelessness.  Next week, the Government plans to bring in a Bill that is going to lead to some of the most, if not the most, unaffordable rents anywhere in Europe being increased even further because market rents will then dictate what any tenancy that ends can be set at. Market rents are currently \u20ac2,600 a month and in much of Dublin they are more often \u20ac3,000 or even \u20ac3,500. These are shocking levels. We now have the CSO figures that show 36,000, which, honestly, is a marginal improvement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Cummins  We would have more if the Deputy did not object to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  According to the Central Bank, we need 50,000 to 60,000 houses a year in order for the Government to meet its 2030 targets. There is not a hope in hell of reaching the housing need that has been agreed on by many bodies, including the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Cummins  Stop objecting to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  By the way, Mitchell McDermott today proved that this has nothing to do with planning permissions. We have loads of planning permissions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Cummins  Stop objecting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  It is not planning objections that are the problem, as Mitchell McDermott said. We have 32,000 planning permissions that are being sat on. There are no judicial reviews, they have the planning permission, but they are not happening because of viability. What does that mean? It means profits - profits for your developer friends - or the lack of infrastructure, such as water infrastructure. We know from Irish Water that it is only being given enough money by the State for 30,000 units a year when we need 50,000 to 60,000 units. The Government is not putting in the infrastructure.  What about the developers, landlords and investors? The Minister, Deputy Lawless, summed up the Government's policy earlier this month. He said:  [Housing] is about international markets. It\u2019s actually a spreadsheet in Zurich or New York or Antwerp, more so than a builder looking at a site in Longford or Roscommon, that\u2019s actually deciding what happens here.  That is it. That is the policy. The investors in Zurich, Antwerp and New York, profit-driven, tell the Government to jump, and it says, \u201cHow high?\u201d Meanwhile, the housing misery continues, with the most unaffordable rents, record numbers of people homeless, totally unaffordable house prices, speculation and land hoarding, as developers and investors sit on planning permissions, waiting for the Government to pass even more legislation in their favour, so profits can go up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I know we come at these things from a very different place ideologically, but we need private investment to help build homes. We do not wish to live in a country where every house is built by the State. Can I just be clear about that? We want to build social homes. I think we are on track to build a very significant number this year, and we will have the figures for 2025. We want to build affordable homes and, heaven forbid, we would also like more private homes, and that ain\u2019t a bad thing either. There are lots of people who want to move out of their box room for the first time. They are not looking for a local authority home in all instances; they are actually looking for a home to buy. Planning objections are a factor in relation to that. They might not be in RT\u00c9, when the Deputy was out there the other night, but people do care about planning objections.  The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, and Deputy Barry Ward are coming to work every day, pursuing policies to deliver more houses. Deputy Boyd Barrett is seeing housing schemes in his constituency, and saying, \u201cWe don\u2019t want that one, that one and the other one.\u201d That is not helpful or constructive.  The Deputy is right that homeless figures are too high, of that there is no doubt. That is why we are continuing to invest more in emergency accommodation. It is also why we have to continue to understand better the composition of our homelessness figures so we can pursue the correct policies.  Viability is important. Again, we have different ideological views. However, unless the Deputy\u2019s view is that the State must build everything, then we need to make sure that it is viable for people to build homes because if it is not, they will not build them. That is how business works, as the Deputy knows. We have already seen very positive indications from the decision we took to reduce the VAT rate in terms of people now being much more interested in building apartments in this country. That is not just my view, by the way. The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland looks at apartments, and it has said there are five categories that it looks at. Before our changes, only two were viable, but now a number more are deemed viable as well, so that is progress.  At a European level, there are real housing challenges, so we are not the only country grappling with this. In Europe now, we actually have one of the strongest rates of home completion in the entire European Union. For every 1,000 people living in Ireland now, 5.9 homes are being completed, whereas the EU average is 3.3. I stand here very aware that there is a housing emergency, very aware that it is the biggest domestic issue bar none, very aware that people are putting life decisions on hold until they can get a home, absolutely, but also very confident that the decisions we are making now, hard at times as they are, will yield real benefits in terms of increased supply. Supply, supply, supply is the way forward in relation to this.  We have taken a number of actions. The Deputy made a fair point in relation to the infrastructure that is needed to enable housing. I agree with that. I hear, right across the country, \"We have zoned land here. If only it was serviced.\" That is why, this week, we announced a \u20ac1 billion fund that every local authority, including in D\u00fan Laoghaire, can apply for. It opened this week, and it closes at the end of February. There is an onus on every local authority to realise it is part of the solution here, or part of the problem. It is up to them. They need to put in their applications now to draw down that funding to help put in the road infrastructure, water, wastewater or whatever is needed to open up more sites. In relation to infrastructure, I agree. In relation to viability, we have different views on that, but I believe we have taken a number of measures. We will continue every day to engage constructively with any idea that can help to increase supply further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  We do not need a single further unaffordable home, not a single one. What we need is affordable homes. I did not say they should all be social. I said they should all be affordable or social. The problem is that houses being delivered with rents of \u20ac3,500 or for \u20ac600,000 or \u20ac700,000 are totally unaffordable to ordinary people, but are very good for investors. We are saying we need a State construction company to deliver the infrastructure that the T\u00e1naiste accepts the Government is not delivering, and to deliver social and affordable housing. We need a no-fault eviction ban so people do not get evicted through no fault of their own into emergency accommodation, including, increasingly, older and very vulnerable people. We need to stop the speculation and land hoarding. We need to stop dancing to the tune of investors in Zurich and so on in order to deliver the housing that we want.  By the way, on my own personal record, for one of the developments we opposed, we said there should be more social and affordable housing because it was only getting 10%. We opposed it----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Cummins  One of them. What about the other ten or 12? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Cummins, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  We opposed it, and we got the social housing. We said there should be more social and affordable housing, and we got the 100% because we opposed it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  You opposed it. Then you go looking for votes at the same houses you objected to. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. The Minister should be showing a good example. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  It is disgraceful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  It was only 10%. We got 100% because we put in a submission on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  None of those families would be living there if it was down to you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is reminding us of the irony of knocking on doors, looking for votes, at the same doors that you opposed ever being built. It is something we should all reflect on in this House. We all come under pressure in our communities to object to this and object to that. Sometimes----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  It is not true. We said we should have social and affordable housing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  It is true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  You guys can take this up in D\u00fan Laoghaire. I think it is a point worth considering. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I will happily list them out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Says the special adviser to Eoghan Murphy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I will happily list them out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Sorry. Hang on a second. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  She is getting personal but I cannot. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  She is the democratically elected TD for D\u00fan Laoghaire. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  It is about his record as a TD. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Minister is well able to handle herself, and I am sure she will pursue this.  There is a direct correlation between supply and demand and affordability. The Deputy is right. We all want to see more affordable homes. We know that one of the things that drives up prices is if there is more demand for homes than supply, and, therefore, we have to increase supply. I think we agree on that point. I fundamentally disagree that we do not need more planning applications or more planning permissions granted. We absolutely do. We also need more land zoned. I am getting pretty tired of the local authorities that think they have done enough. We need to over-zone land because not all zoned land actually correlates to new housing developments. Every local authority now needs to look at what it can do to make sure there is enough zoned land. What we will do in partnership with them is help to provide the funding to make sure that land is then serviced. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Much of the country is inundated with floodwater at the moment. The Government cannot control the weather, but it can control the delivery of flood defences and the forecasting systems that can protect people in this country. In those two areas, the Government has been a disaster. Two years ago, I asked the Minister for public expenditure the timeframes for the delivery of flood defence schemes in the country. He did not give an answer. Government Ministers are allergic to measurables in case they can be held to account.  The Minister told me there were 46 schemes at the design stage at that time. Let us look at a couple of those. In Midleton in 2023, during Storm Babet, 600 homes and 300 businesses were flooded. The damage was estimated at \u20ac200 million, which is incredible. People came within a hair's breadth of losing their lives in Midleton. The damage was unprecedented but was not unforeseen because Storm Frank had devastated the exact same area in 2015. In 2015, flood defences were promised, with a completion date of 2020.  Today the planning application for those flood defences has still not even been submitted to Cork County Council. It is an incredible situation. When it rains in Midleton, an elderly gentleman often stays awake at night to watch the height of the river in order to be able to warn families of impending danger. Eleven years after Storm Frank, Midleton is dependent on a human water gauge for the protection of lives under the T\u00e1naiste's Government. Enniscorthy has been waiting 25 years for protection. In 2014, \u20ac55 million was allocated to flood relief schemes in Enniscorthy. This week Enniscorthy is a lake. There have been 12 floods in 25 years and planning permission for these flood defences has still not been granted.  Practically every single piece of infrastructure development in this country is grinding to a halt. Housing is in reverse. It will be 2050 before Uisce \u00c9ireann has the gaps in the infrastructure filled. The grid cannot take the renewable energy that is created at the moment. Commuters are sitting on motorways that look like car parks. Tens of thousands of families are currently at risk due to flooding because those defences are not in place. Why? It is because the T\u00e1naiste's Government has the slowest planning, licensing, permitting, tendering and judicial reviews in the whole of the European Union.  Flood forecasting too has been incredibly slow. Met \u00c9ireann does not provide flood forecasts to the public. It provides rainfall forecasts that do not give a full picture in terms of ground saturation. There are no real-time weather stations recording rainfall in mountain areas and in the catchment areas of the major rivers. The national flood forecast and warning service was announced in 2016, yet ten years later none of these flood forecasts are being made available to the public. Councils know this information and people will get it but only if they ask the councils what is happening. I believe that the glacial pace of infrastructural delivery in this country is costing lives and is costing people dearly. Will the T\u00e1naiste detail today when the outstanding flood defences that are promised will be delivered? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn for raising the issue and asking the questions. First, I just want to be conscious in my own comments that there are still weather warnings in place in our country. The weather event that many communities are experiencing is still ongoing, with particular warnings for Dublin, Carlow, Kilkenny, Wexford, Wicklow and Waterford. There is more rain forecast over the coming days and flooding will continue to be a risk due to saturated ground conditions and very elevated river levels. I urge everyone to continue to exercise caution as conditions can change quickly, to monitor the Met \u00c9ireann forecasts and to follow the advice of local authorities. I want to thank all the local authority crews, the ESB crews and others who are working hard with communities and often in very adverse conditions.  I remind people that the Government financial schemes of assistance are now both open. There is a scheme in relation to homeowners under the Department of Social Protection, and the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has made that clear. There is also a scheme under the Department of enterprise for businesses affected, and the Minister, Deputy Burke, made that clear yesterday. Our national emergency co-ordination group, and the humanitarian subgroup of that, are meeting daily and will meet again today to continue to assess the situation and co-ordinate responses as required.  The Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, is currently visiting communities that have been affected. I know he was in Dublin earlier today and he has been in Wicklow. I believe he is going to Enniscorthy to meet with people there today. That is important. He will be looking to see what can be done in the here and now to assist communities as well.  The Deputy made two specific points. I could stand here and list a number of flood relief schemes that have been delivered, the significant benefits of which we are seeing in areas of our country that used to flood but which do not now experience that flooding. That, however, is cold comfort to the communities that are waiting and I am conscious of that. The Deputy will understand why I do not accept the assertion that nothing has been done in relation to flood relief. In fact, I would point to significant progress and money that has been spent right across the country delivering flood relief schemes that are really helping to protect homes, communities and businesses.  I accept the Deputy's point that it is taking far too long to deliver far too many. The Deputy referenced Enniscorthy and I too want to reference that. This is a scheme where we have committed the funding. Some \u20ac51 million is committed to the Enniscorthy project under the national development plan. That remains the position. We now need to see how we can accelerate flood relief schemes. I am not just saying that today. The House will remember that we published the accelerating infrastructure task force report just before Christmas. We will be bringing to this House a critical infrastructure Bill. We have to recognise there are some things, such as environmental issues and individual views people can have, that matter but there is also something else that matters, which is the public good. Lives, livelihoods and homes have to be at the top of the pecking order when it comes to our planning system. Let us be honest that sometimes that does not always seem to be the way. We hear about the mussel delaying the flood relief scheme in Enniscorthy. It is the people of Enniscorthy that I am concerned about. Our critical infrastructure Bill will specifically address the fast-tracking of flood relief schemes.  In my second answer, I will come back on the flood forecasting piece. We will be having a Cabinet committee specifically on storms and floods in a very short time to stock take all of the various flood relief schemes and to look at the lessons of Storm \u00c9owyn and the progress that has been made in relation to that. I am very happy for the relevant Minister to provide an update. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I can remember a long list of Ministers splashing around floods in their top boots for photographs. I can even remember former Minister Joan Burton falling out of a canoe when looking at a flood system. None of this gives any confidence at all to people who are being inundated at the moment. The T\u00e1naiste talks about the critical infrastructure. My problem with the T\u00e1naiste is that he has been here for 15 years yet if we remove the future tense he is silent on delivery. This is an incredible situation. In Clontarf, flood defences will have been 30 years from concept to completion. A scheme in Sandymount was promised 20 years ago but will not be delivered until 2032. Galway was promised works in 2019 but it will 2035 before delivery. These are all with the caveat, \"If everything goes well\". The T\u00e1naiste must be embarrassed by the length of time it is taking for the delivery of infrastructure in his area.  In terms of the clean up, I know of homes that are not getting sandbags from their communities. Business people I am talking to are still not clear about what exactly is covered in relation to this. Will their earnings be covered? Will it be means tested? People have lost their cars. We have seen cars submerged. They will not be paid for their cars. People feel it is unfair that people from Ukraine had their cars fixed by the Government a year ago and yet these cars will not be fixed in this particular situation. Everybody should be treated equally in this country in relation to fixing of cars. When will the T\u00e1naiste fix these issues? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am not sure how the Deputy segued Ukraine in there but he did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I am just saying that everybody should be treated equally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I agree with that but I am not sure how helping people from Ukraine links to a flood situation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I am saying it because cars are not being paid for. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is the point the Deputy made and our response to Ukraine is another point. I am not sure the conflation of the two is particularly helpful on this occasion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  You still have not----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am going to answer Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn's question. I am very proud of the record we have in delivering many flood relief schemes across the country. I can think of Clonmel, west Cork, Mayo, and I can think of many. I am equally frustrated, as is Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn, but nowhere near as frustrated as the people of the communities affected, that it is taking far too long to deliver far too many. That is why in our general election campaign we talked about a new approach to infrastructure. That is why when this Government came together we agreed to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure. It is why we are identifying specific areas of need as critical infrastructure. It is why we intend to legislate for that this year with the co-operation of the Opposition. Instead of all just coming in here and slinging insults at each other, let us actually pass legislation that might make a blind bit of difference to people. That is our job. We will bring forward critical infrastructure legislation.  On the flood forecasting, Met \u00c9ireann does a very good job. I thank Met \u00c9ireann for the job that it does but we need to have a conversation about what information we can usefully make available to help. When people hear that there is a yellow rain warning that has a very different context depending on the river levels and depending on the levels of saturation. After every storm, it is important to reflect on that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  Today I raise the question of the sustainability of section 39 organisations. The T\u00e1naiste will be aware that these organisations in all of our communities, and there are hundreds of them around the country, are vital for health and social care services particularly in the area of disability, hospice care, and care for our elderly. They engage in service level agreements with HSE. They are very heavily reliant on volunteers. All of those volunteers are a wonderful part of all of our communities.  I have to acknowledge there is a very extensive investment by the Government in disability services, which is critical, and a lot of pay and conditions issues are being addressed. However, when the next round of public sector pay talks take place, those section 39 workers should be considered as part of that. Certainly it should always be the case that somebody who does the job in a section 39 organisation as a nurse, for example, is treated in the same way as somebody who works as a nurse directly employed by the HSE.  There is a requirement, obviously, on those section 39 organisations to meet the required standards that are set out by HIQA and the HSE, and to adhere to all the Charity Regulator's standards. That is right and organisations expect to do that. It does, however, place a huge workload on those organisations and there are costs involved in that.  The challenge is that we ensure we have sustainability for those section 39 organisations, so they can deliver the best services in all of our communities to the service users. I know the T\u00e1naiste knows many of the organisations in my constituency. I think of Saint Aidan's Services in Gorey, with which I have a deep personal and family connection. It is providing services to over 300 people and their families. Cheshire Home in Shillelagh was the first Cheshire Home in Ireland. There is also the Irish Wheelchair Association in Ballycanew and Carnew Community Care, an organisation the T\u00e1naiste is familiar with. I was also in with the service users in RehabCare in Arklow last Monday. I had a useful conversation with them. One of them told me that the T\u00e1naiste was a very good TD, but that his brother, Adam, would be far better because he speaks out about autism services. Engaging with those service users shows how important those services are in our communities. However, when it comes to the cost of operating section 39 facilities, it should not have to be all about having to fundraise for core services. Can we provide some sort of guarantee for the sustainability of those services across the country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That person has very good judgment, and I agree with them about my brother. I thank the Deputy for this raising this important issue. As he said, I also know well many of these organisations in the counties we represent, Wicklow and Wexford. I join the Deputy and everybody in this House in thanking them for the work they do. I remember visiting Saint Aidan's Services, Cheshire Home, Enable Ireland and many of these projects and services across the country. We value their work. We must have, as I hope and think we do, a collaborative and mutually respectful relationship. So much of our service provision is provided by these organisations. We value and respect that, and we want to work with them. That is why my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, who has responsibility for disability services, met with the National Disability Services Association this morning. I know of her direct engagement with four section 39 organisations, including some the Deputy mentioned, namely, Cheshire Home, Enable Ireland, Vision Ireland and Acquired Brain Injury Ireland as well. There was a conversation with them on many of the issues relating to sustainability and how they continue to deliver vital disability services across the country. They are playing a constructive role. They are fully part of and embedded in the national disability strategy and the direction in which we are taking that.  The Government, right up to the Taoiseach, takes this issue seriously. We have a Cabinet committee on disability and we now have an implementation structure to drive forward the national disability strategy. I will be clear, as the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and the Minister, Deputy Foley, were, that we need to continue investing in and supporting organisations like section 39 bodies. We need to do that in the short and medium term as issues arise and we work our way through that. We also need to do it in the longer term.  As Deputy Byrne knows and acknowledged in his contribution, we have seen a significant increase in disability funding this year. There is legitimate commentary, as there always is, after a budget about different decisions we took or did not take. One of the better decisions we made as a collective this year was to significantly increase our funding for disability services. From memory, I think there was an increase of approximately 20%, or \u20ac618 million, in funding this year. A significant portion of that will work its way, for want of a better phrase, into many of the disability organisations referenced.  The Deputy also referenced the issue of pay, which is valid. The Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, pay funding agreement, reached last year between Departments and unions, includes funding for a 9.25% pay increase for workers in community and voluntary health and social care organisations. It recognises that staff in these organisations need to be fairly paid for the vital work they do. This was a landmark step. The Minister, Deputy Foley, in particular, did a lot of work on it, and I acknowledge that. The agreement also includes an automatic link to future public sector pay agreements for these workers to match the terms of all future pay adjustments. In many ways, we were rightly trying to deal with legacy issues in that deal. We now have that link with future public sector agreements, which I hope will be of great assistance in the time ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I thank the T\u00e1naiste for his answer. The WRC decision and the commitment that section 39 workers will be part of future public sector pay discussions are critical. There is a challenge for a lot of the section 39 organisations in meeting standards. I will give the example of cyber resilience. We know the impact of the cyber-attack on the HSE, and the hundreds of millions it is costing to ensure the HSE is cyber resilient. However, we expect the same level of cyber resilience of section 39 organisations, which carry a lot of health data. Yet, they are expected in many ways to pay those costs themselves. One of the problems is that meeting the standards set down, the regulations and so on, as they rightly have to do, takes up a huge amount of time. The costs there are not experienced by organisations that are part of the HSE. I want to see that commitment to long-term sustainability and multi-annual funding to ensure those organisations can continue to plan and best serve the service users in all our communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is fair. The Government wants to have constructive conversations about how we meet the shared challenges. All of this is about the service user, the person with the disability and making sure that, regardless of whether you attend a section 38 or section 39 service or a fully funded HSE service, it should not make a difference to you as a service user. Therefore, we have to work out sometimes innovative ways to make sure there is that consistency in approach, while recognising there are different structures in these organisations. Of course, this is not news to anybody. We will continue to want to have a shared discussion about reform and making sure we are all delivering as much service as we can to the front line. I know that is a shared objective across the sector. I do not doubt that. Obviously, the linkage between public funding and ensuring we have some degree of public oversight of the directive of travel is important. I say that from a position of being pretty sure there is good collaboration, good relations and good structure. The meeting the Minister of State had this morning with the National Disability Services Association is an important and constructive example of that, and we will continue to have that engagement. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  For the information of the House, Deputy Brian Brennan has been appointed to the Committee on Parliamentary Privileges and Oversight and the Committee on Standing Orders and D\u00e1il Reform, to replace the Minister of State, Deputy Frank Feighan, on both committees. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":72,"speakerCount":22},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Yesterday, VHI announced a third increase in health insurance premiums in less than 12 months. It will kick in from March. These three increases over the past year will see many families paying more than \u20ac500 extra per year in insurance bills. It seems for many people that there is no end to the rip-off and price hikes. It is not just health insurance. It is energy bills, rent, groceries, motor fuel and childcare. Households are being hammered non-stop, yet Government sits back and does nothing to stop the rip-off. There is something the T\u00e1naiste could do on health insurance costs. The Government has real leverage to tackle to the insurance companies and get a break for customers. Private healthcare relies completely on the public system. Private health insurance is supported by generous tax subsidies of up to \u20ac400 million every year. The Government needs to grow a backbone and use the leverage it has. Will the T\u00e1naiste call in the top brass of these insurance companies and private hospitals to demand they stop ripping people off? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy has missed an important point, which is that this Government is advancing Sl\u00e1intecare. It is advancing the creation of a universal healthcare system, and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, is leading on the full implementation of the public-only consultant contract. I hear much commentary about vested interests who have pushed back against making sure that public facilities are used for public patients and there is not that inequality that existed in the past. That is further reducing any suggestion that private health insurance is benefiting----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  How many people have health insurance? The costs are going up. People have it because of----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Please conclude the answer, T\u00e1naiste, and move on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Is Deputy Carthy now the champion of the private health insurance sector? I am confused here. We are delivering in the public sector. Everything we are doing is about making sure that, regardless of means, you can access healthcare in a time-efficient manner. That is the policy direction of the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  That is not the reality. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is what we are doing. That is why, whether you are with the VHI or anyone else, we are decoupling private health insurance from access to public hospitals and particularly to consultants on public-only contracts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  Yesterday, on South East Radio, the Minister, Deputy Browne, who is the Minister with responsibility for the national emergency co-ordination group laid the blame for the latest flooding incident in his home town of Enniscorthy firmly at the door of Met \u00c9ireann. Incredibly, today, on the same radio station, the same Minister, who also has responsibility for local government issued a statement effectively blaming Wexford County Council for the lack of a planning application for a new flood relief scheme. On 15 April 2025, I attended a meeting in Enniscorthy with the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, and senior officials of the OPW at which they outlined the new flood relief scheme plans to public representatives and Wexford County Council officials.  The long-suffering people of Enniscorthy deserve much better than this. When a Minister in control of agencies and Departments with direct responsibility will not take responsibility for their portfolios, what hope do they have? I ask for the T\u00e1naiste\u2019s direct intervention to resolve this dreadful ongoing nightmare for the homeowners and businesses of Enniscorthy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  First, I absolutely recognise the Deputy's characterisation of this as an ongoing nightmare for the people of Enniscorthy, a town that has flooded many times. Government announcements have been made and Government funding of \u20ac51 million has been put in place and people want to see the flood relief scheme delivered. I know we have that as a shared objective.  I listened to the Minister's comments with regard to Met \u00c9ireann. My view of what he said was that he was certainly not blaming Met \u00c9ireann. We need to have a discussion about the information that we can put out there. We had a yellow rain warning. That is a not a criticism of Met \u00c9ireann. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  What about the national emergency co-ordination group? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  A yellow rain warning is very different in the context of flooding when river levels are so high. We need to see how we can all work together, including local authorities, Met \u00c9ireann, the OPW and the Government, at a time when we are seeing more frequent adverse weather events. The Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, is visiting Enniscorthy in the Deputy's constituency today to engage directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  Despite repeated assurances from the Government, there is still a crisis in special education. Children are travelling miles outside their communities and some are still without a school place. Assurances were given to me that the closing of the portal on 1 October would not mean that any child would be shut out. However, children are being shut out because the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has failed to engage with them. Only 7% of post-primary schools have opened with the target set by the Department of education. In my constituency of Dublin South-Central, Clogher Road Community College was told by the NCSE last academic year that it would open, but it has not been on the sanction list.  At the same time, special schools are facing redesignation and we are still being told that children do not have a school place despite being told that there are plenty of spaces. Why are the NCSE and the Department of Education and Youth running parallel systems? They seem to be running in parallel. I am being told different things and children are being locked out. It is causing confusion and it is very concerning. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I appreciate the genuine interest the Deputy has in this issue. There is a challenge in this regard. I can point to the fact that we are spending \u20ac3 billion on special education, and quite rightly so. We are seeing more classes open. A good idea, or the germ of a good idea, was trying to open the process earlier to be able to forward-plan and get classes in place. I also accept the reality of the world and that some parents, through no fault of their own, were not able to meet that deadline. A solution will need to be found. I cannot see a situation where there is not an opportunity for them to reapply because that demand is real. Their child is real and their need needs to be met. I will speak with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, on it and ask her to link directly with the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The announcement by the Government of the new childcare scheme is welcome. The idea is that the Government will buy or build childcare facilities, particularly in areas where there are shortages. It is a small start. Similar to a lot of Members of the House, I would like it to be a lot more expansive but it is a welcome start. It is reported that \u20ac177 million will be available over a five-year period and eight buildings will be bought or acquired in the first year. There is a desperate shortage of childcare and early years learning places in Laois. The 84 registered places in the county are full. Parents contact me to say that they cannot get a place for their child, particularly when it comes to full-day services because a lot of people in Laois are commuting. The following towns are short of services according to parents, providers and the childcare committee: Durrow, Abbeyleix, Rathdowney, Graiguecullen, Mountrath, Mountmellick, Portarlington and Portlaoise. Every town in the county needs them. We have had a population surge in the last 15 years which is going to continue according to the Government's plans. I am not against that, but we need more child places. My ask is for one of those eight premises to be designated in Laois. We need it desperately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  He could not conclude until he got the most important line in at the end----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I am getting in first. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----which was, quite rightly from his perspective, a view in relation to Laois having a need for this. I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement that this is a positive policy direction. I am eager that the State invests directly in trying to acquire public space to provide capacity. We rightly have debates in this House about reducing childcare fees. We have a clear view on where we want to get to over the lifetime of the Government. Alongside that, we are going to need places and capacity and to support staff. We have identified that money. There will be an exercise done in identifying areas in which there is a need for that intervention. I am sure there will be many such areas. The Deputy has obviously made his case for Laois. I will ask the Minister to consider those matters and link with the Deputy.  We will see increases in simplification this year. One of the big bugbears we are hearing from childcare providers is the amount of bureaucracy. We need to cut that back. In September, we will also see reductions in childcare fees for the 47,000 lowest-income families. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Fine Gael used to be known as the farmers' party but those days are well over. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Ah now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Its MEPs voted against farmers last week in Strasbourg. Today, its Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, when I asked him whether he would use his office to stop Mercosur from being implemented before the European courts make a decision, he stated that he would not and that it was another Department's responsibility. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" (Interruptions) "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Government also refused to hold Bord Bia and its chairperson, Larry Murrin, to account. He has the job of promoting Irish food and I understand he is paid just under \u20ac200,000 to do it. Instead of that, he is actually importing Brazilian beef. This is a conflict of interest and the fact that the Government\u2019s judgment does not understand that shows it is compromised on this. It is, \"Do what I say, not what I do\".  One third of farmers at the moment are living off the farm. One third are only living off the farm because someone from that farm is working off the farm. One third of farmers are in poverty or going into debt. Every year, the number of farmers is falling in this country. Will the Government listen to the farmers for a change and do as they ask and remove Larry Murrin? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I do not appreciate being misrepresented. During questions on agriculture earlier, a debate about farmers and agriculture went into the area of a trade deal and what trade policy was, and I highlighted that it was not my direct role. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Exactly. The Minister said he would not do it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I fought my sector's corner on the Mercosur trade deal. The Deputy knows what way the Government voted. I made that very clear.  With regard to the point the Deputy raised around Bord Bia, what I implore everyone----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  No. There is no misrepresentation here at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I ask Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn to resume his seat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Keep going. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Minister said exactly the same thing to me this morning. He said that it is not his responsibility. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Resume your seat, Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I want to answer on the substantive point the Deputy raised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I want the Minister to withdraw the allegation that there was any misrepresentation of his view today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I ask the Deputy to resume his seat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Can the Minister withdraw the allegation as false? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I ask Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn to resume his seat. I am chairing the session, not you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn made a political charge. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I want to answer the substantive point he raised, if he lets me. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Will the Minister withdraw the allegation that is incorrect? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Either the Deputy wants me to respond to his question or he does not. On the point about Bord Bia, there is nuance and detail involved. A calm space is needed for this to be explained. We have dealt with soundbites, attacks and rash actions and comments by some people in this House that do farmers a disservice. Farmers benefit greatly from the integrated nature of international trade deals. We export 90% of our food and drink produce.  With regard to the specific business case of the chairman of Bord Bia, it is absolutely explainable. It was explained to the board of Bord Bia and 12 of the 14 members absolutely accepted that. It was explained to me. The offer is open to both the county chairs and commodity chairs of the IFA to have a direct meeting with the chairman. He is coming before the Oireachtas committee next week as well. Let us have the space for that. Do not do farmers a disservice by going with soundbites and playing on the sensitivities----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  They are the ones who are----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Minister should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Of course they are angry. They are angry because they are being fed soundbites from this Chamber. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Minister is doing a disservice here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Let us have a proper, meaningful debate on the importance of integrated global supply chains that benefit our farmers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Minister should resume his seat. I call Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I wish to raise the issue of the emergency works grant for Col\u00e1iste an Phiarsaigh, Glanmire. It is my former secondary school and I used to teach there many years ago. The reason I am raising this - I typically do not raise individual issues like this on the floor of the D\u00e1il - is out of pure frustration, especially given that this is the week when we are announcing a large capital programme in education, which I welcome. I have been working with this school since November trying to get a roof repaired and we cannot get a positive outcome from the Department. I would like to read an extract from the principal's latest email to me:  The condition of these rooms is shocking. Not alone that, water is entering the light sockets and creating a very serious health and safety issue. The lights have to be switched off and both staff and students are often working in the dark.  I know the nature of the emergency works scheme and how restrictive it can be. It is for emergencies but if this is not warranted or deemed an emergency, then I do not know what is. It is very frustrating and I cannot a straight response. Deputy Malcolm Byrne asked a parliamentary question in this regard last year and the reply stated that \u20ac77 million had been spent on roofs in the previous four years by the Department of education. I know, therefore, that the Department can fix roofs. In this case, I ask the T\u00e1naiste to please intervene to help get the school roof fixed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising this issue. I can completely understand how it must be a cause of frustration when on the one hand that school is seeing lots of new school buildings being announced, which is a good thing, while also having its own battle to try to get what sounds to me to be a serious repair issue resolved in the interests of the welfare of its students and staff. On foot of the Deputy raising it here in the D\u00e1il today I will speak directly with the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. I will ask her to revert to the Deputy on this and see what options there are to address it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  I ask the T\u00e1naiste to provide an update on the proposed college of the future for Clonmel. It is a project with which the T\u00e1naiste is very familiar. The proposal is the first of its kind for a fully integrated tertiary campus of further and higher education on the one site in the heart of Clonmel. I pay tribute to all of the stakeholders involved, particularly T\u00fas and Tipperary ETB. We are very much ready to move forward to the detailed design and planning phase. It is on the former Kickham Barracks site in Clonmel. It is the final phase and we are anxious to realise the ambition and vision we have for the site. Phase one, the plaza, is complete and phase two is under construction. The latter is the new south Tipperary Garda headquarters. In terms of the college of the future, I ask the T\u00e1naiste to engage with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to drive this project forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I certainly will because, as the Deputy said, I have an interest in this project. I remember being in Clonmel with Deputy Murphy on many occasions. The work of Tipperary County Council, Tipperary ETB and all of the really good interagency work being done on the Kickham Barracks site is really impressive. It is a really good example of people pulling together to see how they can improve, modernise and rejuvenate their town. I know Deputy Murphy played a role in that as the mayor and now as a TD. I am delighted to see the Garda station under way as well. I was there for sod-turning of that. I have seen the plaza too. There is great work going on. The key piece now is to get this college of the future in place. It will provide extraordinary access to education for people in south Tipperary, involving partnerships with T\u00fas and the university too. It is my understanding that the Minister, Deputy Lawless, who is very committed to this project and the further education and training, FET, college programme in general, had a meeting recently with all 12 of the chief executives, including in Tipperary. The message to them was to be ready and to ensure that their design teams are appointed this year. Let us get the design team appointed for the Clonmel project and power on. I will certainly keep a close eye on this too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Last summer I attended a demonstration protesting a pilot cycle lane between Timolin and Moone in south Kildare, a project known locally as the road to nowhere. Delivered by TII and the council under the national cycle network plan, over \u20ac2 million has been spent installing concrete islands and hard kerbs. Instead of improving safety and access, locals describe the road as an obstacle course and a death trap. Crucially, members of local cycling clubs have told me that they will not use the lane. Since the summer there have reportedly been 80 incidents on this stretch, including two serious ones where cyclists were hospitalised. Many vehicles have been damaged too. There was no meaningful consultation before this pilot began. No funding has yet been allocated for maintenance. An urgent safety audit was completed last December but it remains unpublished. Can this situation be addressed before a life is lost? Will the audit be published and will an end be put to yet more waste of public money? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue on behalf of her constituents. My understanding, although I need to look into it some more, is that this, as the Deputy rightly says, was a pilot, an effort to try out new things. Encouraging people to try out new things is always important but so too is learning lessons and answering the questions and views of communities. On foot of the Deputy raising this today I will ask TII and the Minister for Transport to respond to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  There was great news today with the announcement of 36,284 new housing unit completions, a 20% increase on the 2024 figures and the largest number since we started recording these figures. I meet people every day who believe that owning their own home is beyond their reach but when we sit down and go through the figures, it often becomes clear that with the help-to-buy scheme and the first home scheme, home ownership may be achievable for them. I have no doubt that a huge number of people out there do not know these schemes exist or do not understand how they work and as a result, they never even try to buy a home. We need to review how these schemes are promoted because the evidence on the ground is that the current approach is not working. Far too many people remain unaware that these supports are available and continue to believe that home ownership is out of their reach when, in reality, it is not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy McCormack, who makes a really valid point. I join with him in welcoming the fact that more homes were built in this country in 2025 than in 2024. It was not marginally more, but 20% more and the highest amount of homes completed since 2011, effectively since the crash. We now need to build on that. We have a lot more to do, absolutely, but we need to build on that. The Deputy's point is really valid and I find it myself in my own constituency. There are lots of schemes out there, whether it is help-to-buy, first home, cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe and so on, which do benefit people. From memory, about 60,000 people have benefited from the help-to-buy scheme but there is often a worry that people think that the schemes are for somebody else or somebody else's child and do not necessarily apply to them. I will talk to the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, to see what more can be done to promote these schemes and maybe to streamline the information as well. I thank the Deputy for the suggestion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  New parents are in a catch-22 situation. The flat rate, per-week payment for maternity, paternity and parent's benefits makes extended leave unaffordable for many families, although it has improved. The reality is that they have no option but to go back to work to cover the costs of rent or mortgages or the cost of living. They then need childcare. Baby rooms in childcare services should be the solution but, since the introduction of core funding, the number of baby rooms across the State has dropped by 25% and by a whopping 35% in my own county of Fingal. Parents are in a catch-22 situation. They have no option other than to go back to work but the childcare is not there. We need a joined-up review of early years policy and family supports to relieve pressure on parents. We need that quickly so that we have the findings for budget 2027. There are policy solutions out there, including better supports for providers of baby rooms, pay-related benefits and the inclusion of children under one in the State-led facilities because, at the moment, the reference is to those aged from one to three. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  As always, I want to thank Deputy Currie for the very constructive suggestions she makes constantly with regard to childcare and how we support parents, particularly with the early years. We have done a lot in relation to parental entitlements in recent years, including extending the parent's benefit to nine weeks. That is available for both parents now although the figure is still significantly lower for men. However, we are all living in the real world in terms of our interactions with people and we know that for young people who are paying a mortgage or whatever else, it might not be financially viable for them to take that leave, even though they want to. Government policy wants to help people be able to spend as much of the first year with their newborn as they can and divide that up in a way that works for the family but sometimes there is still a financial viability gap. The Deputy is right that the programme for Government commits to examining pay-related parent's benefit. We have pay-related benefit for people who lose their jobs. We introduced that last April and it is working well. We need to take the learnings from that and see whether they can be applied to other areas, including in relation to parent's benefit. I am happy to raise that matter, as well as the other constructive suggestions the Deputy has made, with the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, and more broadly across government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  Yesterday the Minister for Education and Youth listed 105 priority new school building and extension projects to proceed to tender and construction in 2026 and 2027 as part of the national development plan, NDP. While that is welcome for those communities, there were no objective criteria set out and no explanation as to why particular projects were selected for prioritisation over others. There was very significant geographic variation and some projects that were at a more advanced stage of planning were not listed for priority while less-advanced projects were. There was no indication as to what this means for those projects that were not listed. There is real concern in relation to that, as well as huge frustration in school communities across the State. Children are in school buildings that are wholly inadequate. I can list a number of such schools in my own constituency and there are many more across the State. What does this mean for those other projects that are already years in planning? Does it mean that they are going to be delayed by a further two years? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is a fair question and the short answer is \"No\". We have to start somewhere in terms of a list and a significant ramp-up of capital investment. What we saw yesterday was an effort to move forward a further 105 projects. That list consisted of 80 large-scale additional school accommodation projects and 25 further projects to be delivered under the modular accommodation programme. A total of 45 of the 80 projects were already at tender stage and 35 are projects that have planning permission or are at pre-tender stage. The criteria for identifying projects included projects that were ready to go to construction or to tender in 2026 or 2027; the condition of the school; projects in areas with capacity pressures; growing demographics; and projects in the pipeline for a long time. I take the Deputy's point that there are lots of schools but this is not the final word. This is an important tranche and we will look to build on this. As the Deputy knows, with capital projects there can be churn and there can be further opportunities. The Government and the Department will continue to engage with those schools, including the ones in Deputy O'Rourke's constituency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Will the T\u00e1naiste outline how proposed planning guidelines will take full account of the vital role short-term lets play in the Irish economy, supporting tourism, regional employment and supplementary housing needs? In many parts of the country, especially rural and seasonal areas, short-term letting provides essential accommodation for tourists, contract workers, students and families. These lets sustain local pubs, restaurants, shops, transport providers and visitor attractions and often form a crucial income stream for small family-run business. Given that tourism is a cornerstone of our economy and a key employer, how will the Government ensure these guidelines do not unintentionally undermine local communities or force viable microbusinesses to close? What economic and employment impact assessments have been carried out at local and regional level? What engagement took place with stakeholders in the short-term letting sector during the drafting of these guidelines? How does the Government justify these measures on housing grounds, given the risk they may remove essential visitors' accommodation, damage regional development and deliver little or no additional long-term housing supply? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Collins for how he has raised the issue. It is important we tease through this carefully. I think we would all agree there is a need to make sure we get the best use out of the housing stock that exists in our country, particularly in a housing emergency. We all share that view. We do not want an unintended consequence. This is not about going into small rural communities where they are very reliant on this. The Government will have to consider this. Work is being done. The population of an area may be one indicator and we will engage with the sector. We will do this. We intend to regulate the short-term let sector. That is important but we need to do it with a degree of caution and informed evidence to make sure we continue to support the tourism sector while making sure, particularly in larger areas, that for Airbnb and the likes there is some regulation and structure. We are trying to get the balance right. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  Yesterday, the cross-party interest group for family carers, of which I am co-chair along with Deputy McGreehan and Senator Tully, met in the audiovisual room. We heard from family carers Angela Briggs and Matthew Murphy about the 24-7 care they provide for their loved ones. They outlined the stress some 34,000 carers went through recently and are still going through after receiving tax demand letters from Revenue. The T\u00e1naiste knows carers save the State over \u20ac20 billion each year. Will the T\u00e1naiste let us know what the Government is doing to remove carer's allowance and benefit payments from the tax net, similar to other payments like jobseeker's allowance? Will the T\u00e1naiste committee to meeting the cross-party interest group to discuss this important matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I would be very happy to meet the group. I thank Deputy Wall, Deputy McGreehan and Senator Tully for the work they are doing. It is good to see a cross-party approach to this issue. I think in all our election manifestos we all promised a roughly similar direction of travel. I spoke to Family Carers Ireland this week. I am looking forward to meeting them and Care Alliance Ireland shortly too. It is a statement of fact that carer's benefit or allowance has always been a taxable benefit. It goes out in the letter that it is approved. It is a legitimate point of debate and policy discussion as to whether that should be the position in the future. There is also the issue of the means test. There are lots of issues we need to work our way through. I would like to get a shared sense of priority if that is possible as to how we move forward. We took a big move on the income disregard this year. That is the right thing to do. It will kick in in July. I am looking forward to engaging with the groups and I am very happy to meet the cross-party group. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  This week the Minister for education announced extra time will be granted to secondary school students with dyslexia and other and other visual and physical disabilities in their junior and leaving certificate exams but it comes with a catch - it is only ten minutes per exam. I accept ten minutes is better than nothing but it falls far short of what these students require and deserve. It is nowhere near what third level students get. The minimum dyslexic third level students get is an extra ten minutes per hour while second level students are offered just ten minutes per exam. This simply is not good enough. In Northern Ireland, dyslexic students get 25% extra time. The Government's proposal amounts to just 6%. In addition, the State Examinations Commission is just tagging extra time on to existing accommodations, meaning those who do not qualify for current supports such as reading assistance or a spelling and grammar waiver will be excluded. Why are young people who do not qualify for existing supports, in particular students with dyscalculia, excluded? Will the Government increase this half-hearted measure and offer additional extra time in 2026, putting it in line with third level supports? Will it make this extra time a stand-alone accommodation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I find myself somewhat agreeing with the Deputy on this. I have not had an opportunity to probe the rationale behind the ten minutes but I will. I know the Minister and Department were eager to do something positive and providing additional time is that. As a former Minister for higher education, I am aware of how the higher education sector provides those accommodations. We need to ensure there is never a barrier to progression or access in the education system. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, about this to see the rationale for the Department and various expert inputs. I am happy to engage further with the Deputy, Dyslexia Ireland or others. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  Like my colleague, Deputy Wall, I raise the issue of carers. They recently received correspondence from Revenue outlining tax liabilities on their carer's payments. For many families, that did not land as a clarification but as a complete shock. We know and all accept that it is not a new policy but for us it demands action. The T\u00e1naiste knows carers are not casual contributors to our health and social care system. They are an integral part of it. They provide round-the-clock care, often at the expense of their own income, health and future security. They save the State billions of euro every year yet we continue to treat their support as a taxable income rather than what it truly should be - a recognition of essential unpaid labour. People with disabilities face higher living costs every single day due to medical needs, transport and basic accessibility. I want the Government to look at removing carer's allowance and benefit from taxable income. Then we would have a Government that listens, respects carers and values the work carers do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy McGreehan for the work she does as co-chair of the family carers group. I look forward to meeting them. I rule nothing out but I want to have an informed conversation because - I do not mean this in any way flippantly - carers to do such amazing work. We all want to commit to doing more but the commitment a couple of weeks ago was that we were all going to focus on the means test. We will have to have a joined-up conversation with carers and their representatives as to the best way to financially support our carers. The means test is one, tax policy is another. There is a variety of areas. Let us try to have a shared vision of where we want to get to. The reality around tax is the reality. Many carers will never reach the level where they will have any tax liability. They may even get a rebate. My understanding is this was about making sure people did not get landed with a large tax bill but, rather, that it was regularised. Having said that, let us have a proper informed discussion about how we prioritise carers over the next four budgets due in this Dail. I look forward to having that engagement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  My question is about a persistent problem with driving test waiting times in Dublin Bay North. While it is welcome that they are coming down pretty consistently across the country, it is not happening everywhere. Raheny and Killester in Dublin Bay North remain well above the national average, at 19 weeks and 14 weeks, respectively. For young folks in particular, this is not necessarily just an inconvenience. It can mean the difference between taking up a new job, getting to college on time or just having that bit of independence they need. People are being left behind at a critical stage in their lives, potentially. It will get worse if it is not dealt with. What can be done in relation to driver test waiting times in areas like Dublin Bay North? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It is an important point. These delays are not consequence-free, as the Deputy rightly outlined, for somebody trying to go work, go about their lives or go to college. The national average wait time for driving tests has fallen. It is 10.3 weeks, slightly above where it is meant to be, which is ten weeks. It is down a lot from last April when it was 27 weeks at the peak. I take the point that the fall has not been consistent across all areas. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is working on this. He is closely monitoring the issue with the RSA. There are plans to open further test centres to assist the situation. I will ask him to take a look at Raheny and Killester and revert to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  St. Patrick's national school in Celbridge is at crisis point. It has been promised a new school for 18 years. Parents and teachers have been in touch with me about leaks, rodents and even parts of the school being held together with duct tape. Despite the Minister, Deputy Naughton, visiting the school two weeks ago, it did not make the priority list published the other day. It is completely unfit for anyone to teach or learn in. The Celbridge three school campus has been at planning stage for the past ten years. It is as stage 2a now. St. Patrick's, St. Rachel's and Celbridge Community College are dependent on this campus.  The situation is also contributing to longer waiting lists for national schools, which is a new thing for people in Celbridge. When will the campus be delivered? Can appropriate temporary classrooms be provided to St. Patrick's school while it awaits the delivery of its new building? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. As she stated, it is an issue of which the Minister is aware on foot of her recent visit to Celbridge. I will speak with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, about this in order to determine when St. Patrick's National School can expect progress on the campus and on what can be done in the interim. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The number of houses in Mayo represents 3% of the overall national housing stock. Despite this, according to a recent GeoDirectory report, the proportion of dereliction in Mayo represents 14% of the national rate. That is extraordinary. Dereliction is a scourge on our towns and blight on our communities. Many homes have been abandoned for decades and have essentially been left to rodents and bats. That is what is happening.  Mayo has had an average of two compulsory purchase orders, CPOs, over the past ten years. We need to resource local authorities in the context of dereliction levies and CPOs . We also need to set targets to ensure that action is happening. We are rudderless in respect of this matter, and communities are struggling. I know of communities in which people are worried because slates are falling off buildings. That is how bad things are in certain towns and villages. We need targets for local authorities and we need to resource local authorities. We must have metrics. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We also do not need to babysit the local authorities. They need to get on and do their job. We have given them all vacancy officers and we have funded them. Hard-pressed taxpayers in this country have funded posts for local authorities to tackle dereliction. It utterly unacceptable that it would exist at the scale it does, particularly in the context of what the Deputy outlined with regard to his county of Mayo. We are so peeved with local authorities in terms of where they are at regarding the derelict sites levy that we are taking it off them and giving it to Revenue in order that it will be dealt with properly. That is why, as Minister for Finance, I intend to introduce a derelict levy tax. I will get Revenue to collect this because it will do it right. It astonishes me, at a time when dereliction could bring in, through the levy, more money for local authorities to deliver public services and act as a disincentive to dereliction, that so many of them have done so little in respect of this matter. They will write me letters and pass motions. They should get on with the job. I do not have any confidence that they are going to do it right, so we are going to legislate, take it off them and do it through Revenue. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/10","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/10\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2026: First Stage","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I move:  That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Act 2018 to abolish the 3 day waiting period for abortion on request.  This Bill relates to the three-day waiting clause in the abortion legislation. I was approached by young women last year who raised the need for reform on this specific aspect of the legislation. I gave them a commitment that I would put forward a Bill on the matter.  Termination of pregnancy is a health procedure that is extremely time sensitive. What was introduced is a mandatory 72-hour delay before a person can have a second appointment to access abortion. This clause does not apply to any other medical procedure that we have in law. One can buy Viagra over the counter \u2013 I would love to have a debate about that in the House. One can have a rhinoplasty procedure performed and there is no mandatory wait. The regret rate for rhinoplasty is 40%. We do not have any of these rules for other procedures.  This affects women and people who can become pregnant. There is an idea that women are rash, emotional, cannot make decisions for themselves and have not fully thought things through and that by putting in this place this barrier they will suddenly decide not to go ahead with a termination. This does not recognise the amount of thought somebody has generally put into a decision before they even pick up a phone to make an appointment. It does not recognise the impact it is having on GP services. This was, essentially, a political decision at the time. I was active around the process leading to the legislation and referendum. It is something I campaigned on.  This provision was introduced at the last minute. The legislation was very dependent on getting the vote of Simon Coveney, who, I understand, was T\u00e1naiste at the time, and the votes of some others in the ranks of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. In March 2018, Mr. Coveney was quoted as saying that people apparently came up to him in shops and stated that there had to be barriers before the legislation went through. He said:  Only after the protocol is certified ... I believe a pause period is appropriate at this juncture and expect Cabinet to consider between 48-72 hours, to ensure a fully considered decision.  What happened was very much political.  The country voted strongly on the matter. The people who went out to vote in numbers did not vote to put this barrier in place. I want to talk about some of the problems it is causing. It is forcing women to go much later, not by three days but often a lot more. In a survey, Too Many Barriers, carried out by Dr. Lorraine Grimes, the majority of people reported that it was very negative for them to have a mandatory delay. They spoke about having to get a person to give them a lift to a second appointment and having to get time off work. They spoke about the stress and anxiety of being forced to wait longer and of having this hanging over them. There are many other responses I do not have time to speak about. Often, people are waiting a week for an appointment with a doctor. Some one in four people waited more than three days for a second appointment. This can add ten days to the timeline.  I want to make something clear. Periods are not often talked about in the D\u00e1il, but the date of pregnancy is measured by a doctor under our law from the first day of a last period. It is not measured from the date of conception. Therefore, people have even less time. People may think 12 weeks is a long time, but up to nine weeks are measured. It is a very short time, and we are potentially adding another week and forcing people to travel, including victims of domestic violence and so on.  The WHO, the Irish Family Planning Association, the O'Shea report and UN have all stated that the mandatory waiting periods should not have been introduced. They are not necessary. During the pandemic, we had telemedicine. There were no delays. Some 98% of people who went to a first appointment went ahead with termination at the second. The idea that they had to be forced to wait is highly insulting.  I want to mention the political aspect of this. The people who oppose the likes of this are from rural areas. It is actually rural women who suffer the most, particularly if they do not have access to GP services in their counties. Some are forced to travel to other counties. The right, the religious right and the far right are pushing back on rights we won in the 2000s and the 2010s. I ask that the Government consider this as being an absolutely necessary reform that we have not had in the seven years since we voted on the matter and to not be convinced by these individuals. The majority of people did not want barriers put in the way of women. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I ask the Deputy to conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  The most oppressed people, including the poorest and young people, will suffer the most as a result of this clause. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Is the Bill opposed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  Not on First Stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Bill is not being opposed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Not on First Stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  This is First Stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is not being opposed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I move: \"That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time.\" "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.20 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.10 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.20 p.m. and resumed at 2.10 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) Bill 2026: First Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":14},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question again proposed: \"That the Bill be read a second time.\""},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy O'Gorman has 20 minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I will not be taking the full allocation for our group. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I welcome this legislation and acknowledge the hard work of officials in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. I know the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Foley, will recognise that work as well. Work on this Bill has been ongoing for some time. I was involved in some of the drafting work relating to the Bill when I was in the Department. I hope that it transits quickly through these Houses.  We have to consistently ask ourselves if our child protection laws and practices are effective. We must acknowledge that real progress has been made in this State on child protection since the referendum in 2012 and with the creation of the Department and of Tusla. Nevertheless, we are painfully aware that there are children who have been profoundly failed by those around them with a duty of care, including the State and its agencies.  This Bill will strengthen the child protection architecture and increase both responsiveness and accountability where necessary.  In terms of the Bill, a crucial element, and one I inserted, is section 10, which establishes the childcare implementation and inter-agency committee. This will put on a statutory basis, with very clear responsibilities, the committee I brought together on an administrative basis during my term as Minister. The committee involves Tusla, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, the HSE, the Department of justice and others. Enhancing and strengthening inter-agency co-operation is probably the most crucial and the most consequential move we can make, especially as it had been clear to me that there is potential for lapses or failures in timely communication or timely engagement, particularly where it is essential that different parts of the State that deal directly with children should be talking to one another.  As regards the most persistent critiques of the child welfare system in this country, from the children's ombudsman, from the last special rapporteur on child protection, from the childcare law reporting committee, all of those focused on situations where State agencies disagreed or stuck very rigidly to their own remits and children were left exposed and fell through cracks. Absolutely, there are good examples of inter-agency co-operation already in place, but every agency will admit that it is not absolute. Making it a statutory obligation, as this Bill does, for organisations to engage frequently and to meet promptly is a very important function. This section sets out in detail the objectives and functions of this committee, who exactly will be part of it and, crucially, the means through which information will be shared and accessed in pursuit of child protection. This is a good move, but one thing that cannot be placed in legislation, I am sure the Minister of State will agree, is the need for a strong chairperson. That role will be indispensable in making this committee work. I know the weight of obligations placed on those who will be its members - the Department, the assistant Garda commissioner, senior HSE executives - will be great. I know all will be absolutely committed to the matters at hand, but that co-ordinating role of a chair will be important. As regards the childcare implementation and inter-agency committee, which, as the Minister of State knows, has been meeting on an administrative basis for almost two years at this stage, putting that on a firm statutory basis, as this legislation will do, is really important.  I also acknowledge in this Bill the legal requirement for relevant bodies to co-operate. That is provided for in section 11, relating to the duty to co-operate, which mandates not only collaboration but also the sharing of hard data and information. That is another important point in ensuring that vital information about child protection issues is never held or guarded by one agency of the State on the basis of maybe some sort of quibble over the general data protection regulation, GDPR, or the like.  I also welcome the inclusion of the new section on guiding principles to the 1991 Act. This is an essential piece and brings the Act into proper alignment with the modern view and the foundational basis of our entire suite of child protection legislation. By rights, this probably should have been done after the 2012 referendum. It has taken us too long to get to this point, but it is important that these guiding principles now form part of the law. These are the fundamental principles that give effect to the duty to respect the rights of children and their best interests and to have the views and preferences of children known, understood and given consideration and due weight.  I also acknowledge the important improvement in section 6 where it comes to the operation of voluntary care, where the Bill seeks to give Tusla the ability to address more effectively short-term care needs of children requiring care. Voluntary care is an important part of our child welfare mechanism. It ensures that parents can, in agreement with Tusla, allow their child to go into care for a certain period. However, because it is done by agreement, there was maybe some lack of formality over elements of the voluntary care system. Even though it is voluntary, that formality needs to be in place because anytime a child leaves the care of their parents and goes into the care of the State, that is a significant moment.  I welcome the measures addressed towards foster carers. A safe and nurturing foster home is always a better option for a child than being in a residential placement, particularly at a time of such enormous demand for Tusla's services. Efforts have been made to make fostering more sustainable and to recognise the hugely important work foster carers do, but more is needed, so I am happy to see this measure adopted in the Bill.  It is not in the Bill yet, but the Minister referred to placing the national review panel on a statutory footing. Again, that is an important step that is needed. The national review panel plays an incredibly important role. It investigates those situations where a child has died or been involved in a serious incident while known to the State or in the care of the State. The learning from the work of the national review panel is incredibly important in making improvements to our child welfare architecture across the State and ensuring that similar situations do not occur again. Placing it on a statutory footing, I think, will further strengthen the key role that organisation plays.  The final point I will make is that I was always conscious of the criticisms about Tusla that we often hear in this House. Where there is an organisation looking after the most vulnerable of children, it is essential that it is open to criticism and open to the need to improve at all times the services it provides to children. It is also important to recognise the context in which Tusla operates. Between 2020 and 2024, there was a 39% increase in referrals to the Child and Family Agency. That is a dramatic increase in the scale of provision that it had to engage with. As well as the scale, there is also the complexity of the cases, including children who were facing very different needs as a result of Covid, children who were neurodivergent and children whose first language was not English. The scale of change that Tusla had to address in that period was huge.  As much as there are incidences where there is very legitimate criticism of the Child and Family Agency, I had the privilege to see the huge work that the agency itself and many of the organisations funded by it undertook and undertakes in communities all over the country. When we ask why it is so hard for the Child and Family Agency to recruit young social workers into those key front-line posts in Tusla, we have a responsibility in this Chamber as to how we speak about it and its agencies' work, always looking for improvement and highlighting where errors or mistakes have been made but also recognising its crucial job.  There is no more difficult job than that of a social worker who has to go into a family situation where a judgment has been made that children need to be removed. It happens only in the most crucial and the most difficult situations. It is important as well as looking to improve Tusla and its operations at all times. We have obligations in terms of supporting its work as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  This Bill amends the Child Care Act 1991, which is wide-ranging legislation that seeks to promote the welfare of children who may not receive adequate care and protection. Over the years the Act supported the establishment of Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, and an amendment to Article 42A of the Constitution to recognise the rights of the child. As per the programme for Government, the Act is being updated based on a review identifying what is working well to address gaps and operational improvements. It is absolutely necessary that we modernise this Act, and there has been consultation on this over several years. It should better protect children from harm and improve stability for them by allowing for the updating of care orders and care arrangements and supporting the establishment of an inter-agency committee for better co-operation.  It will introduce guiding principles for Tusla to follow in the performance of its duties, including that the best interests of the child are of paramount consideration, ultimately, to ensure children's rights guide decision-making and for a better alignment with the UNCRC. I welcome the rights-based progress and more joined-up thinking. I also welcome putting the national review panel on a statutory footing.  It has been raised already but I ask that the Minister engage directly with the guardians ad litem , GALs, particularly in relation to their concerns around independence. They are a very important stakeholder. From engagement with Tusla, it is clear the pressure it is under is immense. Since it was established in 2014, child protection and welfare referrals have more than doubled. For the first 11 months of 2025, the agency received 98,000 referrals, an increase of more than 10% over the previous year. Such is the importance of these services, any gaps must be addressed strategically and proactively. Its presence on the ground in communities has never been more important. While I see areas like ours grow, and it is great we are seeing new communities, I want to see the Tusla network grow in those areas as well. They need to be connected into early intervention. We need the targeted and the specialist services and supports across the State.  Tusla advised the committee last week that it had moved from 17 areas to 13 networks, which it says means it has smaller geographical areas. Within each of those areas, it has local integrated teams. These are integrated front-door teams, where it has family support teams and child welfare and protection services integrated under one roof, so when requests come into the service, they can screen them and react quickly. I wonder whether that is enough, and if it is doing enough work to reach into communities. Through the likes of the local community safety partnerships, there should be the opportunity to strengthen the Tusla presence, working closely with youth workers, social workers, the JLOs and local communities. This Bill is the second half of amendments to the Child Care Act 1991. The first half passed in 2024 and was focused on early years services, including the removal of the exemption of regulations on self-employed childminders who work in childminders\u2019 homes. The Minister then followed that up with specific regulations.  I take the opportunity to briefly focus on childminding services. There has been very low registration during the three-year transition period to September 2027. Families using childminders are not necessarily able to avail of the national childcare scheme subsidies. Lots of parents out there are worried their childminders are not going to sign up to Tusla. The supply is not there to choose one that is. It is great to see so much focus on childminding in phase 1 of the early years action plan. I think we all agree the regulation of childminding services is critical to the safeguarding of children. Childminders are anxious about how inspections will be carried out on their homes, so I am asking the Minister of State to update us on when the review of the registration process will take place because time really is of the essence. We want to ensure we are not losing childminders from the sector, and we need to support our parents. That is the goal. We need to ensure we are doing both but the safeguarding of children is the most important priority of all.  I will also take the opportunity to ask about the 17 cr\u00e8ches that did not register properly and were in danger of not being able to open earlier this month and whether the new Garda vetting process was part of what happened there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this legislation. I want to be very clear from the outset that this is an incredibly important and necessary Bill, and one I am proud to support. At its core, this Bill is about recognising that the world of child welfare and protection has changed significantly since the original Child Care Act was introduced in 1991. The challenges facing children and families today are different. Services are more complex and the need for agencies to work together effectively has never been greater.  This legislation acknowledges that reality and it responds to it. One of the strongest aspects of this Bill is the introduction of a statutory duty for agencies to co-operate with each other when it comes to supporting children and families. That may sound like common sense, and it is, but putting it into law is hugely significant. Too often in the past, families have felt like they were being passed from one service to another, repeating their story again and again. This Bill moves us towards a model where services are expected and not just encouraged, to work together in the best interests of the child. This is exactly where the focus should always be.  The strengthening of interagency structures, including the establishment of a formal implementation and interagency committee, is another very positive step. It creates a space where Departments and State agencies can co-ordinate responses, identify gaps and improve how services are delivered in practice. For families dealing with crises, delay and fragmentation can have lifelong consequences. Better co-ordination means earlier intervention, better outcomes and, ultimately, safer childhoods.  I also strongly welcome the provisions that support stability for children in care, particularly the changes allowing foster carers to apply for enhanced parental rights after three years instead of five years. Anyone who has spent time speaking to foster carers knows the level of commitment and care they provide. Where there is a stable, loving, long-term placement, we should be supporting that stability and not putting unnecessary administrative barriers in the way of it. The Bill also strengthens review processes around care arrangements and improves oversight mechanisms, including strengthening the framework around serious incident and child death reviews. These are sensitive and difficult areas but they are absolutely essential if we are serious about learning from past failures and continuously improving our system.  I also acknowledge the work being done by the Department and the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, in progressing this legislation and committing to further strengthening measures, particularly around the national review panel. We also cannot discuss child protection legislation without recognising the front-line role played every day by Tusla staff, foster carers, social workers and support workers across the country. These are people doing difficult work in emotionally demanding situations and legislation like this gives them stronger tools and clearer structures to do that work effectively.  What I also like about this Bill is that it reflects a modern understanding of children\u2019s rights. It places guiding principles into legislation that align with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and ensures decision-making across the system is grounded in the best interests of the child. That is exactly where our system needs to be. We must also, however, be honest. Legislation alone is not enough. Implementation matters. Resourcing matters. Workforce capacity matters. We must ensure that as we strengthen the legal framework, we continue to invest in the people and services that make it real on the ground because, ultimately, child protection is not just a responsibility of one agency or Department but a whole-of-State responsibility, a community responsibility and a societal responsibility.  This Bill is not about headlines. It is about building stronger systems quietly and steadily, systems that protect vulnerable children, support families and give professionals the tools they need to intervene early and effectively. For those reasons, I believe this Bill is very positive, necessary and a proper step forward and I am very happy to support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  At the outset, I would like to say I worked for the northern area health board, the HSE and Tusla. I worked in the same place but obviously changed over into different organisations over those 20 years when the responsibilities changed. I worked as a family support worker and later as a child and family support network co-ordinator. I commend so many people. I know it is really difficult work. I commend the social workers, the family support workers and the care workers. The social care workers in Tusla do an absolutely phenomenal job and those in the organisations that are around it and are supported by it.  I want to talk specifically about guardians ad litem , GALs. I have only a limited amount of time, so I am going to try to get through this as quickly as I can. Just to read from their comments, the most concerning issues that arise from the response being provided is the ongoing insistence that the guardians independence will not be affected, alongside the sentence referring to ensuring legal representation for guardians ad litem where necessary. The decision as to whether it is necessary for a child to have legal representation through the GAL rests with the State. The State has so often had to make apologies to children for not hearing their voices. It was also stated this will be a massive step backwards.  Here is an example. To take a hypothetical situation, Tusla and the parents will automatically have access to all the reports about the child\u2019s legal representation, attend all court dates, challenge evidence, procure reports and assessments, bring contacts or applications to seek directions under the Child Care Act and to appeal any decision of the court that is of concern to them.  In the current independent system, guardians ad litem can do all of these things on behalf of the child and are fully legally represented in court. There is currently no waiting list for guardians ad litem and legal services are immediately engaged without any delay. In stark contrast, from the commencement of the new guardian ad litem service, guardians will only be able to ask the national service, which will come under the remit of the Minister, Deputy Foley, for permission to do any of these things. There will be a process, which has yet to be confirmed, that guardians will have to go through to get legal representation. Guardians ad litem are concerned about this logic. The State now sees them as only necessary in circumstances where the parents and Tusla are not engaged. The role of guardians ad litem is not to prop up the case for the State or the parents, but to be an independent representative voice in the best interests of the child. It is their opinion that their right to representation should never depend on the level of engagement of parents or their consent and that it should be possible to realise this right for all children.  Some 92 guardians ad litem , highly skilled and experienced professionals who have serious concerns about the proposed new guardian ad litem service for children in Ireland, are reluctant to enter this new service. These concerns have repeatedly been raised directly with the new service but there has been a lack of meaningful engagement. That lack of engagement with guardians ad litem is really concerning. Over the last couple of days, we have heard repeatedly that the Minister has refused, or has not been able, to meet these guardians. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  A meeting is being arranged. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  It is really important that we sit down with the people who are directly involved and engaged in providing those supports. As I have said, I have met many guardians ad litem over the 20 years I worked with them. They are incredible people who work really hard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Since 2019, almost 1,000 early years childcare services have closed their doors. The Minister has said that 579 new services have opened but she failed to say that most of these only cater for school-age children. There are currently 40,000 children on waiting lists for childcare across the country. The services that have closed could potentially have provided for 30,000 of those children. Childcare facilities are closing because of ever-rising costs and a lack of funding from Government. Many more small early childhood care and education, ECCE, services are going to close because the Department of children is making no funding available to cover these costs. New rates bills are now being foisted upon them. Although these small service providers have been rates-exempt since 2010, over the last six months, they have been receiving these rates bills, which they cannot afford to pay. It is the death knell for many of these providers.  The ECCE programme is a free two-year programme for children aged from two years and eight months to five years old. It runs five days a week and provides three hours a day of free pre-school. Service providers say that Government funding of between \u20ac69 and \u20ac82 per child per week is not enough to sustain these services. Costs have increased but Government funding has not. Their contracts do not allow them to charge parents. These increasing costs on cr\u00e8ches are not sustainable. According to Elaine Dunne, chairperson of the Federation of Early Childhood Providers, if Government funding is not increased, more closures will follow. As a starting point in resolving this urgent issue, the Government must increase the current rate per child per hour from \u20ac4.60 to the sponsorship rate of \u20ac5.30. The Department of children must take responsibility for the payment of the rates bills or, alternatively, rates must be abolished entirely.  I will address some issues that parents are having. One issue affecting families in Skibbereen and across the wider west Cork area is the serious lack of childcare facilities, which puts pressure on parents who are simply trying to balance work and family life. I recently heard from the parent of a 12-month-old girl who had been searching for childcare for most of the year. This parent applied to cr\u00e8ches not only in Skibbereen but also in Ballydehob and even as far away as Clonakilty. Despite placing their daughter on multiple waiting lists, they were eventually told there was simply no space for her anywhere. After months of uncertainty, they finally found childcare but only by piecing together two separate childminders, one covering Monday through Thursday and another who would take their daughter on Fridays. They consider themselves lucky because many parents in their community are still struggling and often relying heavily on family support, which not everyone has.  Even for those who do find childcare, the financial burden can be overwhelming. This family is paying nearly \u20ac1,300 every month for two childminders with no Government subsidy, no scheme and no relief available to them. They are not alone. Many parents in west Cork and all over Ireland are in similar situations, working full-time and doing everything right and yet finding themselves financially stretched because essential childcare infrastructure simply does not exist. This is more than an inconvenience. It is a failure of basic social infrastructure. Childcare is not a luxury. It is a necessity for working families and an essential pillar of a functioning equitable society. When families cannot access childcare, their economic security is threatened, their ability to work is compromised and the well-being of their children is affected. It is deeply concerning that such a vital service is missing from a town as large and vibrant as Skibbereen. We cannot expect families to thrive when they are forced into last-minute arrangements, long commutes or unaffordable private options. I call for the urgent prioritisation of new cr\u00e8ches, expanded childcare supports and meaningful investment in early years services in areas like Skibbereen. Families deserve stability, affordability and access to the childcare services that every community should have as a basic right.  I will also raise an issue that many parents in my constituency have contacted me about, that is, the decision to end the ECCE split-place exemptions from the beginning of the 2026 programme year. Only last week, the Government announced a major investment in early years education, claiming that it would improve access and make childcare more affordable. However, almost straight away, families were being told that split-place exemptions will be removed. For many parents, this feels like giving with one hand and taking with the other. There are families who simply do not have the option to keep their child in one service for five days a week. Their local services are full. There are not enough places. To make childcare work and to stay in employment, they have no choice but to use two different services. This is not a lifestyle choice. It is the only arrangement that allows them to manage work and care availability. Removing these exemptions punishes families who are already dealing with a shortage of childcare places, especially in rural areas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  The Government has created the perfect storm. Ireland has applied itself to making sure there are more jobs. That is a great thing. We should always encourage equality and ensure that people, whether men or women, can get jobs. A lot of people in Ireland are now working and that is a great thing. When my kids were growing up, they were able to go over the road to a local person who we would call the childminder. This person might have reared seven or eight children of their own. These people treated our children as if they were their mothers and their husbands would treat them as if they were their fathers. The kids could be dropped off in the morning and picked up in the evening. They were fed, kept and safe. Of course, that was banned under new regulations brought in under the then Minister, Deputy Roderic O'Gorman, a few years ago and most of them have left the market. That is a fact. The statistics will tell you that they are not coming back. That is one part of it.  The second part is the incredible work done by cr\u00e8ches around the country. There is a big problem with babies. A certain ratio is required. That might be needed. I do not know. A lot of cr\u00e8ches do not want to take the really young babies. This ratio and the money you get out of taking in the really young babies are problems. If we do not address these problems, they will get worse and worse.  We must also ensure that the workers in cr\u00e8ches get a proper wage. We have a community cr\u00e8che in Glinsk called Caisle\u00e1n \u00d3ir. The Minister of State might search it on Google some time. We are abroad in the middle of the countryside. We have a pub, a shop, a church and a community centre and we built a cr\u00e8che years ago. There were 48 kids in the local school. Because of the foresight of people in the service, there are now something like 85 or 90 children in the cr\u00e8che. Enrolment in the school has gone up to 88 or 90. People are coming from the whole area. Does the Minister of State know what our biggest problem is now? Ironically enough, you can be a victim of your own success. With the planning that went into the cr\u00e8che, the great staff, the management and the community behind it, we decided to provide after-school care. We got a minibus to pick up the kids.  They get a lunch and they do their homework, and they are nearly ready to go to bed when they go home or to look at television. More and more people have come from different areas to use this service. It is out in the middle of the countryside. What has happened now is that we have a community centre and, because we have to make sure that we facilitate children, one third of this community centre is used to sort out the after-school service because more and more kids are using it. It is a great story to read and look at. Now, the service has to expand more. We are out in the sticks but people are coming from a huge area because parents vote with their feet. They look to where there is a service. This service caters for babies right up to children going to school. People come from a radius of five to ten miles around. It is a massive service. It is a community cr\u00e8che and it is not for profit.  We need to make sure we make these services affordable. It was not in the time of the Minister of State, but I begged the former Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, with regard to the great people out there who mind a couple of kids in their house and who have to go through such a rigmarole. I feel sorry about this. It is like anything; it is like being in business. Do not ever worry about the person in business beside you because we need everyone to be doing a bit to cater for everything that is going on. I will not do all of the work in the world and nor will someone else. When the Ceann Comhairle was working at the lorries she did not do everything. There is always enough for everyone. I ask that child care be made as affordable as possible. With regard to the grants, I know there is pressure in cities and large towns. I understand that but look up the story of Caisle\u00e1n \u00d3ir in Glinsk. Think of this small cr\u00e8che in a rural area where people would say nothing is going on. Look at the number of children attending, how it is booked out miles ahead and how there is a wait for places. It wants to get bigger. When funding comes it should also cater for the likes of these services in the countryside. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. Vulnerable children have been treated terribly by the State and it is a dark mark against the Government and the previous Government. There are many good things in the Bill. There are bad things there also and I want to go into detail on them. When it comes to child protection and child welfare, there is no doubt we have to get better in terms of inter-agency communication and co-operation. There also needs to be transparency around data. We in Aont\u00fa have raised this issue in the Chamber over and over again. We have raised the individual reports produced by the national review panel on the deaths of children in State care. Some of the observations of the national review panel and Dr. Helen Buckley are harrowing.  There are serious gaps in the level of inter-agency communication and internally between different geographical Tusla units. Certain areas are not communicating with each other at all. These gaps are resulting in the deaths of children. I am thinking of instances where CAMHS has refused to accept children who are referred to it by Tusla simply because CAMHS does not have a policy on accepting children who use drugs or alcohol. Hugh was 16 when he died from a drug overdose after CAMHS told Tusla it would not take him. Niamh was another child under Tusla's care. She died at the age of 15 by suicide. She too was deemed ineligible by CAMHS. Another report about a girl called Ava under Tusla's care showed how she disclosed sexual abuse but nobody from Tusla spoke to her because in the Tusla area she was in, they assumed a social worker in the area where the alleged abuser lived was speaking to her. She was discharged from CAMHS after a mere two appointments and her body was found a few days later. She was 14 years old.  It is welcome that an inter-agency committee is to be set up under the legislation but it has an enormous amount to do. There is little joined-up work happening between various agencies and officials are passing children from Billy to Jack. These children are falling through the cracks and they are being left with no supports, abandoned to the point where I am reading the details of the findings of the inquests of their deaths. This has been the result of Government action.  I have huge issues with the Bill and how it deals with separated children, migrant children, young people in aftercare and care leavers. The former Ombudsman for Children, Dr. Niall Muldoon, asked that specific provision be made in the legislation for unaccompanied children. Children who are placed into voluntary care require parental consent for this to happen. Provision must be made for those children who are orphans or who are in this country alone without their parents to ensure their rights are protected in the care system. We cannot continue to accommodate these children under section 5 of the Child Care Act. It is outdated and effectively creates a two-tier system for children's rights. When unaccompanied children do not get allocated a social worker and they do not get allocated a care plan, it is a major difficulty.  We also need to do better in legislation for birth mothers in this country. A number of women, and it is primarily women, ring my office to air grievances they have with Tusla. Birth mothers whose children have been taken into care feel aggrieved by the process. There does not seem to be a proper structure of support systems for such mothers. There is no fair means through which they can air their grievances. There are no psychological supports. There is an in camera rule that leaves them terrified to speak about their experiences. In some cases, they are afraid they are breaking the law just by talking to me or to the Garda. They are afraid Tusla will come after the remaining children if they criticise it.  The free legal aid system is not fit for purpose in how it treats birth mothers. Many of them have long and complex stories to tell. When one of these mothers rings my office I know it will take hours to go through all of the issues she has to discuss. The free legal aid provided is five minutes with a barrister before a court case. We also need to have a strengthening of parental rights, procedural fairness and independent oversight. This is what birth mothers are looking for.  I want to talk about the recent report of the Child Law Project. The details of the project are shocking. It is very alarming and very sad. We know we have a crisis in Tusla in terms of child protection. We have seen multiple cases in recent times where children have gone missing from care, where Tusla did not know where they are, where children were killed while under the care of Tusla, and where a child was raped under the care of Tusla. There are horrendous details in the report. One case involved a mother who was sold to a man who sexually abused her. She was found with her baby on the side of the road by a passer-by who called the Garda. We in Aont\u00fa have consistently raised these issues, particularly about the number of children not assigned a social worker. We have also been very outspoken on the scandal of human trafficking in this country. For a long time, I have been the only voice in the D\u00e1il raising these issues. This has to change. We need a full debate about the crisis in Tusla. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  In fairness, the Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025 is a substantial piece of work. It needs to be because it is the first real reform of our child protection laws in more than 30 years. It comes after a very long and well-documented history of systemic failures, inconsistent practice and persistent gaps in co-ordination between the agencies, especially within Tusla's work. For example, we have had situations where children have been known to multiple agencies but the information was not shared. There have been cases of severe neglect where schools repeatedly raised concerns but there was no co-ordinated response. We have also had cases involving children with complex needs, disability, mental health issues and addiction issues in the family where there was a failure by agencies because no one took the lead. These types of issues have been highlighted repeatedly by HIQA, the Ombudsman for Children, the Children's Rights Alliance and numerous case reviews. In that context, the Bill's modernisation of the Child Care Act 1991 is welcome and necessary.  The Bill will introduce clear statutory principles to place the child's best interests at the centre, affirming the right to be heard and requiring proportionate rights-based interventions at all times. It has been broadly welcomed many of the various oversight bodies and practitioners who have long argued that the absence of these principles in legislation and the lack of a statutory basis for them has contributed to inconsistencies around the country, depending on the area people are in.  The Bill's emphasis on this inter-agency co-operation is definitely a step forward. I have raised issues already regarding people falling between the cracks in the fragmented service. The creation of an coiste forfheidhmithe agus idirghn\u00edomhaireachta um ch\u00faram leana\u00ed responds directly to these failures by establishing this formal structure.  Vetting provisions will be further strengthened to give full effect to Directive 2011\/93\/EU. This is also important because we have had delays in vetting foster carers or volunteers, regular poor communication with the National Vetting Bureau, and cases where relevant information about the adults in a child's life was not shared or was not shared in a prompt manner.  Other Deputies referred to child sexual exploitation as one situation where people have been allowed to fall through the cracks. The delays in vetting foster carers and inconsistent information sharing have caused major problems. In principle, embedding the stronger safeguards in law is a meaningful improvement. However, the Bill does have some notable gaps which the Ombudsman for Children has raised, for example, in terms of voluntary care. For years children have remained in voluntary care arrangements without adequate oversight, clear timelines or consistent review processes. While the Bill does improve that framework, it does not have the robust statutory protections that many advocates like the ombudsman believe are essential to prevent drift and may mean things will just go and that because we have this legislation, things are fine. We need to ensure accountability.  There are also unresolved issues in terms of children presenting as homeless. We have had documented cases where children were told to return to unsafe homes or where the responsibility for their welfare was disputed between housing authorities and Tusla. The Bill does strengthen the general duties of care and co-operation but it does not actually give any clear statutory responsibility for homeless children. Oversight bodies have documented delays also in assigning social workers, inconsistent guardianship arrangements, and the use of unsuitable accommodation.  There is a lot in the Bill but it does not tackle chronic resource pressures that tie in with all the systemic failures we have seen, such as the high caseloads, the staff turnover and, as I mentioned, the disparities in services around the country. The legislation on paper creates higher standards but I want to emphasise that without the tools to increase the capacity and to ensure staff are kept and more staff are retained, these standards risk remaining aspirational. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  In broad strokes, I welcome this Bill and the debate in the Chamber on it, be it on childcare places or the Bill itself. Today I want to focus on two points, namely, the duty to co-operate and the establishment of the committee. For the past couple of months, I have had my eyes opened in Drogheda. I normally visit schools on a weekly basis. Most recently, before Christmas, I visited three schools where it was highlighted to me that children of seven years of age were coming in high on drugs - not high on life; high on drugs. Principals pointed out to me the immense pressure they are under trying to keep the children safe and away from their peers - teenagers who are grooming them and turning them into drug mules. Schools are supposed to be areas of safety, which protect the children, lift them up and give them the start of a good life. They should not be facing these pressures.  In a lot of cases these children are coming from homes where there is addiction, where the mother or the grandmother or the absent father is not there to facilitate and help them, to protect them and to give them the guidance and care that they need. We need to step in where this is failing. In Drogheda we have The Red Door Project, which is an excellent service. It helps people with addictions yet it has not got the funding for outreach programmes. We have the wonderful Connect Family Resource Centre in Drogheda and the Redeemer Family Resource Centre in Dundalk, both of which go out into the communities. The communities themselves offer great assistance to many families but they cannot do it alone. I have always said that it needs to go from top to bottom and bottom to top. It has to be a unified approach.  We talk about Tusla and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. I have to say the garda\u00ed in County Louth have been exceptional. They have had to face criminal organisations over the past number of years, and they have been excellent at bringing these people to justice and achieving convictions. However, we always know that when we lob off the head of a snake another head grows in its place. The pressure is continuous. The pressure on resources is continuous. The garda\u00ed are there to bring these people to justice but they cannot be there 24 hours a day. When I am out and about at events, the garda\u00ed are always there, they are always helping, and they are always listening. However, the biggest complaint I hear is that one hand does not speak to the other hand. That is why in this Bill I am really heartened to see there is going to be a duty to co-operate. I regret that has to be put on a statutory footing and that all of these bodies need to be pressurised and legally put on a statutory footing in order to talk to each other because common sense would say that to combat a problem everybody should be brought to the table. We had that in Drogheda. We had the Drogheda implementation board from 2021 until December 2024 where we saw that first hand. We should see it as a test model for other places.  I am a big fan of the Greentown Project in Limerick. It is not about one Department. It is not about one body. It is about bringing all the Departments and bodies together, including the communities, and getting to the heart of these communities to show these young children who are being used as drug mules or drug dealers.  I said it this morning, I said it yesterday and I said it to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, before Christmas that I was at a conference in Drogheda at which I told the average age of a drug mule is now between seven and ten years of age. The average age of a child to be used as a drug dealer is between ten and 12 years of age. I found that absolutely horrific. I was aware that teenagers were being groomed and used but the very idea that these teenagers are now so au fait with the procedures and processes of these criminal activities that they are in a position to get their claws into young children as young as seven years of age is absolutely unacceptable for a society. Like a lot of people, I did not expect to hear that information when I went into those schools. I believe a lot of people would find that difficult to accept, never mind digest, this sort of information. The duty to co-operate will be fundamental to ensure we can make some effective progress in protecting our children. It is absolutely essential.  I really welcome the establishment of a committee. However, a committee is only as good as the people on it and the resources and powers given to it. This committee is very welcome but it cannot be a talking shop. It cannot be a committee that meets a couple of times a year, which goes out and visits a few communities, comes back, puts a report together and puts it on a shelf. This cannot be a data collecting activity which gathers dust. It has to be effective. When we have put agencies like C\u00faan in place, we have seen how effective they can be and how they reach out to the different organisations. Indeed, Women's Aid Dundalk recently received \u20ac6.5 million for new beds. That is hugely welcome. It shows that when there is a committee or an agency with proper oversight, proper powers and proper funding, we can achieve something. In the times we are living in, we are facing so many threats left, right and centre. Today it is AI, tomorrow it is Grok and who know what it will be next week. We genuinely do not know but we have to prepare, and we have to be there for our children right from the beginning. As I said before, we cannot let these people get their claws into our children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  Any legislation that provides greater supports for children who need them is to be welcomed. However, we also have to make sure that children have, for example, appropriate school settings. There is a report out this week that shows a decrease in the number of young children attending school. If they are not attending school, they come to the attention of Tusla.  This week I visited a school in the Minister of State's and my constituency, namely, St. Kevin's Community College on the Fonthill Road. It is my former school. I walked around the school with the principal and there were 32 leaks in the school builsing. It has an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, class that is not fit for purpose. It is meant to moving towards 1,000 pupils but there are no plans for that. As far as I know, the school is not in the summer work programme either, so it will not get any supports during the summer. Schools like St. Kevin's in a disadvantaged areas need to have the appropriate settings to encourage children to go to school, so they do not come to the attention of Tusla.  In my previous profession, I supported people suffering with addiction issues. One of the most challenging issues I had was when, within the space of two weeks, three young women presented to our service. All three were products of the care system, all three had addiction issues and all three had a child while in the care of the State. All three had their children taken off them and put into the care of the State while they themselves were in the care of the State. That shows me all that is wrong with Tusla. It is a symptom of a broken care system. These are not isolated incidents. I could bring up more recent incidents in our constituency but I will not because I know there are investigations ongoing. These incidents are not few or far between and they need to be addressed. I hope this Bill goes some way to addressing the problems we are experiencing with Tusla. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  I welcome the chance to speak on this Bill. I want to acknowledge the hard work social workers, link workers and family support workers, etc., do but the reality is the public has lost confidence in Tusla over the years. We need to see steps to rebuild trust.  I want to highlight concerns over the future independence of the guardians ad litem, GALs. Their job is to be the voice of the child in court proceedings. It is as simple as that. In some cases, GALs can be critical of the social work Department. They need to be independent and not be concerned about any repercussions from doing their job. There are cases where children in care see their social worker change regularly due to staff turnover but the GAL has been appointed to the child and knows the child inside-out. I know that from my experience as a foster parent. They know the children's concerns and asks. I have concerns about GALs and Tusla being under the same Department and Minister. I echo the calls from other speakers that the Minister meet with the association of GALs to discuss these matters.  In terms of foster parents, I welcome that the timeframe for the application for enhanced rights has decreased from five years to three. Children placed in care have formed very strong relationships and bonds with their foster parents so allowing a foster parent to make a day-to-day decision on a child makes sense. However, let us be clear: we need to do a lot more work to support foster carers.  I look forward to the Bill going through the House. My party will be very constructive and will work with Government Members to ensure its passage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I thank social workers and all the people working in the industry. The amendments to the Bill build on calls from Members of this House over several years. I welcome the work put into it.  Also on a positive note, the changes to improve Tusla and childcare across the system are welcome. Foster parents who take children into their home have to be commended. To show someone love and give someone support is very honourable.  The parts of the Bill strengthening regulation and oversight are admirable as well. There have been calls for a very long time about the Government arrangement with Tusla. We see from recent incidents that there need to be improved enforcement powers. The tightening of quality and safety standards are welcome. I do not see how anyone would not support that.  It is good to see we are continuing towards treating early years education as part of our social infrastructure. It is not just a private service; it should be available to everyone in the State. I welcome that.  I thank the Minister of State for the time she gave to the Clontarf Bulls and the other teams and for speaking to the parents afterwards. For any parent of a child with additional needs going through the education system, it was great to see the engagement and I thank the Minister of State for her work on that. The parents we had in for the meeting were speaking of going through childcare, school and university, especially the CRC. Giving children with additional needs supports after they leave is important. The Clontarf Bulls reiterated that. I thank other Members of the House, as well, for their welcoming into it.  Childcare is not a luxury. I know everyone in this House heard that on the doors in the last election. It is very difficult at the moment. I heard Members talking about parents nearly finding it more affordable for one of them to give up work. That is something we definitely should not be encouraging, especially after fighting so hard for a society that accepts that both parents work. We cannot be going backwards in that sense.  I acknowledge the progress and expansion of the national childcare scheme and the increased staff allocations and professional standards. It is brilliant to see that.  Those are the positive notes. Now I have to go to some amendments I would like to see. The extra public funding is real and I give credit where it is due. On the ground, however, many childcare providers are not talking about reform or progress. Having spoken and reached out to many of them before speaking today, they are talking about survival. Some are talking about closure, especially in Dublin Bay North. Many of these people are dedicated and have been in the industry for 25 or 30 years. They are struggling at the moment with the energy crisis and other difficulties, especially because they love it so much. When you are working in that industry with children, you have to love it and show your love.  I spoke to childcare providers, parents and staff across Dublin Bay North and further afield. I had people reaching out to me from across Ireland on this important topic. I would love to read out some of what they are saying because this debate should not be abstract. I spoke to Elaine Dunne, who has done fantastic work. I have her permission to read out this email:  l am writing to you on behalf of [I will not say the name] to express our deep concern about the increasingly unsustainable position that well-established childcare providers now find themselves in under the current Core Funding model.  [They are proudly serving] the... community for many years, consistently providing high-quality childcare and maintaining the highest standards of care, safety, and professionalism. However, despite our long-standing commitment and proven track record [in our community], we are now facing extreme difficulties in keeping our doors open. Childcare fees have been frozen since 2018, while Core Funding has increased by only five cents per child. This minimal increase falls far short of covering the rising costs of inflation, utilities, food, insurance, staffing, and compliance. As a direct result, we have been forced to make drastic and heartbreaking cuts, including the closure of our kitchen [and other services] - something that directly impacts children and families.  I will not name the provider but can pass the details over to the Minister of State's office. \"What is particularly disheartening [for them is they] appear to be penalised under the current system\". I know changes are coming and it has been spoken about in this House. We need to speed those up.  While we struggle to survive under fee freezes and insufficient funding, a new childcare service... directly across the road from us is free to charge fees of up to \u20ac300 per week, along with a non-refundable \u20ac800 deposit. This creates a deeply unfair and unbalanced playing field [for this long-established provider in the community]. Core Funding was presented as a promise of sustainability and fairness for all childcare providers. In reality, it has failed to deliver on that promise.  I know there is no silver bullet for the majority of issues we face in this D\u00e1il but this should be examined again because:  If this continues, many respected and well-run services... will be forced to close, to the detriment of children, parents, staff, and the wider community [they have served for so long].  That is not ideological. That is not political point-scoring. Those are their words. This service has done everything asked of it and is now being squeezed out by a funding model that does not reflect reality.  Reaching out to another long-established childcare provider, I received this from Donnycarney in my constituency.  The following is the text I received this morning:  I don't know what I'm going to do and everything is up in the air.  The government think it's going to be a straightforward takeover and it\u2019s not. If they go down this route it is going to cost them a lot more investment than they currently pay out.  I removed some of the other text because I could not read it in this Chamber. It goes on to say:  This government, even with their investment over the past few years, still has ... the lowest GDP investments into the sector in Europe. We are being trampled into the ground and it feels like nobody is listening.  I see the Minister of State taking notes. I know she is listening. I am optimistic that she will take this on board and bring it to the Department.  Further on, the person who contacted me says that the fear, uncertainty and sense of being ignored is really affecting her business, her staff and her own mental health. The parents who go to her business are saying the same. One parent wrote to me, saying:  We pay \u20ac866 a month for the baby and ... [\u20ac200] for after school.  The broken promise of the \u20ac250 cap and the deafening silence on the matter. It was to be actioned within [the first] 150 days ... . Now it\u2019s said it will happen in the lifetime of government .  They stated that they think this needs to be changed and asked me to help.  Another parent raised another incident, and states that the school has no school hall. This is to do with after-school care. I know it is not directly related to the Bill. Continuing, he says:  The children play outside in the rain ...  Working parents [already] pay huge amounts in tax and contribute to society.  My son is 8 now and I fear he'Il be doing his Junior Cert before this is addressed.  It is not unreasonable for parents to be asking that. I have seen some mentions of it in recent announcements in the sense that if you have children in school, there are some schools that provide the service. However, I would love to see it nationwide. Other countries do it, as do some places in Ireland. If parents are dropping their children off to school and the children are already in the school, it would be great to have more established and funded models. I know there is some mention of it in that. After-schools could be facilitated easier, particularly for staff in the schools who would like the extra few bob in their pocket.  Another parent stated, \"Core funding doesn\u2019t exist in practice.\" This is another childcare provider from north Dublin. \"You won\u2019t find a creche with it fully covering costs.\" The parent states that the only subsidy that really works is the \u20ac2.40 an hour under the national child care scheme and the Government should increase those payments across the board.  I welcome the Minister's engagement with my office on this. We had been inundating the previous Minister with parliamentary questions. I have a few of them here. I will not read them out; I will publish them later.  In regard to staffing requirements and insurance costs, the SMEs are really struggling, especially the long-established ones that I mentioned earlier. The Bill, especially when it talks about quality, should examine this. It needs to exist with viable services, using the existing ones that are already in place in communities. Without fair funding, the regulation simply drives out good providers. As I mentioned, people are being cut out.  Parents do not magically get cheaper childcare. The programme for Government states that this will be examined over the lifetime of the Government. I am aware things take longer. This should be prioritised as there are people who are being forced out of work. We know the current model needs to be changed and the long-established community providers cannot be frozen out or locked out.  The fact that the Bill rewards new builds and punishes experience is not fair. There are four things I will request. This is from consulting with the providers. These include reflecting the real costs in the core funding and the hourly subsidy under the national childcare scheme, as suggested to me. In only parts of the system, providers consistently say this works.  We must deliver on the \u20ac250 cap and I am cautiously optimistic that the Minister of State will do this. It is very important that when a promise is made to the electorate, it is delivered on. If we do not do that, they are broken promises. We are nothing without our word. Supporting after-school must be treated as infrastructure.  We should all work from across this House. An rud is fearr liom sa Teach seo n\u00e1 nuair at\u00e1 gach duine ag obair le ch\u00e9ile ar na fadhbanna seo. Ceapaim gur cuma leis na daoine taobh amuigh den Teach seo c\u00e9 at\u00e1 ag d\u00e9anamh na ruda\u00ed. T\u00e1 siad ag iarraidh go bhfuil an obair d\u00e9anta. T\u00e1im tar \u00e9is \u00e9 sin a r\u00e1 le c\u00fapla fadhb a th\u00e1inig chun cinn sa Teach seo. Is bubble \u00e9 an Teach seo. Nuair at\u00e1 t\u00fa amuigh i do Dh\u00e1ilcheantar f\u00e9in - t\u00e1 a fhios ag an Aire St\u00e1it faoi seo - t\u00e1 daoine ag streachailt sa phobal faoi l\u00e1thair. T\u00e1 praghas gach rud ag dul suas. We should work with a sense that if there is a suggestion that comes in, we should all accept things that need to be done for the betterment of Ireland, accept them quickly and put aside political differences. I really would welcome that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Debate adjourned."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Michael Murphy - To discuss serious non-compliance with road traffic legislation.  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss funding to bring the main N70 in Caherciveen town and the footpaths up to standard.  Deputy Mark Wall - To discuss the lack of special school places across Kildare South.  Deputy Paula Butterly - To discuss the statutory instrument required to give effect to increases to the CI\u00c9 pension schemes.  Deputy Shane Moynihan - To discuss enhancing public transport links between Lucan and the airport.  Deputy Albert Dolan - To discuss the recurring electricity outages in north Galway.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss actions taken by Government in relation to ongoing human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghurs.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss the shortfall of SEN primary school places in Shankill, County Dublin.  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss core funding for Ballyfermot Youth Service.  Deputy Paul McAuliffe - To discuss the illegal use of scrambler bikes on roads.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss wastewater infrastructure and capacity issues causing flooding in Dundalk.  The matters raised by Deputies Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa, Mark Wall, Barry Ward, Jen Cummins and Albert Dolan have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question again proposed: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\""},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I remind Members that the Minister, Deputy Foley, in her opening remarks, set out the objectives and principles underpinning this Bill. Its core function is to revise and update the Child Care Act 1991. This Bill is aimed at reflecting changes in child welfare and protection services in Ireland over the past 30 years. It will capture current legislative, policy and practice developments. Most importantly, it will provide for greater co-operation and co-ordination across State agencies and Departments, promoting a more agile response across the State in keeping children safe from harm. It is great to hear, in today's contributions and the contributions on Tuesday, that there is widespread support for the proposals to enhance inter-agency cooperation and collaboration, and that is something that the Minister, Deputy Foley, is determined to bring through to enactment.  As the Minister, Deputy Foley, mentioned in her opening remarks, she intends to place the national review panel on a statutory footing. These provisions will be introduced as Government amendments to the Bill as soon as possible. The national review panel is respected for the independence of its work. Placing the panel on a statutory basis will further strengthen its independence and enhance its powers and status. That is true in response to many of the cases that were raised here today, including those raised by Deputy Mark Ward.  The Minister, Deputy Foley, and I are delighted to hear Deputies welcome the Bill in principle. In particular, I appreciate the welcome given to the innovations regarding the duty to co-operate and the proposed implementation and inter-agency committee. Deputy Butterly spoke passionately about how outcomes can and indeed are being improved when Departments, bodies and communities work together. As Deputy O'Gorman said, the appointment of the chair of this committee will be really important. It was great to hear both Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn and Deputy Gogarty talk about those silos and how they need to be broken down because that is exactly what this aims to achieve.  I thank the Deputies for their positive contributions to the debate, which show their concern and interest in the health, well-being and protection of children. We have a shared objective here. We all want the best for all children and young people, as do all of the professionals who work in this area, as Deputies Donnelly and Mitchell said, and, indeed, the foster parents who provide such amazing support. The Minister, Deputy Foley, and I have listened carefully to every speaker in this debate and we will reflect on all that has been presented here. We have officials with us throughout these debates who have worked really hard on this and will continue to do so.  I recognise the role the former Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, played in drafting this Bill, in particular section 10, which, as he said, will strengthen the child protection architecture.  The Minister, Deputy Foley, is aware of the concerns raised in the House regarding the establishment of the guardian ad litem national service. That was raised here, even in the past hour, by Deputies Donnelly, Currie and Mitchell. The Minister has repeatedly said that she remains open to the possibility of a meeting with guardian ad litem stakeholders at an appropriate time in the future. To reassure the Deputies who raised this here today, that meeting is being arranged at present.  The legislation that underpins the launch of the national service was enacted in 2022 and is now being operationalised by the guardian ad litem executive office, under the auspices of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022 preserves children\u2019s rights, strengthens their voice in proceedings and provides for legal advice and representation for guardians ad litem in certain circumstances to support them in carrying out their role effectively. The Act provides for the Minister to arrange legal advice for guardians ad litem in all circumstances and representation in certain circumstances to support them in carrying out their role effectively, including setting out factors the Minister must take into consideration in making such arrangements in the child\u2019s best interests.  This present Bill inserts an additional factor for the Minister to consider, namely, whether the legal representation has been appointed for the child. The independence of guardians ad litem in the performance of their functions is a legislative requirement and a core value of the role. The Child Care (Amendment) Act 2022 clearly states that guardians ad litem must act independently in their professional judgment and function. When this Act is fully commenced, it will be the first time that guardians ad litem are regulated and supported on a national basis to deliver a high-quality, child-centred service. The new service will deliver national standards, consistent practice and timely access to GALs wherever a court directs one. The executive office has had regular engagement with all stakeholders, including the Association of Guardians ad Litem Ireland, and will continue to engage meaningfully as we prepare for the commencement of the guardians ad litem national service.  In the drafting of this Bill, time was given to consider the issues raised at pre-legislative scrutiny by the previous Oireachtas Joint Committee on Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth. Where matters raised can be addressed by legislation, we have tried to do so. It is important to indicate that some of what has been highlighted by Deputies today, which I accept was in good faith, is outside the remit of this Bill. I would like to highlight the ongoing policy work in the Department in relation to kinship care, special care, alternative care and aftercare. I note the cross-departmental work that is giving effect in Ireland to the EU migration and asylum pact, in particular, the immigration Bill. Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn raised a particular issue on this. I can assure him that in practice, the majority of unaccompanied minors are brought into care under the same legal provisions as any other child, with the same care and support.  As several Deputies noted, legislation is only a starting point. Operational matters and the provision and allocation of resources across the child welfare and protection system are important matters. To produce the intended outcomes, this needs to be planned, resourced and implemented, but also complemented by services in the community, such as the Red Door and the Redeemer centre in Dundalk, which Deputy Paula Butterly referenced.  The principles in this Bill will guide decision-making by Tusla. The Bill also provides that key bodies exercising their functions regarding children in need of care and protection, including all Government Departments, shall consider the best interests of the child as a primary consideration. As Deputy Albert Dolan put it, that needs to be the grounding factor in every decision.  As Deputy Fitzmaurice acknowledged, the economy is in a very positive space. Ireland has made huge inroads when it comes to gender equality in the workplace, and early learning and care and school-age childcare have helped to enable and sustain that. I note the contributions of Deputies, including Deputies Emer Currie, Michael Collins, Barry Heneghan and others with regard to the early learning and care and school-age childcare sector. The Government is committed to supporting the sector and providing high-quality and accessible early learning and childcare services. In December, the Minister, Deputy Foley, and I published two significant action plans. The first, Shaping the Future, is a detailed action plan to build an affordable, high-quality, accessible early learning and care and school-age childcare system. The second, Simplify to Support, the action plan for simplification, sets out how we will reduce administration and simplify regulation in the sector. These are both programme for Government commitments that we are delivering on. The Minister, Deputy Foley, also last week announced a landmark commitment of funding for State-led services providing high-quality, accessible early learning and childcare. I hope that supports families like those who were mentioned during this debate.  From my perspective as Minister of State with responsibility for disability, I welcome the benefits the changes in this Bill will bring for children with disabilities and parents with disabilities. The Government is committed to fostering cross-government, inter-agency and inter-disciplinary working, and collaboration to improve the lives of people with disabilities and enable them to achieve their potential. I appreciate Deputy Heneghan\u2019s remarks and commend him for his dedication in this regard. I keenly anticipate that the statutory duty to co-operate will codify, strengthen and build upon the inter-agency working already in place. This includes initiatives, such as the protocols developed by Tusla with the HSE and others, to understand the needs of children and parents and deliver much-needed services. Where collaboration is not as robust or consistent as it needs to be, the implementation and inter-agency committee will ensure that barriers are identified, and co-operation established and maintained.  In conclusion, I believe this is very important legislation. I believe the Bill will make a key contribution to delivering on the Government\u2019s programme for Government commitments to strengthen Tusla and protect children in the care system. Taking all these measures together, I am conscious of the Bill\u2019s potential to have a very real and positive impact on children in need at particularly vulnerable points in their lives, and on their families. The Minister, Deputy Foley, and I look forward to engaging further with Deputies during the passage of this Bill, in particular, in relation to the provisions that we have outlined today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I move:  That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Children and Equality pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)(b) and 188(1). "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Flood Risk Management","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  The recent Storm Chandra has caused chaos and disaster across the State. It shows the issues we are dealing with, and the need to make sure we have all the mitigations and flood protections in place that we possibly can have. I will deal with some specific issues in Dundalk and particular parts of Dundalk. I first want to commend the local authority staff, particularly those who were out dealing with these issues, and those in the fire service who were out for hours. I know that third parties were brought in with regard to the use of tankers, and they did vital work to ensure people were not flooded.  In saying that, a huge number of people were in a very precarious scenario. We have already been through a yellow storm warning, with the possibility that we could face the same again. A yellow storm warning is in place, and I am told the storm is due sometime between Friday at 9 a.m. and midnight on Saturday. Because everything has been so waterlogged, and because the infrastructure is so backed up, my fear is that we could be in a similar circumstance, particularly in Dundalk.  I have dealt with a huge number of people who have had flooding around their properties, in some cases where the water has come directly into the house. I still say we have been very lucky. One brutal fall of rain during that period would have meant hundreds of houses were flooded in the general Dundalk area. There were problems right through mid-Louth and into north Louth, and even in the area where Ravensdale connects with Jonesborough. Councillor Ant\u00f3in Watters has spoken to me about particular issues in Jenkinstown. I have dealt with people on the Ardee road who were flooded because the River Blackwater was over-full and spilled into their property, although some work has been done there. There is a need for mitigation to be introduced in that area.  I want to focus on my part of Dundalk, in particular, Bay Estate, Cluan Enda and Greenwood Drive, and I include areas like Greenacres, anywhere on the Red Barns Road and St. Alphonsus Road.  Those roads would have been the subject of a number of closures and severe flooding.  We are being impacted in the context of wastewater infrastructure. We are talking about an area that has infrastructure dating back 20 or 30 years and even longer. There has obviously been an increase in the number of houses - and we need to see more of that - some have been affected by the lack of wastewater capacity. We have the likes of WuXi and other companies operating in the area, and we do not have capacity. The pumping station at Coes Road cannot deal with the amount of water coming through. It will be 2029 before it is upgraded. The treatment plant on the Point Road has a design capacity for a population equivalent of 71,000. This is going to be upgraded to 120,000, but that could take until 2033. When the local authority handed the plant over to Uisce \u00c9ireann - it is operated by the EPS Group - it had capacity for 169,000 but under different rules. Water lies there in the Bay Estate, around Holly Park, Oak Vale and even in Cherryvale, but particularly in the part where it comes in from the Alphonsus Road. It is incredibly dangerous, and we need to deal with it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Thomas Byrne)  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta \u00f3s rud \u00e9 gur chuir s\u00e9 an t-\u00e1bhar t\u00e1bhachtach seo ar an gcl\u00e1r inniu. Gabhann an tAire, an Teachta Browne, a leithsc\u00e9al. N\u00edl s\u00e9 in ann a bheith linn um thr\u00e1thn\u00f3na.  At the outset, I should point out that the operation of the public water supply and the wastewater supply are operational issues locally for Uisce \u00c9ireann, which has statutory responsibility for all aspects. The Minister, Deputy Browne, does not have operational function in the matters to which the Deputy refers. We have, however, enquired with Uisce \u00c9ireann and have been informed that the aftermath of Storm Chandra remains an active incident across the country as Uisce \u00c9ireann works side by side with the other responsible agencies and first responders to deal with the impacts. We are very grateful, as I am sure the Ceann Comhairle is, for everybody who been working hard all around the country where it has been badly affected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Indeed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  Across Louth and other affected counties, Uisce \u00c9ireann teams are still actively responding to the impact of the storm to triage incidents, to prioritise safety-critical interventions and to ensure that essential services remain operational. The exact cause of specific flood incidents observed in parts of Dundalk remain unclear. Multiple factors, including ground saturation, river level fluctuations and tidal interactions relating to coastal positioning can influence flooding behaviour during storms. A full post-incident review will be undertaken once conditions stabilise. Findings and insights will be shared to the appropriate channels, including the national emergency co-ordination group, NECG, and other oversight bodies, to support continuous improvements of Uisce \u00c9ireann's national emergency preparedness and response frameworks.  Throughout this flood event in Dundalk and nationally, Uisce \u00c9ireann continues to issue public safety information where required, to support local authorities in mitigation efforts and to deploy crews to areas of greatest need. It will maintain full operational readiness, provide ongoing situational updates, and engage with Departments and all stakeholders. All efforts remain focused on public safety, minimising disruption and restoring normal conditions.  Under the revised national development plan, NDP, the Government has scaled up support for the water sector by means of a record allocation of \u20ac12.2 billion in funding out to 2030. Uisce \u00c9ireann will be allocated 95% of this. The funding will support the delivery of a wide range of projects in our cities and regions required for housing delivery, safeguarding public health and the environment and, crucially, the capacity required for new housing targets. The Government is committed to making sure that all aspects of water infrastructure are strengthened and that communities feel the benefit of the unprecedented development in water services announced in the NDP. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I appreciate that the senior Minister cannot be here, but I do not think it is a good enough to say that Uisce \u00c9ireann has operational responsibility. We all accept that from a technical point of view. I have no problem with it, but there is an absolute need to have a review with regard to why this has happened. This has happened - it always happens - when we have heavy rain in a particular part of Dundalk. Talk to anyone from the local authority or to any of the engineers who are out doing great work and they will say that they are looking for over-pumping capacity for the Blackwater. That, at least, might mitigate some of this. Hopefully, it can be done over the weekend.  We need to look long term at some of the mitigation works that can be carried out. We need to see CFRAM work being done in relation to the Blackwater, but, first and foremost, it must be accepted that we do not have the necessary capacity in the wastewater treatment system in Dundalk, including in the estate where I live. Where I live is not the worst part. I spoke to a man earlier today who, as the water dissipated, is looking at sewage on his property. That is because it is a joint sewerage and storm-water system. Therein lies the problem. The water treatment plant cannot take it. The Coes Road pumping station is where the blockages occur. There is WuXi and a huge number of industrial operations and estates from where the water literally shoots down. It fills the pipes to absolute capacity. This causes a logjam in the system, which then cannot be pumped out. The water builds up and pools in estates such as ours as a result. It is not just water, however, because we are talking about a combined system. The problem gets even worse at high tide. People living in Cluan Enda and the Bay Estate now check for when high tide will occur.  We really need to see long-term fixes, with upgrades through CFRAM. In the short term, there needs to be a solution. There was heavy rain in other parts of the country that caused devastation. Some of the problems can maybe be mitigated but a lot of them cannot. We could definitely mitigate the issues we have in Dundalk, particularly those that impact the people who live in the Bay Estate and Cluan Enda. We really need a solution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  I have huge empathy with the Deputy and the residents. My suggestion would be to let Uisce \u00c9ireann and the council deal with the immediate aftermath of what is happening this week. Thereafter, it is fair to say, Uisce \u00c9ireann has responsibility for wastewater and the sewerage system in general. The local authority is responsible for drainage. It is probably a case of knocking heads together in the context of the combined systems and maybe trying to arrange a meeting between the local authority and Uisce \u00c9ireann. They should be given a bit of time to deal with the aftermath of the storms. However, the other matter is something both entities probably need to work on. I would definitely encourage them to come together on that, particularly Uisce \u00c9ireann with its big budget. It is still a local authority issue when there is a problem with drains. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I ask that the Minister of State would bring this back to the Minister----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No Deputy, you went 20 seconds over in your previous intervention.. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  I will take it back to the Minister. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Flood Risk Management"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_44","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this matter, which is very important to the constituents in Kildare South. It is always good to start with some good news. I want to put on record my thanks to the Minister and the Government for the announcement of three additional special classes in Kildare South in St. Evins National School, Monasterevin, St. Conleth's National School, Derrinturn, and Scoil Bhr\u00edde in Lackagh. They are most welcome indeed. A number of weeks ago, I raised the concerns of the community of Lackagh regarding the need for a special class. I welcome the fact that its calls have been listened to and that Lackagh will get the special class it deserves in September.  Unfortunately, that is where the good news stops for so many parents. My office has been inundated with calls and emails from worried parents who cannot find a special class or a special school place for this coming September. These are not isolated calls. It has now reached the stage where it is one of the biggest issues we deal with in the office on a daily basis. Parents in places like Kildare town, Suncroft, Newbridge, Calverstown, Crookstown and Athy, and at this stage almost in every other town and village in south Kildare, cannot find a school place and they are growing more and more desperate for their children.  There is a clear demand for additional classes across Kildare South for autism classes and classes for children with mixed or moderate learning disabilities. I have had a number of parents from one school in Newbridge who cannot find any school places. They even tried the surrounding schools but they are all full. The local feeder school for Newbridge had only one place available for which the parents of 15 or so children applied. Kildare town has one of the biggest number of primary school children in the country yet a number of local families cannot access a special class there. Parents in the Ballitore and Narraghmore area have contacted every local school in their area yet they recently found themselves numbered in the late twenties for one local school that had one place.  Kildare South was also promised a new special school, but this was eventually located in Craddockstown, which is in Kildare North.  While this is a wonderful school with great staff and great reports, it is already full as so many parents in Kildare South cannot find a special school place. The current situation in Kildare South is at crisis. Parents who are holding down two jobs just to pay the mortgage and their other bills are being told to apply to other counties. One asked me today if there were not children in these other counties who needed a special class or school. The answer is, yes, there are and these schools in other counties are full too. I am dealing with one lady in Newbridge who has already applied to over 50 schools looking for a place for her child. We now see Government operating a drip-feed approach in terms of announcing new classes. This is simply not good enough and is only adding to the stress parents have. They are relying on WhatsApp groups, local papers and local reports on local radio stations to try to find out if there is a new class opening near to where they live. I hope the Minister of State can bring us some good news on behalf of Government and not tell me and all the parents listening about a list of schools that already exist in Kildare South. On behalf of the many parents who have contacted me, I will tell him that they are already full. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  I thank the Deputy for making this important case. The Government is committed to the provision of additional special school places for children with special educational needs. Budget 2026 secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE is currently looking at where these places should be best located for the school year 2026-2027. There is a lot of work going on at the moment in that regard. Over 2,700 new places were provided in 2025-2026, meaning there are now 3,741 special classes nationwide. That means there will be 300 more additional places. There will be 3,000 new specialist places next September. There were 2,700 new special places in this school year, so we are building on work we are doing. We need to build on it and put provision in the types of locations the Deputy is talking about, where it is best placed to meet existing and future demand.  In County Kildare, there are 148 special classes in operation providing capacity for 888 kids. This includes 17 new special classes in this school year, 2025-2026. In addition, 16 new special schools have been established in recent years. Six of these special schools are in County Kildare educating approximately 359 students with the most complex needs. These are supported by the Department and the National Council for Special Education. The NCSE will have a clear picture of local demand for special class places for the school year starting September after it reviews and assesses all the information it has got through the parents\u2019 notification process, which closed last October. As the Deputy is aware, an earlier deadline was introduced this year to support forward planning and to better equip the NCSE with local information as to what students would be leaving school, transitioning to post-primary, or who is seeking specialist placement and maybe entering the education system for the first time. The information is critical to decide where to put provision. The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely with school patron bodies, management bodies and schools to confirm these new special classes for next September.  We have begun sanctioning new special classes this month. Some 236 have been sanctioned to date and many more will be confirmed in the coming weeks. Of these, 11 are in County Kildare. The earlier sanctioning of new classes happening this year provides clarity for parents and allows schools more time for the planning and establishment of new special classes. The vast majority of new special classes being announced are being provided in available school accommodation which is being reconfigured as a special class. Each special class is allocated one teacher and two SNAs, and at post-primary level schools should receive 1.5 teachers posts and two SNAs. Details of those special classes are on the NCSE website. Once special classes are sanctioned by the NCSE, it is envisaged that schools will open admission for them. The NCSE will continue to support all children made known to them after the dates but obviously it works better if the information can be provided. There is still a huge amount of work ongoing and that is just the way it is. It is still earlier than it has been before. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State for his detailed reply on behalf of Minister of State with responsibility for special education. I put on the record that of the 11 classes he has announced for Kildare, eight of those are in Kildare North. I am asking for Kildare South, the area I represent. There is a huge and growing population in Kildare. On Monday we were told we have to add another 50,000 to that population. That is okay too but we do not have the special classes. Every time I ask a question in here, the reply I get is that there are X number of classes in Kildare. As I have said, all those classes are full.  I also want to talk about the process the Minister of State outlined, where parents apply. As we know, there was a new closing date and that was welcomed by so many parents because a lot of parents applied thinking that would improve their chances. Instead of getting a place they have now gotten a letter saying they are on a list. They have reached out to their local SENO but the SENO has only been able to produce a list of possible schools for the parents to ring themselves or tell them to look in another county. We are all told there is a pilot scheme for a central portal but this is between two and three years old at this stage and has not been rolled out to any other country.  I am dealing with the principals of some primary schools in Kildare South, such as Suncroft National School, which are willing to open another class and have the room to do so. Surely the Department would snap up an offer like this for the children of Kildare South.  I have stated in similar debates that I am aware of children in cars and buses passing each other each morning on crowded motorways, with one going from Kildare to Dublin and the others going from Dublin to Kildare. We have to ask why this madness is happening and where the plan is to solve it. All we want in Kildare South for the people and parents who are stressed is to have the classes and one special school located in Kildare South because there are so many parents crying out for that. That is all they ask of Government. We welcome the three we have got but we only have three of the 11 in Kildare South. The demand is increasing day in, day out and we need to hear some more good news from Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  I assure people that this process is still under way. Quite frankly, the Department of education does not look at it in terms of Kildare South or Kildare North. It looks at the children who are there. Through the process that will balance out. There will be more in Kildare North, I assume because it is a bigger population. I also assume it will balance out as the process goes on. The idea that this is some sort of political decision is wrong. It is based on the needs of----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I never said that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  I do not know. The Deputy keeps talking about constituencies and why one constituency is getting more than another. The Department----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I never said that either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  The Department has information about children and is going through that information. It has not come to any final decision and there will be quite a few more announcements to be made. It is about the children and their constitutional right to be educated, which we are proud to have in this country. It needs to be implemented and the Department and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, work every day of the week to execute and implement that right. The Department continues to engage with the NCSE. The vast majority of students with special educational needs get supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. We have 15,000 special education teachers in Ireland and 12,500 special needs assistants. It is a huge number of people. For children with more complex needs, special classes or special school places are provided. This is in keeping with our policy on inclusive education, which promotes that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting. The NCSE advises that a small number of places remain available in some other counties. That is simply a fact and the NCSE remains available to provide advice and support to all families seeking a placement and will continue to examine where provision is required for the 2026-2027 year so that this can be done right and the right decisions can be made as to where children are, and where those classes are needed. I have no doubt that every single offer from a school to provide a class is taken with the utmost seriousness in the Department. The Department will have to make sure the children are there in those areas. That process is still under way and is by no means concluded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I move to the next Deputy I welcome the visitors from Dundalk Grammar School, who are here at the behest of Deputy Butterly. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_45","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  Before I outline my Topical Issue, from speaking to Deputy Butterly, I am aware that Mr. Brady, one of her former teachers, is with the group from Dundalk Grammar School. He is particularly welcome. It is always a pleasure when our former teachers get a chance to come here. It is lovely to see that group here as well.  I wish to address issues relating to special education needs. I will begin by acknowledging the extraordinary investment made in this area. A total of 268 classes have been announced in recent times, including for Carysfort National School, Blackrock and St. Mary\u2019s Boys\u2019 National School, Booterstown. Those two schools will benefit on foot of those announcements. I pay tribute to the teachers in those schools because they are the ones who put in place the process that leads to these grants being awarded and that allows the classes to happen. The classes not only benefit the children in the schools, but, perhaps most importantly, they benefit everyone in Ireland in the long run.  One of the most important things about a special education needs, SEN, place is that it gives equal opportunity to children who have difficulties or disadvantages they need to overcome. It puts in place a system that allows them to compete on an equal footing with everyone else in their class. This is important because it is not that these children cannot achieve their educational potential; they can, but we need to do that bit extra to ensure they do.  I specifically acknowledge what has been done in St. Anne's National School, Shankill, to arrange a SEN place. Again, teachers are working hard to get grants to allow these things to happen. I pay particular tribute to Mr. John Fingleton, the principal of the school who is on secondment at the moment, and Ms Paula Kelly, who is acting in his stead while he is away, for the extraordinary and hugely important work they have done.  While acknowledging the work that has been done, I raise this issue is because I have been in touch with two families in the Shankill area whose respective daughter and son have been told, in no uncertain terms, that there will not be a SEN place available for them next September. While I do not in any way seek to denigrate the work to which I refer, I want to know what happens to the children who fall between the cracks. What happens when children are told there is no place for them and that when they go to school next September, they will not be able to avail of the accommodations and assistance they need to achieve their full potential? What are we doing for those children? What are we doing if we are allowing them to fall between the cracks? What is the long-term impact for them and for us?  I am sure this is repeated in other constituencies, districts, towns and villages throughout the country. There must be others. There cannot just be two children in Shankill who are being placed at a disadvantage. Think of all those children as they go up through the school system. I acknowledge that, in general, we have an exceptional educational system. In the context of metrics relating to literacy, numeracy or achievement, schoolchildren here do very well on global indexes. If we repeat this instance in towns all over the country, then it is obvious that there are children who are not getting the opportunity to achieve and compete on an equal footing. That damages us all in the long term because they fall behind over the process of a long school career up to the age of 18 and the leaving certificate. They do not have the same opportunities as their peers in the classroom, and that is simply not fair or reasonable. We need to redouble our efforts to ensure that no children fall between the cracks. We need to ensure there are SEN places for all those who need them.  These families have done everything asked of them. They have obtained the assessments and made the applications, not just to the schools they are in but to other schools in their areas to find out whether places are available. The answer they are getting is that places are not available.  I heard what the Minister said in replies to parliamentary questions to the effect that this is an ongoing process. I welcome and accept that. In these two cases, as I understand it, they have been told definitively that they will not have places in September. Not only is that hugely upsetting for the parents involved, it is also hugely disadvantageous for their children as well. What can we say to them about the SEN places they need for September? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  On the individual case, I strongly urge the Deputy to give the details to me or directly to the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan.  The Government is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. There is funding, as I said previously, for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE today is currently examining where those are best located for the 2026-27 school year. We now have 3,741 special classes around the country, and we will build on this figure. The determination from the Minister and the NCSE is to place them where kids need them. That work is still ongoing. In County Dublin, we have 705 special classes providing capacity for 4,230 kids. This includes 103 new special classes opened in Dublin in this current school year, of which 81 are at primary level. In addition, 16 new special schools have been established in recent years. There are 40 special schools in Dublin and two of the five special schools opened this year are in Dublin. These schools are supported by the Department and the NCSE. In budget 2026, funding for 3,000 new special educational places has been provided. The NCSE is currently examining where they are needed in order that children can avail of their constitutional right to free primary education.  In order to ensure new special classes can open as quickly as possible, the NCSE prioritises working with medium and larger primary schools that do not already have special classes and that have accommodation available to facilitate new special classes. This approach maximises the use of existing space which can be reconfigured efficiently while also ensuring that new provision continues to be established. It also increases the number of schools with special classes, providing parents with greater choice and reducing the distances that some students are forced to travel to get a school place. However, as in other years, where schools have no accommodation available, particularly at second level, and where there is known demand in an area, the Department will continue to provide additional classroom accommodation to provide necessary places.  The Department and the NCSE continue to work closely with school patron bodies, school management bodies and schools to confirm new special classes for the 2026-27 school year. The NCSE began sanctioning new special classes this month, which is several months ahead of last year. A total of 263 have been sanctioned to date. Many more new special classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks. The earlier sanctioning of new classes is good because it provides better \u2013 not perfect but better \u2013 clarity than parents previously had. The vast majority of new special classes announced are being provided in available school accommodation that is being reconfigured for a special class.  New special classes are being established in every county, with 58 new special classes confirmed for Dublin so far. Further information on additional new special classes will be confirmed in the coming weeks. It is envisaged that schools will open admissions for those new special classes after the sanctioning.  I stress the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to it. Of course, it is critical that the NCSE has timely access to local knowledge to plan future provision. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I endorse everything the Minister of State said regarding the figures and the numbers. I acknowledged at the outset that the recent tranches have delivered 268 classes. All of that is extremely welcome. Ms Paula Kelly of St. Anne's's National School in Shankhill and Mr. John Fingleton, the permanent principal, have done the forecasting for the school in terms of what is needed. That is why the school has made its applications. Ms Kelly and Mr. Fingleton deserve credit for that. Similarly, Naomi Russo in Rathmhichael Parish National School or the teachers in Scoil Mhuire, Shankill, have a view of what they need in the future. Notwithstanding all of that, we still have a situation where we have children with no SEN class available to them for next September. Honestly, it is not good enough.  What measures is the Department taking to take stock of what is going to be required in the future? How is it going to guarantee that it will meet the demand? How is it going to say to the two families I mentioned earlier that this will not happen and that it will supply a class or a space for them in September? As I said, they have bent over backwards doing what is expected of them. They have got the assessments for the their son and daughter, respectively, and made applications to multiple schools, but they are still getting a point-blank \u201cNo\u201d from the Department. The Department is not saying that out of malice or anything of that nature. Rather, the reality is that places are not available.  As a political body, we must ensure that the Department does not have to send out such responses. We must ensure that the answer is \u201cYes\u201d when people provide documentary evidence that their child needs additional support. What forecasting is the Department carrying out, whether it is in respect of Shankill or anywhere else, in order to determine the number of places needed in the next two, three or ten years? What is it doing to ensure that the capacity is there to put in place those classes in the context of both the physical infrastructure and the human resources needed? How can we guarantee other families in Shankill that they will not be in this situation next year or the year after? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  We have to guarantee those places for children. The Government is acutely conscious of that. Work is ongoing to ensure that this guarantee, which, in my view, derives from the Constitution, is fulfilled for every child who needs a school place. The Department continues to engage intensively with the NCSE to forward plan for new special provision to get a place for every single child in the setting that best suits their needs. The NCSE is continuing to engage with a large number of schools across Dublin in the context of sanctioning further new special classes for the coming school year. While there was an announcement some weeks ago, there is still a lot of work going on.  That was the first batch of them and there will be further batches. The Department and the NCSE have been working on this earlier in the year and I welcome what the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, has done in this regard because it gives more certainty. It is not perfect but there is more information available and at an earlier stage than was the case previously. Again, I have no doubt that the Department and the NCSE will be out with further announcements in the next few weeks. In the meantime, if Deputies Wall and Ward wish to engage directly with the Minister of State in relation to those particular individuals, I am sure he would very much welcome that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_46","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Youth Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I am raising this issue on behalf of Ballyfermot Youth Service, which I visited recently. It has a fantastic facility in Ballyfermot. I am not sure if the Minister of State has ever been to Ballyfermot. It is an area of Dublin which has faced a lot of difficulties over many decades but there is a great sense of community in it, and that can really be seen in the skate park facility that has been built there. It is absolutely fantastic. Youth service staff lock it up every night and open it up every morning. There are staff members and youth workers there to make sure that young people who are doing what they do best in a skate park, living their best lives, are supported in whatever way they can be. The challenge faced by the youth service is that it is so successful that more and more young people are coming to the service every year. The service has been able to expand into many different areas, including having a fantastic outdoor pursuits programme under which it brings young people down to Wicklow. For anybody who grows up in the city centre, going somewhere outside where they can see the stars all night, where they can see cattle, trees and hedgerows, is very different. To have that facility in the youth service is absolutely amazing.  Ballyfermot Youth Service has received funding from the community safety innovation fund but that funding is coming to an end. The challenge is that it has not been mainstreamed, so it is not being taken into consideration along with the other sources of funding from the Department of Education and Youth. What is at risk now is the employment of two youth workers who were employed under that funding stream, as well as a psychotherapist who supports young people. When people grow up in an area of disadvantage, psychotherapists are like gold dust but they are really needed. There is intergenerational trauma and poverty and young people in areas like Ballyfermot really need to have mental health supports that are often not available. There are queues for everything in this country, particularly when it comes to youth mental health, so to have that service on site is absolutely vital. This is a basic service and one that every youth service should have. A long time ago, I worked as a youth worker and I have to say that youth work changes lives and saves lives. Tonight, I will be attending the community safety forum in Ballyfermot, which will be attended by representatives of Dublin City Council, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, youth workers and people who live in the community. They are the pillars of our community, the people who hold it all together.  What can be done here? I have written to the Minister about this and the reply I got just told me about all of the funding that the service gets already. The service is delighted with that funding - do not get me wrong - but it is going to lose three workers in this project because the long-term impact of having them now is not being considered. This is the problem when youth services and other services around the country rely on one-off funding. They become reliant on it to provide services. The need is there, so we need to be able to move the service in with the other mainstream funding services. The sum involved is \u20ac150,000, which is not a lot of money in the grander scheme of youth work provision. We need to make sure the investment in youth work in Ballyfermot is not lost as a result of losing those youth workers. We need a prevention model that takes the long-term view of what can be done for families in the area. We need to mainstream this and make sure that the service is available all of the time. That means that the allocation for 2026 needs to be adjusted for this youth service so that it is able to bring this into the mainstream part of the service to become part of the furniture. It is not the icing on the cake but is now part of the bread and butter services provided by Ballyfermot Youth Service. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  I thank Deputy Cummins for raising this matter. The Minister for Education and Youth has asked me to set out the position with regard to youth work provision and the funding supports available. Supporting youth services and youth work is an absolute priority for the Department of Education and Youth. The Department is committed to ensuring that young people in Ballyfermot and everywhere else in the country have access to valuable resources and opportunities that enable them to thrive.  The UBU, Your Place Your Space, scheme is the Department\u2019s largest funded youth scheme targeting young people aged between ten and 24 years who are identified as marginalised, vulnerable and at risk of not flourishing. It delivers evidence-informed interventions that promote soft skills, confidence, and progression into education, training or employment, and provides the foundation for local youth organisations to deliver tailored supports that meet the needs of their communities.  A budget of \u20ac50.7 million was allocated under the UBU scheme in 2025, representing a 4.5% increase on budget 2024. Over \u20ac17 million of that budget was allocated to City of Dublin Education and Training Board, CDETB, in its capacity as a grant administering body of the UBU scheme. In 2025, the Department allocated over \u20ac623,000 to Ballyfermot Youth Service under the UBU scheme to sustain core youth services, ensuring consistent support for young people. This represents a 4.5% increase on the previous year. Ballyfermot Youth Service caters to a wide range of young people and provides a diverse set of programmes, including non-formal education programmes, drop-in information sessions, music and arts programmes and access to the Erasmus+ programme. As the Deputy outlined, the work of Ballyfermot Youth Service empowers young people to make positive decisions around their life choices and to meet their needs by providing appropriate social, personal and development programmes.  In addition, the Department allocated approximately \u20ac40,000 to Ballyfermot Youth Service in resilience and effectiveness funding. The service also received over \u20ac28,000 in 2025 as part of the summer holiday meals pilot programme, which supported the provision of meals to young people during the summer period. Further funding was allocated to Ballyfermot Youth Service under the local youth club grant scheme. Although the 2025 local youth club grant scheme annual reports have not yet been received by the Department, in 2024 Ballyfermot Youth Service received \u20ac4,000 in funding under this particular heading.  Under the Estimates for the Department of Education and Youth, the youth affairs unit has been allocated an increase of \u20ac8 million in current and capital expenditure. While the high-level allocations are confirmed, a specific timeline for the release of the final detailed breakdown of the youth affairs schemes and programmes is not yet available. Work is continuing within the Department to finalise these allocations and they will be issued as soon as possible. There may well be funding from other Government Departments that Ballyfermot Youth Service could avail of. The Deputy can be assured that the Government values the work that is done by the service. We are eager to continue to fund it as best we can because we know that the work being done there is highly valuable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I am delighted to hear that the Government values the work being done in Ballyfermot. If the Minister of State or the Minister ever gets an opportunity to visit, they should take it because the model there is fantastic. I spoke to the community garda in Ballyfermot who said that Ballyfermot Youth Service safeguards vulnerable young people. The role it plays in diverting young people from crime and anti-social behaviour cannot be overstated. We have heard a lot in the D\u00e1il in the last week about the scourge of scramblers in this city and throughout the country. Places like youth services, where young people can be, can learn pro-social skills and can be involved in things they like, are absolutely transformational, not only for the young people themselves but also for their communities. Receiving a grant of \u20ac4,000 under the youth club grant scheme is fantastic, as is receiving \u20ac28,000 for the summer hot meals programme. In order to run the summer meals programme, the service needs all of the staff it currently has to deal with the 1,700 children who come through its doors. Losing three staff will mean fewer children will be fed in the summer months. As we know from the last few weeks, the hot school meals have been fantastic for young people. The delivery could be improved, and that is what we all want, but youth services being given that job during the summer is exactly what should happen. However, if the Ballyfermot service is down three staff, fewer young people will be able to engage in that programme.  I feel like I am at an auction. Can we go higher? Can the Department give more money? What can we do to make sure that this \u20ac150,000 goes back into this community?  The reality is youth services were cut drastically in austerity - really badly. They are inching their way back up but they are not back to the level they were before those cuts. Funding has certainly not been adjusted for inflation. On that basis, with this youth service asking for this pittance in comparison with the size of the budget we have, I ask the Minister to reconsider it and please visit so he can see how brilliant the work is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  Deputy Cummins can be assured that the Department, Minister and officials will continue to actively engage with City of Dublin ETB, youth services and young people to ensure that there is appropriate provision for young people in Ballyfermot. The Department's commitment builds on the significant work already undertaken through targeted funding and collaborative initiatives, which have strengthened youth services and expanded opportunities for inclusion and development. The Department is committed in its support for inclusive, needs-based youth work that empowers young people to thrive and contribute positively to their communities. The Department will maintain a proactive approach to ensure services in Ballyfermot and across the country remain responsive, accessible and impactful for all young people. I have no doubt the Minister and Department officials will take very much into account what the Deputy said and the case she has made in making funding allocations. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Youth Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_47","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Electricity Grid","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  What we have seen in north County Galway in the year since Storm \u00c9owyn has been nothing short of disaster. There have been over 20 power outages in the past year in Dunmore in north County Galway. It is not just Dunmore but surrounding areas like Ballygar, Glenamaddy, Kilkerrin and Clonberne are all affected by regular outages. Outages are one thing but extended outages are another. I thank the ESB for its engagement on the issue. I had a meeting with ESB representatives on this specific matter earlier and it was a positive and constructive engagement. I got to the bottom of the reasons for a lot of these outages. There were swan strikes, issues with the line and issues with automation on the line, which led to power outages in larger areas, probably unnecessarily. This comes back to our readiness for weather events. Are we storm-ready along the north Galway lines?  Investment is the other issue. Has this line been invested in in the past few years and, if so, what level of investment has gone into it? I received correspondence from the GP practice in Dunmore. For it to be without power for an extended period has a significant negative impact on patients. How can families, mothers with newborn children, the butcher shop and other shops - everywhere in the community - function as a society in the 21st century if they cannot have consistent power? The real issue is reliability and consistency. While the rest of the county drives on and has power, this area is often without power. Many constituents in north Galway have made contact with me. People can deal with a handful of power outages but when it is a recurring issue, it really frustrates people. I would be grateful for any insights the Minister can share as to how this situation will be resolved and what is causing it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Darragh O'Brien)  I am aware the Deputy met ESB Networks representatives today. I am glad he found that meeting informative and constructive. I will work with him on this specific issue. He articulated very well the impact it has on the communities he mentioned in Dunmore, Glenamaddy and elsewhere in Gaillimh. I will outline a couple of initiatives for the electricity grid and then get to the specifics in my second response.  It is important that we look at this at a national level, although there are local area issues too. The Deputy knows the delivery of infrastructure on the ground is down to our network teams. We support that and the capital investment programmes being rolled out by EirGrid and ESB Networks. We have a role in assisting to fund that and in ensuring the right environment exists to enable the delivery of critical infrastructure. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, the independent regulator, is accountable to the Oireachtas committee. It is responsible for the economic regulation of the electricity system and its system operators. The operators are tasked with building safely, operating and maintaining a fit-for-purpose electricity system.  Our grid is made up of two interlinked networks, namely, the transmission network operated by EirGrid, which allows us to transport electricity around the country, and the distribution network operated by ESB Networks, which brings power to communities, businesses and homes. In December, the CRU published its final determination of what is called price review 6. That is the capital investment programme for our grid in this five-year period. It is badly needed. It follows on from price review 5 which concluded at the end of last year. It is up to \u20ac18.9 billion of investment in our grid and 520 capital projects across the country to do the very thing the Deputy sought on behalf of his constituents, namely, improve grid resilience, upgrade lines, replace poles and ensure electricity corridors are fit for purpose so we can bring more power onto our grid, distribute it, bring more renewables onto the grid and ensure there is a safe and secure supply line of electricity. To facilitate that, and with the Deputy's support, we are investing \u20ac3.5 billion in equity in EirGrid and in ESB Networks. This is the first time this has been done. We passed the legislation before Christmas for the first \u20ac1.5 billion. It has now gone to ESB Networks and \u20ac2 billion will go to EirGrid. That allows them to borrow and leverage from that equity investment to invest in our grid. Those plans are for the next five years. It is about three and a half times the level of investment in the previous five years.  If we needed to be taught anything, Storm \u00c9owyn, even if it was an exceptional weather event, although, let us be honest, exceptional weather events are becoming much more frequent, showed that it is incumbent on us to improve the resilience of the distribution network in our grid. We have already embarked on that programme. I am directly involved with EirGrid and ESB Networks in relation to specific projects. I will come back on what we can do in Galway, the reasons for that and what we can do for the Deputy's constituents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  At my meeting with ESB Networks today, it became very clear that the company has both immediate and medium-term plans. It is important to highlight that vegetation and trees are one of the biggest causes of recurring outages in north Galway, where is a significant amount of forestry. When people planted those trees 30 years ago, there was no legislation suggesting they had to be 30 m distant from either side of the wire. We have to be honest about that. One issue the ESB faces, which it raised with me and was quite surprised about, is that a lot of forestry is owned by pension funds and investments funds, which are, ultimately, faceless organisations. It can be difficult for the ESB to make contact with them to gain access to the lands to maintain the tree line. I know legislation is being worked on but the ESB needs to have the power to go in and maintain the lines. It is the State's infrastructure and the ESB's infrastructure. The ESB has to have the right go in and maintain it. That is vital.  In terms of immediate plans to protect areas like Dunmore, Glenamaddy and Mountbellew, I have heard stories of people who were two, three or four days without power. Every time that happens to a low-income family, they cannot afford to put food on the table because they are a few days without power. They have to go out for three of four meals a day and they have three kids. That is a really tough situation. When we get this right and when price review 6 investment comes through into areas like this, the people we will be helping are elderly people and people on lower incomes by giving them energy security.  I welcome the grant announcements earlier this week and the work the Minister is doing because it is important in terms of giving people control of their own energy in their homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  As I said, the meeting was important and gives the Deputy a clear view of what is happening. Work is under way in Tuam. Recent outages in the wider Tuam area and surrounding areas have primarily been caused by lightning events, timber vegetation, as the Deputy mentioned, wildlife and equipment failure on the network. There is a major programme of pole replacement. We have work to do on forestry corridors and timber cutting. Storm \u00c9owyn brought down years of timber that would have been harvested.  We are bringing forward legislation to clarify the rights the ESB already has because they go back to the 1929 electricity Act in terms of access to land. That will be done this year. My Department is working with the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It is incumbent on those who own forests, be they privately owned, State forests or owned by institutions, that they are managed properly. That is why the licensing arrangements for new forestry need to reflect that. It cannot always be down to the State to manage forestry on private land. We have to put the responsibility on landowners.  The Deputy mentioned the upgrading of the existing Ballygar 38 kV substation. That will have a very positive effect on the area. In my constituency, in north county Dublin, in particular in Donabate, there have been regular outages which has been rectified by the installation of a new substation. Many more of these will be delivered in the coming period. The winter resilience plan is under way. After Storm \u00c9owyn, it was the first time that the grid had been fully surveyed nationwide across the 26 Counties and, indeed, across the 32 Counties because we operate a single electricity market. That was done mainly through drones, which I will discuss shortly.  I assure the Deputy that I will work directly with him on the specific issues in his constituency. He has articulated very well the impact they have had on residents. Things are now starting to improve. A major investment programme over the next five-year term will make a difference. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Electricity Grid"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-29\/debate\/dbsect_48","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/61","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/61\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Regulation of Drones Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Regulation of Drones Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":30,"speakerCount":10},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I appreciate the Minister coming to the House to discuss the Bill. I am pleased to speak to my first Private Members' Bill. I note the Government has opted to delay the Bill using a timed amendment for 12 months. I am disappointed in that approach. I believe it would be better to allow the Bill to be debated in more in depth on Committee Stage. I will be the first to say that improvements can be made to the Bill, but Committee Stage would have been a good time to hear input from the Government, academics, experts and communities, including residents who have strong views on the use of technology. Nevertheless, I appreciate the Minister being here and look forward to hearing his contribution.  I want to be clear that in respect of drones and unmanned aircraft in general, there is clear potential for this use of technology to serve us well. This is an evolution in how we transport certain goods and it is something for which we should be ready. I am bringing forward the Bill because, to date, the State has approached the issue of drones from the wrong angle. The regulation has been based on an air traffic control consideration. The public interest, including, for example, the interests of people in Dublin 15 whose air spaces now host frequent drone deliveries, has not come into the regulatory structure to date.  The air traffic control approach might have worked ten years ago, but we are dealing with an entirely different set of circumstances today. That is simply what my Bill is trying to do. It recognises that every new technology and evolution must be regulated in the public interest. Regulation to guarantee safety is critical, but that is the basic minimum we should expect. We have to ensure that the operation of drones works for everyone in our communities.  The potential of drones and unmanned aerial systems is significant. They are an innovation that Ireland can and should harness. A major change is happening in our society right now. Hundreds of journeys that up to this point took place on our roads are now being transferred into the skies over our homes and gardens. Many members of the public are asking how many drones flying over their house or gardens is too many. Up to this point, the State has refused to engage in a meaningful way in that particular conversation.  It is hard to see a direct historical comparison for the evolution we are seeing. The advent of the car is probably the closest thing in terms of autonomously operated vehicles that have the potential to proliferate in an environment. Today, nobody would question the very strict and extensive regulation that we have around car use when it comes to safety, noise, the environment, air quality and ensuring adequate space for walkers, cyclists and public transport. No one has a problem with the extensive regulation around cars and they are still able to fulfil their potential to move us and our stuff around. In the same way, regulation around drones will allow the use of drones to continue.  What I propose today should not be seen as some sort of hindrance to innovation, as some might argue. Balanced with the public good, the right of people to the reasonable quiet enjoyment of their homes, gardens and air space immediately above them, we can get the regulation of this new technology right.  What are people telling me about the impact of drones? Right now, it is clear that Dublin 15 and Dublin west are being viewed as a kind of test case and large-scale experiment. It is the first urban area in Ireland to experience large-scale drone delivery. People living in Dublin 15 have raised with me and other Deputies and councillors a wide range of issues relating to airborne delivery drones, including concerns about the noise from the machines, their safety, the planning status of drone bases, privacy issues - as we know drones are fitted with cameras \u2013 and their impact on wildlife. Many people have told me that the frequency with which drones are seen and heard above their homes has increased as the service becomes more popular.  It cannot simply be the case that people are told, \"That is it, they are here now, so get over it\". Local communities have a right to democratically shape and influence how their environment is used, how that changes and how those changes impact on them. That is the cornerstone of our democratic planning process. However, there are questions about the extent to which the operation of drones is even covered by the planning process in the first place. That is one of the central issues I am trying to address in the Bill. For example, if a private company, such as a business that operates some sort of noisy manufacturing process to make goods, proposed to open new facility, there would be tight regulation in terms of the level of noise and when noise would be allowed. The community would be able to involve itself in that decision through our normal planning process. It is unclear as to whether such opportunities exist in respect of drones. Again, that is central to why I am bringing forward the Bill.  I also want to address the environmental concerns that have been raised with me. For example, BirdWatch Ireland has said that drones can have detrimental effects on nesting birds. We are now seeing drones operate at scale in Dublin 15. There are hundreds of journeys every week. I will be very honest. It needs to be proved to me and others that this level of traffic in our skies is not having a negative impact on wildlife. Again, that is why we need have a discussion and a policy on this on a national level where the wider environmental impacts can be teased out.  It is not just me raising this. Earlier this week, the attorney general of the state of California joined with 17 other attorneys general from other US states to take a case against the Trump administration because it has significantly increased the volume of delivery drones operating in various states in the United States and reduced the level of regulation.  In that case, they are citing environmental concerns as central to the issues they are raising.  I do not know the answer to this but I need it to be looked at, and it is not being looked at right now. If we are going to see this happen in my home area and in other areas across Dublin and across the country, I believe these questions need to be answered.  There are other views on drones. I have been contacted by residents in my area who are supportive and find the service useful, and I absolutely recognise that. That is why getting a balance here is important, but a balance is not achieved by allowing one company or a couple of companies to do what they want and everyone else just has to react to that. That is why the State needs to step in in a legislative manner.  I will briefly set out some of the key provisions of my Bill for the record of the House. The Bill provides for the further regulation of private and commercial use of unmanned aircraft systems, commonly referred to as drones. The Bill creates new and mandatory planning regulatory considerations under the Planning and Development Act 2024 with respect to the private and commercial operation of drones, creating an additional consideration for the issuance of the national planning statement and by requiring local authorities to prepare objectives for the management of drone operations.  Section 1 just sets out the key interpretation provisions.  Section 2 amends section 2 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 to insert a definition of the term \"unmanned aircraft systems\" into that Act.  Section 3 amends section 26 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 to create a new consideration upon the Minister in the issuance of a national planning statement. That is the consistent regulation of the private and commercial operation of drone systems in the public interest. The term \"consistent\" is important to ensure that we have a uniform national application of the same considerations where multiple planning authorities are dealing with this. We should not have a different rule for drones in Dublin City Council from that in Cork County Council. That sort of situation will not work. This section is important because it sets out in national law a requirement for a national policy that will be established by the Government and that will be put into the national planning statement. In doing so, it allows that national debate to take place about what the public interest we want is in terms of drone usage. That has to happen. It has not happened yet. This has been done on an ad hoc basis, and that is causing real frustration and confusion. Requiring in national law that a policy on a national basis is taken is really important.  Section 4 creates a new obligation upon a planning authority to prepare objectives, as part of the making of a development plan, for the effective management of the private and commercial operation of unmanned aircraft systems in the planning authority area. The new section provides that objectives must ensure that the private and commercial use of drones is prioritised in favour of operations in the public interest and provides a list of such operations. Again, this is probably at the heart of the Bill. If we understand that the use of the airspace immediately above our neighbourhoods and our residential areas is limited, we have to create a hierarchy in terms of prioritising uses that are in the public interest: medical, emergency, architectural, wildlife, conservation and industrial safety uses. Drones can have very important health and safety uses. Those uses should be prioritised. A prioritisation can also ensure that private commercial operations can take place as long as that is happening in a controlled manner. The new section also provides that a planning authority may designate a use not listed as being in the public interest and the new section requires a planning authority to ensure that the objectives created for the above purposes must be consistent with that national policy statement.  Section 5 is a part that I believe addresses a very significant gap in our law at the moment, that is, that members of the public have no legal recourse right now when it comes to the noise impacts of the operation of drones. That is something that is raised with me time and time again. Section 5 amends section 108 of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 to allow any person, a local authority or the EPA to make a complaint to the District Court with respect to the emission of noise from certain private or commercially operated drones. This again recognises that the presence of drones in airspace above and around residential areas can have an impact on environmental noise and it provides the public with a remedy about that noise in the same way they have remedies at present about noises coming from other areas.  Section 6 gives the Short Title of the Bill.  It is pretty much Dublin West represented here today. It is somewhat unique in that this is an issue for Dublin West right now. Sometimes when I talk about drones, people are like, \"What are you talking about?\", but this is a real issue. I said it before, but a massive change has taken place in Dublin West. Our skies are now buzzing with drones and we need to have a national conversation about this. It cannot be just the TDs and the councillors in Dublin 15 going on about it. I have not mentioned the one company involved because for me this is not just about one company but, rather, about national policy. It is one company now; it could well be two, four or many companies very soon delivering different things. This will happen in more of Dublin and in more of our country, and we need to have a regulatory structure. I was critical of the framework policy that came out in August, mainly because I felt it set out a few nice things but did not put in place timelines to address this, and timelines are crucial. That is why I moved forward with this legislation, because we need to start a concrete debate on how we regulate this technology in the public interest. Residents in Dublin 15, irrespective of their views, whether they find the delivery drones useful or not, want to see that clarity and regulation in the public interest.  I look forward to the Minister's response and the contributions from colleagues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Transport (Deputy Darragh O'Brien)  I move amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"That\" and substitute the following:  D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann resolves that the Regulation of Drones Bill 2025 be read a second time on this day 12 months, to allow for the actions set out in the National Policy Framework for Unmanned Aircraft Systems and agreed by Government to be progressed and to allow for a full examination of the legal and policy implications of the Bill's provisions to be undertaken.  I thank Deputy O'Gorman for tabling this Bill. It is a very useful part of the debate. It is pretty much Fingal representatives in this room, with the exception of the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach, but it is an issue. We are one of the first countries to have brought forward a policy framework on this. I will use the opportunity here to inform the House of the progress we are making there and where I see this going further. I acknowledge Deputy O'Gorman's work on this Bill and on this issue and, particularly, his engagement on this issue. This is not the first time he has raised it, and other colleagues who are here in the House, including Deputy Currie, have raised this issue on a number of occasions directly with me as well. In particular, it is very important that the concerns and views of local residents and communities impacted by the increase of drone usage are represented here, and it is right and proper that they are articulated here in the D\u00e1il.  The Bill deals with planning and noise considerations arising from commercial operators. It seeks to provide for the regulation of commercial and private drones in the public interest. It proposes a series of amendments to the Planning and Development Act 2024 and the EPA Act 1992. To summarise, it creates new obligations on the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage and on planning authorities to have regard to the objective of the regulation of drones in the public interest of private and commercial drones in a national planning statement, as Deputy O'Gorman has outlined, and in development plans, respectively. It also would see noise from a drone addressed as a nuisance, allowing complaints to the District Court by any individual or local authority or the EPA.  The Government understands the background to these proposals, and I fully recognise the Deputy's intentions in the preparation of this Bill. The use of drones for commercial and other purposes has grown substantially over the past decade. The growth has been facilitated by the publication of a suite of EU aviation safety regulations that promote the safe and secure development of the drone sector throughout Europe. Drones are now accessible to a broad range of users and their use is becoming commonplace. As the technology has evolved, drone use has presented significant opportunities in both commercial and public domains. Drones present exciting opportunities for businesses and the public sector to boost productivity, improve service provision and improve safety.  In the Topical Issue I answered just prior to this, I addressed the mapping of our electricity network across the island, which was undertaken predominantly by drones.  Already in Ireland, drones are being rolled out across services, including in emergency response, inspections of dangerous buildings and sites by local authorities, in environmental monitoring and in goods delivery. However, the rapid pace of drone innovation and commercialisation has also created significant challenges and generated real and genuine concerns among communities, particularly around issues of noise, intrusion and privacy. While there is a comprehensive regulatory framework in place for drone operations, from an aviation safety perspective, the rapid expansion of drone operations has resulted in gaps and uncertainty in certain areas.  While the Irish Aviation Authority, IAA, which is the civil aviation regulator, oversees the implementation of the EU drone safety regulations and standards to ensure safe drone operations, there is a recognised demand for clarity and guidance on the roles and responsibilities of public bodies more generally in relation to, in particular, high-frequency drone operations. Recognising that the impact of a growing drone sector needed further consideration, the Government included this in the programme for Government and a commitment to finalising and publishing a policy framework to guide high-level strategic planning and development of the drone sector in Ireland. The framework aims to support growth and innovation, while ensuring safe and secure operations and managing environmental and other concerns.  In 2025, we saw significant progress made in delivering this commitment and the national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems was agreed by the Government and published by me in August 2025. The foundation of the policy framework is cross-government engagement. As has been outlined by the proposer of the Bill, a lot of this sits within the planning authorities but in planning legislation as well. It is important to say our strategy was also informed by public and industry consultation. The policy framework sets out a number of cross-government actions that aim to address the concerns in relation to increasing drone usage and operations in balance with the realisation of the economic and societal benefits from the emerging drone sector. This will include ensuring that appropriate authorities have the required regulatory powers and that they have mechanisms in place to ensure the views of all stakeholders, very importantly, including residents, are taken into account. It also seeks to identify and address any policy, regulatory or legislative gaps that may have arisen due to the increased expansion of drone operations. This will be done in a holistic and balanced way. The policy framework contains actions to assist the planning community and local authorities to manage the integration of UAS technology into communities and how to take local concerns on board, and they must be taken on board. One such action is the IAA supporting local authorities and planners to acquire the necessary aviation knowledge about UAS technology, regulation and oversight. The IAA has already begun to provide this support.  In dealing with noise from drones, there are a number of mitigating measures, technological and operational, that can be undertaken to minimise the noise nuisance from drones. I have experienced this myself in the Dublin West area and I certainly take the point. The point Deputy O'Gorman has made in relation to noise is a very valid one. Mitigating measures also include spatial planning through airspace management by the designation of UAS geographical zones and through input into the planning system where planning permissions may be required. The policy framework provides for the development of transparent processes and procedures for the designation of UAS geographical zones, including for the purpose of protecting privacy and, very importantly, dealing with environmental concerns. The structures and actions set out in the policy framework should be allowed to be established and implemented, so that any regulatory gaps can be identified and addressed. I see the Deputy's legislation as forming part of that. The implementation of the policy framework, while being led by my Department, will very much rely on those cross-government structures and the continuation of engagement and support from sister Departments, agencies, the drone sector and, very importantly, the public.  Implementation is under way. The national UAS policy framework monitoring group, which will support and monitor the progress of the implementation of the policy framework and the delivery of actions, has been established. The first meeting of the monitoring group is scheduled to happen on 18 February 2026, just next month. As Minister for Transport, it is my responsibility to lead the overall response and ensure co-ordination across Government. As the Deputy's Bill illustrates, many of the issues that require consideration in respect of drone operations are within the responsibility of other Government Departments, and that is why that co-ordination within the framework is critical.  The provisions of the Bill do affect legislation that is under the remit of the Department of housing, as well as my other Department, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. Following engagement at official level with both those Departments, initial examination indicates that proposed legislative amendments would present implementation difficulties. The Department of housing, for example, is of the opinion that the proposed additional consideration for the issuance of national planning statements and the requirement for local authorities to prepare objectives for the management of UAS operations in their development plans may be overly prescriptive. The purpose of development plans is to provide an integrated overall planning approach. It is a priority for Government to ensure the implementation of the Planning and Development Act 2024 and, indeed, the revised national planning framework. This work is central to tackling issues such as housing supply and infrastructure development. Any changes to plan-making requirements at this point, before implementation of the UAS policy framework is further progressed, could serve to undermine the clarity sought by local authorities and could delay this important work. I know that is not the Deputy's intention. The House can be reassured drone bases do constitute \"development\" and existing planning legislation already applies to them. We have seen a specific example of that working through in Fingal County Council. We need to allow some time for further policy development and implementation.  The proposed amendment of the Environmental Protection Agency Act 1992 to treat noise from a drone as a nuisance may be problematic. I do not want to be overly negative about it. There is complexity within the process but I think that needs to be looked at within the framework itself. In many jurisdictions, including Ireland, existing environmental protection legislation specifically exempts aircraft noise from local authority regulation. A drone at the moment comes within the definition of \"aircraft\". Nuisance law often relies on individual complaints and legal action, which is an inefficient and impractical way to manage the potentially high frequency of transient drone flyovers expected from widespread commercial operations. I think people would agree with that, so we need a more holistic approach. A proactive system is needed instead of a reactive, individual complaints-based system. Complaints and feedback are important. I am not saying they are not but when we look to implementing the framework itself, we have to have a better way to be able to manage it. The District Court could obviously see a significant increase in noise complaints about drones, and I do not think the courts should necessarily be the place to be clogged up with these complaints. We do have a distance to go in respect of fully addressing drone noise before a role for the courts can be considered.  Deputy O'Gorman's Bill is very important and the engagement from Members in government and across the House is helpful. I am committed to moving forward and working with the monitoring group and the national UAS policy framework. I believe this will be the key driver for bringing forward regulations, and further regulations, which will be needed. Like the Deputy, I do not intend to try to restrict the technological growth in this sector, and there are great technological advancements. There are certainly advantages to drone usage as well, with reduced traffic where we have some deliveries and other things that would otherwise be carried by vehicles, such as cars, vans and trucks, but, and I do say \"but\", there are genuine concerns from communities that have been impacted who never believed their homes would be overflown by this type of aircraft. There is, in my view, a noise nuisance. We do want to support the growth and development of the sector in an appropriate, sustainable and balanced way.  In my response to the Deputy, I already outlined, as he did, to be fair to him, when he introduced his Bill, some of the benefits of drones being introduced. We can see this when we look at survey work and work in relation to wildlife protection, derelict buildings and the mapping, assessment and monitoring of our grid across the country. What we were able to do in a matter of weeks would have previously taken months and years. There is also a particular issue here as well, though. I have met professional drone operators but I have not met the company that has been referenced here although not mentioned.  We also need to look at a framework for the licensing of professional drone operators because there are many unlicensed drone operators operating on a commercial basis. That means there is not a level playing pitch for those who are properly registered with the regulator and pay the fees associated with that. The transport committee and the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage are going to have significant input into this. I firmly believe the framework is the way forward.  I have proposed a timed amendment because, while the Deputy can hold the Government's feet to the fire on this, we need time to further the implementation and to establish the framework committee. We have done that. The committee is in place and will meet on 18 February. We can work through these measures together. Within that 12-month period, the Deputy will be able to assess the progress being made. That is why I did not want to reject this Bill outright. It is a very useful contribution to the debate and to bringing about a balanced approach to the drone sector along with our communities. I thank the Deputy for proposing this Bill. I also thank colleagues for raising matters in this area prior to the debate. It is an important matter. That is why I ensured I was here myself to take the debate on the Bill. I hope that demonstrates the importance the Government and I put on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  I thank Deputy O'Gorman for publishing this Bill and for the work that has gone into it. I have consistently argued for a balanced approach on this matter. I want to see innovation and the deployment of drone technology but I also want to see effective regulation and enforcement of that regulation. There are politicians in the area who just want an end to the drones. That is fine but I am not in that camp. I recognise the benefits and potential benefits of drone technology but I believe there must be practical and implementable safeguards for communities. I still believe that can be achieved.  Communities, planning authorities and businesses should be engaged with to build an effective and workable regulatory framework. Enterprises, especially those with ambitious plans for global expansion, should be up for that. I welcome the publication of the national policy framework and want to see it prioritised and progressed. Making regulations and enforcing them is a matter for the Government. We have seen what happens when innovations, for example, e-scooters, come in without a robust regulatory framework and enforcement measures. The Government must do more. Innovating and operating responsibly in compliance with the law is a matter for business. I welcome the fact that a business operating in the community is continuing to innovate by investing in new propeller systems to address noise impacts. However, at the same time, it must also ensure it is fully compliant with all aspects of regulation and the law, which includes the local planning code.  I support innovation and the development of a new regulatory framework. All businesses must comply with those rules in their operations. I note the Bill requires local authorities to prepare objectives for the management of drones. We all know that national policy and local policy need to be more joined up. I am not sure how this Bill addresses that gap. With regard to noise, I agree there needs to be a complaints mechanism but in order for that to happen, there needs to be agreement on appropriate noise levels for residential areas.  Fingal County Council granted a temporary three-year trial at Blanchardstown shopping centre for a drone delivery service. The planning officer noted that the applicant stated that this was a trial period to examine whether the proposal would be acceptable. In reference to noise, the chief executive's order states that the temporary nature of the proposal will enable potential impacts to be monitored more fully. The fact that the trial is coming to an end should focus the minds of those who want to show that noise can be addressed with mechanisms to measure it. It should also focus the minds of those who want to ensure a balance can be found. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  I welcome the Bill from Deputy O'Gorman and the opportunity to again speak on this issue. It is a really important issue for Dublin West but it will also have an impact right across the country. It is interesting that it comes this week in light of the scrambler issue. I have raised the issue of Garda use of drones. Garda\u00ed have been trained in the use of drones. I have been asking about this since 2021. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has drones and garda\u00ed have been trained in their use since 2023. However, they are not being used because regulations from An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na are still awaited. There were legislative issues but these were cleared up by the Minister, who said there were none. It has gone back to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and now it seems regulations are needed. There is just confusion about this across the board.  Businesses do not seem to be confused about what they think they can do, however. This is a real example of the Government not getting its act together with regard to new technologies. We are going to see this on a monthly basis with the development of AI technology. We are going to be scrambling to try to deal with things literally every week. I live just down the road from Millennium Park, where the drone take-off zone is located. To be honest, when some of this was developed three years ago, I was intrigued. I walked the dog there pretty much every day - I still walk in that park - to see what was going in there. We saw how it was being developed and we saw drones. I was genuinely interested to see how this would work and the impact it would have on the community. I knew it was a trial period and wanted to see how it would develop. It would be untrue to say there is either unanimous opposition to this or unanimous support for it. There are very mixed feelings in Dublin 15 about its operation and impact. We were waiting to see what the impact would be in a couple of years.  It was clear that noise was going to be the big impact. I simply do not accept the drone operators' views on the impact of noise as drones hover over your house. Anybody who has seen or experienced it will tell you that the noise of the drone as it drops off the package is unacceptable. To be fair, when you are walking your dog and the drone is at its peak height, you can hear it but it is not massively significant. It can be a little bit annoying but the impact is not as big as it is when a delivery is being made to your door or the door of someone else nearby.  What most people are really concerned about and cannot get their heads around is the scaling of this. What is it going to look like? At the moment, there are five drones operating from Millenium Park. They can do a delivery every couple of minutes so, in an hour, five drones could make a couple of hundred deliveries. What will it look like when there are hundreds or thousands of drones in the sky? There is no doubt that other companies will look at this and say it is a very cheap and effective way to deliver products. It will not just be coffee and food. It will be small packages and deliveries. We see the development of these technologies in the war in Ukraine. We see the size of some of the drones and what they are used for. Some of these packages will probably be huge.  There are hundreds of van drivers, delivery drivers and Deliveroo workers. All of those companies that currently deliver are going to see this as an opportunity to get rid of human beings delivering packages. They will see it as a way to operate much more effectively. I would invite anyone who does not know what we are talking about to come see.  I was out canvassing a couple of months ago and we had comrades down from Belfast. They were looking at the drones above them asking what was going on. We told them it was coffee being delivered or someone getting their lunch or breakfast delivered. They were absolutely flabbergasted and could not believe it. Not everybody is aware of this but it is coming into every community and it is something that will be a huge issue for people.  Another issue is privacy. For people who do not understand, when the drone goes over a person's property to make a delivery, a camera switches on. It looks down at where the square is and when it sees that nobody is there, it drops the package. I understand the company states this is not recorded but we know from previous history, and from our own WhatsApp groups and social media, that people take screenshots and videos from various computers. I have a real worry. People should have the right to be in their own garden and expect the privacy of their own garden. This should be expected. At the moment, I do not think people really trust that this is happening with the drone deliveries. Certainly, as it goes into the future, it will be a deep concern for people.  I welcome the debate and the moves to regulate this. I have read the framework and looked at the framework. Unfortunately, there are no timelines on it. We do not know. The people living with it in the here and now, the people who are experiencing this in Dublin 15, cannot wait for another year, year and a half or two years. We know the company tried to open another two zones and ran into planning issues. We know it is pressing forward. I do not think we can wait, and certainly given the advancement of the technology, we certainly cannot wait for the Government.  It is really disappointing to see this happen to another Bill brought by the Opposition. The Government constantly asks us to bring forward our solutions. Every time something happens in here, we are told to bring forward our solutions and that the Government will listen to us. Deputy O'Gorman has brought forward a solution and what has the Government done? It has kicked it down the road for another 12 months. It is really disappointing.  The impact will not be in the Minister of State's constituency. It was previously but then it moved to our constituency. It will be in every constituency. We need to move fast to ensure people's right to their gardens and their privacy, their right not to have the noise these drones cause and their right not to have the nuisance they cause. I am not opposed to drone technology. It is another piece of technology that is here. It would be foolish to say we can ban this type of technology or get rid of it but we have to be able to regulate it. We have to make sure the concerns of our communities are not undermined by the desire to ensure businesses such as these drone delivery companies take precedence over our communities.  It is disappointing that the Bill is being kicked down the road. We are going to be coming back to this time and again. As time goes on, the Chamber will get fuller of people who have concerns about drone deliveries in our communities. I ask that the Government act soon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  We have been the experimental lab in Dublin 15 for this technology. I thank the TDs from outside Dublin West and I will be absolutely frank. It was only when it was spoken about that this technology would be going into other areas that immediately people kicked up about it. We have been suffering this for a year and a half. It was introduced with no opposition. It was welcomed in by the Minister, Deputy Chambers, who is a TD for the area. Some people raised it at local council level, trying to get media attention on it. They put it on the council agenda. Deputy Gannon raised it in here as a Topical Issue one day and I raised it. Then Dundrum happened and 200 people showed up to a meeting there. Fair play to Dundrum; the people said to hang on a second and that they were not having it. The company had to have some level of consultation there. This was a turning point last summer.  I will give my position on where we should go with this. The Bill is quite minimal. I support the provisions in it but it is far from dealing with the issue. We have had no debate on the impact of this very intrusive technology, which is completely and utterly wrong. It was allowed to happen by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael in particular. There was no consent sought from the communities that had to endure it. A couple of comments have been made about the noise. It has been said that it is like the death of peace and quiet but this is not the case for everyone. I do not hear the noise as much as other residents would but it is not about taking a poll to see what the temperature is and going with that. If it impacts on a minority of people, that is enough and it should not be allowed to do this.  There is one company, Manna, that has upped the ante and taken on Deliveroo. What about when other companies, such as Amazon or Google, start to use this? We will have an M50 in the sky. The only other country where this has happened and there has been a community response is Australia. The community in Bonython protested and saw off the drones. To make it clear, because it is a bit jaded to say some TDs do not like technology and we are Luddites, we do not just welcome technology for the sake of technology. It is about how technology impacts on people. A number of people in academia are very opposed to this.  There was a public meeting that was attended by other TDs here. Everyone knows how hard it is to get people to a meeting and there were 250 people in the Crowne Plaza hotel, on a cold enough night, who were very concerned about the impact this was having. We all agree that drones can be used amazingly for medical issues, topography, geography and emergency situations such as delivering defibrillators. This is what they should primarily be used for. I am in favour of regulation where we outline the uses of drones. I do not think they should be used for commercial or fast-food delivery in highly built-up residential areas. I do not see that as being essential, not compared to the scale of the impact it is having on people.  It is not about just opposing technology. The effect of persistent noise on people is very damaging to their health. We know this from all the studies. Dr. Ciara Bracken-Roche from Maynooth University spoke at the meeting. I also had a very good meeting with Professor Julia Powles, who is a professor of law and technology in Australia. She has written a lot about this and the impact that Google drones had there. There is a lot of questioning of this technology. Primarily, it is communities getting organised for themselves that has made the difference.  I do not have time to go into it but Manna has been operating disgracefully in Dublin West. It has three bases and two of them did not have any planning permission. The rules do not seem to apply. In fact, it is quoted in the newspapers as saying the planning regulations had not caught up with it. The rules do not apply to it. Due to community opposition, this has been pushed back on two of the sites and the other will come up for renewal shortly. I imagine there will be opposition to it. The reason is that we all agree it is great having technology, but not when it means constant noise.  There is a privacy issue also and this has been proved. A French company came over and did excellent work whereby it got one and showed how it worked. A photograph is taken of the site where the package will be dropped - the package is a burger or, mainly, a coffee - but the drone is taking pictures of other back gardens as well. This was shown in the work. Someone out in their back garden should not have a company with a drone taking a photograph of them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  We would prefer if Deputy Coppinger did not mention any company that is not here and cannot defend itself.  Others have not done it, so it would be great if Deputy Coppinger could also not mention company names because they are not here to defend themselves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Does the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach mean companies like Manna Drones? That is the company that is operating this system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  I know, but other Deputies have refrained from doing that so it would be very helpful. It is because the company is not here to defend itself. I ask that the Deputy refrain from doing that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  In fairness, the company has testified at Oireachtas committees. It is perfectly out there. A representative of that company is quoted in today's paper so it is a bit silly to say we cannot talk about the company.  In any case, it is important to show people how the company has operated without permission. I am assuming the Minister of State does not think it is okay to just breach planning permission and that people should go through the planning process. The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, said there were gaps. There are not gaps; it is just a Wild West situation where these people can do what they want to do.  We all agree with drone technology for certain uses, but the impact it is having is clear in the example from a resident who wrote to me.  Beyond the serious privacy and safety concerns, persistent drone noise is disruptive and it undermines the quiet, residential character of their neighbourhood. It adds yet another layer of stress to daily life and reflects a broader problem - the growing incursion of tech companies into our communities and lives without any democratic oversight or meaningful accountability. It is about profit. Drone delivery of fast food and consumer goods is not a public necessity.  That sums it up.  Feedback was sought by a resident in Castleknock through a Whatsapp group. The replies were as follows:  I worry about the environmental impact ... The frequency of flights has noticeably increased ... There was a close encounter with a bird last week ... The presence of drones makes outdoor meals and dining uncomfortable ... Why weren't we properly consulted? ... The noise echoes in our cul-de-sac ... My autistic child finds the noise overwhelming ... My elderly parents find it overwhelming ... The drones passed directly over a family picnic ... This is not what I signed up for. There are so many messages about the feeling of being under surveillance and of having absolutely no say.  Drone Action in Dublin 15 is a group of residents who got together and produced a newsletter. As TDs, we are always giving out newsletters and the feedback we get is generally very minimal. Drone Action sent out 5,000 newsletters and got back 300 responses. They asked for people who are interested in a no-fly zone over their house because representatives of the company operating this currently told the transport committee it would respect that. So 300 replied to this, which that is a huge rate of feedback. These are not just moaning Minnies, as this company tries to portray them as. It is very disparaging towards local residents and it is saying this is politically orchestrated, when the person running it is also very political themselves and regularly shares posts about Trump, military stuff and so on.  The key point is that the communities themselves must be the final arbiters of this. Community assent has to be sought for this technology. We need a law whereby commercial drone delivery is not allowed in very built-up residential areas or for commercial fast food. There are occasions where food might need to be delivered, which is no problem in outlying or isolated areas, but it is too disruptive. Given there are one or two companies doing it now, what it will be like when there are more companies doing it?  There are also employment issues. They are putting people like delivery drivers and riders out of jobs. The economic impact is always talked about from the drone base. They have to be gotten to the drone base. The products are often driven to the drone base. It is not environmentally clean either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  I thank Deputy O'Gorman for bringing forward this really important Bill. In relation to naming companies in this Chamber, I was given out to about that recently. These companies are not individuals. They are not private individuals. They are big enough and bold enough to defend themselves, so I do not know whether we need to look at our rules on that. We should, in this House, be able to call out companies who are already----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  They appeared in committee as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  As Deputy Coppinger said, they are before the committees, they are in the papers, and they are big and bold enough to defend themselves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  I am giving Deputies the knowledge that we are not supposed to name people in the Chamber. It is for the protection of the Deputies under D\u00e1il privilege. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  I thank the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach. I was not having a go at the Chair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  I know. I am the messenger today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  I am the first speaker this evening from outside of Dublin 15 and it has been noted that there are a couple of us here from outside the area. This is coming for us all. That is why I am here, and I am sure it is why Deputy Gibney is here. We have seen plans for Dundrum and elsewhere around Dublin. There should be a certain urgency to getting this right so that we nip the issues in the bud that we have seen arise in Dublin 15 and west Dublin and that we get it right quickly.  As Deputy Gorman and others have set out earlier, we do need a balanced approach to drones. We have to be open to new technology and new developments and all of that, but we cannot be blind to the potential harms they bring including, as Deputy Coppinger noted, the potential for displacement of jobs.  I will focus on the communities that have had their real concerns around drone usage just ignored for years. We urgently need to see proper regulation and this Bill would be a vital step forward. The last two years have seen parts of Blanchardstown and the surrounding areas become the Wild West of Dublin with planning permission sidestepped as a drone company claimed it was running a trial period. It is just not right that residents in Dublin 15 have been treated as guinea pigs while drone bases were established without planning permission and the Government essentially turning a blind eye. Just yesterday it was reported that the number of drone deliveries had surpassed 250,000 with more than 60,000 flights in Dublin 15 since commencing operations there two years ago. The measures in the Bill are basic, common-sense regulations that should have been in place before these machines ever took flight. Amending the Planning and Development Act 2024 through this legislation will hopefully force the Government to finally layout a national drone policy with similar statements in each council's local development plans. It would also allow for noise pollution complaints to be taken to the District Court on drones just as is the case for other sources of noise pollution.  This is not about stifling innovation or limiting people's choice or convenience; it is about taking the sensible steps we need to make sure guardrails and safeguards are put in place to make sure that new technology like this is serving the best interests of our local communities. Of course, there may be benefits to the use of drones like this, but it needs to be accompanied by strong and effective regulation at both local and national levels.  I pay tribute to the work of my Labour Party colleagues, Councillors John Walsh and Mary McCamley, who have recognised the great public concern this issue is causing in their communities as have the Deputies speaking here today. Over 1,500 people signed a community petition they launched calling for regulation of drones in Dublin 15. There is huge concern out there in the community. There are genuine concerns around noise, the unlimited frequency of flights, privacy and the impact on the environment, and this all has to be addressed.  Ministers seem to have so far ignored public concerns while quietly facilitating the expansion of drone delivery services. Local councils need stronger support based on legislation to require and enforce rules on noise, privacy and environmental impact. There is no national or local regulation around the establishment of drone bases, frequency of flights or flight paths and that is just not acceptable. It effectively means that regulation of noise cannot hope to succeed and there is not regulation of the number or route of flights during the day. What is more, is that three of the four drone bases set up in Dublin 15 were established without any planning permission. The drone company effectively treated planning as an optional extra. Local communities were denied any input in the establishment of drone operations in their area.  We have also seen serious concerns among local communities over the Government's national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems, which was finally launched in August 2025 after a number of years of stalling. The framework is strongly focused on promoting commercial opportunity for drones and pays only lip service to genuine public concerns. The Government's strategy, which envisages a series of working groups to look at key issues further has barely left the drawing board and is lagging woefully behind the rapid expansion of drone companies. It includes hardly any specifics at all on how to address excessive noise from drones, how to manage unrestricted frequency of flights by drone companies and how to monitor the environmental impact of drones, especially in relation to wildlife.  Deputy Donnelly referred to colleagues of his coming to Dublin and hearing the noise of the drones. I have been with friends in Castleknock. You do not appreciate until you are there how intrusive and noisy these machines are, how disruptive they will be to family life if you have kids in the garden and how exposed you feel when they fly over you. It is a serious disruption so we cannot go on treating residents across a swathe of our capital city as subjects of an experiment.  No further expansion of drone delivery services should be permitted before a safe, sustainable drone traffic management system is fully established and independent research is conducted to assess the impacts of drones in terms of noise, privacy and the environment. Meaningful action to prevent noise, address concerns about privacy and ensure independent monitoring of environmental impacts must come before the development of the drone delivery sector, rather than haphazard mitigation after the horse has bolted.  The Government has ignored concerns in Dublin 15 for far too long. Soon, expansion of services across other areas, towns and cities will mean it can no longer be ignored. We desperately need effective regulation and rules about drones at both national and local level. This Bill is a welcome first step. I share the disappointment of colleagues that the Bill is being kicked down the road for a year. I hope the Government will, in the intervening period, come up with its own proposals. We would look forward to engaging constructively with the Minister of State on them, if they could be brought through urgently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I welcome this incredibly timely Bill from Deputy O'Gorman on the regulation of drones because it is long overdue. I share others' concerns that the Government does not agree that it is timely, given that it is kicking it down the road.  I want to address the kind of message I get back when I push for greater regulation across the tech space more broadly. I am thinking of online safety and the online platforms, which need to experience greater regulation, similarly in AI, particularly at EU level. Here we have a specific technology being operated within a regulatory vacuum. We in the Social Democrats support business. We support small business, innovation and enterprise. What we do not support is this vacuum of regulation. We want to see evidence-based decision-making and not a business-focused mindset from the Government when it comes to regulation. We have to make regulation work for business, but we do not take into consideration in a balanced way the concerns of the community.  So many issues are brought into focus when we talk about drones. They affect our privacy, noise, environment, the economic picture, labour, health and so much more. We also have to see it well sequenced. We are in a vacuum now because of the lack of action from the Government. That results in a community that is essentially a Petri dish, being tested and trialled without the safety of regulation.  I will take one example from the list I have provided: environment. We were kicking this about in the office when we were researching my contribution. The immediate thought might be that, from an environmental point of view, fewer cars on the road doing deliveries can be a benefit of the drone. Then you start to dig into it and find 70% of deliveries are done by bike, which are active transport, do not have carbon emissions and are carbon-neutral; therefore, you are not getting much gain from it.  We do not know what the effect is on biodiversity. We just heard examples from Deputy Coppinger's constituents, including a near-collision with a bird. More than that, noise and air pollution come from this and what that will mean for nature and our planet is something we cannot play around with. We certainly cannot leave it as a guinea pig to be tested on.  Ba ch\u00f3ir go mbeadh muid in ann guth a bheith againn maidir leis an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa d\u00edreach os \u00e1r gcionn. T\u00e1 muid ag iarraidh a bheith n\u00edos fearr \u00f3 thaobh plean\u00e1la de in\u00e1r bpobail agus t\u00e1 fadhb ollmh\u00f3r nuair nach f\u00e9idir \u00e9 sin a dh\u00e9anamh mar gheall ar easpa reachta\u00edochta.  The lack of regulation has left communities powerless to oppose the use of commercial drone delivery. In my constituency, local residents have contacted me in huge numbers. Other contributors have spoken of balance and said people are expressing different views but in my office the response to drones is overwhelmingly negative. Local residents are absolutely opposed to the development of a commercial drone delivery depot in Dundrum. What has deeply frustrated them in their efforts is that there is a vacuum of regulation and no avenues for them to raise their valid concerns and objections to drones flying over their homes and communities. Everyone should be able to raise issues they experience with noise and privacy concerns in a clear and effective way, and there needs to be a mechanism which allows those issues to be heard and taken seriously by the appropriate authorities. It is clear from the experiences of people who live in other parts of Dublin - specifically Dublin 15, where these drones have already been in operation for a number of years - that they do not have a voice within this regulatory process.  The national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems posits the implementation of drones as something economically beneficial but fails to recognise the slippery slope that this technology represents and the issues that are already affecting communities and which will continue to do so unless we see real regulation. I agree with Deputies who have said this will simply grow. As Deputy Donnelly said, for as long as regulation does not exist, this Chamber will get more and more full every month as Members discuss this issue.  I want to include in my contribution some of the messages I received from my constituents. These are the people and community groups who will deal directly with the impact of unregulated drone delivery every day of their lives. They are left powerless by the current gaps in legislation, which this Bill seeks to address. A message from the Roebuck Residents' Association states:  We wish to make the point that the Irish Aviation Authority, the IAA, does not sufficiently take the impact of this type of activity on residential amenity into account when awarding such licences and certificates. This certification was set up to accommodate more time-limited commercial drone activity such as drone use for mapping and surveying. There are many more parameters that need to be taken into account when considering drone activity for frequent deliveries over dense residential areas. The parameters that need to be taken into account include:  - noise nuisance  - safety issues  - privacy concerns  We are firmly of the belief that part of the oversight of such activity should fall under the remit of the local authority. The IAA is wholly unsuited to determine the effect of such activity on the residential amenity of affected homes in a particular location. We are aware that there is no reference to drones in the DLR County Development Plan, the Dundrum LAP, or indeed in any of the National or Regional Planning Frameworks and Strategies.  Then I have correspondence from three individual local residents. The first states:  While the technology may seem innovative, it raises serious concerns for our community. Drones could negatively impact noise levels, privacy, and safety, particularly in residential areas. They also risk disrupting wildlife and the character of our village. I believe there are better ways to support local businesses and improve services without compromising the quality of life in Dundrum.  The second states:  Drone activity threatens the peaceful environment needed by local families, children, and those seeking quiet.  The final one states:  Repeated, noisy drones operating in residential areas to deliver a cup of coffee is absolutely NOT a good idea. Trivial uses of drones by a few creates an unacceptable environment for the many.  I am not sure why the Minister of State finds that funny. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  Sorry, I was agreeing with the Deputy. It was the idea of ordering a coffee on a drone. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I appreciate the confirmation. As we have heard, that is genuinely what people are using them for. That is my point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  That is what most of it is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Yes, I agree with Deputy Coppinger. If this can save lives by delivering medical equipment----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  It is unimaginable where I live, so----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Can I continue, please? If this can save lives, make a meaningful contribution to the public interest or help in the delivery of health services or essential public services, I am all for it. I am all for creating a regulatory framework that will facilitate that but what we do not have is exactly that. A regulatory framework is absent; therefore, trivial and mass-scale commercial drone usage is what we will experience. This Bill is a positive step - again, I commend Deputy O'Gorman on bringing it forward at this time - towards protecting our communities and plugging the gaps in regulation which have been left unaddressed for far too long. I welcome this Bill and the debate today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Thomas Byrne)  I had no idea people ordered coffee. I am in a lot of sympathy with the Deputies but that only shows there are many people out there very happy to order coffee by drone. That is part of the public view as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Just so the Minister of State knows, most of it is coffee. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Genuinely. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It is because of the quickness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  They are people who want coffee. They are voting with their orders as well.  The Minister sends his apologies that he could not attend the latter half of the debate. I am happy to be here and respond to this important debate on behalf of the Government. The Deputies have made good contributions. Deputy O'Gorman has done incredible work bringing this to the House. We acknowledge the work that he has done.  From a safety point of view, there is an effective EU-wide regulatory framework that is being implemented and overseen in the State by the Irish Aviation Authority, the civil aviation regulator, to ensure safe drone operations but the Government acknowledges, as the Minister already said, that the rapid expansion of drone use and drone operation has given rise to concerns and there is a need for clarity in areas outside of safety and in respect of the roles and responsibility of public bodies in drone operation. The concerns of communities impacted by increased drone operations are being heard. The Department of Transport will continue to engage with local representatives and communities on the issues raised.  As previously outlined, the national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems sets out the Government's policy in relation to the UAS sector to provide a balance between supporting growth and innovation in the drone sector, which, I have to say, I support because we have to be moving forward with technology where there are appropriate uses, but also to ensure safe and secure operations which are planned to minimise environmental and privacy impacts. The policy framework proposes a number of structures and actions that aim to address the concerns that have been raised in relation to the increasing usage of drones and operations in balance with the realisation of the economic and societal benefits that can happen from emerging and new technologies. The best approach to achieving this balance in as comprehensive and cohesive a manner as possible is through the implementation of the policy framework. As the drone innovation evolves new challenges may arise. The policy framework is a living document that will continue to evolve to keep pace with the evolution of the sector internationally and be responsive to emerging challenges and opportunities.  The Government's position is that the issues raised are best addressed in a holistic approach through the implementation of the national policy framework for unmanned aircraft systems. This, we believe, is best facilitated through our proposed timed amendment. This will provide the space to examine any gaps in regulation and guidance and provide a more informed perspective on this Bill and any related regulatory issues. This debate and the contributions from Deputies today have been very valuable. The Government has heard the message from all contributors and will take this into the policy implementation process.  We thank Deputy O\u2019Gorman for the work he has done in this area that and, indeed, Deputies on all sides for their work to give voice and representation rightly to their communities on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The Minister of State has been thrown into the deep end here on drones but I thank him for his contribution. I appreciate the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, being here earlier on and making his own contribution, and hearing mine and those of some of the Deputies. I am grateful to Deputies, from Dublin West and other areas, for addressing this matter.  I am not happy with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's response and I will outline my concerns about it. The first of these is, just like with the framework policy on drones, the lack of timelines, bar one. It is still not clear to me, when I read Deputy O'Brien's speech, when any of this is going to happen. Delivery drones started at scale in March-April 2024. We are 18 months down the line and I still do not see when we will see substantive measures taken. There is one date in the speech provided, that is, in February 2026 the national UAS policy framework monitoring group will meet for the first time. The framework policy was published in August of last year and, six months later, the group overseeing the national framework policy is going to have its first meeting. There is no sense of urgency. There is no sense of even momentum with a six-month delay between when a national framework is created and work starts. The Minister of State, Deputy Byrne, describes it as \"a living document\" in his speech. It does not strike me there is much life in it right now. People need to get a move on.  The Minister's speech is clear about what he and his Department is not going to do, but I am unclear about what is going to happen. The Minister's speech speaks about the Government being unable to put this into the planning legislation even though there is a planning Bill coming through the House soon that at least part of my proposal could be slotted into. We are told that it might delay the delivery of housing and infrastructure. The written speech says that; in fairness, the Minister took that back. However, it is very frustrating for it to say there is the appropriate legislative vehicle to deal with the planning issue here coming through the House and the Department has taken the call not to put that in it.  On the issue of noise pollution, there is a long session here about why we should not be going to the District Court. I agree that the District Court is not the right place to be dealing with any noise pollution issue but that is the law as it is right now. I see no reason drone noise cannot be treated in the same way as any other sort of nuisance noise. As for the Minister's line, \"We do have a distance to go in respect of fully addressing drone noise before a role for the courts can be considered\", \"a distance to go\" has to be, for me, the euphemism of the day.  In terms of what is happening and has happened in the last six months since the framework strategy was published, one such action is the Irish Aviation Authority supporting local authorities and planners to acquire the necessary aviation knowledge about UAS technology, regulation and oversight. The IAA, has already begun to provide this support. Therefore, the IAA is providing some advice to local authorities. That is great, but setting the bar low. It is giving a little bit of advice. I would not be boasting about that.  On noise, the focus here is on mitigation. The focus seems to be on us making the devices or drones quieter. New propellers have been put on some of the drones in my area. That is great, but that is not about empowering people who have real concerns and are experiencing noise pollution in their areas with a route or mechanism to address this.  Deputy Donnelly and others spoke about the issue of scaling. Right now, there is one company using delivery drones in one part of the city but, in my view, the trend or direction of travel here is that other companies, maybe not food delivery, maybe for entirely different reasons and maybe for valid reasons, will start to look at and invest in drone technology and the State is stepping back and saying it will let this happen and see what happens. I know no other area of new technology where we are so blas\u00e9 about rolling back the State and letting things happen. I say this because action 16 of the national policy framework states, \"The Irish Aviation Authority will promote processes that allow for the allocation of airspace for experimental and developing UAS operations to be established.\" This idea of the experiment, this idea of suck it and see, is built into the Government's national policy and I do not know of other areas where new technology is let loose like that. What has happened in Dublin 15 is not something that occurred in a regulatory vacuum. The Government has chosen regulatory vacuum. The Government has chosen to allow experimentation take place.  The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, spoke about us having 12 months for the timed amendment and how the Opposition can hold the Government's feet to the fire. The Minister can bet that I will be doing that because I do not see anything in the response from him that gives me clarity about how we are to address the fundamental issue here. The fundamental issue here is we have not had a proper debate about how much of what happens on the roads should happen in the sky. The Minister of State made a point about people ordering and getting coffee. I agree that happens, but let us have a discussion about to the extent to which we want that as a society.  Do we want to give a delivery drone dropping a coffee cup the same level of priority in our air as a delivery drone delivering medicine or delivering something to an elderly person, or doing a survey for a piece of infrastructure? That is a conversation, a debate and a discussion we need to have. We need to make decisions on that, and they are not being made at the moment.  There is not even a clear pathway in the framework policy about how that big-picture discussion takes place. There are a lot of little bits; for example, the IAA will advise local authorities, which is fantastic. However, that big question of what we want in our skies, and how much of it we want in our skies, is being entirely avoided here. That is a real problem. We will be back here because there will be drones in other communities, and that divided opinion - I recognise it is a divided opinion - will be taking place in other communities around Dublin and around the country.  I had a few really poor-quality drone puns that I was going to throw into the speech, but I will not subject the House to that at this stage. I appreciate the Deputies\u2019 contributions. This is a matter we will be coming back to. It is serious. It is just touching one community now, but it will become a bigger issue. I recommend that the Government takes a more proactive approach to how it addresses this. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Mark Wall)  The division is postponed until the weekly division time next week. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 5.42 p.m. go dt\u00ed 2 p.m., D\u00e9 C\u00e9adaoin, an 4 Feabhra 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 5.42 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 4 February 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Regulation of Drones Bill 2025: Second Stage"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2026-01-29"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-18T02:11:53+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2026-01-28","counts":{"contributorCount":163,"divisionCount":4,"debateSectionCount":19,"questionCount":0,"billCount":6},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Aindrias Moynihan)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Barry Heneghan - To discuss issues regarding St. Joseph's Primary School, Fairview.  Deputy Robert O'Donoghue - To discuss the development of a minor injuries hub plan for Balbriggan.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss actions taken by Government in relation to ongoing human rights abuses by the Chinese Communist Party against the Uyghurs.  Deputy John Paul O'Shea - To discuss the long waiting lists for home support home help in Cork.  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss funding to bring the main N70 in Caherciveen town, and the footpaths, up to standard.  Deputy Michael Murphy - To discuss serious non-compliance with road traffic legislation.  Deputy Shane Moynihan - To discuss enhancing public transport links between Lucan and the airport.  Deputy Peter Roche - To discuss access to supports for people with an end of life medical card.  Deputy Brian Brennan - To discuss access to resources for first responders and advanced paramedics.  Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss prepay customers facing involuntarily disconnection over the winter.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss the shortfall of SEN primary school places in Shankill, County Dublin.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the development of equine therapy facilities at the Toghermore Campus in Tuam, County Galway.  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss core funding for Ballyfermot youth service.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the Cork Events Centre project and the new tender process.  Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss the misuse of e-scooter vehicles in urban areas.  Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere - To discuss the new Kilkenny Institute of Further and Higher Education training campus.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss the response to anti-social behaviour caused by those illegally driving scramblers and e-scooters.  The matters raised by Deputies John Paul O'Shea, Robert O'Donoghue, Louis O'Hara, Peter 'Chap' Cleere and Barry Heneghan have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Home Help Service","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue matter in relation to a very important issue in County Cork concerning the provision of home help home support services. Home support is often known as home help and is one of the most essential person-centred supports provided by our health and social care system.  It is a service that allows older people and those with additional needs to continue to live safely, comfortably and independently in their own homes and communities. For many families across Cork and throughout the country, home support is not just a convenience; it is a lifeline. Every single day, home support workers carry out dignified and compassionate work that enables people to remain connected to their neighbours, communities and the place they call home. This sense of place, familiarity and independence has a proven and profound impact on a person\u2019s physical and mental well-being. It gives reassurance to families, reduces isolation and promotes independence, values that must remain at the heart of our health service. We also cannot ignore the critical role that home support plays in easing the pressure on our hospitals. When adequate support is available in the home, unnecessary hospital admissions can be prevented and hospital discharges can happen more smoothly. For older people in particular, remaining at home with proper assistance is often far safer and far healthier than spending extended periods in acute settings.  Home support services are a vital part of the wider solution to overcrowding, delayed discharges and pressure on our emergency departments. However, to fully realise the benefits of home supports, the service must be properly resourced, properly staffed and delivered in a timely and consistent manner. Too many people are waiting far too long for essential hours to begin and too many families in Cork are left in distress trying to bridge that gap. This is not acceptable. A service that is so fundamentally important cannot be allowed to operate under strain, uncertainty and chronic short staffing issues.  I want to mention a couple of examples while I have the time in relation to what I have experienced over the past number of months in terms of the acute waiting list for home support in Cork. As of 11 November, the HSE responded to a parliamentary question by saying over 890 clients were wait-listed for home support in Cork city and county. Of those, 543 are waiting for a first-time service and 347 are waiting for additional hours to be allocated. This is not just an issue in Cork but one right across the country. I put in another parliamentary question in relation to the lists for the entire country. We have over 5,000 people who have been allocated home support home help who are waiting for that care to be provided.  I say this with real respect but the HSE is not responding to requests from politicians, including me. I know that the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach has been involved in meetings with the HSE as well. It is just not happening. Despite the fact that we raised this issue in October, we are back here again at the end of January and there is still no alleviation of the pressure on the home support that is available in Cork. In fact, I believe it has got worse. This is the reality of what we are facing. I am asking the Minister of State to intervene personally with the HSE in relation to this matter. I am asking that a proper plan be put in place to recruit home support workers, be it in the public health service or in the private service, to ensure this service is continued in future for the people of County Cork. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I thank Deputy John Paul O\u2019Shea for raising this important matter. The Government is committed to supporting older people in Ireland and improving their access to healthcare services in the community. Budget 2026 saw an increase of approximately \u20ac215 million to maintain and enhance services for older people, resulting in a total allocation of over \u20ac3 billion for the first time. This includes a further substantial increase for home support services to bring the 2026 budget allocation to over \u20ac900 million, more than doubling the investment since 2018. The target for the delivery of home support hours has increased accordingly, from 24 million hours in 2025 to 26.7 million hours for 2026. That is an increase of 1.7 million hours.  In the Cork area, provisional figures from the HSE indicate that over 2.2 million hours of home support were delivered up to the end of November 2025. This represents an increase of 6.5% compared to the number of hours delivered in the same period in 2024. There were 6,022 people receiving a home support service at the end of November 2025, compared to 5,796 at the end of November 2024, which is a 3.9% increase. The waiting list for home support services in this area at the end of December 2025 stood at 915 people. Of these, 547 people were waiting for new packages, while 368 people were waiting for additional hours.  The HSE has stated that it is acutely aware that there are capacity issues across both direct and indirect provision of home support throughout the region. The HSE is committed to attracting additional staff and increasing its capacity to deliver support to as many clients as possible. The HSE is running ongoing recruitment campaigns as well as supporting the professional development of staff working in the area. HSE south west has advised that recruitment efforts in the Cork region are ongoing with a recruitment campaign currently live to recruit healthcare assistant staff in Cork and Kerry. Additionally, HSE south west has advised that dedicated recruitment co-ordinators for healthcare assistant, home support, run campaigns throughout the year. In the six months from August 2025 to January 2026, 29 healthcare assistants, home support, have been hired in the Cork region.  More broadly, addressing the home support waiting list is a priority for the Government. Improving these lists requires more support and more workers at a time where there are international challenges with recruiting healthcare workers. The strategic workforce advisory group on home carers and nursing home healthcare assistants was set up in 2022 to address the challenges relating to front-line carer roles in the home support and long-term residential care sector. Work continues to deliver on the recommendations of this group, including a survey on the experience of healthcare assistants, which is due to be launched shortly. This will inform development of future target interventions to increase recruitment retention in the sector.  I will take this matter up with the HSE, at national and local level. I have already held meetings with representatives of the HSE. I will meet with the HSE personnel involved in home support in Cork to see if we can reduce waiting lists and waiting times. For those who are waiting for them, home support packages are hugely important. The home support providers Bill has just passed the Second Stage. The purpose of this legislation is to improve the regulation of the sector. More importantly, it is the first step in ensuring that home care will be provided in the context of a statutory home care scheme.  On the particular issue that the Deputy has raised in respect of Cork, I will follow up directly with my officials and the HSE in Cork. I will also follow up with the HSE nationally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I thank the Minister of State very much for his keen interest in this matter. I would appreciate if he could follow up with the HSE in Cork in respect of it.  Investment in the home support is an investment in dignity, well-being and independence for thousands of people. It is also an investment in a more efficient health system that supports people earlier, prevents avoidable illness and ensures better use of our limited hospital capacity. Home support workers must be valued, supported and recognised for the essential front-line role they play. They deserve for fair pay, sustainable working conditions and the resources necessary to carry out their jobs effectively.  There was a campaign to recruit home help support workers in Cork in July. As of 11 November, when the responses had been assessed, the HSE in Cork had identified 64 potential candidates but not one new home support worker was in place. That is not acceptable when there is such a long waiting list. Over 1,000 people in Cork and Kerry are waiting for home supports. Some 64 candidates were identified in the period between July and November but they have not been appointed.  The principle here is simple. It is not a funding issue; it is a resource issue. People should be supported to live at home for as long as possible. The State must ensure that the supports required are available to them when needed, not months later. Home support is one of the most empowering, cost-effective and socially valuable services that we provide in this country. Strengthening it must be a priority for the Government. It must also be a priority for the HSE and all of us going forward.  I welcome the Minister of State's intervention. I encourage him to make contact with the HSE in Cork and to improve the situation. As public representatives, we cannot continue to have a situation whereby home help requests come in and action in respect of them is still not taken six months later. I would appreciate the Minister of State's support on this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  The home support services is a core service for older people. It is a highly valuable service used by them, their families and the HSE. Delivery of a high-quality consistent home support service is essential to help people to live well in their homes and communities for as long as possible. Recruitment to this sector is an ongoing challenge for both the HSE and private providers. Within the HSE, work is ongoing at the regional and national level to build capacity to support workforce development and improve access to home care services in the community. Within the Department of Health, work to deliver on the recommendations of the strategic workforce advisory group to support the recruitment and retention of workers in essential front-line care roles is continuing.  Since the strategic workforce advisory group was established, record levels of care have been delivered in the community. Within the Department, work is ongoing to explore options to increase the effectiveness of home support and to address waiting list issues experienced by clients around the country. Among the changes will be to explore the use of assistive technology in home support initiatives in order to directly address rural home support provision. Research is ongoing in the Department to improve the current provision of home support in communities and enable our home support service to take advantage of new technology and the support available in the sector to support clients in the service.  Going back to the specific request in relation to Cork, I will meet with the HSE in Cork to discuss recruitment, waiting lists, waiting times and the plans that are in place to recruit people and, more particularly, to bring down the waiting times.  Home support is a priority for the Government. We have made record levels of investment of more than \u20ac900 million. As already stated, the home support providers Bill will increase and improve the quality of care available in the sector. Furthermore, there is a commitment in the programme for Government regarding the design of a statutory home care scheme. In the context of the practicalities, we have provided an addition of 1.7 million hours. That was a priority in the budget.  On the Deputy's specific request, I will meet representatives of the HSE in Cork to discuss the delivery of home support hours and will update him accordingly. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Home Help Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  I want to raise a pressing issue that is affecting my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, particularly Balbriggan but also Rush, Lusk, Skerries and more rural areas. There is ongoing pressure on Drogheda and Beaumont hospitals that could be alleviated to some degree by the establishment of a minor injuries clinic hub in Balbriggan.  There are now approximately 30,000 people living in Balbriggan . In total, there are between 60,000 to 70,000 people living in that part of the constituency. This is a large and growing community that relies almost entirely on the emergency departments in Beaumont and Drogheda for the treatment of minor injuries. As we know, these hospitals are under tremendous strain. Constituents regularly report waiting eight, ten or 12 hours for treatment of injuries, such as sprains, small breaks and minor infections, that do not require full hospital interventions. This is not fair on patients or hospital staff. We all accept that hospital emergency departments must prioritise serious cases. However, the reality is that a significant proportion of attendances at Beaumont and Drogheda hospitals could be treated in properly staffed community-based minor injury hubs. It has already been agreed that there is a need to establish a minor injury hub plan for Balbriggan as well in the context of the wider hospital avoidance strategy. The proposal is about prevention, efficiency and patient dignity.  What is particularly frustrating for people locally is that we are repeatedly told that Balbriggan primary care centre is full, when, in fact, only a portion of the building is being leased by the HSE. It is therefore not at capacity. The entire building is not fully leased and, therefore, is not being fully utilised. There is space there that could be used for GP services. There is existing healthcare space in Balbriggan that could be used to deliver a minor injuries hub. The provision of such a hub could immediately reduce pressure on the emergency departments in Beaumont and Drogheda if the HSE engaged constructively on leasing and service planning.  A minor injuries hub in Balbriggan would divert thousands of non-life-threatening cases away from Beaumont and Drogheda, free up emergency department capacity for critically ill patients, reduce waiting times and ambulance offloading delays and provide faster care closer to home for my constituents in Dublin Fingal West. This would align with Sl\u00e1intecare and the HSE's hospital avoidance objectives. Other parts of the country already have minor injury units that operate for extended hours and that treat large volumes of patients safely and efficiently. Dublin Fingal West is one of the most rapidly expanding constituencies in the country and should not be an exception.  I call on the Minister of State and the HSE to engage urgently with local representatives on available capacity within the Balbriggan primary care centre, progress a staffing and operations plan for a minor injuries hub and recognise that this project is a practical and cost-effective measure to relieve pressure on Beaumont and Drogheda hospitals.  This is not about future planning. It is about addressing the needs of a population that already exists and of hospitals that are already under pressure. The demand is clear: hospitals need relief. It is time to move from acknowledgement to action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.  The Government remains fully committed to the implementation of healthcare reform under the Sl\u00e1intecare framework, ensuring that patients receive the right care in the right place at the right time. Central to our hospital avoidance strategy is the development of injury units, which provide safe and efficient care for injuries that are unlikely to require hospital admission, such as broken bones, sprains and burns. These units are designed to provide the same level of care for specific conditions as an emergency department but more locally and with significantly shorter waiting times. By providing the same level of care for specific conditions as an emergency department but with significantly shorter waiting times, injury units play a vital role in reducing congestion in our acute hospitals. Last year, there were 222,697 attendances at injury units, representing a 5% increase compared to 2024. Crucially, the median patient experience time, PET, in an injury unit remains exceptionally low, at just 1.3 hours, ensuring that patients with non-life-threatening injuries can access the care they need much more quickly than in a traditional emergency department setting.  In relation to Balbriggan, the Balbriggan primary care centre already delivers a broad range of integrated services to meet the health needs of the local population. These include primary care therapy services, community specialist teams for older people, a chronic disease hub, mental health services and disability services. The centre also hosts two GP practices and a pharmacy. The Minister is committed to building capacity in primary care by recruiting additional staff and promoting advanced practice roles in the community.  The HSE undertook a national injury unit review in 2023 to examine service levels and geographical coverage. This review has informed the 2026 national service plan, which includes provision for new units in Tallaght, Athlone, Carlow and Ballina. Regarding the Deputy's request for a minor injury hub, I must advise that while the HSE undertook a national injury unit review in 2023 to examine geographical coverage, there are currently no plans to open an injury unit in Balbriggan. The 2026 national service plan focuses on new units in Tallaght, Athlone, Carlow and Ballina. However, the HSE continues to review expansion plans and future-proof the system by working towards standardising opening hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, across existing sites to improve accessibility. Residents in Balbriggan currently have access to the following options for non-life-threatening injuries: the Mater Smithfield rapid injury clinic in Dublin 7; the Dundalk injury unit at St. Joseph's Hospital; and Connolly hospital emergency department, which features a dedicated nurse-led minor injury unit.  The Department and the HSE will continue to monitor population growth and geospatial implications to ensure that our urgent care footprint evolves to meet the needs of growing communities like Balbriggan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  While I welcome the Minister of State's comments on the need to move appropriate services out of acute hospitals into smaller community-based hubs, and the policy direction is absolutely correct, Balbriggan is the type of location where this should be applied in practice. A community-based hub at Balbriggan would work extremely well under the pull-out model, especially for services that do not need to be delivered in acute hospital settings. This is particularly important for older people who are often the most disadvantaged by longer waiting times, overcrowded hospitals and extended waiting periods. In addition, a community hub at Balbriggan could accommodate preventative and routine services, such as vaccination clinics, baby and child health services and other primary and community care services that are currently fragmented and over-centralised. This approach would reduce footfall in our hospitals, improve uptake of preventative care and better serve Dublin Fingal West.  Importantly, the infrastructure already exists in Balbriggan. As I outlined, the primary care centre there is not completely leased by the HSE meaning there is real potential to expand services without the delays and costs of a new build. I urge the Minister of State to ensure Balbriggan, while not in the plan for 2026, is actively considered under the pull-out scheme and that the HSE engages locally to deliver a community hub that reflects Government policy and local population need. This is exactly the type of initiative that makes Sl\u00e1intecare real on the ground. We need to make a plan for Balbriggan to keep people, not just in Balbriggan but in Rush, Lusk and Skerries at the rural end, in the constituency and not travelling. I accept there are the three locations the Minister of State outlined, but we should keep it within the community rather than send people into Dublin or up to Louth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  Once again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. As I said, I am taking it on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.  The Government remains committed to the implementation of healthcare reforms that ensure patients receive safe and convenient care in the right place at the right time. Last year, we saw 222,697 attendances at injury units across the country, which was a 5% increase. This demonstrates the growing public confidence in this model. By maintaining an exceptionally low median patient experience time of just 1.3 hours, these units provide an efficient and faster pathway for those with non-life-threatening injuries.  While there are currently no plans for a stand-alone injury unit at Balbriggan, we are future-proofing the national network by standardising opening hours, from 8 a.m. to 8 p.m. seven days a week, and opening new units in Tallaght, Athlone, Carlow and Ballina. In the interim, Balbriggan primary care centre continues to play a vital role in delivering a vast array of integrated services from chronic disease management and older people's specialist teams to mental health and disability services. I assure the Deputy that I am committed to building further capacity in primary care by recruiting additional staff and promoting advanced practice roles to meet the needs of a growing population. The Department and the HSE will continue to monitor population growth and geospatial requirements to ensure our service evolves to meet the needs of the people of Balbriggan. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I raise the proposed development of an equine therapy centre at the Toghermore House site located in Tuam. Toghermore House is owned by the HSE. It previously hosted a number of mental health support services until these services were relocated to a separate facility in Tuam in 2023. Since the relocation of these services, there have been proposals to develop the site, along with its over 40 acres of land, into an equine therapy centre. However, to date, no concrete plans have been progressed. Equine therapy offers significant physical, emotional and cognitive benefits to children and adults with disabilities. There are many examples of similar therapy centres. The Liskennett farm, which is based on the Cork-Limerick border, demonstrates the benefits these centres bring to both service users and the local community.  The Toghermore site has the potential to not only provide these benefits to the local community but also to become a regional centre for this form of therapy in the west of Ireland. I am of the understanding that as of last year the HSE was reviewing the future use of the Toghermore site. I recently met with Ability West to discuss disability services across County Galway and the proposed Toghermore project was raised with me. Given the massive potential of this project and the likely delays in securing funding if it were to be a HSE capital project, there is a view locally that other options should be considered in progressing this project. One such option could be the potential gifting of the land to a section 39 organisation to allow it to progress this project. That organisation could also engage with local sports clubs to explore whether sporting facilities could also be co-located at the site. To do this, the HSE would need to engage with any such organisation and, to date, this meaningful engagement has not happened. Will the Minister of State provide an update on this issue and on the review into the future of the Toghermore site? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Colm Brophy)  l thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, who is fully committed to providing the necessary supports for people with disabilities throughout the country, including those in Galway.  I advise the Deputy that the Toghermore House site at Tuam, which is owned and operated by the HSE, is under review. In 2024, a HSE feasibility study was conducted. Following on from this work, a more in-depth health planning study was devised to provide greater detail and allow a more informed decision to be made.  The HSE has additionally advised the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, that it aims to have a specialist appointed in February 2026 to commence the study, which will encompass the entire campus, including the buildings. Development of infrastructural proposals cannot be progressed until this review has concluded.  The HSE is also engaging with Galway County Council. A meeting was held between Ann Cosgrove, integrated healthcare area manager and Liam Hanrahan, CEO of Galway County Council, on 4 June 2025. A follow-up meeting was held recently between the HSE and county council and another meeting is planned between the parties before the end of January 2026. At present, the HSE continues to utilise facilities on the grounds of Toghermore House for a number of services, including the national counselling services, mental health services, quality and risk, paediatric outpatients, HR and administration support. In addition, a building at the Toghermore campus has been temporarily licensed by HSE to the Office of Public Works for the use of the office of the director of authorised intervention, Tuam. This is a time-bound agency under the auspices of the Department which is overseeing the excavation, recovery, analysis, identification, if possible, and dignified reburial of remains located at the former mother and baby institution in Tuam. The OPW is currently undertaking refurbishment works to fit out the building on the HSE Toghermore campus to meet these requirements. The works are also addressing essential structural issues, for example, works on the roof and upgrades to mechanical and electrical installations.  I advise the Deputy that the Department will continue to monitor the progress of the HSE in reviewing the Toghermore site. Any further progress on the utility of the site is subject to the outcome of the study to be completed by the HSE, which includes considerations of an equine therapy centre. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I thank the Minister of State for the update. I understand that the review is ongoing. I urge him to ensure that this is progressed as quickly as possible and that there is engagement with the local organisations like Ability West around the potential for equine therapy there. It would be a game-changer for Tuam and north Galway as a whole. There is a chronic lack of sporting facilities in the area and the potential development of an equine therapy centre would also be an opportunity to support the development of sporting facilities. Many local clubs and schools do not have these facilities. There is a wider need for a communal sports area that the whole community could use. Gifting the site to a section 39 organisation would ensure the potential for greater flexibility to co-locate other facilities at the site if it was owned and operate by such an organisation. Toghermore could be an example of best practice of how we can create an inclusive campus that supports the needs of children and adults with disabilities in Tuam and the surrounding area. I urge the Minister of State to engage with the HSE, Ability West, and other organisations in the local area, and ensure that this project is progressed quickly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  I thank the Deputy again for raising this. I know it is an important issue for the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, and indeed for the whole Government. I know she is keen to ensure that all opportunities for the Toghermore campus are explored and that full service delivery capacity can be realised, to the benefit of local and surrounding communities. I reiterate the commitment of this Government to delivering real and tangible solutions to enhance services and better support the needs of adults and children with additional needs in Ireland, as outlined by the commitments set out in our programme for Government. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Further and Higher Education","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I raise the issue of the new Kilkenny college of the future. In October 2024, the Department announced the purchase of a stand-alone 15 acre site that would become the new home of the college of the future in Kilkenny. Government funding worth tens of millions of euro will be required to drive the development of the site at Joinersfolly, south of Kilkenny city. This site will create a new state-of-the-art education and training campus for Kilkenny and Carlow Education and Training Board and, more importantly, consolidate the delivery of skills provision for the county. It is really positive news that we have our own site but we need this project to move on to the next stage as a matter of urgency.  The purchase of the 15-acre site was hugely important for the region. I and my colleagues are incredibly excited to see it become a campus that will delivery so much for the learners, staff, and the community of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB. In 2022, the Government announced that Kilkenny had been chosen as one of the locations to develop a further education and training college of the future. It is not ideal at the moment that further education and training provision in Kilkenny has been scattered around 15 different locations in the city. Now provision will be brought together in one modern, high-specification facility, where learners will have the opportunity to progress in the best possible facilities. This is what we mean when we speak about driving parity of esteem across the tertiary sector. It should not matter where people live, what they are studying, or whether they are in FET or university. Everybody should have the opportunity to reach their potential and they should have that opportunity as close to their home as possible.  As I said earlier, the project will consolidate existing provision, incorporate new training programmes and specialisms, and develop support services at one location with convenient transport access and services. There is huge excitement in Kilkenny and Carlow ETB. I extend warm congratulations and thanks to the executive team, originally led by Eileen Curtis, and now being brilliantly driven by Dr. Lindsay Malone, and to the current and previous board members for their commitment and support for the project. It will bring enormous benefits for students in the years ahead. As a former chairman of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB for over seven years, it was a priority for us to get a further education and training campus for Kilkenny. When I was chairman of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB, we launched Carlow Institute of Further Education and Training, which has been a tremendous success, with more than 1,000 students.  For Kilkenny city and county to be at the stage it is at now marks an important step forward in the delivery of the college campus but we are ready to go. We just need a nod from the Government to appoint consultants to get this project started. This will be transformational for Kilkenny, the south east, and all the staff and students who currently use and potentially will use Kilkenny and Carlow ETB in the future. There is a trade expo tomorrow night in Carlow, run and organised by Kilkenny and Carlow ETB. There will be thousands of students from across the constituency who will get the opportunity to meet potential employers on the trade side. The fact that they can now learn their trade in Carlow and Kilkenny is significant. We have a brilliant facility in Carlow which is state of the art. It is top class. We need the same in Kilkenny and we need it now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy Marian Harkin)  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. The proposal before us, as he said, is not just another bricks-and-mortar project. It is a strategic investment to deliver an integrated further education and training college for Kilkenny which addresses historical infrastructure deficits and drives the reform we have committed to across the FET sector. As the Deputy told us, a suitable site has been acquired at Joinersfolly, to the south of Kilkenny city. This purchase, coupled with the investment in enabling infrastructure, will consolidate dispersed provision into a single modern campus and deliver a consistent learner experience across a wide range of programmes. As the Deputy said, it is not ideal that provision has been scattered around 15 different locations. It should not matter where people live. This proposal aims to and will change that. Kilkenny and Carlow ETB proposes to deliver a flagship facility designed for approximately 1,000 full-time learners and 3,800 part-time learners. The campus will bring together training services, post leaving certificate courses, back to education initiatives, Youthreach, the adult learning service, adult guidance, and youth and community education under one roof and with room to adapt as needs evolve.  Following a robust evaluation, the Kilkenny project has been approved to proceed to the pre-tender project design, planning and procurement strategy stage. SOLAS has already commenced preparatory work on standardised tender documentation towards the appointment of design teams.  The departmental officials recently met with all 12 of the chief executives who have projects under this programme. At this meeting, the ETBs were informed that they need to prioritise the appointment of design teams for these projects in 2026. This initiative is one of 12 projects in the FET college major capital programme. Since September, eight have progressed to the same pre-tender stage, alongside Kilkenny, and these include Cork, Cavan, Bray, Newcastle West, Clonmel, Galway city and Dublin. Our intent is that all 12 projects will be fully designed and ready to tender within the current national development plan timeline to 2030, with strategic delivery occurring along the same timeline.  The FET major capital programme tackles legacy deficits and supports consolidation in high-quality facilities. It integrates FET pathways, develops specialist centres, strengthens unified tertiary planning and forges links with regional industries so learners train for real jobs in their local economy. All of this is anchored in the FET strategy's three pillars of building skills, fostering inclusion and facilitating pathways. The pre-tender stage interrogates the preferred option, refines assumptions, advances design to inform the detailed business case, and sets the procurement strategy and project execution plan. It is about certainty on scope, budget, risks and delivery sequencing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I particularly welcome the last words of the Minister of State on delivery because that is what we want. I really welcome the fact we are getting so close to the appointment of a design team this year for this project. It is not only the staff of Kilkenny and Carlow ETB that will benefit from this. There are 5,000 full-time and part-time students in Kilkenny who can benefit from the service. We are ready to go in Kilkenny. If we need to be put forward as a pilot scheme or an exemplar for other ETBs to follow that is absolutely no problem. Kilkenny and Carlow ETB has experience in managing high-volume capital developments, incorporating almost \u20ac90 million in what it has done over the past number of years. There is real-life experience. This has to be done urgently. Everybody in Carlow and Kilkenny ETB is excited for all of the current and future FET learners in the locality. With one in ten adults in Ireland now learning through FET or apprenticeships, the ongoing development of high-quality college environments is absolutely key, especially in locations such as Kilkenny and the south east. We will play a critical role in meeting the increasing demand for upskilling in our communities.  The capital infrastructure announcement for the Kilkenny college of the future is a milestone moment for FET in the south east. It will drive access to education, lifelong learning and workforce transformation in the region. As I have said, we need action and, more importantly, we need to see delivery. I implore the Minister of State to pull out Kilkenny and Carlow ETB as a stand-alone project. We are ready to go. We just need a little bit more impetus and drive from the Department to get this project over the line. It is all about delivery and I welcome the feedback and comments of the Minister of State. I also welcome her support and that of the Minister, Deputy Lawless, for this particular project. It is a key infrastructure project for the south east and thousands of children and learners will benefit year after year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I am grateful to Deputy Cleere for providing me with the opportunity to set out the position for this project in Kilkenny. The Department and I are prepared to continue to work collaboratively with Kilkenny and Carlow ETB via SOLAS to advance this ambition. Capital investment is a key priority for the Department, and I recognise fully the importance of developing, enhancing and supporting the FET sector to allow it to provide high-quality campuses for teaching, learning and research. Let me be clear that the Department, working through SOLAS and in close collaboration with KCETB, will continue to drive this project at pace while maintaining high governance standards. We will deliver a campus that will stand the test of time and deliver for learners, employers and the wider community in Kilkenny.  It is important to understand what is happening now. The project has been approved to proceed to pre-tender project design, planning and procurement stage with a number of other FETs. When at this stage, the preferred option is subject to more detailed scrutiny, assumptions have to be tested and refined, risks are better understood, and the design is sufficiently advanced to arrive at the detailed business case. This project is at the preliminary business case, which is an in-depth assessment of the project that looks at demand analysis and options analysis and reviews phasing potential and risk assessment.  I assure Deputy Cleere it is the intent of the Department to move as quickly as possible with all of the FET colleges. I have been to Carlow already and I will visit Kilkenny in the near future, within the next few months and this is a promise, to hear what is happening there. I am very pleased that the project is at this stage and that there is real hope it will be delivered in the near future. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Further and Higher Education"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Educational Disadvantage","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  \u00d3 toghadh chun an T\u00ed seo m\u00e9, b\u00edm i gc\u00f3na\u00ed ag caint faoi oideachas, go h\u00e1irithe oideachas i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath thuaidh. Mar is eol don Aire St\u00e1it, b\u00edm i gc\u00f3na\u00ed ag labhairt faoi Stapolin Educate Together National School, ETNS, Gaelchol\u00e1iste Reachrainn agus Killester Raheny Clontarf, KRC, ETNS. Troidim ar son na scoileanna sin. I am always fighting for education and today I want to raise another school, which is St. Joseph's primary school. This is a small senior boys school which has been failed by how our DEIS and disadvantage supports are being applied. The school has 115 pupils. It has one of the most disadvantaged catchment areas in Dublin's north inner city but it is still classified as DEIS 2 rather than DEIS 1. I have sent representations to the Department because it needs significant supports but it is not getting them.  I have been speaking to the principal, who is working tirelessly. He has told me that more than 20% of the pupils are in IPAS or emergency accommodation. These include children in international protection, children from Ukraine, children in emergency accommodation and children living in homelessness. Approximately 25% of the pupils live in the north inner city, an area which is designated as having concentrated disadvantage. The Minister of State is aware of this and we have had discussions on it. Despite this, the school is excluded from North East Inner City Initiative, NEIC, supports and City Connects supports.  What makes the situation even worse is that on the same grounds as the school is on there is a secondary school which receives City Connects supports and which has benefited from NEIC funding. Children from the same families, living in the same homes and often facing the same difficulties walk into one building that receives supports and another building that does not. This is the reality. St. Joseph's is also a continuation school for three DEIS 1 primary schools. These are St. Mary's primary school, which is beside it, St. Vincent's infant boys school in the Ballybough and Summerhill area, and St. Laurence O'Toole's school on Sheriff Street. These are all DEIS 1 schools.  In practice what is happening is that boys attend one of these schools until first class. A boy could be going to one of these schools with his twin sister. At the age of eight he is transferred to St. Joseph's, which is an all-boys school, and he loses the DEIS 1 supports that his sister is still getting.  He is losing the DEIS 1 supports. His younger brothers in the junior school are getting the DEIS 1 supports but the boys who transfer to the more senior school are not. The principal, whom I spoke to today, estimates that fewer than ten pupils of the 160 come from non-DEIS backgrounds. From speaking to Tiarn\u00e1n Crowe, the principal, and Richie Walsh, the ex-principal and father of Mikey Walsh, I found their passion for education is exemplary. This issue needs to be investigated urgently. The school's intake is huge and it has already been recognised as experiencing high levels of educational disadvantage. Even yesterday, we were speaking about mental health, and we are always speaking about trying to bring up young men. In this case, support for young men from a disadvantaged area is being removed at a critical time in their development. If we are serious about prevention, this is exactly the stage at which we should be strengthening their support. St. Joseph's, the senior school from second class upward, also has an historical junior autism class, but then there is no junior mainstream class in the school for those children to integrate with. This is acknowledged by the Department in emails to me and it is acknowledged by the NCSE as being contrary to the best model it has, yet the school is still being told there is no immediate solution. As a result, the children remain in an unsuitable structure and a small school. The staff in St. Joseph's are exemplary and I urge that this be examined by the Department. I thank the Minister of State for his engagement so far. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (Deputy Michael Moynihan)  It is like being in a meeting in Cork North-West. I am delighted to see how professional an operation it is. I am delighted to be serving with the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach as well. Deputy Heneghan raised the issue in relation to disadvantage in the north-east inner city. I thank the Deputy for his engagement on education matters in the role that I hold at the moment. I urge all Deputies and all public representatives to continue engaging on education because it is hugely important for the future of our country. Education has served Ireland very well over the last decades and beyond and we need to ensure that we are really up to speed with it.  The DEIS programme supports 1,200 primary and post-primary schools, reaching approximately 260,000 students with an annual investment of \u20ac180 million. The DEIS programme is targeted at schools with the highest level of concentrated disadvantage, with the DEIS urban band 1 schools representing those with the highest concentration of students with the greatest level of need and therefore receiving the most intensive supports. Schools with DEIS urban band 2 supports also face significant need and receive a broad range of supports, including the reduced pupil-teacher ratio, additional school grants, access to the home-school community liaison scheme and the school completion programme, literacy and numeracy initiatives and targeted attendance and retention measures.  It is possible for two neighbouring schools to have different profiles in terms of the proportion of students from disadvantaged backgrounds and the relative weighting of disadvantage apportioned in each. The designation of neighbouring schools to different DEIS status does not mean that there is no educational disadvantage present in one school. It means that the concentrated level of educational disadvantage of the two schools is different. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, is committed to narrowing the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introducing an innovative solution to address disadvantage. To this end, the new DEIS strategy to 2035 will be published in the coming months. This will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children at risk of education disadvantage, developing more innovative approaches to tackling education disadvantage and working towards a more flexible system of support to ensure that a school can receive the right supports at the right time. Any future changes to the overall allocation of resources to schools under the DEIS programme will be considered within the context of the new DEIS strategy. In respect of the education provisions, the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, works with schools to ensure pupils in special classes receive an appropriate education, with teachers, SNAs and inclusion supports.  In relation to support provided in the north-east inner city project, it should be noted that in order to be classified as a north-east inner city primary school, the primary school must be a DEIS urban band 1 school located within the north-east inner city boundaries. St. Joseph's Primary School in Fairview is not located within the boundaries and does not have the DEIS urban band 1 status. Ten primary schools located within the north-east inner city with DEIS band 1 status, in addition to having the high percentage of pupils enrolled within the north-east inner city, are classified as such schools. It is important to recognise the challenges outlined by the Deputy and to compliment the team working there. I have no doubt that they are doing extraordinary work, particularly in relation to the challenges the Deputy outlined. We will be publishing the new DEIS strategy in the coming months but issues like that will have to be fed into that process as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I really appreciate the work and I also appreciate the work with Stapolin and everything else in the area, with the Killester, Raheny, Clontarf, KRC, secondary school campaign and Gaelchol\u00e1iste Reachrann. In the Minister of State's words, the designation of neighbouring schools as having different DEIS status does not mean that there is no educational disadvantage present in one school. It means that the concentrated levels of educational disadvantage of the two schools are different. From speaking to the Minister and visiting the school, I can see that is not the case. It is the same pupils going through the school and then going to the secondary school. It is in that period between age eight and when they get to secondary school that they are being removed from these supports that we put in place for children in disadvantaged areas. I urge the Minister of State to get the Department to examine this school. I do not know how it slipped through the cracks.  I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done and the work of the constituency TD, Deputy Gary Gannon of the Social Democrats, who represents the children attending this school. The children remain in an unsuitable structure. As I have said, the staff in St. Joseph's are excellent but they are going beyond. They are stretched and they are missing that funding. I am asking for an urgent review of St. Joseph's current DEIS status. It makes no sense that the status has been removed for that period for young men, especially with the struggles of life at this time. I also ask for immediate inclusion in the NEIC and City Connect supports as the sisters of children in this school, who are attending a school beside it, in the same catchment and the same area, are getting these supports. It makes no sense that the Department is saying this. I ask for a concrete timeline and solution for appropriate placement in the junior autism class. I appreciate the work the Minister of State has done and his visits to schools in north Dublin. I have seen first-hand the work he has done but I ask him to visit this school to see the current situation. I think it slipped through the cracks of the Department and I urge that it be examined. I am asking the Department not only for a review, but for a clear timeline for the DEIS reclassification. Young men should not have supports removed at such a critical time in their development. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  I thank the Deputy for the question and the energy he has put into it. The DEIS programme has been hugely successful right across the country, both in urban and rural Ireland, to ensure that we are tackling disadvantage at its core. Retaining students within the education system is a huge priority for the Government. It is huge for Government policy and for my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, and me as well. We are acutely aware of the challenges that exist. The DEIS programme has shown up the challenges. On a number of occasions, we have seen that schools which are practically on the same campuses and have pupils from the same socio-economic backgrounds are classified in different strands. The system to designate DEIS schools is completely automated. This has been looked at very carefully but, as we go into the new DEIS programme, I and the current and former Ministers, Deputies Naughton, McEntee and Foley, as well as Department officials, are acutely aware of this anomaly that is showing up within the system. One thing we need to do is to make sure that we are tackling disadvantage at its core and that we are not leaving anybody behind. Education is one of the great levellers and one of the great enablers. We want to ensure we get it right in the inner city and right across the country. The Deputy could no be more direct in the picture he paints of this issue. It is something the Department is giving serious consideration to in the context of the DEIS strategy, which we are committed to publishing in the coming months. We will certainly take on board what the Deputy has said in relation to it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Educational Disadvantage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Emergency Winter Payment for Disabled People: Motion [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":50,"speakerCount":32},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:  notes that:  \u2014 disabled people in Ireland are among the most socially excluded and disadvantaged in the State, with some of the highest poverty, deprivation, and unemployment rates in Ireland;  \u2014 one in five disabled people live in consistent poverty, nearly four times the national average, while nearly 40 per cent live in enforced deprivation;  \u2014 in the context of escalating costs in energy, food and housing, disabled people are particularly vulnerable to cost pressures, especially as they are more likely to spend more of their time at home;  \u2014 the State-commissioned Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland - Research Report, published in 2021, estimated the extra cost of living with a disability to be in the range of \u20ac8,700 - \u20ac12,300 (\u20ac10,490 - \u20ac14,830 adjusted for inflation);  \u2014 Budget 2026 reduced income for disabled people by an estimated \u20ac1,400 per year, according to the Disability Federation of Ireland; and  \u2014 the Disability Federation of Ireland has called Budget 2026 a \"devastating setback for disabled people\u2026 which leaves disabled people poorer, unsupported, and excluded\";  further notes that:  \u2014 the need for a cost of disability payment has been identified as far back as 2004, something which was reaffirmed by the Indecon report;  \u2014 a 2022 Economic and Social Research Institute report entitled \"Headline Poverty Target Reduction in Ireland and the Role of Work and Social Welfare\" found working-age adults with disabilities experience \"distinctively high rates of income poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty\";  \u2014 the 2025 Programme for Government committed to the introduction of \"a permanent annual Cost of Disability support payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment\";  \u2014 the Government has failed to deliver any such permanent payment, and instead delivered a Budget which cut the incomes of disabled people and left them worse off; and  \u2014 as a result of the Government cutting their incomes, disabled people have been forced to make unconscionable decisions about how to live on more limited means, forgoing necessary levels of home heating, nutrition, and greatly reducing their mobility and independence;  recognises that:  \u2014 the Government repeatedly claims that it wants to target resources at those who need it most and an emergency winter payment for disabled people would do just that, meaning it is in line with purported Government budgetary policy;  \u2014 disabled people need emergency financial support as they are experiencing an extremely challenging winter period, due to cost pressures associated both with their disabilities and seasonal costs, including energy, housing, and food costs;  \u2014 an immediate emergency winter payment would serve as a vital support, which would protect against the increased risk to disabled people of falling into poverty and deprivation; and  \u2014 an emergency \u20ac400 winter payment is affordable and fiscally sustainable, given the cost of the measure, \u20ac124 million, amounts to a small portion of the budget surplus last year, which was even larger than the Government forecasted; and  calls on the Government to:  \u2014 immediately (within a month of this motion being agreed) introduce an emergency winter payment of \u20ac400 to all qualified recipients of;  \u2014 Disabilities Allowance;  \u2014 Invalidity Pension;  \u2014 Blind Pension;  \u2014 Incapacity Supplement;  \u2014 Disablement Pension; and  \u2014 Domiciliary Care Allowance; and  \u2014 immediately progress the introduction of a permanent cost of disability support payment, as promised in the Programme for Government, as a matter of urgency.  I rise to introduce this motion, on behalf of my party, to introduce an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities, who are so badly in need of the support of this House. I thank the disability organisations - the Irish Wheelchair Association, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Access for All - and others for their leadership in this campaign and the opportunity to support them. I also thank my parliamentary party colleagues for their support and Deputy Liam Quaide, to my left, for his counsel and leadership and his work on disability policy.  We bring this motion to describe the callousness of the Government and present it with an opportunity to correct its neglect. People with disabilities in Ireland face a cruel system and a crueller Government. They are the cohort in Ireland with among the highest poverty rates and deprivation rates. The experiences of people with disabilities in services - transport, housing, access to care, financial support, accessibility, educational supports - illustrate the astonishing range with which the State manages to fail disabled people. Ireland's employability gap for people with disabilities, according to a 2022 OECD report, is the highest in the developed world, meaning that if you are disabled in Ireland, you are less likely than your peers to be employed than in any other developed country. What a damning indictment of successive Governments' policy. To add insult to injury, this Government chose in its most recent budget to strip people with disabilities of \u20ac1,400 in annual payments, according to the Disability Federation of Ireland.  Last month many disabled people gathered in the cold and rain outside the gates of Leinster House to describe the brutality of this winter. I and many others in this House heard their stories: the woman who searches in her wheelchair from shop to shop to find the best deals for food; the man with the cane who sits in front of his electric heater and is now turning on only one heating rung instead of two; the mother with Parkinson's who had to take her child out of cr\u00e8che because she had to choose between that and feeding her family; the young man choosing between heat and charging his electric wheelchair. The list goes on and on.  During budget week, the Minister for Social Protection told this House that he had introduced payments that would keep up with inflation. What he did not say is that the net change for people on disabilities payments was negative. Not only did he not keep up with the generalised rate of inflation or with energy costs, housing costs or food costs; he also failed to keep disabled people's incomes level with even the nominal levels that they were at last year. He actually reduced them.  I know the Minister is a good man. He is doing his best. Quite frankly, however, a reduction in incomes for people with disabilities, especially during a cost-of-living crisis, is absolutely appalling and shocking. When I asked the Minister for a report on the cost-of-disability payment in committee, he responded by saying he did not like reports and would prefer to act. Well, here is the Minister's opportunity. He can act, and Fianna F\u00e1il can act with him. We have even written the motion for him and designed the scheme. All he has to do is say yes. Should he say no, however, I have a request. It is not good enough to just read from the sheet prepared by his officials or collaborate with the Government Whip on voting down or amending the motion. No, he must go further. I ask him not to visit upon the disabled people of this country a further indignity of not being honest with them as he does so. I ask him to at least have the courage to tell them that he will reduce their income and will not restore it this year. I ask him to at least tell them that he has no intention of honouring the commitment in the programme for Government on a cost-of-disability payment until he is at least 40% of the way through his term. I ask him to at least give them his honesty if he cannot give them his support, and I ask him to look them in the eye as he does so. Some of them are here in the Gallery and they are watching.  To those of you at home watching, perhaps with one rung of the heater on instead of two, I want you to know that the Social Democrats knows you are there. We see you, we hear you and we share your anger. We are fighting for you, even if this Government is not.  I commend the motion to the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  The cost-of-living crisis is affecting people across society but disproportionately impacting disabled people. It has been long established that disabled people already face major additional financial burdens that result from living with a disability in a society that is so poorly adapted to their needs. These costs mount up daily in areas like healthcare, transport, energy, specialist equipment and the variety of supports needed to live as independently as possible.  The figures are stark. Two in every five people with a disability cannot afford essentials like heating or new clothes. One in five lives in consistent poverty. Disabled people here also face far greater barriers to employment than their European counterparts. Yet, instead of easing that pressure, budget 2026 is leaving disabled people \u20ac1,400 worse off than the previous year. That is indefensible.  In the Social Democrats alternative budget, we put forward fair and achievable proposals, including a permanent cost-of-disability payment alongside a \u20ac15 weekly increase in disability allowance. Taken together, those measures would have increased disabled people's incomes by over \u20ac1,800 a year. Following a campaign led by a coalition of disability organisations in December, we called on the Government to introduce an emergency winter payment of \u20ac400 for disabled people and we are doing so again today.  We actually agree with the Government that targeted cost-of-living measures are needed for groups most vulnerable to poverty, but the Government failed to take that opportunity in the recent budget. It did not introduce the cost-of-disability payment that was set out in the programme for Government and actually stripped away one-off supports. At that protest in December, one man spoke about having to decide whether to turn on two bars or one bar on his electric heater because energy costs have risen so sharply. At a later session here on the campus of Leinster House, we heard a harrowing account of a woman having to stop home dialysis because of energy costs and relying instead on hospital dialysis, which placed her health more at risk and is actually a greater financial cost to the State.  This is the gulf that has opened up in Ireland between a flourishing economy on the one hand and the vindication of basic rights for disabled people on the other. We again urge the Minister to intervene and deliver this modest targeted payment. It would benefit around 310,000 people at a cost of approximately \u20ac124 million. It is eminently doable. Each year winter bonus payments across core social welfare schemes are funded through Supplementary Estimates. This payment we are proposing can be delivered in exactly the same way. Of course, much more needs to be done in the medium to long term, such as removing barriers to education and employment, introducing personalised budgets and delivering the permanent cost-of-disability payment. Right now, however, people are struggling, and a targeted \u20ac400 payment would be a very modest step in the right direction and would make a material difference to people who have been disregarded for too long. This comes back to basic respect and dignity for disabled people. They deserve a Government that puts its money where its mouth is when it comes to the real, unavoidable costs of living with a disability and a Government that matches soothing rhetoric around disability rights with concrete action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Fight, fight, fight, scrap, argue and fight again. That is how one disabled woman described her relationship with the State in the audiovisual room recently. She is not alone. It is the one thing that always comes back when we talk to disabled people about their real lived experiences. It is a constant struggle for them. They are trying to fight and advocate for themselves to get supports they not only need, but are entitled to. Disabled people really feel like this Government has forgotten them and that they have been ignored. When you look at the budget that went through in October, it is clear why they feel that way. The budget was absolutely huge. We are a wealthy country. Millions upon millions were given in tax breaks to developers, and yet disabled people are \u20ac1,400 worse off as a result of that budget. I really do not understand how the Government can talk about supporting disabled people when it is leaving them that far behind in the annual budget.  I know it is planned to bring in a cost-of-disability allowance. That is really welcome, but there is a gap. People are struggling now. This motion is very modest. We are talking about \u20ac400. However, it will support disabled people over the period from now, when they are struggling with the cost of living, until the time when the Minister is able to bring in that cost-of-disability payment. We really ask that the Minister look at this. I also ask the Minister, when he stands up, not to speak to us, the people in the Gallery and the people watching this debate about the services now being provided for disabled people because that is the constant narrative from the Government. Disabled people cannot eat services. They cannot clothe themselves with disability services. They cannot pay their rent or mortgage with disability services. They certainly cannot heat their homes with them. We are talking about a \u20ac400 payment. It is very targeted. It is targeted at the people who need it most. We have discussed this with Government backbenchers and they agree. The Minister knows this is the right thing to do. I ask him to give serious consideration to it, particularly as people are not going to be able to manage until he can bring in the cost-of-disability payment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  This motion requires the Government to do the right thing for disabled people. I worked with the Irish Wheelchair Association in the late nineties as a personal assistant. Just before that, I worked as a personal support worker for disabled people in London. I was a newly graduated young person and I was very happy to do that work and gain an insight into the perspectives, practical needs and care needs of people with disabilities. At the time, I noted that services and supports for disabled people in London were far better than those for Dubliners. I am not sure that Dubliners are now in a better situation than they were in the late nineties. Things are equally as bad. This country needs to make sure that all vulnerable people are protected.  When we have all of the budget surpluses we have, I am lost for words that we always choose to forget the most vulnerable in our society. The need for a cost-of-disability payment was identified as far back as 2004, only a couple of years after I came back from London, when I was working with people with disabilities. That principle was reaffirmed by the State-commissioned Indecon report published in 2021. In 2022, the ESRI produced a report, Headline Poverty Target Reduction in Ireland and the Role of Work and Social Welfare, which found that \"working-age ... [people] with disabilities ... experienced distinctively high rates of income poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty\". It is mind-boggling that working people would still face consistent poverty. The programme for Government contains a commitment regarding the introduction of \"a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment.\" However, when it came to budget 2026, there were tumbleweeds. Nothing was included. The Government has come out with this new mantra that this is year one of a five-year budget. That is no use to people with disabilities who cannot pay their bills now. As my colleagues stated, they are choosing between eating and heating. They are choosing whether to turn on a dialysis machine and to live their lives with dignity. The cynical part of me wonders whether the Government is saving up money in this year one of a five-year budget until just before the next election, when there will be a big splurge. I really hope I am wrong about that. I really hope I am just being uber-cynical and that this will not prove to be the case.  In my constituency of Dublin South-Central, I meet people who are struggling to pay bills, eat healthily and heat their homes. They really need this extra money. As I said earlier, no one in this country should be struggling or falling below a safety net. They should be allowed to live their lives with dignity. This motion gives the Government a solution. The Taoiseach regularly stands where the Minister is sitting now during Leaders' Questions and tells us that we do not offer solutions. Here is a solution. It is very practical. As Deputy Whitmore said, it is not going to cost the earth but it will mean the world to people with disabilities. This is an easy solution. Please take it. We love giving our solutions away because we have solutions that are costed, focused and evidence based. We are working with people in the community in this country and we know that things are not as good as they should be. I ask the Minister to consider what we are saying. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I thank Deputies Hayes and Quaide for bringing this motion before us and for their commitment in respect of this matter. Effective parliamentary exchange often involves a contest of beliefs. Some people hold certain values while others hold different values. That is an exchange. However, this motion also includes what are just facts. If I mention a fact that the Minister disputes or says is not true, he should feel free to call me out. The first fact is that \"disabled people in Ireland are among the most socially excluded and disadvantaged in the State, with some of the highest poverty, deprivation, and unemployment rates in Ireland\". The next fact is that \"one in five disabled people live in consistent poverty, nearly four times the national average, while nearly 40 per cent live in enforced deprivation\". The motion reads:  ... in the context of escalating costs in energy, food and housing, disabled people are particularly vulnerable to cost pressures, especially as they are more likely to spend more of their time at home ...  We know that to be true. The next line reads:  ... the State-commissioned Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland - Research Report, published in 2021, estimated the extra cost of living with a disability to be in the range of \u20ac8,700 - \u20ac12,300 ...  That is \u20ac14,800 when adjusted for inflation. We also know that to be true. Given the truths and the facts that all of us across the Chamber must accept regardless of our beliefs and values, this motion is effectively about whether we are willing to let disabled people sit in cold homes this winter while the State tells itself comforting stories about its future plans.  Right now, people with disabilities are being forced into decisions that no one in this Chamber would accept for themselves. They have to choose between heating and food, medication or the equipment they need to stay alive and independent. That is not rhetoric. That is the lived reality described by the Irish Wheelchair Association, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Access for All Ireland, which protested outside this House in December asking for one urgent and modest intervention, an emergency winter payment of \u20ac400.  Disability in Ireland is not just about individual circumstances. It is about inequality. It is also about the extra costs people face just to get around, stay connected and live with dignity. These are absolutely not lifestyle choices. They are the price of participation in society. If you are disabled, you are more likely to struggle to make ends meet. You are more likely to face barriers in accessing housing, transport, work and education. You are more likely to be pushed to the margins and told to wait. We know from the State's own research that the cost of disability can swallow more than half of a household's disposable income. The cost can rise even higher for people with severe limitations. When you strip that cost out, poverty rates for disabled households explode. These are not marginal pressures. They are structural, relentless and exhausting for those who are forced to experience them.  Disabled households carry costs most of us will never have to think about, such as the costs of medical equipment that has to stay powered, assistive technology, accessible transport, modified homes and ongoing care. None of these are optional. All of them cost money. Budget 2026 stripped away cost-of-living supports, leaving disabled people up to \u20ac1,400 worse off. The Government knew the cost of disability was not addressed and chose to proceed anyway. It made a judgment, and today we are asking it to reflect on that decision.  It is shameful that we are even debating this in such a wealthy country. Last week, we were talking about the fall-out and anxiety faced by thousands of carers opening letters warning them that they may now owe tax. This week, we are debating whether people with disabilities should simply be able to heat their homes. That says everything about who we keep asking to pay the price. There seems to be no limit to how far this Government is willing to go when it comes to making life harder for people with disabilities, whether that be through administrative decisions, quiet policy choices or simple delay. That is how inequality grows, quietly and predictably, budget after budget.  We are often told in this House, when we bring forward solutions, whether it is housing, infrastructure, policing or school places, that the issue is not that simple, that things take time, legislation has to change and that a system needs to catch up. However, the motion we bring forward today is literally that simple. There are people with disabilities who live in households they cannot afford to heat. We are in the throes of winter. It is freezing, and there are people with disabilities who are making choices between heating, eating and medical equipment. There is a requirement for urgency in how we approach this because it is not reflective of a modern republic when we ask people who are already vulnerable to experience hardship that none of us across the Chamber would ourselves ever have to face. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Dara Calleary)  Tairgim leas\u00fa Uimh. 1:  To delete all words after \"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann\" and substitute the following:  \"recognises that:  \u2014 the Government acknowledges that disabled people face additional costs in their daily lives;  \u2014 the Government's determination to address this issue is reflected in the Programme for Government commitment, to introduce a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment;  \u2014 delivering on this commitment is a core objective of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which the Government published in September 2025;  \u2014 a dedicated Disability Unit has been established in the Department of An Taoiseach, to drive progress in enhancing supports for disabled people;  \u2014 progress will be driven and monitored by the Cabinet Committee on Children, Disability and Education;  \u2014 under the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was developed with the involvement of disability advocates and representative groups, the Department of Social Protection is mandated to lead a cross-Government Strategic Focus Network Summit on the Cost of Disability; and  \u2014 work is already underway to establish and define the detailed remit of the Strategic Focus Network Summit:  \u2014 the Strategic Focus Network Summit will be organised by the Department of Social Protection and, as a cross-Government endeavour, will include, other Government departments, and importantly it will involve disabled people and their advocates;  \u2014 this work will inform the approach to be taken in delivering on the Programme for Government commitment;  \u2014 officials have held meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the structure and content of the Strategic Focus Network Summit;  \u2014 the views of disabled people and all relevant research, such as the Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland - Research Report, and the more recent Economic and Social Research Institute report entitled \"Headline Poverty Target Reduction in Ireland and the Role of Work and Social Welfare\", will be given due consideration when progressing this work; and  \u2014 a public consultation process on how a cost of disability can best be delivered will also be launched shortly;  notes that:  \u2014 there is already a broad range of income support payments for disabled people;  \u2014 there are approximately 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments and 170,000 recipients of caring payments, including the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA), with estimated expenditure of \u20ac6.5 billion across illness, disability and carer's schemes combined in 2026; and  \u2014 Budget 2026 provided for a \u20ac1.15 billion package of new social protection measures, and this contained significant targeted measures to support disabled people, including:  \u2014 a \u20ac20 per month increase in the monthly rate of DCA bringing it to \u20ac380 per month from January 2026, this represents an increase of over \u20ac70 or 23 per cent since 2022;  \u2014 a \u20ac10, or 4.1 per cent increase in the weekly rates of payment, bringing the personal rates of payment to \u20ac254 per week from January 2026, this represents a \u20ac51 increase in weekly disability income support payments since Budget 2021;  \u2014 the highest ever increases in the Child Support Payment, an increase of \u20ac16 to \u20ac78 for children aged 12 or over, and of \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12, these payments have increased by \u20ac48.20 and \u20ac28.20 respectively since 2017;  \u2014 a \u20ac5, or 15 per cent increase in the Fuel Allowance, bringing it to \u20ac38 per week from January 2026 providing recipients with an additional \u20ac140 during the annual Fuel Allowance season; and  \u2014 an increase of \u20ac325 to \u20ac1,000 in the income disregard for single carers and \u20ac750 to \u20ac2,000 in the disregard for a couple, these increases mean a couple with an income of just under \u20ac140,000 can still qualify for a carer's payment;  \u2014 both the increases to personal rates of payment and the Fuel Allowance were ahead of the general inflation rate reported by the Central Statistics Office of 3.2 per cent in the year to the end of November 2025, and an energy cost increase of approximately 3.5 per cent for the same period; and  \u2014 to make the welfare to work journey as smooth as possible, and to support disabled people into work, Budget 2026 provided for:  \u2014 people moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension to take up work to retain their Fuel Allowance payment for five years;  \u2014 people getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension who have children being eligible for Back to Work Family Dividend when taking up employment and moving off those payments;  \u2014 expansion of the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) to people who acquire a disability while in employment, and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit; and  \u2014 increased rates under the WSS, which will take effect from April;  \u2014 in Budget 2026, the Government allocated \u20ac3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026, including funding for community-based specialist disability services to ensure people with disabilities receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place;  \u2014 this represents a 20 per cent increase year-on-year and represents an overall increase since 2020 of \u20ac1.8 billion; and  \u2014 a dedicated unit has been established in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, to drive reform and to lead a full review of Ireland's disability service model and this unit will work hand-in-hand with disabled people, their families, and representative organisations to shape a long-term vision for services to 2030; and  further notes that:  \u2014 under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, a special Heating Supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances that have special heating needs, for example, in the case of ill health, infirmity or a medical condition;  \u2014 an Additional Needs Payment may also be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of their own resources;  \u2014 in 2025 there were over 2,300 Additional Needs Payments made towards household bills and heating at a cost of almost \u20ac1.3 million;  \u2014 there were 692 recipients of Heat Supplement at end of 2025; and  \u2014 any person who considers they may have an entitlement to a payment under the SWA scheme is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service, and the National Community Welfare Contact Centre is in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.\".  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis na Daonlathaithe S\u00f3isialta as c\u00farsa\u00ed m\u00edchumais a ard\u00fa sa Teach. Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis na Teachta\u00ed Hayes agus Quaide as an r\u00fan t\u00e1bhachtach seo. I assure the Cathaoirleach that the Government recognises that disabled people, their families and representative organisations face unavoidable and ongoing additional costs in their daily lives. I assure the House that improving outcomes for disabled people is a top priority for me personally, and for the Government. It is our determination to achieve this, and this is reflected in a key programme for Government commitment that will introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment. Delivering on this commitment is a core objective of the national human rights strategy for disabled people. A dedicated disability unit has been established in Roinn an Taoisigh to drive progress in enhancing supports for disabled people. Progress will also be driven and monitored by the Cabinet committee.  We know that addressing the cost of disability is not a question of income support alone. The delivery of, and access to, services is also key. The Private Members' motion refers to the Indecon report on the cost of disability. That report was commissioned by my Department, but it sets out how addressing the additional cost of disability requires a broader approach than simply increasing existing payments or introducing new ones. We need all of the Departments and agencies of government to work together to address this issue in a comprehensive way. Under the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was developed with the involvement of disability advocates and representative groups, the Department of Social Protection is mandated to lead a cross-government strategic focus summit on the cost of disability. That work is under way, and I will come back to that later on.  There is a broad range of income support payments for disabled people, including disability allowance, partial capacity benefit and invalidity pension. There are approximately 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments and 170,000 recipients of caring payments, including domiciliary care allowance. Expenditure across illness, disability and carer\u2019s schemes combined in 2026 is estimated at \u20ac6.5 billion, which represents an increase in expenditure of approximately 38% since 2020.  We were clear as a Government that there would be no one-off payments in budget 2026. I want to introduce permanent measures that will improve outcomes for disabled people. I also take this opportunity to outline the measures Government has in place to support disabled people. Budget 2026 provided for a \u20ac1.15 billion package of new social protection measures. It builds on the already comprehensive level of support available by targeting measures aimed at supporting carers and recipients of domiciliary care allowance and making it easier for people with disability to progress into and, more important, stay in employment. Recipients of payments received a Christmas bonus of a double week\u2019s payment in December. We provided a \u20ac20 increase in the monthly rate of domiciliary care allowance, which brought it to \u20ac380 from January. This represents an increase of over \u20ac70, or 23%, since 2022. We also increased the weekly personal rate of payment such as disability allowance by \u20ac10, or 4.1%. That brings the personal rate of payment to \u20ac254 per week from this month, which represents a \u20ac51 increase in the weekly disability income support payments since budget 2021.  Recipients of disability allowance and other payments who have children have seen their weekly rates of child support payment increase by \u20ac16 to \u20ac78 for children aged 12 or over, and by \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12, from January 2026. These are the largest ever increases in these payments, which have increased by \u20ac48.20 and \u20ac28.20, respectively, since 2017. This month, the fuel allowance payment increased by \u20ac5 to \u20ac38 per week. This represents an increase of 15%, providing recipients with an additional \u20ac140 during the annual fuel allowance season. Both the increases to personal rates of payment and the fuel allowance are ahead of the general inflation rate reported by the Central Statistics Office of 3.2% in the year to the end of November 2025.  Importantly, in relation to the cost of living, and the cases being referred to by Deputies, nobody in Ireland needs to go without food or heating for financial reasons. My Department\u2019s community welfare service is available to provide financial support for those essentials. I do not want a misleading and dangerous message to go out that people must choose between food and heating. I will ask my officials to again engage with the organisations to point out the supports and contact points available. Under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme, a special heating supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances who have special heating needs, for example, in the case of ill health, infirmity or a medical condition. Additional need payments may also be made to help meet essential one-off costs, which an applicant is unable to meet out of their own resources. These payments are available to those who need them and qualify, regardless of whether they are in receipt of a social protection payment.  In 2025, there were over 2,300 additional need payments made towards household bills and heating, at an investment of almost \u20ac1.3 million. At the end of 2025, there are 692 recipients of heat supplement. Again, I ask any person who considers they may have an entitlement to a payment under the supplementary welfare allowance scheme to contact the Department. I will provide contact details to Deputies. There are supports, and I want to make sure that those who need them know they are there and that they can avail of them.  The budget also contained a number of measures, in line with work I am doing on an ongoing basis, to make the welfare to work journey as smooth as possible and to support disabled people into work. Those moving from disability allowance or blind pension to take up work will be able to retain their fuel allowance payment for up to five years. We are making the back to work family dividend available to people who move off disability allowance or the blind pension and into employment. The wage subsidy scheme is a key disability employment support provided by my Department. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people and it supports the employer to cover the costs of significantly adapting a job\u2019s tasks or role. Budget 2026 provides for reducing the number of bands in the wage subsidy scheme from five to three and increasing all the rates so that from April 2026, the base rate will be \u20ac7.50 per hour, up from \u20ac6.30. Where an employer employs between seven and 16 employees under the scheme, they will receive a new rate of \u20ac8.50.  In addition, an employer who employs 25 or more employees on the wage subsidy scheme may receive a grant of \u20ac30,000 towards the cost of employing an employment assistance officer.  These changes are important because they encourage employment. As Deputy Hayes said, we have one of the lowest records and I want to change that. They are also hugely important because we know that a fear of losing secondary benefits is a major barrier to people taking up employment. We have also provided for the extension of the wage subsidy scheme to people already at work, who acquire a disability or whose ability to work has reduced such that their job has to be significantly adapted. Last year, we modernised the language of the wage subsidy scheme in line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. We also increased the pool of potential employers. I will continue to focus on employment and increasing the opportunities available for disabled people within employment.  I want to focus now on the work that is under way in my Department in relation to the cost of disability and the permanent payment. This is a cross-government endeavour, including other Government Departments. Most importantly, it involves ongoing consultation with disabled people and their advocates. My officials have already held a series of meetings to discuss issues in relation to the strategic focus network summit as well as cost-of-disability issues. Last October, we held bilateral meetings with the National Disability Authority, AsIAm, Family Carers Ireland and the Disability Federation of Ireland. The cost-of-disability strategic focus network summit was the main agenda item at my Department's disability consultative forum on 2 December last. The organisations that attended were Chime, the Disability Federation of Ireland, Inclusion Ireland, Independent People with Disabilities, the Irish Society for Autism, the Irish Wheelchair Association, the National Advocacy Service, the National Disability Authority, Rehab and Vision Ireland. Just last Friday, we met with the Disabled Persons' Organisations Network, namely, the Irish Deaf Society, the National Platform of Self-Advocates, Disabled Women Ireland, AsIAm and Independent Living Movement Ireland.  We will be launching a public consultation on this payment and I look forward to submissions from across the House in relation to that. As I committed to Deputy O'Reilly, I intend to discuss it with the Joint Committee on Social Protection. I assure the House that this is my priority for budget 2027. I look forward to submissions on what that payment may look like and to engagement well ahead of budget 2027, so we have a chance to get a fully agreed proposal, if possible, on what that payment will look like. The key difference is that this is a permanent payment, not a year-on-year temporary payment. It is a permanent investment in addressing the cost of disability for those who need it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  People with disabilities in this country consistently live in poverty and experience financial struggles much more than the general population, as we have heard in detail from my colleagues this morning. Addressing the cost of disability is not giving something extra for people with disabilities as an act of generosity or pity. It is about creating a more equal Ireland and realising the rights of a group of individuals who face huge barriers to the realisation of those rights. It is about showing people the respect that they deserve as valued members of society. We need to see the cost of disability addressed in the long term. People with disabilities should not live with a tax on their lives. They deserve the same standards of living and care, and the same chance to thrive, as everybody else.  This motion is about dealing with the present crisis, which has left so many people unsure of how they will heat their homes, pay for medication or travel to appointments. It is about having a real plan and ambition to make the long-term changes that we need to guarantee people equality. I do not apologise for using that language. The Minister has accused us of using alarmist language. He told us to be careful about using alarmist language when we talk about people choosing between heating and eating. It is not alarmist to the people whose lived experience is choosing between heating and eating. However, I am really glad that the Minister raised the topic of language because in this State we have seen a charitable model of disability dominate policy delivery for people with disabilities. We have just about moved ourselves to a medical model in certain parts of our policy-making for people with disabilities. What we actually need, when we think and talk about disability, is a rights-based model. What that means is that all of us in this country have the right to work, the right to live, the right to privacy and the right to health. When we recognise that we all have those rights, we then identify the shortfalls in certain groups meeting those rights. Then we realise that, as a State, we have an obligation to remove those barriers and to bring people to the same level so that they can access and participate in society in the same way as everybody else.  The Minister's comments today are littered with policy after report after consultation. I can tell him that the disability community in Ireland are exhausted and fatigued with consultation, sick to the teeth of hearing about the next report which is going to tell them what they need when they already know what they need. They have been very clear about it and the Social Democrats have been very clear about it. This is a gap and I fully acknowledge that the Government talks about this being a priority. I recognise that the T\u00e1naiste has created the specific group that he has, and that it is reaching into every Department. I recognise all of that, but delivery is not happening. The starkest example of that is budget 2026, in which disabled people were left \u20ac1,400 short. They are living that right now. They are living the heating and eating choice. I do not apologise for that language. It is not alarmist when it is lived experience.  We know the reasons people with disabilities are more likely to be in poverty. People with disabilities face additional daily costs when it comes to medication, specialist equipment, adaptation of homes and everything they need to be able to live their lives in dignity. We are one of the worst in Europe when it comes to participation of people with disabilities in the labour market, as the Minister has acknowledged. The lives of disabled people in this country are full of additional costs that most of us cannot imagine on a day-to-day basis, and an exclusion from the labour market that makes it even more impossible to survive in dignity. These are the people who have the least power to insulate themselves from this cost-of-living crisis that we are all experiencing, yet this year they are facing the brunt of it. We can do better and we must do better for people with disabilities. This is what we are asking today and every day, and we will continue to fight for as long as it takes to achieve true equality for those among us with disabilities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  It is deeply disappointing that the Government is opposing this motion and I think there are people with disabilities across the country who are going to be very disappointed as well. Our contributions are not alarmist; they are grounded in evidence and research. We know that the annual cost of living with disability is estimated at between \u20ac10,000 and \u20ac15,000. According to the ESRI, there is a weekly cost of between \u20ac488 and \u20ac555. A household with a disabled member needs an income that is 52% to 59% greater after tax just to reach the same standard of living as a household without a disabled member. For households with a member who is has severe limitations, the additional cost can be as high as 93%.  I want to pass on to the Minister what some people with disabilities have said about their lives and the impact on them. One person said that in some weeks, it is a toss-up between food or bills as there is nothing left. Another person said they are not looking to be a millionaire but looking for security, a home, heat, food, family and not to fight for the basic things. A third person said disabled people are more reliant than ever on their families and their independence is being eroded.  In our alternative budget, the Social Democrats proposed an extra \u20ac15 per week in disability allowance, an emergency \u20ac400 winter cost-of-disability payment, and a permanent cost-of-disability support payment. In the Government's budget, disability allowance went up by just \u20ac10 to \u20ac256. That is just \u20ac520 over a year. The Government failed to provide a permanent cost-of-disability payment, putting it off until 2027. This is inexcusable. The Government may have postponed this measure but people with disabilities cannot postpone their expenses. Its approach still seems to be rooted in charity rather than rights. People with disabilities need clarity and action, not more ambiguity and delay.  It is now more than 20 years since the Department of Social Protection commissioned a report on the cost-of-disability payment. That was reaffirmed in the 2021 cost of disability in Ireland research report. How much longer does the Government need? Just this month, the Minister of State, Deputy Emer Higgins, told the Irish Examiner that the practicalities of payment are still being worked out. Acting like a commentator rather than a member of Government, the Minister of State was quoted as saying:  What would that payment look like? What rate would it be set at? How would you qualify for it? How would it be paid?  Ministers thinking aloud across the pages of newspapers is not one bit helpful. Has no financial planning been undertaken since the cost-of-disability report was published four years ago? People with disabilities do not need more off-the-cuff commentary from Ministers. They need real progress and a permanent cost-of-disability payment. I urge the Minister to reconsider his stance on this, support the motion and provide these basic supports so that people can live decent lives in Ireland because it is not good enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I thank the Minister for his statement in response to our motion this morning. I worked in disability services as a social care worker for many years. We have heard many voices, specifically of those with disabilities, come through this morning. I would like to share a common trend among family members of people with disabilities who often shared a consistent experience of having to navigate the mechanisms of the State, the outcomes of which they felt were often down to luck more than design and who, at times, had to show resilience within their family after getting refusal after refusal and having to apply through various mechanisms and fora in order to be able to avail of what essentially are basic services, basic funds and basic grants. It could be made an awful lot easier. The reason I want to share that is that when you draw specific attention to language, all we are trying to do this morning is to represent the voices of those we have heard over recent weeks, recent months and recent years who have said the system is broken. Notwithstanding some of the great work that the Minister has highlighted in his response this morning, we should start from a common place, that, right now, budget 2026 targeted people with disabilities by leaving them with considerably less than before.  The Minister mentioned the idea of the cost-of-disability payment being a top priority for him. There is another trend here where disability payments are a priority. Child poverty is a priority. Housing is a priority. Health is a priority. Everything is a priority for this Government but the outcomes are not improving. If anything, what we are seeing is the outcomes in some of these top priority areas disimproving.  Then we see the Taoiseach set up a unit within the Department as if that is going to be the silver bullet to change the lived experience of people's lives, whether it is in child poverty or for those who are experiencing disability. As a very constructive proposal this morning, what we have tried to do is present something that is workable and pragmatic but is a necessity. It is not an optional extra; it is a necessity.  The Minister is choosing to amend or do away with our motion. That is fine but we sincerely implore the Minister to consider this in the short term while he and his officials work on the cost-of-disability payment for budget 2027. Whatever way, shape or form this looks, it must be brought forward in the next couple of days or weeks to make sure basic services for people with disabilities can be met. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I want to start by thanking the Deputies for bringing forward this motion this morning and giving us a chance to have this important discussion. I want to state, as I have done previously, that disabled people are not disabled by their own bodies, their own neurodiversity or their own intellectual capacity. They are disabled by society - a society that puts barriers in their way to access work, supports and even something simple like public transport. Disabled people face hurdles that able-bodied people could not even begin to imagine. Fair play to disabled people and their advocates because they are getting themselves organised. They are putting themselves onto the agenda and are making their voices heard. They are a powerful lobby. These are people who fight every single day of the week for every shilling, every cent and every tiny little bit of support. These are fighters because the system has made them into fighters. They and their advocates are powerful representatives and they should be listened to.  The Minister and his Government talk a lot. We have Cabinet committees, task force reports, etc., but they are light on action. I would have thought that the very least that a decent Government would do in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis is not make things worse for people. Yet, people with disabilities find themselves \u20ac1,400 worse off as a direct consequence of the budget. They do make the choice about heating or eating and to charge their mobility or medical devices or pay for their groceries. They are real choices that real people have to make in the here and now.  The Minister said in his contribution that we should be extremely careful about alarmist language and that we should not be putting out a misleading and dangerous message that people must choose between food and heating. Those are not my words; those are the words of people with disabilities. They have told us and have told him, if he was willing to listen, that those are the choices that they have to make. Do they want to be in that position? No. Do they want to be in the audiovisual room having to talk about the intimate details of their lives? No. They want to be getting on with living their lives but for them living their lives involves making a choice, in some instances, between heating and eating. That is not alarmist language; that is a fact for people with disabilities. That is how they live their lives. Every single day is a battle. They want the Government to stand up and be on their side. I urge the Minister to support his motion and withdraw his shameful amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  This is straightforward. It is not the first time that we have had this discussion. The fact is the Minister has straightforwardly accepted that there is a cost of disability. I can also say that the Government accepted, when it was giving out one-off payments, that in providing a cost-of-disability payment, and for the first time recognising that, it realised there is a huge issue for those who are disabled in relation to the day-to-day cost and the logistics, whether it is the extra cost of transport, availing of healthcare, or a million and one things that we all take for granted that cost a lot more and are a lot more difficult to do.  In fairness, the Minister is going to hear an awful lot about a choice between eating or heating because we have heard it directly from those who are impacted by the lack of a payment - up to \u20ac1,400 if we compare it with last year. That would be a slash in relation to anybody's means of paying for their needs. People are absolutely at the edge in relation to payments. We have all heard from the wheelchair users who cannot afford to charge their wheelchairs at times. They have to decide on individual payments and on what they can and cannot do. This is straightforward.  I commend the work of the Disability Federation of Ireland, DFI, the Irish Wheelchair Association and Access for All on highlighting this issue. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing this motion forward. What we need to see is action. The Minister is doing the right thing in relation to the review process, looking at exactly who gets paid a cost-of-disability payment and looking at the amount it needs to be. That is grand for next year. At the moment, however, there are people who cannot afford to pay their bills. I cannot get away from the idea that some weeks it is a toss up between food or bills as there is nothing left.  We know the issues, which I brought up with the Minister previously, that need to be addressed in making it easier for those with a disability to be employed, because the numbers in this State are not up to scratch, and they are improving the WSS, the reasonable accommodations, workability and employability, work and access and so on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  In September of last year, the then Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, conceded that pulling one-off payments would be difficult. His decision at the time was predicated in part upon inflation continuing to remain around 2%. Those were his own words. In reality, CSO figures now show a 12-month inflation rate of 3.2%. It was a callous and cruel budget that was cut-throat with cost-of-living supports. In defence of his compassionless budget, the Taoiseach acknowledged that these supports have been crucial in responding to the cost-of-living crisis. Does he think the cost-of-living crisis is over? Does he believe that he has solved it? Does he think that the added costs of disability evaporated? He must believe he fixed that also. The Taoiseach, Deputy Miche\u00e1l Martin, believed that these supports were not fiscally sustainable. Those were his own words.  How fiscally sustainable does the Taoiseach believe it is for a disabled person to see their income decreased by \u20ac1,400 per year? TDs from Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and the so-called Independent lackeys endorsed a heartless budget last October \u2013 one that absolutely hammered people with disabilities. This motion offers them the opportunity to purge their contempt.  The then Minister for Finance, Deputy Donohoe, said that cutting these payments would be difficult. Paschal showed no difficulty when generously gifting the World Bank \u20ac10 million of taxpayers' money. There was no talk of fiscal sustainability then. Paschal does not give a damn. Now the Minister, Deputy Calleary, has the opportunity.  Sinn F\u00e9in fully supports the motion before the House today, which mandates the Government to restore the \u20ac400 emergency winter payment----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere)  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  -----because there is no other way to address and respond to the challenges we face as a society. Every Member of this House can staple their colours to the mast through this motion. Are the members of the Government not concerned that both the ESRI and the PBO predict that poverty will continue to rise for people with disabilities? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere)  I will move on to the next speaker. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Do they want to do something about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere)  I call Deputy Newsome Drennan. Deputy Bennett is eating into the time of her own party members. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  If so, the Minister must support this motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  As someone who has spent a significant portion of my adult life working with adults with disabilities, I strongly welcome this motion. I witnessed on a daily basis the financial cost of living with a disability, the relentless extra expenses and the hidden burdens that add up to a reality of constant pressure.  Reading this motion reminds me of our first Private Members' business in the D\u00e1il after the budget when we raised this very issue and presented our own solutions. Sadly, the Government parties failed to take any of those proposals on board. Here we are, months later, and the crisis we warned about has come to pass in full. The heightened risk of poverty for those living with a disability is an appalling reflection on the failure of the Minister and his colleagues.  Each and every week in this Chamber we raise the case of groups of people who are struggling, who are left behind by the Government, but it seems to fall on deaf ears. Who is this Government championing? Is it those with a disability? Is it those struggling to find a home or to find affordable childcare, or is it the large property developers and multinational corporates like Starbucks and McDonalds? When we look at the measures put in place by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, the latter have received more than generous measures, while the former did not even receive enough to keep up with inflation.  The welfare and treatment of our most vulnerable citizens is the mark of society we want to achieve but this Government has decided to subject tens of thousands of people with disabilities and their families to poverty and deprivation. I have heard from far too many people in Carlow and Kilkenny who are experiencing a level of hardship they have never known before because of the Government's failure to listen to the pleas for support. How the Government can stand over this suffering is beyond me. Is it a matter of policy and how the Government views society or is it simply that it is out of touch with ordinary people? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere)  I thank the Deputy. I have five speakers left and nine minutes and 40 seconds. I will allow them all to contribute. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the motion. I thank the Social Democrats for bringing it forward. People with disabilities are disproportionately at risk of poverty and social exclusion. Households that include people with disabilities require between 41% and 93% extra disposable income to achieve the same standard of living as households with no disabled members. A budget that leaves them significantly - by \u20ac1,400 - worse off than the previous year undermines Ireland's obligations under the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and deepens inequality.  The motion before us speaks to a profound injustice that this Government continues to perpetuate. Last year's cost-of-disability package, though insufficient, has been ripped away. What is offered in budget 2026 is a devastating drop in income for people with disabilities. While Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and their Independent colleagues offer empty election-time promises, their actions abandon people and leave them with impossible choices between heating their home and charging a mobility device, between eating and keeping the lights on. That is their words. We see the hidden poverty in our constituencies on a daily basis: the prepay meter disconnections, the arrears, the children growing up at risk. This is not just policy failure, it is a conscious poverty trap.  The Government must deliver an emergency winter payment. It must also deliver a fundamental shift. We need a Government that sees the dignity of disabled people not as a line item to cut but as a responsibility to be upheld. This motion is a step in that direction. I urge people to support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  I too thank the Social Democrats for this motion. Life is difficult enough for people with disabilities. They spend their life fighting for basic services \u2013 OT, speech and language, physiotherapy and mobility equipment. I know parents who have to fundraise for wheelchairs and other equipment for disabled children. Being able to get around is something we take for granted, but people with disabilities have to plan how to get around, be it on a bus, a taxi or a train.  When disabled people get older, they have to fight for their independence. They have to wait up to 20 years for a home to suit their needs. Do they really have to struggle now to heat their homes? Is that what we are talking about? The evidence is irrefutable. People living with disabilities live in consistent poverty.  I will go back to the Minister's speech. The Minister said he knows the additional costs faced by people with disabilities. On the topic of employment, he said he wants to state his full commitment. On the last page he stated he is pleased to begin this work. How long has he been in power? How long have Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael been in power, yet people are still consistently in poverty? The Minister's statement on the last page is an absolute disgrace. He said we should be extremely careful about using alarmist language. Is he blaming disability groups for being alarmist? Is that what he is saying? They are the ones who are telling us. This is why we have motions. They are telling us. Is the Minister blaming those organisations for being alarmist over \u20ac1,400 being cut from the budget? This is an absolute disgrace. Will the Minister withdraw what he said because that is an absolute slur on those organisations who took the time to come in here to give their life experiences? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  Budget 2026 was an insult to people with disabilities. All through the winter people have suffered as their income has taken a serious hit. The withdrawal of supports in this year's budget has left people with disabilities worse off by \u20ac1,400. This was a shocking betrayal of people with disabilities, who were promised the sun, moon and stars by the Government parties during the general election campaign.  It was already difficult enough for people with disabilities to get by. The Disability Federation of Ireland tells us that households with a disabled member require, on average, 50% extra disposable income to achieve the same standard of living as a similar household with no disabled members.  Many constituents have been in touch with me outlining the stark impact the withdrawal of support is having on them. The reality is that the Minister's decision to cut essential supports has left disabled people across this State in poverty and having to make the most difficult decisions to get by and get the bills paid when we have rising costs across the board. This is unforgivable.  We know that people with disabilities are already disproportionately at risk of poverty and social exclusion, yet the Minister made this choice because the stance of Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and the Independents on disability has been consistently out of touch. They only acknowledge the poverty people with disabilities face at election time when it suits them. The Minister stated that the Government will consider a cost-of-disability payment in next year's budget. How can he seriously suggest that people with disabilities should have to wait for a year - spend a full year in poverty - and then he might fix this problem? The Government must recognise the fact that living with a disability comes with increased costs. People need supports that reflect that in the here and now. I call on the Government not only to support this motion but to act on it and ensure it provides an emergency cost-of-disability payment as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  I thank the Social Democrats for this motion. Constituents and disability support groups across County Clare have been contacting me. They are shocked and deeply disappointed that this Government is refusing to call for an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities. They cannot understand how money can be found for developers and for those who are already flush, yet people with disabilities have to make the stark decision to eat or to have heat.  The Taoiseach has stated that such a measure is not fiscally sustainable. People have said to me that asking people with disabilities to wait is what is truly unsustainable. They are absolutely right about this. They are not looking for luxuries, they are looking for help to meet essential needs - extra costs for heating and to run specialised life-sustaining equipment. Is that really too much to ask?  Just before Christmas on a bitterly cold winter day, I met protesters outside this very D\u00e1\u00edl. One protester said to the crowd with devastating sarcasm, \"Is it not great the Government is giving us extra fuel allowance? It is giving me enough to buy firelighters for a fire that I cannot even afford to keep lit.\" That is the reality - a very stark reality. They have told me the extra \u20ac10-a-week would not even come close to covering their real living costs. The message of that protest was simple and shameful: eat or heat. I find that utterly disgraceful. Delaying supports does not save money, it pushes people with disabilities into debt, into loans, into financial holes they may never climb out of. Some are spending their days in local libraries just to stay warm. What kind of way is that for this Government to treat people? I am asking that it does the right thing and supports this motion. People with disabilities deserve dignity, not delay; and certainty, not excuses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis na Daonlathaithe S\u00f3isialta as an r\u00fan r\u00edth\u00e1bhachtach seo a chur os \u00e1r gcomhair ar maidin. It is only a couple of months since Sinn F\u00e9in brought a similar motion before the D\u00e1il and it speaks volumes that we are back again so soon. It speaks to the tireless work of disability advocates and the dire conditions and desperation people with disabilities are living with.  There is no two ways about it; people with disabilities were the biggest losers in budget 2026. Our most vulnerable lost \u20ac1,400 of their income while big developers won to the tune of many millions of euro. This is indefensible. Once again, people with disabilities were the sacrificial lambs and the last to benefit from our ballooning national wealth. That \u20ac1,400 was precious to households that were already more likely to be fighting poverty before their household income was slashed by this Government in September. Dozens of constituents of mine across Kildare South have been in touch with me sharing their stories. Clare, in Kildare town, is having to choose between heating her home and charging her medical devices. Paul has ended his own physio to fund his son through college and Anne, in Rathangan, is missing routine appointments which she used to attend by taxi so she can afford her weekly shopping.  The Government responded to calls for an emergency winter payment by saying it will take care of them next year, basically telling disabled households to put up and shut up and demonstrating how this Government is completely out of touch with how poverty affects people. The disabled community are telling us loud and clear that they cannot wait. People are experiencing acute hardship now. This will continue if we do not take action. The community has no faith left in this Government after the callous hand dealt out to them in October. It is not too late to make this right. I call on the Government to support this motion and introduce a \u20ac400 emergency payment. This is not a luxury; it is a necessity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere)  I thank the Deputy. I will move on to the next speaker for the Labour Party, Deputy Mark Wall. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach. I will move our amendment, if that is in order. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere)  The Deputy cannot do so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I will not move it then.  As Labour Party spokesman on social protection and disability, I welcome the opportunity to speak on this very important motion. I sincerely thank colleagues in the Social Democrats for bringing forward this motion. It is very timely given the cold and unpredictable weather we have been experiencing over the past number of weeks.  The Labour Party has an amendment to this motion to ensure all disabled citizens are captured within the motion. I welcome the spirit of this motion, and our amendment would ensure that all disabled citizens were included. The Labour Party amendment would extend the emergency payment to older people with a disability in receipt of a State pension. This amendment would also ensure that any future cost-of-disability payment supports for older people whose disability ceases to be recognised on the current social protection system once they begin to receive a State pension after moving from one of the listed disability payments. Our amendment also seeks to substantially increase the income disregard for the disability allowance and the blind pension in recognition of the higher costs of living and the 25% increase in the national minimum wage since it was last increased to only \u20ac165 in 2022.  I have continually raised the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and its impact on people with disabilities. The Cost of Disability in Ireland report from Indecon shows that people with a disability face extra cost from \u20ac9,000 to over \u20ac12,000 a year. These costs are quickly absorbed by inadequate social welfare payments like the disability allowance.  I am very disappointed by the lack of progress this Government has made in progressing a cost-of-disability payment. It cannot continue to put this on the long finger. Disabled people are having to make very tough choices such as whether they can turn on the heating or have something to eat.  Budget 2026 marked a decline in the standard of living for many disabled people. The past number of budgets provided access to the disability support grant, a once off cost-of-disability payment that Government paid three years in a row. However, the cost of disability is not a once off. The failure to continue this payment, even on a temporary basis while a new payments was designed, has left disabled people losing nearly \u20ac1,400 a year. Given the Minister's update this morning on the disability support grant, why did the Government choose to get rid of these short-term payments in the absence of this new payment and it coming into force? Nobody has that type of money lying around. For some households, it is the difference of being above the poverty line and whether the Government likes it or not, that is a fact.  I have counted at least eight programme for Government commitments to addressing the cost of disability, including a new payment and extending free travel to children who receive the domiciliary care allowance. However, the Government has not yet addressed a single one of these commitments. What it has done is continually increased costs faced by these households.  The Government favoured a VAT cut rate of nearly \u20ac700 million for fast-food chains that were already making millions of euro in profits while disabled people and their families can barely afford to keep the lights on. This VAT rate cut could have funded the new cost-of-disability payment starting at \u20ac25 per week with money still left over to do more for these households. To add insult to injury, the Government provided a tax cut to developers amounting to over \u20ac500 million. This is the money that could have been used to increase the income disregard for the disability allowance to \u20ac250, increase the funding for the employability and workability programmes to support people with disabilities in the work place, and provide 1,000 extra places on the wage subsidy scheme, restoring the link to 70% of the national minimum wage and introduce reforms to improve the scheme. Implementing these measures would have still leftover finance to provide even more supports for people, like increasing the income threshold for the medical card or cutting public hospital parking charges in half for those who need them most.  I want to address the Minister's speech. The Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach and the Minister will not be surprised that I will bring up the community welfare service once again. I heard the Minister speaking this morning on the heating supplement that the community welfare service administers, and he said he would share details with all the Members of this House. Does this Government, the Minister and everybody here not realise the problems that so many people have contacting their community welfare officer? Does the Minister not know the problems those with a disability have in filling out such forms and getting bank statement after bank statement for a system that, I will say again, has lost its personal touch and has become centralised?  As part of this motion from the Social Democrats, I am asking the Government to give a commitment that the heating supplement will be properly advertised. As somebody who has worked in local government and at national level for almost 25 years, it beggars belief that there is a payment that so many people know so little about. Will the Government make it easier to apply for that payment and will this payment be judged sympathetically by the community welfare service? Will the need for form after form for such a payment be reduced? At the end of the day, this heating supplement could actually make a difference and is part of what this motion calls for today. It could make a difference as to whether a person turns on their heating or not. It could make a difference to the quality of life for so many disabled people.  The Minister mentioned that 692 people are in receipt of the heating supplement yet he also mentioned 231,000 people are in receipt of disability allowance and 170,000 people are in receipt of carers allowance. That is 692 people versus 231,000 and 170,000 people. The Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach must get my drift that if the Government is serious about helping people with disabilities, it now has an outcome and needs to share, advertise and allow people get the heating supplement urgently so those with disabilities can have a quality of life and not just the 692 people for whom I am sure it is very welcome.  I ask the Minister of State to bring this message back to the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and to ask the Government to make a difference. The heating supplement will make a difference if it is offered to those who need it the most. Like other colleagues, in my office in Kildare South \u2013 I am sure it is the same for the Minister of State in his office \u2013 I receive calls from people on a daily basis who tell me that they simply cannot turn on their heating. What is proposed here is a solution that the Government could introduce straight away.  I will conclude with a few lines from a constituent whose story I shared previously in this House and with whom I have been in regular contact in the meantime. What I am about to read into the record accurately sums up what the disabled community thinks of the Government\u2019s actions. The person in question wrote:  I do not believe that they will put finance into services that matter most, even those that people will benefit from. It is just words to distract the public and kick the can down the road.  That is the type of sentiment I get day in, day out in my office. Why are people with disabilities always the ones who have to fight? Disabled people state that they need more than words; they need action. I have given the Government an action it could take. A total of 692 people are in receipt of the grant in question, but almost 500,000 people may need it. That is the action that needs to be taken. As we always say in this House, action speaks louder than words.  Disabled people are tired. That is the sentiment I am getting from them. They are tired of fighting for their children and for themselves. The Government\u2019s inaction has forced that tiredness upon them. They need to see action now, and they need payment. I welcome the fact that the Social Democrats tabled this motion. We support it, but we have tabled an amendment to it. We ask that the Government withdraws its amendment and supports those with disabilities once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  \u201cMy life is a balance between heating my home or feeding my children\u201d. That is not exaggeration or scaremongering. Rather, those are the precise words - I took them down when she spoke at the briefing in the audiovisual room - of a disabled woman who is facing the impact of these horrific and cruel cuts from the Government. To attempt to shame the Opposition for speaking this truth and reflecting this reality and say that we are scaremongering in some way is very poor form on the part of the Government. This is the life people are living.  I thank the Social Democrats for bringing forward this important motion. I do not thank the Government for bringing forward its shameful countermotion. The Government likes to talk a lot about targeting supports. That is its big talking point on this issue. It is targeting all right. Incredibly, the Government, during a time when it has a significant budget surplus, has targeted disabled people. There is no question about that. It has targeted disabled people for particularly cruel cuts.  We know that, incredibly, the budget made almost everyone worse off. People who do not own big fast food restaurants, who have not developed a bunch of apartments or who are not big landlords have basically been made them worse off. The budget made the poorest even more worse off, and it made disabled people the worst off. It has been said again and again but cannot be said enough that the disabled support grant has been cut by \u20ac400, that the living alone allowance lump sum of \u20ac200 is being cut, that the fuel allowance is being reduced for disabled people with a net loss of \u20ac160 and that the October double payment of \u20ac254 and the electricity credits of \u20ac250 have been cut. The total value of cuts for disabled people is \u20ac1,404. That is utterly shameful.  It is worth noting \u2013 I always try to make this point when we are talking about this issue \u2013 that in the context the same budget in which the Government took such a cruel approach to disabled people, Google walked in the front door of the Department of Finance and had a meeting with the Minister for Finance in which it asked that the research and development tax credit be increased by 5%, from 30% to 35%. What did the Government say? It said, \u201cYes, no problem. There you go. Here is \u20ac300 million\u201d. That is public money going to Google when it would cost less than that to implement what is being asked for here, namely an emergency winter disability payment for those people who have been affected by these awful cuts.  We know - the Government knows too - that the cost of having a disability in this country in 2021 was over \u20ac10,000. Today, it is around \u20ac15,000. While the official at risk of poverty rate is 32.5%, when the cost of disability is added, the risk of poverty increases to between 65% and 76%. We know that 39% of those who are unable to work due to disability are living in enforced deprivation, which is quite grinding poverty. We know we have the worst rates of employment of disabled people of any country in the European Union.  It is excellent and inspiring to see the Disability Federation of Ireland, the Irish Wheelchair Association and Access for All Ireland working together to put this issue on the agenda and put pressure on the Government. On 9 December, despite a storm, they were outside the D\u00e1il to protest the Government\u2019s cuts. They said then that the Government is forcing them into a choice between heating and eating. They warned that people could be in an absolutely desperate situation and could die as a consequence. Did the Government listen? No. That is why we need to build this movement even further. Disabled people need to be at the centre of that movement, fighting for an affordable Ireland. We need to be on the streets, supporting disabled people and demanding budget measures that do not enrich the already rich and big corporations but, rather, give ordinary people a break.  The very minimum of what is needed is to say to the Government to stop its attacks on disabled people and stop forcing disabled people even deeper into poverty. The Government must give an emergency winter payment to combat the hardship disabled people are facing today. After that, we must implement a permanent and decent cost-of-disability support payment, as we have included in our budgets for multiple years in a row. The people cannot wait. That is what the Government is saying to them, however. It tells them to wait until the next budget and not to worry because it will deal with it then. They cannot wait because the cuts have been implemented now and the cost-of-living crisis is now. They need support right now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  It is despicable that people with disabilities lost \u20ac1,400 in the budget. To hit the most vulnerable in that way while giving massive additional handouts to some of the most profitable companies in the world in the form research and development tax credits says everything people need to know about the priorities of Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and their supposedly Independent allies.  The disability community is very angry. It will take to the streets in a demonstration on 28 February co-organised by the Cost of Living Coalition, with which many of the Opposition parties are involved, and trade unions, unemployed organisations and a range of civil society organisations. I urge people who are rightly furious about what has been done by this Government to people with disabilities to get out onto the streets in large numbers in order to mobilise and demand.  What we are discussing reflects what the disability community is fighting for. I commend the Social Democrats on putting the motion forward. I am sure the Social Democrats would be the first to acknowledge that the motion contains the demands being made by the disability community. It is demanding these things and it is very angry. I wish to convey that to the Government, which is will be facing a storm if it does not meet those demands. The disability community has insisted that there be a protest. It is not that we are suggesting a protest. Rather, the community is demanding one. It is going to mobilise, and I hope there will be a massive protest to send a message to this Government that disabled people want the emergency payment of \u20ac400. It is absolute pittance compared with what the Government has given to developers and big, obscenely profitable multinationals. The cost-of-disability payment is something for which we in People Before Profit have been advocating for many years. That is in recognition of the enormous additional costs of disability. They are also evidenced based. People with disabilities are not making this up.  I credit my colleague in Sinn F\u00e9in Deputy Louise O\u2019Reilly, who she pointed out to me that the Minister stated that the Opposition should be careful about using inflammatory suggestions to the effect that there is a trade-off between heating and eating.  What flipping planet is the Minister living on that he would say that. It is absolutely outrageous. Does he know that about 500,000 households are suffering from energy poverty and that people with disabilities suffer disproportionately as a result of the things to which I refer? This is not rhetoric from the Opposition; these are evidence-based assertions regarding the facts. Any TD who is in touch with people in their area and who talks to people with disabilities knows that people on lower incomes and those with disabilities, with all the additional costs they have, amounting to between \u20ac12,000 and \u20ac15,000 a year, are disproportionately hit by energy poverty. It is a very real choice for people with disabilities to have to make the decision to turn off the heating. If they do not do so, they will not have enough to pay for groceries or pay their bills. What the Minister said was just extraordinary.  The Government should do the right thing, reverse the disgraceful attacks on the incomes of those with disabilities that the it instigated in the budget and, finally, recognise the right of people with disabilities to real equality. Real equality means giving them a cost-of-disability payment to allow them to participate equally in our society. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Last year, I had Maurice Noonan and Eilish Sheehy up from Limerick. Both are wheelchair users. They were looking for the simplest of things, namely access to buildings in order that they can have a normal life. Both of these people work. When we look at the measures taken in the budget, we can see that: the disability support grant was removed, resulting in a loss of \u20ac400; the living alone allowance was removed, resulting in a loss of \u20ac200; the fuel allowance was reduced to \u20ac160; the October double payment was removed, resulting in a loss of \u20ac254; and electricity credit was removed, resulting in a \u20ac250 loss. The total amount of those losses is \u20ac1,404. This is outside of the impact of cost-of-living increases. The loss in question affects for people with disabilities who work and those who do not work. The Government reduced the USC but never changed the tax base. This means that people who are working are paying more tax. That is for everyone, whether they have a disability or not. People are paying more tax at a time when there are overruns in the HSE and in the various Departments. There are billions of euro in overruns, but the Government cannot provide for those who are the most vulnerable.  The people I know who have disabilities, whether they are working or not, want to be looked at as ordinary people, but they also want equality from a work perspective and from a quality of life perspective. This means that if they go out, they want equality. Yet, the Government has done what I have just outlined. This is not what Irish people were ever about. We look after everyone, but we are not looking after people with disabilities or the elderly. All the things that we have worked for all our lives have been ignored by the Government. I put it to the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, that we need to make sure this is addressed, and quickly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I thank the Social Democrats for tabling the motion. We fully support it. People with disabilities face extra costs every day. These are costs they cannot avoid. When winter hits, the pressure becomes even greater, especially with heating and energy bills rising again. Right now, households across the country are under serious strain. Energy costs are still one of the biggest drivers of hardship. For disabled people, those costs do not just stay the same when prices go up; they get worse. The supports they rely on do not stretch far enough and the bills keep climbing. That is why we support what the motion is seeking, namely targeted and practical help that people can feel the impact of straight away.  A once-off winter payment would be direct and focused and would go to people who are carrying unavoidable extra burdens. The Government keeps saying it wants to target the resources. Here is a clear opportunity to do exactly that . It should not stop at one payment. We need to move away from those ad hoc crisis-driven reactions and finally put in place a proper permanent support framework that reflects the real documented cost of living with a disability in this country. If the Government will not back a once-off payment now, at the very least it should publish a clear timeline for permanent measures. People do not need headlines about proposals; they need a date, decisions and delivery. This is not an abstract policy debate. Across Cork, Limerick, Galway and Roscommon, families are asking the same questions: \"Where is the support coming from and when is it coming?\". We will back any measures that ease pressures this winter and we will keep pushing for permanent solutions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  We have all seen both the impact of the cost-of-living crisis and the increase in the cost of living. When we go to the fuel tank at home or the petrol pump or when we go to Dunnes or SuperValu, we are seeing it. It is doubly affecting those people who are the most forgotten and most vulnerable in our society, namely those with a disability or an invalidity. The people who are choosing between heating and eating have been described as being obliged to decide whether to pay their fuel bills. I had a carer on the phone to me the other day. She stated that she visits a gentleman and that he is wrapped up in six blankets and has one bar of the fire on because he is afraid to turn on his heating. He is afraid of the postman delivering the next bill that will come in from the ESB or Bord G\u00e1is. This is how difficult it is for people. The Minister of State has a Government report which tells us that the cost of living for people with disabilities is higher than average. They are obliged to meet additional costs of between \u20ac8,700 and \u20ac12,000. If we take into account index-linking, then it is probably \u20ac10,000 to \u20ac15,000, particularly in view of the costs people currently face.  Deputy Collins is right that while once-off solutions are great - and it is great to get headlines - we have to start index-linking support for people with disabilities, both young and old, for the most vulnerable and for the forgotten people of this country, including the elderly and widows and widowers. This is not an elderly thing; it is about people who have either an invalidity or a disability. Those who are rearing families are finding it very difficult, and the Minister of State is not listening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I support the motion. Those with disabilities are the most vulnerable people in our society. That is a fact. Right across Mayo and the rest of Ireland, there are people with disabilities who are struggling. In many cases, they are struggling physically. They are struggling to overcome all of the barriers they encounter in daily life. Now, increasingly, they are struggling with an enormous burden financially as well. The financial burden on so many vulnerable people is incredible. The Indecon report of 2021 outlined that the cost of disability, which is the additional cost for a person, is \u20ac12,000 annually. When indexed against inflation, the amount involved rises to \u20ac15,000. Despite that and, what the Government said during the general election campaign to the effect that it was going to prioritise those with disabilities - it is even in the programme for Government - what has actually happened is that supports for people with disabilities have been cut by up to \u20ac1,400. People with disabilities are significantly less well off this year than they were last year, despite all the rhetoric. That is why I am so disappointed.  The motion before us, which is a good one, will provide practical support for people with disabilities. It offers, perhaps, a very small glimmer of hope during this very difficult winter for those individuals. The Government, however, has completely erased the motion. That is extraordinary. When they reflect on their political careers, will the Minister of State and the members of the Government be able to say that they supported the most vulnerable in our society, the people who could not necessarily always advocate for themselves or those who are struggling at home? The motion would offer people practical support in terms of a payment this winter and a recognition of the fact that there is a cost of disability, that this cost should be recognised by the State and that support should be available to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  With one in five disabled people living in consistent poverty, which is almost four times the national average, and with about two in five experiencing enforced deprivation, this cold and constantly wet winter paints nothing but a picture of cold homes, skipped meals and lives lived in constant financial battles for the people who are least well positioned to fight those battles.  We know the need for a cost-of-disability payment was identified over 20 years ago, in 2004, reaffirmed in the Indecon report in 2021 and promised again in the current programme for Government, but there is still no permanent disability payment, no delivery and no timeline. People have been left in the lurch waiting. Everyone's costs have risen but their costs, in particular, have risen and their incomes are falling. The Government's own research shows that the extra cost of living with disability can reach almost \u20ac15,000 a year when indexed link to inflation, yet instead of easing that burden, budget 2026 cut disabled people's incomes by an estimated \u20ac1,400. The \u20ac400 emergency winter payment being called for today would provide some immediate relief to those who need it most, the people who are disproportionately affected by high energy bills, food price inflation and housing costs because they spend more time at home and face unavoidable disability-related expenses.  If the Government wants to do what it says about targeting resources where they are needed, this is one place to start. It is exactly that and it would cost \u20ac124 million, which is half the amount of money wasted on the budget giveaway to developers for apartments that are already built. It is unfortunate that we need to deliver this emergency assistance that disabled people urgently deserve now. I urge the Government to allocate this payment on a once-off basis pending the introduction of a permanent needs-based allowance. We have to take a holistic view of people with disabilities regarding job opportunities, how incomes can be increased and how costs can be cut overall. Above all, we need a regular income that reflects the additional cost for disabled people and this once-off payment has to come in this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  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 since Bord na M\u00f3na closed down, the cost of electricity has gone up day by day. The regulator is not doing his job. Different energy companies are putting up electricity prices at different rates, and we cannot understand that. At one time, as the others were putting them up, one company actually put them down. I cannot understand what is going on there and I do not think the Government understands either. The regulator needs to be more prominent and active. I know what it means to have a disability as my grandfather spent 29 years in a wheelchair. I remember him, from when I was a young fellow, and how hard it was for him to manage at that time. I understand that it is harder for people with a disability to live compared to people who are mobile and do not have a disability.  I often see how Kerry County Council revamps some of its social housing. It puts in heat pumps and then we see the exorbitant bills that people get for electricity. I do not know why this is happening. It is supposed to be cost-effective but it is a fact that people get exorbitant bills and get into serious trouble. People whose houses were redone late last year already have savage bills.  I know that every one of us has different priorities. We saw yesterday evening that Ireland is contributing to a \u20ac90 billion loan to Ukraine to help it with its energy. We must look after our own people at home first and foremost. People in Ireland are our priority. The cost of living is going up every day in one way or another.  People living on their own are really struggling and they have to get different payments to try to help them along and help from organisations like the Society of St. Vincent de Paul. But for these organisations, some of these people would not manage at all. We need to do more for our people with disabilities. Many of them are afraid to even light the fire because they are so frightened about this. They are upset with this worry about climate change. They feel guilty if they light the fire and many of them do not have the fire to light. People in social homes that been revamped and fitted with heat pumps are getting savage bills.  The Minister must go after the regulator and give people confidence. They do not have confidence in what the regulator has been doing. We need to bring down the cost of the electricity. I do not believe it is fair that it has risen day by day with no checks on how it is going to be managed or curtailed. The regulator is simply not doing his job.  I appeal to the Minister to do something for people with disabilities, especially those living on their own who are finding it difficult to survive. The word is that Exchequer funding and taxes are up, so I am appealing to the Minister to do something for these people who genuinely need a bit of help and are waiting for it. They are depending us to ensure that they get something. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney)  I thank all the Deputies for their contributions to this debate. While the Government has opposed this motion and tabled an amendment to it, that does not mean that we do not recognise the difficulties and additional costs that disabled people face. We are very aware of those costs. Our determination to assist people with those costs is reflected in the improvements we have made to disability support schemes in recent years and our commitments to further improvements.  We are committed to introducing an annual cost-of-disability support payment. We will do this over the lifetime of this Government. Through the strategic focus network summit, we will work with disabled people, their advocates and representatives in developing a way forward. I am pleased to say that this work is progressing. As the Minister clearly stated in his opening remarks, he will bring forward proposals in the first half of this year on the cost of disability. It is a priority for budget 2027. It is important to emphasise that the Government remains committed to continuing its long-standing practice of consultation and close engagement with stakeholders and disability representative groups. It is important to stress again that nobody in Ireland needs to go without food or heating for financial reasons. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  People are. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  The Department's community welfare system is available to provide financial support for these essentials. The additional needs payment and the heat supplement exist for precisely that purpose. As a TD, I am acutely aware of that. People are getting support that way. We have to be very careful not to frighten people by putting out messages about people having to choose between food or heating their homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  That is what they have to do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  Supports are in place for the people who need them. It is up to us as public representatives to direct people to those supports when we know they are struggling. Opposition Deputies had their chance to speak. It is called respect and democracy.  The Minister spoke about the Government's commitment to introducing the annual cost-of-disability support scheme. This is incredibly important but is just one piece in the jigsaw. The programme for Government and the national human rights strategy for disabled people include a whole range of commitments for disabled people. We have committed to reforming the disability allowance payment and removing anomalies in the current means test for that payment. The Department of Social Protection is conducting a review of means testing generally across the schemes, as has been requested in the House.  We will be guided by the outcome of that review.  We are committed to progressively increasing weekly disability payments. We have been doing this, including in the recent budget in which we increased the personal rates for qualified adults and child support payments. To ensure that ongoing medical assessments are not carried out in respect of people with lifelong conditions that are not going to change, we will examine the ability to work criteria for certain payments.  The issues faced by disabled people cut across government, not just one Department. That is why the national human rights strategy for disabled people is a key focus. It adopts a whole-of-government approach, with individual Departments and State agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit under five key pillars, including employment.  We all know that many disabled people face barriers in the workplace and when looking for employment. We want to address those barriers. The Department of Social Protection, through its nationwide network of Intreo centres, provides employment services for jobseekers. In line with the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, these mainstream services are available to disabled people.  More tailored supports are also offered, in particular, EmployAbility offers specialised employment services to people with disabilities. It can help people find work through the job matching services and offer ongoing in-work support to employees and employers. There is a now a designated disability employment personnel officer in 62 Intreo offices. We are promoting training initiatives to raise awareness and understanding of disabilities among Intreo staff generally.  In July 2022, the Department launched the early engagement scheme. This scheme proactively invites people to talk about their employment ambitions with Intreo staff and then helps them achieve their goals through the Department's employment training support. Taking part is voluntary.  In December 2023, a new employment programme under the new European Social Fund Plus funding was announced. WorkAbility: Inclusive Pathways to Employment Programme aims to support about 13,000 disabled people progress their training and employment ambitions through 57 local, regional and national organisations. The programme runs from January 2024 to December 2028 and the experience to date has been very positive.  Funding is also provided for GetAHEAD and the Willing Able Mentoring programmes to help people with disabilities transition from education to work. GetAHEAD works to upskill graduates with disabilities, with information sessions and training events. Willing Able Mentoring provides mentored and paid work placements for graduates with disabilities. The Minister, Deputy Calleary, has committed to expanding and building on successful programmes, such as WorkAbility, EmployAbility and the new work and access programme, to support people with disabilities into employment.  Budget 2026 provided for an expansion of the wage subsidy scheme and an increase in the payment rates. These positive measures build on the other recent improvements to the schemes, such as the reduction in the number of hours, from 21 to 15, for work.  There are already arrangements in place whereby when a former disability allowance customer's employment ceases or their hours are significantly reduced within 12 months of the termination of their disability allowance, it is open to that person to contact the Department to have their payment reinstated without the need to make a new application. These requests are read within 48 hours of receipt and are fast-tracked back into payment from there. We are committed to further improving the position in this regard.  We are also extending the back to work family dividend to people with children who are moving off disability allowance or the blind pension and into employment. This will ease the transition over a two-year period. We also work with employers and across government to improve employment for disabled people.  Secondary benefits are of great support in assisting people with additional costs. The Government is focused on heating costs today. Budget 2026 increased the rate of fuel allowance by \u20ac5 per week. This will provide an additional \u20ac140 to people during the annual fuel season.  Fear of losing secondary benefits can also be a very significant concern for people when they are considering taking up or increasing their employment. That is why it is very important for us to introduce measures whereby recipients of disability allowance or blind pension will be able to retain their fuel allowance payment for up to five years after moving into employment.  There are already arrangements in place for the retention of certain secondary benefits when a person comes off a disability payment and into employment. A person can retain eligibility for the free travel scheme for five years if they move into work from disability payments such as the disability allowance, the invalidity pension, the partial capacity benefit and the disablement benefit along with incapacity supplements. In addition, a person who is receipt of certain social welfare payments, such as the disability allowance, for 12 consecutive months may retain their medical card for three years after moving into employment.  In the work we are doing now on the cost of disability, it is important to remember that we are building on the supports already available and the improvements that have been made, particularly in recent years.  I will make a comment on what I heard in the Chamber. People are calling for permanent solutions to this problem and that is what we are all about. One-off payments are fine, but they give no certainty for the future for people with disabilities. We need to have long-term benefits.  The Minister for Social Protection and all of us in government remain committed to continuing the range of supports available to disabled people under review to ensure they are meeting our objective of improving outcomes for disabled people, their families and their communities. I thank the Deputies who brought forward this motion and all the Deputies who contributed to the debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I thank everyone who contributed to the discussion and my colleagues, Deputies Quaide and Hayes, for bringing forward the motion and all the work they did on it.  I first want to address the very serious comments made by the Minister, Deputy Calleary, earlier on. He said he did not want a misleading or dangerous message going out that people must choose between food and heating. These comments show how grossly out of touch with reality the Minister is. It is very disturbing that he does not realise what is actually going on. Indeed, the comments he made afterwards that he is going to get his Department to get onto the disability organisations that are talking about the reality faced by disabled people to try to get them to change what they are saying is----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I did not say that. I said we would provide the information on the supports that are available. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  If there is any implication of getting onto them to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  There is no such implication. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I am glad the Minister clarified that. However, his comments are nonetheless very disturbing. They do not show a knowledge of the realities that are faced by disabled people due to the Government's decision to cut the incomes of disabled people by \u20ac1,400 in the budget. That is an absolutely unforgivable decision on any scale and is utterly unnecessary at a time when we have a budget surplus running into billions of euro. It was a cruel and heartless decision.  I have a question for every Government Minister and backbench TD. When they got involved in politics and first ran for elected office, did they ever envisage a time when they would be part of a Government with billions of euro in budget surpluses that would cut the incomes of disabled people by \u20ac1,400? To be fair, I cannot imagine they ever envisaged such a situation, ever signed up for it or would have ever have supported it. Why are we now in a situation where that is exactly what is happening? They voted through a budget that cuts the income of disabled people by \u20ac1,400. When there is a modest proposal for an emergency winter payment to take some of the pain out of that, for just \u20ac400 per person, they do not support that proposal. Why are they doing this? Why will they not now make a stand in support of disabled people who do not want to be in this situation of effectively reaching out to the Government and crying out for this emergency winter payment measure? They want to be able to participate fully in Irish society, the same as anybody else. They do not want to be in this situation. It is not too late for the Government to reduce its cruel and heartless decision. I call on it do that now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I also thank my colleagues, Deputies Quaide and Hayes, for bringing this motion forward. Politics is all about choices. This Government made a choice in the budget to cut payments for people with a disability while it gave a VAT cut of \u20ac390 million to investor funds and developers.  Right now, disabled people are struggling to pay the cost of living, including the costs of heating, food, and charging mobile equipment and wheelchairs, yet the Government refuses to implement our very straightforward proposal for a \u20ac400 emergency payment. It has the budget surplus. Why will it not ensure disabled people can turn on their heat this winter without worry or fear? The Taoiseach said the emergency cost-of-disability payment was not fiscally sustainable. What is not sustainable is disabled people freezing in their homes.  This is supposed to be a republic based on equality and social justice. For disabled people and carers, this is a republic in name only. These are the most vulnerable people, yet the Government gives hundreds of millions of euro to wealthy investor funds while cutting the payments for disabled people. The Minister's statement says it all. It is absolutely disgraceful that he said we should be extremely careful about our alarmist language and should not be putting out anything that is misleading. I ask him to withdraw that. Who is doing the misleading? Is it the Irish Wheelchair Association? Today, the Irish Wheelchair Association made a very clear statement that people with disabilities are choosing between eating, heating and covering basic costs. The Minister is so disconnected. That he could make his statement shows how disconnected and out of touch the Government is. I am utterly shocked. The statement implies the Government has access to the funds to make the payments if it wanted to make them. What is happening is the Government\u2019s fault. It is gaslighting the public and disabled people, denying them their reality. It is saying they are not actually suffering from a cost-of-living crisis or facing these choices. They are facing these choices. This is their lived reality.  I am really shocked that the Minister stood up here today and made the statement about misleading and about dangerous messages to the effect that people must choose between food and heating. I am not sure the Minister actually thought through the significance of his statement. It is one of the most profoundly hurtful and disconnected statements I have heard a Minister make about people with disabilities. It implies they are essentially making up the assertion that they are choosing between eating and heating. I am shocked. I ask the Minister to withdraw his statement and apologise for making it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I thank all the Deputies who spoke in support of this motion and also those who did not speak but who I know support it. Regardless, I am very disappointed by the Government\u2019s response. I know I am not alone and that I speak for tens of thousands of disabled people when I say it is a great shame that the Government has not sought to support them adequately this winter. The Minister spoke of a supplementary welfare scheme totalling 3,000 recipients in 2025. This motion affects ten times that number, namely 310,000, so the Government should do better.  This is my first Private Members\u2019 motion in this House, having watched many others. I was not hopeful that the Government would relent on an Opposition motion. I was disappointed by its response but not surprised. It raises the question as to when the Government will respond to the urgent needs of disabled people. How many briefings for TDs must be held? How many committee rooms must be filled with ordinary people forced to ask for help? How many motions, votes or speeches are needed? What will it take to break through the callousness of a Government that would leave disabled people cold, hungry and impoverished? What should I tell them about their Government? What defence is there for neglect?  Government is not easy in any country and I do not doubt the sincerity or good intentions of anyone in this House who comes in every day to work on behalf of his or her constituents, but surely it does not sit well with anyone here, in government or opposition, that those outside this House in poverty and deprivation are reliant on the very privileged few who sit here dry and warm. There is an enormous privilege associated with debating motions like this one and voting on the laws that govern our country. There is also an enormous responsibility. Hundreds of thousands of people are struggling with the choice between heat and food, and between their children\u2019s needs and their own. I am referring to those in arrears on their electricity bills, those who scour supermarket shelves for the best deals on food, those who in record numbers have sought help from the Society of St.Vincent de Paul to meet their basic needs, and others. I am so conscious that there are too many in this country who do without and who are not given the immense privilege that I and everyone else in this House have been granted. That is frightening but it is not alarmist, dangerous or misleading, unless the Minister wants to accuse the Society of St. Vincent de Paul of being misleading. I am referring to the reality on the ground. It is the reality this Government has designed.  I find it hard to wrap my head around the fact that the Government\u2019s answer to this motion is \"No\". I ask it to consider its great privilege in holding the purse strings of this country and passing the laws that direct where they are loosened, and, perhaps, to consider that this great privilege carries a responsibility to those who are vulnerable outside this Chamber and that there is no better example of these people than those with disabilities.  Is the Government so distrustful of the Opposition that even when it tables constructive motions \u2013 motions aligned with the programme for Government, motions that are fiscally sound and motions targeted at the most vulnerable \u2013 it will not relent? Has Irish politics come to leaving disabled people impoverished, because it was not the Government\u2019s idea? What does the D\u00e1il do with that reality? What does the electorate do with that reality? Did people really vote for a Fianna F\u00e1il that leaves disabled people in poverty and cuts their incomes? Is that really the character of our country? Somehow, knowing many voters, I think not. I think I know the great character of the great people of this country and think they would be ashamed of how the Government will vote tonight. The Government should be ashamed too. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Marie Sherlock)  In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is deferred until the weekly division time this evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 11.57 a.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar mhe\u00e1n lae. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 11.57 a.m. and resumed at 12 noon. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Emergency Winter Payment for Disabled People: Motion [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":127,"speakerCount":17},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Brady","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Yesterday, everyone here in the D\u00e1il expressed sympathies on the horrific and senseless death of Grace Lynch. I raised with the Taoiseach his Government's persistent failure to keep communities safe. So many communities across the city of Dublin and the country are tormented by persistent antisocial behaviour by those who feel they can do whatever they want whenever they want and who intimidate and harass people every single day. Ask people from these communities and they will tell you that they simply do not have enough garda\u00ed in their communities, on their streets and walking the beat. There are not enough garda\u00ed to provide a strong, consistent, visible deterrent and a quick policing response to those who are quite literally terrifying communities 24-7.  Last night, I was at a meeting in my own constituency in the north inner city with residents of Blessington Street square and the surrounding areas. The Garda was there, as was Dublin City Council. This is a community of the finest people you could ever meet. They really look out for each other, care about their neighbourhood and want it to be a safe place to live but that is not the case. Last night's meeting was called because these people's lives are being made a misery. Every day, they are faced with open drug dealing and drug taking in front of their homes and constant low-level criminality and antisocial behaviour. It is not just people's homes. Local businesses are also under huge pressure just to stay open. There is a persistent atmosphere of intimidation and danger. This community has been robbed of its right to safety.  The single biggest ask last night was for more garda\u00ed on the street in the community. Garda\u00ed in the area, by the way, are doing their very best but we simply do not have enough of them. The result is that those engaged in antisocial and criminal behaviour, drug dealing and drug taking have free rein to do whatever they want. This is not the experience of just one community, although they are having a particularly hard time of it. This scourge of antisocial behaviour and the lack of garda\u00ed to respond is something that communities everywhere will know all too well.  At this time, when communities are crying out for stronger, more visible policing, it is frankly unbelievable to me that garda\u00ed who will be graduating next week will be prevented from starting their work. Why? Their Garda vetting has not been completed. My understanding is that up to 20 garda\u00ed from the class graduating next week will be prevented from getting onto the streets because of this problem - that is, garda\u00ed who are trained, qualified and ready to go, stopped from getting to work because the vetting process is not fit for purpose. You could not make this up.  The Garda vetting review was set up four years ago. It submitted its recommendations to the Minister for justice and, even though the Minister accepts there is a problem, he has failed to solve it. How many newly graduating garda\u00ed will be prevented from starting work because their Garda vetting is incomplete? My information is that it is up to 20 from next week's graduating class. Can the Taoiseach tell me if there are more? Can he explain to every community crying out for greater Garda visibility----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  -----how it is that we are in this situation? Can he give an explanation of that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, the Government is absolutely clear on the need to deal robustly and very firmly with antisocial behaviour. An investigation is under way and that restricts what I could say but we are very conscious of the very grave consequences that can arise from antisocial and unacceptable behaviour by people, the degree to which communities are under pressure, and the degree of anger out there in communities at the perception or sense that certain people can ignore the law. We do need to acknowledge that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is bringing criminals to justice and to account very significantly in terms of the gangland scene in general but also in terms of many other crimes within communities.  The key issue for us in the post-Covid period has been visibility. The Government has a policy of very high visibility and the new Commissioner, Justin Kelly, is equally of that view. The position is improving significantly in terms of the numbers coming out of Templemore. I attended a graduation ceremony in Templemore just before Christmas. Huge and record numbers came out, to be followed up by even higher numbers going in. It is not true to say that people will not be able to go onto the streets straight away. I am informed by the Minister that they will. Some 170 are coming out of Templemore next week. They will be on the streets. I have seen it in different parts of the country. The idea has been to allocate significant numbers to given communities. Those coming out next week will be allocated to the communities the Deputy has referenced.  I accept the anger in such communities and it does work where you have high-visibility policing. The recruitment and retention is well under way. There is a Garda budget of about \u20ac2.74 billion in 2026. An extra 1,000 new garda\u00ed will come on stream, with a doubling of the Garda Reserve as well, to over 600. We ran two recruitment campaigns in 2025. There is a steady pipeline of new recruits. Over 11,000 applications to join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na were received last year. We had 194 garda\u00ed attested in November. In 2025, we had around 617 newly attested garda\u00ed. Some 223 trainees entered Templemore in November, which is the largest intake at Templemore since 2014. The total number of trainees to enter Templemore is close to 800, the largest since 2018.  We now have a total of 14,462 garda\u00ed across the State and we are going to continue that level and pace of recruitment on an ongoing basis and for the duration of this Government. The funding will be provided to enable that to happen. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, has already had substantial discussions with the Commissioner in regard to the allocation of those resources to improve Garda visibility across our country but particularly in areas where antisocial behaviour is strongest, and also in our city and town centres, where there has been a lot of activity around drug trafficking----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  When is the Taoiseach going to tell us about the Garda vetting? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and also in regard to theft from shops and businesses and so on. People basically want to go about their normal lives with a sense of safety and security. Greater numbers of garda\u00ed on the streets will help that. That is happening and it will continue to happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Therefore, there is no firm, robust response to anti-social behaviour. That is the stuff of fiction from the Taoiseach. There is not. Ask anybody anywhere. Ask them in Dublin's north inner city; ask them in communities across the country. This scourge goes unchallenged. Communities are telling us loudly and clearly that one of the ingredients to actually get a proper response is high visibility out on the streets and across the community but that is not happening, and it is not happening because the numbers are not there.  I asked the Taoiseach a question about Garda vetting and the fact that up to 20 in a given class of garda\u00ed will be prevented from starting their duties because of an internal Garda process. The Minister, at the committee yesterday, confirmed that was the case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I did not. That is wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I am asking the Taoiseach to be very clear and confirm for me what the numbers are. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  The Deputy is making this up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  How many garda\u00ed are prevented from graduating because of a delay in internal Garda vetting? I would like an answer to that please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy just said the Minister said something at the committee yesterday which the Minister has just very clear said he did not say at the committee yesterday. I cannot respond----- "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputies, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  It is on the record. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I cannot respond. I am not responding to assertions by the Deputy that are not soundly based. Deputy McDonald just pointed to Deputy Carthy, so she clearly did not hear the Minister saying that yesterday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  He is the Chair of the committee. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes but the Deputy said it as if she knew it - as if she had heard it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The video is there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  She said it as if she had heard it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Was the Taoiseach at the committee? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Carthy was Opposition spokesperson for defence. I know how he can exaggerate and how he can spin and he can do a lot of things like that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Was the Taoiseach at the committee himself? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Let the Taoiseach answer the question please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Brady","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Brady  Where were you? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Minister for justice has made it clear to me he did not say that yesterday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Will there be garda\u00ed not attesting next Friday? The answer is \"Yes\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  He is saying it here and I am saying it here in the House now. I am simply saying Deputy McDonald did not hear that yesterday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Are all garda\u00ed Garda vetted? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I just want to make the more fundamental point----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy is not the leader yet. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Are they Garda vetted? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I want to make the more fundamental point, if I may----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Why do you not answer the question, if you may? "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputies did not allow the response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  We did not get a response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  On the recruitment numbers, we are recruiting garda\u00ed at record numbers----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Are they vetted? "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Taoiseach, the time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Are they all vetted? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  The answer is \"No\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In Dublin city the garda\u00ed have increased significantly and people have seen that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Ivana Bacik. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You are not allowing me to answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Bacik. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  At the outset, I want to acknowledge the death of former Minister of State and Labour TD for Waterford, Brian O\u2019Shea. My condolences and those of the Labour Party are with his wife, Eileen, their family and with his community.  Let us talk about the Taoiseach\u2019s so-called reforms to the rental sector. He has billed the Residential Tenancies Board amendment Bill as a reset of rental protections but in reality, it is yet another chaotic intervention \u2013 the seventh rewrite of rental rules in a decade. That fact alone tells a story of its own because the relentless churn deepens instability, turbocharges rents and creates new legal loopholes and uncertainties. The Taoiseach is dressing deregulation up as reform but creating a system so opaque that nobody understands their rights. Nationwide rent pressure zones sound meaningful until you read the small print. Allowing landlords to reset rents to so-called market value between tenancies will rip up those vital protections altogether. Effectively, it is rewarding eviction.  The Government\u2019s plans are not completely meritless \u2013 we acknowledge that. It is positive to see six-year tenancies and restrictions on evictions by large landlords. Linking rent increases to inflation is better than the chaos renters face now. However, we can do so much more and we must do so much more for renters.  The Labour Party believes renters deserve a freeze now to give real breathing space while prices spiral. We know the modest positive gains are overwhelmed in this Bill and by Government policy by a plan that tries to fix market failure with yet more marketisation. The Taoiseach must know this will not work. His assurances collapse under your assurances collapse under scrutiny.  The proof is in the pudding and the Taoiseach\u2019s housing pudding is inedible. Take the tenant in situ scheme. This was supposed to keep renters out of homelessness when their landlord sells but last year in the face of stalling sales under tenant in situ, the Taoiseach insisted to me that the scheme was working as planned. Now, we learn that Dublin City Council purchases under the scheme have collapsed by 70%. Just 77 homes were bought in a year. Eviction notices are landing in people's postboxes with no safety net for families. \"Working as planned\" really means working for nobody. We see the same pattern in social housing. Councils are increasingly taking enforcement action against developers who are breaching their legal duty to build social and affordable homes.  The Taoiseach knows the Labour Party has proposed transforming the Land Development Agency into a State construction company to ensure the State can build directly for the benefit of everyone. The notion of such an initiative seems to incense the Taoiseach. Instead, his policy relies almost exclusively on private developers for the delivery of social homes. This has been expensive, inefficient and ignored.  When will the Taoiseach admit that his policies on housing are failing? Will he shelve these new plans for renters and bring in real protections and real commitments for state-led delivery? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First, may I extend my deepest sympathies to the family of the late Brian O\u2019Shea and to his wife, Eileen. I served with Brian in the House. He was a thorough gentleman and a wonderful parliamentarian. He was always calm and always thought of things in perspective. Ar dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a anam d\u00edlis.  I find the Deputy\u2019s presentation, if she does not mind my saying so, somewhat incoherent and a bit chaotic in the sense that one moment she uses the word \"deregulation\". I just cannot comprehend how she thinks a Bill, which will create a national rent regulation framework, is deregulation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Of private rents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  She cannot have it each and every way. We will now have national rent control over the entire country and the Deputy calls that deregulation.  We will strengthen the protection for renters through the introduction of tenancies of minimum duration, which is an effective end to no-fault eviction. We are establishing a rent price register. In fairness, the Deputy acknowledged that but at the same time she called all of that chaotic. Both cannot be correct.  The arrangements to reset the rental market rate only every six years is important. First of all, six years is a bigger protection than would have been there heretofore but, second, there has to be a balance between attracting private sector investment in addition to the enormous public sector investment in housing. The Department of Finance estimates that to get to 50,000 houses a year, we need about \u20ac20 billion in the economy allocated and spent on housing. The State will not be in a position to find \u20ac20 billion every year for the next ten years and, therefore, we do need a balance. There is no question but that this emanated from the national Housing Commission although not the specifics. The national Housing Commission was very clear. The Deputy has said this time and again that the Government ignored the housing commission. We did not, actually. We moved on the recommendations pertaining to rent. It said the present situation cannot continue. You have to give permanent clarity and a degree of certainty to the market over a significant period of time and that is what this legislation will do. The reform of the rent pressure zones was necessary and was recommended by the Housing Commission.  Real investment in dwellings for the first three quarters of 2025 were up 12.7% vis-\u00e0-vis 2024. Completions for the first three quarters of 2025 were the highest since 2008. Planning permissions are up 29% and 50% on the second quarter of 2025. That is planning permissions in the third quarter of last year. Commencements in the fourth quarter of 2025 are up 50% on the previous quarter. The housing infrastructure and investment fund has been announced and there is a further \u20ac1 billion there over the next number of years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Bacik. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The feedback from our budgetary measures is positive in terms of getting more apartments going in that particular sector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I thank the Taoiseach for his kind words about the late Brian O\u2019Shea. That is appreciated.  I did have to laugh when the Taoiseach used the word \u201cincoherent\u201d about my contribution. It is his housing policy that is incoherent. It is his measures on renters that are incoherent. Let me give him two examples. In Galway this week, with our Councillor Helen Ogbu, I heard about students renting Monday to Friday in Galway city who have to move all their possessions out of their apartments on a Friday, so that their landlord can rent out the apartment on Airbnb for the weekend. Where is the coherence in that for renters? Last night viewers of \u201cPrime Time\u201d will have been moved by the renter, Aoife McGrath, who broke down telling the story about how she had received her third no-fault eviction notice in four years and is now in her 30s desperately seeking somewhere to live.  These stories are not unique. We hear them all the time from our own constituents, from people desperately trying to find somewhere to rent. These so-called rental reforms in fact will create different classes of renters and will diminish protections for many. They lack coherence, as indeed does the Government's housing policy. When will we see real protection for renters and real delivery of homes at scale? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The case the Deputy just outlined would be covered by these regulations and she is opposing them. There is no point in raising individual cases here, with the correct empathy and so on like that, if she then proposes to oppose the very measure that would prevent three such evictions in a short number of years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  There were 5,450----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is exactly what this regulation is trying to counteract and deal with. More importantly, I take issue with the Deputy's construction company in terms of the substance behind it. Is she saying we are going to have direct labour in every local authority or direct labour by the State? Is that the model? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Fianna F\u00e1il delivered homes at scale through a State construction company. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have delivered 53,000 social houses since we came back in 2020 through local authorities and through approved housing bodies. That is a good mechanism for social housing and it is working. We need more affordable housing and we need more apartment building in addition to what we are doing on social housing. We are getting results on social housing, no question, where construction is at its highest since the 1970s. We are going to continue with that and increase it in the time ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our sympathies to the family of the late Brian O'Shea. He indeed was a gentleman.  The Government recognises the significant additional costs disabled people can face in their daily lives. Those are not my words. That is a line that the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Dara Calleary, has trotted out repeatedly since he was appointed last year. He said it again this morning, but they are only words and do not mean anything. They will not heat a single disabled person's home. The Minister said these empty words while announcing that the Government will tonight vote against the Social Democrats motion to introduce an emergency \u20ac400 winter payment for disabled people. This would be a modest first step to help disabled people get through winter until a proper cost-of-disability payment is introduced.  He then went on to say, \"I do not want a misleading and dangerous message to go out that people must choose between food and heating.\" Could this Government possibly be any more out of touch with reality? This is what Joan Carthy from the Irish Wheelchair Association said in response to the Taoiseach's comments on Leaders' Questions a couple of weeks ago:  While the Government speaks of future plans, reviews and budgets yet to come, disabled people are already living with the consequences of inaction.  The emergency winter payment campaign exists because people are being forced to choose between heating and food, cancelling essential medical appointments, and sitting in cold homes because energy costs are unaffordable. This is not hypothetical. It is happening now.  Why is the Government claiming that what disabled people are saying is dangerous and misleading? Why is it not listening to what disabled people are trying to tell it about the real challenges they face in terms of heating and the cost of living?  The emergency measure we are proposing would cost \u20ac124 million. That amounts to just 1% of the \u20ac12.4 billion surplus from last year. Taoiseach, please do not pretend that the Government cannot afford this measure and please do not pretend that disabled people are asking for something they are not asking for. Disabled people cannot live on empty platitudes coming from the Government and they cannot pay energy bills with broken promises from the Government. This is a crisis that is affecting people's health and well-being. We are talking about disabled people in one of the world's wealthiest countries, struggling to get through winter, which is shameful.  I ask the Taoiseach to explain why the Government has made huge cuts to the incomes of disabled people. Why did it make such a cruel and heartless decision? Does the Taoiseach stand over the Minister's comments from earlier? Why is the Government not supporting the modest proposal for an emergency winter payment of \u20ac400? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, the Government did discontinue the specific measures that we had introduced for the previous two years to deal with inflation across the board. It was not any one particular sector. The Deputy continually and disingenuously narrows it down and say we made cuts. We got rid of the one-off payments. They were not fiscally sustainable and they are not fiscally sustainable. That is the bottom line here and we need to be honest and real about it. I know those in opposition will not be because they will always come back and say we could provide another \u20ac100 million here or \u20ac500 million there. Having once-off payments is not a sustainable way to deal with these issues.  However, we did take measures in the budget to support people with disabilities, which the Deputy has ignored, because the budget is not just about payments in themselves. Across all five pillars of the strategy, supporting disabled people at every stage of life, we took measures. The cost of disability is one of those and we will deal with that comprehensively in the next budget. We delivered a record 20% increase in disability funding because supporting disabilities is about investment in services. It is about practical supports. It is about opportunities in education, opportunities in employment and opportunities in community participation. That investment in services is vital and needs to happen on a sustained basis, so we put it permanently into the budget - not once-off, but permanently into the budget for the long haul in respect of improving services in all those aspects of life for people with a disability.  We have to strengthen mainstream public support and measures for households impacted by disability on a sustainable basis. We increased the core rate of social welfare payments by \u20ac10, bringing personal rates to \u20ac254. We increased domiciliary care allowance by \u20ac20 monthly. We increased the earnings disregard for the carer's allowance to \u20ac1,000 per single person and \u20ac2,000 for a couple. The analysis by the ESRI and the Department of Finance confirms the positive impact of these decisions. It concludes that the at-risk-of-poverty rate across the population falls by 1.7%, with the largest reductions for older people, a fall of 6.2%, and for the population affected by disability, a fall of 3.8%. Those are not my figures; they come from the ESRI and the Department of Finance.  On the cost-of-disability payment, the Minister is consulting. He wants to do it properly and on a sustainable basis and he is working on that. This is a five-year Government. We committed to this and we are going to do it. We are going to do it in a proper structured way and not with a once-off measure or anything like that. It has to be done that way. This is not simple either and let us not pretend it is. This has to be done properly and that is what the Minister is going to do. He was referring to political commentary, not commentary from representative organisations. The Deputy should not deliberately misrepresent in that way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  There is no misrepresentation. Disabled people's organisations have been saying this. I quoted exactly what Joan Carthy from the Irish Wheelchair Association said in response to the Taoiseach's comments a couple of weeks ago. She said that disabled people are being forced to choose between heating and food. For the Government to label what disabled people are saying as misleading and dangerous is utterly unacceptable. I do not think the Taoiseach should be defending it. He should withdraw it and apologise for it.  The Taoiseach has not even once acknowledged that the budget has cut the incomes of disabled people by \u20ac1,400 and he has not once acknowledged the very real hardship that causes for disabled people. Will he acknowledge that and admit the Government got it wrong? We have not been calling for once-off measures; we have said we need permanent solutions. This emergency winter payment is because the Government did not bring in a permanent solution in the budget. Will the Taoiseach acknowledge the hardship the Government has caused? Will he admit it was wrong to cut the incomes of disabled people by \u20ac1,400? Will it now take action to restore the incomes of disabled people? It has the resources to do it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We did not cut anyone's income by \u20ac1,400. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Yes, you did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  You did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Hold on now. We brought in emergency one-off payments for two years for a whole range of sectors. The Deputy knows that well. Fine, he is in opposition and has to spin it in the way that he is spinning it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  You are in government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  What we did in the budget was to introduce record increases in investment in services for people with disabilities----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  That does not pay the bills. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  They are \u20ac1,400 worse off. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ------in education, in health and in areas like respite and residential where we have to substantially increase provision. The way to do that is to allocate funding on a sustainable and permanent basis. The additional needs payments are there and that is what the Minister is referring to as well.  They are there for people who are in difficulty in terms of heating and food. Those payments are there and 2,300 people availed of them last year. They are available to people who end up in difficulty for one reason or another. Our social protection programme is there to help people in those circumstances. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  There is a very famous poem, which I am sure the Taoiseach knows, by Pastor Martin Niem\u00f6ller, \"First They came\". It begins:  First they came for the communists  And I did not speak out  Because I was not a communist  Then it says:  I did not speak out  Because I was not a Socialist  Then it is a trade unionist, then a Jew. Of course, eventually there was nobody left to speak out. It is easily transferable to the Taoiseach's approach to the actions of the US President and the Trump regime. You could insert \"Mexicans\", \"migrants\", \"Muslims\" or \"peaceful protestors\" into any of those lines. Who must they come for before the Taoiseach will speak out? He has not spoken out about Trump's attack on Venezuela and the kidnapping of its leader or about the bombing of Iran. He still has not even ruled out going on the Board of Peace for Palestine that Trump is proposing - a disgusting collection of war criminals aiming to turn Gaza into Vegas. Where does he stand on the unleashing of ICE, operating in the US as a modern Gestapo or as modern-day slave traders? I am sorry this is causing amusement. It is actually very serious.  A new poll by Am\u00e1rach yesterday showed the Taoiseach is out of sync with the majority of the Irish population. Some 47% do not want the leader of our country to go to the White House on our national holiday and give publicity to a dangerous demagogue, colonialist, racist and sexual predator, while 35% do. The Irish public is again ahead of the political establishment. They want the Taoiseach to show a moral backbone.  St. Patrick's Day is particularly about the Irish migration experience. What an insult to celebrate it with somebody who is terrorising migrants as we speak. There are many despots in the world but I would like the Taoiseach to focus on the one he is going to greet on St. Patrick's Day. Louis XIV said \" L'\u00c9tat, c'est moi \" - \"The State is me\"; Trump is saying \" Le monde, c'est moi \" - \"The world is me\". He has to be stopped.  The Taoiseach was questioned on this last week and said, \"bread on the table\". Have he and Fine Gael led us to the point where our economic policy is so reliant on American FDI that we are in moral bankruptcy when it comes to these issues? The single biggest fear of American multinationals pulling out was the housing crisis that the Taoiseach has created - nothing else.  Has the Taoiseach seen the videos from Minnesota? People shout across the streets, \"They're coming. Stay inside.\" They whistle to defend and warn their neighbours. Children are screaming in detention camps, modern-day concentration camps for kids. There is a protest going on in one as we speak. US cities are in revolt against Trump. Which side is the Taoiseach on? Will he go and shake hands with the tyrant who is calling them domestic terrorists or will he show solidarity with the ordinary people of the US challenging this dictator? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I find the Deputy's contribution interesting----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  That is good. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----because she quotes the poem, \"First They Came.\" That is more applicable to the Maduro regime than------ "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Aw, here we go. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is. What is the \"aw\" about? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  You are not giving Maduro a bowl of shamrock. He will be on trial the day you go, actually. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  This is not a back-and-forth, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  President Trump was democratically elected by the American people in an emphatic electoral victory. The Deputy may not like that but she cannot actually dispute it. Maduro stole the election and had a regime of repression that was reprehensible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  That is not her question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am answering the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  They are executing people on the streets of Minneapolis and you are going to give him a bowl of shamrock. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Murphy, you know how this works. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  They are executing people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach will be within his rights to sit down. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It was a regime of repression and that regime came for people. It created the largest migration out of Venezuela ever in that country's history. I met with migrants from Venezuela when I was at COP. They told me in a very sad way of the demise and destruction of their country by Maduro and Ch\u00e1vez before him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  You only have another minute to talk the clock down. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  People on the other side of the House were sneaking regarders of the Maduro regime. It always strikes me as extraordinary that the main Opposition party attended his inauguration. That is the difference in the House here. Let us be under no illusions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  You are a disgrace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am. Of course I am. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  You are a disgrace. Answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Murphy, it is not your question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have compromised not one iota of our values in terms of our engagement with the United States----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  When did you speak up? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----or in terms of our position, for example, on the Middle East, where there was significant pushback. Ireland is recognised around the world as asserting its principled position. I salute what Prime Minister Carney said at Davos. It is exactly what we have been doing: application of principle and pragmatism. The principle is we believe in an international rules-based order. We have not compromised on that and will not.  When it came to Greenland, we very firmly and calmly, along with our European partners and member states - Deputy Coppinger has no time for the European Union but I will say it anyway - did not compromise our core position in terms of the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark. We did not compromise at all. That remains our position but I believe in engagement. I do not believe in the Deputy's approach that we should not engage with anybody. If I was to apply her approach, there are many people in the world we would not be engaging with. She is very selective. Her party and group has an obsession with the United States. It does not have to be President Trump; it could be President Biden or President Obama. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That has been a consistent thread in that group's presentations here for the past two decades. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Now, Deputy Coppinger. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Not just Deputy Coppinger personally but people with her and Deputy Murphy and so on like that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. Deputy Coppinger to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  \"Bread on the table\" is about workers of this country----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Taoiseach, time is up. It is Deputy Coppinger's turn to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ------who you purport to represent. You ignore the reality of the importance of that economic relationship. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  We are here to question the Taoiseach and Government. The Taoiseach is not here to question us in this slot. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Lawless  You will never be in government. You will never have to worry about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputies, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I have absolutely nothing to answer for in relation to protesting against dictators, including the Iranian dictator, against whom I have been on many protests, and including Putin - I have been outside that embassy more times than any Government members have. I do not need to be selective. The Taoiseach is selective about who is a dictator. He has imposed sanctions against Iran but nothing against Israel which has been genociding the people of Palestine for over two and a half years.  Is the Taoiseach going on the Board of Peace? Is he so craven that he has not even got the spine to clearly state he would not take any part in such a board? He has had over a week to answer that question. The reality is there is a civil war, in effect, going on in cities in the US. My faith in humanity is restored by the ordinary Americans who are rooting and standing up for their neighbours and pushing Trump back. He has had to push back. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It would be nice to have a bit of solidarity on a St. Patrick's Day from the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Could I first of all say that yesterday in the House, Government sought sanction for a loan for Ukraine? The Deputy was not there to vote but her colleagues voted against that. We support peace----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  St. Patrick's Day, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will answer now in whatever way I deem to answer----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  You are not answering the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and if you do not like it, that is your problem. The bottom line is this. The Deputy and her colleagues have been consistent on Ukraine. They will preface remarks by saying \"We're against Putin, blah, blah, blah\" but move on quickly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  You are attacking Ukrainians who live here. We are defending Ukrainians. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There are 30 million people----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Taoiseach is the one cutting them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Murphy voted against \u20ac90 billion for Ukraine that Europe wanted to give to support the ordinary people of Ukraine to weather the appalling assault by Russia. That is his position. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Murphy is out of order. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Because the Government voted down the amendments that said it could not be used for weapons. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You always find an excuse. I want to say this. In terms of our fundamental principles, we do not compromise. We have had a long historic relationship with the United States. It is family and the migratory experience. The Irish built America, along with others. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I asked about the Board of Peace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Catherine Ardagh for Other Members' Questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have made it clear with European colleagues that our main interest is in Gaza and the Middle East in terms of contributing to peace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Are you going on the Board of Peace? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. I now move to Other Members. I call Deputy Catherine Ardagh. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That will be the approach we will take. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  I want to begin by paying tribute to Grace Lynch. Grace was a strikingly beautiful young woman with her whole life ahead of her who was taken far too soon. My heart goes out to her family, particularly her mother, who is determined to ensure action follows this awful tragedy.  Nothing we in this House can say can lessen the loss, but we owe it to Grace and to communities across our city and country to ensure that this tragedy leads to meaningful and effective action.  The antisocial and dangerous use of scrambler and quad bikes is nothing new. It has been, for many years, a scourge on our communities. It is not an isolated problem; it is a daily occurrence in Dublin South-Central and in many urban areas around our country. It is an issue that has been raised in this House on numerous occasions by Members on all sides. Before the 2020 general election, we in Fianna F\u00e1il made a clear commitment that garda\u00ed would be provided with powers to seize scrambler bikes when they are used dangerously or in an antisocial manner. We followed through on that commitment and enacted the Road Traffic Act 2023 to strengthen Garda powers in this area. All legislation needs to be looked at, reviewed, amended and parts commenced. We need to go further in the context of the legislation relating to this matter. The Minister for justice has been clear in recent comments that scramblers and quad bikes are not permitted on public roads unless they meet the relevant legal requirements. It is necessary to state that position. However, the reality on the ground is that clarity is not translating into consistent enforcement.  Parts of the regulatory framework outlined in the legislation have not yet been fully commenced or operationalised in a way that gives garda\u00ed the confidence and the certainty they need. What communities see, what Garda representatives acknowledge, and what is happening on the ground is that there is uncertainty around the circumstances in which scramblers can be compulsorily seized, how ownership is established where bikes are unregistered and uninsured,and what happens to seized vehicles where no lawful ownership can be ultimately demonstrated. There is also public confusion about whether confiscated bikes are ultimately returned, retained or destroyed. That lack of clarity seriously undermines the deterrent effect the legislation in intended to have. Obviously, the tragic events in Finglas have once again shown that this behaviour is not merely antisocial; it is potentially and dangerously lethal. While garda\u00ed are doing their best within the framework currently available to them, it is clear that additional clarity, commencement and operational support are required.  Is the Government satisfied that all relevant provisions relating to the use, seizure and disposal of scramblers and quad bikes have been fully commenced? Will further legislative provisions, amendments, regulations and guidance be implemented? I request that the Government consider a 30-day amnesty and a possible refund scheme for those who own scrambler or quad bikes and surrender them and that garda\u00ed be given enhanced powers after any such amnesty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. She is correct in saying that the parents of Grace Lynch, Siobhan and Martin, have shown extraordinary courage and bravery in the context of the devastating loss of their beautiful daughter. I have spoken with them, as has the wider family. I have spoken with them.  We are very clear in respect of this matter. I have discussed it with the Ministers for justice and Transport. There will be a meeting this afternoon with the relevant officials and the Ministers to discuss the commencement of the remaining piece of the 2023 Act. I said yesterday that this should have been done; it was not. If people do not have insurance or a driving licence, they are not meant to be on the road. That requires detection. It is far simpler if scramblers are taken off the public roads and not allowed on them. The law allows for that. I consulted with the Attorney General yesterday. Despite the different discussions that are under way, the Attorney General is very clear. The 2023 Act allows for the banning of scramblers and quad bikes from public roads. I intend, with my colleagues, to proceed with that. It is going to happen.  The Minister for justice has met with the Garda Commissioner. He accepts that there needs to be an intensification of activity by the Garda in specific areas where this type of antisocial behaviour is a scourge, and particularly where scramblers are used on an ongoing basis. If any other areas are surfaced in terms of issues around confiscation or ownership, we will deal with those, preferably by means of existing legislation. If new legislation is required, however, we will bring it forward. We believe that the enforcement of existing legislation is a prerequisite and that the commencement of all aspects of existing legislation is something that should happen forthwith.  As the Deputy stated, the seizure powers were commenced. Since then, about 300 scramblers and quad bikes were seized by garda\u00ed over the past two years. Historically, scramblers were racing bikes intended to be used on courses. That is it. I have a very simplistic view about it. I know matters can get complex in terms of types of vehicles and all of that, but it makes it far easier for enforcement if it is a very straightforward law and a ban. They are not on public roads; that is it. That is what will happen and that is what we intend to do. We will keep a very close watch in order to ensure that we plug any other gaps that may emerge subsequently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  I welcome the Taoiseach's response and his clarity in relation to these bikes not being allowed on public roads. Even after this awful tragedy occurred, we still had reports to our office of scramblers out on roads in parts of Dublin South-Central. People are really keen to see action on this. Will the Taoiseach provide a timeframe as to when subsequent regulations will be enacted? Are a possible amnesty and a refund scheme things the Government might consider? If there were an amnesty, would the Government consider enhanced powers for garda\u00ed after it has taken place? These bikes are a scourge, and we do not want to see any further tragedies resulting from their use. This is something we have been shouting about in these Houses for a long time. We have acted on it, but not enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have convened a meeting for later today with the Ministers. I will have better clarity around the timeline after that, but it will not be a long timeline. The Attorney General will be at that meeting as well. This is something I want done very quickly. The parents who have lost their beautiful daughter in the most appalling of circumstances do not even have to ask for this. We want to make sure that something like this, in so far is as possible, never happens again. We can never say that with any great certainty and clarity because of the behaviour of people.  On an amnesty, we are hearing feedback about some of these scramblers. I do not want to brand everyone, but we do not want to be rewarding people who do not need to be rewarded. I will ask the relevant Ministers to examine what the Deputy is saying. We did that with knives in the past and it yielded results. We will ask the Ministers to examine that fully. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":70,"speakerCount":20},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel McCarthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Eight days on, and the Taoiseach still ignores the calls for Larry Murrin to step down from his role as chair of Bord Bia. His position is untenable. There is a massive conflict of interests with him remaining in post, particularly as his company imports Brazilian beef into the Irish market. This is totally in conflict with the role of Bord Bia, which is to promote Irish food, including Irish beef. How long will the Taoiseach keep his head buried in the sand, ignoring farming organisations, parties across the D\u00e1il and many of his own TDs? The Government appointed Mr. Murrin as chair of Bord Bia. It has the power to remove him from post. The more it dithers and delays, the more damage is done to the reputation of Bord Bia. When will the Government use the powers available to it and remove Mr. Murrin as chair of Bord Bia? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I would like the Deputy to outline the powers and the basis for what she said. I have never been one for witch hunts. Notwithstanding the issues, I just do not like them. Governments have to do things properly and have to behave properly and appropriately. In terms of individuals, I have no relationship or whatever with Mr. Murrin. However, Bord Bia has performed exceptionally well. In total, Irish beef exports to 70 countries have increased over the past five years by \u20ac890 million. That is from \u20ac2.2 billion in 2019 to \u20ac3.1 billion in 2024. That is an increase of 40% in beef exports, and we are in here looking for the head of the person who was the head of the organisation that has achieved that.  We need to have perspective in our debates. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Farmers have perspective----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I know, and farm organisations----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  -----as does everybody else. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have to run organisations properly and effectively. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We will stick to the minute for each Member. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There has to be some balance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The board met----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach's time is up. It is Deputy Ivana Bacik's time now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and it took a view. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Carers do incredible work out of love and in service to our State, but they continue to face penalties despite the invaluable work they do. I have heard heartbreaking testimony from carers across the State, overwhelmingly women, who are now living on the bread line after providing years of unpaid care. I want to raise a specific issue, namely pensions. I have heard from women carers who stepped outside the paid workforce to carry out care. They feel hoodwinked now because nobody explained to them their care-related credited contributions would not qualify for the contributory State pension. Having missed out on a salary during the period of care, they have also forfeited a pension.  There is a 2024 recommendation from the joint committee on social protection to treat all care-related credited contributions as the same value as paid contributions in the context of pension eligibility. The Minister is here with the Taoiseach. I am looking for a response, if not immediately then perhaps from the Minister in writing. I will forward the specific query, which is an important one for carers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As the Deputy knows, we have a significant set of objectives in the programme for Government that we wish to achieve. The most important of these is the removal of the income disregard and the means test. There are other measures as well. I will ask the Minister to respond to the Deputy on the specific issue she raised in respect of pension contributions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Storm Chandra brought absolute chaos to parts of Dublin, Wexford and Wicklow yesterday. Homes and businesses were destroyed and there was commuter hell for thousands of people left sitting on the M1, the M50 and the N11 for four or five hours in traffic. The reality is that these storms are going to come more often and will be more severe. We need to be better prepared.  The Minister for housing made an extraordinary accusation on Alan Corcoran's show on South East Radio this morning when he accused Met \u00c9ireann of guarding information and, essentially, withholding flood warning information about this storm event. Does the Taoiseach agree with the housing Minister that Met \u00c9ireann is guarding this information? If so, what is he going to do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I did not hear that interview. The Deputy is correct to say that the severity and frequency of these storms is going to continue. Climate change is here now. We are investing in adaptation and mitigation efforts. We are contributing financially to that. We really need a debate on flood relief schemes in the context of getting them through the system. There is enormous consultation involved. Environmental considerations have to be taken into consideration. There is an absence of balance between the----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Flood relief schemes have nothing to do with the traffic issues yesterday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  This is not a back-and-forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy raised the issue of storms. I want to make the point that we must protect life, property, businesses and the livelihoods of people. I would argue that, as a society, we have overdone it in terms of all the various consultations and so on that must take place to the detriment of getting flood relief schemes through local authorities and the planning process in a timely manner. The one in Enniscorthy was refused on the basis of the presence of the pearl mussel or whatever. That should not happen. The new legislation we are seeking to pass will deal with some of that, but it is an issue on which we need greater consensus across the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  What about Met \u00c9ireann? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The Mayor of Budapest, my Green Party colleague Gergely Kar\u00e1csony, is being prosecuted for holding a Pride parade in the city last June. As the Green Party spokesperson for foreign affairs, Councillor Janet Horner, has pointed out, Mayor Kar\u00e1csony is facing a fine this time. Will he be facing jail the next time? In June, I and Irish MEPs joined the hundreds of thousands of Hungarians in standing against the efforts of Orb\u00e1n's Government to stifle the freedom of speech that Pride represents. At what point does Orb\u00e1n pass the tipping point? At what point do we recognise that his Government has gone beyond being conservative and very right wing and has actually become an authoritarian entity that is using the law to stifle freedom of speech? Prime Minister Orb\u00e1n may well be here later this year as part of the events relating to the EU Presidency. Will the Taoiseach make his views about the value of freedom of speech, as represented by Pride, known to Mr. Orb\u00e1n if he does come here? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have made my views known to him on previous occasions. It is reprehensible behaviour. What is happening with the prosecution of the Mayor of Budapest for organising and participating in the Pride parade is unacceptable. I have made that consistently clear, both as foreign Minister and as Taoiseach, to Prime Minister Orb\u00e1n, as have others. There are fundamental issues here, as an EU member state, in terms of upholding basic values. As part of his campaign to seek re-election, Prime Minister Orb\u00e1n is attacking the European Union, seeking to undermine it, engaging in name-calling and so forth. There are serious issues that the EU will have to come to terms with at some stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  All brands of salbutamol nebulisers currently covered under the medical card scheme are out of stock nationwide due to a manufacturing problem and issues with the supply chain. Therefore, pharmacists, through no fault of their own, have to come up with alternatives, namely the prescription of an unlicensed product that is not covered by the HSE and that is not reimbursable. That probably costs about \u20ac30. I am getting dozens of calls to my office about this. When I put it up on Facebook and asked people to make contact with me, hundreds of individuals made contact with our office about other products that are not available or about substitute products that are coming in. There are products that are not available that are covered under the medical card scheme. People have to use substitute products as a result and they have to pay for them. These sometimes cost \u20ac30, \u20ac40 or \u20ac50. Can we make allowances for those people who are on the medical card such that when there is a supply deficiency and a product is not available, the cost of substitute products will be under the medical card scheme? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have to be careful about this, because there has to be some regulatory framework governing substitute products. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I agree. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is not simple. We have had experiences in the past where situations have been exploited or whatever. I will refer the matter to the Minister for Health and him to respond to the Deputy about the issue. I appreciate him raising it because obviously, it is an issue of concern to quite a number of people out there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I raise the issue of the five garda\u00ed who were acquitted in Limerick Circuit Court this week. They all deserve apologies from the Garda Commissioner, and I sincerely hope this will happen. The Garda division of Limerick encompasses quite a large area of County Clare. I have spoken on this issue many times over the years. In my opinion, this was a witch hunt that was wasteful of the time of our Judiciary and of taxpayer's money. It cost an estimated \u20ac3.5 million. It took nine years to happen. You would have been tried for murder in less time than this trial took.  The investigation and subsequent trial destroyed the careers and reputation of the five garda\u00ed involved. There is more to it, however, because a much wider net of more junior ranking garda\u00ed had their personal phones and laptops confiscated as part of this investigation. They too have endured reputational damage and seen their careers stagnate and flounder under a veil of unwarranted suspicion. Any remaining trials must be struck out.  The apologies need to come from the Commissioner. Additionally, however, the principle of discretion needs to be made very clear to all garda\u00ed. It is a central plank of the syllabus of Templemore training college. Thus, it must be a central plank of day to day policing in Ireland. We either allow it or we do not. Discretion must be central.  Can I just say----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No, the Deputy cannot. His time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  -----that we see in other jurisdictions how brutal policing can be. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy's time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  We have a very proud history of policing by consent in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Crowe is encroaching on everyone else's time. His time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  We must always protect our garda\u00ed and stand with them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate the very strong position that has been consistently articulated by Deputy Crowe in respect of this issue. It is fair to say that those garda\u00ed have been acquitted by the courts. That is an issue on which we have to reflect. I will discuss the matter with the Minister for justice and the implications of that. It seems that a review of what transpired needs to happen because it impacted Garda morale more broadly and had a significant negative impact on the careers of the five garda\u00ed and, as the Deputy stated, of others as well.  The principle of discretion is important. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has served us well. There have to be checks and balances in every system. There has to be accountability. There has to be perspective in how all of these issues are dealt with. Given what transpired, one has to question whether the principle of perspective was applied here or not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. I call Deputy Carrigy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I take on board what the Deputy is saying and I appreciate that he has been consistently and articulately advocating on this issue for a long time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Time is up. We have to stick to the time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  I speak as a member of the all-party Joint Committee on Autism. At a meeting yesterday, the autism innovation strategy, launched by the Government in August 2024, came up. As part of that strategy, in one of the points related to advocacy, understanding and acceptance, we stated we would establish an autism innovation fund. The fund is to be twofold, to provide for funding for innovative projects, initiatives and activities designed to support and empower autistic people around Ireland and, second, to support research that aims to increase our understanding of autism and autistic people. To date, to my knowledge, no procedures have been put in place and no funding has been spent in that regard. In budget 2025, \u20ac2 million was budgeted for this and nothing was spent, and \u20ac2 million has been budgeted for 2026. When will we see this money rolled out to organisations that are advocating on behalf of the autistic community throughout the country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I will have to talk to the relevant Ministers in respect of the autism innovation fund, which was recommended by the committee. I may have further discussions with the Deputy to see how best we can proceed with this and in what specific area. It has application across education, health, work and generally. Maybe it should be combined with some research and some broader analysis of the spectrum, if you like, and how best we can do better in respect of people who are on the autistic spectrum in terms of their participation in life. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  The Taoiseach says time and again that housing is the number one issue for this Government, and he accepts that there is a housing crisis. Notices to quit are on the increase in every county, including mine, Waterford. Last week, I met with three families, all of which have children, who received notices to quit. They are very worried and stressed about having to find alternative accommodation, which the Taoiseach knows is not easy. They have been getting on to letting agencies and asking me and others to support them. It is a really stressful situation.  Obviously, I contacted the local council to see what support it can give, and one of the few options was the tenant in situ scheme. The senior management in the council told me that the best way they can describe the Government's response to this issue is that it turned the funding down to a trickle. In 2023, the council was able to purchase 29 homes in Waterford under the tenant in situ scheme. In 2024, it was 39 homes, but because the Government dramatically reduced the funding last year, it was four homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  The council is telling me that this year, it still has not received its allocation. I ask the Taoiseach to look at this issue again because this scheme is one of the few supports that is available and is actually working for those families. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Actually, the Government brought in the tenant in situ scheme and provided substantial funding. In some areas - I am not saying in Waterford - the scheme broadened and was used by local authorities for investments that should never have occurred. We had cases where some local authorities were spending \u20ac50,000 to \u20ac60,000 on the refurbishment of houses. The whole purpose of the tenant in situ scheme was to stop people going into homelessness immediately, so the house was purchased. Suddenly, the fund was getting used for much broader purposes. There was a need to review it and target it at those who were in an immediate danger of homelessness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  The Government gutted it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We did not gut it because the same funding was applied, and that additional funding was applied. Some local authorities were approaching it differently - there is no question that they were - with different applications that were unnecessary in my view. It tends to happen when funding and so on gets allocated like that. There has been engagement with the local authorities and the Minister, and we have a scheme in place. It is more focused and targeted now than it was. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel McCarthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Noel McCarthy  Nearly 24 years ago, the site of the former Fitzgerald camp Army barracks in Fermoy in my constituency of Cork East was handed over to the IDA. Unfortunately, it has remained idle since, with no formal applications to operate on the site received in the last five years. This is despite the fact that this is a serviced site in a prime location only five minutes from the Cork to Dublin M8 motorway. I am sure the Taoiseach will agree that the development of such a site would be an enormous boost for the businesses in Fermoy and the wider Blackwater region. Therefore, can the Taoiseach clarify whether the IDA still considers this site strategically viable? If not, what alternatives could be considered? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I am familiar with the Fitzgerald camp barracks. I will talk to the IDA and respond to the Deputy. Personally, I think that if the IDA has purchased the site, it is potentially a site that could attract foreign direct investment, FDI, into the Fermoy and north Cork area, which is important, if that is possible. I remember people in Carlow asking me many years ago if the IDA site could be used for something else, for domestic purposes. I asked them to hold on and, thankfully, we did. Why? It is because Merck, Sharpe and Dohme came in and is now manufacturing the highest value cancer drug in the world, Keytruda, in Carlow. I know people see an empty facility or spare ground and ask whether it can be filled with all sorts of things. I will talk to the IDA to see what the potential is. I will get clarity from it and then come back to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  I want to reinforce the message from a previous speaker in relation to scrambler legislation. As the Taoiseach knows, I worked particularly hard in opposition, with his support, to draft a Bill around scrambler legislation between 2016 and 2020. In government, we introduced legislation which senior garda\u00ed in Tallaght in my constituency have described as game-changing. Because senior garda\u00ed were reluctant to engage in pursuit of people on scramblers, we asked them what laws they wanted. As far as we were concerned, we gave them the laws they were looking for, which included confiscation, as was mentioned earlier. I support a ban on scramblers on public roads, which the Taoiseach has spoken about. In my constituency, however, while they are a nuisance and a real menace on public roads, it is in public parks that they do most damage, tearing up pitches and amenity space. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that because, at the end of the day, if the Government banned them, there would still be a question of how----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. I call the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  -----to pursue them to confiscate them. That is where our laws came in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate that the Deputy has been consistently advocating for law on this issue. We passed the 2023 Act largely as a result of the Deputy's advocacy and that of Deputy McAuliffe, and, I have to say, others in the House. It seems that for about 85% of that legislation, the regulations were then formulated to commence and then there was one aspect, the banning. There is a pursuit policy. As the Deputy knows, pursuit policies have to be balanced with avoiding any further danger and loss of life. On public parks and pitches, scramblers should of course be banned. That is what I hope to deal with today in our meeting. I do not hope to do so; I will deal with it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I want to speak on behalf of the fishermen of this island who are warning that 2026 will be the worst year the sector has ever faced after drastic reductions to fish quotas and cuts to the key stocks. The industry is facing an imminent existential threat. The Government recently announced the establishment of a task force to support the industry and coastal communities. I certainly welcome that. I ask the Taoiseach that the regional inshore fisheries forums, RIFFs, are directly represented on the new fisheries seafood task force chaired my Mr. Michael Berkey. This equity is vital for all inshore fishing communities around the county. Each  RIFF member would be representing approximately 300 vessels from their local region.  I ask the Taoiseach and Minister as well that we have proper labelling for imported fish. People here think they are eating Irish fish when they are eating fish that is days old coming from all parts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is going to be a very difficult year, a difficult number of years, actually. I have met with the fishing representative bodies along with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, who have responsibility for the marine. Largely because of the research that came in terms of the stocks, which everybody generally accepts - that has always been a consistent position - there has been a 70% reduction in pelagic, which is shocking. It really will be devastating. As the Deputy said, our challenge is to establish the task force. I also hear the call of the inshore fishermen in terms of representation on that. I will talk to the Ministers in respect of that. More importantly, there will have to be a state aid programme or support programme from the Government to support fishers through this very difficult period.  It is not just the pelagic; there are significant reductions in other species as well, which makes for a very difficult scenario. Also, the European Union then has to get more robust in its engagement with Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland in terms of the overfishing of fishing stocks more generally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Is mian liom ceist a chur ar an Taoiseach maidir le rud faoina raibh m\u00e9 ag caint le duine \u00f3 mo Dh\u00e1ilcheantar i Marino, Mick Finnegan. It is to do with the Geoffrey Shannon report into historical child sexual abuse in St. John Ambulance Ireland. The survivors, including Mick Finnegan, have contacted me about not only the lack of progress but the lack of basic communication from the Department of children. Many feel they have been left out completely and some say their efforts to secure a meeting have not been acknowledged. The people who came to me and with whom I have had meetings came forward with a serious abuse issue. They have engaged with the State in process and good faith. They deserve better than silence.  Inniu, is \u00ed an cheist at\u00e1 \u00e1 cur agam ar an Taoiseach n\u00e1 cad \u00e9 at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa leis an status report anois. Is there any timeline for the report on St. John Ambulance Ireland and will any steps be taken to ensure survivors are properly informed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Beidh m\u00e9 ag labhairt leis an Aire leana\u00ed, an Teachta Norma Foley, faoin cheist seo. T\u00e1 deacrachta\u00ed ann agus n\u00edl Mick Finnegan s\u00e1sta leis an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 tar \u00e9is tarl\u00fa go dt\u00ed seo. Mar sin, beidh m\u00e9 ag labhairt leis an Aire agus, b\u2019fh\u00e9idir, d\u00e9anfar teagmh\u00e1il idir an Roinn agus na daoine a luaigh an Teachta Heneghan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  Following Storm Chandra in the past few days, many homes around the country have been destroyed. I have stood in this Chamber previously asking about flood alleviation and what will be done in terms of planning. As I told the House on those occasions, I have personal experience, with my German family, of the effects of flooding. Four years later, things are not great from a building perspective but also from an emotional and psychological perspective. Things are very difficult and that is echoed in any society where a flood has come and caused damaged.  In Dublin South-Central, Dublin City Council homes cannot be maintained because there are just not enough maintenance crews and this brings so many issues. With regard to what the Government is saying about flood planning in the future, can anything be done for councils around the country that are dealing not only with fixing the problems from the floods but also with preventing them in the future? It is about funding for councils to deal with the effect of flooding and rainfall on council housing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have allocated funding to councils. They might say otherwise but there has never been more funding allocated to councils than in the past number of years. We will continue to work with them in regard to prevention. Yes, there is an issue in terms of co-ordination and around local forecasting as opposed to the national forecast. There are issues there. To be fair, a lot of councils have improved an awful lot in terms of providing sandbags and various measures. A lot of interim prevention measures are happening now in advance of a full-scale flood relief scheme going through planning, being built and so on.  These are very serious issues. It is soul-destroying when flooding happens to people's houses or businesses. I have been in flood-affected areas and in the homes. It is utterly soul-destroying psychologically and we have to do everything we can to prevent it. That is why the planning and the progress of flood relief schemes have to happen much faster. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I raise the reinstatement of the supplementary pension for our uniformed services members. As the Taoiseach is aware, the fast-accrual nature of the pensions for our Defence Forces, fire services, garda\u00ed and prison officers was decoupled from the supplementary element during austerity. This is a financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, measure, which the Taoiseach's party made an unambiguous promise to unwind in this term. However, it did not make the programme for Government. I attended the seminar yesterday on pensions for uniformed service members, the coverage of which the Taoiseach will have seen today in the likes of The Irish Times . Aisling Buffini of Dublin Fire Brigade and many others spoke yesterday. This is having an impact on recruitment and ultimately on the retention of members of our uniformed services, who, it need hardly be said, perform such vital services in our country. Can this FEMPI measure be unwound as soon as possible? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First, very significant measures have been taken in terms of recruitment and retention in our uniformed services, with the result that we have huge volumes of applications to An Garda and other services. We have made progress in the Defence Forces in the past two to three years and we need more progress there. We have made progress on that front because of measures we have taken to enhance the conditions for people in the uniformed services. I will talk to the relevant Ministers. Pensions are always difficult and complex - there is no point in saying otherwise - but I will talk to the Department of public expenditure and other Departments in respect of the issue the Deputy has raised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I raise Uisce \u00c9ireann's connection charging policy and the fact there is no discount available for any groups of customers. The connection charging policy has been produced and approved by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, together with Irish Water and the Department. Will the Taoiseach engage with the Department, particularly in relation to community and voluntary groups, which are being charged enormous sums for a water or wastewater connection facility? For example, the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, were in Rylane in my constituency recently celebrating the turning of the sod for a new community centre there. That centre is being charged \u20ac70,000 for a wastewater and water connection, which the community will have to fund. I ask the Taoiseach to engage with the Minister, Deputy Browne, to see whether we can create a policy allowing for a discount for community groups. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is a substantial sum of money, particularly when the State, through another Department, is allocating funding to new community centres - I am not sure whether that happened in Rylane - and then it is being taken out on the other side. On the other hand, Uisce \u00c9ireann needs some sustainability in terms of funding. We need a balance and, in particular, we need to take on board the overall public good and that the provision of community-based facilities provides for the public and communities at large. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  The Taoiseach will be aware of the impact of Storm Chandra, particularly on the Wicklow-Wexford constituency. I pay tribute to the county councils, emergency crews and volunteers. In villages right across the constituency, in Woodenbridge, Laragh, Aughrim, Wicklow town, Castletown, Clohamon and Bunclody, we have seen rivers and streams burst their banks. I welcome the Government's opening of the humanitarian assistance scheme and that every support will be made available to those villages and communities.  However, one of the big problems yesterday was flooding on the N11, which led to very serious delays for commuters from Wicklow and Wexford. The rail line, which is one of the most neglected rail lines in the country, is not an alternative. Indeed, it is closed again today. I call on the Taoiseach, as I have asked for several times, that we prioritise investment in our commuter infrastructure and that a transport task force be set up for counties Wicklow and Wexford to address the problems with regard to the N11 and the Rosslare rail line. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Without question, Wicklow and Wexford were severely hit by Storm Chandra yesterday. The schemes have been opened in terms of the emergency response payment and the business and community flooding support scheme, both of which are clearly required. Other locations across the country are affected as well but, certainly, the impact of rivers in Wexford and Wicklow bursting their banks has been severe.  I was in Gorey recently with the Deputy. We met with councillors from Wicklow and Wexford and, yes, the issue came up in terms of the N11 and the whole public transport system. I certainly will talk to the relevant Ministers to see whether we can put together a group to examine that. I will also engage with Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann and others in terms of prioritisation of what is a populous area regarding investment and how we can accelerate the investment in the railway in particular. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  A number of weeks ago, I was contacted by a mother in Loughglinn whose son had an asthma attack over the Christmas period. The rapid response vehicle arrived from Roscommon town within 17 minutes and saved his life. If that call had come in on a Monday night, the rapid response vehicle would not be available because it is parked up for 12 hours. The overtime the National Ambulance Service has been paying for a number of years has been pulled and the rapid response vehicle is no longer available for the people of County Roscommon on a 24-7 basis, as it more or less has been since the closure of the Roscommon hospital emergency department in 2011. I have been raising this issue for months. I again call on the National Ambulance Service to please restore 24-7 cover for Roscommon of the rapid response vehicle, which is needed due to our distance from the nearest emergency department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising it. That seems like something that should be rectified. I will talk to the Minister and the HSE in respect of this, and to the National Ambulance Service. I appreciate she has been raising it on a consistent basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Uber and other taxi app companies have been at the transport committee this week. Across the world Uber makes enormous profits by driving down the amount given to taxi drivers and driving up the cost to passengers through add-on charges and dynamic pricing. Taxi drivers have been forced to protest about this. What they have proposed to benefit the driver, the passenger, the taxpayer and the wider public is that the NTA should have its own app so we do not have profiteering, surge pricing or attacks on the income of taxi drivers. The NTA should have a booking app that provides information on what taxis are available and transparency in terms of fares and that protects the incomes of taxi drivers to ensure we have a proper, safe, regulated, affordable, effective taxi system. Will the Taoiseach listen to the taxi drivers? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Again, I have to examine that. Obviously the NTA is the regulatory body. It is an independent transport regulator. Something like the Deputy proposes, or the taxi drivers propose, would need to be examined in the context of that legislation and whether the NTA is in a position to actually do what is being suggested. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Easy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There could be a potential conflict of interest. I have not examined it in detail. The Deputy has raised it and I will ask that the NTA engage with that to see whether it is possible for it to do that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.22 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.22 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.22 p.m. and resumed at 2.22 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Infrastructure Plan: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":71,"speakerCount":48},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Jack Chambers)  I thank Members of the House for the opportunity to provide an update on the Government\u2019s work to accelerate infrastructure delivery, and to discuss my Department\u2019s role in the management and delivery of capital projects and programmes. In particular, I will outline some of the recent and ongoing developments in my Department, as we implement the actions contained in the accelerating infrastructure action plan which the Government published in December.  As we look back on recent weeks and the rupture in the global international order, the case for fundamental reform has never been stronger. The need for high quality, modern infrastructure has never been clearer. The choices we now set in motion on infrastructure delivery will determine our economic competitiveness, our climate resilience, the protection and creation of jobs, and, ultimately, the quality of life enjoyed by people in communities across the country.  I am acutely aware of the multifaceted and interconnected challenges the Government faces in infrastructure deficits and the need to prioritise investment in major housing, water, energy and transport projects. In the programme for Government, published one year ago, we made five key commitments for infrastructure delivery. They were: to create a Cabinet committee on infrastructure to drive delivery; to undertake an early review of the national development plan; to review and reform the prioritisation of capital projects in key agencies; to broaden the remit of the National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, to provide expert advice for major infrastructure; and to create a dedicated infrastructure division in my Department, including formation of an accelerating infrastructure task force to assess the implementation of measures to accelerate infrastructure delivery.  In the past 12 months, we have delivered on each of these commitments. The Cabinet committee on infrastructure to drive delivery was established in April last year. The review of the national development plan was published in July. Sectoral plans setting out the projects and programmes to be prioritised by each Department over the next five years have been published. The NDFA is broadening its remit for the provision of expert advice on major infrastructure; and the dedicated infrastructure division in my Department was established with a new deputy secretary general appointed last December.  Moving beyond the programme for Government commitments and towards the concrete actions that will be taken over the lifetime of this Government, we published the NDP review and the report on engagement and barriers to infrastructure in July and the subsequent Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan in December. These three documents represent an unprecedented increase in investment, a realistic outline of the barriers to infrastructure delivery and a time-bound plan to remove those barriers.  The Government has set out annual sectoral allocations for 2026 to 2030, and overall Government capital expenditure ceilings to 2035, leading to a total public capital investment of \u20ac275.4 billion over the period to 2035. This includes \u20ac202.4 billion in Exchequer voted capital expenditure from 2026 to 2035. Of this, \u20ac102.4 billion is being allocated over the five-year period 2026 to 2030, which represents a 30% increase over the previously agreed capital ceilings for the same period. This is an additional \u20ac23.9 billion over and above the previous allocation and is further complemented by an investment of \u20ac10 billion in equity and fund releases, which is specifically being provided for investment to expansively improve and upgrade infrastructure mega-projects in the water, energy and transport sectors over the period to 2030.  Some \u20ac3.5 billion in equity funding was provided to ESB Networks and EirGrid in 2025 to fund enhanced energy grid capacity to support the Government's housing and competitiveness objectives. Some \u20ac2 billion in equity funding has been provided to Uisce \u00c9ireann to enable the delivery of 300,000 additional homes. A further \u20ac2.5 billion in funding is being provided to commence the greater Dublin drainage and water supply project over the period to 2030, and \u20ac2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will fund and support low-carbon transportation, such as MetroLink.  The review prioritised increased investment in critical infrastructure for water, energy, transport and housing to allow us to enable the delivery of hundreds of thousands of additional homes; provide greater opportunities for our enterprise economy and support our international competitiveness; and support all other necessary economic and social development, such as schools, hospitals and further and higher education. Total capital investment in 2025 was \u20ac16.6 billion. This will be increased to an allocation of \u20ac19.1 billion for 2026, as outlined in the Estimates published in December. It represents the highest annual spend on capital investment in this country. Capital expenditure has increased by almost \u20ac9.5 billion or 97% over the period 2021 to 2026. This increased investment has seen its share rise from 11% of overall current and capital expenditure in 2021 to 16% in 2026.  Following the publication of the review last July, Departments began to develop their sectoral investment plans to provide specific details on projects they intend to deliver and progress between 2026 and 2030. These plans have provided the construction and built environment sector with a clear and structured pipeline of projects to be delivered over the next five years. I was pleased to participate in the launch of the education sectoral investment plan earlier today with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, which will provide hundreds of new buildings and school extensions, with a particular emphasis on special education over the next two years.  By outlining the scale, scope, and timing of upcoming infrastructure projects, the sectoral plans provide greater certainty for industry to be able to plan and scale capacity through investment in hiring, technology and innovation to deliver on the NDP. Considering sectoral needs and ministerial decisions, these plans reflect Government priorities, including the national planning framework commitment to balanced regional development. The plans published to date include planned investment and projects, including a range of projects across transport, health, education, justice and utility services. These sectoral plans are available online and provide further detail on a sectoral basis.  The core functions of my Department are expenditure management and reform and this dual remit underpins the Government\u2019s approach to accelerating and expanding our delivery of infrastructure to maximise the impact for Ireland. The investment under the NDP is to ensure that we are equipped for the future and that we are making lasting sustainable change to the country. Record levels of expenditure provide us with a generational opportunity to transform our built environment and deliver the homes needed for our growing and changing demographics. However, to maximise this investment, reform is equally important. We are clear we cannot properly tackle infrastructure deficits through increased investment alone. Unprecedented funding allocations must be matched with unprecedented reform to deliver value for money and the projects required.  In April 2025, I established the infrastructure division in my Department and convened the accelerating infrastructure task force with a single mandate, that is, to identify the key barriers to infrastructure delivery and develop a comprehensive action plan to overcome them. The accelerating infrastructure task force brought together experts and stakeholders from across the infrastructure delivery system with the aim of tackling the most significant barriers to infrastructure delivery.  I chaired this task force, which met monthly, and ensured that the work and recommendations of the group were evidence based, practical, targeted and, crucially, capable of delivering measurable improvements in infrastructure timelines and outcomes.  The first report of the task force identified 12 barriers to infrastructure delivery in key areas, namely: the regulatory environment in particularly complex, overlapping consenting processes for submission and review and risk aversion in the system; the planning and legal systems, in particular judicial reviews, causing uncertainty and delay; and internal systems across the public and civil service, noting fragmented governance, procurement challenges and capacity constraints. The final report was published in December last year and focused on how we address these issues. It highlighted five key objective: to accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure, particularly in the areas of electricity, water and transport; to accelerate the delivery of all infrastructure by simplifying, streamlining and rebalancing the regulatory and consenting processes for infrastructure in general; to reduce delays caused by judicial reviews, regulatory complexity and fragmented approvals; to enhance co-ordination across Government, utilities and local authorities; and to build public and political support for infrastructure projects.  The report also sets out 30 targeted actions across four pillars to deliver on these objectives. Each of the actions outlined is explicitly linked to the barriers identified in July and how they interact with each other. These actions are not stand alone, and the total impact will be greater than the sum of the individual actions. There needs to be a complete mindset shift across our public services to ensure delivery is prioritised. This means a much greater risk appetite, much better regulatory balance and a decision-making culture which ensures that the public and national interest come first.  This is not a report of recommendations. The report is a statement of intent, and the Government is committed to implementing this action plan in full and on time. This is evident with clear deadlines for implementation included - which are concentrated, and the majority of which are in 2026 - clear responsibility for each action and defined measures of success and accountability. The Government is focused on making the step change necessary to have real impact on our infrastructure delivery.  The action plan spans four pillars. First, there is legal reform. This is designed to tackle excessive complexity in the regulatory and infrastructure development environment at the source. These legal reforms are specific and carefully considered to improve infrastructure delivery without compromising on environmental standards, individual rights or good governance. These reforms will work within the bounds of existing EU legislation to reduce disproportionate delays in the infrastructure development process and will create legal frameworks for critical and emergency infrastructure, ensuring that projects of high strategic importance or that are urgently needed can be prioritised by all State bodies and delivered quickly. The key actions under this pillar include: several measures to reform the judicial review process; enacting a critical infrastructure Bill; giving statutory designation for critical projects, thereby allowing them to be expedited through processes; and bringing forward emergency powers legislation to enable accelerated delivery in urgent situations consistent with EU law.  The second pillar is regulatory reform. Our current regulatory landscape is fragmented and overly complex. It is composed of numerous agencies, consents, assessments and licences. However, the system has developed over decades and each of these processes may serve an important function. This reform pillar is not just about removing regulation or lowering standards, and accelerating infrastructure delivery must not come at the cost of good governance or environmental standards. We will focus on simplifying and standardising processes in order that approvals run in parallel, where possible, with clearly stated expectations and statutory timelines for decisions. This goal is to align procedures across agencies, remove duplication and create processes that have predictable timelines and outcomes and that ultimately strike a better balance in the context of regulatory requirements. Some of the key actions under this pillar include the establishment of a regulatory simplification unit to proactively identify opportunities to simplify, create parallel systems and streamline regulatory processes. The legislation underpinning regulatory processes will also be rationalised. We will publish national planning statements to create legally binding guidance for planning authorities. This will create consistency, transparency and accountability in decision-making on infrastructure projects. We will change how we approach infrastructure in the context of EU law.  The third pillar is focused on reform of co-ordination and delivery. In order to deliver on the commitments in the national development plan and sectoral investment plans, Ireland must be able to deliver infrastructure at scale, year after year. The funding has been committed and delivery is now a real a priority. This can only be achieved with strong, whole-of-government co-ordination and a strong construction sector. The Government has already made significant efforts to orient itself towards infrastructure co-ordination and delivery through the funding allocations and reform plan. The infrastructure division will take on a proactive oversight and monitoring role for this plan. This role will allow my Department to take early action where barriers arise in the delivery of critical infrastructure programmes. These commitments to strengthening the construction sector are supported by other actions in the plan. Shortened delivery timelines, reduced regulatory complexity and a reliable project pipeline will all enable the construction sector to build and maintain the workforce and expertise needed to deliver on Ireland\u2019s ambitious capital plans.  Some of the key actions under this pillar include the prioritisation of Government investment in capital, which has already been achieved through the recent national development plan review and continues to be actioned with the publication of sectoral investment plans for critical infrastructure sectors. My Department will take on an expanded infrastructure co-ordination role. The Department will be proactive and will ensure that the action plan is implemented, its effectiveness measured and issues identified and resolved early.  We have created a joint utilities and transport clearing house to co-ordinate road openings, diversions and standards. We will increase construction sector capacity through streamlined permits and visas, expanded training and greater use of modern methods of construction and digitalisation and procurement reform through sharing expertise through the National Development Finance Agency, standardising procurement processes and enabling the use of international forms of contract where appropriate. These actions will create greater co-operation between State bodies, ensuring that all bodies are aligned with Government strategies to deliver critical infrastructure.  The fourth pillar of the report focuses on public acceptance and civic engagement. Infrastructure must earn societal support. We will accelerate infrastructure delivery by reducing land access delays and building public trust and accountability. We will also improve public engagement processes to communicate the real-world value of infrastructure and the improvements it brings to the quality of life of ordinary people. All these actions mean we are fundamentally reforming how we deliver high quality infrastructure in our country. We are not simply adjusting one lever; we are changing the system entirely, reforming our legal and regulatory processes, how we co-ordinate and deliver across the public service and how we engage with the public, because only a whole-of-government effort will convert record investment into outcomes at pace.  Regulation has its place, but it needs to be balanced against delivery. We do not have that balance currently. Our regulatory regime is fragmented, often sequential and overly conservative in its application of EU law, creating delay and uncertainty. Even with increased resourcing, major wastewater plants still face consenting cycles measured in years. Ireland\u2019s renewables projects have among the slowest development timelines in the EU.  This carries a real cost, namely higher energy prices and higher emissions, and the threat of judicial review that drives further risk aversion. We will fix it by simplifying legislation, standardising processes, aligning statutory timelines and driving proportionality and parallel processing across consents in order protection of people and nature will be delivered with efficiency, not delay.  Reforming regulation alone is not enough, however. We must reform how Government and the public service work. That means clear risk appetite statements approved by the Government in order that sponsors can commence well-scoped early works, run safe, concurrent steps and forward order critical components where the public benefit justifies it. This is a commitment and a clear programme of action. We will remove duplication, confront risk aversion and build a delivery-first culture while safeguarding the environment and access to justice. The expected combined impact of all the actions in this plan will be faster approvals and reduced litigation, significantly shorter delivery timelines, improved co-ordination and resource allocation, greater public trust and reduced opposition, and ultimately, increased infrastructure output to support our housing, climate and economic goals.  Since it came to office, the Government has taken clear strides to move at pace to address Ireland\u2019s infrastructural needs and secure our future, economically and socially.  My Department has taken clear ownership of driving delivery and embodying the strategic leadership that is required for this critical step change for Ireland. Senior officials have been appointed, a newly composed infrastructure division has been confirmed and timelines and responsibilities for actions and sub-measures have been committed and agreed to. The regulatory reform team has been appointed and has commenced its first stage of assessments. Senior managers have been deployed to expand the team for construction sector capacity and procurement and work on external assurance reports to support the major projects advisory group has commenced. Infrastructure delivery and monitoring structures are bedding in, including strategic-level monitoring of implementation, functions for reporting to Government, risk appetite reviews and public-facing communications and project tracking and delivery.  The task force will continue to meet regularly to support the delivery of this plan. My Department has demonstrably committed to driving delivery of these 30 actions. The decisions we have already taken and are implementing show that we are moving at pace. I am confident that we will deliver the respective actions across this year.  This programme of reform, coupled with the expenditure committed to, paves the way for Ireland's continued economic development, achieving climate targets, unlocking housing delivery, creating opportunities across Ireland, enhancing our competitiveness as a place to invest in and to do business and building abundance in our economy and society such that our people and communities will benefit from high-quality services that drive improved living standards. I thank my fellow Government colleagues and Members from right across the House who are engaging positively and constructively on this journey to transform infrastructure delivery in our country. We have a generational opportunity to shape Ireland's future. Now is the time to get infrastructure delivery right by reforming the system outside of us and the culture within. The people of Ireland deserve no less and this Government will deliver it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Once again, the Government is talking about reports and plans while treading water when it comes to developing infrastructure. It is a case of more glossy documents, little in the way of targets and timelines and more false dawns. People roll their eyes because what communities need is delivery as opposed to brochures and concrete progress rather than press launches. In Waterford, the gaps are obvious and long-standing. Deputy Cullinane and I have been raising them consistently. The safety upgrades to the N25 and the N72 are long overdue. Upgrades to the N24 linking Waterford to the mid-west and the west have been talked about for decades but still drift, with no funding or prospect of funding. The Waterford to Rosslare rail line has been dropped entirely from the national rail strategy. Waterford Airport was shamefully denied Government support. South East Technological University receives the lowest level of capital investment of any technological university. Dunmore East fisheries harbour waits while opportunities are lost. Even basic maintenance of regional and local roads is falling behind. Schools, childcare facilities and naonra\u00ed are left without sufficient capital funding and are falling far below projected population growth and actual population demand.  The failure in this regard has consequences for the real communities, families and people I represent. It is holding back housing in our towns and villages and choking off development where services simply cannot cope. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 f\u00edor go h\u00e1irithe sna ceantair Ghaeltachta. Gan bhonneagar ceart, n\u00ed f\u00e9idir tith\u00edocht a th\u00f3g\u00e1il n\u00f3 pobal a choinne\u00e1il beo. T\u00e1 an easpa infheist\u00edochta seo ag cur isteach ar an saol laeth\u00fail agus ar an teanga f\u00e9in. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ag cur isteach ar thodhcha\u00ed na Gaeltachta.  Water infrastructure in Waterford is in crisis daily. Outages, low pressure, boil water notices and do not consume notices have become routine. Kilmeaden and Ballyduff are currently without water, Touraneena is left without an adequate supply and crumbling infrastructure is holding back home building in Lismore and creating uncertainty for businesses, schools, childcare facilities and care homes there. We need to see a dedicated fund to deal with legacy failures regarding water and wastewater. Estates built with inadequate supply or sewage capacity must be upgraded and taken in charge. Woodlands estate in Portlaw is one example. Almost 90 homes on a group water scheme are facing doubled annual fees this week and instability and constant uncertainty when it comes to their water supply. The Government needs to fix the basics before launching more glossy plans and congratulating itself. Delivery is what people need and not another brochure, report and round of backslapping "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  The Government's plans are an admission of a profound failure on the part of successive Governments that consistently failed to co-ordinate and deliver. In County Meath, the Government's legacy is one of broken promises. We have unaffordable housing without adequate water and wastewater infrastructure in Dunboyne, Duleek, Kells and elsewhere. Communities in Ashbourne, Ratoath, Kells and elsewhere are without working public transport. We have a county waiting decades for Navan rail and families priced off an electricity grid prioritised for data centres. We have estates built without the playgrounds, parks or community centres that make a house a home.  The Government's proposed solution to this self-made crisis is to restrict the public's right to planning justice and silence the very communities it has failed. This is not reform; it is an attempt to avoid accountability. The co-ordination and delivery reform in this plan is meaningless unless it legally binds the delivery of pipes, rail and community facilities to the completion of new homes. It requires a date-certain funded commitment for Navan rail. Without that, it is just more empty words. We will oppose any erosion of democratic rights. Real acceleration requires competence as opposed to the curtailment of community voices. The Minister should show us the binding sequenced plans then we might believe him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  The deep frustration in my county in terms of key infrastructure projects concerns just how long they take. I want to talk about the Letterkenny relief road. Letterkenny is the beating heart of Donegal in terms of inward investment. It has multinational companies. Our university is there, along with our public services and our hospital. A huge volume of traffic goes through the town all the time. It is crucial to the county. Fifteen years ago, there was a business proposal from Donegal County Council for a Letterkenny relief road known locally as the Bonagee link. It was cast aside during the downturn in about 2010 or 2011. All these years later, there is no digger on the site. The Minister has been to the town and spoken in it. He was in it recently. It is a nightmare. It is a real challenge not just for the local communities that have to deal with every day but also for the visitors and the people who work there or take their loved ones to hospital there.  The planning processes in this country are totally exasperating, as is the lack of urgency within Departments and their failure to talk to each other and communicate properly . An article by John Collison in The Irish Times captured the imagination of a lot of people. He described a Government that is operating at arm's length. There are all these different agencies and bodies and nothing can get done with substance. I offer up the Letterkenny relief road and the logjam and nightmare that people are experiencing in that town as an example of all that is wrong with Government policy and of the need for change and to get a strong grip on activities of the various agencies and bodies involved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I will give the Minister an example of how out of touch the Government is. He stated that \u20ac102.4 billion is being allocated over the five-year period from 2026 to 2030. Zip-a-dee-doo-dah. At the same time, I am being contacted by people in Carrowteige who are being told that they will have to pay \u20ac2,359 by Friday or they will not get clean water. How can we be spending billions when we have people in rural Ireland being asked to pay that amount by Friday? We are talking about pensioners who are absolutely distraught and people who are already in poverty because of the cost of living. I am asking the Minister, once and for all, to ensure that there is fairness for people in rural Ireland.  When we talk about infrastructure, we are not just talking about water and the lack of clean water. It also involves our regional and local roads. I have spoken to the Minister many times about roads he knows well such as the R312, which is the regional road connecting Castlebar to Erris. This is the regional road on which Stephen Lavelle has had to travel in an ambulance with other people who are ill and or, on occasion, dying. This is a road that is not fit to put a car on never mind an ambulance, and the Minister tells us that \u20ac102.4 billion is being spent and that we should be jumping up and down and happy about it.  I am sorry but there is an absolute disconnect between this Government and what is happening in rural Ireland in terms of infrastructure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  There have been plans in recent years to do with the national development plan, the national spatial strategy and so on. What a lot of them have in common is the prediction that Cork is likely to be fastest growing urban area in the State over the course of the next 15 to 20 years. For that to happen and for Cork to reach its fullest potential, we know that the infrastructure is needed. More than that, we know that it cannot simply be putting more cars on the road. Public transport is going to be crucially important in Cork.  What Cork needs is more of the key personnel on the ground. It is crucially important that we have these national organisations but we need TII, NTA and Irish Rail people on the ground all the time from a national delivery point of view.  One of the major public transport projects we are looking is the Cork Luas. The timelines are not anywhere near ambitious enough. It would be a huge mistake to look at only one route at the outset because it is very likely that there will be a need for a north-south line linking up heavily trafficked and heavily populated areas, such as Carrigaline and Douglas, through the city centre and through to parts of the northside. If it is not mapped out now and the process begun - we know it will not happen overnight - then it will be in 20 years.  In relation to BusConnects, which is another important part in ensuring that public transport for Cork is fit for the 21st century, there is a legislative piece to this. Some of it is capital and some of it is engineering but there is a legislative piece. At the minute, it is not possible to remotely enforce traffic infringements, that is, we are going to have these bus gates that prevent people going back and forth from either side of them to facilitate bus prioritisation and to assist the bus in being the fastest vehicle. Unfortunately, unless we have digital remote enforcement of that, it will not work. People are going to go through the bus gates and it will snare up traffic. Legislation is needed to do this. That is something that would be cheap, easy and quick to do but this Government needs to do it to ensure that BusConnects can succeed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  The Government\u2019s infrastructure plan is devoid of action with no new ambition but rather it slightly alters existing systems and has little in the way of new ideas. The State has crumbling infrastructure, a housing crisis compounded by the failures of successive housing Ministers and a planning system that is not fit for purpose.  In the mid-west, many infrastructure projects have been glacially slow to deliver. In Limerick, we have the Coonagh-Knockalisheen road. It took over many years before work commenced on this project. The Minister of the day was determined to stop this road and without the intervention of the people of Moyross and others, it would not have been constructed. Once finally constructed and completed, it will serve as an important artery that will unlock economic, employment and educational opportunities in the area.  Functioning infrastructure is crucial to economic development and to a better quality of life. The plan notes that the transport infrastructure deficit gives rise to hours lost to congestion. Nowhere is this more evident than at the Mackey roundabout on the outskirts of Limerick. The northern distributor road is therefore crucial to the development of Limerick city. The construction of the northern distributor road would remove vast amounts of traffic from the city and would provide a link from the residential areas on the northside of the city to the University of Limerick and its surrounding industrial estates. It would also address the issues at the Mackey roundabout, which is a crucial connection point for those looking to access the M7 and for those coming off the M7 and going to work in the University of Limerick and adjacent industrial estates. On weekday mornings and evenings, it is gridlocked with motorists who, in frustration, sometimes take risks and put their lives in danger as they look to exit the roundabout. You can see cars backed up trying to exit the M7 at the Mackey Roundabout and in other areas in Ballysimon as well. The northern distributor road would address most of these issues.  On bus infrastructure, the Condell road in Limerick is a road that was built in Limerick city. It is a fine piece of road and has had a bus lane for a huge number of years. When I was on Limerick City Council, a bus lane was delivered, yet there is no bus service. You would struggle to find nonsense like this anywhere else in the world where you have a road with a bus lane but no bus. In past number of years, hundreds of houses have been built in the area, many of them social and affordable houses, but there is no bus stop. A simple solution would to be reroute an existing bus service to service the road instead of having to wait for BusConnects which could be years. We now have many people there in hundreds of home without cars and no accessible public transport. This needs to be sorted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  I would like to bring up the very important and very relevant infrastructure deficit in my town of Enniscorthy. Enniscorthy has borne 16 floods since the year 2000. Homes and businesses have been destroyed by water and raw sewage. Time and again, the people of Enniscorthy have picked up the pieces. It is heartbreaking to watch families being forced out of their homes and small businesses the same by something that can be fixed and remedied.  The latest flooding is one of the worst I have seen in years. Over 35 homes and 50 businesses, including two main hotels, have been affected by this force of nature. Most, if not all, cannot get insurance due to the frequency of the flooding. Some premises are reporting damages up to \u20ac70,000 or \u20ac80,000 while others are talking about closing for good.  The flood relief scheme for the Slaney was first put forward over 20 years ago and is still unresolved. The latest flood relief scheme was rejected as recently as 2022 on the grounds of a freshwater pearl mussel. For God\u2019s sake, that is little comfort or consolation to the people without a home today or facing enormous refurbishment bills or to the workers who will not get paid or to the businesses who might never open again. People in Enniscorthy are hurt and totally frustrated. This situation is soul-destroying. Businesses have been ruined and families are trying to restore their homes.  I call on the Minister to act now to speed up the process of the new planning application. I also call on him to immediately extend the date of the emergency response payment scheme beyond the closing date of 4 February, simply because it will take a least a couple of days before anyone can return to their homes or sort out their belongings, including businesses.  I again ask the Minister to get the ball rolling and to immediately call in the Office of Public Works, OPW, Government Departments and Wexford County Council and to sort this out once and for all and to get the planning application safely across the line. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  Every week we come into this Chamber and we discuss infrastructure. It might always be the title of the debate but Ireland's infrastructural deficit lies behind so many of the problems we discus every day. Whether we are talking about flooding, commuter chaos or housing, what is really under discussion is the consistent failure of the Government to build and sustain the infrastructure that Ireland needs. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, has said that we are lagging 32% behind our peers when it comes to infrastructure. This is the key reason Ireland, a rich country, can feel poor for too many people. The transport links, housing, hospitals and utilities befitting a rich country are just not there.  Over the past decade, this Government has managed to waste a boom. While it was sitting our record tax receipts, it allowed our infrastructure gap to widen and widen. The plan announced before Christmas was at least an effort to take the issue seriously. It was a roll of the dice by the Government to finally tackle the generational problems that it, to a large part, has created for itself.  There are certainly some welcome measures within the plan but these are things that any government worth its salt should have already been doing, so, in many respects, this plan amounts to an admission of failure. The streamlining of approvals for critical infrastructure projects is very welcome, so is the greater co-ordination to be demanded across the public service on infrastructure delivery. A duty for State bodies to co-operate in making land available and accessible for critical infrastructure, something that would seem so blindingly obvious to anyone else and should already be happening, is long overdue and we really do welcome that. The commitment to clear timelines is positive and the Government should further commit to non-negotiable delivery dates for the departmental implementation plans described in this document. That would be an indication of confidence from the Government in its own plan.  Accountability will be key to the success of this report and we welcome the clear lines of responsibility for Ministers and senior civil servants in the document. The Labour Party and the public will be holding the Minister's own performance against this plan to account.  I do, however, have concerns about the Government's over-zealous focus on judicial reviews, JRs. Legal reforms may be a necessary part of a comprehensive process like this but the Government seems to view limits to judicial reviews as a panacea, which will solve all of our problems. It will not. We should be clear that there is no silver bullet here. The Government must tread very carefully. Access to effective justice underpins our whole democracy. Judicial reviews should not be treated as a bogey man as they have been by this Government. The Law Society noted recently that the number of JRs decreased by 25% in 2025, so we must question the evidential basis for the Government's approach here. Not only does the Government's attitude risk undermining effective access to justice and crucial environmental laws, it could also put the whole mission at risk by taking its eye off the ball. What we need is investment and resourcing of our planning bodies and courts as this is where the real delays and backlogs lie.  It is little more than performative to attack those who simply seek to ensure that our laws are being complied with. We should also be honest that these judicial reforms will likely themselves be subject to legal challenge, including in the European courts.  All of us in Ireland need this plan to work. The Government needs this plan to work too, and we will be holding Ministers to account in the years to come to make sure the tide finally turns on our delivery of crucial infrastructure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  Infrastructure is absolutely vital. We can talk about the building of homes, which is absolutely necessary, but as we build homes, we must build infrastructure.  As the Minister knows, I was born and bred in Mallow. For over 30 years now, the people of Mallow have been talking about a relief road to relieve traffic congestion in the town. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, despite promise after promise, have failed to deliver for the people of Mallow. In every single announcement that the 34th Government has made in the D\u00e1il, Mallow has been completely left behind. It is no coincidence that there is no Government TD representing the people of Mallow.  The Government, in announcement after announcement, makes no specific mention of the Mallow relief road. We are crying out for funding, as is Cork County Council, yet there is no commitment to it. There has been no commitment on the Mallow\u2013Dungarvan greenway either. A spokesperson I spoke to in Cork County Council told me that project is dead in the water because the Government does not care about it.  On the matter of the Cork\u2013Limerick motorway, there is no other European country in which the second and third largest cities are not connected by a motorway. That there is no connection between Cork and Limerick is unbelievable. I recognise that work has been done on the Cork commuter rail line, but it is simply not enough.  The people of Mallow are sick and tired of waiting for delivery on projects of this Fianna F\u00e1il\u2013Fine Gael Government. I do not blame them. For decades now, promise after promise has been made around election time, but with no delivery.  As Minister for public expenditure and infrastructure, Deputy Chambers should go back to his Department officials and speak to the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O\u2019Brien, about the development and construction of the Mallow relief road, the single biggest infrastructure project in my hometown and in my constituency, Cork North-Central. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I welcome the chance to speak on the Government infrastructure plan. I want to outline a number of issues that have arisen in my home county, Kildare.  Last Monday, councillors in Kildare County Council discussed a variation of the current Kildare county development plan to cater for an additional 50,000 people in the county over the coming years. As everybody in this House knows, Kildare is a very welcoming county and its infrastructure has played its part in population growth; however, the problem that homeowners and potential homeowners raise with me is the already oversubscribed demand on the current infrastructure in the county.  Over recent weeks, I have repeatedly raised in this House how the M7 and N7 become car parks each morning for those commuting to Dublin. My party and I welcome every euro spent on public transport, but even with the news the Minister is announcing today, the relevant projects are years away. The plan itself is very light on delivery dates, yet commuters and people who must attend hospital appointments are stuck in what is a car park every day.  We mentioned several solutions in a Private Members\u2019 motion last week, but the Government voted against that motion. I ask the Government once again to consider these short-term measures. In my hometown, Athy, the first train each morning is at 6.40 a.m. Doctors, nurses and other workers cannot get to Dublin for work starting at 8 a.m. This is simply not good enough.  I question the Government\u2019s language around the DART+ South West project, which could improve the lives of commuters in County Kildare. We are not sure about the status of the plan or whether it depends on what will happen with trains on other lines in other projects. As the Minister well knows, the DART+ project has full planning permission.  I welcome today\u2019s announcement, mentioned in the Minister\u2019s speech, of a number of school projects in Kildare South that will make a difference, but given the population of Kildare already, some of the schools will already be full and demand will remain. I again appeal to the Government to recognise the need for another special school in Kildare South and the largest possible number of special classes to assist the more than 50 schools and the already stressed families who contact me every day seeking places for their loved ones.  Towns like Kildare, Newbridge and Kilcullen will now see more welcome new housing estates, but infrastructure has simply not kept pace. The demand for GPs is a huge issue. The out-of-hours service KDOC needs to be extended to Kildare South. The lack of social infrastructure is of great concern to many in Kildare South. There are no playing pitches and there is a lack of swimming pools and playgrounds. The Minister, along with the rest of the Government, will be judged on delivery, and delivery alone. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I want to express my dismay over the pausing of the DART+ project. It is a retrograde step for communities in the Minister\u2019s constituency, mine and the greater Dublin area.  I want to talk about health infrastructure. The \u20ac9.25 billion allocation is simply not adequate when one considers the digitalisation programme, the National Maternity Hospital and the beds that need to be delivered. The Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has spoken about the need to do something very real in Limerick, yet the money is not available. Both Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael manifestos committed to delivering between 4,000 and 5,000 hospital beds over the lifetime of this Government, or 1,000 per year, yet we see that just 124 acute beds were delivered up to September last year. The service plan for this year commits to 134 net new beds. That is a joke. The reality, having regard to occupancy, is that conditions in many of our hospitals are very unsafe. Last year, 1,415 beds were lost because of delayed transfers of care. There is a lack of urgency from the Government. We need to ensure a more appropriate amount of money is in place for the health system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Many of us have spoken here many times about infrastructural deficits. In this regard, unfortunately, we see chickens coming home to roost across the State at times. I will speak about County Louth, particularly Dundalk. While we did have heavy rains, undoubtedly, we are impacted in some parts of Dundalk owing to infrastructure, including for wastewater treatment, that is not up to scratch. We are dealing with joint infrastructure, which means both sewerage and storm water infrastructure. We do not have enough capacity, which meant that the likes of Bay Estate, Greenacres, Avondale and Cluan Enda, and basically anywhere in the surrounds of Red Barns Road and St. Alphonsus Road, which were also blocked, had huge issues. We hope we will not have serious rain in the near future.  Not only do we need CFRAM action taken in this regard and short-term mitigation given the possibility of storms in the future, but we also need to upgrade the wastewater infrastructure. Waiting until 2033 is not going to do it. We were very lucky just over two years ago, and we are just about lucky enough at the minute, but that is not good enough for an awful lot of people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  I welcome the Government\u2019s work to escalate infrastructure delivery. Ireland is experiencing strong population growth, a rise in economic activity and increasing demand for public services. These are positive developments but they place pressure on our transport, utilities and regional infrastructure. Therefore, we must ensure essential projects are delivered efficiently.  I welcome the infrastructure plan introduced by the Minister, which will strengthen the planning process, improve procurement and support better co-ordination between agencies. The most important part is to have all the agencies working together.  We want to reduce delays, increase certainty and allow vital projects to progress in a more streamlined way. Balanced regional development is essential. In my area, Carlow\u2013Kilkenny, towns and villages must have adequate wastewater and utility capacity to support housing and growth locally.  Last week, I highlighted here that towns such as Grange and Ardattin in County Carlow are still waiting on necessary wastewater infrastructure. Planning and funding decisions must be aligned so projects can move forward without delay.  Transport infrastructure is also important. Investment in our roads, public transport and active travel improves journey times. We have done a lot on that but, as the Minister always says, safety and quality of life are a priority for us.  We have really done a lot on that too but safety and quality of life, as the Minister always says, is a priority for us.  I want to highlight the Carlow southern relief road, which is a project in the national development plan. It will remove through traffic from the town centre, reduce congestion, improve public transport and make travel safer for pedestrians and cyclists. I note the consultants are in place ahead of the further public engagement and I look forward to reviewing the route option and the project continuing as it progresses. I know I am always on to the Minister about this one.  I also want to mention the N80. Since Brexit, it has become a major national route, carrying more than 4.2 million vehicles annually, including a significant volume of heavy goods traffic. However, it is no longer fit for purpose and if you look at the Carlow part of that, it saw 27 accidents last year alone, including several fatalities over recent years. We need to upgrade the N80 and to look at it as a motorway, creating a link from Rosslare to the M7 at Portlaoise. This would strengthen regional connectivity, improve safety and support Ireland's role as an EU gateway. Deputy McGuinness and I were in Kilkenny last week and we spoke with the chief executive there. These were projects that came up too. It was mentioned that the N24 Waterford to Cahir and N25 Waterford to Glenmore schemes were in the pipeline, both of which are at different stages. All of this infrastructure is vital. I know the Minister is committed to this and I thank him for all his work. These are all urgently needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  I welcome the proposals that will lead to the acceleration of infrastructure but what I want to talk about today are the people I represent in Galway East and the lives they live. Everyone who lives in Galway East and who commutes into Galway city faces the same issue of huge traffic. I believe - and the national development plan, NDP, backs this up, as it is funded - that there are three or four key solutions that are outlined in the NDP, are now funded and need to be delivered. We need to build the Galway ring road. That has to happen in the lifetime of this Government. It has to get approval from An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la and it has to drive on. Let it not get stopped and leave people in their cars for years.  Second, we have to implement and prioritise the buses through BusConnects because if you have a strong and solid bus service, people can rely on that, use it and it will be a cost saver for them. It will also aid the further reduction of traffic in Galway city.  Third, we have to double-track the line from Galway city to Athenry and build the western rail corridor. The carriages that are on order also have to be delivered and we, as a Government, have to show leadership on that in getting them as soon as possible.  This is a three-pronged approach through road infrastructure, bus services and rail. If those three things were delivered over the next five years, that would transform the quality of the lives of people living in Galway East right now. For the thousands of people commuting into Galway city every day, those few changes, which are funded under the national development plan and are in the planning process or already have plans, need to be delivered. We are at that stage where we have an opportunity to deliver. The funding is there and this Government needs to do it because the people will be so grateful to us if we can do these few things and get them right. People ultimately want freedom in their lives and the reality is that when they are trapped in their cars in traffic, waiting for a bus that does not arrive or squished in on the trains, we need to make their lives that bit better. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I wish to raise a number of issues in Kerry that I have raised previously in this Chamber, starting with the road realignment and footpath out from Laune bridge in Killorglin out as far as the Fexco research, development and innovation, RDI, hub at Anglont on the Killorglin-Killarney road. This campaign by the residents is going on for at least 40 years now. It was going on in my father's time. Residents there, Kerry County Council officials and all politicians in Kerry are frustrated beyond belief that this is taking so long. I ask that it be prioritised as soon as possible and that we get on the ladder of funding this year, if at all possible.  I wish to mention the Cahersiveen town road and footpaths project. That, too, is a chronic situation for the business community, the community at large and indeed visitors to the area. Cahersiveen is probably the longest town on the Ring of Kerry or on any national route in Ireland. The street is completely lopsided. There have been accidents not alone with pedestrians but also vehicles. That is in urgent need of funding.  The Killarney bypass has been raised here on a number of occasions and the town itself is choked with traffic on a daily basis. A bypass is urgently needed. Funding has been provided this year and last year to kickstart the project. I ask that it be expedited.  Killorglin town has a similar story in that the town is also choked on a daily basis, especially in morning and evening time when the schools open and close. For traffic coming through, Killorglin is the gateway to the Iveragh Peninsula. I also wish to mention the Tralee to Camp to Dingle road, the N86. The Ring of Kerry itself is 70% substandard. It is officials who are saying that, not just me.  The last point I want to make is around the development levies in the context of waterworks. The bills are astronomical and prohibitive to development as well. Irish Water needs to look at those. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I am glad to have the opportunity to speak in this debate. This time last week, I was in Finland with the Oireachtas education committee. We were there to talk about all things educational but naturally the conversation drifted. We got chatting about their elections and our elections. We finally asked the deputy mayor of Helsinki - we had drifted way off topic - if there were any public projects in his city delayed or overspent on in the past five or six years. He turned to his advisers on the left and right, spoke in a language none of us understood, and he eventually answered us and said \"No\". There were not. I would love to get to the point in five or six years' time where we are giving similar messages here. Things have become overly convoluted and I commend the Minister because he has started unravelling that knot of red tape. It looks good but now we have the litmus test of how quickly this can all happen.  I note the GPO and the National Concert Hall have been picked as two test projects to see how quickly things can be delivered and that is fine. They are both fabulous projects and both mean a lot as they are symbolic to Ireland but, day to day, I would like to see things like hospitals more fast-tracked. University Hospital Limerick needs to be a test bed. We have a plan and pathway forward to develop that, hopefully having a new accident and emergency department in the mid-west region. That should be a test bed project.  The other project I wish to mention is the Limerick northern distributor road. Even though it is a Limerick project, it straddles Clare and Limerick. Phase 1 of that is pretty much complete and is going to open in a matter of weeks but phase 2 is just entirely in the doldrums. As I mentioned to him before, the Minister might remember from our childhood that cartoon with Road Runner, where Wile E. Coyote would chase Road Runner out of town. There was always that road at the edge of town where everything just dropped off; there was a cliff edge. That is what the Limerick northern distributor road will look like when its first phase is completed this year. It just ends at a roundabout in my home village of Meelick. It goes no place else, so I would like to see that activated.  About three years ago, the Minister sat in a car in Ennis and drove some of the exits from and entrances to the motorway. He met with a woman who lost her husband in a very tragic accident. I am glad to say that motorway access is now being fixed, which is part of this. That is largely due to the Minister's intervention that day. He stepped out of the ministerial car and went in her car. We drove through it and he got to see it first hand. That is now happening and it is hugely appreciated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Infrastructure development is really important and is obviously important for every city, county and constituency, so I wish to raise infrastructure development for Waterford city and county and the wider south east.  The North Quays development has received significant Government funding so I want to start by acknowledging that. However, I also have to say to the Minister that, per capita , the south east and Waterford are not getting their fair share and have not been getting their fair share of capital funding for a long number of years. Even over the past year, I have raised so many different issues.  I will start with the N24 Waterford to Limerick road. What is really disheartening about that project is it is not a great road. I know a lot of people who use it every day. It is very dangerous and needs to be upgraded. The preferred route is in place. A lot of work was done and then, lo and behold, the Government simply stopped the funding and for the past two years, no funding has gone to that project.  The local authorities have been screaming at the Government to provide the funding because of road safety issues and because it is an economic corridor between Waterford and the south east. It is the same with the N25, the Waterford to Cork road. Again, it has not received any funding.  I was blue in the face in this Chamber raising the need for State investment in Waterford Airport. The Government made us jump over hurdles and jump through hoops. It delayed and delayed, and it got to the point that a venture between a private consortium, the three local authorities in the region and the State collapsed. A private investor had to come in from outside the country, by the way, to put money on the table to build a runway extension that this Government simply failed to do.  We also have the case of the South East Technological University, SETU, which has had to wait years for an engineering block. We are now told funding will come for a One Health building and a pharmacy building in Waterford, but that will take years. Appraisals and business cases have been done and they are sent up to the Department. All of that gets put through all sorts of processes and there is no clarity as to when that funding will be made available.  I have also been raising issues around Waterford Port and the need to invest in it. It has given good, ambitious plans for offshore renewable energy to the Government but funding has not been made available.  I also raise with the Minister an important project I have worked with and also visited a number of times in recent years. Na\u00edonra Philib Bar\u00fan is home to over 20 young children in Tramore in County Waterford. It does not have a proper building and is housed in a prefab. It is a very small, tight space. It needs capital funding for a new project but because the students are in early childhood care and education, ECCE, they fall through all the cracks. Nobody seems to want to fund it. Unfortunately, these children are being taught and having their preschool in this unsuitable prefab.  The south east is not getting its fair share. I have given the Minister a list of projects, for which I and others have been campaigning and looking for Government funding, and what we have got is a stone wall of resistance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I will make some general points on infrastructure but I want to say at the outset that the Government decision on pausing DART+ South West, which is not in my constituency and is not an issue for most people in my constituency, is incredibly regressive. The project should be going ahead straight away. It is ready to go in terms of planning. The only delay has been caused by the Government. It is in an area where there has been a huge amount of housing development over the last few years and there is a lot more development to come. DART+ South West is critically needed. I appeal to the Government, as the only entity holding this project up, to go ahead with it. There could not be a more important project to serve that part of south-west Dublin, Kildare and adjoining areas. It is needed.  Overall, our infrastructure is in a critical situation. Our capital stock is about 30% behind comparable European countries due to decades of under-investment in infrastructure. At the same time, this Government has never had so many resources at its disposal. We recently had the largest budget ever passed. There is a real onus to close that infrastructure gap as quickly as possible. This is affecting people\u2019s quality of life, their health and well-being and they time they have with their families. In addition, it is having huge implications for our economic development. We cannot take for granted continued economic progress if there is continued lack of under-investment in critical infrastructure. That really does need to be addressed.  We are in an era where many pensioners are afraid to turn on their heating, yet in 2024, for example, \u20ac450 million of renewable wind energy was wasted because of under-investment in our grid and our grid\u2019s inability to take that energy due to capacity. That is an utter waste and an utter failure by previous governments to take that issue seriously.  Caithfidh muid gn\u00edomh\u00fa go pr\u00e1inneach. N\u00ed fol\u00e1ir don Rialtas \u00e9isteacht agus gn\u00edomh\u00fa. Teasta\u00edonn \u00f3n phobal rath\u00falacht. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 chomh simpl\u00ed sin. T\u00e1 tr\u00e1th an ghn\u00edmh tagtha.  I welcome today\u2019s announcement on not using external consultants and getting expertise within the State. That will be cost-efficient and will lead to increases in our capacity to deliver infrastructure. It is a welcome move and makes sense but we need more of that thinking to drive on delivery of the infrastructure we so badly need. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Infrastructure is the key to getting this country working for people. For too many people, Ireland is not working. When we look at the flooding yesterday and the traffic gridlock across the city and around the commuter belt, people are literally losing years of their lives because of the lack of investment in infrastructure. The Government, in its plans and pronouncements, can blame planning, judicial reviews, local authorities and even the population and immigrants, but the barrier is this Government not investing sufficiently in infrastructure following decade after decade of under-investment. Public transport is inadequate and rail networks are not good enough. In my constituency, the Luas Finglas line is ready to go but has been delayed. Why are shovel-ready projects being delayed? It is absolutely unacceptable.  Alongside building homes, we need community infrastructure. Homes do not build communities by themselves. What builds communities are parks, playgrounds, community centres and swimming pools, the social infrastructure that has to go in. In my constituency, in Ballymun and Finglas, people are crying out for community infrastructure. In Finglas, in particular, there are derelict buildings lying idle that could be bought by the council and turned into community buildings. The council cannot do so, however, because it does not have the funding. The Government is talking about all this record funding but when we drill down, councils do not have the funding to deliver the community infrastructure that is needed.  We need a step change in how we invest in our public services and public infrastructure. The Minister has a budget surplus. It should be allocated to that infrastructure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  Storm Chandra has once again exposed how vulnerable our country is in the face of extreme weather events and how poorly set up we are to adapt to climate turbulence, which is intensifying with the passage of time and which we know from science will intensify more and more into the future. There was major disruption in road transport across Dublin, Wicklow and Wexford yesterday, causing chaos and leaving thousands of commuters stranded. Professor Brian Caulfield of Trinity College spoke on \"Morning Ireland\" earlier about how historically poor investment in public transport exposes Ireland to much greater risk in the context of extreme weather.  On an average day, regardless of weather, the N25, which is the main route from Youghal to Cork city, is heaving with traffic. Accidents are frequent and there is a punishing daily grind involved in the most basic of journeys for thousands of commuters. Members of the East Cork Rail Alliance visited Leinster House yesterday to meet TDs. They are campaigning to reinstate the rail link between Youghal and Midleton. The train link is a key solution to the traffic crisis in east Cork, along with the expediting of the Cork city Luas and the development of Local Link. It is also core to sustainable development in east Cork and the basic quality of life of commuters.  We cannot just build our way out of chronic congestion with more and more multi-lane, complicated road designs that essentially amount to widening funnels of traffic, thereby worsening congestion in the long run. We need to see the aim of the East Cork Rail Alliance as one of the most sensible, pragmatic, evidence-based and important solutions to meeting the basic transport needs and regional development needs of a growing population, and we need to see political will behind it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I welcome the opportunity to speak about infrastructure in the House and that the Government has made time for this debate. This was a huge issue during the general election. It came up at door after door in my constituency.  I will start with a history lesson. Between 1831 and 1834, within three years of the idea being mooted, the world\u2019s first commuter train line was built between Westland Row and D\u00fan Laoghaire. Running through my constituency, it cost between \u20ac6 million and \u20ac7 million per kilometre in today\u2019s terms. At the time, it was considered grossly expensive. Today, it is known as the DART. By comparison, the MetroLink is expected to cost between \u20ac300 million and \u20ac400 million per kilometre, making it nearly 50 times more expensive, and take much longer to complete.  Despite the DART, there are real infrastructure deficits in my constituency that have gone on for far too long. A Luas extension has been postponed in Poolbeg, in an area already choked by traffic every day while construction at the Irish Glass Bottle site for a population of a small town goes ahead nearby. There is regular dumping of sewage into Dublin Bay at Sandymount, making the water unswimmable and creating a direct threat to public health every summer. In Harold's Cross, Terenure, Rathgar and Rathmines there are no Luas lines or rail lines even though, as my constituents often remind me, there were trams there 100 years ago. The latest incarnation of the national development plan mentioned developing rail in this area exactly zero times. Most recently, the flooding this week in Dartry, Milltown and Ballsbridge from the bursting of the banks of the Dodder even after most of a flood-alleviation scheme has been implemented gives me great cause for concern over our capacity to plan and act for our climate century.  At the core of this dysfunction seems poor political stewardship, poor political will, and a lack of decisive action and good public administration from the very top, from this Government and every government preceding it. While I cautiously welcome the Government taking infrastructure development seriously and bringing this plan forward, I fear it may be the same old rigmarole - reports, committees, speeches like this one, commitments and ideas without the proper governmental leadership that developing our country demands. I hope the Government does better. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I thank the Minister for being here and for facilitating this discussion today. I commend him and his Department on the work done to date in trying to speed up the delivery of key infrastructure projects. Setting up the accelerating infrastructure task force and the action plan that emerged from that with 30 specific action points are very welcome. This progress is welcome.  I want to focus today on transport infrastructure in particular. As the Minister knows, our road network is choked with traffic congestion in many of our urban areas, particularly in the morning and evening peak times. Even outside these hours we come across heavy congestion on our road network. It is debilitating for any economy to have a road network choked with traffic to the extent that we now are, not to mention the impact on people's everyday lives. We have to come up with measures to reduce this congestion. We have to invest our way out of it in terms of infrastructure. Of course, we need to provide people with alternatives to our road network, such as better and improved public transport and of course continued investment in our active travel routes across the country. We also need to invest in our road network. We need to make our road junctions more efficient. We need to invest and we need to design and build new roads where necessary. We have to take a broad approach to this. There is no single answer to reducing the congestion we experience on our road network on a daily basis.  I want to focus on the transportation aspect in Cork. Unfortunately, we have ongoing issues with the reliability of our bus service and the slow roll-out of BusConnects. This is something that I and other Deputies have raised continually to see if we can make progress on this. The Cork Luas project will be transformational for Cork city and is something the city and its people deserve. An 18 km stretch of light rail serving 25 different stops along the way will be transformative and make huge difference but we need to speed up the delivery of this project. It has been estimated it could take up to ten years for this to be constructed and become operational, which is far too long. A final preferred route is due to be announced in the coming months. I ask the Minister and his Department to do everything possible to ensure this project progresses at pace because we simply need it to happen in Cork for everyday life and also from an economic point of view.  It is highly regrettable and a missed opportunity that the Cork Luas project will not serve Cork Airport. This is something we need to look at even at this late stage because connectivity to the airport and the city centre is critically important. We also need to consider the route in the context of the large residential areas on the southern side of the city. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  I am Vice Chair of the infrastructure committee. I know the Minister will be coming to the committee later on and we may be able to discuss some of these topics in detail.  I welcome the national development plan of \u20ac102 billion, which is a huge amount of money to spend. Ultimately, we are only playing catch-up on the money that probably should have been spent in previous years. The percentage that we were spending was not commensurate with the 16% that we are going to be spending in the future. I also welcome the accelerated infrastructure task force and the plan behind it which is an attempt to rid Ireland of the unnecessary blockages and bloated bureaucracy that we have become all too accustomed to in this country.  When people think of infrastructure we think of roads and rail which are overground. We think of water and wastewater which are underground. Often what is not considered is the social infrastructure that is needed to knit communities together. North Kildare, with its rapidly growing population, is lacking vital social infrastructure. I have referenced many times before in this Chamber the need for school improvements, new school buildings and more cr\u00e8ches to be introduced into large growing towns along with other amenities such as playgrounds and greenways as well as obviously the need for a new swimming pool in north Kildare.  In the last couple of weeks, I have been dealing with the need for a new school in Celbridge and we have major issues with St. Patrick's National School. We have an issue with spaces for children going into schools in Naas and Leixlip. These have been coming on my desk in the last couple of weeks and indeed are continuing today. I am working closely with the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, on those but at the same time these are emblematic of the issues we are facing in north Kildare. Houses are being built by the thousand in my constituency, which is great and ultimately that is what the Government desires, but at the same time, we are not delivering on behalf of our communities. The national development plan addresses major infrastructure issues that are needed for the area but at the same time it is not building for the communities behind that.  Kildare has another problem to go along with these issues. Towns like Leixlip, Kilcock and Naas are thriving as regards housing but ultimately their town and village centres are not thriving. Large-scale URDF funding has not gone into these towns and villages in the past and ultimately that is where we need to get to. Overall, I welcome the plan but at the same time we need to renew our communities. We also need to renew our town and village centres. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  We are at this point in our development as a country because we had no regard for reform or for strategy in the last 20 years. We are now talking about the investment that we are going to make but I want to know what is going to happen to the projects that require the funding and need to be taken out of the bureaucratic mess they are in. The completion of the ring road in Kilkenny is absolutely essential to the perfect development of the city but it is not happening. The N24 and N25 along with the N80 in Carlow need funding and need to be moved on in the process. The railway station in Kilkenny is blighted by the fact that Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann will not respond on upgrading the goods shed in that area and, as a result, the city is impacted.  The flood-relief schemes in Graiguenamanagh, Callan and Inistioge need to be pushed through the bureaucratic process so that the lives of families are not impacted any more by virtue of the floods that we are experiencing.  The 2006 regulations for wind farms have not been corrected yet. We have not got an up-to-date version of them. It is an unfair playing field in that regard and it is destroying rural Ireland. Where are these regulations? When will they be presented? When will we have some certainty around them?  The school bus system has never been reformed. Every single year there is an issue with school buses. Whether it is in Gowran, Ballyhale or in any other county in the country, it is a huge issue. There is no desire to reform. We have a city bus system in Kilkenny. It has not been extended, as it should be, to places like Hebron Park and hotels and businesses on the outskirts of the city. On the Bennettsbridge roundabout, TII moved in, did an adjustment and caused havoc with traffic. We cannot get it to see common sense and go back and do what needs to be done. When will we see common sense? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  All of us in this room are in agreement that the infrastructure plan has to deliver. We have to be absolutely unapologetic about getting our critical infrastructure across the line and delivered for our people. We have to be honest about increasing housing delivery, which is a huge concern for everyone in this House, no more than for the Minister. What is honesty holding it back? In reality it is our infrastructure deficits.  It is not lack of ambition. It is about constraints on housing and community development. First and foremost, our water and wastewater infrastructure is at capacity in many places. In Drogheda, Dundalk and Ardee, and across north and south Louth, developments that are zoned, viable and ready to proceed are stalled because the water systems, and indeed the electrical grid, cannot cope. Young families are paying the price for years of underdevelopment and slow delivery.  Transport is the next major blocker. Our rail infrastructure has not kept pace with population growth, nor has our road infrastructure. We have, thankfully, increased capacity on the Dublin-Belfast line but we are stuck in the middle because we need additional car spaces. People are curtailed from using train services because they cannot get parking. We have to plan for an additional train station in County Louth, whether in Dunleer in mid-Louth or in Drogheda, to create sustainable commutes and unlock housing delivery. High-density housing without transport capacity simply shifts the problem from planning to congestion.  On roads, the case is equally clear. The PANCR route in Drogheda is essential to relieving chronic congestion and enabling residential and economic development. Ardee is another town long overdue a bypass. It remains gridlocked and choking under congestion and fumes. In Dundalk, we need a link road connecting with the Armagh Road, which is critical to relieving the pressure in the town centre and supporting balanced growth.  Infrastructure does not stop at transport and utilities. Our health infrastructure in Louth is under severe strain. Bed capacity in Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital has not kept pace with population growth, leading to overcrowding and unacceptable pressure on patients and staff. At the same time, there is the need for a surgical hub in Dundalk and for full utilisation of Louth County Hospital to reduce waiting lists, improve patient flow and deliver care closer to homes. Louth's population is growing. That is expected and planned for. It is not acceptable to allow delivery to lag behind demographic reality such that services are constantly in crisis mode. Housing is not just about units; it is about building communities, as the Minister will agree, with access to healthcare, transport, education, culture and social life. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  I am thankful for the opportunity to speak on this important issue. There is a certain degree of scepticism in my attitude to the Government's new-found interest in critical infrastructure. I have been a Deputy for a decade. I am one of a number of people on this side of the House who have been talking about lack of investment, lack of reform and lack of ambition regarding critical infrastructure and delivery of key projects involving housing, renewable energy and public transport. Despite the fact we have many times proposed changes that are required, only recently has the Government started to join the conversation. I will name some of those. Unless the Government delivers these, its new-found interest in addressing infrastructure deficits caused by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments over the decades will only be words.  Water is a case in point. Most people will name it during this debate. For two years, Uisce \u00c9ireann was looking for increased capital funding to improve waste and wastewater treatment; for two years, the Government delayed. Even still, despite the big announcements in the last budget, Uisce \u00c9ireann does not have clarity on what additional funding it will get from now until 2030 and for what pieces of critical infrastructure. Those are the facts. Worse than that, reasonable demands of the utility for parallel planning and consenting and for prioritisation of critical infrastructure in the planning system were ignored by Government during the passage of the controversial Planning and Development Act 2024. When the Opposition tabled amendments to give effect to those reasonable demands of Uisce \u00c9ireann and others, they were voted down by the Government.  The electricity grid is the other one. I live in a constituency, Dublin Mid-West, where the Castlebaggot supply substation was recently built, primarily, if not exclusively, to service new housing and industry. It has all been swallowed up by data centres. The Government cannot say it wants to increase grid capacity for housing and employment when, at the same time, it lifts the cap and continues to prioritise data centres over critical infrastructure.  Transport is the same. While there are nowhere near enough homes, particularly social and affordable homes, being built in my constituency, it still has significant increased residential development. However, a key piece of public infrastructure, the DART+ South West through Clonburris and Adamstown strategic development zones, has been delayed for five years because the Government is unwilling to fund it in accordance with the original commitment of the Minister in the previous Government. If we do not get those basics right and if we continue to strangle our local authorities and approved housing bodies with too little funding and too much red tape for the delivery of social and affordable homes, then the folks on the other side of the Chamber can talk all they want about tackling the deficits but things will not change.  Crucially, we have to stop scapegoating others for the failures of Government to invest in and resource our planning system and courts to ensure good-quality planning decisions are made in a timely manner and that, on the infrequent occasions they are judicially reviewed, those JRs happen in a timely manner. The Government has starved our local authority planning sections of resources and failed to adequately staff the planning and environment court to deal with planning matters. Until those issues are dealt with, decisions will take too long. I will judge the Government by what it delivers, not by what it promises. On the basis of what it has not delivered to date, I will not hold my breath. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The national development plan is a plan for continued State failure to provide the basic services that working-class people need. There are no big new ideas in it. It is doubling down on a failed model of relying on the private market to deliver. It never has and it never will.  Since I joined the Committee of Public Accounts, it has struck me that in 99% of cases, the scandals people hear about regarding waste of public funds are really cases of private companies ripping off the State. Hospital consultants set up private companies to profit from insourcing in the same under-resourced public hospitals they are paid to work in as public servants. It is happening in loads of hospitals, not just St. James's; it is also happening in Tallaght where \u20ac5 million has been spent on insourcing in the past five years. It is well-connected contractors and legal and consultancy firms getting millions of euro annually in Government contracts to charge the State through the nose for things the State should be doing directly.  A key part of the answer to our infrastructural deficit is a State construction company to deliver the investment and projects we need. It should not be too much to ask in 2026 that, when it rains heavily, we should not have sewage flowing into our parks. I have been raising this issue for years about Dodder Valley Park and Balrothery Weir. What happened yesterday was entirely predictable. Again, sewage came flowing out because we got a high amount of rainfall. For years we have been pursuing Irish Water to invest in this. It has not been doing it. It says it is doing it now and is at stage 4. It simply is not good enough. It should not be too much to ask for that not to happen in our parks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  I absolutely support accelerating the delivery of critical infrastructure such as transport, water and electricity network across the country.  I particularly welcome pillar 3 of the infrastructure plan. It looks to build capacity in the construction sector. We desperately need to increase capacity across infrastructure, housing and road projects to meet current and future demand. Pillar 4 will introduce measures to strengthen co-operation between the utilities and local authorities. Too often, there has been a serious lack of communication between public representatives and utility providers. We simply cannot get the answers. It undermines effective planning and erodes public trust when elected officials are excluded from timely, meaningful dialogue, local knowledge is ignored and communities are left in the dark. Clear consistent communication is not a courtesy of infrastructure development; it is absolutely necessary.  Major infrastructural decisions such as the blanket restrictions on building alongside the N56 in Donegal, which Councillor Denis McGee has advocated for for years and which has prevented families from building on their own land, must be reconsidered with clear and early engagement with public representatives when implementing this infrastructural plan.  I am wary of some actions detailed in the plan. Limiting judicial reviews to speed up infrastructural planning is the wrong approach. Judicial reviews exist because there is a genuine need to fill gaps where procedures have failed. People resort to them because constitutional rights to fair procedures, equality before law and access to justice are being undermined. We cannot limit these rights. We must not get rid of judicial reviews. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I want to register how ludicrously short a time we have on this discussion. Seriously, we have five speakers here getting a minute and a bit each - madness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  That is a matter for the Business Committee. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I know, but we are a minority on that. The Minister is not even here, which frequently happens by the time our group comes up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Frankie Feighan  On a point of order, the Minister is gone to the infrastructure committee. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Yes, I know. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  It is not starting until 4 o'clock. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  If you continue on, you are wasting time. Go ahead, Deputy Coppinger. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I know but it has to be said----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is you who has the floor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I am not going to get a chance to bring up all the infrastructural needs of my constituency. There are 140,000 people. We have no light rail system. I will just mention one area which is the Tyrrelstown and Hollystown area. It is so symptomatic of the way developer-led planning happens in this country, which is one of the headings that is used in the strategy. Some 1,400 houses were recently added on in Hollystown, for example, but there is no direct bus route into the city centre. TDs outside Dublin may think we have a Minister there and we are laughing. Far from it. We have had Ministers in Dublin West and we have had taoisigh in Dublin West. We have been tripping over Ministers but we never get the investment we need in infrastructure. We should have a Luas running from Broombridge to Blanchardstown centre, where, by the way, they have just introduced parking charges and all the buses are routed through there. There is no direct bus from Hollystown into the city centre. I have been approached by a woman who ends up walking on her own in the dark late at night trying to get to work in Dublin Port from the Tyrrelstown area. Again, it is ludicrously slow in terms of developing it. Those issues are real issues that people are facing in their lives. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The N80 goes through the town centres of Portlaoise and Mountmellick. It is causing chaos in both towns and no progress is being made on relief roads. Mountmellick relief road was promised 20 years ago. All traffic from the midlands and the west, including a large number of HGVs, is going through the town centre of Mountmellick trying to negotiate tricky junctions, going through O'Connell Square and past the very busy secondary school. A route has been selected. The surveys have been done. The council has played its part. However, it is being ignored for decades by the Government and that is not good enough. Portlaoise has two national secondary routes going through it, namely, the N78 and the N80. The N80 is the one I live on. There is a huge population around it. The population of Portlaoise is increasing. The towns of Mountmellick and Portlaoise are gridlocked much of the day. People living on the Ballyfin Road, Harpur's Lane and Greenmill Lane have huge difficulties, including the person speaking here, trying to get out onto that road. Trucks have to pass under a very low bridge. They often hit the bridge and everything stops for a number of hours. In the short time I have, I will call for small roundabouts at the junctions of Ballyfin Road, Greenmill Lane and Harpur's Lane. However, we really need the Portlaoise northern orbital route, which will connect the N80 at Fairgreen right across to the Dublin Road. That is a priority project of Laois County Council, as is the Mountmellick bypass, but the Government does not seem to be listening. I want the Government to take this on board here today. It would not just shorten journeys. It would lesson the gridlock in Portlaoise town and in Mountmellick, and it would free up hundreds of acres for housing development. A lot of housing development is being pushed to Portlaoise but we do not have the infrastructure. Both Mountmellick and Portlaoise need relief roads. The Government cannot keep ignoring it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank Deputy Stanley. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The last thing I want to say is that the flood relief schemes need to be speeded up as 17 years or 18 years is just too long. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Cherrywood in south Dublin is one of the biggest residential developments in Europe and the biggest in Ireland. It is a new town. There is going to be 25,000 to 30,000 people living there. The whole thing was conditional on the development of a town centre with community facilities, supermarkets and all the rest of it. The private developers who built the houses and made big profits are refusing to build the town centre on which the whole thing was predicated and are trying to put the State over a barrel on the town centre the community needs for this new town. They are just refusing to build it and are refusing to build bridges that were committed to. At the same time, I understand a group of private investors have asked the State for between \u20ac60 million and \u20ac80 million to build an ice rink and stadium in Cherrywood. While the town centre is not being built and grassroots sports groups and so on are crying out for facilities, a group of private investors, and I believe this is being entertained by a number of Departments, want to build a private ice rink for ice hockey. I spoke to the Irish Ice Hockey Association and it is not even in favour of it. Its representatives say for a fraction of that, they could build an ice rink, which would be good to have in Ireland but this is going to be given to private investors at massive cost when there is no town centre and when grassroots sports, including ice hockey itself, are starved of the money necessary to provide sports infrastructure for the people living in places like Cherrywood and in the wider area. I want this investigated. There is no way a \u20ac60 million to \u20ac80 million handout should be given to big private investors when there is no town centre in Cherrywood and when grassroots sports are desperate for money for sports infrastructure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I raise again the issue of flood relief schemes in my own constituency of Carlow and Kilkenny. My own home town of Graiguenamanagh and Thomastown, Inistioge and various towns and villages around the constituency have once again been devastated by the impacts of flooding. The miraculous or crazy thing here is that we have known about this for so long. In 2018, the Minister of State, Deputy Boxer Moran, announced funding was to be put in place for six towns and villages in Kilkenny. My home town of Graiguenamanagh was flooded in 2016 and that flood relief scheme was promised. It went to design stage in February 2020. It has only gone for planning last December to An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la. I appeal to the Minister to please get on to An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la and speed up the process so that people, individuals and businesses in Graiguenamanagh will not have to endure yet again the traumatic circumstances around flooding in that town and village. How can it take ten years for these schemes to go ahead? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and the Greens. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  Not only that but Thomastown was also approved in 2018 and the scheme has not been advanced at all. Why can these schemes not be run concurrently? Why do we have to do Graiguenamanagh and let that get to this stage and all the rest of them are sitting on a shelf waiting to go? Staff are already employed by Kilkenny County Council to progress these schemes. Surely to God, in this day and age, when we are taking about infrastructure, we can make sure that schemes can run concurrently and the ball can start rolling. This has been going on years. I am only in this Chamber a year. This is ten years ago. I saw a photo recently of Graiguenamanagh in 1926 when flooding happened and yet nothing has happened.  I pay tribute to the staff of Kilkenny and Carlow County Councils in terms of the area staff but also all the road crews and the fire services in both counties for the incredible work they have done over the past number of days making sure our people, our citizens, are safe. However, there is a huge clean-up job to be done as well, so additional funding is going to be required. I am calling the Minister of State to speak with his colleagues and with the powers that be to make sure funding is made available for the clean-up operation and for the deterioration of the road infrastructure that is happening right around the country. I have loads of examples from the past couple of days in the Rower, Graiguenamanagh, Skeaghvasteen, Gowran, Ballyhale, Dungarvan, Borris and St. Mullins where roads are falling away due to the devastation caused by and the impact of the flooding or the rainfall in January. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  Let us make sure the funding is made available because we cannot let these towns and villages suffer anymore. We need to protect them and look after them. I represent the people of Carlow-Kilkenny and we need to make sure the funding is made available, not next year, not in two years' time----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Cleere----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  -----but now. I will not be silenced. I will always stand up for the people of Carlow-Kilkenny. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Good man. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  However, it is not right that these flood relief schemes have not been progressed at the speed they should have been. There have been people in this Chamber for years and decades who have done nothing about it. I am not going to do nothing. I am going to stand up for these people. Let us make this funding available----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  We will see what you do now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  -----and make sure these schemes are delivered as soon as possible, running currently----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  We will see what you get. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I demand that this happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  The most frequent issue I raise in this Chamber is the issue of infrastructure. While I welcome the infrastructure plan, and there is a lot to it and some excellent developments in it, particularly in terms of national infrastructure, what it fails to do and what we are not focusing on but should be focusing on is the social infrastructure throughout the country, especially in our towns and villages that are growing exponentially. When I speak about social infrastructure, I speak about the Garda stations. Maynooth, Celbridge and Kilcock all have part-time Garda stations. Celbridge has a population of 22,000 and it has a part-time Garda station. Maynooth, with a population of over 22,000 and an additional 17,000 students, has a part-time Garda station.  There is no primary care centre for Leixlip. These are significant issues.  In the context of schools, St. Patrick's National School in Celbridge is falling to bits. There are serious issues with funding for Stepping Stones Special School in Maynooth. The three school campus in Celbridge is still only at design stage 2a. This means that Celbridge Community School, St. Raphael's Special School and St. Patrick's National School are still waiting for their school building projects to progress. Salesian Secondary School in Celbridge still has waiting lists. Maynooth Post Primary School still has waiting lists. There are people still waiting to get into Maynooth Community College.  Families are finding this particularly difficult, and we need to really address what is happening. While it is welcome that we are addressing large infrastructural plans, we need to be ensuring families feel secure in the context of education, health and safety in the communities in which they live. It is incumbent on us to deliver that. This infrastructure plan, as good as it is in focusing on national delivery, which is long needed, does not focus on the critical issues facing families here today. I am speaking specifically of families in Kildare North, but it extends to areas in Meath, Dublin and Wicklow as well.  On the infrastructure plan, one matter to which I want to refer is the skills shortage and the major bottleneck relating to the national workforce strategy. We need to ensure that we have this strategy in place in order that we can, in turn, make sure we have the skills required to develop the roads, hospitals and other the key elements of infrastructure that we need. While the focus should rightly be on national infrastructure, as it is in this plan, which I welcome, we need to ensure that we have a social infrastructure plan that focuses on towns and villages and high-growth areas and delivers what families really deserve. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  I take this opportunity to highlight a very strong example of how Government investment in infrastructure and regeneration can deliver a real and measurable impact. That example is Clonmel, which is identified as a key economic driver in the regional economic and spatial strategy. Clonmel has spent the past number of years doing exactly what national policy has encouraged towns to do, namely developing a coherent, strategic, long-term regeneration plan, backed by delivery capacity and local commitment.  The Clonmel strategic transformation plan for the period to 2030 is not aspirational; it is practical, detailed and ready to proceed. Under URDF call 1, Clonmel demonstrated that readiness by delivering shovel-ready projects at a time when very few towns could do so. Those projects, such as the Kickham Barracks Plaza and the regional sports hub, were successfully funded and delivered. Since then, our ambition has only grown. Having regard to the upcoming URDF call 4, Clonmel is uniquely positioned. Planning permission is in place, design work is complete and tender documentation is ready. Tipperary County Council can move immediately on town-centre public realm works valued at approximately \u20ac21 million. Matched funding of \u20ac5.25 million has already been set aside. The level of local alignment is particularly positive. The local authority is ready. Businesses have stepped up. All stakeholders are willing to work as one. The community is fully behind the programme. This is exactly the type of place where national capital investment can achieve maximum return.  As we look towards the URDF call 4, Clonmel represents a low-risk, high-impact investment that is advanced, deliverable and capable of immediate mobilisation. Supporting Clonmel in a meaningful way would demonstrate the strength of the infrastructure plan in backing towns that are ready to deliver and committed to long-term regeneration. This is a real opportunity to complete a strategic vision that has been carefully built over many years and to show how national and local government can work together to renew our regional towns successfully. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The new buzzword of this Government is \"infrastructure\". It blames local authorities, Uisce \u00c9ireann, the NTA and An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la for things. The Government blames everyone. I do not know if the Minister of State gets it. Does he think we are all fools over here? We are not fools; we know what is happening. Those opposite are in government. Fine Gael has been in office 15 years and Fianna F\u00e1il for 11. All of these problems were caused by them; they were not caused by us. Now, the Government has come out with this new infrastructure plan. It is trying to pass the buck. Will someone in this Government ever stand up and take responsibility for their job?  Ultimately, the Government is responsible but is not providing solutions. We on the Opposition benches are trying to give it solutions. We want to work with it. We want to do so because the people we represent have no housing and cannot get hospital appointments. There is a crisis in this country. What has the Government done? It has brought out a new, shiny booklet that looks great. It runs to 140 pages, 110 of which outline the problems and indicate why there is a crisis and an emergency in the area of housing. The document does not say that the Government has been in power for the past 15 years. The Government is blaming everyone else.  There are 30 actions in this plan that are listed out across 30 pages. The Government must be trying to destroy the rainforests in the Amazon. It has produced a 140-page document, but for what? One of the actions in the plan for delivering housing - this is going to fix the housing crisis - relates to enhancing Government communication and promoting the importance of infrastructure delivery. Is the Government serious? Can the Minister of State seriously stand over this kind of bull? People are crying out for homes. Nearly 6,000 children are homeless. Three generations of families are living in box bedrooms. There are towns and villages in which houses cannot be built because there is no wastewater infrastructure.  The Government talks about better communication. Will it build houses? Will it get Irish Water to deliver water and the infrastructure we need? Do not blame the NTA. Do not blame Uisce \u00c9ireann. Do not blame TII and, certainly, do not blame An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la. For years, the Government underfunded the latter. It knew there was a backlog and it did nothing. It has now come out with this document, which outlines what it is going to do. The Government should do its job and build houses. That is what it needs to do. That is what people want the Government to do. We will work with the Government. I do not believe the Government wants to solve the housing crisis. If it did, it would not be putting forward stuff like this that is nonsensical. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  This Government is the worst in the history of the State when it comes to the delivery of infrastructure. In practically every infrastructural space, its projects are either grinding to a halt or going way over budget. For ten years, under this Government, Ireland was at the very bottom of European spending on infrastructure per capita . That is incredible. It is really hard to listen to Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael TDs line up to complain about the infrastructural deficits in this country when it is their Government who has actually caused those deficits.  Housing is in tatters, and misery is being visited upon young families as a result. It will be 2050 before Uisce \u00c9ireann fills the gaps that are currently stopping the building of homes. Leo Varadkar said that the national children's hospital would be built for \u20ac700 million by 2020, save for an asteroid hitting the planet. The cost is now \u20ac2.4 billion and the hospital has still not opened.  Midleton has been waiting for flood defences for 14 years. In the 14 years since the Government promised flood defences for Midleton, a planning application has not been submitted to Cork County Council.  On the news over the past number of hours, we have seen the number of areas that have been hammered by flooding. The Government is refusing to pay for the damage done to cars. It is refusing to pay for the infrastructure and for the damage done to cars. That is really hard for people to take, given the Government funded the fixing of cars for people from Ukraine in the past year. There should be no payment given to any group of people in this country that is not available to Irish citizens as well. It is a threat to social cohesion if the Government continues what is doing in that regard.  The Navan to Dublin rail line was built in three years in the 1860s by workers using picks and shovels. The new project in that regard is going to take 42 years, from concept to completion, and that will be if no judicial review takes place. It is really important that the Government gets its act together in the context of infrastructural development. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Fail to prepare, prepare to fail. I welcome anything that will help with infrastructure. The Government's failure is that it shoved people into the cities that had some infrastructure. What did it do then? It closed down every town and village around Ireland. What did that do? It drove up the price of houses because of a lack of supply.  Askeaton has done without a sewerage system for 46 years. It is due to be done some time this year. However, we have been hearing that for 46 years. Dromcolliher has been waiting 15 years for an upgrade of the system. Hospital-Herbertstown had to put in on-site systems after they built 20 houses there. They had to put five of them on an on-site system because the sewerage system could not take housing. By moving people into the cities and driving up the prices, and by not allowing people's children to move home from the cities, the Government has closed down the infrastructure in all our towns and villages. There has been a lack of infrastructure for years and all it has come up with is a plan. Plans are on paper; delivery is on the ground. We have given the Government ideas and solutions to everything it has come up with but it will spend millions of euro again on paperwork with no delivery. When is it going to deliver? When is it going to listen to the Opposition that has given it the answer on delivery? That is what the question is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  We are talking about infrastructure here today. We brought forward a motion two weeks ago in relation to Uisce \u00c9ireann, and the Government voted against it. It really stood for accountability and timelines. When the Government is not willing to stand up to something like Uisce \u00c9ireann in terms of accountability and timelines, that says enough. It sends a clear message to me.  There is a wastewater crisis all over west Cork. It has been 28 years in Shannonvale, 17 years in Dunmanway, Rosscarbery and Ballydehob, and 27 years in Goleen. There is no mains water pipe from Shannonvale to Roscarbery. It has burst; it bursts every so often. It broke down again during Christmas. People are in an awful state, and they are getting nowhere. It is only a small section of an area that needs to be done. Bantry experienced flooding in 1968 and in 2025. It is one hit on top of the other.  There are also new regulations I need to bring up. It brings me to the utter confusion and the fear new regulations have created in the construction sector. Many small contractors and subcontractors have been contacting me in recent days who are fearful of this January deadline. These contractors do not know if they will be deemed to be breaking the law in February by a change of status that is threatening them. This will drive up the costs, as contractors will have to now take on casual subcontractors as full-time employees just to cover the small-time work they have. There will be no infrastructure built if the Government throttles to death the contractors and subcontractors who are confused over it.  I have to touch on Airbnb, which comes under housing as well. People have contacting me day and night recently about the new regulations. They are going to destroy their chances. One question is being asked by them: do they need planning? If they need planning, that means they are finished. They know Airbnbs are being wiped out. All over west Cork, there are fantastic places offering a brilliant service to people, and the Government is going to destroy that industry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I read the Government's plan. I read all 140 pages, plus the 17 pages of the Minister, Deputy Chambers's speech in which he called it an accelerated infrastructure plan. I have to say that if that is accelerated, I truly would hate to see the Government in reverse because this is a backward plan. That plan does nothing and delivers nothing. The Government's 140-page document barely talks about Cork. It does not talk about the northern distributor road in Cork. It does not talk about the Mallow relief road in Cork. It does not talk about the Cork to Limerick motorway. It does not mention the northern ring road in Cork. It does not mention that the ESB supply that is needed for the 1,000-acre Industrial Development Authority, IDA, site in Cork to be upgraded to facilitate the southern region. It does not even take into account the 2040 counterbalance plan.  I represent the 42nd most congested city in the world - Cork. How many park-and-ride facilities has it got? It has one park-and-ride facility. The Government has not even put in a plan which connects the Cork Luas. By the way, there is not a shovel in the ground on that. It has not connected the Cork Luas all the way from the airport into the city. We have a situation where buses are coming into Cork city. People who are coming from Thurles, Tipperary and different areas who want to use Cork Airport cannot get a bus directly to Cork city. That is how bad BusConnects and the infrastructure development is there.  Then the Government had the audacity in the House last week to have the minister for silence, otherwise known as P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan, give out to and admonished those on this side of the House, and tell them to shut up and stay quiet about the \u20ac1 billion that is needed for the north side of Cork. We should all stay quiet, and we should let people drink poisoned water, according to Deputy O'Sullivan.  We heard the other gentleman from Carlow-Kilkenny just a moment ago. I swear to God but I thought I was listening to someone on this side of the House because he seems to forget that his own party is in power. That is absolutely ridiculous. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  As the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows, I have some experience of being angry and losing my rag but it has to be used sparingly. In this context, I would use words like \"exasperation\", \"frustration\", \"cynicism\" and \"being jaded overall\" in terms of Government promises that have never been brought forward. I am, therefore, trying to put on my positive hat for a second.  Obviously, this plan is trying to employ 62 people in an infrastructure division in the Department of public expenditure and reform with a whole lot of technical experts trying to bring all the agencies together. On paper, that is a good thing because they have not been working together in a holistic way but, unfortunately, the actual amount of investment that is required for our energy grid and water infrastructure is a paltry amount. We should be borrowing and even breaching the EU growth and stability pact to invest in the infrastructure that will actually gain us revenue down the line. We are doing it too slowly.  I take on board that we do have, let us say, people who take judicial reviews who do not always have the common good at heart. I do take a board on board that we have to restrict that but, equally, there are communities in my constituency and all around the country who put in submissions and object to proposals because they want infrastructure and facilities tied in alongside housing. In areas like the Clonburris strategic development zone, it is a very poor SDZ. Adamstown is a little bit better. There are a lot of areas around my constituency where the Government is putting in lots of houses but no infrastructure. It has to make sure that it follows up like with Dart+ South West, for example, or the Luas to Lucan and increased capacity for the Luas to Saggart. All these things go together. I am quite jaded but prove me wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  I want to say something very briefly about this report, which I really welcome. I have only been here a year, and the Minister of State is here a little bit longer, but it is the only one I have seen in a year that has an action plan with dates. There is a very clear statement on what has to be done. On page 71 of the original report are 30 actions adopted with a clear timeline, the responsibility in terms of a Department on each and oversight and accountability clearly laid out. Often, we do not get to see that in the public service. It is really positive that the report is laid out. Now the Government has to keep toes and feet to the fire in the various Departments and groups that are laid out with responsibility for those actions. I know there will inevitably be issues with various actions but as long as they are managed and the overall thrust of this excellent piece of work is delivered, then we will make great progress in the next few years. I ask the Minister of State to make sure that feet are kept to the fire when it comes to those actions so that they happen in the way that it is laid out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  I certainly welcome this plan. It is very timely in terms of where we are as a country. There is a commitment from a multi-annual funding perspective, and it shows delivery, whether it be housing, energy, transport or water. In order to achieve delivery, however, we need co-ordination. I can give the Minister of State just one example of where modern methods of construction today are being used to reduce and mitigate the risk from a safety perspective on construction sites and also improve quality. What it is leading to are larger loads, yet we have a situation in the country where our emphasis is on supporting and investing in cycling and pedestrian pathways. When we do that, however, we put obstacles in the way of abnormal loads and exceptional abnormal loads at a time when local authorities are reducing the weight limits and putting more barriers in place for companies that are trying to transport larger loads. This is only going to get worse because of modern methods of construction.  I have seen it first hand in my constituency with Banagher concrete. What it is going to see, in essence, is that if these load restrictions continue, the product portfolio and options it will have will reduce and the cost of what it will have will increase, making it less affordable for people to actually build houses and infrastructure at a time when we need rates to be competitive. I ask the Minister of State to take that point on board.  We need to deliver, deliver, deliver, and that needs co-ordination. I am an advocate for cyclists and pedestrians but we need to be able to advocate, and more so in the future, for abnormal loads in order to serve and make the contributions we need to infrastructure development sites right across the country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  This issue is critical, particularly in the context of our need to deliver housing across the State. If we are to deliver homes, we must ensure that we have in place critical energy infrastructure and water and wastewater infrastructure. The first question the person in charge of every State agency should be asking every morning is what is he or she doing to help to address the housing crisis. If those people are not asking that question, their vision is clearly wrong and perhaps they are in the wrong job.  I can cite many examples in my constituency where if we can see the unlocking of lands through investment in roads, water, wastewater and energy, it will facilitate the building of a lot more housing. I refer again to the cases of Ferns and Camolin in County Wexford, where we are dying to build more homes but where there is no wastewater capacity. It is a similar situation in Aughrim, County Wicklow. Allowing private development of wastewater treatment plants to the necessary specifications in those areas would be a very positive development.  Investment in education is a critical part of infrastructure delivery. I acknowledge that the Government has invested significantly in capital projects in education but I am extremely disappointed that in the announcement today regarding the schools building programme under the NDP, not a single school within the Wicklow-Wexford constituency is included in the list. What criteria were used to determine which schools were included?  Two schools have been waiting a very long time for the necessary investment to move beyond stage 2b. I have always referred to that stage as the purgatory within the Department of education, whereby projects get to design stage but then tenders are not issued. The first school is Bunclody Community College, which has only three mainstream classes that are not in prefabricated buildings. The school operates on two campuses, which requires students to walk 500 m from one set of prefabricated buildings to another. It is an excellent school that provides a top-class education, yet it has some of the poorest facilities I have ever seen. The other school, which is just up the road, is Col\u00e1iste Bhr\u00edde in Carnew. Again, it is an excellent school but it has been waiting a long time to address the problem that its 900 students are learning in completely inadequate buildings.  I have asked what criteria were used to determine which schools were included in today's announcement. Only one school in County Wexford and three in County Wicklow, none of them in my constituency, are included. Fair play to the schools that are getting this investment but I note that ten schools in County Galway were given approval today. I need to know the criteria, particularly when I see the conditions under which some students and staff have to operate within my constituency. I would be grateful if the Minister of State would convey my concerns to the Department.  The Government has a proud record of investing in education and in our capital programmes but we are not seeing that investment being delivered fairly across the country. I fail to see why regard is not being had to the demands of rapidly growing communities and constituencies such as Wicklow-Wexford. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I take this opportunity to acknowledge the 60th anniversary of the death of Mike Quill, the great union leader in New York who worked in that city's subway system for many years. He always preached an anti-racist message. He was involved in the struggle for the country of his birth, fighting in the War of Independence, and the struggle for his fellow workers in New York.  Everywhere we turn, we see infrastructure that is undersupplied, overloaded and crumbling. Our creaking infrastructure, a deepening housing crisis, a broken planning system and critical deficits in water and energy are the direct result of a decade and a half of Government inaction, outsourcing and short-termism. What is the Government's answer? It produces another announcement accompanied by a glossy document but without any real action. This is a do-nothing Government scrambling to fix the problems of its own making.  In 2007, planning was deregulated by the then Government. In 2017, it was deregulated again with the introduction of the strategic housing development scheme, which slowed down planning, failed to increase supply and led to smaller and darker apartments. Now, once again, we have an action plan that bows to the interests of major developers rather than empowering local government and communities. It talks about a cultural shift but we need more than that. We need a transformation in our approach and a Government that is willing to step up and deliver for the people rather than being beholden to the corporate balance sheet. For too long, successive Governments have outsourced essential infrastructure to the private sector and left its delivery subject to the whims of market forces. We saw what happened in housing estates all over Kerry when their management was left in the hands of private companies. That approach did not work and the result is what we see today, namely, a seismic deficit in critical infrastructure.  The Government's plan acknowledges that project timelines for essential infrastructure for energy, transport and water have doubled over the past two decades. Electricity substations now take eight and a half years to construct, a small wastewater plant takes up to ten years and a major road project up to 15 years, and the costs are way higher. What does this plan say to the people waiting for wastewater in Ballyduff, Duagh, Castlegregory and Fenit in County Kerry, where all there is, in essence, is a hole in the ground and an Imhoff tank within metres of blue flag beaches? Without that critical infrastructure, no more than one or two houses can be built. These inexcusable delays are slowing the delivery of homes, choking off renewable energy, pushing up bills and contributing to a lower quality of life.  There is nothing in the plan about North-South infrastructure. We have areas of co-operation under the Good Friday Agreement but that is not enough. Cross-Border communities that rely on integrated road and rail networks, like the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor, require joint planning for road safety, port access and freight movement. The Government needs to catch up on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I welcome the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan. We need to act to ensure the delivery of housing and other infrastructure. I thank the Minister for his engagement on private wires, which is a huge priority for me.  It is all about delivery for the people of Ireland. The cost problem at the moment, especially when it comes to the electricity grid, is really hitting families in north Dublin. We talk all the time about high electricity prices, rents and construction costs. I am fed up with words. There are measures that can be taken quickly. At the climate and energy committee, I am constantly pushing for private wires, long-duration energy storage and solar panels to be allowed for plug-in batteries. I do not care who gets the credit for any of this. I have heard these measures mentioned by the Green Party and others. I just want them to be done. As long as they get done and we reduce energy costs, that is the most important thing.  We lack a system of consistent and transparent cost-benefit and fiscal sustainability assessments when it comes to major infrastructure projects. I was delighted that an amendment in this regard was accepted by the committee today. We need this to be done, especially when it comes to the public opposing infrastructure projects. If a cost-benefit analysis is done, it is much easier for us to defend a project. The public is paying the price for these failings and it is absolutely wrong.  One of the most frustrating issues relates to the constraints on grid access. The people making decisions regarding Ireland's grid are not being held accountable, which is why I would love the Minister to have more power in relation to State and semi-State bodies. As I have pointed out 100 times, a wind farm or solar farm cannot directly supply a nearby factory with energy, even if they are only metres apart, without going through the ESB or Eir. That need to change. I welcome the publication by the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, of the heads of the private wires Bill. That legislation really needs to progress. It will reduce congestion and lower systematic costs.  Regarding balcony solar, if we are serious about bringing costs down for ordinary people, we must be honest about what is required. Germany has 1.5 million balcony solar systems installed, with some estimates putting the number even higher. The model is simply: allow plug-in systems, finance them through savings in affordable housing and privatise them for households. Doing so could cut bills by \u20ac200 to \u20ac400. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  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 has been completed and a fortune has been spent but we are in a worse scenario now because the road has been narrowed and it is not safe for two vehicles of any kind to pass each other. The road from Blackwater Bridge to Tahilla and from Parknasilla to Sneem, also on the eastern side of the Ring of Kerry, is in a desperate state and it is not safe for rigid lorries, articulated lorries and buses to pass each other. I am asking the Government to look at that once again. I have raised it every year since I came up here.  I am asking for separate funding for bridges. Whether it is on local, regional or secondary and national primary roads, we have to wait far too long, sometimes two or three years, for these bridges to be repaired. These are bridges built in the 1880s. I am asking for real funding for the local improvement schemes in Kerry this year because there are still over 600 on the list that have not been attended to.  All over Kerry we have settlements that either have no sewage treatment plant or are looking for extensions. Castleisland has been looking for an extension for the sewerage scheme there since 1986. Imagine that. I found it above in my father's shed a number of years ago. He was at it at that time. Scartaglin, Corra and Beaufort do not have treatment plants. In Moyvane you cannot build another house. I could go on and on. When Kerry County Council was operating the sewage treatment services it had a list and there was a priority list. I do not know what the Minister of State is reading now but I am asking him to find that priority list and go back through it. These people were promised, almost 20 years ago, that their treatment plant was to be brought forward.  There are 170 houses waiting to start in Kenmare, where we have not had a private estate built in 20 years. What we are waiting for now is water. Like I said in the House the other day, we have water coming down out of the sky every day and we are surrounded by lakes up on the hill but there is no water going into the pipe. I am asking the Government once again to deal with this because if the 170 houses are not built and water is the cause, I will clear the whole lot of you out of it myself. This has been going on for long enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Frankie Feighan)  I thank Members for their constructive and insightful contribution to the debate, which affirms the importance of public investment in the delivery of capital projects and programmes and the urgent need to remove the barriers to infrastructure development. What has been made very clear is that, collectively, we know what the challenges we face are and that infrastructure deficits remain in certain sectors. I thank Members for articulating that. That is why this Government has prioritised investment in water, energy and transport, which will provide the necessary structures to boost national competitiveness and deliver more homes, schools and healthcare facilities.  As outlined by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in his opening statement, the review of the national development plan sees the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State over the period to 2035, with a commitment to invest \u20ac275 billion to significantly improve our infrastructure stock. This, in turn, will develop our economy, deliver our housing targets and boost our competitiveness. With such a high level of investment, we need to ensure that the provision of strategic and much-needed infrastructure is delivered in a timely manner, with an emphasis on boosting productivity and resilience and achieving value for money for the Exchequer. That is why the five key commitments for infrastructure delivery outlined in the programme for Government have been implemented.  As Members know, the review of the national development plan set out annual sectoral allocations for the period 2026 to 2030 and overall Government capital expenditure ceilings out to 2035. The review considered the most important challenges facing our economy and society, namely, addressing historical infrastructure pressures, ensuring balanced regional development in line with the national planning framework and meeting our climate obligations. To oversee the implementation of the national development plan, a new Cabinet committee on infrastructure has been formed to drive the delivery, accountability and value-for-money of major capital projects.  All Departments have published their infrastructure sectoral plans, which provide a clear pipeline of the capital projects to be delivered over the coming years. The National Development Finance Agency, NDFA, has been given a broader remit to provide Departments with financial, procurement and project delivery advice on public infrastructure projects. Furthermore, a new infrastructure division in the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation was established, with a deputy secretary general appointed last December and senior officials allocated and specialist staff appointed since.  A core remit of the division was leading and supporting the work of the accelerating infrastructure task force and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, led the publication of two substantial reports. The first, in July of last year, which followed a considerable process of external consultation and engagement, outlined the barriers to infrastructure delivery across the country and noted the regulatory environment, the planning and legal systems, drawing particular attention to the judicial review process, and internal systems across the public service and Civil Service, including fragmented governance, procurement challenges and capacity constraints.  This initial barriers report was followed by the Accelerating Infrastructure Report and Action Plan published in December. This report outlined five key objectives. These were: to accelerate delivery of critical infrastructure, particularly in the electricity, water, and transport sectors; to accelerate the delivery of all infrastructure by simplifying and streamlining the regulatory and consenting processes for infrastructure in general; to reduce delays caused by judicial reviews, regulatory complexity and fragmented approvals; to enhance co-ordination across government, utilities and local authorities; and to build public and political support for infrastructure projects.  The report set out 30 targeted actions across four strategic pillars to deliver on these objectives. The first pillar is legal reform designed to tackle excessive complexity in the regulatory and infrastructure environment at source without compromising on environmental standards, individual rights or good governance.  The second pillar focused on regulatory reform with a view to simplifying and standardising processes so that approvals run in parallel, where possible, aligning procedures across agencies, removing duplication and creating processes with predictable timelines and outcomes.  The third pillar is the reform of co-ordination and delivery within and across government, and with the construction sector. Alongside the publication of the NDP review, the departmental sectoral plans provide multi-annual funding certainty and outline a strong and clear pipeline of projects. This is a demonstrable commitment by the Government to the construction sector that gives predictability and supports the sector to invest in the capacity, skills and resources needed to meet the demand. On top of this, the new infrastructure division in our Department will take on a proactive oversight and monitoring role, assessing delivery of the action plan and identifying any barriers to impact.  The fourth pillar in the actions report focuses on public acceptance and civic engagement. Our ability to deliver on the critically needed infrastructure rests on societal support. The work under this pillar will focus on building public trust, accountability and improving public engagement processes. While infrastructure projects will be disruptive to some, they will benefit many and this pillar will build and support this mindset. Each of the actions that will be undertaken are clearly linked back to the barriers identified, accompanied by clear deadlines for implementation and with the majority focused in 2026. There is clear responsibility for each action and defined measures of success and accountability. Each action will have direct impact but, more importantly, is part of a considered and comprehensive strategic programme of reform. The total impact of the actions will be greater than the sum of the actions individually.  Since the publication of the actions report in December, officials in the Department have moved at pace to implement the changes identified and fundamentally shift the ecosystem underpinning Ireland\u2019s infrastructure delivery to support Ireland\u2019s competitiveness, deliver transport, water and energy services fit for the purposes of our growing country and, crucially, to deliver 300,000 new homes by 2030. Senior officials have been appointed, a newly composed infrastructure division has been confirmed and timelines and responsibilities for actions and sub-measures have been submitted. The task force will continue to meet regularly to support the delivery of the plan. As outlined by my colleague the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and reaffirmed here, while we have work to do, we have a clear programme of work to effect change, and we will continue to do everything in our power to increase the capacity to deliver the infrastructure needed for a modern and progressive society.  It is simply incorrect to claim judicial review reform is anti-democratic or designed to limit access to the courts. Nothing in the Government's approach removes or restricts the constitutional right to challenge decisions. Judicial reviews remain fully available and all EU-derived environmental safeguards remain intact. The suggestion that the number of judicial reviews is falling is not supported by any official data. The Courts Service report for 2024 stated that 241 new cases entered the planning and environmental list and it has now confirmed that 171 new judicial review proceedings commenced in 2025, out of a total 197 matters, with only 26 relating to non-judicial review applications.  The reform agenda builds on the levels of State investment. There are discussions about flooding. As a result, 56 flood relief schemes have now been completed, protecting 30,580 properties. However, I agree that the devastation caused by the flooding has been worrying. We also have the Enniscorthy flood relief scheme. This proposed scheme was refused under the Arterial Drainage Act in March 2022 on the basis of advice from independent environmental consultants, because of the adverse environmental impact of the scheme. I think it was the Taoiseach who said today that we need to protect people and property more sometimes. We have the environmental aspects as well, but we need to balance them in the right way.  The social infrastructure is committed for delivery, but it can only be done with the delivery of water, transport and electricity infrastructure. They are constituency projects and I appreciate their importance because I am from a constituency, but we have to have Government co-ordination.  I thank Deputies for their insightful participation in today's discussions on infrastructure and I look forward to more questions in the coming weeks and months. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Infrastructure Plan: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Agreements on Transfer of Passenger Name Record Data: Motions","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Liam Quaide)  Before I call on the Minister to open the debate, I remind Members that two separate motions are being debated in this slot, namely, the motion regarding the proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the signing of the agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of passenger name record, PNR, data; and the motion regarding the proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the conclusion of the agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of PNR data. The motions will be moved separately, but debated together and decided by separate questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure:  Proposal for a Council Decision on the conclusion of the Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime,  a copy of which was laid before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 11th December, 2025.  As the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach identified in his introductory comments, I am seeking the approval of the D\u00e1il to opt in to two European Commission proposals. I am seeking the approval of the D\u00e1il to opt in under Article 3 of Protocol 21 of the Treaty of the Functioning of the European Union. The first proposal is for a Council decision authorising the conclusion of an agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of PNR data. The second proposal for which I am seeking the approval of the D\u00e1il to opt in to is in respect of a decision authorising the signing of an agreement between the EU and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of PNR data.  The reason we are here seeking to opt in is that the proposed Council decisions have a Title V legal basis in the area of police co-operation. Their publication by the Commission on the 13 November 2025 triggered a three-month window for Ireland to exercise its opt-in option under Article 3 of Protocol 21, as I mentioned.  Deputies may recall that Ireland opted in to the negotiation of this agreement in February 2024. This process of coming before D\u00e1il and Seanad \u00c9ireann for the purpose of getting approval for the negotiation, conclusion and signing of the agreement between the European Union and Swiss Confederation signifies the extent to which there is democratic input into decisions proposed by the European Commission that need the approval of the Houses of the Oireachtas.  The negotiated agreement has two main aims and components, one relating to the necessity of ensuring public security by means of exchanging PNR data with the Swiss Confederation, and the other relating to the protection of privacy and other fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals. It also includes a joint declaration between the EU and the Swiss Confederation, which will promote mutual co-operation and exchanges of best practice and developments in the field of PNR data between the parties.  The collection and analysis of PNR data is a widely used law enforcement tool in the EU and other countries for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime. PNR data is the booking information provided by passengers and collected by air carriers for commercial purposes. It includes such information as names, dates of travel and travel itineraries. It is true that at present we do not have the same ability for people travelling by ferry, but that is being worked on in the European Union. The collection and analysis of PNR data can provide the authorities with important elements, allowing them to detect suspicious travel patterns and identify associates of criminals and terrorists, particularly those previously unknown to law enforcement authorities.  The use of PNR data is governed by the PNR directive, which was transposed into national law via the European Union (Passenger Name Record Data) Regulations 2018. The Irish passenger information unit in my Department is the body responsible for processing PNR data in Ireland. We have already opted in under Protocol 21, as colleagues will be aware, to similar PNR agreements with non-EU countries such as Iceland, Norway, Canada, Australia, the United States and the United Kingdom. In operational and policy terms, it is considered desirable that Ireland exercise an Article 3 opt-in to these proposals so we can participate in the agreed exchange of PNR data when the agreement has been concluded. That would not be available to us if we proceeded with the option of opting in under Article 4, which is an option that can arise after the agreements are concluded by the EU and the Swiss Confederation.  I commend these proposals to the House and seek the approval of the motions for the signing and conclusion of the agreement concerned. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I thank the Minister for outlining the detail of these proposals. He is certainly keeping us busy this week.  As I have said when we previously debated motions on the sharing of PNR data, this data is important for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of serious crimes and terrorist offences, including drug-related offences and human trafficking. This information forms part of the broader management of our borders, although there are limitations to what the data can be used for. International co-operation in the fight against crime is crucial and the sharing of this information is a key aspect of that.  I will put on the record again that the application of PNR data collection to ports and ferries needs to be examined, although I concede it will probably not be relevant to travel to Switzerland.  These motions relate to a Council decision to sign and conclude an agreement between the EU and the Swiss Confederation.  Sinn F\u00e9in is not opposing this motion.  As we are here again to discuss an opt-in under Protocol 21, I want to make a number of general points on the matter. In standing up for the democratic will of the Irish people, the Oireachtas has a responsibility to be on guard at all times against anything that could potentially undermine our sovereignty. We also have to be on guard against attempts to undermine the protections which were crucial for Ireland signing up to treaties that involved further and deeper EU integration. Whenever the Irish people have voted on EU treaties, protecting and maximising Irish sovereignty have been to the fore of many people's concerns. It was for this reason, and of course to protect the common travel area, that Protocol 21 of the Lisbon treaty was put in place.  There now needs to be a more comprehensive debate about where this State stands on the European Union and the areas described as freedom, security and justice. The regularity in which we faced opt-in motions and the comments of the Minister previously, following the review of Protocol 21 last year, suggest there is a move towards an ever greater ceding of sovereignty to the European Union in these areas. It would be useful if the Minister could outline, following the review, what measures Ireland is currently considering opting in to which we had previously opted out of. Individually, some of these matters might seem minor but the cumulative effect of a drift towards opting in to such measures is not always seen or understood by the public. There is no awareness that we are travelling in the direction of handing more and more powers over to the European Union, with little rationale in some instances. There is no discussion of the far-reaching implications of handing over increased powers in the areas of freedom, security and justice. There needs to be more concern about the ability of the people in this State to make decisions here in Ireland around matters in this area and less concern, in my view, about demonstrating our commitment to protecting and strengthening the EU's control over these areas.  More and more people are alive to the dangers inherent in ceding sovereignty as the practical implications become clear. We lost our veto over international trade deals as a result of the Lisbon treaty. We see now the impact of that with the Mercosur agreement, which is clearly not in Ireland's interests as a trade agreement. It poses serious threats to Irish agriculture, the environment and food safety standards, yet it appears we could be locked in if the European Court of Justice does not intervene. We see it with regard to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, CETA, which provides for an investor court system and exposes this State to the risk of being sued by foreign investors where State actions could be perceived as affecting negatively on their investments.  There will be other trade deals, some of which will be in Ireland's interests, and we will support them, while others may not be in our interests. The truth of the matter is that because we have ceded absolute control to a European framework which only provides for a qualified majority, there are likely to be instances where a deal is clearly not in the best interest of the Irish people and while an Irish Government may robustly oppose it, it will be implemented. For example, we know the EU is embarking on a free trade agreement with India. We do not know what the implications of that will be yet. There needs to be a full debate, which has not been the case in most respects.  All of this reminds us that, even when we make decisions technically or theoretically for the right reasons, any time a decision is made to hand over and cede power to the European Union, that has implications. I fear that the discussions we have are not sufficiently robust or considered and we generally deal with motions that are rushed through the House. There are of course areas where co-operation or collective EU processes are the best and most effective approach. Passenger name recognition is one of those areas, which is why we will not be opposing this motion.  We need to move beyond the simplistic argument that you are either pro-EU, and that means you support every single measure and proposal to cede sovereignty to the EU, or, as I would contend, you can be pro-EU but recognise there are consequences that have to be properly teased out. That is particularly the case in respect of areas where, under Protocol 21, we have opt-outs. Those opt-outs were secured for valid reasons and those reasons must be respected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  The motion before us asks the D\u00e1il to decide whether Ireland should exercise its opt-in, under Protocol 21, to participate in an EU agreement governing the transfer of passenger name record data between the European Union and Switzerland, for the purposes of counterterrorism and serious crime. Obviously, this is a decision that matters, not because co-operation with Switzerland is in any way controversial on its own but because passenger name record systems are, by design, a form of bulk data processing. They apply to the entire travelling populations, not solely to people suspected of an offence.  The House is being asked to approve this opt-in against a backdrop where European courts have repeatedly warned against general and indiscriminate data collection, where EU-level reviews accept the effectiveness of PNR is difficult to measure with precision and where the legal justification for these systems depends on continuous demonstration of necessity and proportionality. While the motion is presented as technical, it is certainly not neutral in its effect. Once adopted, it extends the reach of a surveillance framework beyond the Union to a third country and does so in a way that is legally binding on the State. That does not necessarily mean it is wrong, but it does mean it deserves more than a cursory nod through.  I accept the basic premise that co-operation between states is essential in tackling terrorism and serious organised crime. I also accept that Switzerland occupies a particular position, participating in Schengen co-operation while not being bound by the EU passenger name record directive in the same way as member states. I understand why an agreement is proposed and Ireland is being asked to exercise its opt-in under Protocol 21. However, understanding the rationale is not the same as switching off scrutiny.  Passenger name record data is extensive. It includes not just names and flight numbers, but patterns of movement, payment details and associations. It is bulk data relating to the vast numbers of people who are not suspected of any offence. That fact alone places responsibility on the House to ask questions about necessity and proportionality. We are told correctly that safeguards exist, that the agreement limits processing to terrorism and serious crime and restricts the use of sensitive data. It provides for depersonalisation oversight by independent authorities and judicial or equivalent authorisation for onward disclosure. Those protections absolutely matter and should be acknowledged. However, safeguards on paper are not the end of a conversation; they should be the starting point.  European institutions acknowledge that assessing the effectiveness of PNR systems is not straightforward. The Commission's review described PNR as contributing to investigation, while also conceding that the data can be inconsistent. Outcomes are difficult to isolate and success is often measured in contribution, rather than in clear causation. That is not a criticism; it is just part of reality. However, it means legislators are entitled to ask whether bulk data collection remains justified as a generalised tool, rather than something more targeted and intelligence-led. This question becomes more important in light of the direction of travel in European case law. Courts have repeatedly cautioned against general and indiscriminate data collection. While PNR has not been struck down, it exists in a narrowing legal space, one in which necessity and proportionality must be continuously justified, not simply assumed.  My concern is not specific to Switzerland; it is about accumulation. Each individual opt-in looks modest and technical. Taken together, however, these measures expand the reach of surveillance gradually, often without sustained public debate. Again, that is not an argument against co-operation but an argument for vigilance.  There is also a democratic point here. Motions of this kind are often framed as routine but, once adopted, they become binding. That makes it all the more important that Members use this moment to place concerns and questions on the record, rather than treating the vote as simply a formality.  The Social Democrats will not oppose this motion but we are approaching it with the required level of scepticism. If we are confident in the framework, then confidence should be accommodated by clarity, clear evidence of effectiveness, clear explanation of how rights are protected once data leaves EU systems, and clear reassurances of what is lawful today will continue to be justified tomorrow, particularly as technology and analytical capacity evolve. Public trust in law enforcement does not rest on secrecy or scale; it should rest on restraint, transparency and proportionality. Those principles should guide how we assess measures like this, even when they are presented as technical and even when the objectives are ones we will share. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I thank Deputies Carthy and Gannon for their contributions. Deputy Carthy raised several issues in respect of Ireland's sovereignty. The fact these issues are being debated in this House, and subsequently will be debated and voted on in the Seanad, indicates Irish democracy is very much at the heart of the consideration of these proposals.  There have been three parts to the PNR agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation.  First of all, there was a vote by both Houses of the Oireachtas back in 2024 in terms of determining whether we would enter into negotiations between the EU and the Swiss Confederation. Both Houses voted on that and both Houses agreed that we wanted to opt in to the negotiation. Today we are voting on whether we wish to approve the conclusion of that negotiation and then subsequently the signing of the agreement between the EU and the Swiss Confederation. There have been at least six debates in the Houses of the Oireachtas in respect of this ultimate agreement between the EU and the Swiss Confederation. As I mentioned earlier, the EU has entered into PNR agreements with other non-EU countries and, in respect of each or most of them, there has been similar democratic underpinning within Ireland's Houses of the Oireachtas so I think that is very clear evidence that the elected representatives of the Irish people have had a very significant say and vote in respect of each of these stages of these agreements.  I listened to what Deputy Carthy had to say on the ceding of sovereignty. I disagree with Deputy Carthy on this. I think the strength of Ireland derives from the fact that we recognise that in order to have strength and influence in this world, one really needs to be part of a multilateral arrangement. That is why Ireland's membership of the EU makes us strong. I do not believe that by becoming a member of the EU, Ireland has in some way reduced its sovereignty. In fact, I think that our sovereignty is as strong as ever but we certainly have increased our influence. We have seen a very recent example on this island and the island beside us, where people decided that they wanted to leave the EU because they thought they would be able to exercise greater sovereignty and greater control over their own affairs. That did not happen. I am very confident that the proposal here has a democratic mandate and I believe the sovereignty of Ireland has been increased and strengthened by our continued support for the EU.  Deputy Gannon mentioned issues in respect of PNR data agreements. Obviously, as he will be aware, there are specific rules in respect of the retention of PNR data. It is procured and collected in the first instance solely for the purpose of fighting terrorism and serious crime. He will also be aware that this data has to be processed and controlled in accordance with fundamental human rights. He may be aware that a case was brought to the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, back in 2022 by the Human Rights League in Belgium challenging the PNR directive that had been brought in by the EU. The CJEU upheld the PNR directive. Issues concerning fundamental rights are at the heart of the PNR directive. It has gone to the CJEU and the court has recognised the validity of it because it is consistent in protecting the fundamental rights of individuals.  When it comes to the agreements between the EU and other entities around the world, we have to be able to enter into agreements with countries such as Switzerland and Canada. If we cannot enter into agreements with countries as benign as those two countries, we are going to find ourselves in a very difficult position. I appreciate and welcome the fact that Deputies Gannon and Carthy are supporting this proposed conclusion and signing of the agreement with the Swiss Confederation. I would also look for them to express similar support when it comes to the agreement between the EU and Canada, which is really a fundamental agreement. We should be able to enter into an agreement with a country as benign as Canada when it comes to ensuring that trade operates effectively between the EU and Canada. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann approves the exercise by the State of the option or discretion under Protocol No. 21 on the position of the United Kingdom and Ireland in respect of the area of freedom, security and justice annexed to the Treaty on European Union and to the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union, to take part in the adoption and application of the following proposed measure:  Proposal for a Council Decision on the signing, on behalf of the European Union, of the Agreement between the European Union and the Swiss Confederation on the transfer of Passenger Name Record (PNR) data for the prevention, detection, investigation and prosecution of terrorist offences and serious crime,  a copy of which was laid before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 11th December, 2025. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Agreements on Transfer of Passenger Name Record Data: Motions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/6","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/6\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":60,"speakerCount":32},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move:  \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I am very pleased to introduce the International Protection Bill 2026 to the House. Migration has been a distinctive feature of Ireland\u2019s history. Few countries in Europe have been as affected by emigration over the past two centuries as Ireland, with millions having left in search of safe haven, economic prosperity and opportunities not afforded to them at home. In recent years, we have become a country that is able to provide the opportunities those who emigrated once sought. We are a safe and successful country with a vibrant economy, which has meant that people from across the globe want to come to Ireland in search of a better life. Over the years, we have seen the invaluable contribution that foreign-born workers have made in Ireland. These include workers in our healthcare system, hospitality industry, construction sector and tech industry. Each of these sectors has benefited from, and relies on, the excellent work provided by migrants who have come to Ireland to work. This Government is very clear about the value of migration to Ireland. The vast majority of people coming to Ireland are here to work or study.  This Government also fundamentally believes in the right to claim asylum. We will always uphold our obligation on this important principle of international law for the sake of those who need our protection. At the same time, migration and asylum have given rise to challenges not only for Ireland, but across the EU. Migration and asylum are shared challenges that are increasingly difficult for any one country to deal with acting alone in a globalised and interdependent world.  In 2025, my Department received approximately 13,000 applications for international protection. Although this is down 30% from the 2024 figure of 18,500, it is clear that issues will arise when attempting to deal with large numbers of international protection applicants in a system that was not designed to handle such demand. Decisions have historically taken far too long. This situation benefits no one. It does not serve applicants who are granted international protection, who face challenges in integrating into Irish society due to these delays; it does not benefit the State to have increasingly high demands placed on an already stretched accommodation system; and it undermines public confidence in the systems and agencies designed to provide effective protection to those who need it. The challenges we currently face in providing an asylum system that is fit for purpose are shared by other EU member states. The overall objective of the migration and asylum pact is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure. This will be achieved through convergence in asylum practices across the EU.  It is for these reasons that I am introducing the International Protection Bill 2026. This Bill delivers on the programme for Government commitment to implement the regulations and directives agreed by the EU by 12 June 2026. This Bill represents the most significant reform of Irish asylum laws in the history of the State. It will put in place a new framework to manage migration and asylum for the long term. It will improve decision-making structures within the international protection system and provide faster timelines for the processing of international protection applications. The overall objective of the Bill is to provide a fair, sustainable and efficient asylum procedure that is consistent with how asylum laws operate across the EU.  In that context, I would like to address the recommendation of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, which is chaired by Deputy Carthy and of which Deputy Gannon is a member, in its pre-legislative scrutiny report that opting out of the majority of the EU migration and asylum pact be reconsidered. The pact and the Bill introduce faster processing of asylum claims with a much more efficient decision-making system. Faster processing will mean that applicants spend less time in International Protection Accommodation Service, IPAS, centres and will significantly reduce the cost of the asylum system to the State.  Faster decision-making will also mean that successful applicants will be granted international protection sooner and those whose applications are refused can be returned to their country of origin sooner. Having a common system across the EU makes sure that all applicants are treated the same in every member state, with no incentive to move from one to another. If Ireland had not opted in to the pact, it is likely that we would face higher levels of secondary movement, slower processing and a less efficient returns system. This would result in applicants staying in the system for much longer, at much greater cost to the State in terms of the provision of accommodation and other supports.  If Members say that we should not have opted in to the regulations and directives associated with the EU migration pact, they should then recognise there is still an ability for them to put into this Bill what they say they would like to see in it. I am conscious that Deputy Carthy will, I suspect, say that he would not have opted in to the pact. That may very well be the position of Sinn F\u00e9in but there is an obligation on Deputy Carthy and Sinn F\u00e9in to state what measures they would like to see in this legislation that are not in it at present. We can just ignore the pact and decide what Members want to put into the Bill that is not in it at present. That is something that would focus minds on whether or not this is the best method of reforming the asylum process, and I believe it is.  It is for all these reasons that the Government and both Houses of the Oireachtas have given approval in accordance with the Constitution for Ireland to opt in to these measures. The proposal to opt-in was debated at length in the Houses before the opt-in motions were approved. It is difficult, therefore, to understand how the joint committee made the recommendation it did. I should add that it would not be legally possible to seek to opt out even if that was the democratic wish of the Houses of the Oireachtas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Exactly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  Because there was a democratic vote by the Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas, which I presume the Deputies accept. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  It means that the Government is locked in with a ratchet. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  In preparation for the commencement of the Act, my Department has already begun to operate elements of the new asylum border procedure and to transition gradually to fully implementing the provisions that will be set out in this legislation. This transition is being undertaken within the framework of the existing legislation, which is the International Protection Act 2015. To begin this transition, new readiness teams were established in June 2025. Operations began in Citywest reception centre in July 2025, in partnership with the International Protection Office, IPO, the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, IPAT, the International Protection Accommodation Service and the immigration service delivery\u2019s repatriation team. This phased approach has enabled my Department to test the ability of the international protection system in its entirety to process cases within the required timeframe of the future asylum border procedure and to make adjustments where necessary. This work has allowed my Department to identify pressure points and practical challenges across the process, to create new standard operating procedures and to set out future training needs.  I will now turn to the detail of the Bill. The Bill is divided into 15 Parts which I will briefly outline. Part 1 deals with preliminary matters. Chapter 2 provides that the Minister for justice is the designated determining authority for the purposes of the pact measures to determine whether a person qualifies as a refugee or is eligible for subsidiary protection. Chapter 2 provides for the application of the concepts of first country of asylum and safe third country.  Part 2 of the Bill sets out matters relating to the taking of biometric data and the screening of applicants for international protection. Chapter 1 provides for the taking and transmission of data to Eurodac as well as the management of this data. Chapter 2 ensures appropriate alignment with the screening regulation. Persons applying for international protection will undergo screening. Chapter 2 provides for the designation of screening centres, the screening process and preliminary health and vulnerability checks.  Part 3 provides for the procedures that will apply where a person applies for international protection. Chapter 1 provides for the making, registration and lodgement of applications for international protection. Chapter 2 makes provision for the appointment of representatives and provisional representatives for unaccompanied minors. Chapter 3 outlines the assessment process for determining the age of an applicant. The new age assessment process will meet the requirements of the asylum procedures regulation and will involve a multi-disciplinary assessment. Chapter 4 provides for an applicant's right to remain in the State while his or her application is being examined and the limitations and exceptions attached to the right to remain. Chapter 4 also provides for the international protection applicant card. Chapter 5 makes provision for explicit and implicit withdrawal of applications. Chapter 6 provides for subsequent applications.  Part 4 implements provisions of the asylum and migration management regulation relating to the determination of the member state responsible for examining an international protection application. Part 4 provides for the determination of the member state responsible for examining an application. Provision is made for matters relating to transfer decisions. Part 4 sets out the procedures that will apply when Ireland is the member state responsible for examining an application. The new responsibility provisions replace the Dublin III regulation.  Part 5 deals with the examination of international protection applications. Chapter 1 provides for the use of a medical examination for indications of past persecution or serious harm. Chapter 2 provides for the examination and, where necessary, the prioritisation of applications for international protection. Chapter 3 stipulates the requirements for interviews of applicants. Chapter 4 outlines the different decisions that can be made in relation to applications and sets out arrangements for the granting of refugee status or subsidiary protection status. Chapter 5 provides for the accelerated examination procedure. Chapter 6 implements the provisions of the asylum procedures regulation relating to the asylum border procedure. This new procedure sets a 12-week time limit for first instance and appeal decisions to be completed for certain categories of applications. The aim is to issue decisions in the quickest time possible to those less likely to have an entitlement to international protection. That is one of the most significant aspects of this new legislation. It places an obligation on this State to ensure that we process applications, in certain instances under the asylum border procedure, within a period of 12 weeks. That expedited process is fair to the applicant and fair to the State.  Part 6 deals with the right of an applicant to appeal to the new tribunal for asylum and returns appeals where an application for international protection is refused at first instance. The time limits to appeal will be set at the maximum of the range specified in asylum procedures regulation. These time limits will be 10 days for appeals where the applicant was subject to the accelerated examination procedure or asylum border procedure and one month for other appeals. The tribunal will be required to make a decision in respect of an appeal without holding an oral hearing unless the appeals officer is of the opinion that a full and ex nunc examination of both facts and points of law cannot be achieved without an oral hearing. That is another very significant change that will arise as a result of this legislation, if it is enacted. At present, most appeals are determined alongside an oral hearing. In future, oral hearings under the new legislative procedure will be the exception. The phrase \" ex nunc \" is a Latin phrase essentially meaning \"from now on\". It is used as a legal term to signify that the appeal will take account of circumstances pertaining at the time of the appeal and not in the past. In deciding whether an oral hearing is necessary, the appeals officer must have regard to guidelines issued by the chief appeals officer relating to appeals.  Part 7 deals with the rights and entitlements of persons who have been granted international protection. It provides for certain rights for beneficiaries of international protection and permission to reside in the State.  Part 8 sets out the circumstances where voluntary return to a person\u2019s country of origin, country of former habitual residence, or a third country where the person is legally entitled to reside, may be offered. The option of voluntary return will not be offered to persons who have committed a serious offence or who are a danger to the security of the State. Part 8 also makes provision for withdrawal of international protection and the right to appeal of a person subject to withdrawal of international protection.  Part 9 provides for the making of a return decision at the same time as a decision which rejects an international protection application. When a return decision is made, an entry ban notice will be issued to require the person to remain outside the State. Where a person opts for voluntary return, complies with all aspects and satisfactorily confirms his or her return, the entry ban notice and return decision will be revoked. However, an entry ban notice will not be revoked where the person poses a risk to public policy, public order or national security. That combination of returns and exclusion is a new aspect to it as well. Chapter 2 provides for appropriate alignment with relevant provisions of the return border procedure regulation. Applicants whose applications are rejected under the asylum border procedure will, with limited exceptions, be placed in the return border procedure.  Part 10 provides for matters relating to programme refugees and the process that will apply where it is proposed that Ireland should request the European Commission to activate the procedure in the crisis and force majeure regulation.  Part 11 provides for the establishment, membership and functions of the new tribunal. It will be known as the tribunal for asylum and returns appeals. It will operate separately from IPAT and deal only with appeals against international protection returns decisions made under this legislation, which will commence on 12 June.  Part 12 provides for the establishment of an independent monitoring mechanism, as provided for in the screening regulation and the asylum border procedures regulation, which will be headed by a chief inspector of asylum border procedures. The chief inspector will monitor compliance with EU and international law, including the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union, during the screening of applicants and the application of the asylum border procedure. The chief inspector will have the power to investigate allegations of breaches of rights and to inspect asylum border facilities. Part 12 will also establish an advisory board for the chief inspector. The advisory board\u2019s purpose will be to consult, guide and advise the chief inspector in relation to his or her duties and the performance of his or her functions.  Part 13 makes provision for miscellaneous matters, including the designation of safe countries of origin and safe third countries.  Part 14 provides for transitional provisions and amendments to the International Protection Act 2015. Existing caseloads of applications and appeals will continue to be processed under the 2015 Act, with the new arrangements applying to international protection applications lodged from 12 June of this year.  Part 15 provides for amendments to other enactments.  The Schedule sets out the text of the 1951 Refugee Convention and 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees.  I now want to mention the amendments I intend to introduce on Committee and Report Stages. I will introduce amendments to give effect to the reception conditions directive. These will include provisions for material reception conditions, restrictions of freedom of movement, detention, alternatives to detention, special reception needs and labour market access. There will be amendments to make provision for legal counselling, legal advice and legal aid, as required under the asylum procedures regulation. I will introduce provisions on temporary protection, which will include expanded and clarified provisions to deal with the temporary protection of displaced persons, including revocation of temporary protection.  My Department and the Office of the Attorney General are developing provisions for inclusion in the Bill to give effect to the proposals approved by the Government last November on family reunification. These propose that beneficiaries of international protection must wait for a defined period before bringing family members to Ireland and must be able to show proof that they are self-sufficient. I am reflecting on the appropriate period to ensure the correct balance is struck between the interests of the Irish public and those seeking family reunification, recognising that our resources are not unlimited and that those seeking reunification should be able to support any persons joining them.  Before I finish, I would like to address suggestions that this Bill is prioritising speed over fairness. I do not believe that is accurate. This legislation strikes a fair balance between the two. It reinforces Ireland\u2019s commitment to providing refuge and protection to those who need it. This will be done by building a system that is sustainable, fair and efficient and that meets our obligations under international law.  I look forward to working with colleagues in the House as we continue our discussions on this important legislation in the coming weeks. It is obviously very significant legislation. It is very lengthy and detailed, and I want to give the House as much time as possible on Second Stage for its consideration. That is why I think three days have been allocated for the purpose of debating this on Second Stage. I look forward to hearing contributions from other Deputies in the House. I will listen to them closely, as will my colleague Deputy Brophy, the Minister of State, who has worked very closely with me on formulating these proposals.  Although colleagues are perfectly entitled to be critical of the proposals put forward by the Government, I ask them to put forward how they would change the legislation if they were in the same position as me and the Minister of State. If they had an opportunity to include provisions to change asylum laws in Ireland, what changes would they make? They should not feel obliged to restrict themselves to what is within the parameters of the EU regulations and directives. They should tell us what measures they would like to see within our asylum laws in Ireland. These measures will be given consideration. I commend the Bill to the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  As the Minister has acknowledged, the primary purpose of the International Protection Bill is to provide for Ireland\u2019s opting in to the EU migration and asylum pact. The State had an opt-out from that pact but Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael decided to discard it. They did that for narrow political reasons, so that they could say they had done something about immigration, when in fact all they have done is tie the hands of future Governments in making decisions in respect of immigration policy. It was an act of folly that has now been recognised by virtually everyone, except, of course, the Government itself.  The pre-legislative scrutiny report on the Bill by the cross-party Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, which the Minister has alluded to, recommended that the Government reconsider opting out of the majority of the provisions of the EU migration and asylum pact. During its deliberations, the committee received numerous written and oral submissions on the Bill, coming from very different perspectives, but there was one point on which it seemed everyone agreed: there is no chance that the Government will be able to deliver on the obligations it has signed up to within the timeframe laid out in the legislation.  Reflecting on the evidence the committee received, the report raised serious concerns about the ability of the State to meet the requirements it is signing up to under the EU pact, and noted that failures to adhere to the commitments under the pact could result in infringement proceedings and hefty fines. In other words, the Irish taxpayer could end up paying huge sums in EU fines for not adhering to the terms of a pact that there was no logical reason or obligation to sign up to in the first place.  Sinn F\u00e9in has been clear from the outset that signing up wholesale to the EU migration and asylum pact is not in Ireland\u2019s interest. We will continue to oppose moves that undermine Irish sovereignty and that hand over more powers to the EU, particularly when that impedes our ability to make decisions in respect of migration.  Here is the point on democracy that the Minister seems to miss. He acknowledges it would not be legally possible to seek to opt out of measures we have opted into and are legally required to implement. The difficulty is that democracy is not just about the ability of governments to make decisions; it is also about the ability of the people to kick governments out and allow other governments to make different decisions if that reflects their will. The Minister\u2019s party and Fine Gael have locked us into provisions that no other Government can opt out of.  The international protection system in this State is close to dysfunctional and riddled with problems. Fixing those problems does not require us to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact. In fact, that approach diverts efforts away from addressing them and into the charade we have today, where the Department is instead concentrating on rushing legislation through the Oireachtas to meet an EU deadline.  As has been said many times, the pact does not consider Ireland\u2019s unique position as a divided nation with an EU member state and a non-EU member state, and as a State that is part of a common travel area with a neighbouring island outside the EU, from which most international protection applicants, the Minister tells us, actually travel to Ireland.  Let us be clear: we did not need to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact to sort out delays in processing applications. We did not need the pact to address delays in the appeals system. We did not need the pact to ensure decisions are enforced. We do not need the pact to address the ongoing profiteering that is the hallmark of this system. We do not need an EU pact for any of those things. We need a competent government. Instead, we are presented with a complex and extensive Bill that has been rushed through to comply with an EU deadline. This is no way to legislate or to allow proper scrutiny. Before we even begin to look at this Bill, we are told the Minister will be introducing substantial amendments on Committee Stage. It appears that the Government may also attempt to bypass the committee, again avoiding proper scrutiny of all aspects of this Bill. This rushed, panicky approach leads me to believe it will be only a matter of time before these Houses are dealing with amending legislation to fix new problems, which will undoubtedly emerge in the implementation of this Bill.  If we are to have a robust, fair and enforceable system, concerns that the Bill may not provide sufficient protections for vulnerable applicants, including victims of trafficking and stateless persons, need to be addressed. Significant concerns were raised during the pre-legislative scrutiny process regarding what is meant by legal counselling and who will be able to provide it. These need to be addressed. There are also concerns about the ability to meet the timeframes set out in the Bill, given the current crisis in legal aid and the fact that Tusla is significantly overstretched. Stakeholders and legal experts have told us about other concerns, and if the Minister does not allow the committee to deal with them during the process he will essentially prevent the Oireachtas from doing its job.  I firmly believe, and I will continue to say this, that it should be a priority for this State to retain maximum sovereignty in the areas of freedom, security and justice. That is why we had an opt-out under Protocol 21.  In the context of the migration and asylum pact, I have stated that we should not have opted in to the procedures regulation, the crisis on force majeure regulation, the qualification directive, the reception conditions directive or the EU settlement framework. I have acknowledged it and Sinn F\u00e9in has said this. It appears that this is what the Minister does not understand. There are a number of aspects of the pact that it was in Ireland's interest to opt into. We supported opt-ins relating to the asylum and migration management regulation and the Eurodac regulation. That was because these regulations are necessary for the sharing of information and implementing a returns policy. That makes sense, but we also have to recognise that protecting and maximising sovereignty in the context of EU integration has been demonstrated to be an important value of the Irish people. We have seen that with EU treaties. It is the people of this country who are best placed to make decisions and adjudicate on Governments in the context of how they are implemented.  The Government signed up to all aspects of the EU pact but is not prepared to deal with the implications of that. As already stated, there is no consideration of the common travel area, CTA, despite Government asserting that most international protection applicants actually arrive via the CTA. The fact that opt-outs under Protocol 21 exist in the first place is the result - as Government acknowledged in its own electronic travel authorisation, ETA - of the need to maintain the CTA with Britain. What we learned from the justice committee's pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme of what has become the International Protection Bill is that while the Government signed up to all aspects of the pact, it is not prepared for the implications of that. Officials acknowledge that there is no consideration regarding the CTA area and that the Department has no idea how much we could be liable for in infringement proceedings if we are unable to meet the requirements of the pact.  I have raised with the Minister on a number of occasions the need for a bilateral agreement with Britain on returns. We need a bilateral agreement with Britain to ensure those international protection applicants who should be processed in Britain can be returned there in a timely way. In 2020, Ireland and Britain signed and agreed informal non-legally binding operational arrangements, but very little has been done to advance these. It is now time to do so. I contend that doing so should be a priority.  As a sovereign state, Ireland can and should put in place an international protection system and migration policy that is robust, fair and enforced and that is based on the unique circumstances and challenges that the State faces. That this is not yet being done is a political failure. It is because of the failures of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael in government that our migration and international protection system is operating in crisis mode. Decisions and appeals are taking too long. On average, it now takes more than two and a half years for an international protection application to be finalised. Deportations are not enforced. Ministers have acknowledged here time and time again that in many cases they do not actually know whether people who are subject to orders have left the country or not.  Last year, there were 4,700 deportation orders signed and 2,700 confirmed deportations. In 2024, there were 2,403 deportation orders signed and 1,122 confirmed deportations. In 2023, there were 859 orders and 318 confirmed deportations. It can be seen that in each of those years, the figures relating to confirmed deportations were less than half the number of those signed. That is the reality that the Minister has attempted to obscure by focusing on a small number of high-profile deportation flights. By removing profiteering, resourcing the system and enforcing decisions, we could actually have a fair system that works for the people of this country and for those fleeing war and persecution. Binding us to EU rules that do not account for our unique challenges is not the answer.  Any discussion on the international protection system must address the massive, ongoing profiteering from the provision of IPAS accommodation that is often inappropriate . The cost of IPAS accommodation exceeded \u20ac1 billion last year. Hundreds of millions more will be spent on accommodation for Ukrainians. A small number of private operators have made millions from the Government's dysfunctional approach. There is no transparency, including around what qualifies many of these operators to provide services. The accommodation and the services provided at a very high cost have, it must be said, also often been low quality. There have been significant problems in relation to issues such as fire safety. The average rate that is being paid per bed per day for IPAS accommodation rose by 68% between 2022 and 2024. That resulted in massive profits for providers of accommodation.  In one case, we famously saw a company that was previously operating as a caf\u00e9 go from making \u20ac2,000 in profits annually to paying its directors \u20ac4.5 million in a single year. The Comptroller and Auditor General was scathing in his review of IPAS contracts. His report found there was a lack of due diligence, gaps in payment controls and no contracts for properties where substantial payments were being made. There were even issues with a lack of insurance and fire certificates. The report found that the detail in some invoices lacked clarity, that it was not possible to reconcile claimed capacity in some cases as contracts were not available, and that the prepayment checklist used by IPAS did not include a check to verify the correct capacity or occupancy. The review found that for 35% of the samples examined, the invoiced rate was not clear and could not be verified because signed contracts were not available. Those issues emerged on foot of just a small sample of the contracts examined by the Comptroller and Auditor General. What is happening is clear.  I have said time and again that I do not know why the Minister refuses to act. There has to be a thorough review of every IPAS contract because there are, without question, other scandals that have yet to be divulged to Irish taxpayers who are picking up the tab. It is disgraceful that Ministers just shrug off any calls for accountability and transparency in respect of this matter. In the pre-legislative scrutiny report on general scheme of the International Protection Bill, there was a recognition of the profiteering that has taken place to date and a recommendation that the amount paid per day per bed for accommodation in the international protection system be capped. Given what has been exposed to date in regard to contracts relating to IPAS accommodation, the committee also recommended that due diligence, vetting and beneficial ownership takes be required in respect of any company or organisation that seeks to secure a contract for the provision of accommodation or services for those in the international protection system.  If we are to address the problems with the international protection system, then we need to also address the matter of where IPAS accommodation is located. To date, the location of IPAS accommodation has been decided on one criterion alone, namely the availability of a building or, in other words, by the private interests of property owners. It is an approach that has caused division and created anger and frustration in communities who have felt they are entirely disconnected from decisions that affect their local area. Sinn F\u00e9in has been clear that new IPAS centres should only be placed in areas where the resources are in place to accommodate them. That means not in areas where people are already struggling in terms of a lack of resources. We have said that the Pobal HP deprivation index should be used to identify communities that should absolutely not be considered for emergency accommodation.  The process of identifying suitable locations should commence with a pre-assessment of the needs of communities. That is the only way to ensure that the needs of both the communities and IPAS residents can be met. The availability of services, including GPs and school places, proximity to transport and existing levels of disadvantage in areas should govern the selection of locations for accommodations, not simply the fact that a private operator has a building they are willing to allow to be used in this process. Again, the planning exemption for IPAS and Ukrainian accommodation should end now. These were emergency measures that are now being abused as a mechanism to avoid any input from local communities. We have increasingly seen the ludicrous situation across the State where planning exemptions are being sought by property owners for a buildings the Department insists it is not even considering for this purpose. That becomes fertile ground for those with negative agendas to create confusion and division within communities.  As I mentioned, there are serious questions regarding the Government's ability to meet the timeframes for processing set out in this legislation, given the extensive delays that have characterised the international protection system to date. The Government's implementation plan for the EU migration and asylum pact projects staffing numbers in the event of either 15,000 applicants being in the system or in the event of there being 18,000 in July. The staffing complement required to process 15,000 applicants is 1,549. The staffing complement to process 18,000 applicants is 1,769. Last year, between the International Protection Office, the international protection and integration division of the Department and the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, there were 926 staff and 107 vacancies. That is a vacancy rate of over 10%. The total number is nowhere near the projected requirements.  There are also very serious concerns that neither Tusla nor the civil legal aid system will be able to cope with the demands they will face under this legislation. The Legal Aid Board has indicated that it may struggle to meet the demand for its services within the tighter timeframes provided for under the Bill. Of course, there are very good reasons to have very serious concerns about the capacity of Tusla to fulfil the responsibilities ascribed to it under this Bill when we consider the number of unaccompanied migrant children who have gone missing from State care in recent years and the myriad other debacles Tusla has been involved in. It is easy to understand the questions people will ask about the logic of adding to its role. There is understandable apprehension about the ability of the State to keep vulnerable children safe and particularly given the role of traffickers and people smugglers in bringing minors into the State and their involvement in their subsequent disappearance from State care. Given that this legislation contains provisions in respect of vulnerability checks, I want to highlight again the continued links the Department has with a company that was previously found to have supplied fake Garda vetting documents in the context of vulnerability assessments.  It is questionable how the timeframe set out in the EU pact will be met while maintaining a fair and robust system, particularly in view of the current processing timelines, increasing the risk the State will face infringement proceedings and large fines.  It is crucial that those granted international protection are integrated into Irish society, that they are facilitated in participating in their local communities in order that they can get to know their neighbours and wider community and that they be given the opportunities to learn about Irish culture, language, history and values and share their own with us. In other countries where this has not been done, we can see how it has undermined social cohesion and created divisions and ghettoisation.  The Minister has indicated that he will bring forward amendments to delay family reunification by three years. These proposals are a distraction from the real problems with the system, including delays and the failure to enforce deportations. The latter have had a much more significant impact in terms of numbers. Last year, 669 applications for family reunification were granted, including in respect of 452 children and 153 spouses. That compares with the more than 2,500 deportation orders that were not enforced last year. Family reunification plays a critical role in the successful integration of refugees. There need to be mechanisms around self-sufficiency and we need a robust system that is enforced, but we do not need to either be performative or undermine integration, which is key to social cohesion. Family reunification policies need to be sustainable but also fair, particularly in the reunification of parents and their children.  The Minister mentioned a number of times that there will be lots of opportunities for the Opposition to bring forward amendments. I think he said he would welcome amendments from the Opposition. Will he give a commitment that when the Opposition goes to the effort of preparing amendments, he will show us the courtesy of allowing them to be properly considered and scrutinised? Will he also give a commitment that the select committee will have an opportunity to scrutinise, debate and tease out the amendments he brings forward. The only way we can do that is if we actually deal with Committee Stage at the select committee. Will the Minister to give a commitment that he will not try to guillotine this Bill or bring it in here as a mechanism to try to rush it through? There are things more important than EU pacts. These include the right of the Irish people to know that their legislators looked through every line of what the Minister described as the most significant piece of migration legislation to come before these Houses in many years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  We are talking in a bit of a vacuum here because any amendments the Minister has spoken about bringing forward, either in the media or here, have not actually been brought forward. As the previous speaker indicated, we should discuss any amendments in full on Committee Stage. I also ask that the Minister not guillotine the Bill. As he stated, it is such an important and comprehensive Bill. On foot of that, it should not be guillotined in any shape or form.  There are a lot of concerns about the Bill because so many areas require scrutiny. The detention of unaccompanied children is a major issue. The creation of a disproportionate and overarching power for the Minister is something I will speak about in a moment. The information that will be provided to an applicant as part of this process and what it is in totality does not seem clear. There are issues around age assessments. Safeguarding is a huge area. There is also the issue of vulnerability assessment in the context of the fact that there will only be preliminary analysis done rather than an ongoing process, particularly as some things not be caught or discovered in the initial process. There are issues in relation to the independence of the appeals body. The Government is very unclear about the scope of the chief inspectorate and whether oral appeals will be allowed. There are also issues with the powers the Minister will be granted.  There seems to be a pattern within the Department regarding a lot of the legislation and work it is bringing through. Much of this is not fully finished. I appreciate that there are amendments and legislation that need to be brought in, but there is so much that is not fundamentally not tied down in this Bill. We just do not know whether the provisions relating to many areas are going to be legally sound. I do not know if the Minister knows they will be legally sound. I am genuine in saying that. I admit that this is a very tricky area, but there is a time conditionality involved. While we are trying to work with the Minister, it is genuinely difficult to do so when we are shooting in the dark, which is what we are doing here.  There are a number of omissions when it comes to the Bill. Legal counselling is not mentioned or defined. My colleague Deputy Ahern will be speaking on this matter. He and I are sharing time.  The Minister has made serious statements on the issue of family unification and the three-year rule. We know this is coming but we do not know what will be involved. We need more information on that. The conditions around receptions and how they will be managed need to be dealt with. Issues relating to a designated authority are not included. Information on age assessments, and how they will be handled and regulated, and how the representative role will be regulated has not been published.  The Bill is very broad when it comes to the powers being given to the Minister. These powers are fairly overarching. The Bill deals with the way the Minister can decide as to what information can be given to an applicant, if other organisations or NGOs can give out information, if applicants can appeal directly, if the chief inspector can be removed in the interests of the Government and the funding of the inspectorate. When we spoke at the committee, the issue relating to the chief inspector gave rise to a range of issues regarding the independence of the inspectorate from the Government.  The Bill does not define what is meant by legal counselling. We had a lot of discussion on this at the committee and about who will provide it. Huge numbers of members of the legal profession are discussing this matter. It is something which really needs to be nailed down. Fewer than five months remain before the pact is due to be implemented. What is proposed creates serious uncertainty about applicants\u2019 entitlements to legal advice at all stages of the process. I am very concerned that this is an area in respect of which there will be a huge level of kick-back and a large number of test cases. Dare I say, many people in the Minister\u2019s former profession will be licking their lips and seeing dollar signs.  I might as well say it to the Minister inside here - at least I have the guts to say it to him - they are all licking their lips asking if this will be a big payday and if the Minister is the Manchurian candidate for the legal professional in the Department of justice. I say that as a joke but there is serious concern as to whether he will get this through and it will be sound, and that there will not be a whole range of test cases where so much will be tied up. That will be a big problem for the Minister and he needs to get it right. At this point the jury is out on it.  There is a lack of clarity on this and a big question over whether counselling can be provided by the legal profession under existing professional and ethical rules, and whether IP applicants will be denied customised individual advice as they are entitled to rather than just generic stuff. It is a fairly hefty concern. I am sure the Minister has read recommendations 82 to 85 from our pre-legislative scrutiny. If I were him, I would take some advice regarding the explicit provision on guaranteed access to free legal assistance. The issue in relation to legal counselling tied us up in knots. We really need to see where the Minister plans on going on that.  Regarding gaps in age assessment, the Bill lacks clarity on who will do this work and what experience and qualifications they will have. This really needs to be dealt with. There is no detail on what constitutes a suitable medical means of assessing age. When it comes to the issue of children, this is absolutely essential. This is a serious gap in age assessment safeguards.  There are also concerns over the independent monitoring mechanism, which is obviously essential for the protection of the rights of everyone in the system. Serious concerns remain about the effectiveness of the independent monitoring system as set out in the EU's fundamental rights agency. The chief inspector's powers appear mostly regulatory rather than investigative with unclear authority to initiate investigations of many potential breaches, whatever they may be, including assault, sexual assault and various other breaches.  In relation to a number of other areas, including the detention and restriction of movement, proper procedures must apply with procedural safeguards. We cannot have a situation where it is de facto detention. There must absolutely be a prohibition on the detention of children, which is essential. The detention of adults should only be a measure of last resort. The word \"proportionate\" needs to come into play here. It is not very clear how that will be achieved.  Moving on to the issue of family reunification, to be straight about it, not alone do we feel this is unfair and ill judged, it is downright cruel because it is not three years. Effectively, when everything is added up, it is five years. It is disproportionate and unfair, particularly when it comes to genuine cases. Of all the countries that should know what we are dealing with here, we should know what we are talking about. It is not appropriate that the Minister is pursuing this without the definition of how he is going to do it. As far as the Labour Party is concerned, instigating a three-year waiting period is unacceptable and cruel. It creates a different message from what we believe this country should be putting out in relation to how we deal sensitively with these issues.  When we discussed this topic previously, I said that the issue of where international applicants are refused asylum in other EU countries needs to be looked at as regards how that can be utilised in this country. The Minister has not addressed that, but I expect he will do so in the future because I believe it is a genuine issue and something that could be quite helpful in reality.  Furthermore, how we use language in this area is very important. I am very concerned that the language used, not alone by those in government, in Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and, dare I say it, some Independents, but also by Sinn F\u00e9in at times, where they are all trying to ride both horses, is completely hypocritical, unacceptable and at times actually publicly dangerous. It needs to stop. As far as I am concerned, the Minister can do better.  I believe in a rules-based system. I also believe that if people fail those rules, they cannot stay in this country. I have no issue with deportation or any of that. However, I do have an issue with balance. In tandem with what the Minister is doing and in tandem with the obvious need to introduce a Bill of some scale like this, there also needs to be a public awareness campaign on the positivity of necessary inward migration. That does not happen. What happens is that the Minister for justice, the T\u00e1naiste, the Taoiseach, Sinn F\u00e9in Members, certain Independent Members who are in government and others stand up and say, \"Oh yeah, we have workers and they should be respected.\" They then spend the rest of the time going on about the issues, which at times are frightening and very upsetting for many people who come into this country. For the first time in my career, I have had migrants who are working in this country come to my office saying they are afraid.  I recently heard the story of a migrant, not in my constituency, who is working in care. When they were out one day, they got horrendous abuse from particular individuals in the area where they live. Later on, around Christmas time, while they were working through their work in care looking after elderly people, amazingly, one of the people who gave the abuse was in visiting a member of their family. Who was looking after the member of that family? It was the same person they gave the abuse to.  Let us call a spade a spade here. We need all these workers and we need more because, without them, this country would stop. We need them in care, tourism, hospitality, agriculture and, dare I say it, in very high-end jobs as well. We are failing to send that message. We need proportionality as regards what we are doing in this country when it comes to migration. I say this clearly to the Minister and everybody else in government and in Sinn F\u00e9in: if they do not do it, we will do it. Somebody has to present a positive message on inward migration. Those in government are responsible but they are bloody well not doing it. In fact, at times they are scaring people. To mix up the asylum process with inward migration is a disgrace. The numbers are tiny by comparison with what we need to keep our country progressing economically and socially. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  The Deputy is making the conflation, not us. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Excuse me, I am not making any conflation. I am actually talking about lived experience. Is the Deputy calling me a liar? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  He should represent the issue and not----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  I am representing the issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Crowe should direct his remarks through the Chair and allow Deputy Kelly to speak. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  I did not start this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Does the Deputy want to share his time? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  We will get through the meat of the Bill on Committee Stage because so much is missing. The facts are that the Government is deliberately putting out spurious messages on migration and what is going on here is a bloody disgrace. The people who have come into this country from other countries and who work here are welcome.  That is the message the Government should be sending out, rather than leaving us to do it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  We do it every day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Tell your colleagues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  Shameful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  Over the course of this Government\u2019s time in office, we have seen a disappointing pattern of irresponsible grandstanding by Ministers trying to play tough on immigration. This Bill is the latest example. It goes further than is required under the EU migration pact in restricting the rights of migrants and leaves gaping holes when it comes to protecting those rights. There were real issues with the pact, which were raised in debates at the time, but now the Government wants to go further still in constraining migrant rights.  I want to speak to a couple of specific issues that show this Bill for what it is. First is the Bill\u2019s use of the term \"legal counselling\". Rather than providing individuals with good old-fashioned, tried and tested legal advice from a solicitor during the first stage of an international protection process, the Government is saying it will provide something called \"legal counselling\". I have never heard this phrase, despite practising as a lawyer for many years. This is a term introduced by the EU pact but it remains undefined to date. We do not know what it will involve or who will provide it. It seems to be little more than a one-way information-giving process in which an applicant would have no ability to interrogate the information given to them against their own personal circumstances, or to ask questions and receive advice and guidance on it. As the Law Society has pointed out, in the absence of clarity as to what it is, we need to ask whether a \"legal counselling\" regime can be fully set up and resourced by June of this year.  The EU pact does not require this. The Government could and should have used the term \"legal advice\" but has actively chosen not to. That creates real uncertainty as to the rights of migrants. It risks undermining access to effective legal assistance, as required under the pact. Solicitors cannot be expected to provide general legal counselling while the State withholds individualised, tailored legal advice from people who would otherwise be their clients. It is easy to imagine scenarios where the absence of proper legal advice leads to errors in applications and sees genuine asylum seekers, fleeing war or persecution, fail in their applications or be denied specialist care. That would be an abject failure of the Government to see through our obligations.  Previously, asylum applicants were only entitled to be represented at the second stage of the asylum process, before the Refugee Appeals Tribunal. This resulted in 90% of asylum seekers being rejected at first instance. I was proud to be part of a programme providing early legal advice for asylum seekers, in conjunction with the Irish Refugee Council and my former law firm, A&L Goodbody, which resulted in far higher success rates for applicants. We know how important full legal advice is to ensuring individuals can vindicate their rights. The Minister knows this as well as anyone else. The dilution of this right to advice is a retrograde step and can only be seen as a further cynical attempt to limit the numbers of successful asylum applications.  Another major issue with this Bill is the way in which it significantly increases the criminalisation of IP applicants. It creates a range of new offences for applicants who are lawfully resident in the State while exercising their right to seek asylum. That is the wrong direction of travel. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, has pointed, in particular, to the criminalisation of the use of false or even substitute documents. When we are talking about people fleeing war or persecution, we are talking about people who, by definition, will often not hold official documents from their country of origin. Members can see how easy it would be for documents to be seized by a trafficker or a rogue government, or just lost in the chaos of fleeing a war zone. If we criminalise this behaviour, as this Bill does, we effectively criminalise the very route to seeking asylum.  The Bill will introduce a new chief inspector of asylum border procedures, as required by the pact. The Government claims this will be an independent role but what is set out here falls far short of that, as I am sure others will go into.  A faster, more efficient asylum process is a worthy aim. A Bill that did just that would be welcome but this is a Bill that seems more interested in limiting the rights of vulnerable asylum seekers than anything else. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. I will be supporting the Bill. In response to previous comments, I suggest we should not conflate inward migration with international protection. I agree with Deputy Kelly that racism should have no place in this debate, this House or public commentary.  The right to claim asylum is at the core of international law and Irish values. That said, we owe the public, and applicants themselves, a system that is clear, rules-based and workable. When a process drags on for months or years, nobody wins. Genuine applicants are left in limbo, communities lose confidence and the State ends up paying far more than it should. That is why the central test for this Bill is simple: does it make our system faster, fairer and more effective while protecting rights? In broad terms, I believe it does.  The Bill is, in effect, a reset of our international protection system. It streamlines decisions and the returns process. It introduces a new border procedure, with defined and shorter time limits for decisions, appeals and return orders in appropriate cases. It reforms the appeals architecture through a new second-instance body, the tribunal for asylum and returns appeals, and it reduces reliance on oral hearings when a full and fair examination can be achieved on papers. Importantly, it also establishes a chief inspector of asylum border procedures as an independent rights monitor. I particularly welcome the Minister's remarks on Chapter 3 of Part 3 of the Bill on age determination. These are practical reforms and they go to the heart of what the public expects and what applicants deserve, namely, timely decisions, clearer outcomes and a system that cannot be abused.  We also need to be honest about the wider context. Ireland cannot go it alone on migration and asylum. The pressures are European and the response has to be a pan-European one, acting together. This Bill is closely linked to Ireland implementing the EU migration and asylum pact measures we have opted in to. We have a hard deadline to have the new system in place by 12 June 2026. A common approach matters because it reduces the incentive for secondary movement across member states and it supports consistent decision-making. It also matters because Ireland\u2019s position is uniquely complicated by the common travel area.  The open arrangements that benefit millions for work, family and daily life were never designed to be a workaround for asylum. The reality creates added obligations for us, in that we must work closely with EU partners and engage seriously with the United Kingdom so that policy changes on one side do not simply displace pressures onto the other. I note the UK is seeking to access elements of the pact. That, in itself, is proof of its necessity.  I welcome the clearer emphasis and communications from the Minister on his appointment. The shift is towards a rules-based system that is efficient, credible and aligned with how many other EU member states operate.  I also welcome the Minister\u2019s engagement at European level. We need this treated as an EU issue, not a collection of countries going it alone. I visited Brussels last year to engage with Commissioner Michael McGrath and his officials, underscoring why co-ordination, convergence and enforcement across the EU matter. The Commissioner\u2019s portfolio includes democracy, justice and the rule of law, which are directly relevant to how Europe maintains a system that is both firm and rights compliant.  This Bill will not solve every challenge overnight but it is a serious step in the right direction. It creates a faster system which is fairer. It protects those who genuinely need refuge, reduces unnecessary costs, restores confidence and ensures Ireland plays its part, in partnership with Europe and in close co-operation with the common travel area.  I welcome the Bill, and I look forward to engaging constructively as it progresses through this House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I thank the Minister and am glad to have the opportunity to participate in the debate. This is a very serious and emotive issue. It matters to an awful lot of people. Sometimes there are debates when the political charges across the House add value but I was disappointed by Deputy Alan Kelly a short while ago. I was quite surprised by his character. It is not something I would expect from him. As my colleague said, he was conflating. Dropping in buzzwords and zingers looks good on the social media video but misrepresents what many of us here want to see, which is a supportive policy for migration that is there to protect people in international protection but that also has a robust set of rules which ensure the policy has integrity.  To misrepresent that is rather shameful. When he is putting up his social media videos tonight, some of us might correct the record underneath with a comment or two.  Anyway, I will get to the point. Seventy years ago, the Hungarian Revolution began. With it, a couple of buses arrived in my home village of Meelick. There was an Army encampment in Knockalisheen right on the border of counties Clare and Limerick. Those old wooden huts that the Army were barracked in during the emergency years of the Second World War became accommodation for people fleeing the Hungarian Revolution. Those little huts, which were only taken down 20 or 30 years ago, became the first refugee centre at that point. It is Ireland's longest continuously used refugee centre and we are so proud of it. Despite what Deputy Kelly might want to say on TikTok or wherever else tonight, the people who grew up there went to school with me. They were at my wedding. I played with them as a kid. They were friends and they still are. I went into the courtroom for some of them when they were being deported back to their home countries when leave to remain applications had failed. I went into the courtroom with a few people because I believed heart and soul in their story, having intimately known it. When I became a teacher in 2006, my first job when I graduated was teaching children from that refugee centre. Therefore, we are incredibly proud of that centre and our community and what it has done over the years. It is not all perfect. It is not rose-tinted. Many people have spent a decade or 12 years there waiting for their application to be cleared. It is what it is and we are proud of that. Yet, when reforms happen, those reforms need to benefit the likes of the Knockalisheen Accommodation Centre.  The next place I wish to speak about is the town of Lisdoonvarna. These are local examples that are very relevant in the national context. When the Ukrainian war broke out and when international protection levels hit their peak in terms of inward migration to Ireland, Lisdoonvarna was held up as the poster town in Ireland. The population increased fourfold across a six-month period. The population was around 300 people at the beginning of the war in Ukraine and, between that and inward migration, it increased fourfold. Straight away, we had ambassadors down from different countries. We had Ministers and State agency after State agency. There were boots on the ground everywhere. It was covered on the national news every night how incredibly positive this was. Local communities organised collections. One weekend, there was a collection of bicycles for the young children there. Another weekend, it was school uniforms. Every kind of fabulous integration thing happened. Then, suddenly, all of those supports evaporated. The agencies disappeared because the local crisis had become a national crisis. We did not see any of the agencies for ages. Lisdoonvarna went from being the poster child of what international protection should look like in Ireland's best practice model to being an absolute mess that was unsupported and a community struggling. The committees that were set up to welcome started lobbying politicians telling them they needed to come back and fix things. They told them the local classes were being taught in the cloakroom of the school and there were no doctors and no services. They told them no bus services were available. The response at the time was to give people hi-vis jackets and let them walk five or six miles over the road to the local school. It was crazy stuff.  In time, when this legislation passes, there needs to be some case studies done around the country of where this was not very well handled. The Minister's predecessor did not handle some of the communications of this so well either. I welcome the Minister's forthright approach in the Ministry. I think it has been welcomed by the public and by the media. The commentary is good. This Department needs to be led with confidence. Our policies need to be explained with confidence and it explained that they are very fair but are also robust. It needs to be explained that if people are coming to Ireland fleeing war, persecution, famine or turmoil in their home country, this is a very welcoming and inclusive country. Our arms will wrap around them; we will support them. However, if people are coming in under some kind of a charade or false pretences, we have an equally robust system that will examine cases fairly and, if proven to be invalid, people will be deported. That is fair and is a principle we need to defend. This is a liberal democracy but every country has a policy that needs to be robust and fair so that people here in Ireland or people who might be considering coming to Ireland know the rule book of this country and know it is implemented fairly.  I will speak about some of the reasons leave to remain applications are refused. It is very easy to say, \"I am from Gaza. There is a war. My country has been bombed to pieces.\" That is very measurable because the whole world knows what is going on there. However, in my constituency, bearing in mind we have a major refugee centre in my community, I have encountered threats from the home country. Very often, it is sub-Saharan countries in which, if people return home, their daughters will have their genitalia mutilated. I have encountered threats to people of being killed, honour killings for being gay, homophobic attacks or honour killings if there have been acts of adultery. All of these are really hard to measure. They are really hard for the individual to convey when there is a hearing about their application and very often these people are sent home. I cannot be judge or jury. I often meet people at clinics or my constituency office but I fear some of them are going back to the bear pit and to very hazardous situations. The Minister's team has to be robust and fair but there are certain issues in some countries that are very hard to measure and to verify. There needs to be a consideration of that as well.  During the heat of all of this, people were out banging drums, there were protests and fires were being lit. Thankfully, that has all cooled. It had to because there was a very far-right rhetoric just grasping the nettles here and misrepresenting what Ireland was all about. There is one key point regarding this idea of male-only accommodation. From a policy point of view, we should just get rid of it. I have never seen any group in society segregated according to gender. There are no male-only housing estates. I have yet to see one. There is no female-only housing estate. There is? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Schools. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Schools. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  Schools. Okay, fair point. The Deputies might speak through the Chair next time. The point I am making on living arrangements is that there is no one living in gendered segregation. It is not right for the men living there and it is not right for their spouses, girlfriends or family members. It is not right at all and it needs to be part of policy going forward that we integrate.  I spoke in a debate earlier relating to the Minister's Department and the suspension of those garda\u00ed in Limerick. That is concluded. Going forward, will the Minister please appoint the most senior leadership roles in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na from within the organisation of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na? We do not need to be looking north of the Border to find the next leader and the next Commissioner. We need people who understand the spirit of policing by consent and the spirit of discretion that is so central to Garda policing. Those are just my own thoughts but I hope it might be factored into the next appointment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  That is for another day. I call Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  A little under two years ago, when the EU migration pact was being debated, it was an almost cavalier attitude by the Minister at the time. I understand that migration and the whole issue around international protection is complex. It was particularly challenging at the time when there was a significant increase. However, it seemed to be the attitude of the then Minister, in response to questions from me, not to consider at the time whether it might be wise for Ireland, in our very particular circumstances, not to opt into absolutely each and every element of it. As time goes on, and looking at the reflections of the justice committee, more and more people are coming to the conclusion that perhaps it was not wise for Ireland to sign up to each and every element of it. Ireland had the option to opt out purely because of our circumstances. Our circumstances are very particular. We have, whether we like it or not - I certainly do not - a land border with another jurisdiction, a common travel area with a jurisdiction that is not in the EU, and we require the flexibility to respond to situations that arise because of that. It was foolish not to adjust and account for that. This is what the legislation is fundamentally about. There are elements of it that we could benefit from but I do not agree we needed to sign up to each and every element of it. The system such as it is certainly needs change. It is failing in terms of value for money. It is failing migrants, communities and the whole of society. Certainly, it needs change and significant investment as well as legislative change.  The final thing I will say is in on respect. That needs to be true right across the system. It needs to be true in terms of communities. Too often, their interests were discarded. Going forward, it also needs to be true in terms of the asylum seekers and migrants themselves. Decisions need to be made quickly but everyone needs to be treated with respect and get decent conditions, and there should be oversight of that too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  This particular pact has put forward a set of recommendations, some of which are positive but many of which are not in line with what we need to be doing in this country. That is widely recognised. We have a situation where the committee has looked at this and it has recognised that there are many aspects of it that do not recognise the unique situation we have where we have a border with a non-EU state which is an open border, as it absolutely needs to be. Yet, this pact does not give any recognition to that or pay any regard to it. There are serious issues with it which need to be dealt with. Doing it all as a package is this notion of one size fits all for all countries in Europe. Ireland is an example of a country where one size does not fit all.  Even at this late stage, that is why the Minister needs to reconsider signing up to all aspects of this pact. The Government needs to look at this again and come back to what most logical people would recognise the situations to be. We have a particular problem in some parts of the country where people have protested. In many parts of the country, including in my community, migrants, in particular people using IPAS, have settled well and done well. For hundreds of years, Irish people went around the world with their hand out looking for a welcome. In general, they got it, and that has to be recognised.  The riots in Dublin were not organised by migrants. The burning of people out of their homes was not organised by migrants. They were organised by far right elements in this country who also need to be stood up to. That is something the Minister needs to take into account.  Returning to the Bill, we have robust legislation in place which needs to be implemented and is not being implemented. Many people who come here do not get a fair crack of the whip because they feel they are not being dealt with adequately. If they are entitled to stay, they should be able to stay. If they are not entitled to stay, that should be implemented as well. This legislation, which takes a one-size-fits-all approach for all countries in Europe, is not appropriate under these circumstances. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  There is a world in which this Bill could have been a turning point. This was potentially an opportunity to build an international protection system that would put dignity, fairness, care and, yes, efficiency at the heart of how we treat people who come to our country seeking protection. We had one such vision. We had the Catherine Day report, which stated we should move away from privatisation, build public, not-for-profit accommodation and build trust. We had a chance to honour that. Instead of seizing the opportunity to deliver a protection system grounded in compassion and rights, the Minister has produced legislation that goes further and harder than the EU pact ever required. He has done so at the expense of human dignity.  The way in which this Bill has been brought forward adds insult to that injury. For the past year, every time I or anyone else raised the failures of our current protection system, the answer, whether from the Minister for justice or other Ministers, has always been the same. It is that the International Protection Bill is coming and we should wait it because it will fix everything. This Bill has been used as a deflection to say real reforms were on the way and we just had to hold tight so the Minister could get it right. At pre-legislative scrutiny, vital heads of Bill were missing and we were told the full Bill would arrive by the end of 2025. We did not get it until last Thursday, nine days after the Minister's press release indicating he had just published it. However, we got conversations with details of restrictions on refugee family reunification. Those were laid out in detail whereas the rest of the detail in the Bill was not. That was not a tactical omission.  Now, in a rush to transpose it by June, we have a Bill that is still riddled with gaps and key protections are still missing or, at best, vague. It leaves the best interests of the child assessments undefined. It keeps legal counselling deliberately ambiguous. It creates an independent monitoring mechanism the Minister can control. There is no clarity on how medical vulnerability assessments will be carried out or by whom, even though they are mandatory under the pact. On family reunification, the Bill refers vaguely back to the pact. All the while, we have the Minister signalling his intention to restrict it further, despite not seeming to know how many people came through the family reunification process last year.  That is to name but a few of the issues, and I will come back to each of them in more detail. These are not minor oversights. They are the core safeguards of the Bill, which are now being promised through later amendments. Amendments that will reshape major parts of the Bill are being withheld until Committee Stage when they will face minimal scrutiny, if any. The Minister presented those omissions almost as an invitation for us to collaborate but I do not believe that for a second. It just looks like homework that was left undone.  This is one of the most consequential Bills in decades and we are being asked to pass it through our legislative process in pieces and without the transparency and accountability it demands. That is insulting. We are debating a Bill that will reshape how Ireland treats people at their most vulnerable and we are doing it in the shadow of a system so broken that the courts have had to intervene. In 2024, the High Court found that the Government had breached its basic human rights obligations by failing to provide even minimal accommodation to people seeking protection. That decision has since been overturned by the Court of Appeal but the matter is now before the Supreme Court. The question of whether the State breached the fundamental right to dignity is still unresolved at the highest level of our justice system. While that question hangs in the balance, the Minister has brought forward a Bill that doubles down on a system that is already broken and found wanting.  The International Protection Bill is needed to transpose the EU migration asylum pact but let us not rewrite history. The Government made a choice to opt in. The Social Democrats voted against that decision, not because there was not an urgent need for reform in our international protection system but because we had serious concerns about the human rights safeguards, the impact on the common travel area and Ireland rushing into alignment with an EU system, all while our own system is so deeply broken. Almost two years later, none of those issues have been resolved. The question is whether this Bill builds a system that is lawful, rights compliant and capable of being trusted. On that test, it does not just fall short but fails completely.  To go into the substance of that, in the area of legal counselling one of the most consistent and serious criticism raised during pre-legislative scrutiny concerned access to legal advice and representation. The general scheme repeatedly referred to \"legal counselling\". The Bill defines \"legal assistance\" and \"legal representation\", yet \"legal counselling\" is left almost entirely undefined. It is referenced once but explained nowhere. That is a choice. Legal counselling is not a concept recognised in Irish law. There is no clarity on who provides it, what standards apply, what qualifications are required or what recourse exists when it fails.  Today, thanks to incredible journalism, Shamim Malekmian at the Dublin Inquirer found, through a freedom of information request, that officials were actively considering using chatbots and digital tools to deliver this undefined legal counselling. There is no better example of stripping away the humanity of the process than potentially using chatbots. We are talking about people fleeing persecution, trauma or war arriving to a country they believe will treat them with care and being met, not by a solicitor or interpreter, not even by a trained caseworker, but, potentially, by an AI chatbot. That should alarm us all. The notion that a vulnerable person at the outset of a protection process could be guided - or misguided - by an automated system with no legal training requirements, professional accountability or statutory safeguards feels dystopian rather than protective. In the Minister's response, I would like him to confirm if the potential for the use of artificial intelligence is being left open. Is that why legal counselling remains undefined?  When it comes to detention, we have known since pre-legislative scrutiny on the Bill how significantly it expands the State's detention powers, including in the context of border and return procedures. This Bill confirms what stakeholders have warned for months. It remains vague on where and under what conditions people will be detained and what inspection and oversight their detention will be subject to. Concerns have been raised about people with serious medical needs, the lack of clarity around inspection regimes and the potential use of inappropriate locations. If the State is to deprive people of their liberty, it has a legal obligation to spell out in primary legislation the legal basis, conditions and safeguards. This Bill does not do that. It gives the State more power first and promises clarity later. That is not how deprivation of liberty should ever be legislated for.  What is most disturbing is what this Bill does in relation to children. For the first time in Irish law, it allows a child to be detained because of their migration status. Yes, there has been a slight improvement on the general scheme but only because the time limit is now 12 hours. On the principle, that line has never been crossed before and the Ombudsman for Children has said the detention of a child due to their migration status can never be justified. The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child is clear that it is always a violation of rights and is never in a child's best interest.  The EU migration pact sets minimum standards but it does not require us to detain children. It also does not stop us from going further to protect them. That was a choice. The Minister chose to cross a line this country has always refused to cross. He chose to remove the prohibition on child detention from our law and replace it with legal permission. At a time when the world is watching in horror the detention of school children at borders in the United States, our Government is choosing to make that possible here.  The Bill establishes an independent monitoring mechanism and a chief inspector of asylum border procedures. In principle, that is welcome but independence is not achieved by branding. A reading of the Bill confirms serious concerns about the mechanism's independence, scope and effectiveness. The chief inspector is appointed by the Government and can be removed where, in the opinion of Government, that is in the best interest of the State. That standard does not apply to genuinely independent oversight bodies in this country because real oversight requires independence from the Executive, not dependence on it. Worse still, the chief inspector's remit is narrowly confined to designated border facilities.  There is no explicit statutory obligation to investigate deaths or serious harm, there is no power to initiate civil proceedings, and the Minister retains the power to redact reports before they are laid before the House. That is not robust oversight. Only weeks ago, the Inspector of Prisons raised strikingly similar concerns about the erosion of real independence and transparency in our prison system, where inspections are limited, reports are delayed and access is controlled. That is a clear pattern. This Government wants the appearance of accountability without any of the inconvenience that comes with it.  When it comes to children and minors, especially those arriving alone, the Bill remains deeply flawed. We are talking about one of the most vulnerable cohorts in the international protection system yet, as drafted, this Bill makes them even more vulnerable because the safeguards promised in the EU pact for the best interests of the child have not been transposed. There are unresolved concerns about age assessment, compressed timelines and a lack of clarity on who even makes these determinations. There is a real risk that children may be wrongly assessed as adults and routed into accelerated or border procedures. Once that happens, the consequences are immediate and severe. They include loss of child-specific protections, exposures to detention and a real risk of removal before errors can be corrected. At the very least, we should expect that these children are visible, protected and properly recognised in every part of our statutory framework. This Bill does not meet that standard, and no amount of rushed implementation excuses that failure.  This Bill completely reshapes the appeals systems, embedding a presumption against oral hearings and vastly expanding accelerated border procedures. While I do acknowledge changes since the general scheme such that appeals officers may order an oral hearing where necessary, which is a modest improvement on the general scheme, this appears to remain discretionary. This discretion matters. The removal of a guaranteed oral hearing significantly weakens the fairness of the process. For many applicants, especially those with trauma or limited documentation, an oral hearing is their only real chance to explain their case in person, respond to doubts, clarity and misunderstandings, and actually be heard. Without that, the process risks becoming mechanical, impersonal and prone to error. At the same time, appeals are not automatically suspended for all applicants. People may be removed unless they successfully make a separate request to remain. In a system this complex, with weakened access to legal advice, again, that is never a safeguard.  We are also discussing all of these vast sweeping changes in the context of a system bursting at the seams that has been left without adequate staffing and resources for years. How exactly will all these enormous new measures be funded? So many of these assessments are mandatory under EU law. They need to be resourced adequately to be in any way meaningful. The Bill significantly expands mandatory medical and vulnerability assessments, as required under the EU pact, but it gives very little clarity on how the State will actually deliver those assessments. During the Oireachtas joint committee's pre-legislative scrutiny of the general scheme, front-line healthcare representatives warned that the current system does not have the capacity to cope with the scale of clients and accelerated timelines envisoned by the new legislation. Safetynet's evidence, grounded in daily clinical practice, showed that within guaranteed access to healthcare professionals, including for vulnerability and medical checks, this Bill risks leaving both physical and mental health needs unaddressed. Drills such as medical legal assessments, which are essential for certain claims, are already beyond existing capacity unless resourced properly. The justice committee's report endorsed these concerns and recommended that screening centres be adequately resourced, with proper access to healthcare, and that health checks should go beyond a one-off examination and should allow for follow-up when necessary. In other words, people tasked with delivering these evaluations said they cannot do what the Bill expects without major investment and planning, yet this Bill offers neither clarity nor commitment on funding, staffing or integration with existing public services. The Government's text is entirely silent on how those crucial health assessments will be delivered in practice.  In the area of family reunification, I will speak about how this Bill has been sold and how the Minister has used family reunification as a distraction. It makes up a tiny fraction of protection applications yet it is being treated like a central problem. There is no evidence of rising numbers. In fact, applications fell by 31% last year but still the Minister has chosen to focus the public debate here, manufacturing a crisis that does not exist at all. Worse still, he has deliberately conflated refugee family reunification, which is a basic right in international and Irish law, with other reunification migration schemes. The Bill does not set out the changes. It simply refers back to the pact and we are told the rest will come by amendment. However, the Minister has already signalled his intention of a three-year wait, financial requirements and more hurdles, delays and suffering for people who have already endured enough. Some 669 people availed of that scheme last year. They were, without question, wives, husbands and children and, in the case of unaccompanied minors, they were a brother, sister or parent. Siblings accounted for 45 people. That is where the Minister has chosen to focus his attention. There are so many aspects of this Bill that are cruel. We will bring forward amendments. The Minister is offering collaboration. We have yet to see if that will come to pass. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  In his opening comments, the Minister said that the Government fundamentally believes in the right to claim asylum, yet, this legislation brings us in exactly the opposite direction as a State. That has been the case since we have seen this Government take office, where we have simply seen an attack on international protection as a concept, and language and rhetoric that demonises people in their most vulnerable moment, despite our history and our own experience as a people. It is not, therefore, surprising that the Minister is jumping on this opportunity.  We did not have to take on all of the modules of the EU migration and asylum pact. We know that. We were an exception, and this Government chose to do it. Not only that, it is choosing to interpret it in such a way that this legislation that will make our system one of the most severe in Europe. It is not surprising to me because, for multiple governments now, we have seen that they, as governments, have had to be dragged kicking and screaming or pushed by the courts to recognise any rights within the international protection space. We have never, ever got to a point of meeting either our domestic or international obligations, and we certainly have never got to a humane and dignified system that recognises the difficulty people experience when they are in this system. Instead, under the banner of efficiency, speed and fairness, we are seeing a system that is going to dehumanise people, detain them and further take away their basic rights because that is the direction in which we are headed.  The letter and the spirit of this legislation are about curbing the right to claim asylum. Even if the Minister does not believe us in the Opposition, he should believe civil society. There are very well-documented and well-articulated concerns, which include that there are significant gaps remaining in this legislation that undermine the scrutiny within the legislative process. We know that because, for example, there is now nothing remaining on family reunification and that is just not good enough with such an important piece of legislation. The detention of an unaccompanied child will be permitted under this legislation. That is absolutely incredible. This Bill creates overarching and disproportionate power of the Minister across the protection process. The information provision to the applicant is unclear. Many recommendations of the justice committee are not implemented, and key safeguards are still absent. Age assessment provisions are unclear and missing key principles of child age-assessment safeguarding. Vulnerability assessments are only preliminary and not ongoing. Oral appeals are allowed only if deemed necessary. There is a rake of concerns coming through from the experts in this field who deal with international protection on a daily basis. The reality is that we do not have to be like this. We could go in the other direction. We might look at Spain. It is naturalising people who have been there. It is welcoming the concept of international protection and what it does for an ageing and growing population, which is exactly what we should be doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I echo my colleagues' concerns in relation to this Bill. I will make some broad points and question the nature of what is being brought forward, the Government's approach, its language around migration, the words that have been used, what it says and what has been done. I do feel, and I know colleagues share this, a deep concern about the direction this Government has taken. There is an element of what feels and looks like performative cruelty, that is, to be seen to be hard on immigration in order to, essentially, capitulate to people who are making some deeply disingenuous and wrong claims about immigration and asylum seekers. We might look at what migration and immigration has done for this country. I was talking to a number of asylum seekers this week who are in direct provision. Does the Minister know what they are doing? They are working in construction. They are going out every day and building the homes we need. The Government, with these policies, could very well deport these people because it says it wants to take this hard line on immigration and asylum seekers.  It is deeply disappointing. Asylum seekers up and down the country are working to provide care for some of the most vulnerable people in our society. They are building our homes. Yet, what we are seeing from the Government is their demonisation.  I have spoken to a number of lone-parent mothers who were living in direct provision and who talked about the eviction letters that were going out. The Government is evicting people from direct provision to forms of emergency accommodation that are not even being classed as homelessness. They are being ripped out of the communities where they are building links and integrating. I ask the Minister to stop this demonisation. The T\u00e1naiste said he was concerned about the level of population growth and that it could damage social cohesion. What is damaging social cohesion is the performative cruelty that is, in essence, trying to take pressure off the Government for its failures and put it onto vulnerable people who have come to this country, who want to contribute and are contributing, and who are part of our communities. We need to take a different direction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  This is a subject on which I have been back and forth. I would say I am generally in favour of immigration. It has done this country almost nothing but good. When I think of the Ireland in which I grew up in the 1990s, it was homogenous and, by extension, quite restricted. There were no foreigners to speak of in Ireland, certainly in the early 1990s, and the homogeneity of our society meant we did not have the experience of multiculturalism and all the positive things that come with it.  I say that in relation to immigration because migration had not even come onto the horizon at that stage. Some people talk about migration and immigration as if they are the same thing but it is really important to distinguish between the two. When I talk about immigration, I am referring to people who come here under a work permit system to take up positions, not to avail in any way of supports from the State but 100% to contribute to it. As has been noted in this House on a number of occasions, we need those people. They are keeping our hospitals and restaurants open, staffing our hotels and contributing at every level in their communities. As a country that is in some ways a victim of its own success in that we have full employment, we need people from other countries to come here to do jobs, work with us and contribute to our economy. Of course, they are also paying taxes, spending their income here and contributing at all kinds of economic levels, as well as solving employment problems for employers and companies all over the country. Immigration has been an unqualified success for Ireland. In fact, the problem with immigration is the slowness in granting work permits and in responding to the needs of particular sectors for skilled workers in a specific area. That is another subject and another day's work altogether.  With migration, on the other hand, we are dealing with a couple of issues. First, we have our international obligations. I have always supported what we do as part of the international community to recognise that just as our citizens in the past went to other countries seeking shelter, support and asylum during tough times here, we must play our part in welcoming people from other countries to Ireland, giving them shelter and succour and allowing them to live the lives we would like everybody in the world to be able to live. I also recognise that we cannot accept everybody from elsewhere into this country. There is a balancing act that must be done all the time.  In this regard, one of the issues I have found myself discussing, particularly with Danish colleagues in the context of their Presidency of the European Council, is what the Danish Government has done in regard to migration specifically. Interestingly, Denmark has a social democratic Government and it is probably at variance with many of the social democrats in this Chamber on this issue. When I first heard what the Danish Social Democrats Government was doing, I had my reservations about it. However, I have had a lot of conversations with Social Democrats members of the Folketing who have explained why they have pursued what I would say is a fairly hard-line policy on migration. We often use the term \"social cohesion\" perhaps a little loosely but they recognised the problem that there was a growing far-right movement within Denmark. There are still problems, of course, which is something every country is dealing with. Fortunately, Ireland does not have any real mandate for far-right people or people expressing that ideology. The Danish Social Democrats were concerned about that ideology getting a grip and, so, what they did was try to get out ahead of it. That is how they would explain it. They sought to neutralise the arguments being made by far-right politicians to ensure they could not use migration as a tool to get themselves into elected office and into positions of power and influence where they could continue to propagate what is, in essence, a racist ideology.  I understand why they did that and I have been back and forth on the question of whether we should do something similar from the point of view of acknowledging that we, too, have certain people, albeit a minority and without a mandate, expressing those views within our polity, on social media and in other media. However, I also think there is a danger that if we just do their job for them, then there is no point in keeping them out. Therefore, I come back to the point that we must constantly work to balance up these issues.  It remains a topic I grapple with because in my constituency of D\u00fan Laoghaire, the experience we have had with migration has been universally positive. Of the IPAS centres within the constituency, the one on Eblana Avenue in D\u00fan Laoghaire town is substandard. It is solely occupied by single men, who have not received the respect or treatment from IPAS that they deserve and who are living in a substandard building. Notwithstanding that, they continue to contribute to the community in D\u00fan Laoghaire. The problems many local people foresaw with their arrival simply have not materialised. In Blackrock, where there are two IPAS centres, albeit right next to each other, the families living there have contributed so much to the community. They are part of the Tidy Towns organisations and have joined local clubs. They are contributing in so many ways, including working in local businesses. A larger centre has opened on Merrion Road in the Minister's constituency, although I would submit it is more directly connected to mine. In terms of residential areas, Booterstown is probably closer to me. Again, at that centre, Merrion House, none of the problems foreseen by some people locally have materialised. Just over 100 people are living there, which is a small number really.  The problems I foresaw when that development came to my attention were problems with education, healthcare and, as raised by others, in terms of what the people living there would do all day. I will come back to that third point momentarily. Schools in the area are delighted to see them. In fact, there has been an unqualified welcome for them from the principals of primary and secondary schools in the area. They add diversity to their classes, bulk up their numbers and make a contribution. The schools are delighted to have them. Regarding healthcare, I have raised this issue a number of times with the Minister's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I know there is an international protection medical service serving that centre. However, there is a real problem with access to GPs in south Dublin. The residents get medical cards, which is all well and good, but GP practices in D\u00fan Laoghaire will not take medical card patients because they simply do not have the capacity. That is a problem but the dedicated health service solves it to a certain extent.  On the question of what the residents would do all day, it simply is not an issue. We should remember these are people coming from places where they cannot live their lives - war-torn places and places where they are discriminated against because of who they are, whether on the basis of their sexual orientation, ethnicity or whatever it might be. They come here looking to make a new life and to contribute in whatever way they can. Let us welcome them in to do that. In fact, the issue in this regard is that we do not let them work early enough. They should not have to wait six months before they can work. Let us allow them to contribute now because that is what they want to do. None of them wants to be sitting in an IPAS centre thumb twiddling and trying to find something to occupy the time every day. What a waste of human capital that is at a time when we need them to contribute, which is what they want to do. Let us solve that problem. The Bill does nothing, for example, to address the right of international protection applicants to work here. I hope this is something the Minister will consider changing by way of amendments at a later Stage. It would be easy to make changes to employment legislation under the guise of this Bill to allow people who are here for whatever length of time, and before a determination has been made on their application, to work.  Perhaps the most important action we can take for international protection applicants here is to invest in the International Protection Office to ensure their applications are processed in a timely way. The most unfair thing is when people come here and wait years for a determination and, even worse, then get a determination that goes against them. They have built a life here. They may have met a partner here and started a family and now they are being told they have to leave, when this country might be all their children know. That is unreasonable. I welcome the elements of the Bill that seek to change that and speed up the process. I also welcome the EU migration pact because it equips us with the tools we need to speed up that process. Although it might be controversial in some respects, it is really important, if it is going to deliver for people, that we use it.  In that regard, I do not have a problem with the changes proposed to the time period within which people are allowed to apply for citizenship or naturalisation.  The notion you would come here under a work permit to work in this country as part of an immigration scheme and you have to wait five years to apply, whereas if you come here under international protection you have to wait three, is not right. It is not fair to disadvantage people who have come here under an immigration scheme as opposed to those who have an international protection status, so let us even that out. If it is to be five years I do not really have a problem with that.  I have a problem with the family reunification aspect. It is miserly and unfair. I do not think it is going to achieve very much in terms of changing the environment or in any way dissuading people from coming here. When people leave or flee their home country seeking international protection they are not putting together an Excel spreadsheet of the terms, benefits and opportunities in the countries they might end up in. They go to wherever they can to avoid the persecution they were suffering. I doubt there are people coming here thinking the family reunification benefits in Ireland are fantastic and for that reason they will go there. It does not work that way. As such, I do not really see the need for us to tell those people they are going to have to wait three years. Where before they had to apply within 12 months, now they have to wait over three years. I do not appreciate that, do not think it is necessary and do not think it should be in the Bill. I ask the Minister to consider that on Committee Stage.  I also have a concern about the legal counsellors provision and the provision of legal counsel. \"Legal counsellors\" is not a term I understand. I understand what it means in plain English, but I do not understand whether it means qualified lawyers in Ireland. One of the criticisms I have of the International Protection Office and the way it administered the legal scheme for people coming here was it did not properly engage barristers or solicitors. The office aimed at junior members of the profession, especially barristers as they are self-employed and they had the capacity to do this work, and it took advantage of them in no uncertain terms. The office required them to train for free and often for more than a day at a time. If they did not do a report within a certain period they had to retrain despite their being highly qualified individuals. They were taken advantage of by the IPO and it is a shame on the office that it did that. Is this a further step down this road? Is this again what we are doing? We are trying to circumvent the fact we have a coterie of highly qualified, highly capable professional people who can provide a service. Is it the case the State simply does not want to pay for it or wants to avoid paying for it? It should not try to avoid this. In the same way we would provide proper legal representation for people before a court in family matters under legal aid schemes - or for people accused of a crime, for that matter - we should be looking after people who come here to bring international protection applications with proper legal representation. I do not know what legal counsellors are. I do not know if they are lawyers and I do not know if they will be up to the pace on that.  I have heard quite a lot of rhetoric here and do not agree with it all. I suspect I am more sympathetic to some of it than many of my Government colleagues but the reality is that we have obligations and we need to make good on those obligations. We do good things but we also do things that are substandard. Rather than trying to implement things that will not make a difference but will make life harder for international protection applicants, we should be looking at this Bill as an opportunity to streamline a system that delivers for us as a country and, God forgive me, as an economy, but also for the people who are coming here seeking and deserving our protection. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  The Irish, across the centuries, have been forced to emigrate. We know the pain of having to say goodbye to loved ones at bus stations, airports and ports. In the summer of 1988 and having graduated from third level, I, like thousands of others, boarded a plane at Shannon Airport with a tourist visa and headed to New York city. I worked there for 18 months and returned to Ireland. Unfortunately, due the policies of the Government of the time unemployment was rampant. As I was unable to access employment in Ireland I secured a job in London, where I spent nine years. I was fortunate to be able to come home. I am sure there are many more Irish people across the world who would love to return but see the housing crisis and ever-rising cost of living as barriers. We must do more to encourage and help them to return.  However, there is no doubt our international processing and enforcement needs reform. The delays in processing applications and appeals do not serve the State or the applicants well. We need a system that is fit for purpose. Those who are entitled to be here should be processed quickly so they can begin their new life and integrate into the local community. Equally, those who enter the country and are deemed to not be entitled to stay must be processed quickly.  The Bill is designed to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact in its totality but this is not in our interest. It goes against the recommendations of the Oireachtas justice committee and hands over power on migration to the European Union, thereby ignoring the unique challenges we face in this State, including the Border and the common travel area with Britain, which is a non-EU entity. While we have the right to opt in to and out of legislation governing the areas of freedom, security and justice on a case-by-case basis the Government is instead opting to plough straight into the adoption of all aspects of the pact. This erosion of our sovereignty does not serve the people of Ireland. The implementation of this Bill will hinder our ability as a State to make decisions on the issue of migration. The people should decide ourselves how to do this, not the EU. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  Ireland is an independent, sovereign state and should not be beholden to Europe on matters we can resolve ourselves. It has been the attitude of successive governments that we want to be the best person in the class when it comes to the EU. Ireland\u2019s position is unique and has its own very particular challenges. We are in the EU but we are not in the Schengen area and we are part of a common travel area with a state that is outside the European Union. That is why this one-size-fits-all approach to migration and asylum is not in our best interest.  There are many problems with the international protection system in this State but most of them are of the Government\u2019s making. Decisions are taking way too long, appeals are taking too long, deportations are not being enforced and there is massive profiteering from the provision of inappropriate IPAS accommodation. Fixing these problems does not require us to sign up to the EU migration and asylum pact, however. Ireland is a small, neutral country with an independent foreign policy. We should not allow the EU to dictate which conflicts we should take people seeking refuge from. This should be a matter for an Irish government to decide. I am on the justice committee and as I have said numerous times about different legislation I believe this Bill is being rushed to fit in with a timeline set down by the EU and agreed by the Government. It is disappointing the Government did not accept the unanimously agreed cross-party recommendation from the justice committee to reconsider opting out of the majority of the pact. This is very regrettable. There are also serious concerns that neither Tusla nor the civil legal aid system will be able to cope with the demands they will face under this legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I cannot remember the last time a government brought forward a Bill that was so universally condemned by human rights organisations. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said there are \"substantial gaps and ambiguities ... [in the Bill] in areas that directly affect the rights and safety of ... vulnerable applicants such as children and victims of trafficking\". It also said that without clear, enforceable safeguards, which do not exist at present, the State\u2019s human rights and equality obligations will not be met. The civil society Coalition on the EU Migration Pact is made up of organisations like the Irish Refugee Council, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Immigrant Council of Ireland, LGBT Ireland and the Irish Network Against Racism and it has said, \"This legislation will be a stain on Ireland\u2019s international reputation, and it undermines the very core of what being Irish means\".  Everyone out there should know that in this Bill Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and your friendly, local, right-wing Independent TD are all legislating for the detention of children. Shame on them all. It should not take human rights organisations to tell us detention is never, under any circumstances, in the best interests of innocent children, but the human rights organisations are forced to scream this and still the Government does not care. Reading through the Bill and reading the reaction to it something I could not fully understand at the time makes sense, namely, why the Government shamefully put its name to a statement led by Denmark before Christmas requesting the application of the European Convention on Human Rights to migrants be reviewed. In other words, these human rights are not human rights at all but will be selectively applied rights. The changes demanded here are so far-reaching that it is not really a review of the application of the convention that is being demanded but the wholesale disapplication of human rights to migrants. The socialist Tony Benn famously pointed out the way a government treats refugees is an indication of how it would treat the rest of us if it thought it could get away with it.  That is precisely what is indicated by this Bill. It is a frontal assault on human rights. In this case, it starts with asylum seekers, including young children, but if we tolerate this, our children will be next.  The Minister is leading the charge in attacking the legal basis of the limited rights and limited legal equality that protect ordinary working class people and oppressed groups in this State, but internationally, he will be aware he is no leader. Internationally, he is following the lead of Donald Trump and the global far right. We have seen with our eyes in the US where this goes. First, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, ICE, came for illegal immigrants. Now, it is executing US citizens in broad daylight on the streets of America. Protesters are especially at risk, criminalised as terrorists and allowed to starve to the point of death in Britain, brutalised and hit with trumped up charges by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na here. It is no coincidence that this appalling Bill goes hand in hand with plans to create additional covert surveillance and interception powers for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, all in the name of national security, a term the Minister's Department refuses to define, presumably so it can be interpreted as broadly as it likes.  I will go into some of the worst aspects of this Bill in more detail. First, it introduces a new system of border detention to be imposed even on the children of international protection applicants. People Before Profit is fundamentally opposed to this. Migrants are not criminals. Their children are not criminals. It should go without saying that they do not deserve to be treated like criminals simply for exercising their human right and legal right to apply for asylum.  Second, the Bill fundamentally undermines the right to legal representation by providing only for access to so-called legal counselling. What \"legal counselling\" means, we do not know. It is not defined by the Bill, but we do know for certain that it does not mean access to proper legal representation because the Bill clearly does not provide for that.  Third, it imposes a series of much tighter legal timeframes without providing the resources for them to be met. It is no wonder that the Legal Aid Board is raising the alarm about its ability to cope. This apparent negligence is, of course, deliberate. The Government is on purpose creating a system that will not be fair in order to deport as many international protection applicants as possible, as quickly as possible and to hell wit the consequences. The Minister knows what the consequences will be. Even under the previous system, applicants have been deported to their deaths. In 2014, Mohamed Sleyum Ali was deported from Ireland to Tanzania where he was attacked and left to die within hours of arriving. Last June, a Congolese human rights activist disappeared after being forcibly deported and handed over to the authorities at Kinshasa airport by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. This Bill will lead to more refugees being deported and then tortured, disappeared and killed. The Bill even allows for this to happen while appeals are still under way.  Fourth, all provisions on family reunification have been removed from the Bill. The Minister may say they have not been finalised yet, but that is completely unacceptable. They are some of the most important protections and must be included in primary legislation so they can be scrutinised by the Oireachtas and vindicated by the courts. Family reunification is too important to be left to ministerial regulations or departmental policy. It is a question of fundamental human rights. This underlines the point that the rights of children are being trampled on and ignored by the Government. It does it to children with additional needs, teenagers with mental health problems, children exploited by big tech and used for child sex abuse imagery, and vulnerable children who fall through the cracks. It is doing it again in this Bill. It should not be allowed to get away with it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I am the first to say that reform of our international protection system is necessary, not simply because of the changes at EU level, but because there is international agreement and universal agreement that we need a system that is fit for purpose. I say that because I saw first hand the consequences of years of compounded bad policy decisions, along with a failure to recognise the nature of modern asylum and plan for a system that responds to the reality of asylum today.  I want to make a genuine effort to be fair because managing this is one of the hardest tasks in politics today. The asylum and migration pact, though imperfect, is important in that it ensures the whole EU works together on these issues. That is what I argued for in government and what I continue to believe today. Going it alone, as the UK did, solves no problems; it only makes things worse. However, how this reform is implemented and what wider reforms are being brought forward at the same time is where we need to be extremely careful.  We have the benefit in Ireland of being able to learn from the experiences of other jurisdictions, such as the UK, about what is effective and fair, but also what does not work. Speaking objectively, some elements of the Bill are needed. The Government is attempting with this Bill to address the two decades of policy failure that led to an international protection system that left people waiting for a decision about their status for years. It was a system that buckled when Ireland started to experience the same number of people seeking international protection as other European countries, compounded by the war in Ukraine at the same time. It was a nightmare confluence of factors for which our State was utterly unprepared.  Therefore, we arrive today at this Bill. I acknowledge the efforts of the Minister's officials in what has been a complex drafting process. However, given the tone of the debates around migration - the heightened context under which this comes before us - it is the duty of Opposition TDs to ask whether we are solely advancing solutions to real world problems or we are bringing forth policies that have more to do with playing to a particular political line than improving our system. If it is the latter, what are the consequences for those this law claims to serve? What are the consequences for our country of focusing on areas where problems do not exist, like with draconian family reunification changes, but failing to focus on the acute problems, such as those in reception and accommodation?  I need to call out the persistent efforts across the Minister's party to muddy the waters about the approach taken to these issues by the last Government. The Taoiseach persistently says that he is glad migration is back in the Department of justice. It is worrying that he was under the illusion that migration was not the responsibility of the Department of Justice in the last Government, particularly considering he was Taoiseach for two and a half years during that period. For the record, in the last Government, responsibility for immigration control, the International Protection Office, the refugee appeals tribunal, decisions on visas, family reunification policy - responsibility for every one of those areas - remained with the Department of Justice. The one area that was removed to the Department of children was responsibility for accommodation for those seeking international protection. As the Minister will be aware, that has now returned to the Department of justice.  Now we are seeing a series of changes being loudly flagged in the media, including family reunification being tightened for no real reason, a diminution of legal advices that tests the limits of established due process, and fully desk-based reviews with no oral hearings. In today's Bill, some of that is formalised into new structures that look to weigh the balance against someone accessing refuge here. That may be the signal the Government wants to send from today's debate, but it is storing up new problems for the future and it penalises people in desperate situations for no real policy benefit.  We absolutely need reform. We need decisions to be made more effectively and quickly. I acknowledge that, following investment and reform made under the last Government, the International Protection Office is now delivering its decisions on status in a far more timely way. However, we have to separate the policy we need from the policy that plays well in political theatre. That means adopting the pact and making our decisions more efficient, but it also calls for the Government to preserve basic legal rights and to put the same relentless focus on the accommodation side and moving away as quickly as possible from private providers. It calls for a border procedure that does not involve the incarceration of minors and their guardians.  The cold house approach, the kind of hostile environment beloved of the UK Conservative Party, simply does not work. It is not supported by the evidence. Look at the post-Brexit migration numbers in the UK. The Minister knows as well as I the overriding factors determining international protection numbers in Ireland are decisions made at the Cabinet table in Downing Street. Right now, the numbers are lower. The relentless pressure I faced in sourcing accommodation has lessened and openings are consequently fewer. This is all because we have a moderate, co-operative Government in London, but what happens if Reform UK wins the next UK general election? What happens if the Minister faces Richard Tice as home secretary? What would have happened if the Starmer Government had pushed forward its mandatory ID cards policy? Which UK land border, which an entire peace process depends on being completely open, would have been the first to see an impact?  With the lower arrival numbers, the Minister's Government has been given a moment to act decisively. While our international protection decision system must be more efficient and that will reduce numbers overall, if the Government fails to take advantage of the lower arrival numbers to change the accommodation system and to begin that move away from the expensive private providers of international protection accommodation, the Minister and his Government will find themselves hopelessly exposed when some international event outside of their control creates the next wave of migration across Europe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  Without a doubt, the system we have had to date has not been fit for purpose and there have been several problems outlined here on that. The delays in the system have not been fair to anybody, particularly genuine and successful applicants.  We need to be able to deal much more quickly with people who are fleeing war, persecution or famine. We need to be able to help them. If the faster processing times that have been set out happen, I will welcome the 12 weeks and the further 12 weeks on the second appeal. That will benefit successful applicants. Unsuccessful applicants, obviously, will have to leave. The current system is way too slow and there are examples of people waiting years within the system.  The family reunification implications in the Bill are cruel and excessive, particularly in immediate families. We have to recognise that people - mothers and fathers - are separated from their children. I appeal to the Minister to go back on that. I am not too sure where the ask came from to put in that three-year clause. We have to be fair about this. We have people who may be working here in Ireland who are separated from their children and their partners, wives, husbands or whatever else. That is a cruel system. Imagine any of us being exposed to that. That is not fair and I appeal to the Minister to change it and to make it fairer, particularly for immediate families. That is the big point I wish to make here today.  On return and departure, I want a fair, efficient and rules-based system. If something is not rules-based, it does not work. I do not have a problem with the rules being implemented once they are done in a fair and proper manner. The return and departure of unsuccessful applicants is not verified. At the Committee of Public Accounts two years ago, I asked the Secretary General of the Department what happened when somebody fails all the appeals processes, including through the courts. I was told that they send a letter to the last known address. How do you verify what is going to happen there? These people are living in rental accommodation much of the time, so much of it is temporary by nature. They may have moved on. There needs to be verification where somebody fails. Where somebody is successful, we have to make sure we look after them and they are treated properly, but where somebody fails the system and the appeals, we have to be able to verify. We can verify that less than half of those who have failed over the past three years have left the State. That is not a system that is working or is fit for purpose. You cannot look after the genuine cases if you are going to have a system that works like that. The resources are not there to cater for them and they are not being targeted for the help or supports they need.  I do not have a problem with the approach being taken in respect of those convicted of serious crime. If we are being honest, we must accept that the right to stay can be terminated for people who are convicted of serious crime.  We have to be careful when it comes to the issue of unaccompanied minors because children who are coming from dangerous countries, after fleeing a dangerous situation, must be cared for. However, my understanding is that many of these children are being brought to the front door of Tusla and being left there to be looked after. Tusla has to try to arrange bed and breakfast for them and to supervise these arrangements. Let us think about this for a minute and try to work it out. Unless there has been a change recently, this is what is happening and it is not acceptable. We must have a better way of dealing with these cases. If an unaccompanied child or minor arrives from a safe country, the safe country needs to be contacted to say, \"We have a child from your country here\" and they need to be safely returned into the hands of safe authorities. If they are from a country where there is any risk of war, persecution, famine, harm or exploitation coming to that child, they should not be returned. Let me be clear about that.  On the issue of the IPAS centres, the Day report has been gathering dust for a good few years. We know it recommended that large centres be owned, run and controlled by the State. That has not happened. There is money being made and some people have got very wealthy off the back of this. Being honest, there is rampant profiteering and all sorts of chancers who have made huge money off the back of it and have got very well off in a short period. We need to move to those facilities recommended in the Day report. As far as I know, the only one we have made progress with is the Citywest centre and I welcome that.  We have to recognise that England, Scotland and Wales - three foreign countries - are not in the European Union but we have a common travel area with them. They are outside the EU, so this EU agreement means nothing. As the previous speaker said, if there is an extremely right-wing government in England, which is highly possible in the form of Mr. Farage and his pals, we could wind up in a very difficult situation here. We need to reach binding agreements with Britain as regards what happens. It is accepted that the vast majority come over the artificial border on this island; that is a fact we cannot ignore. It is a difficult one to deal with but it has to be dealt with by the Department of foreign affairs while there is a friendly or reasonable enough government in Britain, even if it may be criticised in other ways. We need to be doing it while the Labour Party Government is in place because, my God, if Reform UK is elected into government there, it will change it.  We need to help people who are successful applicants and those who have a reasonable case to put forward. Those who cannot obviously cannot stay. We need to help people to integrate with education, training and work. We need a fair, efficient and rules-based system. I appeal to the Minister to revisit the family reunification piece. That is a cruel proposal, and it needs to be revised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I welcome the opportunity this evening to discuss the International Protection Bill, which will make Ireland's asylum processing system fairer not only for those who wish to come here but also for those who are already here.  Most of us in the Chamber can agree on the enormous benefits that migration brings to our country. The Ireland of 2026 is a diverse, multiethnic society where people can celebrate and share their cultures free from fear, and long may that last. The Ireland of 2026 has also bucked historic trends. It is no longer a place that people are forced to emigrate from due to conflicts, but a safe harbour for those fleeing global conflicts. We must all realise we have a duty to those who come to our shores seeking protection. At present, our asylum and international protection system is not adequately prepared to carry out this duty effectively. If a person comes to Ireland seeking international protection and is then faced with up to a year and half waiting before their application is decided upon, they are essentially left in an uneasy limbo.  While applicants are languishing in a system that was not built to cope with today's demands, they are forced to build their futures on sand. The delays caused by this cumbersome process, in turn, do a disservice to us all. Last year, just over 13,000 people sought asylum in Ireland. While this was down on the figure for 2024, it was still substantially higher than the numbers arriving a decade ago. In the face of renewed pressures on our asylum-processing system, comprehensive change is required. The State can and must do better. With this Bill, I firmly believe it will. The Bill will bring Ireland in line with the European pact on migration and asylum, provide a firm, fair and consistent approach across the Continent, and streamline and speed up our current processes.  A common approach, as envisaged in the migration and asylum pact, will reduce the pressure currently on our processing system by curbing the secondary movement of people through the EU.  I also welcome the proposal for a new border procedure with a three-month time limit for decisions and new institutional arrangements for international protection decisions and appeals. Whereas, currently, people applying for international protection can expect to wait an average of 29 months to process through the system, these new procedures will bring that down to nine months, which is a marked improvement. Whether someone is granted asylum or not, this proposed system will let him or her get on with his or her life sooner rather than later.  The State currently faces a cost of over \u20ac120,000 per applicant processed in the international protection system as it currently operates. However, the projected future costs based on the proposed streamlining measures will make that cost less than \u20ac50,000 per applicant, which is a 60% reduction in the current cost to the State. I am of the firm belief that this money is better spent building tomorrow rather than stalling today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  I acknowledge the work that has gone into this Bill. There are two issues I want to raise in respect of it, both of which the Minister is very familiar with. When Simon Harris was elected Taoiseach in April 2024, one of the first pressing concerns he faced was what was effectively a humanitarian crisis taking place on Mount Street because of the proliferation of international protection applicants who simply did not have anywhere to reside. To cut a long story short, agencies that perhaps were not working together started working together and a system developed involving Dublin City Council, IPAS, the IPO and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na working hand in glove. Over the long term, because of the work of the Minister and his predecessor and the fact that we have moved IPAS back under the umbrella of the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, largely speaking, there is sufficient accommodation for international protection applicants. Yet it is still the case, and the Minister will be familiar with this, that in our own constituency, individuals arrive at Mount Street and well-meaning volunteers provide them with tents while they wait to be provided with accommodation. Very often that accommodation is found within 24 to 48 hours, yet these individuals are settled in tents in public parks in our area, which are not appropriate places for international protection applicants to be. In addition to the humanitarian crisis, this is what ultimately instigated the changes we saw. If legal change is necessary to ensure that a place can be found for an international protection applicant when he or she arrives at Mount Street at whatever hour of the day, let us make that change. If it is an administrative change that is needed, let us make that change too, because there is no longer a reasonable excuse for or logic behind why an international protection applicant should be in a tent in a public park in any area of the city.  The second issue I wish to raise, which is perhaps more substantive and relevant to the Bill, is age assessment. It was reported in The Sunday Times that, in submissions on the Bill, the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and the Minister for Health expressed misgivings regarding age assessment. I want to put on the record of the D\u00e1il what was reported in respect of the Department of Children, Disability and Equality. What was reported was that the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality and her Department said that, given the clear legal requirements for the presumption of minority, any delay in the undertaking of the age assessment process greatly increased the serious risk of adults being placed in accommodation with unaccompanied minors. It was further noted that there do not appear to be provisions in the Bill for the undertaking of a preliminary age assessment process that may support the identification of persons falsely claiming to be minors, a number that is rising year on year. The Minister went on to say that the application of a robust and timely age assessment process that prevents the placing of adults with unaccompanied minors in State accommodation requires strong consideration and needs to be clearly addressed within the Bill's provisions.  The Minister for Health's concerns related to her Department. What was reported was that she would welcome clarification of the legal basis on which medical data arising from a preliminary health assessment may be accessible to the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration or a tribunal. The Minister went on to reportedly state that she had concerns about the proposed assessments to determine the age of an applicant and that, in particular, a medical examination to determine age is not considered a reliable method of age verification and may represent a waste of health resources.  There is no question that age assessment is a complex issue and there is no silver bullet to get an absolutist outcome. What is abundantly clear, and what was clear to me and every other member of the Committee of Public Accounts, is that Tusla is very concerned about the rising number of unaccompanied minors, its responsibilities relating to them and the timeliness with which age assessment referrals it makes to the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration are returned to it. I have a principal concern, which is that there is this legal obligation of assuming the person is a minor. Tusla's responsibilities are exceptionally different from those of the IPO, the statutory function of which is to assess whether the person has a valid entitlement to make an application for international protection in the first instance. The job of Tusla is to look after every child in this State irrespective of nationality. I do not think it is appropriate that, for the past number of years if not longer, unknown to many Members of this Oireachtas, the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration has effectively outsourced age assessment to Tusla, notwithstanding the fact that the intention of the Oireachtas in the existing legislation has been that this role and statutory function would remain vested in the Department. The Department is effectively relying on social workers employed by Tusla who carry out these age assessments. Why is this so important? We know it is so important because the risk of adults mingling in child settings is a significant one. Members do not need me to point to recent incidents about why that is so serious. Children being placed in adult-only sections of accommodation is also a concern.  It does not matter where one is from. We have an absolute obligation to look after children in this country. It is also clear that, for whatever reason, the number of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection, and I am sure the statistics are not unique to Ireland, is growing. We have a responsibility to those children. We have a responsibility to ensure that, if somebody is seeking international protection, if he or she is being handed over to Tusla, which has an additional ratio of staff or carers, he or she is actually a child and meets the requirement.  It is impossible for the Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to adequately scrutinise the provisions of this Bill in the absence of draft regulations. When this Bill comes to Committee Stage, the members of the committee should have access to the regulations the Minister intends to propose. I am not a member of this committee but I think it should hear from Tusla regarding its views on the provisions because we really only have one chance to get this right. Issues arising from age assessment challenges for Tusla have been festering for a number of months if not over a year, and this is the chance to get it right, to get it right in this legislation. What is so important is that the Minister and the Department hear from the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, the Department of Health and Tusla to get this Bill right. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It is fair to say that the EU migration and asylum pact does not take into the account the issues that persist in Ireland, including the fact that we have a shared border and, unfortunately down to British jurisdiction, that means a shared border with a state and entity that is not in the European Union. That was Britain's determination not ours, but, in fairness, it has never done anything that has suited Ireland. We saw the recent near imposition of the Brit-card, an absolute defiance of logic, the peace process and all of the hard work that has been done.  Let us be absolutely clear that we are dealing with this common travel area and it greatly pains me that this particular border exists in Ireland. The reason I am standing here today is that, like my colleagues, I am utterly committed to the removal of this particular border, which as we know is very porous, as do the many who have tried to cut off some of the approximately 300 border crossings. It is an impossibility. While accepting that we can do a lot better, having a fully-fledged and proper immigration system in operation in Ireland would need to remove said border and create a united Ireland. The Minister may be in a position to do more in the near future, but we really need to see a move to Irish unity and the preparations that are necessary from this particular Government.  We are dealing with legislation that was agreed to by both Houses. I am deeply disappointed that the Minister and the Government did not consider the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice's recommendation that we have a determination. We could have looked at an opt-out for the considerable parts of this pact that do not suit the situation that exists in Ireland at the minute. Unfortunately, these are not the circumstances we are in.  Others have spoken about the issues around the civil legal aid system and Tusla. We are talking about systems that are absolutely stretched and under pressure. We really do not see how this is going to be fit for purpose and going to work. The Minister is under pressure timewise because he has to deal with ensuring the 12 June deadline happens. I am not quite sure that all of the ducks are going to be in a row beforehand. The fact is we are talking about the further imposition of fines and infringement proceedings.  There has been huge unease about international protection. That is because communities that were not communicated with very well and have lost hotels and other amenities saw an element of chaos. The Government has spoken about how it is going to remedy this. I accept that over the years it did not have the same number of people who are now applying for international protection. I also accept that people, who are here, apply for international protection and fit the criteria in the sense that they are fleeing persecution and war, should be looked after. They should not be languishing for years. Processing should happen fast, but if you do not have a right to be here, you should be gone.  The Minister has put many proposals forward. We really need to see that proper and adequate procedures are in place. We have all talked about faster processing. I also want to ask him about the 12-week time limit for the first instance and appeal decisions to be completed for certain categories of applicants because he has also spoken previously of six months for the initial application and six months for appeal. We really need to get to grips with this because it is not fit for purpose. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I welcome the comments by Deputy Geoghegan about obligations to children. I am delighted to see that someone in Fine Gael is finally realising that we have obligations to children and, in particular the 6,000 homeless children in Ireland and that our obligation should be to them.  Ireland's international protection system has been exploited for far too long. The problem has never been the compassion of the Irish people but the problem was the permissibility of the Irish State. The fact is we were too obliging and too quiet. We sat down, took what we were given and said nothing as if this was just the way it was and we could not do anything. There were extremely weak controls and by having weak controls, it led to abuse. There was also slow decision-making by this Administration and the previous Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and Green Administration. Weak administration rewards incompetence and the lack of co-operation. The failure to enforce laws and return people undermines the rule of law.  The measures in the Bill are serious measures. I accept that. They are the right measures to introduce but they do not go far enough. These are measures that should have been in place a long time ago. Mandatory screening is basic governance. Biometric identification is non-negotiable and non-co-operation with the State should never be an option.  I previously mentioned in this House people who entered Dublin airport and when asked how they arrived in this country, which is one of the standard questions, replied: \"I arrived by hot air balloon; how else do you think I got here?\" That is not somebody who is interested in being a good citizen in this country. Anyone who refuses to co-operate should not be facilitated in this country. I refer to the number of people who are entering this country without a passport or any sort of identification. Thousands of those people have entered this country.  When some is running and fleeing for their life and getting on a boat and arriving in Spain, Greece or Italy, which we see a lot of the time, I understand why they may not have passport on them. However, I cannot understand how someone can enter this country after flying from France or Britain because there were no direct flights from their own country without any passport or identification. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Mistakes were made in the past and we were slow to block the door. I do not have an issue with people who want a better life coming into this country; I really do not. It does not matter what nationality they are. If they are coming in to make a better life for themselves and I know who they are, I do not have an issue. They will be part of our workforce and part of rebuilding Ireland. The problem I have is with the people who come into this country that we know nothing about. We have had a lot of people come into this country that we know nothing about. We have had people who come to this country and look for asylum and there were genuine cases. I do not doubt that, but we had a lot of people who were brought in here and trafficked in here for the wrong reasons. I have an issue with that.  We were slow to close the doors to airlines that allowed people from other countries on their aircraft who had paperwork to get on the planes over there but had no paperwork when they landed here. What we should have done at that time was turn them around straight back to the place that sent them here in the first place.  People in this country are very welcoming to anyone. They will do whatever they can to make people feel welcome, but because of different things, people are also scared of the unknown. If someone arrived to the Minister's house tonight and knocked on the door, would he open the door and invite them in if he did not know them? Would he open the door and invite him in if they did not have the paperwork needed to enter his house? No, he would not. Why do we use one law for one thing and another law for the other?  This Bill is very important and it is very important that we get it right. It is very important that we look after the people who are coming in here who need to be looked after. It is also equally important that we have a way of whittling out the ones we do not want here and who are a danger to our society and everyone else's society around them.  This is not just coming from me. It is actually coming from different nationalities who have settled here. These people have integrated and their lives and their children's lives are now here, which I welcome. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  On 19 June 2024, I spoke in the House against Ireland opting in to the EU migration and asylum pact. I made it clear then that this pact represented a serious erosion of Ireland's ability to control its own immigration policy and that its implications had not been honestly confronted. Just over a week later on 27 June 2024, I joined my Independent colleagues in voting against the pact. We did so because we believe that decisions of this scale, decisions that affect our sovereignty, our communities and the future direction of our country must not be handed over to Brussels without full accountability. That is why I also call for a national referendum. The Irish people should decide whether this country accepts a pact that will impose new obligations, financial pressures and limits on our ability to manage migration in a fair and responsible way.  My stance has not changed. In January 2026, I continue to raise concerns about comments by the EU Commissioner for migration, warning that Ireland risks being held up as an EU example without any regard for the pressures our communities are already feeling.  We have a two-tier society. There are genuine, hard-working people in this country for whom we are fighting to get visas. We cannot get them, so the system is broken. The Government has continued to introduce a system that adds pressure.  I want to highlight the very genuine, serious problems within our own immigration system. These are affecting individuals, employers and entire communities across the country. I have constituents in west Cork who have been in committed relationships for many years. One person has a fianc\u00e9e who previously lived here with him, but circumstances required her to return to her home country. She has now re-entered Ireland on a short-term three-month visa, yet we are still waiting for clear information from the Department of justice on whether her de facto visa application will be accepted. This uncertainty is causing enormous stress for a genuine couple simply trying to build a life together.  Another case involves an Indian national who has, in fairness to him, been working hard in Ireland for the past 20 years. He has been waiting months for his Garda National Immigration Bureau card to be issued. Since he has not got this card, he cannot travel home to India. He would not be allowed to re-enter Ireland without it. He has missed his brother's funeral. These delays trap people in limbo, despite the fact that they are legally resident here and contributing to essential services. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Deputy Collins has more time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  He has two minutes and 45 seconds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  That is what I have been told. Will I keep going? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  My information states two and a half minutes each, but the Deputy may go ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  The man is now stuck outside the country because the document was not processed in time. The relevant company was forced to send another highly skilled employee back to their home country due to red-tape issues that should never have arisen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The screen states two and a half minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  These situations disrupt businesses, damage productivity and place avoidable burdens on employers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy Fitzmaurice. The screen in front of me states two and a half minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  It is 20 minutes between six. It should be two minutes and 45 seconds for each of us. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  There are six minutes for Deputy Lawless and three for Deputy Gogarty, so the Deputies' co-ordinator needs to keep in contact. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  Okay.  I welcome the opportunity to speak in this debate. The Minister was not here when a previous Minister signed more of our country's sovereignty away, to put it very simply. We should still be in control of our own affairs. That has gone. It is water under the bridge now.  We have two systems in Ireland. We should make it very clear that we value people who have come here through the visa system and who are doing great work throughout the country. They need to be appreciated for everything they are doing. However, the sad reality is that when a renewal is needed, or when an employer wants to bring somebody in through the visa system, it is a nightmare. That is the fact, whether we like it or not.  Then there is the other system, whereby someone may come in on a plane without a passport. They could be here five, six or seven years before being dealt with. I understand that the Minister has made improvements. I acknowledge that and I have said it openly, but the reality is that while the Minister says applications will be processed or decided upon in 12 weeks, if the applicants go to the courts they will be here for another two, three, four or five years. That is a major problem.  What has happened in this country, not in the Minister's time but before it, is that many decisions made within the Department saw rural communities pitted against each other. Businesspeople have gone around the country like vultures looking for places, including nursing homes that were closed. We lost nursing homes in this country and they became IPAS centres. Maybe it was not the Minister's Department that was involved at the time, but I am referring to the Department that made the decisions. What has happened has caused havoc in rural communities around the country. Those concerned should hang their heads in shame for what they have done. Civil servants in some Department made these decisions without any of us knowing as politicians. We were left looking like fools, not knowing what was going on. Local councillors were left looking like fools because they could not be told what was happening. A liaison person was sent out who would not tell you X, Y or Z, and that was absolutely sickening. I hope the Minister changes this. I realise he is caught now with this European legislation and that if he does not adhere to what we have signed up to, the pact that gives sovereignty away, we can be fined.  I welcome what the Minister has done over the past six or seven months, but I will say time and again that there are people who have come here from countries not because they were fleeing war or other such things. They are coming in through the North and by other ways and we have no control over it. We do not know who is coming in.  May I be very clear? If people come here through the visa system, they are very welcome to work. Let no one say they are not. Let people not be putting out, especially in the media, that we are against people working. Nobody is against anyone working. Irish people have opened their houses, businesses and properties to people in this regard, but they will not put up with what is going on at the moment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I welcome some of the Minister's moves in this space over recent months. It must be said, however, that it is deeply regrettable that, as a sovereign nation or state, we tied ourselves to the EU migration pact. We signed up to EU fines, irrespective of the fact that we have a common travel area with Britain, of movements in relation to the BritCard and of the potential change of government in Britain and what that will mean for Ireland. Tying ourselves to the migration pact will result in devastating and potentially significant fines down the line.  I welcome the change in rhetoric from the Government. The Minister has been a welcome change from his predecessor, it must be said, but when we drill down into the detail and the cost of the IPAS system, we find it is extraordinary. It is very clear that nothing has changed as of yet. We submitted a parliamentary question and the data in the response are staggering. Up to the end of last October, nearly \u20ac1 billion was spent on IPAS. Therefore, last year's budget for IPAS will have exceeded \u20ac1 billion. In 2024, it also exceeded \u20ac1 billion. An extraordinary amount of money is being spent on the IPAS system. Imagine what we could do with an additional \u20ac1 billion every single year. We could build the Galway ring road, for example.  People, including taxpayers, are frustrated, for a number of reasons. One is the litany of financial failure by the Minister's Department in relation to contracts and the oversight of spending. These are not my words; it is in the report of the Comptroller and Auditor General. What the report reveals is extraordinary. One company overcharged VAT by \u20ac7.5 million, and only \u20ac1.5 million was recovered. The report found serious issues with compliance and the potential for the State to overspend by millions of euro on contracts. What is happening is extraordinary.  Another reason for frustration is the abuse of the system itself. The vast majority of applicants ultimately fail. Many remain in the system for excessively long periods, sometimes years, and this ultimately means we are spending a significant proportion of billions of euro unnecessarily. That is the truth of it.  Meanwhile, we have so many issues with infrastructure and services for the Irish people. This must be cleaned up. Financial oversight must be cleaned up. We must address this issue. I am still unclear on the processes the Department has put in place since the Comptroller and Auditor General's report was issued.  We must address the fact that approximately 90% of applicants come through the North from Britain. That is a major issue. I appreciate that there are complexities and significant challenges but, equally, this is a beast we must tackle. We must get a handle on the issue of thousands of people coming here from Britain via the North.  We have to get a handle on it and I think it is crucially important. We should do that ahead of potential changes in Britain.  I also want to raise the fact that, as Deputy Fitzmaurice quite rightly said, there are businessmen coming around rural communities and speculating on properties. There are businessmen in County Mayo from the east, the north and all parts of Ireland coming around rural villages in souped-up cars, sports cars and Range Rovers, speculating on warehouses, closed hotels, nursing homes, etc. That is the reality and the Government has facilitated this. I have raised this on many occasions. If the Minister wanted to change this, he would remove the planning circumvention immediately. In Ballina, for example, in the former school site of St. Mary's Secondary School, the people were told it is a nursing home. There was even a sign saying that a nursing home was coming soon. Meanwhile, the planning circumvention for a section 5 was submitted.  The Government is treating the people like fools. I have raised this with the Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste and every time, they and the Government says that they basically agree and will do something on it. Meanwhile, businessmen are driving around rural communities in sports cars, convertibles and Range Rovers speculating and making millions of euro off the back of what is happening. I welcome some of the changes in relation to it but a significant body of work must be done to get a handle on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Ireland needs a tougher, faster and more enforceable international protection system. Communities are under pressure around the country. Services are stretched and the current system is not working for anyone - not for the State, for genuine refugees or for the public, which expects a fair but firm approach.  I have said before that most economic migrants are decent people looking for a better life but these need to be dealt with through a work permit system. Yes, we need quicker decisions and a system where a final refusal actually means a person leaves the State. However, agreeing with these broad aims is not the same as being able to support the Bill in front of us because I am not sure this legislation strikes a balance that a modern, rights-based democracy needs to have. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, the Ombudsman for Children and others have raised serious concerns about how things could operate in a real-life situation.  The Bill expands the arrest and detention powers, which I welcome in certain circumstances but it also includes the possibility of detaining unaccompanied children. That is a line we should not cross without absolutely necessary and watertight safeguards. We are not the Trump Administration, and those with a better knowledge than me are arguing that provisions on legal counselling are too vague, leaving applicants, including vulnerable people, without clear access to independent advice at key stages. Vulnerability assessments are preliminary only and are not ongoing either, meaning victims of trafficking, people who have been tortured or people with disabilities, including mental disabilities, may fall through the cracks. The age assessment procedures are also unclear and oral appeals are restrictive. Surely best practice is to always allow people to be heard in person whenever they want.  It is not wrong for the people of Ireland to want a tougher system but as a democracy, they also want a system that can withstand legal challenge; protect the vulnerable, especially children; and ensure faith in the process, which I am not sure the Bill, as it is currently proposed, will do. Maybe we need to explicitly prohibit the detention of unaccompanied children, except in very exceptional circumstances with automatic judicial oversight. Maybe we need to guarantee access to free, independent legal counselling at all stages, including detention decisions and age assessments and strengthen age and vulnerability assessment procedures. We should maybe restore oral appeals as the default and not the exception to make sure there is fairness in the system, and finally, guarantee the full independence and adequate funding of the appeals bodies and the chief inspectorate.  If these changes were made, we could have a Bill that is firm, fair and, crucially still, fast, if the proper resourcing is put in. In many circumstances, the reason it took so long before was down to processing and staffing issues. We could have a Bill that protects our borders and respects basic human rights. It is not a case of either-or. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in  I would welcome any Government Bill if it will deal with the present chaotic system of IPAS processing enforcement, as well as the speculation that is going on in villages all across this island. We definitely need to see faster processing of asylum claims, a more efficient decision-making process and less time spent by applicants in State accommodation, which is enriching cowboy developers and speculators all over this country, with systems being imposed on local communities. I would welcome it if it sees quicker processing for successful applicants, and if it stops the trafficking of many unaccompanied minors. This is something I raised with Tusla in the committee. Many of them end up in Tusla or many go missing. Over 30 of them went missing last year. I would also welcome it if it deals with a faster return of those who have been refused to their country of origin or a previous EU country.  I would welcome the Bill if it was to deal with these because, to date, the system has been quite farcical and reckless. The State simply has not been bothered to apply its own rules. We had the farcical situation of knowing about people arriving and flushing or shredding passports down the toilets in the aeroplane and going into airport bins, which was widespread. The State was ignoring its own rules. If the Government started to deal with the application of the rules, it would be welcome. That said, I do not think it should be something that is imposed on us by faceless EU bureaucrats. The people of Ireland should be making these decisions. I look up at the statues of all the patriots around this building. To be giving our sovereignty away to the EU is a betrayal of these people, who we are supposed to be honouring in here.  I had previously written to the Minister's office and the Department of justice separately in relation to deportation orders. I was told the following:  As there are no routine exit checks at Irish borders, it is not possible to accurately provide the number of people who are currently in Ireland subject to deportation orders.  There you have it.  On the cost, the State has spent an estimated \u20ac1.2 billion on IPAS for the past year. That is an estimation for 2025. It means a large portion of that money - that \u20ac1.2 billion of the public's hard-earned money - is going to speculator cowboys throughout this country. If it puts an end to that, it would be welcome. It should also put an end to the process by which the State has been taking local community facilities and buildings, imposing systems on local communities without consultation and dividing communities. This is something that definitely has to end.  We have been clear from the beginning that if a person is not entitled to be in Ireland, they should be returned safely to their country of origin and the deportation order should be both enforced and tracked. We also need to have the powers to immediately return those who are not entitled to be here. I believe an Irish Government is best placed to make these decisions in the interests of the Irish people, not these unelected bureaucrats in Brussels or faceless EU institutions that make the decisions for us, which undermine our democracy and sovereignty. If the Bill could tackle these issues, it is something I would very much welcome. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I want to start by clearly saying what I was elected on in the election a year ago. I was one of the only TDs to have immigration on my leaflet, which the people of north Dublin elected me on. I was elected on a belief that immigration must be handled in a dignified and proactive way based on dialogue between communities and Government. Since sitting in the Chamber and in my office, I have heard many Deputies speak about the previous Government and how the Department was not engaging with local representatives, TDs and councillors.  No constituency can see that better than Dublin Bay North, with the former Crown Paints site and the way it was dealt with. I have spoken in this House multiple times about how an inquiry needs to be done on how it was dealt with, how people were put in danger as a result of how it was dealt with, and how it can never happen again. I knocked on nearly every door in the area. There were people from all around Ireland who came there to aggravate the current status but the people are the most welcoming, hard-working people. People in north Dublin are the most welcoming people and this was treated completely wrongly. I know this was not the Minister, it was a previous Minister, but I welcome how swiftly his Department dealt with the Crown Paints site.  The mandate I was given is the standard to which I will always hold myself in this House. I welcome some of the changes in the asylum system that this Bill brings in. What is proposed is sensible and faster decisions are better for everyone. Clear procedures are better for applicants, communities and the State.  Three weeks ago I met a refugee. We had a lovely meeting. He said he really wants an easier system so he can get to work. The Department has already brought out statements on that and I would welcome more being brought in. They are coming here for a better life. They want to work. If they cannot work easily, that sets them out as a target. He was begging me. He asked was there anything he could do to be in the system. Leaving people in limbo is something we cannot support. The fact the Minister is speeding it through is much better.  To create trust, we need to communicate with communities. I have already said that. Deputy Fitzmaurice said that. Where communities are feeling ignored and you do not communicate with those communities, it creates a vacuum for misinformation and hatred to spread. The Minister is aware of this and I welcome the work he has done on this. I call again for an inquiry into how the Crown Paints site in Coolock was dealt with. The fear, anger and division was completely avoidable. We need to learn from it and not repeat it. Some parts of the Bill will help with that.  Previous speakers spoke about solidarity. I think it is very true. Recently I was at a launch in Beaumont Hospital and heard directly about nurses and doctors being attacked when leaving work. I welcome the statements from the Minister\u2019s office recently. It is important that we stand united with the Indian community. They are part of our community. They look after us when we are sick. They looked after my granny when she was in hospital. For anyone to say these hard-working men and women are not contributing to society need to go and see. I know it is not just that community but the entire migrant community in our health system. I stand with them and everyone who comes to this country to make this country a better place. I believe in a country where immigration is managed with respect and where people are safe in their workplaces and on the streets, and where communities are included and not ignored in any communication. That is why legislation like this must be discussed. Some people in this House do not want to discuss this legislation, but when you do not discuss this in the Parliament of our country, in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann, c\u00e9n \u00e1it gur f\u00e9idir leat labhairt faoi na ruda\u00ed seo? Toghtar daoine \u00f3n phobail le teacht chuig an \u00e1it seo chun caint faoi na ruda\u00ed seo. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 an-t\u00e1bhachtach go mbeimid in\u00e1r adults to be able to talk about these situations. This sits on top of the housing shortage and the blame for this along with the overcrowded schools. I have been speaking about this. If we ignore the reality, we gift it to those who wish to exploit fear and create vacuums. Again, I commend the Minister for how quickly he dealt with north Dublin.  I want to bring this back to the Bill. The accelerated procedures in the new tribunal for asylum and returns appeal and the new biometric screening and return mechanisms may improve efficiency, but efficiency without fairness will fail. I spoke to people in sector. I know this is only Second Stage but they are worried enforcement will fail without it being properly discussed. We cannot process people quickly enough. I heard other Deputies talk about the \u20ac1.2 billion spent in 2025. People are angry. There is a range of issues but they are also angry at people becoming millionaires off a system that is broken. It is very important this gets brought through and implemented as soon as possible.  Coming back to the Bill, I support the aims of creating a system that is fair, consistent, lawful and workable. I welcome that part but I will judge it by does it respect human dignity and what this country has always stood for. From speaking to constituents, there is public confidence as a result of the announcements by the Government at the moment. It is important to recognise that migration policy must go hand in hand with public engagement and with housing, infrastructure investment and everything.  Ireland has a strong history of emigration. I have spoken about this in the House multiple times. We understand what it is like to leave home. We understand what it is like to seek safety and opportunity in places where we are trying to make better lives for ourselves, but we can be firm and organised in how we manage migration and immigration. If you look at statistics, it is very difficult, and I have heard other Deputies mention this, that we do have an open border. Looking at any of the parliamentary questions which have been submitted by Deputies, including by my own office, on this, it is very difficult in the sense that I do not think we will have completely secure borders until we have a united Ireland. That is another point I would push for. I support measures that speed up decisions to protect the vulnerable and I will continue to argue for proper community consultation for north Dublin. What happened there can never happen again. It put people and refugees in danger. What I have said I will do is what people elected me to do and I intend to keep doing it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  The way immigration and bogus asylum seekers have been manged to date is nothing short of a social and economic catastrophe. I am utterly convinced this issue will come to define previous governments. Warning after warning was dismissed and was reframed. Warning after warning that the State was effectively being ripped off were ignored with the excuse that we were in an emergency and therefore proper controls did not apply. Billions have been spent and very likely billions more will be spent because this State has adopted the slowest possible approach to managing a crisis that has been plain for all to see except for those who wanted to push the de facto open border policies.  If the Minister wants to see what talking tough and taking no meaningful action on the asylum chaos looks like and where it will lead to, then he may look no further than the UK. There the entire political establishment is being convulsed by defections from the establishment parties. The people are fed up of governments which promise much but do little but deliver tough-sounding rhetoric with no actions. The same is true here. Our people here are angry at how unwilling or how powerless governments have been in dealing with this generational crisis. This Bill promises much, but my fear is that it will be bogged down in bureaucratic nonsense and loopholes sought and found by the overpaid NGOs which are determined to oppose all necessary reform.  I have very serious concerns which I have raised many times in this House about the vetting, or lack of vetting, of bogus asylum seekers, the delays deporting asylum seekers with criminal pasts, many of whom come from safe countries, and no vetting of the providers of IPAS accommodation. They have been described here as businesspeople but they are not all businesspeople. Some of these providers could be better described as gangsters and they have question marks over their suitability or the appropriateness of having those people involved in the provision of any type of accommodation. What vetting is being done there? I do not believe there is any vetting there either of the providers and who is involved. We need an urgent overhaul of both our dysfunctional immigration system and the IPAS system in terms of who is providing the accommodation. Are those people checked? My sense is that none of them were checked at any stage. Some, as I say, are totally unsuitable. The people involved in the provision of IPAS accommodation, some of them gangsters and chancers, continue to profiteer from an unchecked, unregulated and broken system. This is extremely alarming. We need urgent action on this before it is too late.  I, as a represenative here, want action. I want a dramatic reduction in the numbers of economic migrants and in the numbers of bogus asylum seekers entering our country. I want no more excuses and deflection. We need reform urgently in terms of the people coming in, the vetting system and lack of vetting, and the lack of urgent deportations and timely deportations, but also there needs to be a vetting process of the suitability of some of these providers because there are serious question marks there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am glad to talk on this very important Bill this evening. I thank the Minister, Deputy Jim O\u2019Callaghan, 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 Ministers, and I am grateful to him for doing that.  We have to differentiate between the people who are coming here. There are people who are coming here with work visas and they are very welcome to work here. Many of them are badly needed and they have trouble in getting permanent visas or getting their family, wives and children brought over here. Reputable employers are raising concerns about that. They may have men they have trained in and people who have very skills in the areas where they are working. We appreciate those people and we need them. We need the system to help them to progress and to stay here when they are working like this and they are needed.  The other ones we can do without are the people who come here with no passport, and seem to arrive here and demand everything. We know what it was like for the people on the Muckross Road in Killarney when 70 or 80 asylum seekers were put into a house alongside elderly women on that road. They were not vetted and nobody knew where they were from or why they were there. That is very wrong because vetting is seriously important and if they have no passports or identification, they cannot be vetted and they should be sent back exactly to where they came from in the first place.  The changes to the international protection system will ensure that anyone who has been granted asylum in Ireland is only permitted to avail of family reunification when they are financially self-sufficient and can provide for those they wish to bring here.  The Minister is also proposing to introduce power to revoke or refuse a residence permit for refugee in circumstances where they are found to be a danger to the security of the State or have been convicted of involvement in serious crime. While these situations may be rate, there are a lot of them at times. It is important that these powers are provided for in law and that these people are sent back to their country of origin.  The scheme will be implemented over a planned 12-month period, allowing for the development of systems and resources to assess eligibility, share data securely, and collect and process payments. While not all international protection applicants are working, many are. It makes sense and it is only right for these people who are earning an income and paying tax to also make a contribution to the State for their accommodation costs. Other member states operate those systems already.  There are two rules for applying for citizenship. The Minister is proposing to update the rules around how people qualify for citizenship. At present someone wanting to apply for citizenship by naturalisation must have been resident here for five years. The rule for people granted international protection is different in that they only need to be here for three years. The Minister is proposing to update that so that they will have to be resident here for five years before they can apply to be citizens here.  It would be very important to see if there is any way that we can fast-track the pathway for people who are working to stay here. As I said, many employers and having difficulty in sourcing staff. They may have them on a time limit or whatever it is and when that time is up, they are ordered to go back and they are not able to get an extension. I ask the Minister to review that and ensure that people who want to work and are working here are facilitated in their quest to remain here. At the same time, those people who come here without any identification, have no vetting and are not prepared to say where they came from or how they came to be here, must be sent back by return plane to wherever they came from last - whatever airport they got on.  I will be supporting this. It looks like we will have some plan or some form of order to follow now because we did not over the past number of years. Many people were hurt in rural communities when they saw people landing there and they were not sure where they were from. They did not have any vetting and they were worried about them, especially women who were walking the walks they used always walk in the evenings but had to stop. That is not right. This is our country and our women, men and children must be protected from whoever new is coming in. If the Minister, I or anyone else inside in this Chamber is going for the job, we have to be vetted and vetted several times. The same thing has to apply to people coming in here. They have to be vetted. It is the most important thing. We have to understand and be sure where they come from.  I urge the Minister to continue in his work because he is a massive improvement on what we had under the previous Government. We look forward to supporting him. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Debate adjourned."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"International Protection Bill 2026: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2026","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move the following Revised Estimates:   Vote 11 \u2014 Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac151,551,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, for certain services administered by the Office of the Minister and for payment of certain grants, and that a sum not exceeding \u20ac950,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.   Vote 12 \u2014 Superannuation and Retired Allowances (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac902,982,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for pensions, superannuation, occupational injuries, and additional and other allowances and gratuities under the Superannuation Acts 1834 to 2004 and sundry other statutes; extra-statutory pensions, allowances and gratuities awarded by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, fees to medical referees and occasional fees to doctors; compensation and other payments in respect of personal injuries; fees to Pensions Authority and other professional fees, miscellaneous payments, etc.   Vote 14 \u2014 State Laboratory (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac16,540,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for the salaries and expenses of the State Laboratory.   Vote 15 \u2014 Secret Service (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac2,000,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for Secret Service.   Vote 17 \u2014 Public Appointments Service (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac26,794,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for the salaries and expenses of the Public Appointments Service and that a sum not exceeding \u20ac150,000 be granted by way of the application for capital supply services of unspent appropriations, the surrender of which may be deferred under Section 91 of the Finance Act 2004.   Vote 18 \u2014 National Shared Services Office (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac85,346,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for the salaries and expenses of the National Shared Services Office.   Vote 19 \u2014 Office of the Ombudsman (Revised Estimate)   That a sum not exceeding \u20ac18,359,000 be granted to defray the charge which will come in course of payment during the year ending on the 31st day of December, 2026, for the salaries and expenses of the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Commission for Public Service Appointments, the Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, the Standards in Public Office Commission, the Office of the Information Commissioner and the Office of the Commissioner for Environmental Information. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Estimates for Public Services 2026"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/1","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/1\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I must now deal with a postponed division relating to Second Stage of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026, taken on Thursday, 22 January 2026. On the question, \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time\", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/1","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/1\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Referral to Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I understand it is proposed to refer this Bill to the Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, pursuant to Standing Orders 103 and 188. Will the Minister move the motion of referral now? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move:  That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)( b ) and 188(1). "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Referral to Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/47","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/47\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I must now deal with a postponed division relating to Second Stage of the River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023, taken on Thursday, 22 January 2026. On the question, \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time\", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-28\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":" Emergency Winter Payment for Disabled People: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The following motion was moved by Deputy Eoin Hayes on Wednesday, 28 January 2026:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"notes that:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 disabled people in Ireland are among the most socially excluded and disadvantaged in the State, with some of the highest poverty, deprivation, and unemployment rates in Ireland;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 one in five disabled people live in consistent poverty, nearly four times the national average, while nearly 40 per cent live in enforced deprivation;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 in the context of escalating costs in energy, food and housing, disabled people are particularly vulnerable to cost pressures, especially as they are more likely to spend more of their time at home;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the State-commissioned Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland - Research Report, published in 2021, estimated the extra cost of living with a disability to be in the range of \u20ac8,700 - \u20ac12,300 (\u20ac10,490 - \u20ac14,830 adjusted for inflation);"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Budget 2026 reduced income for disabled people by an estimated \u20ac1,400 per year, according to the Disability Federation of Ireland; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the Disability Federation of Ireland has called Budget 2026 a \"devastating setback for disabled people\u2026 which leaves disabled people poorer, unsupported, and excluded\";"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"further notes that:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the need for a cost of disability payment has been identified as far back as 2004, something which was reaffirmed by the Indecon report;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a 2022 Economic and Social Research Institute report entitled \"Headline Poverty Target Reduction in Ireland and the Role of Work and Social Welfare\" found working-age adults with disabilities experience \"distinctively high rates of income poverty, deprivation and consistent poverty\";"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the 2025 Programme for Government committed to the introduction of \"a permanent annual Cost of Disability support payment with a view to incrementally increasing this payment\";"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the Government has failed to deliver any such permanent payment, and instead delivered a Budget which cut the incomes of disabled people and left them worse off; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 as a result of the Government cutting their incomes, disabled people have been forced to make unconscionable decisions about how to live on more limited means, forgoing necessary levels of home heating, nutrition, and greatly reducing their mobility and independence;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"recognises that:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the Government repeatedly claims that it wants to target resources at those who need it most and an emergency winter payment for disabled people would do just that, meaning it is in line with purported Government budgetary policy;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 disabled people need emergency financial support as they are experiencing an extremely challenging winter period, due to cost pressures associated both with their disabilities and seasonal costs, including energy, housing, and food costs;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 an immediate emergency winter payment would serve as a vital support, which would protect against the increased risk to disabled people of falling into poverty and deprivation; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 an emergency \u20ac400 winter payment is affordable and fiscally sustainable, given the cost of the measure, \u20ac124 million, amounts to a small portion of the budget surplus last year, which was even larger than the Government forecasted; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"calls on the Government to:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 immediately (within a month of this motion being agreed) introduce an emergency winter payment of \u20ac400 to all qualified recipients of;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Disabilities Allowance;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Invalidity Pension;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Blind Pension;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Incapacity Supplement;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Disablement Pension; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Domiciliary Care Allowance; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 immediately progress the introduction of a permanent cost of disability support payment, as promised in the Programme for Government, as a matter of urgency."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Debate resumed on amendment No. 1:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"To delete all words after \"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann\" and substitute the following:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\"recognises that:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the Government acknowledges that disabled people face additional costs in their daily lives;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the Government's determination to address this issue is reflected in the Programme for Government commitment, to introduce a permanent Annual Cost of Disability Support Payment;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 delivering on this commitment is a core objective of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which the Government published in September 2025;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a dedicated Disability Unit has been established in the Department of An Taoiseach, to drive progress in enhancing supports for disabled people;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 progress will be driven and monitored by the Cabinet Committee on Children, Disability and Education;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 under the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which was developed with the involvement of disability advocates and representative groups, the Department of Social Protection is mandated to lead a cross-Government Strategic Focus Network Summit on the Cost of Disability; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 work is already underway to establish and define the detailed remit of the Strategic Focus Network Summit:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the Strategic Focus Network Summit will be organised by the Department of Social Protection and, as a cross-Government endeavour, will include, other Government departments, and importantly it will involve disabled people and their advocates;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 this work will inform the approach to be taken in delivering on the Programme for Government commitment;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 officials have held meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the structure and content of the Strategic Focus Network Summit;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the views of disabled people and all relevant research, such as the Indecon Cost of Disability in Ireland - Research Report, and the more recent Economic and Social Research Institute report entitled \"Headline Poverty Target Reduction in Ireland and the Role of Work and Social Welfare\", will be given due consideration when progressing this work; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a public consultation process on how a cost of disability can best be delivered will also be launched shortly;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"notes that:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 there is already a broad range of income support payments for disabled people;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 there are approximately 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments and 170,000 recipients of caring payments, including the Domiciliary Care Allowance (DCA), with estimated expenditure of \u20ac6.5 billion across illness, disability and carer's schemes combined in 2026; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 Budget 2026 provided for a \u20ac1.15 billion package of new social protection measures, and this contained significant targeted measures to support disabled people, including:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a \u20ac20 per month increase in the monthly rate of DCA bringing it to \u20ac380 per month from January 2026, this represents an increase of over \u20ac70 or 23 per cent since 2022;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a \u20ac10, or 4.1 per cent increase in the weekly rates of payment, bringing the personal rates of payment to \u20ac254 per week from January 2026, this represents a \u20ac51 increase in weekly disability income support payments since Budget 2021;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 the highest ever increases in the Child Support Payment, an increase of \u20ac16 to \u20ac78 for children aged 12 or over, and of \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12, these payments have increased by \u20ac48.20 and \u20ac28.20 respectively since 2017;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a \u20ac5, or 15 per cent increase in the Fuel Allowance, bringing it to \u20ac38 per week from January 2026 providing recipients with an additional \u20ac140 during the annual Fuel Allowance season; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 an increase of \u20ac325 to \u20ac1,000 in the income disregard for single carers and \u20ac750 to \u20ac2,000 in the disregard for a couple, these increases mean a couple with an income of just under \u20ac140,000 can still qualify for a carer's payment;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 both the increases to personal rates of payment and the Fuel Allowance were ahead of the general inflation rate reported by the Central Statistics Office of 3.2 per cent in the year to the end of November 2025, and an energy cost increase of approximately 3.5 per cent for the same period; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 to make the welfare to work journey as smooth as possible, and to support disabled people into work, Budget 2026 provided for:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 people moving from Disability Allowance or Blind Pension to take up work to retain their Fuel Allowance payment for five years;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 people getting Disability Allowance or Blind Pension who have children being eligible for Back to Work Family Dividend when taking up employment and moving off those payments;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 expansion of the Wage Subsidy Scheme (WSS) to people who acquire a disability while in employment, and to those who transfer from Invalidity Pension to Partial Capacity Benefit; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 increased rates under the WSS, which will take effect from April;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 in Budget 2026, the Government allocated \u20ac3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026, including funding for community-based specialist disability services to ensure people with disabilities receive the right support, at the right time, in the right place;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 this represents a 20 per cent increase year-on-year and represents an overall increase since 2020 of \u20ac1.8 billion; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 a dedicated unit has been established in the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, to drive reform and to lead a full review of Ireland's disability service model and this unit will work hand-in-hand with disabled people, their families, and representative organisations to shape a long-term vision for services to 2030; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"further notes that:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 under the Supplementary Welfare Allowance (SWA) scheme, a special Heating Supplement may be paid to assist people in certain circumstances that have special heating needs, for example, in the case of ill health, infirmity or a medical condition;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 an Additional Needs Payment may also be made to help meet an essential, once-off cost which an applicant is unable to meet out of their own resources;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 in 2025 there were over 2,300 Additional Needs Payments made towards household bills and heating at a cost of almost \u20ac1.3 million;"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 there were 692 recipients of Heat Supplement at end of 2025; and"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"\u2014 any person who considers they may have an entitlement to a payment under the SWA scheme is encouraged to contact their local community welfare service, and the National Community Welfare Contact Centre is in place - 0818-607080 - which will direct callers to the appropriate office.\"."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"-(Minister for Social Protection)"},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding an emergency winter payment for disabled people. On Wednesday, 28 January 2026, on the question, \"That the amendment to the motion be agreed to\", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 8.51 p.m. go dt\u00ed 8.47 a.m., D\u00e9ardaoin, an 29 Ean\u00e1ir 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 8.51 p.m. until 8.47 a.m. on Thursday, 29 January 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Emergency Winter Payment for Disabled People: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2026-01-28"},{"contextDate":"2026-01-27","debateRecord":{"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-11T03:08:16+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":37,"speakerCount":12},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_2","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":94,"speakerCount":24},"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_3","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences (Amendment) Bill 2026: First Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_8","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/8","event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/8\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences (Amendment) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Eighth Report of the Standing Committee of Selection: Motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_9","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"#bill.2026.8.dail.1","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Commission on the Future of the Family Farm Bill 2024: Motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_10","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_11","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":9},"showAs":"Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_12","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":9},"showAs":"EU Summits","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_13","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Message from Select Committee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_14","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":14},"showAs":"Article 20 of Treaty on European Union Regarding Enhanced Co-operation: Motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_15","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":18},"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_28","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78","event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/78\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Child Care (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_29","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":35,"speakerCount":32},"showAs":"Emergency Mental Health Services: Motion [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_30","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_31","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Courts Service","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_32","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Language Schools","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_33","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Crime Prevention","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_34","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_34.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Legislative Measures","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_35","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_35.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_37","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_37.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_38","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_38.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Domestic Violence","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_39","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_39.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Family Reunification","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_40","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_40.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Immigration Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_41.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Stardust Fire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_42","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_42.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5},"showAs":"Road Traffic Offences","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_43","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_43.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Road Traffic Offences","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_44","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_44.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Departmental Funding","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_45","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_45.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_46","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Road Traffic Offences","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_48","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Telecommunications Infrastructure","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_49","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Commercial Rates","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_50","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Hospital Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_51","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_51"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Vaccination Programme","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_52","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_52"}}],"counts":{"divisionCount":4,"billCount":2,"debateSectionCount":35,"questionCount":37,"contributorCount":169},"house":{"chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34"},"date":"2026-01-27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/main","debateType":"debate","formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-27\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}}}},{"debateRecord":{"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/main","date":"2026-01-22","lastUpdated":"2026-04-28T03:14:08+01:00","chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34","chamberType":"house","houseCode":"dail","committeeCode":""},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"debateSectionCount":42,"contributorCount":140,"questionCount":29,"divisionCount":0,"billCount":3},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"}},"showAs":"Hospital Overcrowding","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"}},"showAs":"Mental Health Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_4","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"}},"showAs":"Pharmacy Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_5","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":9},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"}},"showAs":"Nursing Homes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_6","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":11},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"}},"showAs":"Dental Services ","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_7","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"}},"showAs":"Coroners Service","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_8","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"}},"showAs":"Health Strategies","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_10","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"showAs":"Cancer Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_11","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":11},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"showAs":"Mental Health Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_12","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":11},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"}},"showAs":"Primary Care Centres","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_13","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"showAs":"Abortion Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_14","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":9},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"showAs":"Ambulance Service","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_15","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"showAs":"Hospital Facilities","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_16","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":7},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"showAs":"Hospital Facilities","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_17","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":13},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"showAs":"Healthcare Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_18","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_19","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"showAs":"Rental Sector","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_20","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":5},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Visit of Colombian Delegation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_21","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":6,"speechCount":55},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"showAs":"Derelict Sites","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_23","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":17},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"}},"showAs":"Planning Issues","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_24","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"showAs":"Wastewater Treatment","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_25","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"showAs":"Local Authorities","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_26","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":10},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"}},"showAs":"Housing Provision","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_27","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":5,"speechCount":9},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"showAs":"Coastal Erosion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_28","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"}},"showAs":"Housing Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_29","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":5},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"}},"showAs":"Housing Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_30","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":30},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"}},"showAs":"Housing Provision","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_31","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_32","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":9,"speechCount":31},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_33","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":7},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_34","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":21,"speechCount":53},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Online Safety (Recommender Algorithms) Bill 2026: First Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_35","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"showAs":"Online Safety (Recommender Algorithms) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/7\/dail\/1","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/7"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":5},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_36","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"showAs":"Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/1\/dail\/2","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/1"},"counts":{"speakerCount":16,"speechCount":67},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_37","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_38","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Bus Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_39","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":12},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_40","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Vacant Properties","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_41","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"World Economic Forum","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_42","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38"},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-22\/debate\/dbsect_43","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"showAs":"River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/47\/dail\/2","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/47"},"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":11},"debateType":"debate"}}]},"contextDate":"2026-01-22"},{"contextDate":"2026-01-21","debateRecord":{"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-11T03:08:07+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_2","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Health Services Staff","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_4","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Disabilities Assessments","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_5","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Mental Health Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_6","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"School Accommodation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_7","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"School Admissions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_8","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":44,"speakerCount":36},"showAs":"Flexible Work and Commuter Delays: Motion [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_9","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":83,"speakerCount":13},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_10","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_11","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":65,"speakerCount":21},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_12","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":83,"speakerCount":28},"showAs":"International Developments: Statements","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_13","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"statement","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":75,"speakerCount":59},"showAs":"Water: Statements","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_14","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"statement","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":33,"speakerCount":4},"showAs":"Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_15","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/33","event":{"stage":"4_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/33\/dail\/4_sub","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"billReport","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_16","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2022\/94","event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2022\/94\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_21","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/18","event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/18\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Flexible Work and Commuter Delays: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/dbsect_26","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26"}}],"counts":{"divisionCount":4,"billCount":3,"debateSectionCount":17,"questionCount":0,"contributorCount":169},"house":{"chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34"},"date":"2026-01-21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/main","debateType":"debate","formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-21\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}}}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-07-01T02:13:21+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2026-01-20","counts":{"contributorCount":170,"divisionCount":1,"debateSectionCount":35,"questionCount":43,"billCount":5},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":40,"speakerCount":7},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I want to tell the Taoiseach about the final hours of Stephen Lavelle's life, a man from Erris in north Mayo. On the night of Saturday, 10 January, he became gravely ill shortly after arriving at the pub in Binghamstown. An ambulance was called at 10.25 p.m. but despite several follow-up calls, no ambulance arrived. A doctor was called and by the time they arrived, Stephen's family were growing more and more distressed. The doctor told Stephen's son Anthony, \"This is a category one emergency. You need to get him to hospital right now\", but there was still no sign of the ambulance. In desperation, the family carried Stephen to a car to drive the 56-mile journey to Mayo University Hospital. His wife Martina, his son Anthony and his daughter-in-law Rebecca all accompanied him. As they drove, Stephen's condition deteriorated. He was screaming in pain. They kept getting disconnected from the ambulance service because of the bad mobile phone coverage. Stephen's head began to droop. His eyes were wide in his head. Rebecca started CPR in the car. They finally did meet the ambulance but that was when they were only three minutes away from the hospital. When they arrived, nobody was waiting for them at the hospital. Anthony ran in and got help. It was now well after midnight. Stephen's pulse came back after eight minutes of CPR. He was ventilated and brought to the ICU. Sadly, Stephen passed away the following morning. He was 68 years old. My heart goes out to Stephen's heartbroken wife and family.  There are no words to adequately describe the horror faced by Stephen and his family. It highlights in a most harrowing way the severe crisis in our ambulance service. There are stories from all across the country of ambulances taking far too long to arrive. It is especially dangerous in rural areas where hospitals can be an hour or more away. We have outstanding paramedics but we do not have nearly enough of them. Four years ago, the Government was told that the service required an additional 2,000 staff by 2026 but not even a quarter of that number has been recruited. The service is badly understaffed and paramedics operate under incredible pressure. Because of a chronic lack of beds in our hospitals, ambulances often arrive at emergency departments to find that there is literally nowhere for the patient to go, so the paramedics cannot hand over care. The ambulance effectively becomes a bed outside the hospital and sometimes they are stuck there for hours, parked up rather than on the road responding to emergencies. The ambulance service is stretched to breaking point and the Government has known all of this literally for years, yet the recruitment of paramedics has not even scratched the surface of what is needed.  The Government has stood by and allowed all of this to happen, and it is people at their most desperate and vulnerable moments who pay the price. T\u00e1 \u00e1r seirbh\u00eds\u00ed otharlainne i ndeireadh na feide agus ag cur saolta i mbaol. Caithfidh an Rialtas sc\u00e1la na g\u00e9arch\u00e9ime seo a aithint agus gn\u00edomh\u00fa go pr\u00e1inneach.  Does the Taoiseach accept the scale of this crisis? Does he accept that ambulance delays put lives at risk? What will the Government do to make sure that no one ever has to go through what Stephen Lavelle and his family went through on that awful night? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  D\u00e9anaim comhbhr\u00f3n le clann Stephen Lavelle as ucht an m\u00e9id a tharla. Is olc an sc\u00e9al \u00e9 gan dabht. Mar a d\u00fairt an Teachta, n\u00ed f\u00e9idir le h\u00e9inne n\u00f3 aon fhocail s\u00e1samh n\u00f3 aon rud a chur in i\u00fal don chlann. Is drochsc\u00e9al ar fad \u00e9 mar at\u00e1 \u00e1 l\u00e9iri\u00fa ag an Teachta inniu. No words can console the family of Stephen Lavelle in terms of what happened and the loss of life in the circumstances the Deputy described. I am not aware of the case specifically, but I take on board what she said about the delay in getting Stephen to the hospital. I do not have the full details of the case or the background to it. It is a devastating loss to the family.  It is important to say, although this is of no consolation to the family, there has been very significant investment in the ambulance service over many years. There has been significant investment in the first responder approach and the whole professionalisation of the paramedical area, the principle being that the more first responders we can get to the scene of an accident or to somebody becoming very acutely ill is the most effective way of preventing loss of life and dealing with patients in very difficult and life-threatening situations. That has happened over a period.  The National Ambulance Service, NAS, devised a national framework for ambulance coverage. There has been criticism of that framework in terms of how it operates. NAS defends the framework, which replaced a locally in situ -based ambulance service, as one that is nationally governed and nationally organised into the future. That drew on a lot of expertise at the time. Additional posts have been allocated to the service. This year alone, we are looking at another \u20ac8 million for 180 additional posts and the development of NAS specialist services. About 81 of those have been recruited to date, with the remainder at various stages of recruitment. At the moment, investment by Government had seen the total NAS staff rise to 2,430 as of August 2025. That is a rise of 25%, or 502 staff, since 2020, with 85% of the National Ambulance Service staff working in direct patient-facing roles. It deals with about 430,000 urgent and emergency calls - that was as far back as 2024 - which is up 32,000 calls on the previous year. The demand is increasing and continues to rise. The focus is on improving and increasing the performance of NAS, particularly in terms of life-threatening cardiac or respiratory arrest. It is improving but we will not be happy unless it is 100%. That is where we want this to be.  Again, anything I have said is of no consolation to the family concerned. I will refer the case to NAS and to the HSE for further examination of what happened here and what the correct response and specific conditions should or could have been. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I have given the Taoiseach the circumstances surrounding Stephen's death.  My colleague Deputy Conway-Walsh has written to the Minister for Health setting it out. I cannot imagine the fear that must have been felt in that car that night. Imagine, on dark country roads, your father crying out in pain, your husband fighting for his life and knowing still how far away you are from the hospital. That is the cost of the failure of this service. An emergency like Stephen's should be responded to within 19 minutes. That is the rule. That is the standard. That did not happen in his case. As a matter of fact, in more than half of such emergencies the 19-minute threshold is not met. The paramedics themselves are crying out for more resources. The Government has failed to recruit and failed to resource and as a consequence, lives are at risk, and sadly and tragically, in this case Stephen's life was lost. I want to hear what the Taoiseach will do to make sure that this simply does not happen again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There has been recruitment. An 25% increase in staff is a significant increase by any yardstick. The National Ambulance Service is also saying that it is developing alternative care pathways, which are important. It is in the process of reforming and expanding such pathways, which would include clinical capacity in terms of community paramedics deployed nationwide, clinical hubs and so forth. That would mean more appropriate treatment at the right level. That is something that clearly has to be worked on and further reforms need to be looked at with regard to the extent and nature of the coverage because the increase in urgent cases that the ambulance service is dealing with on an annual basis is quite significant. It will increase annually by a significant amount, so therefore resources have to be allocated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  A man died. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Let me make the point. I fully accept that anything I have said is not a consolation to the Lavelle family. However, without question the reform has to be far greater deployment and upskilling of first responders, and the primary and community care-based approach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Last Tuesday, I raised with the Taoiseach the serious threat posed by US President Trump to Europe and to international law with his proposed annexation of Greenland. Over the weekend we have seen the threats from Trump become ever more serious. He has ratcheted up his language. He is essentially looking to blackmail his European allies with yet more tariffs. With these latest Oval Office outbursts, we are seeing dysfunction in D.C. wreaking havoc across the world. This is cause for huge concern. Not content with tanking his own country's economy, Trump's actions seem set on everyone else's too. Following his perceived Nobel Peace Prize snub, he has publicly acknowledged that his sights are set on imperialist action. We know the enormous threat to Europe posed from the east by Putin's barbaric authoritarian regime in Russia, but now we are seeing a threat of annexation of European territory from the west, from our so-called ally in the US. Trump is ripping up the rulebook when it comes to international diplomacy. After just a year in office, the uncertainty he is causing is doing enormous damage with his territory grabs, his tariffs and now the real likelihood of a Trump slump.  Today I ask the Taoiseach about the potential impact of such a slump on Ireland and what we can do about it. Economic shocks do not just impact spreadsheets nationally. They hit kitchen cupboards, homes and communities across the country. When governments fail to prepare, ordinary people pay the price for failure. We all know how exposed our public finances are due to our disproportionate over-reliance on corporation tax from a small number of large US multinationals. Behind every export figure are workers, families, mortgages, rents and household bills that have to be paid. A great many people and households across the country are already living payslip to payslip in a cost-of-living crisis. The question we are hearing from people is: what happens if the work dries up? The uncomfortable truth is that this vulnerability to a global slump is no accident. It reflects choices made by the Government parties over many years. First is its failure to diversify our economic base, as the unions have pointed out. Second is its failure to use a historic boom to build resilience. Irish society is generally cash rich but asset poor with weak infrastructure, unaffordable housing, overstretched public transport and creaking healthcare.  When the shock hits, these failures become dangerous. That is why the risk of a global Trump slump matters so much here at home. Fear alone is already destabilising investment decisions across Ireland and Europe. We know the EU must respond robustly and strategically to Trump's threats, but we must also work here at home to control the controllables and protect people.  Labour has argued for a State-backed short-time working scheme to protect families and households against this potential shock. Will the Taoiseach consider this now and will he respond to Trump's tantrums with real action and a robust responses? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Aonta\u00edm leis an Teachta go bhfuil c\u00farsa\u00ed an tsaoil an-dains\u00e9arach, deacair faoi l\u00e1thair agus go bhfuil d\u00fashl\u00e1in an-mh\u00f3ra amach romhainn agus roimh mhuintir na hEorpa i gcoitinne. Is maith an rud \u00e9 go ndearnamar an-chuid \u00f3 thaobh c\u00farsa\u00ed eacnama\u00edochta de agus \u00f3 thaobh an gheilleagair. T\u00e1 an geilleagar i bhfad n\u00edos l\u00e1idre anois n\u00e1 mar a bh\u00ed.  We are in very uncharted territory and the situation is serious and potentially very grave for the European and Irish economies and, indeed, for the United States economy, if a trade war is break out and if we have a series of tariffs and counter-tariffs. In the latest iteration of this in the aftermath of the so-called Liberation Day last year, Europe prepared different scenarios in terms of tariffs. Those scenarios are still in place and can be deployed, if necessary.  We are very conscious of this and the Deputy was correct that this affects people's jobs and their capacity to look after themselves and their families. That has always been my number one interest because in the conduct of foreign policy, we have national interests and the protection of livelihoods and workers is a key national interest in terms of how we contribute to these issues and how we help to try and resolve these issues. It is good that we are members of the European Union, by the way. At moments like this, the value of being a Single Market and being in a European Union should not be underestimated. Others are not and find it more difficult and more challenging as a result.  The first principle that we adhere to is European Union solidarity in terms of fellow member states. Second, I recall that in the context of the budget, we focused on infrastructure. We said we wanted to deliver more and we allocated money through the national development plan to water, public transport ad the electricity grid with potentially up to \u20ac18 billion to be invested. We got criticised because we did not do the once-off packages, which could have been \u20ac2 billion or \u20ac3 billion and which Labour wanted us to do. Now it is criticising us for not being budgetarily or fiscally prepared. It is a bit rich, to be frank. I argue that we are better----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  We were against narrowing the tax base. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We are probably in a better position, although you could never be in a good position because of this. Tariffs are bad, but fiscally we are probably in a better position than we would have been if we had taken Labour's advice in terms of the expenditure side because we concentrated on looking after those on the lowest incomes and we concentrated on infrastructure to really make sure we can invest in the productive capacity of our economy, which is something we control and we can govern in the time ahead. It is very important that we protect that.  We also put aside the future Ireland fund, which, again, Members of the Opposition criticised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  We supported it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I did not say Labour. I said other Members opposed it. We also created the climate infrastructure and nature fund, which I think are important buffers, as well as having significant cash balances to hopefully help us deal with any potential negativity that could arise from this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I do not appreciate taking lectures on the budget from the party that brought in the tax break for the burger barons and big builders. The Labour Party stood against the narrowing go the tax base. I do agree with the Taoiseach on European solidarity, absolutely. Between them, Putin and Trump have made the unthinkable normal now. They are normalising this hideous threat of annexation and the hideous threat of trade wars that are going damage us all. As my colleague Deputy Lawlor pointed out, there are huge implications for Ireland, by the way, if Trump is threatening military action in Europe and using Shannon Airport for US planes. That is a huge question for us.  We absolutely need European solidarity. We need to stand together on this and the European Union must use every lever at its disposal. We must see a robust response to Trump to stand up to what is really a creeping fascism. We are seeing in his own country armed militias seizing people and shooting people and we are now also seeing the threat of annexation and the seizure of a leader in Venezuela against international law.  This is appalling to see. I want to make one specific, practical ask. Last year, on so-called \"liberation day\" the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste very helpfully provided briefings to Opposition leaders on the Trump threat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry, Deputy, it is not part of the question. The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I ask the Taoiseach to do the same now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes, we have no difficulty in organising briefings of leaders of the Opposition. We need to be careful and look at things in perspective. The greatest threat on the European continent is Russia. It is not just a threat; it is happening and has been happening for four years. Hundreds of thousands of people have been killed, soldiers on both sides, all because of the decision by President Putin to illegally invade Ukraine, to bomb its civilian infrastructure to bits and to try to destroy its energy infrastructure. Nothing comparable to that has happened yet. Let us not try to equate the two. Let us not lose sight of the fact that Russia represents the greatest threat to other European Union member states on the Baltic and in Poland. We all talk to them regularly and they articulate that real sense of an existential fear, so we should not lose sight of that. This is why Europe has been endeavouring to work with the United States to get the fairest and most balanced outcome for Ukraine that creates sustainability for Ukraine into the future. That is very important. I will arrange a briefing for the leaders of the Opposition. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  Today marks the one-year anniversary of Donald Trump's inauguration, so we have three years left to go. The question for EU leaders is whether can they spend all of that time trying to keep Donald Trump happy, because all the evidence shows that this strategy is not working. For 12 months, leaders in Europe have fawned over Trump. No matter what outrage, insult or international incident he has provoked, the response from Europe has been the same: to avoid direct criticism, and even to heap praise and flattery on him to try to keep him on side. Now we see where it has gotten us. Trump is demanding that the United States acquires Greenland and is refusing to rule out using military force to do so.  It is clear we are through the looking glass when it comes to the Trump Administration. A long-standing trading partner is increasingly an aggressor. Trump says the United States needs Greenland because it is critical to US security, but Greenland is not mentioned once in his national security strategy published less than two months ago. What has changed since that strategy was issued is Trump's invasion of Venezuela and the kidnapping of Maduro. European leaders' lack of criticism of that flagrant breach of international law has clearly emboldened Trump. If he can invade one country and suffer no consequences, why not another?  I listened to the Taoiseach's interview on RT\u00c9 on Sunday in which he said that the trade deal between the EU and the United States should be ratified. I do not know how that is a credible position when Trump is telling everyone he wants to rip up that deal and go even further by attacking the sovereignty of Greenland and Denmark. How can the EU ratify the deal in these circumstances? I agree with the Government that any escalating trade war would be hugely damaging, and it is clearly something we want to avoid, but we will not do that by bowing to Trump's bully tactics. What is needed now is for the EU to stand firm and, instead of rolling over for Trump, to adopt a strong united response that makes it clear that all options, including the use of retaliatory tariffs and the anti-coercion instrument, are on the table. At the moment, Trump is openly mocking the EU. He does not take it seriously. Last night he said that European leaders would not \"push back too much\" on his attempts to annex Greenland. He published a picture depicting Canada and Greenland as United States territory. None of this is normal, and it is time the response from the EU reflected that. Does the Taoiseach agree that the strategy of flattering Trump has backfired? Does he agree that the EU needs to stand strong in a unified response and that all options must be on the table? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, the European Union will adopt and is adopting a principled, firm and robust stance in relation to the territorial integrity of Greenland, the sovereignty of the Kingdom of Denmark and adherence to the international rule of law and to the United Nations charter. There are very clear positions from the European Union.  Also, having already prepared various scenarios in respect of potential responses to any additional tariffs, we - Europe - have prepared significant packages, the clearest being the \u20ac93 billion of packages. There is no issue there other than that I think it would be better if this were resolved by dialogue. If the US wants to arbitrarily tear up an agreement or undermine an agreement it entered into, that is a matter for the US. Europe, however, should be very clear. We entered into an agreement. We want to honour agreements we have entered into. We are very conscious that a trade war between the US and Europe, being one of the largest trading relationships in the world, would have very damaging consequences for the US, Europe and the world, not just in terms of job losses, which would be significant, or decline in exports but also in terms of a read-across to the financial markets and the potential creation of real damage on that front, which would have a ripple effect on economy, society and jobs.  Language is cheap here. We have to be very clear-eyed about what is at stake, and it is very serious. It is a grave moment for the transatlantic relationship. Europe will be strong and unified, and the principle of European Union solidarity is absolutely key here. We have been working. Canada has been pivoting more to Europe in terms of trade and other areas, as others have. Diversification has been happening in respect of trade, hence my visits and those of other Ministers to Japan, China and other areas to make sure we diversify trade and we are not focused on just one given area. Let us be honest, however, that the US-Ireland economic relationship is critical. It is a very important relationship. There is no point in saying it is not; it is. We have to do everything we possibly can to protect it and the jobs that depend on it without compromising basic principles in terms of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of EU member states. That remains our position.  I do not accept the analysis that has been given in terms of Europe being just all about flattery. It has not been all about flattery. A year ago the situation pertaining to Ukraine was very dangerous. I would argue that European leaders successfully created a scenario where additional supports were maintained for Ukraine over what has been a very difficult year. These are very serious issues for people, not just for ourselves but for other countries like Ukraine as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  I am in complete agreement that any trade war would be hugely damaging. We do not want one; the EU does not want one. It is Trump who is weaponising tariffs, threatening to renege on a trade deal that was agreed only a few months ago and refusing to rule out using force to annex Greenland. These are threats that nobody could have imagined until recently but they are now a grim reality. I recognise how difficult the situation is, but the strategy of EU leaders appeasing Trump has not worked. His belligerence and erratic behaviour are escalating. He has invited Putin, an indicted war criminal, to sit on the Board of Peace, which was supposed to be set up to oversee Gaza but now seems intended to undermine the UN. Then, last night, Trump posted a picture of Canada depicted as American territory. What are we supposed to take from that? Will Canada be next? Nobody really knows the answer to that question. That is the level of dangerous absurdity we are dealing with from the chaos merchant in the Oval Office. If this aggressive behaviour is not a red line for the EU, what will be? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As I said, the leaders of the European Union member states will convene next Thursday to consider the position we are now in. It is uncharted territory; there is no question about that. No one ever contemplated that Greenland would be under threat or that the friction between the US and Canada would be at this level, although when the leaders meet a different sort of vibe emanates from meetings between different leaders, including those of Canada and the US. There are profound shifts happening. From our perspective, the clear principles are solidarity with our fellow EU member states and a principled approach to international relations. Yes, we are committed to peace, but we are also committed to the United Nations, the United Nations Charter and international rules of engagement and to supporting Denmark and our colleagues across the EU in respect of any attempt to levy tariffs indiscriminately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Will the Taoiseach and his European colleagues stop soft-pedalling or, worse, bending the knee before Donald Trump, and finally admit what everybody can see and what some of us have been saying for some time, which is that Trump is a bully, an imperialist, and a threat to the world and to humanity? Will they admit that it is time to stand up to this bully and call him out for what he is? His list of crimes, threats and bullying is too long to enumerate but let us give some of the highlights. He armed a genocide. He gave billions to Israel to carry out a genocide over two years, then invited Netanyahu, an indicted war criminal, to a New Year's Eve party in his mansion in Mar-a-Lago. The Taoiseach mentioned Putin and what a threat he is.  Trump has now put Putin, an indicted war criminal, on the board of peace for Gaza, along with Blair, one of the major architects of the Iraq War, which claimed the lives of 1 million people, and, of course, Netanyahu and Israel, the people who perpetrated the genocide, will be on the board of peace as well. He has attacked Venezuela and kidnapped the president and his wife. Whatever the Taoiseach thinks about that regime, and I do not think much of it, he has no right to attack that regime. Trump has defended the execution of a 36-year-old mother and writer, Renee Good, by ICE agents, and has sent paramilitary forces into the cities of America to attack people of colour and immigrants. He has threatened Colombia, Mexico, Cuba, Canada and Iran. He pretended he was interested in Ukraine because of the warmongering of Putin, which clearly is not true but actually exposed that what he wanted was the rare earth minerals from Ukraine.  He is threatening an economic war and trade war that is driving up the cost of living for working class people in America and threatens to do the same to hard-pressed working class people across the world. To add to it all, his pal is Elon Musk, who profits from selling child abuse material and misogynistic material on the Internet. The disgusting list goes on.  He admits that his strategy is imperialist in the national security strategy, which states that the US \"will assert political, economic and military power over the Western Hemisphere.\" He quotes the Monroe Doctrine, which was used to justify interventions in Nicaragua, Bolivia, Panama, Ecuador, and in Iran and Iraq in the 1950s. The Taoiseach can go through the list. Will the Taoiseach stand up to the bully? He is not seriously going to go to the White House with shamrock this year and celebrate our national day with them. Surely he is going to tell US troops to get out of Shannon Airport and he is not going to go along with the militarisation agenda that Trump is urging on Europe? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As I said earlier, we are in a very serious situation. Our national interest, quite frankly, is to protect Irish workers. We will behave accordingly to do that and to achieve that, and to make sure that we can get a reasonable international legal framework through the UN to get countries to adhere to the international rule of law. The world is in a very bad place. Thousands and thousands of people are losing their lives all over the world. I have referred to Ukraine, for example. Europe worked with the US. Why? Deputy Boyd Barrett condemns Russia, correctly so, but what has stopped Russia from taking over Ukraine in its entirety? Let us be honest. What has stopped it? The Deputy might not like to admit it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Not Trump. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  US firepower and US intelligence have, along with others in the European Union and the United Kingdom. That is the reality. If the Deputy wants to abandon all of that, that is fine. I agree with the Deputy in the sense that I do not agree with spheres of influence. I do not agree with the Monroe Doctrine but the Deputy is suggesting that we open up to that. I do not think he means it but those are the implications. Russia takes Ukraine and Moldova. Is that what we want? Iran does what it does.  I mean, when we discuss the Middle East in this House, I never hear criticism of Iran - never. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Check the record. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  No, no. In terms of the malign influence Iran has had in the Middle East, with Hezbollah, Hamas and - you name it - the Houthis in terms of trade routes and the economy, we never hear it really to any great extent or to any consistent extent. We are now hearing from Iran, potentially, that 4,000 citizens have been murdered, and up to 12,000 could have been murdered, because we do not know with the Internet blackout and so on like that. It is very difficult for citizens in Iran who want to adhere to the principles of freedom of association and freedom of speech. In Sudan, thousands and thousands have lost their lives in horrendous situations, with other external powers also being influential and negatively impactful on the lives of ordinary people in Sudan. We can go elsewhere in terms of violations of international law and so forth.  Our guiding light is and has to be adherence to the international rule of law and to the United Nations, as imperfect as it is. I agree with Ant\u00f3nio Guterres that the Security Council is long outdated, with the post-Second World War scenario there in terms of the powers that are on the Security Council. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. I call Deputy Boyd Barrett. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  This is a broader issue that affects the entire globe and many malign actors are involved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. Deputy Boyd Barrett to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I have condemned, I do condemn and I will again condemn the Iranian regime for the violent repression of protesters, for shutting off the Internet and for the censorship of what is going on, as I condemn and have condemned Putin for the illegal invasion of Ukraine. The Taoiseach would not be presenting them with shamrock, would he? He is going to go over and present shamrock to Trump, even now. It has taken a threat to Greenland, because it impinges on the interests of the EU. Is it not the truth that this is the consequence of the Taoiseach and the EU remaining silent, or, even worse, echoing and reinforcing what Trump has done or at least being silent in the face of the genocide in Gaza, the actions in Venezuela, the threats against Canada and all the threats elsewhere and the silence of the world? It has now come back to bite Europe. What is the Taoiseach going to do about it? Surely, he is not going to go over the White House, celebrate our national day and hand him shamrock. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett. I call the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Will the Taoiseach tell the US troops to get out of Shannon when they are threatening the world in the way they are? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Will he not dance to the tune of Trump who is saying we should spend more on militarisation----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. The time is up. The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  -----so we do not go down the road of militarisation and warmongering, which he represents? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Ireland has not been silent on the Middle East. Ireland has not been silent on Gaza. This is recognised around the world, no matter who it annoyed or may annoy. We have stood firm on a whole range of issues in the context of the Middle East, and we will remain so. In the context of the US, up to 40 million people in America claim Irish descent. We have always had a very strong relationship with the US, irrespective of who the President happens to be or who is in power on the Hill at any given time. That has underpinned a very significant economic relationship that puts bread on the tables of Irish workers. That is the reality. It is easy for me to make grand statements and for the Deputy and everybody else. Grand statements do not put bread on the table. It is easy to do but it does not put bread on the table. We need cool heads. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Trump is the one threatening----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We need to be calm about this. We need to be firm on principle. We need to be showing solidarity with our European Union member states and I have no issue with doing that. I think that is the right thing to do, and that has to be our approach. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"orderofBusiness","bill":null,"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","counts":{"speechCount":94,"speakerCount":26},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  Tuesday's business shall be:  -\tMotion re Appointment of Chairperson of Standards in Public Office Commission (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  -\tMotion re Seventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  -\tPublic Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 (Referral to Committee) (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  -\tHealth (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (to adjourn after 3 hours and 24 minutes, if not previously concluded)  Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Second Stage of the Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025, selected by Sinn F\u00e9in.  Wednesday's business shall be:  -\tStatements on International Developments (to conclude within 2 hours and 25 minutes)  -\tStatements on Water (to conclude within 3 hours and 32 minutes)  -\tCopyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Report and Final Stages) (to commence no earlier than 7 p.m. and to conclude within 1 hour)  Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Flexible Work and Commuter Delays, selected by the Labour Party.  Thursday's business shall be:  -\tCriminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 (Second Stage) (to adjourn after 3 hours and 24 minutes, if not previously concluded)  Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023, sponsored by Deputy Ged Nash.  Proposed Arrangements for this week\u2019s business:  In relation to Tuesday\u2019s business, it is proposed that:  1.\tnotwithstanding anything in Standing Orders:  (a)\tthe Referral to Select Committee of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on any motions without debate;  (b)\tthe time allocated to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the D\u00e1il may sit later than 10.48 p.m.; and  (c)\tprivate members\u2019 business shall be taken following the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business;  2.\tthe proceedings on the Motion re Appointment of Chairperson of Standards in Public Office Commission shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  3.\tthe proceedings on the Motion re Seventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  4.\tthe proceedings on the Referral to Select Committee of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 pursuant to Standing Order 188, shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  5.\tthe proceedings on the Second Stage of the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 3 hours and 24 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:  (a)\tthe first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b)\twhere speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; and notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours.  (c)\tmembers may share time; and          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20     6. notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours.  In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:  1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders:  (a) the D\u00e1il may sit later than 9.30 p.m.;  (b) in the event the Statements on Water conclude before 7 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 7 p.m. when the order of business shall resume with the Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025; and  (c) the time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business, with consequential effect on the commencement time for the weekly division time;  2. the Statements on International Developments shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the sequence contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (c) members may share time;          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    25    15    10    10    3           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    10    10    3    9    10           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    3    9    10    3    5     3. the Statements on Water shall not exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the sequence contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (c) members may share time; and          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    35    25    15    15    5           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    15    15    5    12    15           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    5    12    15    5    8     4. the proceedings on the Report and Final Stages of the Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall be taken no earlier than 7 p.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment.  In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that:  1. notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m., with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the River Boyne Task Force Bill 2023, and on the time for the adjournment of the D\u00e1il; and  2. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 3 hours and 24 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; and  (c) members may share time.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    12    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20      "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the arrangements agreed to? They are not agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Thousands of carers have received letters from Revenue saying they owe tax. They are not tax dodgers; they are people who save this State a fortune of money, literally billions of euro each year. We need the Minister, Deputy Calleary, to come into the D\u00e1il this week. We need statements. We need to deal with this issue. We need the Government to present how it is going to resolve this issue. To be clear, again, these carers are not tax dodgers.  They give a huge service to the State. It needs to be sorted out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  Last week was a dark week for road safety in this country. A judge made derogatory comments about cyclists. A Government TD was convicted of speeding, going 190 km\/h to a constituency event. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Give it up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  What does this say about this Government's attitude and our country's attitude to road safety? I am calling urgently for a debate on road safety in this House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  The handling by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na of a domestic violence complaint against Garda Trevor Bolger is hugely concerning. His ex-wife and victim, Margaret Loftus, had to compile her own case file and fight for the case to be taken seriously. Furthermore, it has now been revealed that a Garda investigation was launched into journalists reporting on the case. Having dragged its heels investigating Bolger, no such hesitation was shown in investigating journalists. This is disturbing. The Minister for justice should make a statement in the D\u00e1il on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  As if the monthly increase in the number of people in emergency accommodation is not bad enough, the Simon Community produced a report stating that there is a major problem now with older people facing the possibility of homelessness. One woman attended my clinic who is 86 years old and is facing homelessness and possibly emergency accommodation because of this crisis. I have asked at the Business Committee that there would be debate on homelessness in the next short while. Will the Chief Whip commit publicly to having that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I am back speaking about the Mercosur deal again. It is of huge importance this week in Strasbourg. We have asked the Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste to attend the meeting in Strasbourg this week to let them know the importance of the situation we find ourselves in. Independent Ireland has written in Spanish and Italian----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  And in Russian - let us face it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  -----to each MEP there to make sure they are on our side of the border. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Thomas-Byrne.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Byrne  And the Russians as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  We need to make sure we are fighting that as well. I am talking to the Taoiseach, not to the Ministers of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Can you imagine if another leader came over to tell us what to do? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Chief Whip to respond, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  I note all the various requests from the various Whips. There have been many requests in the past weeks here and before Christmas in relation to statements on water and on international developments. They are all being facilitated tomorrow. We have important legislation this week including the home support providers Bill, the Copyright and Related Rights (Amendment) Bill and the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill. We have a very busy schedule in place. It was discussed last Thursday and it will stand. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the proposed arrangements for this week's business agreed to? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Not agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  May I just say that, if Members cannot make their points within their 60 seconds, then they have asked their questions in the wrong forum? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I want to return to the issue of carers, thousands of whom have received letters telling them that they may owe tax. This is a mess of the Government's making. Carers are not tax dodgers. They are people who care for others and who save the State a fortune. Some of them may work part-time just to make sure they can make ends meet because carers experience the cost-of-living crisis just like everyone else. Now, out of the blue, they get this letter from Revenue stating they may in fact have a tax liability and a bill. It is not lost on any of us that this happens at the same time that we discovered that ten of the Taoiseach's own Ministers who had been overpaid had failed to make arrangements to pay back the money they owed.  Carers are in shock. Some of them are very distressed and this matter needs to be cleared up now compassionately, giving carers the respect they are entitled to. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, nothing has changed. Nothing has changed at all in respect of the tax situation governing carers. I think we need to keep everything in perspective and not create unjustified fears because I have checked this with both the Department of Finance and the Department of Social Protection. No new tax has been introduced, but what has happened on a forward-looking basis is the Department of Social Protection is providing Revenue with details of taxable carers' income in real time. About 90% of all carers are either registered already or are not liable for tax. We will obviously do everything we can because the Government, as Deputy McDonald knows, has dramatically increased the threshold for the means test income disregard. We have increased the carers' allowance by over \u20ac50.  When you compare that to Northern Ireland----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  But they are after getting a letter telling them they have a tax bill. The Taoiseach should sort that out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----where it is \u00a383, our level of increase is very significant. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy and call Deputy Bacik. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We will be talking. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Tomorrow morning, Labour will bring forward a motion in the D\u00e1il on flexible and remote work: a practical response to the daily pressures working people face. We are asking the Government to support this motion and enable it to be passed tomorrow. We need to see practical steps taken to support workers' rights. Unfortunately, what we have seen from the Government has been a general approach of words not deeds. We have seen sympathy but no delivery. We have heard sympathetic words in response to our Bill on leave for women who endure miscarriage or early pregnancy loss, on protections for SNAs who are injured in schools, and on rights for gig economy drivers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Is it not a motion? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  We have a motion tomorrow and I ask the Government not to oppose it and to enable it to be passed. It seeks a real right to flexible and remote work for workers. It looks for the public sector to lead by example and to ensure that people are not forced back unnecessarily into the office where they can work productively from home. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call on the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  There are huge public benefits on climate and so much more. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have quite a flexible labour market in this country already. The previous Government introduced a right to request remote working. There is a significant degree of remote working happening within the economy. As Deputy Bacik knows, by definition, it is not applicable to every workplace. The Government is not disposed to support the Labour Party's motion tomorrow evening. That said, we have a healthy labour market in Ireland. Our objective is to try to maintain that for SMEs, major Irish indigenous companies and multinational companies. We want to make sure that we have an environment that continues to facilitate the generation of new jobs. In some areas it is much easier to organise flexible and remote working and in other areas it is less so. One can be overly prescriptive too----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Hearne. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----with unintended consequences. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  This week a Simon Communities of Ireland report reveals a national scandal of elderly people being made homeless in Ireland. It is heartbreaking and a stain on this country that the number of elderly people over 65 in homelessness has increased by 165% in Dublin and 500% in the west since 2017. Pensioners in their 70s and 80s are being evicted from their homes by landlords. Vulnerable elderly people who have worked all their lives for this country are being made homeless right now because Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael will not stand up to the landlords and investor funds. Will the Taoiseach take responsibility for this homelessness catastrophe? Will he apologise to these elderly people that he has failed? Will he stop shamefully blaming immigration for homelessness and focus on the real cause - evictions by landlords and the lack of social housing for the elderly? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call on the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Why will the Taoiseach not put in place a ban on evictions into homelessness----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy's time is up. I call on the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  -----to ensure that no more elderly pensioners are made homeless this year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The most effective way to prevent elderly people becoming homeless is through social housing. Some 52,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock between 2020 and now. In addition to that, about 14,000 voids were brought back into use - these are houses in the social housing stock that were empty.  In quarter 3 of last year alone, 1,600 new social homes were delivered, including 1,330 new-build homes. We can and will work to prevent elderly homelessness through the increased building of social homes, acquisitions, the tenant in situ scheme, and other mechanisms that would prevent elderly people from becoming homeless. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  It is not enough. Why does the Government not ban evictions? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Joan is 86 and she is facing homelessness and emergency accommodation because her landlord is selling up. Joe is 78 and sleeping on his sister's couch for over a year. Meanwhile, as I highlighted yesterday, there is an apartment block nearby in Cherrywood with 30 two-bedroom and one-bedroom apartments lying empty for 18 months. They are supposed to be for social housing to house people like Joe and Joan. Since I highlighted that yesterday, I have heard there are two more apartment blocks in south Dublin also sitting empty, which are also designated for social housing. I also note that the Irish Independent highlighted at the weekend another apartment block in the Phoenix Park, which is designated for social housing but is sitting empty for months and months.  This is systemic. This is property developers sitting on empty property that was supposed to be used for social housing and the Taoiseach is letting it happen. What is he going to do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is not that we are letting it happen. Come on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  It is happening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  What is the Deputy saying? It is wrong that it is happening but the developer and the approved housing body have contractual disagreements. Is the Deputy saying the Government should just ignore that and take a side? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Will the Government sit back and do nothing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You do not sit back either but you get the thing resolved in the best interests of the taxpayer----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Eighteen months later. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ------and those seeking housing. There are reasons particular cases like this happen. They are disgraceful but they happen. We will work hard to resolve this in the best interests of the taxpayer and those seeking housing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  My Aont\u00fa colleagues, Deputy Paul Lawless and Melissa Byrne, are in Strasbourg today lobbying MEPs to vote to send the Mercosur deal to the European Court of Justice. Our team has spoken to dozens of MEPs. A referral to the ECJ would legally freeze the agreement and allow for proper scrutiny of its environmental, competition and legal implications. While the Taoiseach's Government says that it is opposed to the deal, Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il MEPs will nonetheless support the deal and hammer Irish farmers. Barry Andrews and Regina Doherty need to be reined in. Is the Taoiseach going to speak to them? This vote could be tight so why is it that only Opposition parties like Aont\u00fa and organisations such as the IFA are doing the heavy lifting on this in advance of tomorrow's vote? Where is the Government in lobbying these MEPs? Will the Government tell Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael MEPs to vote to send this deal to the ECJ? Does the Taoiseach have any control over them at all? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy failed to mention the fact that Billy Kelleher, Barry Cowen and Cynthia N\u00ed Mhurch\u00fa will be voting against Mercosur in the Parliament. I am intrigued by his language. I know he is a former member of Sinn F\u00e9in. He spoke about reining in these MEPs and controlling them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  You would not get that in Fianna F\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have a somewhat different ethos to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Will the Taoiseach not----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We will have one voice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  This is outrageous. My question was not answered at all. The reason the Taoiseach is not answering it----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have answered it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  You did not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  You said you----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an gCeann Comhairle. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  That is why Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn left Sinn F\u00e9in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We will have silence. I call on Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I assume I will have my full time. Last Wednesday, the Minister for education visited St. Patrick's Primary School in Celbridge, Kildare North, which the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, also visited last May. The school in question has been in temporary accommodation for 19 years, since its foundation. The floor is collapsing and the ceiling is falling down. I have asked the Minister to ensure temporary accommodation is in put in place as soon as possible. The school cannot keep going on in this way.  On the same theme of education, Stepping Stones Special School in Maynooth is experiencing severe issues with funding. The capitation afforded to the school is not significant enough. It is fundraising to pay for heating and devices for the school and for the children. I ask the Taoiseach to engage with the Department and the Minister about these two specific schools, St. Patrick's Primary School in Celbridge and Stepping Stones Special School in Maynooth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I accept that 19 years is far too long to spend in temporary accommodation. I am not aware of the specific background but I will talk to the Minister to see what can be done to improve the situation. In relation to Stepping Stones Special School, there has been a significant uplift in capitation for special schools arising out of the last budget. I presume that will take effect some time this year. I will ask the Department to look at the financial situation in respect of Stepping Stones to see if any once-off help can be delivered while that uplift is awaited. That uplift in capitation is significant and has long been sought by those involved in special education. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  Birr Men Together is a men's shed established in recent years. It is trying to find a permanent home. We made inquiries to the Department about an old weather station. We were told it is currently under consideration by a State body and is therefore not available for community use. The problem I see here is that this property has been lying idle since 2009. It has been idle and decaying. Now, when a community group takes an interest in it, that group is told that it is under consideration. Such situations are replicated across the country. Is there any way the Taoiseach can intervene to expedite this matter and to make such facilities available where communities can benefit from them to such a degree? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Again, these issues are optimally resolved locally. All idle property that is not earmarked should be used. There should be more proactivity among State agencies, the OPW and local authorities in utilising existing buildings.  A good local authority will do that and will proactively seek to get buildings utilised, particularly for an organisation like Men's Sheds, which has been very impactful in terms of men's health and well-being. I do not know whether the HSE has any temporary premises. The Deputy has identified one and we will pursue it and see what we can do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  Budget 2026 outlined that a new DEIS plan would be published in late 2025. A key action in the plan will be the creation of a DEIS+ scheme, providing additional targeted resources to schools or students most at risk of educational disadvantage. I recently met with a principal of a DEIS school in Drogheda which is providing an incredibly supportive environment for local children to thrive in, despite the ongoing social and economic challenges in the area. For decades, St. Paul's National School has been at the heart of a community that has been forgotten by successive Governments. They have been watching and waiting for the Government to provide information on the long-awaited DEIS+ scheme and it was very disheartening for the school to tell me it is really worried about being forgotten once more. We have been told an extensive stakeholder engagement has taken place. We have had an OECD review. We have been told that implementing DEIS+ is a stated goal of this Government and that \u20ac48 million will be allocated next year. When will the DEIS+ scheme details be finalised? When will they be published? When will schools like St. Paul's and others, for which the evidence supports their inclusion, be offered the assurances they are long overdue? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Is St. Paul's a DEIS school at the moment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  It is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It has not been ignored, so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I said that the community has been ignored. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  DEIS status affords very significant opportunities to schools in terms of pupil-teacher ratios and additional supports. The Deputy has outlined the position with DEIS+. The budget has approved it and allocation of resources has happened. Obviously, a scheme has to be developed. It is going to be a very targeted programme for those most in need in education. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy. The Deputy has outlined the details in terms of where we are with stakeholder consultation and so on. Hopefully by the next school year, we will have this in place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  Last Saturday I and other public representatives attended a public rally in Dunmore town in east Galway. The campaign was orchestrated by Dunmore tidy towns and the Dunmore business people association because of dereliction on both sides of the street, where most properties are privately owned. They are dogged with tiles and slates falling off the roofs onto main street, where children and indeed their parents and teachers gave testimonials. It is a horror story in terms of the length of time it is going on. It is years and years. I am asking that we have some framework to expedite regeneration and to deal with people who are willingly sitting on private properties and allowing them to go into such disrepair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There is a responsibility on the local authority. The derelict sites levy is there. We are changing that as a result of the budget, as the Deputy knows. The Government has decided that the responsibility for dereliction and derelict buildings will transfer to Revenue. Work is under way between the Department of Finance and local authorities to get the proper maps for local authority areas that will fall under the remit of Revenue to determine dereliction and to apply the appropriate levies to get activity going. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I want to raise the issue of rural transport, in particular the car parking situation at Bagenalstown train station. The train service there is excellent but the car park is consistently full, leaving commuters having to park in the town, clogging up much-needed space for local businesses and shoppers. I also firmly believe that the car parking charges at the train station should be abolished. The Government is doing its best in trying to encourage people to use public transport but these charges are a deterrent as they are an additional cost. Carlow-Kilkenny is now part of the commuter belt. I ask the Taoiseach to discuss the issue with the necessary bodies to make sure funding is make available for additional car parking facilities and to abolish car parking charges for Bagenalstown train station and indeed all rural train stations. We have to be encouraging people to use public transport, incentivising them rather than punishing them and making it unattractive. We have to ensure the public infrastructure is there. People in Carlow-Kilkenny should not be punished with additional costs and lack of facilities just because we live outside the M50. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Public transport is the way forward. Rail is particularly important. The more people we can encourage and incentivise towards using rail, the better, particularly in areas like Kilkenny and Carlow which are very close to the Dublin area where people would commute for work and so forth. Sustainability in terms of financial sustainability is potentially an issue. Sometimes charges are made because if they did not have charges, the car park would be filled by others who might not even be using the facility. I will reflect on what the Deputy is saying and will engage with Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann on the points he has made, particularly in terms of Bagenalstown and whether further capacity is needed there and the impact of the charges. It is costly enough to get the train. I take the Deputy's point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I would like to remember Mickey Brady, who was a real people's MP and a former MLA, a seriously sound gentleman, a proud Newry man. He has recently been lost to all of us. I would like to pass on my condolences to his wife Caroline, and his children Saoirse, Michael, Se\u00e1n, Niall and Lewis. Mickey was somebody you could always rely upon and engage with. He was really helpful to me. His work and involvement goes back to the civil rights movement and right through to the fear of the imposition of a hard Border. What I remember about Mickey as well is that he was a welfare adviser. If I could just read out a particular----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Ten seconds, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It is the issue my leader, Mary Lou McDonald, brought up. It is somebody who has been sent one of these letters, who is absolutely frightened and who talks about the great work she does as a carer. We need to answer those people and to look after them, along with the need for an emergency cost-of-disability payment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate the Deputy taking the opportunity to express sympathies on the death of his late colleague, Mickey Brady. I join in the sympathies to his wife Caroline and his family more generally. On the carers situation, I answered the Deputy's party leader earlier in respect of that. Nothing has changed. There is no additional taxation. Rather, the Government has significantly increased the income disregard to record levels for couples and for single people, which is quite dramatic in its impact. We have also increased the value of the carer's allowance by \u20ac10 this year but by \u20ac50-odd over the past number of years. Other measures are also committed to in the programme for Government. We will continue to work on this over the coming months. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  The long waiting times being experienced by people waiting to see someone in the pain management clinic in the Mater hospital in Dublin are very concerning. I am dealing with quite a number of people currently who are waiting for an appointment. They informed me that it will be about ten or 12 months before they are seen at the Mater hospital. This is impacting on their health, well-being and quality of life. What actions will Government take to intervene and tackle the unacceptably long waiting times that people have to wait, particularly when it concerns pain management? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  I thank the Deputy for the question. I would be obliged if she might share the details with me so that I can follow up directly to see what the specific circumstances are in the Mater, and specifically whether it relates to a particular condition or to broad access to the pain management clinic. If I could follow up with the Deputy directly, I will see what is going on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  The potential for Maynooth education campus is being greatly limited by a lack of investment. On site we have three phenomenal schools, Gaelscoil Ruair\u00ed, Maynooth Community College and Maynooth Post Primary School. Maynooth is one of the very few towns in Ireland where a student could attend primary, post-primary and third level education entirely as Gaeilge. According to my friend, Councillor Peter Melrose in Maynooth, the Gaelscoil has been in temporary buildings since 2019, despite plans being ready to execute for some time. The Taoiseach has heard from other Members here that capital investment in schools in Kildare really is at desperate levels at this point. Can he outline to us when the Department expects to publish its plans under the NDP for capital investment and can he ensure that Kildare will get its fair share of that investment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy. As he said, other Members have also raised this issue. I did a tour of Maynooth with Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail. It is a classic education town. It is a beautiful town with tremendous potential at all levels of education. Is f\u00e9idir leat do thuras oideachas\u00fail idir bhunscoil, an dara leibh\u00e9al agus an tr\u00ed\u00fa leibh\u00e9al a dh\u00e9anamh tr\u00ed Ghaeilge. Is \u00e1it speisialta \u00e9.  We are very committed to expanding investment in schools in Maynooth and across Kildare more generally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  It is quite obvious to me that as a country we need to go ahead and deal with the issues relating to AI, Grok and X. The Taoiseach had a high-level meeting last night with various Ministers. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, on her work to date.  I will ask the Taoiseach two questions that are outside of political rivalry in here or anything like that. Will he help me as Chair of the media committee by asking X representatives to turn up at our meeting next Wednesday? Google, Meta and TikTok representatives are turning up. Will he contact X representatives to ask them to turn up and say that it is imperative that they does so to be answerable to the people of Ireland? Will the Government bring in emergency legislation in relation to the issue of the sharing of AI-generated images of adults, which is obviously a gap in the legislation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will help in that I will communicate with X and ask that they turn up. There is not that the gap in the legislation. The 2020 Act does cover----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Not for sharing images. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It does cover the sharing, dissemination and distribution of intimate adult images. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Is the Taoiseach absolutely certain? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  There is no back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We can arrange legal advice for the Deputy in that regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Perfect. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Oxfam wealth report published yesterday exposed the stark class divide that exists in society between billionaires, the wealthy and everyone else. Ireland's 11 billionaires have the same wealth as 3.5 million Irish adults combined. It takes them just seven hours to rack up the annual income of an average worker. Oxfam shows how a tax on the top 1% of the wealthiest people in the country could yield \u20ac1 billion a year. It is a no-brainer. Why not take from the super-rich, who can well afford it, to address the cost-of-living crisis for ordinary families? The Government refused to do it in the past but wealth inequality is still rising. Vital cost-of-living payments were cut in the budget, including the shameful cuts for disabled people. A sum of \u20ac1 billion would go a long way towards that. Will the Government stop dancing to the tune of billionaires, put ordinary people first and introduce a wealth tax? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We always put the worker first. I question much of the basis of the Oxfam report, as I have in the past, as the Deputy knows. Economists are dubious about some of the basis and premise upon which the research is based and its application to Ireland, in particular. Certainly, there is no \u20ac1 billion waiting out there in terms of a wealth tax. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/5","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/5\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Agri-Food Regulator (Amendment) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Agri-Food Regulator (Amendment) Bill 2026: First Stage","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I move:  That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to provide for enhanced powers for the Agri-food Regulator to access data from businesses within the agricultural and food supply chain, including prices, margins, and related financial information, in order to promote transparency and protect consumer interests; and to provide for related matters.  I welcome the opportunity to introduce this Bill. It will provide for enhanced powers for the Agri-Food Regulator to access data from businesses within the agricultural and food supply chain, including prices, margins and related financial information, in order to promote transparency and protect consumer interests.  The reason the Bill is necessary is twofold. The first reason it is necessary is it is so difficult at the moment for families to keep food on their tables. It is so expensive. Month after month, we have seen grocery prices going up and families struggling to feed their children. Barnardos cost-of-living report last year found some stark stats when it did its analysis. A total of 19% of families cut back or went without food in a six-month period; 40% of parents skipped meals or reduced portion size so that their children had enough to eat; 28% of parents reported sometimes not having enough food to feed their children; and 12% of families rely on food banks. We are very wealthy country but that wealth is not being seen in so many households and families. Those people are finding it very difficult just to keep their head above water.  The establishment of the Agri-Food Regulator was a very welcome initiative by the Government. Unfortunately, when it was established, the Agri-Food Regulator was not given sufficient powers to do its job properly. Essentially, it was to look at every point along the food chain, identify what the costs and margins were and bring some transparency as to who was making money along the food chain. One issue we are all aware of is that farmers at the farm gate are not making the money but someone is making a lot of money when it comes to food prices at the moment. Unfortunately, when the Government brought the powers to the regulator, it did not give it sufficient teeth.  In September 2024, the regulator wrote to the Minister asking for additional powers. It wants to be able to compel businesses to provide this information. Currently, it can only ask for or request that information, which has stymied some of its analysis to date. It was to do an analysis on the production and cost of eggs but was unable to do that because businesses were not giving them enough information. The regulator sought to fix that problem and asked the Government to provide those powers to it. Nothing came forward from the Government and in March 2025, the regulator repeated the call that it be given the power of compellability.  I was pleased to hear from the Minister, Deputy Heydon, late last year that those powers were to be given, but I was surprised and shocked when I realised the statutory regulation he signed would only bring those powers in at the end of 2026. Families are going to have to wait another year before there is sufficient transparency in the pricing of our food, and before the Government has sufficient information to do something about these high grocery prices. That delay is unacceptable. We have been waiting. It is nearly a year and a half since the food regulator first asked for that, so it will be two and a half years before it is actually given those powers. Considering the day-to-day lives, the impact and the pressures on families, that delay is not acceptable.  I want the Government to speed this up. My Bill will do that. It is a very simple Bill. It essentially changes the premise that the regulator can ask for this information to ensuring it can compel this information from the big retailers. It is very simple. It is something that has been on the agenda of the regulator for over a year and a half. This should be easy to do. I ask that the Government supports this Bill and moves forward quickly with this because families around the country need the price of their food to come down. We need transparency across that food supply chain. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Is the Bill being opposed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  No. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I move: \"That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time.\" "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Agri-Food Regulator (Amendment) Bill 2026: First Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"#bill.2026.5.dail.1","bill":null,"showAs":"Seventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann, pursuant to Standing Order 33, and with effect from 21st January, 2026, approves the Seventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection, copies of which were laid before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 16th January, 2026. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Seventh Report of the Standing Committee of Selection: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/70","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/70\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Health pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)( b ) and 188(1). "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Appointment of Chairperson of Standards in Public Office Commission: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I move:  That, pursuant to subsection (2A) (inserted by section 2 of the Standards in Public Office Act 2001 (No. 31 of 2001)), of section 21 of the Ethics in Public Office Act 1995 (No. 22 of 1995), D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann recommends the appointment of Ms. Justice Elizabeth Dunne, currently a Judge of the Supreme Court, by the President on the advice of the Government to be the Chairperson of the Standards in Public Office Commission. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Appointment of Chairperson of Standards in Public Office Commission: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna - Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Urban Development","counts":{"speechCount":30,"speakerCount":17},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_12","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 18, inclusive, together.  In May 2024, the Government appointed a task force to take a holistic view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, north and south, to make Dublin city centre a more thriving, attractive, and safe cityscape and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit. Following the task force report and recommendations, as agreed by the Government, the Department of the Taoiseach convened an interdepartmental group to examine the recommendations made by the Dublin city task force. The group, chaired by my Department, submitted a report to the Government with a ten-year roadmap for delivery setting out a comprehensive implementation path for the task force report. Through this roadmap for delivery, we will see implementation of the task force report across three phases, over ten years, at the heart of Dublin city. Central to this will be a special purpose vehicle to drive delivery and to support the specific capital developments relevant to the project. The council is currently working on the establishment of this new legal entity. A ten-year integrated area strategy for Dublin city centre will optimise funding and investment and tackle vacancy and dereliction. There will be accelerated delivery of landmark capital projects in the city centre through additional funding in the URDF under the NDP review. Redevelopment of the GPO complex as an ambitious and historic flagship project will be managed by the Office of Public Works.  In addition, the roadmap creates an enabling environment designed to build confidence with business, landholders and investors to get involved in achieving a new vision for Dublin city centre and to drive private sector investment. An oversight board comprising all of the relevant Departments and agencies has been established to oversee and provide strategic direction for delivery of the roadmap. It is chaired by the Department of the Taoiseach. The board has been meeting regularly since its establishment in July. In line with the roadmap, Dublin City Council is currently recruiting staff with the required technical skills for an interim programme management unit, which will drive delivery while work is advancing to set up a special purpose vehicle. Changes to the living city initiative announced as part of budget 2026 will also support regeneration and efforts to tackle vacancy and dereliction in the city.  The programme for Government commits to applying the Dublin city task force model to other cities, towns and regions in need of revitalisation, starting with Cork city. Recognising Cork city\u2019s unique character and potential as our second city, implementation of this model will demand a tailored response in line with the specificity of Cork city and with stakeholders in Cork. We have met with the council, universities and others. Following meetings between my officials and Cork City Council, draft terms of reference for Cork city are at an advanced stage. A follow-up meeting with the council\u2019s chief executive has been scheduled for next week, and I expect the terms of reference to be finalised and submitted to the Government in the near future. There will be regular reports to the Government on developments in both Dublin and Cork cities from then on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I know the Taoiseach is familiar with the Cork city issue. His Department and the Government have had significant contact with Cork City Council and others in relation to the establishment of this group. I understand it may not be called a task force and that is fine. What we want is a group of organisations and individuals in Cork with the sole purpose of trying to improve Cork as a place to live, work, do business and visit. There are critical themes. We need to invest in our public spaces and streetscape in the city, address issues with vacancy, and continue to ensure we have a proper transportation system which can focus on issues such as BusConnects, Cork Luas and improving connectivity to our airport, which is an ongoing issue. There has been a recent increase in Garda visibility in Cork and that is welcome. This would also be a key focus. I welcome the Taoiseach's update and ask him to give us an indication of when he hopes this group will be formally established. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I broadly support what Deputy McGrath has said. We are in and out of here for the best part of 12 months talking about this issue. Everybody is talking about getting the task force together expeditiously. I think the Taoiseach said in an Irish Examiner article before Christmas that he hoped to come to a decision about the formulation of it by the end of January. I know we still have a week of so left for that timeline to transpire. People just want certainty for the reasons Deputy McGrath has outlined. To be fair, the Cork Business Association and Cork Chamber have done good work over the past few years, particularly in rolling out those patrols the Cork Business Association was involved with. Going forward, that model could be replicated in other areas and cities across the country. Most importantly it is about tackling dereliction, particularly in the North Main Street and South Main Street area. It is about time we give people that certainty and get on with the work of the task force. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  The Dublin city task force produced a comprehensive report with clear recommendations to improve safety, footfall and confidence in Dublin city. However, many residents, retailers and workers across Dublin South-Central, including the Liberties, the Coombe, Inchicore and the wider south-west inner city area, are still not seeing the tangible impacts on the ground. Antisocial behaviour in particular and persistent petty theft continue to place real pressures on small shops, supermarkets and small retailers. Crucially, this behaviour puts people off visiting local streets and neighbourhood centres, reduces footfall and undermines community confidence and some local businesses. People want to feel safe when they are walking, jogging, shopping and using public transport. Increased visible policing, including transport police on the Luas and bus networks alongside stronger Garda visibility, is essential to restore that confidence. Ultimately, will the Taoiseach provide a clear update on where implementation of the task force stands, including governance, timelines and, more importantly, funding? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  As the Taoiseach is aware, the task force recommended ten big moves for regeneration, which focused on renewing O'Connell Street and the surrounding areas, dealing with dereliction and increasing security in the city. The increased presence of garda\u00ed in the city is welcome and has improved matters but it has not fully solved them. The issue of dereliction in the city persists. Will the Taoiseach update the House on the actions being taken to address dereliction and vacancy in the city?  In my constituency of Dublin Bay North there are similar issues of crime and antisocial behaviour to those we see in the city. Ironically, the additional Garda presence in the city centre has displaced some of that antisocial behaviour towards the northside. The programme for Government commits to using the task force model in other parts of the country. Will the Taoiseach advise if a similar approach will be taken to the suburbs of north Dublin, which also require renewal and regeneration with an improved policing presence? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  To be clear, I support better public transport, but in the task force we speak about the changes. Everyone in this House will have heard hundreds of people speaking about ghost buses. The NTA now wants to merge and extend routes in north Dublin. The NTA has said that ghost buses are due to longer routes and cross-city routes. The 130 route has been told it will be changed, but there was not enough consultation with the people of north Dublin. At the same time the 123 service has been changed. It no longer finishes at O'Connell Street. Now, elderly people, those with disabilities and those who are vulnerable are asked to walked hundreds of metres to an area they are not familiar with. People have contacted my office. They have learned the route. They are not used to changes in their routine. It made a huge difference to those people who were not consulted. I would love the Taoiseach to examine this. They deserve reliable buses before redesigned routes. I acknowledge the work of Independent Councillor Breen on Dublin City Council on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I put to the Taoiseach that the actions on the ground in the inner city in particular starkly contradict the aspirations of the task force plan. I will give two examples. There task force has an aspiration to expand artistic spaces and develop new cultural hubs, yet in Smithfield in the north-west inner city, The Complex, a critical hub and piece of community and artistic infrastructure, has been shut down. Will he explain that contradiction? The task force lauds the importance of community facilities for children's sports to foster a healthy and well community. Therefore, all plans must include well-designed public spaces, green spaces, playgrounds and recreational areas. However, at this moment the community at Portland Row in the north inner city faces the imminent closure of a playing pitch, one of the few community facilities available in the entirety of the inner city and the only one available to this community. How can that stack up? How can that be right? The community has to be heard. The Taoiseach has to be as good as his word if he is going to produce these reports. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Regardless of whether we are talking about the Dublin city task force, there is not much point having a report unleashed unless we see implementation. We know that across this State there is a huge issue with drug debt, intimidation and violence.  We saw the absolutely brutal killing of Tadhg Farrell and Mary Holt in Edenderry. We all remember the brutal killing of Keane Mulready-Woods. We have heard from the Garda National Drugs and Organised Crime Bureau that there are 169 organised crime groups operating in Ireland, with 65% of them involved in drug trafficking. Many of us have seen the work that youth diversion programmes have done. I have seen it in Cox's Demesne and those operating out of The House and the TEAM project. I have seen the early intervention and the piece of work it has done. We have seen projects, such as Greentown, that have intervened with young people who have fallen into criminality. We need to see a lot more of that. It is about having a real conversation about all of the interventions that are necessary and also about the police acting so that we do not allow drug dealers to operate for years upon years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The T\u00e1naiste said in 2024 that within 100 days of Government formation, Cork city would have a task force. It is 362 days later and there is still no sign of the task force, but what we have are broken promises and all the talk out of the T\u00e1naiste. This Government made promises to the people of Cork, but does the Taoiseach know what it is like? It is like the promises made about the events centre, which still has not been delivered. Some \u20ac2.2 million has been spent and a contractor has not even been appointed. I love being from Cork. As the Taoiseach knows, people from Cork love where we are from. Does the Taoiseach know what we do not love? It is this Government not investing in Cork. There is a shortage of garda\u00ed, a bus service that does not work and gridlock around the city. When will this task force be delivered for Cork? Will the funding and the resources be there to deliver for Cork? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Let us be honest: many parts of this great capital are now in decline. Moore Street, one of the most important battlefield sites in the country, the headquarters of the 1916 Rising and the ground zero of the independence struggle, was supposed to redeveloped ten years ago in time for the 1916 centenary commemorations. Maybe the bicentenary will be a better timescale for the Taoiseach's Government to do anything in relation to Moore Street. Instead of being a cultural or historic quarter, Moore Street is now a location for drinking, drugs, defecation and urination. Many parts of O'Connell Street, our main street, are in serious decay. It is the location for crime and antisocial behaviour, with many people now uncomfortable being on O'Connell Street at night. Dereliction is rife in many parts of the city. Heavy-handed transport policies have significantly reduced footfall because of the lack of public transport. When will the Government invest in Dublin? When will it make parts of Dublin, especially the central core, safe again for people? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I want to bring up again the privatisation of waste management in Dublin. The Dublin city task force and Dublin City Council recommend that a single waste management company should provide bin collection services, with a further recommendation that, in the long term, it should be taken under the control of Dublin City Council. The privatisation of the bins has failed. The environmental impact of multiple trucks going down the same road at multiple times during the day is having a detrimental impact on our communities. It is a wild west situation. Bin companies are operating like a cartel and bringing up their prices in unison and in a co-ordinated approach, and the consumer is paying the price. Will the Government's task force for Dublin tackle the privatisation of waste management and bring back the bins to public ownership? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I am stepping in for my colleagues, Deputies Liam Quaide and P\u00e1draig Rice, who are both asking about the task force for Cork. I caution my colleagues and the other Deputies around the Chamber who are asking similar questions. We have the report from the Dublin task force, which was released in October 2024 - a full year after it was announced by the then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, to great fanfare - and there still has not been a button given over from this Government to those plans. Dublin City Council is doing the work. It has a special purpose vehicle. My colleagues, Councillors Cian Farrell and Daniel Ennis, are on the working group, but all it is missing is the \u20ac140 million that was promised by the Taoiseach's Government last year. My simple question is this: when will that \u20ac140 million be given to the Dublin city task force because everyone else has fulfilled their roles? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  There is an incredible disconnect between the supposed aspirations of the Dublin task force and the actuality. As has already been mentioned, it is absolutely shocking that The Complex, a vibrant space across all the arts disciplines which provided direct employment for about 30 or 40 people and had about 250 artists operating out of it, is gone for the lack of \u20ac6 million from the Government. That is all it asked for. I note that seven of our leading actors have written a letter to The Irish Times in the past week saying that the lack of core and multi-annual funding for theatre companies has had a devastating effect on the ability of actors to produce good theatre. A central part of Dublin's identity and reputation is being decimated essentially because of a neoliberal funding model for theatre. What is the Taoiseach going to do about these things? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  This morning, a powerful piece on \"Morning Ireland\" about drug-related intimidation described how families are confronted by drug dealers who say that their child owes them a certain amount of money and the family now owes this money and they will terrorise the family until it gives them the money. One woman said that 50% of the time, she feels a knot in her stomach as a result of stress. Another woman said that every time a car comes down into her cul-de-sac at night-time, she thinks: \"Are they coming for me?\". In another case, these gangsters turned up at a person's door with crowbars and tried to break in when she was there alone. This is a thing that is happening across the city. The report highlighted the work of the Whitechurch addiction support project, which is supported through the Drug Related Intimidation and Violence Engagement, DRIVE, initiative. It has done excellent work supporting 75 families in the past year. However, the kicker came at the end of the report when we heard that the funding for this DRIVE project is now over and this work will end in the next month. It seems incredible that at a time when the Government is promoting this project nationally, funding is being taken away from local projects to assist families in dealing with this intimidation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I listened carefully to what the Taoiseach said at the start. He spoke about what Dublin City Council and the OPW are doing with regard to the Dublin task force, but we heard little or nothing about what the Government itself is doing. We still have no legal implementation body. We still have no budget funding, which was called for by the chair of the task force. There is a bitter irony here because others have spoken about The Complex. The task force report talks about the need to create a cultural hub. The Complex was actually pictured in the report, which was launched back in October 2024, yet the Government could not stump up a small few million euros. The Government is talking about supporting Dublin city, but is it really strangling the recommendations of the task force and the miserly implementation plan devised by the interdepartmental working group, which is only seven months old? We are not seeing any action on the ground by the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  There were over 99 people arrested and over 82 have been prosecuted in relation to the Dublin riots, a dark day that was the pretext for the creation of the Dublin city task force. It has resulted in a more visible police presence in our city to deliver a safer city. The way in which waste is presented by commercial operators in parts of our city has changed to deliver a clean city. We are trying to get more people living in our city. As part of the task force there is a project under way, in combination with the measures we have introduced in terms of the living city initiative, to get people living above shops in places like Middle Abbey Street and North Frederick Street. My question relates to ensuring that central government holds a grip over the measures that lots of Members acknowledge are being delivered by Dublin City Council. We have to ensure that it continues to be supported and equally that the level of transparency that was demanded from the task force continues under the stewardship of the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath raised the issue of a task force for Cork city, as did Deputies P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan and Thomas Gould. First of all, we have not been awaiting the establishment of the task force in respect of investment in Cork city. The most significant investment recently was the up to \u20ac90 million announced for the Crawford Gallery, which is a national institution. It is very substantial and will transform that aspect of the city centre. The refurbishment of the Shandon area, for example, has received very significant multi-million funding. Most recently, it was announced that the Tyndall national research institute, which is vital for inward investment, has been allocated well over \u20ac100 million by the Government. This is really setting the future solid for the Cork area and region and, indeed, nationally in respect of the area of semi-conductor research, photonics and other vital areas, such as frontier technologies, which will bring in further investment.  Of course there is also the investment in the universities, MTU and UCC. Above and beyond anything else, Cork city is an education city and continued investment in education will be there. As I said, there is a meeting this week with the CEO. I hope we conclude that work and, in the next two to three weeks, we go to the Government and we establish the group, which will focus on the city centre.  The visibility of the garda\u00ed has improved very significantly with the recent out-take from Templemore which saw up to 30 garda\u00ed appointed. We saw over Christmas, just as we saw in Dublin city, the impact of greater visibility of garda\u00ed on the street in terms of confidence in security in the city centres. Many traders and citizens have articulated the psychological impact alone of that visibility. That presence, both in Dublin city and in Cork city, cannot be overstated.  Regarding the events centre, Cork corporation is overseeing the tender processes for that and is making progress. Because of the way that had escalated, it needed to go out to tender in a proper, formal way that is legally watertight and so on. That simply had to happen.  Deputies S\u00e9amus McGrath and P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan were focusing on the city centre itself. We have to look at residential and we have to look at commercial. It is a different type of city into the future. The living cities initiative applies to Dublin, Cork, Galway and others. The Revenue Commissioners will be engaging with the councils to make sure they can get the proper maps. We have dramatically changed the impact of that initiative now. The older one was very limited and restrictive to pre-1915 buildings. Good sizeable grants are available for development over shops, and there is no date in terms of the building. Likewise for residential, we are looking at up to 1975 now, so there are opportunities in terms of some of the buildings in the cities and the extended areas that were captured and outlined in the budget.  The Railyard project will be the tallest building in the country, with social housing and cost rental. It is a significant development in the core of the city but also pointing to the docklands. The investment in the docklands has been very significant so far. In the areas north and south of the River Lee, the LDA is doing good work with the city council. This is a good example of how State agencies working together can deliver a lot. Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann has also been very facilitative. I remind Deputy Gould that the Kent Station transformation reflects very significant investment in infrastructure in the region. The key thing with the light rail project is to get the route selection finalised and then to get it started.  Deputy Ardagh raised the south-west inner-city area of Dublin - the Liberties and so on - in terms of security, policing, community confidence and transport policing, which I accept is a significant issue. I believe that a greater investment in amenities, such as playing facilities, is an absolute imperative in those parts of Dublin. Dublin City Council needs to really work hard at that. Other councils across Dublin need to work particularly hard - and, I would argue, more effectively - to provide facilities for clubs and communities in the sporting area. When we compare Dublin to other parts of the country, we see different models outside of Dublin which are far more widespread and more effective in terms of councils leasing land to clubs and so on. It is something that has struck me in terms of how Dublin is organised for playing amenities and playing facilities more generally. Policing will improve as we continue to have more recruits coming out of Templemore, which is producing a significant number of graduates on a very regular basis.  I hear what Deputy Brabazon said about Dublin regarding policing and the improved presence of garda\u00ed. Clearly, that is something we are working on in dealing with antisocial behaviour. I hear what he has said about the north Dublin suburbs. For the moment we have to work on the city task force and its implementation.  Deputy Heneghan raised the issue of the NTA and BusConnects. We cannot get into the specifics of every route here, but nonetheless there is an obligation on the NTA to work with public representatives and the communities to make sure that the service is people-centric and that those who are infirm or senior, in particular, are looked after in respect of bus routes.  Deputy McDonald spoke about facilities on the ground, be they arts facilities or playing facilities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The lost facilities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Again, the city council has a key role to play here, particularly as I said earlier in terms of playing facilities. That applies in terms of arts facilities and cultural facilities as well. Many facilities have been provided, but it is very disappointing in terms of The Complex. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  That is not a good enough answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Sorry, I am speaking now. What is important is that for those areas and premises that we can control, the local authorities should identify and prioritise those for community and artistic engagement. In terms of the recommendations, the establishment of a special purpose vehicle, SPV, under section 66 of the Local Government Act 2001----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I raised Portland Row as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----is a matter for the elected members of Dublin City Council. The council is taking the required steps to set up the legal entity. The SPV is key. We have seen in the past that when SPVs get established, they can get things done in respect of buildings and having control and agency in a lot of areas. It is expected that the legal entity will be established by the end of quarter 2 of 2026.  The OPW is leading on the redevelopment of the GPO in a manner that will be consistent with the historic nature of the building and its national significance. It will work with Dublin City Council and other key stakeholders in that regard. The OPW has established a steering group to manage this flagship project, which will consider all related property matters and potential interim uses. It will carry out a non-statutory consultation and engagement process with the general public, which is expected to commence this year. This will be carried out over a period of nine months and will reach local, regional, national and international audiences. There is an oversight board, as Members know, on the roadmap for delivery of the Dublin city task force to which the OPW will be reporting. We have an oversight board, which is chaired by my Department. A number of meetings have taken place since its establishment in July. Subgroups have been established to examine issues including services, locations for vulnerable groups, financial resources and communications. As part of the development of an integrated area strategy for the city, the council is holding workshops with key stakeholders to ensure an aligned approach to managing the rejuvenation of the city's main street, in addition to the co-ordination work being carried out by the council's rejuvenation action group. The process of transferring the ownership of the GPO to the OPW has commenced. As I said, the OPW is preparing a nationwide public consultation process. A lot is happening but we really have to get the SPV established. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  What about Moore Street? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As the Deputy knows, work is under way on Moore Street under the aegis of the OPW. I have been there. This will also form part of the overall rejuvenation of O'Connell Street, respecting the ethos and the historic nature of Moore Street, in particular. A previous Government designated it as a national monument. We are very clear about its importance historically. We will preserve and make available that heritage for future generations to see at first hand.  Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa raised the issue of drug trafficking and intimidation. Deputy Murphy raised a similar issue. I heard the piece this morning on \"Morning Ireland\" about the intimidatory tactics deployed by criminal gangs against young people in particular, and how young people can get caught up, for small amounts of money, in situations that can have appalling impacts on their lives. Without question, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is working hard and effectively on this. I will check up on the programme Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa identified. There may be the potential to extend or expand it.  Projects like that on the ground have an impact and can give great solace and support to people when they most need it such that they do not fall prey to the intimidatory nature of these gangs and have their lives destroyed. It is important to try to get their lives back on track.  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn raised Moore Street, which I have discussed, and the drugs issue in the city centre.  Deputy Ward, I think, raised the privatisation of waste. Again, Dublin City Council has a key role in respect of that. I may ask for a report in terms of its perspective on it because there are different perspectives on it. I think Deputy Geoghegan felt it was working. One has to tread carefully such that we do not create further difficulties and further challenges.  Deputy Gannon raised the SPV issue and the working group. I think I have dealt with that comprehensively. It will be established by the end of quarter 2. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  The money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The funding will be allocated as required. You do not just send a dollop straight up.  Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett referred to The Complex also and the core and multi-annual funding for theatre. He described the model as a neoliberal model. I think we have a thriving arts and cultural situation in Ireland. The Arts Council is important in that regard. The arts departments of city councils are very important in supporting theatre companies and, in particular, production companies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Did the Taoiseach read the letter from the actors? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  This is not back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will. I did not catch it but I will now that the Deputy has drawn my attention to it. I will have a look at that. I am always very open to supporting production, drama and so on. The question is what the most effective way of doing it is. It is a core part of any city in terms of quality of life, which is important. We do not just live in an economy; we live in a society. We have strengths in that regard.  In response to Deputy Sherlock, the implementation bodies, as I said, are key. I have given her a timeline as to when that will be established. As regards my previous experience of SPVs, Temple Bar in its day was very effective in pulling the property together and getting things developed. SPVs can work.  Deputy Geoghegan referred to the living city initiative. We have transformed that programme, that tax facility or, more accurately, that urban regeneration facility, which can be facilitated by tax and grants and supports. We need to keep an eye on that to make sure we deliver it and drive it. I know Revenue will be waiting for the city council to come with maps and so on, but I think that should be okay for Dublin. I would have thought the maps were in. Department of Finance officials are saying this could take time. In my view, it should not take time in Dublin and it should not take time in Cork because the areas are already well known. The newer areas might take a bit of time, but in Cork and Dublin we should now really drive the application of the living city initiative and the changes we have brought in in the budget, which I think will have a significant impact. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Urban Development"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Reports","counts":{"speechCount":32,"speakerCount":11},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_12","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 19 to 28, inclusive, together.  The Department of the Taoiseach's annual report for 2024 was laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas in October of last year. I hope everybody has read it. The report sets out the work of the Department in 2024 to achieve the strategic priorities identified in its statement of strategy and to support the implementation of the programme for Government, including: delivering the executive functions of the Taoiseach and the Government; supporting the Taoiseach in carrying out his duties as Head of Government, including in relation to the Oireachtas, constitutional issues, protocol and civic policy, the European Council, the North-South Ministerial Council and the British-Irish Council; working with the Office of the President and with the Oireachtas; engaging with the formulation and implementation of Government policy, mainly through the system of Cabinet committees, senior officials groups and the parliamentary liaison unit; supporting the offices of the Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste, the Government Chief Whip and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs; providing the Government secretariat; providing the Government Information Service; providing briefing and advice for the Taoiseach and the Government on the full range of domestic policy issues and on European Union and international affairs; and co-ordination roles in various cross-government initiatives, including Housing for All, climate action, child poverty and well-being, migration, the national digital strategy, the national risk assessment, the well-being framework, policing reform and community safety, the National Security Analysis Centre and the Dublin north east inner city initiative.  In terms of metrics illustrating its outputs during 2024, the Department supported 46 meetings of Government, which dealt with 1,130 memorandums to Government; supported 52 meetings of Cabinet committees, generally chaired by me, as well as meetings of associated senior officials groups; supported attendance by the Taoiseach at eight meetings of the European Council and attendance by the Minister of State with responsibility for European Union affairs at nine meetings of the General Affairs Council; and supported five visits by my good self to Northern Ireland. Through the work of the shared island unit within the Department of An Taoiseach, the Government committed to building consensus around a shared future. For example, six shared island dialogue events were held in 2024, while the Government announced the largest ever single package of island-wide investment commitments, of more than \u20ac800 million, including \u20ac600 million towards the A5 road upgrade for the north west, as well as funding for the iconic Narrow Water Bridge at Carlingford Lough. We laid the groundwork for a major overhaul of children's services, through the Cabinet committee on children and education and disability, and began the development of the new national disability strategy. My Department also supported an extensive round of engagements at EU and international levels that focused on issues of significance for Ireland, including climate and energy. I have since then established an offshore wind energy clearing house group, which brings together key players from the public and private sectors to tackle issues that are causing delays to the delivery of offshore energy infrastructure. We have delivered a number of important State ceremonial events, including the Stardust commemoration, the 1916 Easter Rising commemoration and the national day of commemoration. We have transferred 583 files to the National Archives; facilitated and managed 150 media events; issued 243 press releases; responded to numerous media queries and updated gov.ie on an ongoing basis; prepared responses to 801 parliamentary questions; drafted 199 speeches; dealt with more than 140,000 items of correspondence; and processed 275 freedom of information requests.  The Department's 2024 annual report is published, in English and in Irish, on gov.ie . "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Martin Daly)  We have ten speakers and we are tight on time. I ask people to make their points in maybe 30 seconds, starting with Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  This is ridiculous. Thirty seconds. This is happening every second slot. We warned about this when the Government cut Taoiseach's questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Martin Daly)  I take your point. I have just come into the Chair. We could start with----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It is happening every week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Martin Daly)  -----Deputy Ryan O'Meara. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  Twenty-five seconds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  The Department of the Taoiseach's 2024 annual report states that 7,126 affordable homes were built, but none of those affordable homes was built in my constituency of north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny. I will give some examples of areas where we need housing. Towns like Nenagh, Thurles, Roscrea, Borrisokane, Ballina and Newport, Templemore, Borrisoleigh, Urlingford, Freshford, Toomyvara, Cloghjordan and Cappagh White are just examples of towns and villages across north Tipperary, mid-Tipperary, west Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny where young people and families need an affordable home and a start in life, those abroad want to come home, those living at home want a place of their own, and those with unsustainable rents want to afford to live. I want my constituency of north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny to get real affordable housing schemes in our towns and our villages. I gave just some examples; I could give many more. What will the Government do to deliver affordable homes for north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I want to talk about the section of the report on building consensus on a shared island. The Taoiseach will be aware that, last week, there was the launch in Belfast of the public media Ireland report. This is the first time I have seen a report in preparation for the media around this subject. Academics from DCU and Ulster University considered what would happen to the public service media in a reunified Ireland. The report rightly highlights the important role the public sector and broadcasting will have in the reunification process of our island.  It makes 13 recommendations. What will the Taoiseach's Department do to advance the research of projects like this from DCU and Ulster University on an all-island public service media and begin Government preparations for Irish unity? Can we have a debate in the Chamber about the recommendations made in this report, so everybody will have their say and we can make this really valuable work count as a first step? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We want to see delivery in relation to special education and autism classes. Two schools that have delivered as necessary are Monksland National School in Cooley and Ardee Educate Together. I have brought up these issues before. A TD in the Taoiseach's own party brought up Monksland National School. She could not have been happy with the answer given. I certainly was not happy with it. Monksland National School was given two prefabs. It got permanent plans for a general purpose room and for a canteen. People are eating in their cars or in a shipping container at the minute, which is hardly acceptable. There were plans for special education teaching, SET, rooms and autism spectrum disorder, ASD, rooms. It is asking for contact from the Department. I request that an official from the Department contact me. We could resolve this issue. There is an even simpler issue with Ardee Educate Together. It is about parking spaces and delivering before further works are done. We are getting down to the wire on the timeline. I need somebody from the Department of education to make contact so we can resolve this. Louth County Council is the project manager but there is a serious requirement for action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The Department of the Taoiseach's annual report talks about values of treating the public fairly and promptly. I question whether the Government has treated the survivors of industrial and reformatory schools who were on hunger strike outside the gates of Leinster House fairly and indeed promptly because they are very angry at the lack of progress on the commitments the Government entered into over two months ago when they came off their hunger strike. They tell me that they have no communication from the Department of education. They say that no services are in place and they are still suffering physically and psychologically, with no access to services. They say there is still no State apology. There is a commitment that a State apology be given. It was supposed to be given promptly. We are now told that it will be given before the end of January. The end of January is next week. Will the Taoiseach confirm to them at the very least that there will be a State apology next week on this? When will the other commitments that the Government entered into over two months ago be fulfilled for these vulnerable and determined individuals? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I read the Taoiseach's 2024 report, although it is 2026 now. I specifically read the social policy and equality section. Within that is a broader discussion about disability inclusion in a wider context. Under that, the Taoiseach set up the Cabinet subcommittee on disability, which he has referred to here on numerous occasions here and in his dealings with me. I bring to the Taoiseach's attention that if people are looking for residential care or an independent living environment for their son or daughter in Cork, which is the only place I can speak to, they have virtually no chance of securing that right for them. It could be an adult with an intellectual disability or whatever the case may be. It is so difficult to get that type of service delivered in our CHO at the moment. I am saying that in the context of meeting a group called the before we die group. I know they will be contacting all TDs in our area over the coming months. They have a group in Dublin too. I am asking the Taoiseach to meet them because that group needs to be heard about the day-to-day travails that they have to go through to secure services for their children, specifically residential care for their children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  On the theme of sustaining the economy, I raise the need for an updated support strategy for retailers across this country on our main streets, high streets and towns and villages. We want our towns, villages and cities to be vibrant, busy and attractive places but many retailers are under severe pressure, whether it is due to the increased cost of doing business, the ongoing challenge of online shopping, or, of course, changing consumer habits. They need support and while the Government has invested in things like town and village renewal, the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, and so on, a specific, focused strategy needs to be put in place to support our retailers, or I fear that many of our towns and villages will be hollowed out and will become places with increased vacancy, dereliction and so on. We need to address this issue and support our retailers. I ask the Taoiseach to please take this on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  A huge amount of resources went from the Department of the Taoiseach last year into trying to strategise and manage the visit to the White House for St. Patrick's Day. I am wondering what the hell level will be needed this year for the Taoiseach to manage such a visit if it goes ahead because we have a demagogue, dangerously unleashed at this point. I was never a fan of the shamrock at the White House. There are other ways of meeting important people without giving that photo opportunity to somebody like Donald Trump. What is the Taoiseach's red line? Trump is a racist who has unleashed ICE to kill people, to strike fear into people of colour, who cannot go into the US right now. He is a tyrant who has invaded Venezuela and kidnapped its leader. That leader will be on trial on 17 March, if the Taoiseach is planning to go. Now Trump is emboldened to attack Greenland. He is a misogynist who has promoted the sexual assault of women and the demeaning of female journalists. He is a known rapist. He was convicted in a civil trial. I know women's lives do not matter much but do children matter because he is obviously a paedophile as well? He is listed in the Epstein files. He is pictured with very young girls constantly. He spied on the dressing rooms at teen pageants. Does any of this matter at all? Will we continue to talk about bread on the table and allow a dangerous demagogue like this to operate on the world? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The mission statement for the Department of the Taoiseach in its report says it is about ensuring a sustainable economy and a successful society. Neither of those things is possible unless we address the lack of social and affordable housing and the housing crisis that is faced in this country. Recently, in my area, an area called Old Connaught, on the border of D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown and Wicklow, there was a local area plan discussion about building social and affordable housing. Our councillors, Melisa Halpin and Dave O'Keeffe, proposed that we should have a condition that all the housing, much of it on public land, should be social and affordable, because we do not need more unaffordable housing. The Government's councillors laughed and scoffed at that, then proposed and voted through plans to cut the developer levies, in other words to give a handout to the developers. How is that compatible with the aspirations of the Department of the Taoiseach? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Taoiseach's Government and governments around the world have an important choice to make. The choice is whether the profits of big tech corporations are going to come before the health and safety of our children. For now, these interests are counterposed. We saw it in a stark way in the mass production of child sexual abuse imagery and sexual abuse imagery of women on Grok. There was a protest outside the offices of X at the weekend. I know the Taoiseach previously heralded AI as akin to the industrial revolution or the printing press. This is how it is being used by the big tech corporations. A big question is whether we will follow the original advice from Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n to turn off the toxic algorithms on social media. They are algorithms made to maximise eyeballs on the screen, to maximise profits, and which push hateful, misogynistic, suicidal material, and eating disorders on young people. Does the Taoiseach agree that we should turn off the toxic algorithms? We will introduce a Bill to do that on Thursday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank all the Deputies who raised a variety of issues. Deputy O'Meara raised the issue of affordable housing, specifically in Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny in a variety of towns. There is a variety of schemes to help people to afford housing. Lots of people have used the help to buy and first home schemes. The local authority affordable scheme has had applications in some counties more effectively than others. Some of that is to do with valuations and so on. We will see what we can do to make sure that every county benefits from those schemes. I was in Wexford last week, where plenty of affordable houses were built with subsidies through the local authority affordable scheme. I will talk to the Minister for housing about what is happening in Tipperary, north-west Kilkenny and those areas. Affordable housing is the significant issue because we are making progress on social housing.  Deputy Conway-Walsh raised the issue of the public service media. Again, I know there is a conference but we are actually doing work on that under the shared island initiative. We have allocated very substantial investment through the shared island initiative to media to increase reporting North and South and to have a more seamless interaction across both. This has not been happening to the degree it should have been in the past number of years, either with Southern media covering Northern Ireland or Northern Ireland media covering the Republic. We have put substantial funding through the shared island endeavour. Public service media in the modern era is critical for societal cohesion and it has to operate to very high standards of impartiality and with the public interest at the core.  On Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa and special education, again, this is a matter for the Minister for education. I know Deputy McGreehan has been raising these issues also. We will relay that back to the Department. The Deputy is saying, and I have no doubt he is in contact with the Department----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Yes, but there is a time delay----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We will keep going. Deputy Doherty raised the issue of those who were on hunger strike. We have made very good progress in respect of that. I have communicated in respect of that to those involved. I have written but they may not have received anything. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  They have received it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Fine. It is very clear from that correspondence that we are very close now----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Is there an apology next week? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----to bringing that to finality, including the issue of an apology.  Turning to Deputy O'Sullivan, again in terms of disability and inclusion, we have since this report and the general election, established a disability unit in the Department, which manifested itself in the budget in terms of the domiciliary care allowance, the monthly allowance, going up another \u20ac20, and in terms of the income disregard for carers being significantly enhanced and the level of increases going up. In terms of the residential and respite area, the investment in the budget was an extra 20% in services. There are issues in the residential and respite areas. There is no doubt about that. We were at the Horizons centre last Saturday morning. I was there as was the Deputy and we heard first hand the issues facing many parents of children. There is then the issue of adults with disabilities and the future for them and how their elderly parents worry about that. A lot of our work in the coming months will be focused on residential and respite. There is the changing nature of respite as well, which I thought was an important point made by the Horizons group last weekend. I will certainly meet the before we die group and see how best we can address the issue. We do need to take the anxiety and the undoubted worry and stress from the parents and those who are going through that uncertainty and lack of clear knowledge as to the future.  Moving to Deputy McGrath, specifically on retailers, there is a lot of pressure on them. I think we have to work more with local authorities again in respect of the cost framework and cost environment. A lot of good work has happened on the public realm investments in terms of facilitating footfall and making city streetscapes pleasant so people will want to come into a town or city centre. There is also the active travel dimension but that too can restrict other aspects of access to city centres as well in terms of traffic. It is about trying to get the balance right there.  Deputy Coppinger said we had deployed huge resources last year. We did not. It was just human capital. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I am sorry. It was what? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Human capital. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Just human capital. Myself and a couple of others. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Yes. That is what I mean. That takes money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There were no huge resources. No huge resources are allocated to strategising about how we engage and meet with other leaders. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  The Taoiseach is not named. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will say this to the Deputy on where our focus always is. The economic relationship is critical. I would not undermine that. It is not about the profit of companies but that critical economic relationship is about employment for a lot of people in this country. It works both ways, by the way. Irish companies have access to the market there and do well in the United States, and want to continue to do well. We are in a very difficult situation - Europe is and Ireland is. I outlined earlier during Leaders' Questions the approach we are going to take.  Turning to Deputy Boyd Barrett, yes, we do need a sustainable society. We need social and affordable housing. I do not believe our councillors scoff at anything to do with housing. They take it very seriously. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  They did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  They want more housing. They want more affordable and social housing and to enable people to either buy or rent at affordable prices. We need to get supply up. I think some of Deputy Boyd Barrett's policies would depress supply. That is where we differ. We need to get supply to 50,000 or 60,000 per annum. I think a lot of what the Deputy has articulated over the years would depress supply. It is not possible to do it all through social housing. We need private sector investment as well as public sector investment on a huge scale.  Turning to what Deputy Murphy talked about, nothing can come before the health and well-being and safety and security of our children. No company can. The 1998 Act is very clear. Any sharing or any generation or possession of child abuse images, child sexual abuse images, is illegal and must be prosecuted. The Garda is pursuing it. The European Commission has responsibility for very large online platforms like X. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n is working with the European Commission in respect of what has transpired with the Grok app. It is a very serious situation. I would point out that comments are made very generally about Ireland and the regulatory environment. The Data Protection Commission, DPC, levied \u20ac4 billion in six years on technology companies. That is not evidence of people taking a light-handed approach. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Reports"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/84","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/84\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":28},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I am very pleased to introduce the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025 to the House. I look forward to hearing the contributions of Deputies today, and to working with all Members of D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann and Seanad \u00c9ireann to progress this important legislation through both Houses. Home support is a vital service that is delivered to thousands of people nationwide every day. It provides a very important service to individuals of every age and their families, as it enables people to maintain independence and dignity while living at home. In line with Sl\u00e1intecare, this Government is committed to ensuring that we take concrete actions that support and empower people to stay in their own homes and in their communities.  At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the services provided by the carers and service providers that deliver home support. Improving access to home support is an absolute priority for this Government, and home support hours have increased every year since 2020, from 17.8 million hours in 2020 to 30.6 million hours in 2026. This represents 26.7 million hours for older persons services and 3.9 million hours for disability services. The programme for Government commits to designing a statutory home care scheme to allow people to stay in their own home for as long as possible. The first, essential step towards the scheme is to ensure that home care is regulated and that there are quality standards in place that services can be inspected against. This legislation will therefore ensure that, for the first time in Ireland, home support providers - whether public, private or voluntary - are required to operate in a regulated environment.  There are inherent risks for service users in the provision of health and social care services by an unregulated sector. In vital areas such as infection prevention and control, staff training, and clinical governance, there are no standards or regulations that all home support providers must comply with. There are standards of service that can be expected from the HSE, through HSE funded services, or through the terms of private contracts. However, there are currently no consistent, minimum standards of care that apply universally to home support providers. There is also no independent oversight of the provision of services, so, therefore, there is no independent mechanism to ensure that the standards that do exist, such as HIQA's National Standards for Better Safer Healthcare 2012 are complied with.  The regulations that will be made on foot of this legislation will therefore offer quality assurance to service users that their service meets the same minimum standards wherever and however it is provided. The introduction of a statutory framework to provide independent oversight of home support providers will ensure increased compliance with regulations and quality standards, which will increase public confidence in home support services.  The Health Act 2007 established the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA, and the Office of the Chief Inspector of Social Services. It also provides the regulatory framework for residential services for older people, persons with disabilities and children in need of care and protection. The Chief Inspector of Social Services monitors compliance with this regulatory framework. The Bill before the House is modelled after the regulatory framework for designated centres as set out under the Health Act. This was outlined in the general scheme. It amends the 2007 Act, establishing a regulatory framework for home support providers who will be required to meet minimum requirements set out under Ministerial regulations in order to provide a home support service. This framework will be further supported by HIQA\u2019s National Standards for Home Support Services.  These amendments will act to safeguard service users and raise the quality and consistency of home care nationally and will be a first step in meeting the programme for Government commitment to design a statutory home care scheme. The framework will extend to all service users regardless of age who by reason of illness, frailty or disability require a home support service. As such it applies to home support provision funded by both the Departments of Health, and Children, Disability and Equality.  The Bill will introduce, for the first time, the registration and regulation by HIQA and the Chief Inspector of Social Services of all home support providers in Ireland. Among other measures, it will provide the chief inspector with a range of powers and will make it an offence to provide a home support service without being registered. The chief inspector will also be responsible for monitoring and assessing compliance of registered home support providers against regulations and HIQA standards. The new system of regulation for home support will ensure that the public can be confident that the services provided are of a high standard and will bring Ireland in line with best international practice.  I will take the House through the Bill to briefly outline the content of each section. The legislation has two Parts consisting of 22 sections. Part 1 relates to preliminary and general matters and contains sections 1 to 4, inclusive. Section 1 provides for the Short Title of the Bill, collective citation, and for the commencement of its provisions.  Section 2 provides definitions of key terms used in the Bill.  Section 3 provides that the operation of the Act must be reviewed within five years of enactment after which a report on the findings is to be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas.  Section 4 repeals a section of the Human Tissues (Transplantation, Post-Mortem, Anatomical Examination and Public Display) Act 2024.  Part 2 sets out amendments to the Health Act and consists of 18 sections. Section 5 amends the principal Act to provide for the definition of key terms relating to the regulatory framework for home support providers.  Section 6 amends section 8 of the principal Act to provide for new functions for HIQA to set standards on safety and quality in relation to home support services.  Section 7 provides for HIQA to conduct investigations of registered home support providers.  Section 8 expands the functions of the chief inspector to establish and maintain a register of home support providers, collect key data in relation to home support providers, inspect premises where he or she suspects the business of a home support service is being carried out, and register and inspect home support providers against both ministerial regulations and HIQA standards.  Section 9 inserts a new part, Part 8A, to the principal Act to provide for the registration of home support providers through the insertion of 29 new sections, Nos. 69B to 69ZD.  Section 69B provides for the definition of key terms used in Part 8A and provides for exemptions to the requirement to register as a home support provider.  Section 69C provides for a prohibition on carrying out the business of a home support service without being registered.  Section 69D provides for a prohibition on making false or misleading statements in a material respect when applying for registration or renewal of registration.  Section 69E provides for the application process for a person seeking to register or renew the registration of a home support provider.  Section 69F provides for the establishment of a register of home support providers.  Section 69G provides for the grant or refusal of the registration of a home support provider.  Section 69H provides for grounds under which the chief inspector can cancel, vary or remove a condition, or attach an additional condition to a registration of a home support provider.  Section 69I provides that the chief inspector may remove a condition attached to a registered home support provider's registration where they deem it is appropriate and will not adversely affect a service user receiving support from that provider.  Section 69J provides that a registered home support provider may apply to the chief inspector for the variation or removal of any condition that has been placed on their registration.  Section 69K provides for notices to be issued by the chief inspector to an applicant or a registered home support provider, as appropriate, in respect of a proposed decisions to an application submitted under sections 69E and 69J.  Section 69L provides that an applicant or registered home support provider, as appropriate, has 14 days after a notice is given of a proposed decision of the chief inspector under section 69J to make a written representation to the chief inspector concerning the proposal.  Section 69M provides that the chief inspector is to give written notice to an applicant or registered provider of a decision to refuse or grant an application, to cancel a registration, remove or vary a condition or attach additional condition or to remove a condition of a registration.  Section 69N provides for when the chief inspector proposes to make certain decisions where the home support service is provided or proposed to be provided by an applicant or a registered home support providers from more than one business premises and a single application has been made for registration.  Section 69O provides for required and prohibited conduct for registered home support providers.  Section 69P provides for the appeals process from a decision of the chief inspector regarding an application for registration.  Section 69Q provides for the chief inspector to seek a District Court order enforcing certain decisions under sections 69G, 69J, and 69H.  Section 69R provides for the chief inspector to seek a District Court order where they believe there is a serious risk to a service user due to the actions of a registered home support provider or person acting on their behalf.  Section 69S provides for the chief inspector to make an application under section 69R as an ex parte interim order.  Section 69T provides for a final determination of matters dealt with in an ex parte interim order under section 69R.  Section 69U provides that an appeal of a District Court decision under section 69N lies to the Circuit Court.  Section 69V provides that the chief inspector is a party to any court proceeding taken under this Part of the principal Act and is entitled to appear, be heard, adduce or give evidence.  Section 69W provides for the submission of information to the chief inspector by registered home support providers.  Section 69X provides for the collection of key data from registered home support providers, the sharing of information with the Minister and public bodies, such as HIQA and the HSE, and the publication of this data in aggregate form by the chief inspector.  Section 69Y provides that a registered home support provider shall not submit false or misleading information to the chief inspector under sections 69W or 69X.  Section 69Z provides that where a registered home support provider decides to cease to carry on the business of a home support service, they are to notify the chief inspector of the date in which they are to cease operating in accordance with the timeline set out under regulations. Section 69ZA provides that where a registered home support provider ceases to carry on its business, the chief inspector will make a note in the appropriate register and cancel the registration of the provider. Section 69ZB provides that where a person is appointed by or under law to take charge of the business of a registered home support provider, that person is to notify the chief inspector as soon as practicable and no later than 48 hours after the appointment. Section 69ZC provides for the notifications by the chief inspector relating to certain home support providers. Section 69ZD provides for transitional arrangements for persons providing a home support service immediately before this Bill comes into operation.  Section 10 provides for the HSE to appoint persons to examine business premises of a home support provider that is providing service on behalf of the HSE. A person appointed under this section will be authorised to enter any business premises of the home support provider and examine any records relating to the service and interview any employees of the provider.  Section 11 provides the right of entry and inspection by the chief inspector to the business premises used or proposed to be used by a home support provider or the private dwelling of a service user where a home support service is provided with the consent of the service user concerned.  Section 12 provides that if the chief inspector has reasonable grounds to believe that the business of a home support provider is being carried out on a premises which is not registered, the chief inspector may enter the premises to inspect it.  Section 13 provides for the District Court to issue a warrant to authorise the chief inspector entry to premises where the chief inspector suspects the business of a home support provider is being carried out, if required.  Section 14 provides the inclusion in the definition of dwelling of any part of the business premises of a registered home support provider that is occupied as a private residence by that person or a member of staff of the provider.  Section 15 provides for the inclusion of a reference to home support providers in relation to the further circumstances in which the District Court may issue a warrant.  Section 16 provides that HIQA may prepare and publish reports relating to the monitoring of compliance and standards by registered home support providers, and the manner in which those reports should be prepared.  Section 17 provides for the serving of compliance notices on registered home support providers. Under this amendment, where the chief inspector is satisfied that a registered home support provider has contravened a relevant provision of legislation, he or she may issue a compliance notice. A registered home support provider who fails to comply with the compliance notice by the date specified in the notice shall be guilty of an offence and liable to prosecution. Registered home support providers will have the right to make an appeal to the District Court within 14 days.  Section 18 requires the chief inspector to maintain a non-compliance list of providers on whom a fine or penalty has been imposed.  Section 19 amends section 79 of the principal Act providing for offences for home support providers.  Section 20 amends section 99 of the principal Act providing the Minister for Health, in consultation with the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality as appropriate, to make regulations relating to the registration of home support providers under the Act.  Section 21 provides the Minister for Health, in consultation with the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality as appropriate, to make regulations for home support providers to ensure proper standards in relation to the home support services they provide.  Section 22 inserts a new section 101C into the principal Act providing the Minister for Health with regulation-making powers to prescribe the collection, sharing and publication of data regarding registered home support providers. Regulations will determine the type of data to be collected, shared and published and the frequency of the submission and sharing of information.  It will be necessary to introduce a small number of Government amendments, including technical amendments, as the Bill makes its way through the Houses of the Oireachtas. The most significant of these relate to necessary enhancements of consent provisions to reflect the more recent policy change to include home support services provided to under-18s within the scope of the Bill. This legislation is the major first step towards designing a statutory home care scheme. The establishment of a regulatory framework for home support providers will act to provide new protections for service users and will raise the safety, quality and consistency of care nationally.  I look forward to the contributions of Deputies and to working with all Members of D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann and Seanad \u00c9ireann to progress this important legislation through both Houses of the Oireachtas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I have ten minutes, and I am sharing time with two of my colleagues.  I welcome the opportunity to contribute. We will support the Bill on Second Stage because the private homes support sector must be regulated, and families deserve basic assurances of safety standards and accountability. However, supporting a Bill is the not the same, as I am sure the Minister of State will agree, as applauding the Government's record, which I wish to turn to. This legislation is necessary, but it is also a stark admission of how little has been delivered and how low the Government's ambition has fallen. The Bill's purpose is to amend the Health Act to create a statutory regulatory framework for registration, minimum standards, inspection, enforcement and data collection for home support providers. It brings the framework for home support providers into line with the model used for designated centres, HIQA standards and an expanded role for the chief inspector, all of which I agree with. It provides for a public register of providers, including key details and conditions of registration, a prohibition on operating without registration with offences and penalties, inspection and enforcement powers, including compliance notices and court applications where serious risk is identified, data collection and publication in aggregate forum ensuring that we can finally see what is happening in the sector.  In plain language, this is about regulating providers, but it is not about delivering entitlements for patients. Not only is there a commitment to a statutory home care scheme in the programme for Government, but it was included in the previous programme for Government, . This was to operate on a similar basis to the fair deal scheme. We still have no details of how that will work. We still have no details of who will be entitled to it or who qualify, what equity issues will be in play and when this will see the light of day. I suspect that we have not seen a statutory home care scheme in place or any movement on this issue because we do not have the capacity to deliver it. The Government should be straight and upfront with people. We know and all deal every day in our constituency offices with families who are waiting for home care or intensive home care packages. Some families and some people get them. Some get partial hours, which is not all the hours that they need. Others do not get any at all and are stuck on waiting lists. Two of my colleagues in Donegal, Deputies Doherty and Mac Lochlainn, have alerted me to serious problems in the county in accessing intensive home care packages. There is a long waiting list. We have patients and families who need urgent support at home, and they cannot get it. I suspect that is what happening here. Statutory home care is a game-changer. It means that there will be a statutory right or a statutory obligation for a person to have access to home care. That will place more of a burden and obligation on the State to provide that care. The Government, HSE and Department are not equipped to deliver it.  It reminds me a bit of the Disability Act 2005 where the Government of the day decided rightly that we would confer a legal right for a child to access an assessment of need and that that assessment of would look at the health and education needs of each child. On the basis of the aggregate assessment of need carried out, the Department would then be able to plan and provide the appropriate resources, including speech and language therapists, occupational therapists, psychologists and so on. That never happened. Of course, what has happened is that people are waiting, waiting and waiting. Parents are taking the State to court. I have a concern that is what is holding back the Government on this. It is saying, \"Hang on a second here\", or maybe it is coming from the Department saying, \"Let us be very careful about statutory schemes because that places an obligation on the State.\" However, the reality is that this is badly needed for many families. Everybody has the right to the best available care. A long time ago - well before Sl\u00e1intecare - it was an accepted principle in the health care system that if it is appropriate for a person to be cared for at home that is where they should be. We have far too many people in hospital who should be at home, but they cannot be discharged from hospital because the home care supports are not available.  I deal with this all the time as the health spokesperson for my party. I get queries in from all over the State relating to people who are in hospital and want to be discharged to their homes. Their families want them at home. It is the best place for them. They can care for them to a level, but they need additional supports to discharge them. They have additional needs, and they cannot get the supports. They are pleading with the hospital and community services. Sometimes there is not joined -p thinking between all those services but for the most part, the capacity is not there and the person cannot be discharged. If a person cannot get care at home, he or she ends up in hospital. There are major advances in health care. I am a member of the Joint Committee on Health, as is the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach. We are learning all the time of the advances in technology. For example, we hear about virtual beds, the principle of which is great. A person could be cared for and monitored, including their blood pressure, from home. Huge advances have been made where a person does not necessarily have to be in hospital to get certain care. Some people do, but there are categories of patients who can be cared for at home. The problem is that we cannot realise that potential because we do not have the capacity. What happens is that it is a postcode lottery, patients go on a waiting list, and they may or may not get the home care supports that they need. That is not what should be in place. That is not where we need to be.  I have seen it far too often in healthcare, particularly under the previous Minister for Health and indeed, the current Government as well. Big promises are made that we are going to do all these wonderful things with Sl\u00e1intecare being the biggest one. It was the big vision for healthcare, but then we do not see the practical delivery of it. We have seen it in so many areas of healthcare. Beds that were promised were not delivered. Staff that were promised were not delivered. Pharmacy agreements that were promised were not delivered. The Government made these big announcements and then left people high and dry. That is what was done with the statutory home care scheme.  What is really frustrating is that despite two programmes for Government that promised a statutory home care scheme, and all of the years that have gone by, the best the Government has done is to say it will regulate the area, have a registry and make sure service providers are registered. That is great but it should have been done years ago. That it is taken so long for even this Bill to be brought forward, given the commitments we were given, is staggering. I imagine that most people probably thought this was already in place. That is something that is really basic. Of course all home care support services should be registered, of course they should be subject to regulation, and of course HIQA has to have the powers to look at these areas. For most people this is a no-brainer and they would have expected it to have been in place. The fact we are only dealing with this now is problematic, and we still do not have the statutory home care scheme, as I said.  I ask the Minister of State to examine the difficulties in the north west. It is an issue that an Teachta Doherty in particular has raised with me. I have spoken to the head of the HSE on this and he has acknowledged that there is an issue, which is a staffing issue.  I want to make a point on something I am concerned about generally in healthcare. When we are speaking about home care we have to accept that because of decades of a lack of investment in public home care, the vast majority of providers are now private. We have also seen this with nursing homes. At one point a majority of nursing homes were public but they are now private. The majority of home care is now being provided by private providers. I am not casting aspersions on the private providers, and the staff and the people do a good job, but we need to build up public capacity and we need to make sure we are getting value for money and bang for buck.  We are paying premiums to private providers to provide services that should be provided through the public system, given that we have all signed up to the principle of a universal healthcare system, public healthcare and Sl\u00e1intecare. This is what we have all signed up to but what I see is more and more privatisation and systems dependent on the private sector. We see it with dentistry. We have more private dentists than public dentists. We have more private nursing homes than public nursing homes. We have more private home care providers than we have public providers. This is wrong and we need to rebalance the scales. We need to invest in the public service. We are not going to be able to roll out a statutory home care scheme unless we have public infrastructure. I imagine there is even push-back against this from some of the private providers.  The role of the State and the role of the Government is to make sure we can deliver on this. It is the job of the Minister of State and the Government to deliver on the promises made in this area. I do not believe the Government will be able to do it unless it builds public capacity. It has not built up public capacity which is why year after year it comes with Bills like this as opposed to a statutory home care scheme. It is simply not equipped or in a position to deliver it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  A fundamental issue facing us is how we care for older people in society and for those in need of care due to a disability. The welfare and treatment of the most vulnerable people is a mark of the society in which we want to live. What we are being told by advocacy groups and by the people themselves is that they want support to stay in their own homes and live with as much as dignity as possible.  The Bill seeks to regulate private home care providers, establish a register, set minimum standards to be enforced by HIQA and create an inspector regime. While all of these are very welcome, the time it has taken for the Bill to be progressed shows how much of a priority it is for the Government. The Bill is yet another missed opportunity by the Government. The reform that the sector and families have been seeking for years is nowhere to be seen. The Bill represents a profound failure of ambition.  The previous programme for Government promised a statutory home care scheme. That was six years ago. Where is it? How many more years will the public have to wait for an equivalent of the nursing home support scheme that will deliver universal home care? We need to see universal and affordable access to home care. It is the right thing to do and it is the wise thing to do. Properly supported home care reduces pressure on our overwhelmed hospitals. It is better for the individual, the State and the entire health system.  After all the time spent on this legislation, what do we get? We get a register of private providers. The legislation is yet another example of the do-nothing Government getting the bare minimum done. Without a public scheme the Bill will only further embed the privatisation of care. The Bill is full of shortfall after shortfall. Affordability of care is completely absent. For the thousands of families who are crippled each and every month, the Bill will change nothing. It will police a system that is failing people and families across the State.  The Bill is needed but it does not go anywhere near far enough. It has become clearer by the day that Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have little to no interest in building a genuinely fair and public system. The Bill is more proof of this. What we are seeing is the further embedding of privatisation. Two thirds of home care provided is private and public provision continues to drop. Can the Minister of State point to a single public service that has improved thanks to the Government pushing for further privatisation? Is there anything, be it housing, roads, water, infrastructure or the energy sector? All that \"the market will provide\" privatisation model has done is drive up the cost of services for everyone, from the State to ordinary workers, while driving down quality and services. Where is the recognition of different levels of need? The Bill treats the provider of basic assistance the same as the provider of complex high dependency care with no differentiated funding or support except for a tiny number of intensive packages. This is a blunt instrument that fails to match the reality of care.  While we are debating the Bill, 34,000 carers across Ireland are in a state of anxiety and fear. This has been caused by the Minister of State and his colleagues. It is fear about the thousands of euro that Revenue will be looking for as part of a back payment of tax for part of three years. This is yet another act of utter heartlessness by the Minister of State and his colleagues, going after carers who provide so much to our society. My father was one of the lucky ones as he chose to stay at home. There was space there and my mother could provide care for him. The vital care that carers such as my mother provide goes unnoticed. A clap on the back is not good enough. They are not getting near minimum wage for 24 hours, seven days a week. To tax them on this is ridiculous. They get the respite grant but it does not go anywhere near respite. It pays bills and pays for electricity. This is all it does.  As I said, my father was one of the lucky ones. A report into a nursing home in Kilkenny stated that people were cold and did not have enough bedsheets and there was a strong smell of urine. HIQA inspectors concluded that the residents in the home did not receive a good standard of care. Carers continue to shoulder the consequences of decades of underinvestment in home care supports, all while saving the State billions in care each and every year. How can the Minister of State justify going after so many who are already struggling to get by while, at the same time, giving massive tax breaks to the likes of Starbucks and McDonalds. It spells out clearly where the Government's priorities lie.  Will the Minister of State provide an update on the adult safeguarding legislation in his closing remarks? The policy framework was published in December but we are still none the wiser as to when the Government will bring forward this much-needed legislation. The Law Reform Commission has done most of the work. When will the Bill be brought forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I am really glad to have the opportunity to speak on this very important legislation.  In reading through the Bill, I was reminded of the very damning HIQA report that was published at the time, which called for a complete overhaul of home care services. That report raised concerns around the fact that there are no minimum standards of care when it comes to home care services. I recall raising this very report during Leaders' Questions. At that time, I was assured the regulations were being worked on by the Minister. That report and that Leaders' Questions were from December 2021, over four years ago.  I have always found it disturbing that we have home care workers going into homes, particularly where older people live on their own where they are extremely vulnerable, and there are no regulations in place. The Minister of State said in his statement, \"There are inherent risks for service users in the provision of health and social care services by an unregulated sector.\" It does not really bear thinking about what those risks have been in all the years gone by, and how they have played out in some circumstances. It never made sense to me that when we raised questions in terms of home care, the HSE was not in a position to provide a list of private providers who go into homes of older people, people with disabilities and our most vulnerable citizens. This legislation is long overdue and it is extremely welcome, but it is really urgent that it is moved on as quickly as possible. For many in the sector who have waited so long for this, such as those represented by Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, we need to give assurances that these regulations will be fit for purpose. We also need to give clarity on the timeframe for this.  As we know, some private providers are very much partnered with the HSE and essentially do the work of the HSE. They provide the home care that the HSE cannot provide. I have referenced Roscommon Homecare Services in the D\u00e1il before in terms of the excellent care they provide. This not-for-profit organisation provides so much home care support and services in our communities and in the wider area.  It is important when debating this Bill to acknowledge that this is just one issue. This legislation typically deals with the regulations and the need for regulations but there are many other issues that are constant in terms of home care, particularly the waiting list. The latest figures I have for Galway state that 357 people are waiting for home care. It is significant that 248 people receiving the service have been found to be entitled to additional hours but are waiting to receive those additional hours. That puts so much stress and worry on the person and on their loved ones.  The question of rushed visits has been raised many times, particularly for the workers themselves. We have to acknowledge not only that workers are being rushed in terms of these visits with the travel and all of that, but also the impact that has on the person they are caring for, who is made to feel merely like a ticked box. It must be a horrible feeling for someone who is vulnerable. It is so important we get this Bill through as quickly as possible. I hope the Minister of State might be able to provide some kind of timeframe for that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I very much welcome this Bill. It is long overdue, as we badly need to have a statutory regulatory framework for home care support in this country. There is a glaring need to have minimum standards and a licensing regime for providers. Others have referenced the scandal we saw within the nursing home sector last year and in many previous years. We do not really have any idea of the quality and standard of the much-needed care that is taking place within peoples' homes.  This Bill will, for the first time, allow for licensing inspection and enforcement of minimum standards. It is important to say that how the ministerial regulations will be set will be critical to the success or otherwise of this legislation. I am particularly mindful of the timeliness of this now, given that the approximately 28 million home care hours provided across the State in 2022 will almost double in about 18 years by 2040. The reliance on home care support packages across the State with an ageing population means getting this legislation right is going to be critical.  Before I talk about my concerns about the Bill and indeed about what is not in it, I am conscious that 100 staff in Coolock from Northside Home Care Services are currently on strike because of their failure to be recognised within the section 39, section 56 and section 10 pay deal that was agreed 18 months ago. It is wrong that they have been excluded. We should decide whether they are part of our health service. The reality we have known for some time is that when we try to get services on the cheap, we end up in very serious and dangerous territory in healthcare. We need to make sure that these workers who are going in and out of people's homes day in, day out are afforded the dignity and respect of proper pay. SIPTU has also balloted for industrial action with a 95% vote across counties Donegal, Clare, Cork, Kerry and other counties because of long-standing failures to meet proper working conditions in the sector in those particular organisations.  Regarding the Bill itself, today we are talking about a statutory regulatory framework for providers. A critical part of the jigsaw is the statutory right to be cared for within one's home. As we all know, there is a statutory right to access public hospitals in this country, but there is nothing regarding care within our homes. That has to be a critical part of ensuring people get the care, dignity and service they are entitled to and deserve within their home in future years if the Government is serious about moving care out of our acute hospital system and into the community.  I also have a concern about what I see as the growing marketisation of the home care sector. For a long period of time it was very much based on the co-operative model. It was based on voluntary providers and community-based providers providing home care assistance within communities. That is now slowly changing, and we are seeing corporate entities come into the market and it is not so different from the nursing home sector in terms of their ability to swallow up smaller operations. In terms of some of the requirements set down in this Bill, there is a very real question for the Government regarding what kind of model of home care support it wants. Does the Government want it to be driven and delivered by large corporate entities, or does it still want to accommodate that community-based model? That is a question I would like the Minister of State to answer today because failings in how the Government has responded over many years with regard to the nursing home sector paved the way for the mess that happened last year. I know there are some changes now within HIQA with regard to having to declare the ultimate beneficiary. That is important but it is not enough because we have to be mindful of who is ultimately going to be controlling the market or the sector for home care. Another key thing is the financial support to be made available to HIQA, not just to administer the licensing but also in terms of the inspections regime. There are also the exemptions within this Bill, particularly with regard to personal assistance and those other carve-outs which are very concerning.  We know there are about 200 home care support providers in Ireland with up to 29,000 staff. I do not want to see in five years that 200 figure go down to 50 or below, but it could because of the administrative requirements envisaged within this Bill. The key question, which is outside this Bill but is very much for the Minister of State in terms of deciding the budget, is whether sufficient funding will be allowed for in the tendering process for this additional administrative requirement? If there is, the Government can ensure the survival and, indeed, the thriving of the many home care support providers at the moment. If there is not, we know the direction of travel and we are going to see a much smaller number of very big entities.  We also know that the 29,000 people who are providing home care support at the moment are not enough. There are massive shortages in certain parts of this country, including Cork, Kerry and parts of Limerick. Some 900 people are waiting for home care support in Cork and Kerry alone. Some 4,945 people are on a waiting list, as of June of last year. That is a huge amount of unmet need.  The cost of keeping people at home is relatively low compared with the alternative, which is that if they do not get support and care, they end up in a nursing home or they are readmitted to hospital. We must do much more to ensure we attract people into these roles, and that comes down to pay and conditions. I spoke about the strike that is happening at the moment, and the ballot for industrial dispute. It also comes down to the hours that are worked and making sure that people get proper transport and other allowances. It is also about reaching out to the many people, in particular women, who are outside of the labour force. We often talk about the unemployment rate in Ireland being about 4% or 5%, but the potential labour supply in this country is of the order of 16% to 18%. I refer to people who would like to work but cannot do so because of structural circumstances in their lives, whether it is a lack of childcare, a lack of transport or because they are caring for an elderly parent or relative. There are people who would like to work and we must figure out a way to bring such people in particular into a sector like this. For example, they could work part time or full time. We need to tap in to the untapped resource that exists.  I am concerned about how much in this Bill we are not hard-wiring into primary legislation but instead delegating to ministerial regulation. I refer in particular to the consent piece and the access piece into people's homes. It is important to work out the detail on that. That is something that should be debated here on the floor of the D\u00e1il and the Seanad, as opposed to confining it to ministerial regulation.  The second key issue relates to the qualifications of home care providers. Very serious questions were raised during pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill on the desired minimum training and education, but the Bill does not provide any clarity on this. It would be worthwhile to hardwire this into the legislation.  There is always a danger of there being a loophole with the exclusions. I understand why exclusions are put in place; we do not want to completely strangle or muffle a system. However, the reality is that if a provider has four clients or fewer, they should be regulated as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  It is three or fewer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I apologise. We all understand if there is an informal arrangement in place for looking after a relative or a neighbour, where it is only one person, but it is a business if a person is looking after three or fewer clients. I do not want us to be in a place in a number of years time where we are talking about the disaster of not regulating these entities. We are talking about people's lives. We are talking about people in a very vulnerable situation. In some situations they may not have very strong family support or they may have no family support around them at all. Who are we trying to safeguard here? We are trying to safeguard the person being cared for in their home and indeed the worker as well. That is critically important. To be frank, some of the workers involved last year were thrown under a bus. They were scapegoated and blamed for what took place in the nursing homes when, arguably, management and the owners got off scot-free. I have serious concerns about the exemptions.  The other key concern is the classification or designation as a personal assistance service. There is a fine line between the two. I am worried that we would see organisations trying to classify themselves in that space and then being exempt from this legislation. At the end of the day we want to prevent abuse and exploitation of the person who is being cared for, and we also want to look after the worker who is providing that service.  On the market and the cost of regulation, I spoke about the larger for-profit organisations that are effectively buying up voluntary and community-based organisations at the moment. There must be provision for the administrative burden in the funding provided to these organisations, through the tendering process.  My last point relates to HIQA. In 2024, HIQA estimated that it would cost \u20ac1.1 million per annum to introduce licensing. In the first instance, we must get a commitment from the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, that the comprehensive costs of licensing will be covered by the Department. I am sure it is much more than \u20ac1.1 million now. I have had serious concerns about the HIQA inspection regime, in particular with regard to nursing homes. We articulated that last year. We accept there has been an increase in the number of inspections and that is to be welcomed, but as I articulated earlier, there are concerns about how HIQA is going to enforce the licensing and how it is going to inspect and access people's homes. Ultimately, if licensing is not going to be a superficial act of these Houses of the Oireachtas, and if it is to mean something, we need to have a clear sense of what the enforcement framework is going to look like. In regard to nursing home registration, HIQA had to go to the District Court to seek the cancellation of a licence. I believe we need to do something stronger here. HIQA needs to be invested with greater powers to cancel the licence of a provider if wrongdoing is found. A much clearer message must be sent to the public that much swifter and more comprehensive action will be taken by HIQA if there are concerns. Right now, there is a belief among the public that we do not have an enforcement regime that will speedily respond when there are concerns and that too much time is taken. The reality is that abuses may continue to take place in the time it takes to make an application to the District Court. We must take more immediate action.  We very much welcome this Bill. We want to see it move at a timely pace through this House and on to the Seanad. We need to see a substantial beefing up of the substance and content of the Bill for us to have the confidence that we will have a comprehensive and rigorous licensing, inspection and enforcement regime for home care support in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  There is no doubt that the Bill is needed and that the regulatory framework to which the Minister of State commits is needed. In fact, it is long overdue. I am happy to see the service providers in this area regulated. I am also happy to see HIQA applying standards and that there are safeguards for the users of the service. Likewise, the role of the chief inspector and the work to be undertaken by that office is necessary. I read through the Minister of State's statement and I found no fault with the intentions of the Bill, and the reasons it is needed.  However, the question I have for the Minister of State is whether he has costed the consequences of the implementation of this legislation because there is no doubt that all of what he is going to enforce through it is going to cost the service provider and, at the end of the day, it is the customer that will pay. As private and not-for-profit companies implement what is necessary under this Bill, they will incur huge costs. I have not seen any breakdown of the expected consequences of those costs for individual service providers. How is the Minister of State going to regulate for that? Are we going to have a situation like that of the nursing homes? They are price takers. They constantly complain that there is no profit in their sector because the Department is the entity that makes them price takers and that the Department has little or no consideration for the actual cost. If you do not acknowledge the actual cost, you risk the possibility of a lower standard being applied when the chief inspector or HIQA is not watching. That is my very serious concern.  The current situation is that the Government pays for up to 3.9 million hours of disability services. Over the period from 2020, this has increased substantially. There is also provision for 26.7 million hours of older people's services. I support care of the person in the home. I want to see more of it. However, for a hospital to promise families that the service providers will provide a certain level of care to older people being discharged to their homes only for that not to be delivered is a bad way to do business. Those in the hospitals should be truthful to the families concerned so that they know what they will be given rather than being promised a lot more. The Minister of State has to address that because it is not fair to families who opt to care for these people at home. It is not fair for them to be misled by the hospital as to what can be delivered.  I am not saying it is the hospitals' fault. The expectation is that the staff will be there. However, the reality is that staff are forced to make all sorts of efforts. They are forced to do five minutes here and then 15 minutes over there, which really makes little or no contribution to the person's state of care or to the family. They are pushed to the pin of their collar to fulfil the hours given to them by the service providers. Many of these are commercial entities as distinct from not-for-profit or community-based entities. I would like to see far more community-based providers so that people in local nursing homes would be getting care provided by people who are deeply interested in a standard, even without the legislation being in place. I am deeply concerned about the current situation. It is not right that people are not given the care their families are promised.  I will make reference to a matter I have raised here and was referred to earlier on in the debate, the taxation of carer's allowance. Today, Revenue informed my office that it would not be undertaking inspections that might identify where arrears have arisen. I accept that. With regard to value for money, I ask the Minister of State to look at the money we are currently spending on caring for people in their homes and tell me whether he believes we are getting value for that money. Does he believe those being cared for are getting value? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  Home support services are vital for our older people, people with disabilities and their families. They allow individuals to live independently in their communities and their homes and help to reduce pressure on hospitals and residential care settings. Despite ongoing investment, the home support system in Ireland is facing deepening challenges that require urgent policy attention and sustained resourcing. It is fair to say that the majority of us wish to keep our loved ones at home for as long as possible.  Today, 5,500 to 6,000 people remain on home care waiting lists in Ireland. Waiting times vary significantly by region. People in rural areas wait far longer than those in urban centres. In the Cork-Kerry region, some 1,300 people are on waiting lists due to staffing shortages. This represents nearly a quarter of the national total. The waiting list in Cork-Kerry is the longest. It is equivalent to 25% of the national waiting list. That has to be addressed.  I recently received a reply from the HSE regarding respite care. It said that, unfortunately, due to exceptionally high demand for respite services, the HSE was only able to allocate a maximum of two weeks' respite to clients requesting it. This is a new change. The service has been halved. Families usually got four weeks. My office is dealing with numerous cases in west Kerry, throughout the Iveragh Peninsula, in mid-Kerry, in east Kerry and in north Kerry. It is just adding to the pressures on families who wish to look after their loved ones in the home.  Persistent problems with recruitment and retention hinder service delivery. In some rural counties, recruitment has been extremely low. In large parts of Kerry, only a handful of carers have been hired for more than year. The average time to hire a home care worker can be long, which compounds delays in service provision. Workforce scarcity contributes directly to waiting lists and limits the number of home support hours available to clients. The Department of Health has criticised the HSE for rationing home care hours to stay within budget. This practice is seen as having negative impacts on individuals' health and on patient flows through the wider health system.  Although the provision of home support hours has increased compared with previous years, the system is still under strain and access can feel arbitrary without statutory entitlement. There is a lack of statutory home support rights. Ireland does not yet have a fully implemented statutory home support scheme, meaning there is no legal entitlement to home care comparable to the provisions of the fair deal scheme for residential care. This contributes to unequal access, a lack of transparency, variable standards, inconsistent waiting time data and a lack of formal quality benchmarks tailored to home care needs.  There are financial and administrative barriers for carers. Family carers are under significant strain. Many face long waits of more than four months for decisions on carer's allowance appeals, exacerbating financial stress. Current eligibility rules and means tests for carers' supports are seen by advocacy groups as outdated and not reflective of modern care realities. The 18.5 hour limit on carers' working hours has an impact on continuity of care and recruitment as some carers cannot work additional hours without losing support.  The Home Care Coalition, a group of more than 20 organisations, has called for increased investment and has highlighted that home support receives significantly less funding than long-term residential care despite rising demand. There is strong sectoral support for the implementation of a rights-based statutory homes support scheme; a dedicated workforce strategy; carer career pathways; better pay, training and retention supports for home care workers; and reform of financial supports for family carers. It is critical that the Government fully implement a statutory home care support scheme with guaranteed entitlements and national quality standards; invest significantly in workforce recruitment and retention, including pay, training and career pathways; address the rural-urban disparities in waiting lists and targeted regional strategies; reform carer's allowance and supports to reflect modern care demands and reduce administrative delays; and increase home support funding in future budgets to close the gap with residential care investment.  Home support is more than a service. It is a lifeline that enables dignity, independence and quality of life. Today's statistics show that Ireland's ageing population and rising demand make reform urgent. With the right investment and policy leadership, we can build a home support system that truly meets people's needs. I welcome the Bill and ask that the Minister of State look closely at County Kerry's situation. We need more home support and carers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The Bill is a step forward but it is a really small step forward. What we needed was a giant leap to really take this by the scruff of the neck. Five years ago, loads of promises were made and we were expecting to make further progress in relation to regulation and the provision of care. What we are seeing now is more privatisation when we need more community-based services. We need more resources and people. The reality is that without addressing affordability, the Bill means nothing. I am really concerned. I am contacted regularly by people who are stuck in hospital beds. They want to get out but there is no package, no care plan to get them from the hospital bed to their home where they want to be. Sometimes the package is granted but there is no package there. It is all well and good. Does the Minister of State know the guilt that families are feeling when they are told to take their loved ones home and they have no one at home to mind them? There is no care package to mind them. They are being put under pressure in the hospital because the hospital is crying out for beds. The person themselves, the mother, father or family member, wants to get home. Who is going to look after them? I know of people who have given up their jobs and got a shift. I know families that are lucky and are big enough that someone is staying there every day. The pressure it is putting on the families is just immense. We do not need privatisation. We need more HSE care assistants to provide services for these people.  There is a nursing home in my constituency, Heather House, Gurranabraher, on the old orthopaedic campus, the St. Mary's campus. There are 19 beds in a special dementia unit. In August the HSE said it was being snagged. On 16 October, I was told it was completed. On 22 November, I was told they were waiting on registration. Yesterday they were still waiting on this registration. With the number of people I am aware of in the north side of Cork, I could fill it. Not the HSE, I could fill that dementia unit today at Heather House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  Write to us on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I will. I could fill that today. I am dealing with one family. The back garden of their house backs onto the wall of the hospital and they cannot get into it. The man's family are looking out the door when they are caring for their father and there is a dementia unit right there, 200 or 300 yd from his house. Another lady has to stay miles away because there is a shortage of dementia units and beds where people can go. The staff tell her daughter that when she comes to visit, the improvement in her mam is visible and that they can all see it. She is miles away; half an hour or 45 minutes away. When you have a small family with just two people who have their own families trying to make that journey, we need to provide this care locally.  We want to take giant steps forward. We want to work with the Minister of State on home care supports and services. The healthcare assistants are going on strike, the HSE support services in Cork, the home care assistants. I want to send my support to and express my solidarity with them. I ask the Minister of State to do everything in his power to resolve the case because they are really needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  On behalf of the Social Democrats, I welcome this Bill to finally regulate home care services. The Social Democrats have long advocated for a statutory right to home care and this regulatory framework is an important element of that. As it stands, home care services remain unregulated, despite the vast majority of home care hours being funded by the HSE. While State-provided and State-funded home care is subject to HSE standards and policies, that is no replacement for statutory independent oversight. Unlike the nursing home sector, HIQA has no role in regulating services. For instance, it does not set standards, monitor compliance or register providers. This regulatory vacuum has prevailed for far too long despite the potential risk to service users. In reality, there is no barrier whatsoever to entering the home care sector. If a provider is not receiving State funding, there is no obligation for them to comply with HSE standards and policies. Given that millions of hours of home care are privately funded each year, that should be a cause for real concern. This Bill to regulate services is therefore long overdue, as is a statutory right to home care.  We can all accept that residential care is rarely anyone's first choice. Most older people prefer to stay in their homes and the State should support that. Remaining in the home can allow people to retain their independence. It is associated with better health outcomes and is much more cost-effective than residential care. More importantly, every person deserves a meaningful choice in how and where they live. Home care provides that choice. It provides the respect and dignity that we all aspire to towards our older years. The current model of long-term care in Ireland, with its over-reliance on nursing homes, denies too many people any real say in where they live.  In 2023, Sage Advocacy published a report on long-term care in Ireland from a human rights perspective. One of the key issues identified by Sage was the infringement of people's right to liberty. Why? It is because there are insufficient long-term care services in the community that would enable and support people to remain in their own homes. I would like to take a moment to commend Sage Advocacy on the incredible work it does in this space.  This is not just theoretical. The lack of home care services in some parts of the country means that nursing home residents are not prioritised for home care. That further compromises their liberty, as they have to remain in a nursing home setting against their wishes. Sage found that many of these residents would require relatively little assistance to live in their communities but the support simply is not there. The easiest option, and often the only one seriously pursued, is therefore for them to remain in a nursing home. Without the necessary services in the community, nursing home care is presented as a fait accompli .  When it comes to waiting lists, at any one time thousands of people are on a home care waiting list. They have been assessed and approved for home care but no carer is available. At the end of September, 5,392 people were waiting for home care, up from 4,805 at the beginning of 2025. In the waiting lists there are significant regional disparities, with particular black spots, as we have heard, in Donegal, Mayo and rural parts of Cork. The worst performing integrated healthcare area, IHA, is Cork South Lee. It consistently has the highest waiting list in the country and accounts for over 40% of the entire south-west region home care waiting list. Although this is not captured in the data provided to TDs by the HSE, we know that some older people are waiting over a year for home care services.  With this level of unmet need, it is particularly galling that there is no action plan to tackle home care waiting lists. It is all well and good to pontificate about the importance of home care and moving away from the State's over-reliance on residential care but what is this Government actually doing to make that a reality? Demand is not going to taper off, it is only going to rise. A 2025 ESRI report found that between 2022 and 2040, annual home care hours would need to increase from 28.7 million to between 44.9 million and 54.9 million.  At the higher-pressure end of that projection, that is a 91% increase.  I acknowledge that the number of hours provided by the HSE in 2025 exceeded expected activity by 1.46 million hours but that has not had a substantial impact on waiting lists. The target of 24 million home care hours for 2025 was too low to begin with. The 2026 target also lacks ambition at 26.7 million hours. We also know from ESRI estimates that over 7.6 million home support hours were privately purchased in 2022, accounting for 26% of all home support hours provided that year.  Clearly, there is a huge level of unmet need in this country. In the absence of a statutory entitlement, large numbers of people will continue to pay out of pocket for expensive private home care. From my observations of constituents who have come to me with these issues, it is often at the end of a conversation, when we are talking about the other pressures in their lives, that they also mention they cannot get the care they need for their father, for example, who is at home and needs support. It is when they come to me with other issues. There is also a massive amount of unseen pressure that is simply not reported by people.  A statutory right to home care, despite this Government's stated commitment to introducing a statutory home care scheme, remains undelivered. Delivery of this key Sl\u00e1intecare reform has been allowed to drift for almost a decade. In 2017, the current T\u00e1naiste and then Minister for Health, Simon Harris, committed to a statutory right to home care. That very same year, the current Minister for foreign affairs and then Minister of State for older people, Helen McEntee, said the statutory scheme and necessary regulations would be delivered in two to three years. In 2019, the Secretary General said that a statutory entitlement was an absolute priority for the Department of Health and was going to be introduced shortly. In 2020, when the statutory scheme was originally earmarked for delivery, the new Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, committed to delivering it by 2022. In the years since, the statutory scheme has largely been sidelined. As of last September, the Department was still researching different funding models more than five years after it was supposed to be delivered.  The Minister of State may deny it but it is quite clear that the statutory scheme is not a priority. In the latter part of the previous Minister for Health's tenure, he stopped talking about the statutory scheme almost entirely. Any requests for updates were met with stock responses about the importance of progressing regulation. The new Minister has continued to stick to that narrative. I accept that progressing regulation is important but if it was so important to the current Minister and her predecessor, why are we only taking Second Stage of the Bill now in 2026? While regulation is an important step on the road to a statutory scheme, it is a far cry from delivering the radically different model of long-term care that is so desperately needed, which was promised after Covid. The reality is we still only have a statutory scheme for nursing home care and not home care, which is discretionary. In 2026, the system still incentivises residential care, despite the clear preference of many to be cared for at home. Why is this disparity still not addressed? I sincerely hope that the delivering of a statutory right to home care has not been put on pause until the work of the commission on care concludes. That is not to say the work of that commission is not important but we do not need another report to tell us that a statutory scheme is required. We just need a Minister and Government willing to deliver it.  On the commission on care, I will make a couple of broader points about our elder care model, which I hope will be addressed by that commission. One of my primary concerns with the current model is the financialisation of services. Increasingly, care is being viewed as a commodity. We see this most aggressively in the nursing home sector, where 80% of beds are privately run. Increasingly, the nursing home sector is being financed by international investors. All the while, smaller community-based nursing homes, which should be supported, are on the verge of extinction. We also see this worrying commodification of services in home care, with just 36% of home care provided directly by the HSE in 2024. This move towards increasingly contracting out public services is often thought to result in efficiencies but the argument does not hold up. This is because most of those supposed efficiencies have costs, as we just heard from one of the Minister of State's colleagues. Those costs tend to be borne by workers, patients and service users.  The commission on care should articulate a new vision for elder care, one where the State leads in the provision of publicly-funded integrated care delivered primarily in the community. All of this, of course, is the vision of Sl\u00e1intecare. This new model should have a deliberate bias towards the home in sharp contrast to the current elder care model. Groups such as Sage Advocacy and ALONE have consistently advocated for alternative care options. Unfortunately, a major deficit in delivery has prevented the realisation of such ageing-at-home policies. I note that the EU care strategy - there was a national action plan for 2023-24 to respond to that strategy - looks at that visionary, end-to-end system of care, where we recognise that across the course of all of our lives, we all receive, and many of us give, care. That is where we need to be at. That is about radical reform, not this piecemeal progress.  Returning to the Bill before us, I once again reiterate the Social Democrats' support. It is welcome that the Minister has taken on board concerns related to paediatric home care packages, which my colleague, Deputy Rice, and others raised with her last year. Children were omitted from the draft scheme but the Ombudsman for Children, HIQA and the previous Oireachtas health committee all recommended their inclusion. According to the ombudsman, over 650 children with complex needs are in receipt of paediatric home care packages. Providers of these services should be subjected to the same level of scrutiny as adult home care providers. I welcome that these providers are now captured in the Bill. I do, however, have concerns about other provisions, for example, the exemption from regulation, as we heard, of service providers with three or less clients. The pre-legislative scrutiny report recommended that all State-funded services should be covered by this legislation and the associated regulations but this was not accepted. This exemption presents potential risks for clients in terms of standards of care and protections. Equally, there are very real risks for workers in terms of exploitation and bogus self-employment. In particular, I have concerns about migrant workers who might be more vulnerable to exploitation when it comes to pay and conditions. I do not accept the Department's response that this exemption is needed to ensure the legislation is proportionate.  I will raise a couple of points on the subject of workers. The biggest challenge facing the home care sector is the recruitment and retention of staff. In response to this looming crisis, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, established the strategic workforce advisory group in March 2022. Six months later, that group published a report with 16 recommendations. For a while, there seemed to be momentum behind this group but that has stalled completely. The implementation group has not met or published a quarterly progress report since July 2024. Implementation just stopped without explanation, even though only three of the 16 recommendations had been implemented when the most recent progress report was published. A further three recommendations were paused due to the HSE recruitment freeze that was in place at the time. What of the other ten? At the end of last year, my colleague, Deputy Rice, was told that an updated strategic workforce advisory group report would be published following a survey of home care workers and healthcare assistants. You would have to wonder why this is only happening now. Where is the sense of urgency?  While it is regrettable that implementation has been put on ice once again, I hope two issues in particular are finally addressed this time. The first is a real living wage for workers and not this Government's version of the living wage, which of course is not a living wage at all. The real living wage currently stands at \u20ac15.40 per hour. Anything less would show a complete disregard for these vital workers. This must also be accompanied by a commitment to maintaining parity with a real living wage going forward. Another pressing issue that must be addressed is the payment of mileage rather than travel time because that is a real problem for those workers, particularly in rural areas.  Ultimately, this Bill is a step in the right direction, albeit a small one, which should have been taken years ago. Clearly, the provision of person-centred care is just not a priority for this Government. If it were a priority, there would not be this piecemeal approach to reform. Frankly, it is unforgiveable that almost six years on from the first Covid lockdown, we have made virtually no progress on developing a new model of care for older people. Reports have been published, evaluations are ongoing and a commission is under way but what has actually changed for people in receipt of this care? It is very little, more importantly, for those who are not in receipt of this care. The whole system of elder care is still weighted towards residential care, with the wishes of older people still seen as little more than an afterthought. Rights-based care will continue to be purely notional in this country without more radical reform. This Bill may be welcome but it represents the bare minimum intervention.  I spoke with my daughter this morning; we had breakfast together after our Pilates class. She worked in the home care sector right after she left school a number of years ago during Covid.  She loved the work. She loved being with people, providing them with care and providing them with the dignity and respect they need. She worked for a private home care provider under HSE funding. I started to tell her about this Bill and what is being done. She was passionate about it and wanted to share with me her experience, which I said I would share on the floor of the D\u00e1il today. She said that as a worker in that space, the pressure you are put under to commodify care and simply move in half-hour slots between one service user and another and to try to provide them with dignity in that time was virtually impossible.  When we talk about privatisation of care I am not saying there are not good people in those places who are trying to provide care. Quite the opposite, people get into that work because they want to do this. They want to provide care for people and provide them with dignity and respect in their most vulnerable time of need. Many of those business owners are trying to do exactly that. Ultimately, care cannot be commodified.  In the AI space, we hear about this massive labour displacement that is coming. Do you know what you cannot automate? Care. We need to invest in it as a State and respect the work of care that has been largely undervalued by our society across the globe, mostly because it is done by women. That goes for paid and unpaid care. We need to start thinking about it differently, looking at it differently and start valuing it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the home support providers Bill. It is long overdue, as my colleague Deputy Gibney said, that there is a statutory scheme for the registration and inspection of home support providers. Regulation and oversight are essential, particularly where care is delivered behind closed doors in people's private homes and to people in vulnerable circumstances. This Bill establishes a process for registration and inspection but it is largely silent on the principles, standards and obligations that should underpin the delivery of professional care in a person's home. That silence is not a technical oversight. It is a substantive gap, and it needs to be addressed. The Bill does not set out the scope of home care, the professional duties owed to care recipients, or the safeguards required when care is delivered to people who may lack decision-making capacity. This omission is particularly striking, given the extensive work already done in this area.  As far back as 2011, the Law Reform Commission in its report on the legal aspects of professional home care identified key principles that should inform any legislative framework. These include independent living, privacy and dignity, quality of care and the protection of adults receiving professional home care. These principles are not adequately contained in this Bill. Section 21 of the Bill allows for regulations concerning needs assessments, the care, welfare and well-being of service users and the preparation of support plans. This is positive but regulations alone are not enough. There must be a clear statutory requirement that home care is delivered through a rights-based approach, one that not only considers needs but the outcomes desired by the person receiving care.  The Bill is also silent on contracts for care. There is no legislative requirement for a written agreement that protects autonomy and independence and safeguards against financial abuse. This is despite the fact that contracts for care in nursing homes are already subject to oversight under consumer protection legislation. There is no justification for a lower standard simply because care is delivered in the home.  Safeguarding is another critical gap. Many recipients of home support lack decision-making capacity and may have no family or informal supports. Questions therefore arise such as who signs the contract, who receives information and who can raise concerns? These are safeguarding issues, yet the Bill does not address them.  The Law Reform Commission's recent work on adult safeguarding informed by national safeguarding standards provides a clear framework that should be reflected in this legislation. While the Bill provides for complaints procedures, complaints are only one part of safeguarding. There must also be statutory provision for the recognition and reporting of safeguarding concerns, appropriate information sharing, the appointment of safeguarding officers and the mandatory training of staff on human rights and respect for will and preferences.  Crucially, the Bill makes no provision for access to independent advocacy. We already recognise the necessity of independent advocacy in nursing homes and disability services. The Department of Health's own safeguarding policy confirms its importance. There is no credible reason why people receiving care in their homes should have fewer protections.  The Bill lacks guiding principles. The Law Reform Commission has been clear that principles matter because they shape how statutory powers are exercised. Accountability in particular must be explicit for providers and individuals within organisations, for their actions and interventions. This is especially important where care is provided to people in vulnerable circumstances out of public view.  Registration and inspection are necessary and welcome but they are not sufficient. The legislation must be strengthened to include guiding principles, enforceable standards, safeguarding obligations, access to independent advocacy and accountability mechanisms. If we fail to do so, we risk regulating the process of home care without really protecting the people who rely on it. This would be a serious missed opportunity and one we should not allow pass. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I am delighted to get the opportunity to speak on the home support providers Bill. The Government is committed to supporting people to stay in their homes as long as possible. It is something I feel passionately about, and the Government feels passionately about. The State currently invests heavily in the provision of home support through the HSE. Home support is provided by the HSE and then indirectly through national contractual arrangements with private home support providers and not-for-profit organisations. Huge funding has gone into this area over the past number of years but there is still a huge amount of work to be done. As our population ages and more individuals prefer to stay in their homes for as long as possible, the demand for quality home care increases. However, with this demand come significant challenges we must address.  First and foremost, funding and resources are major concerns. Many home care providers struggle to secure adequate funding to meet the needs of their clients. Current Government supports often fall short, leaving both care workers and recipients in precarious situations. Many families are forced to pick up the financial burden, which can lead to stress and anxiety.  For me, the biggest challenge is the workforce shortage. Recruiting and retaining qualified home care givers is becoming increasingly difficult. In my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, the HSE is at full capacity in terms of what it can do on the home care side of things. It outsources to different providers but still every single week I have somebody in touch with me who has challenges. They have the hours approved and are delighted to have them approved but the workforce is not there to meet the demand. In rural Ireland in particular, this is a huge issue. I spoke with a woman recently. I will not give her exact details but she is almost 100 years of age. She was in hospital before Christmas but is back out. She has been approved for three visits per day, one hour each, for 21 visits over the course of a week. They cannot get anybody to service it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  I will work on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I will speak to the Minister of State specifically about it offline. It is these sorts of incidences. It is approved. The will is there but the specific person is not there. I appreciate that the Minister of State, Deputy O\u2019Donnell, will take that on for me because I have another case as well of a lady in her early 40s who due to her medical condition is unfortunately wheelchair bound. When this lady left hospital they could not get anyone to cover the hours, so she ended up going into the local nursing home. She was in the nursing for six weeks all the while her hours were approved. Huge work was done by the HSE and the providers but they simply were not there. Something might need to be done on the education side of things such as making sure there is more access to home care packages qualifications but it is a huge issue in rural Ireland.  I am from a place called Skeaghvasteen in County Kilkenny. There might be somebody in Kilkenny city but to drive from Kilkenny city to Skeaghvasteen for a half hour or an hour will not pay them in terms of paying for diesel. It is a huge issue, and it needs to be addressed. The lack of standardisation across services can also be problematic. If you have different agencies providing home care, there is inconsistency in training and quality of service but I think this Bill will really help. I really welcome this element of the Bill where you get that consistency. If we could join it up with some sort of ETB or education training course - a level 5 or level 6 course - that would be really helpful.  We also have to consider the emotional and psychological challenges for families and care givers alike with the stress, pressure and anxiety these families are under. By the time they come to me they are on their knees. They are nearly begging. These people are going to the wall themselves but they need that bit of hope and support. The right to be in your own home is huge. That is really important.  Addressing the challenges in home care and home help packages is not just about improving services but it is about enhancing quality of life for our elderly and for our vulnerable populations.  Together we can work towards a future where everyone has access to compassionate and reliable home care. I trust in the Minister of State that when this Bill is brought through, it will make a difference to families right across the county, but in particular in my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny and my constituents who I represent on a daily basis. I appreciate him taking a couple of individual cases on board.  I am going to finish up now because myself and Deputy O'Meara have a Pilates class at 6.30 p.m. and we need to get to it. We are meeting the Social Democrats afterwards. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I am more interested in the food after the Pilates class. I welcome and support the Bill, which provides a registration framework for home support providers while making it an offence to operate a home support service without registration and incorporating transitional arrangements for existing home support providers.  Home support providers will be required to adhere to a registration framework supported by national quality standards developed by HIQA and meet minimum requirements set out under ministerial regulations. The Bill will safeguard service users and raise the quality and consistency of care nationally.  It is on the consistency of care nationally that I want to focus some of my contribution I acknowledge that the Minister of State and I represent constituencies in the same HSE region, which is HSE mid-west, and I also want to acknowledge his work and passion in this area. I particularly want to acknowledge his recent visit to the Newport day care centre and the work he is doing there. Among other issues we are working on in the constituency, I want to recognise that.  I also want to recognise and discuss the major challenges we are facing in north Tipperary in relation to home help hours. As many other speakers I am sure will say in the debate and have experienced, it is not really an issue getting hours allocated for someone who needs them, particularly an elderly person in their home, but there is a major challenge in getting those hours filled.  I have two examples I would like to share without giving personal details. These are two really challenging cases. We have lots of cases out there of people who need the help at home, but these are two cases that I find hard to understand how these individuals are still in their homes while their care hours have been pulled because private providers are no longer able to meet their contractual obligations.  One individual had two carers coming in twice a day, but consistent care ceased in October. I am told that sometimes they receive a reduced schedule or none at all. They no longer receive a schedule in advance, which is highly unsuitable for a family trying to cover the level of care for this individual. This person has motor neurone disease. The person has no mobility and requires the use of hoists to get in and out of chairs and beds. It came as a massive blow to the family to find out that the hours were being cut because the contracted provider could no longer fulfil its contractual obligations. I do not know how a family with the added stress and worry of a family member who needs to be cared for at home can function when people are trying to go to work or to school and having to fit this in around schedules. This person can be cared for best at home with their family in a loving environment, but the family is really struggling now.  Another case I have relates to an individual who was getting three calls a day, with one hour for each call, seven days a week. There were three different individuals calling to the home. The family recognised the level of care was exceptional and the individual getting the level of care relied on it, but really appreciated it, needed it and never had a complaint about it.  Of the three people who called, one went on maternity leave and another left the job to go into another one, which resulted in the contract being pulled. I have been over and back with the HSE on both of these cases. I will send them on to the Minister of State straight after this debate and thank him for that. To be fair to HSE, it has been very good to come back to me during my engagements with it, but the responses have not solved the problems for us. That is the reason I am highlighting both cases. They are high-dependency cases. These are two individuals who can stay in their own homes, but only if care is provided.  That brings me to my overall point and one that others have made, which is that the contracted hours to private providers clearly are not working in my part of the country and I imagine they are not working in many parts of the country. There is a battle with the HSE to get those hours filled. It can only do so much when it does not have all of the staff to cover the hours that are being allocated to people. It is creating enormous uncertainty, worry, anxiety and massive pressure on the person relying on the care but also the family members who are then trying to step in and cover the care when they simply cannot do it.  For those carers who are caring for a loved one at home, that hour in the day or couple of hours in the week could be their only respite. It might be the only break they get to get out the house for an hour or even half an hour and do something for themselves. In the cases where the contracts are being handed back, that is being pulled from them. It is just being taken from them. It is the one respite they can get.  While I am on carers and family carers, I want to acknowledge the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and the issue he raised last week relating to the Revenue during Questions on Promised Legislation. I understand the good news he got today in relation to back taxes that were being claimed. I acknowledge that the Leas-Cheann Comhairle did an extremely important piece of work.  Carer's allowance should not be taxed. The amount that carers save this State by caring for loved ones at home - in their own home or the loved one's home - is absolutely astronomical. The level of personal care they get and the love they get from the loved one who cares for them should not go unrecognised in the sense that the allowance is being taxed like an income. The carer does not do that work for an income. They do it out of personal care, love and affection for their family member and should not face a tax bill. If that carer did not do that work, how much would it cost the State to have their loved one in a healthcare setting or in a hospital bed when we need those beds, particularly in the mid-west?  I acknowledge the challenges that are there for homecare providers in terms of the level of staffing that is there and the challenges placed on loved ones and family members when that care is pulled, but also the stress that is being put on carers by being taxed. That is something we really have to look at in the context of a budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  I welcome the Government bringing forward legislation to regulate the private home care sector. What is disappointing is that after five years, all the Government has to show for itself is this Bill regulating the sector. What was promised what a statutory home care scheme, which would be a better and improved version of the nursing home support scheme.  Sinn F\u00e9in believes that people deserve to live in their homes as long as they can. The Bill falls well short of what is needed. It addresses nothing about access or affordability and more deeply entrenches the privatisation of care. Crucially, it fails to recognise the difference between funding for basic assistance and high-need care with few exceptions. We often talk about the need for issues to be addressed more wholly or holistically. The Government needs to place a greater priority on supporting people to age in place through home support and adoption grants to ensure healthy age-friendly homes.  Long-term residential care needs to be available for those who need or want it but it should not be the default. We should seek to reduce our reliance on nursing homes and re-orientate care to support this. I recently saw an age-friendly home development down the country and it looked like an incredible development. I also commend the work of the team in Monaghan County Council on its age friendly programme, but a greater priority needs to be placed on this issue and more resources directed there.  Part of why this Bill is disappointing is not only does it not appear that it is simply one part of a whole strategy in terms of care and housing for people as they age, it does not even appear to be the level of substance needed to address this one area - home care within the home. Facilitating people to age in place reduces pressures on our hospitals. It facilitates people to continue to live in their own communities. I say \"facilitates\" rather than \"allows\" because unless it is necessary, people should be entitled to age within their homes or facilitated through appropriate accommodations to age within their own communities as much as is possible.  In only the past day, the media have highlighted what has been described as a growing crisis in the number of older people becoming homeless.  The Simon Communities have highlighted that hundreds of people over 65 are living in emergency accommodation. Ireland's ageing population necessitates a whole-of-government response, in terms housing, our funding models and care. That is the Minister of State's specific remit. What I ask him take away from this is that the Government is not doing enough and certainly not at pace. For all the announcements, statements of strategy, implementation plans, action plans or whole-of-government announcements, it often seems that we actually get very little done and that something needs to change radically. What is needed now is for access and affordability to be addressed and the Minister of State to outline how the Government intends to address the difference in funding based on need. I would really appreciate if he could do this in his reply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The debate around this is very important. I generally welcome the Bill, which is important. Safeguards for users and providers are important. That it covers the care of both the elderly and those with disabilities is the crux of this. However, there are issues around provision and standards that we need to keep an eye on as well as the availability of home help hours and home care hours. We have censuses and we have them for a reason. They allow the State to plan for what is coming down the tracks. Everyone knows that we have an increasing age profile in our population. By 2030, we will have over a million people over the age of 66. County Laois is estimated to have between 13,000 and 14,000 people over that age. According to the 2022 census, 11,978 people were over that age. That is four years ago. We know that the population overall of the county has increased and certainly the population of the elderly in the county has increased. Rural isolation is a problem in Laois and we have big rural areas across the Slieve Bloom Mountains and Slievemargy to the east and west and to the south of the county down to Ballaghmore and places like that, back across to Erril. Loneliness and isolation are damaging both mental health and physical health. I have dealt with a number of cases where there is a shortage of home care hours. People are what is called waitlisted and they will get word that they are entitled to hours and the HSE is granting hours but it is not in a position to provide them. I have to say this to the Minister of State because his party has been in power for 15 years. The emphasis has been on private nursing home care but, in general, people want to be at home. Nursing homes should be last resort and only if they really want that and if the level of care required requires them to be in a residence. Private nursing homes have been the number one Government option and they have mushroomed. We have seen the scandals in County Laois, in The Residence for example, not too far from my own house. We have seen the Drumneen situation and that is an unfolding story. We have seen difficulties in Kilminchy Lodge. Some private nursing homes have been good and Ballard Lodge was one but, unfortunately, it has been closed due to HIQA. This was one that had good reports and good satisfaction from residents and families was being reported.  We need to enable people to continue to live independently and to do that there are a few basic requirements. Homes being adapted to meet people's needs is obviously important. I want to pay tribute to the housing section of Laois County Council. In my experience, any money that is granted is matched by the council in terms of alterations for stair lifts and extensions and making a house wheelchair accessible. That is really important. The provision of day care centres is important. It is important that people go somewhere one or two days a week to have a meal with other people and meet their contemporaries and have a social event, etc. The meals on wheels service is really important. That is the other part of it but the most important element is the home helps. They are the four legs of the stool and if one is taken away it will keel over. That is the best way of saying it. We also recognise the right of the people to have a level of care in their own home and to continue living there. All of these provisions are far less expensive than nursing homes or acute hospitals and the preferred option of the majority. I want to highlight that I deal with cases where people are being discharged from hospital, but the home care package is not in place. I have had to intervene and I recall one case where an elderly woman was being sent home on a Friday evening and there was absolutely nothing where she was going home to. The ambulance was on its way with her and was subsequently turned around and brought back. She would not have survived over the weekend without the appropriate care. She did not have what she needed in her own home at that stage. There needs to be proper joined-up thinking between the hospitals and the home care services and that needs to be sorted out. We need to be sure that we have the home care package that the person needs when he or she goes home.  I also want to address the issue of the stopwatch approach where 15 minutes is given for this and 15 minutes for that and the person has half an hour. We have home helps racing around in rural areas. Laois is a sizeable rural county and I have outlined some of the extensive rural areas in the county. If people are racing from one place to another, they are not able to provide adequate care. There is not time to carry out the tasks. There needs to be flexibility to allow the home care workers, as they are now being called, to provide that level of care. Very little can be done in half an hour. We all know that sometimes in our office we can get very little done in half an hour. It could take an hour or an hour and a half to deal with one issue. The same applies for a home help going to look after an elderly person. We need to be mindful of that.  Another issue I want to address is the quality of the employment. There is a labour shortage in the sector, but we still have a lot of people who are not employed or under-employed. I find it very frustrating that some of them are not trained to provide the level of care. I know from my time on the Committee of Public Accounts that HSE employees are cheaper in the long run and in the short run than staff provided by private companies. Private companies providing care and they are doing a good job but less than 40% of care now being provided directly by the HSE and that needs to be looked at and that needs to change. Those directly employed by the HSE have better terms and conditions and we need to make sure that they are upheld. The quality of jobs in the sector is really important. It is important that all people have a proper living wage whether they are employed by the private sector or public sector.  Travel times and travel costs in rural areas need to be looked after because a home care worker might be visiting seven or eight people in a day. It is also important that we have trained and vetted staff, because the safety and well-being of the service user has to be paramount. There is a need for clarity regarding how home care will be funded. There is a Bill coming and we need to make sure that this can be paid for and that the people who need it, regardless of whether they can pay for it, should not be prevented from getting home care.  On the Bill itself, the overall provisions relate to registration, which is a positive move for the HSE, voluntary and private providers and a chief inspector of social services. In England the social services departments are very local. They are based in the local council areas, which is very interesting. They organise home helps and home care and they have huge powers. We do not have that here. The State will have to examiner whether the big HSE model is the best one for doing it. Does that need to be separated out? I do not know. I do not want to create another quango. I am not going to tell the Minister of State to do that. I am all for reducing. A lot of these bodies are needed and I am not going to get into the populist argument about doing away with quangos.  However, the question of who provides this needs to be examined. The regulation of providers and the minimum requirements and standards are really important. The Bill has provisions for the inspections of businesses and homes, including private homes. That needs to be very sensitively handled, as do the interviews with service users and home helps plus the families. That could get into a really tricky area. Without running away with ourselves, I think we can see that would need to be handled in a very careful way because you could get bogged down very easily in that, but, obviously, it is important that there are interviews with the service users.  I urge caution on the exemption for the providers with four or less clients. I will not come down on it completely----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  Three or less. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  -----but it is an area that may need to be looked at. I know what the Government is trying to do. It does not have to do away with the informal pieces that are there. I think Deputy Charles Ward is okay with my taking another minute or two. As regards the informal care and what the Government is trying to cater for there, I do not want to kill that off altogether, but it may need to be examined. I am not totally sure about that. It makes sense to have informal arrangements.  Overall, I welcome the Bill. The Minister of State has heard what I said about the labour shortage. That is directly related to the quality of the jobs. The HSE is the cheapest way. That has been proven. If the Minister of State looks at the figures, he will see it. The last I saw, I think the private providers were \u20ac34 an hour or thereabouts. That is two years ago now. What is important here is that we increase the number of people in this. Surely within that 5% who are unemployed at the moment we can find some people who can be trained up to provide care in their local communities. We need to be able to keep this local. A few people driving across the county, from Ballylinan over to Camross or somewhere like that, will not work. We need to be able to keep it within local areas. It does not work otherwise for the home helps. I hope the Minister of State will look at that area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to speak on the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025. It is long awaited. Initially, it was due before the House five years ago. Repeated delays in its publication have had a detrimental effect on carers and the people who require home care support. This Bill means that home support in Ireland will be independently regulated for the first time. It shows a troubling disregard for home support providers and users in this country. It is all about regulation. I look at it from my unique point of view as somebody who has worked in this sector and been a victim of a lack of regulation with regard to defective concrete. The two go hand in hand. To me, looking at this, the sectors are completely unregulated. This is going on in 2026 and it needs to be looked at seriously.  There are currently no regulations that home care providers have to adhere to in areas such as staff training and infection control, which is vital when we are dealing with people with sickness in certain elements. There are no consistent minimum standards of care that apply to home care providers universally and there are no independent oversight provisions for home care services, which is vital. Due to absence of regulation, there is a huge disparity between the level and quality of care geographically. If you are dealing with somebody in Malin Head who has to go to certain parts of Malin or into certain parts of Buncrana, they are on the road and they are on the clock, basically. In Donegal, for example, there are severe shortages of home carers for quality services. It varies massively due to enormous pressures put on home care workers. It is about that time element again whereby you are going in to look after and care for somebody and you are getting them ready for bed but you are also conscious that there is somebody else waiting for you and that the clock is ticking and the time is running down. According to the HSE, there are nearly 3,000 people receiving home support in Donegal and over 350 people waiting to avail of that support.  Speaking of such cases, I will not mention names, but during a phone call today a cousin of mine who is in Letterkenny general hospital told me about a 93-year-old lady in the hospital who wants to go home. She is ready to go home. She has been in there for nearly a fortnight but they cannot get the home packages in place. They are close. I would be grateful for anything the Minister of State could do to intervene in this. I will get back to him on that.  Any further delays could push the implementation of this out to 2030, which would be another unacceptable delay. As we have heard throughout the House, we have a population that is ageing and we need to evolve with that. We need to ensure that the sector is regulated and that quality and consistency of care is raised nationally in order that we have a standard that is the pride of Europe. It is all about the standard and the pride in your work. That needs to be really looked at, especially when it comes to home care. The impression you make on that person determines their day. It is very hard to encourage people to come into this sector because it is demanding and you are on the road for 12 hours a day. You leave your house at 7 o'clock in the morning and sometimes it is 9 o'clock at night before you get home, when you have put the last of your clients to bed. Steps need to be taken to encourage home care providers to continue this service. More people need to be working in this sector.  There are definitely ways around this. When I was training, the HSE would come in to try to recruit, but it was not flexible. I was willing to do that type of work but the issue for people like me was that we were needed on full-time contracts. A full-time contract would not have suited me because I was providing care for my four children, but I had time during the day - four hours, perhaps - when I could have provided care in the community. I definitely would have done so if flexibility had been provided for. That flexibility leaves open the possibility that when your children grow up, you could go into it full-time. If that were sorted out, it could be a real game changer because a lot of parents would be willing to go into this area and, if they were paid properly, would make it their career. We need to look at that in the long run.  In 2016 the Government made a commitment to introduce a statutory right to home care through a statutory home care support scheme. A decade later, this has still not been implemented. We need to make sure it is done. The fair deal scheme provides statutory rights to residential care, but no equivalent scheme currently exists when it comes to home care. We need to look at that because, as has been said, we have an ageing population. In Donegal, for example, we have a heavy reliance - when they are operating - on our hospitals in Lifford, Dungloe and so on. We need to make sure we have sufficient beds in place. There will be people who need care, but the majority of people can be provided with care at home and they will stay in their home for as long as possible before they have to go into some form of care. I recognise that.  There is a way out of this if we get the staffing levels right and look at the model. The HSE model is a good example, but the flexibility would be a game changer. It is a matter of allowing parents to come on board properly trained. That is a very important aspect of this. If you are training somebody to do this properly, it takes two years to go in, do your modules, come out of it with a good standard and then do your work experience. Then you go out into the community and you are doing that with a family. It is challenging and hard but it can be done. I look at the private model and I believe we are missing a trick here. The private providers charge a certain amount of money. If we were to pay people the right wage, we would attract numbers that would actually solve this issue. Going forward, we need to look at that. If the Minister of State looks at the model in place now, which does not have that flexibility, he will understand that by allowing somebody to come in at certain times of the day, tied not to a full-time contract but to some kind of contract that means they will give part-time hours, they will be able to fill a gap and help to meet staffing levels, and in the long run they will be attracted to come into this sector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  I thank the carers and the home helps who come into our homes and take such good care of our mothers, fathers and loved ones.  Without them, quite frankly, I am not sure if I or my family could function properly day to day. That is my first thought on this Bill.  Overall, the Bill is very positive. It is timely that the sector is regulated. I still see some gaps, however. First and foremost - I have heard my colleague speak about this - the time stops and gaps of half an hour, three quarters of an hour or an hour two or three times a day need to be looked at further and addressed. In rural areas, constituent after constituent comes to me to tell me that their mum or dad has been approved for a home care package, which is in place, yet they cannot find the staff. It seems that once the street lights finish, people do not want to travel further and further into the rural areas. One of the reasons for that could be the fact that many of these agencies are not paying mileage to their staff. As a result, it is a far more efficient use of their time to do three or four calls in Drogheda or Dundalk rather than spending 20 or 25 minutes travelling to Togher or Tallanstown to do one call for half an hour, only to come back into town to do the rest of the calls. That is an issue the length and breadth of the country, not just in County Louth.  I wish to speak about the most important gap in the Bill. I am grateful that we have somebody who may call for half an hour two or three times a day but with the passage of time, some of our loved ones will need more care. We know that people thrive in their homes and are healthier for longer when they are able to stay in their homes, but the unfortunate reality is that the cost of getting somebody to stay in the home with their loved one and provide that care is way beyond the means of the vast majority of people. We have the fair deal scheme, which is very effective, but now we are seeing that people who do not necessarily have to go into a nursing home at a particular stage are now seeking to apply for the fair deal scheme and go into a nursing home because the alternative is not there. Two or three calls a day are no longer sufficient. The family cannot make up those gaps. Therefore, the alternative is to seek a place in the nursing home. I am looking for a statutory footing on which we would adopt a fair deal scheme to allow people to stay in their homes. It might seem complicated, but at the same time, I do not think it needs to be overly complicated. This is a scheme where I believe an entity like Revenue could be brought in. At the same time, we provide a value of the asset, which is the home, which evaluates the care, and we pay the nursing homes. If we come in and have an agency taking care of our parents or loved ones, we are invoicing them and we can upload it to Revenue, surely there is some way to make a scheme that is simple and effective for families so they are provided with care in their homes and can stay in their homes, hopefully to their very last breath? They would not go into nursing homes until the very last second.  There is a practical side to this too, because in County Louth the nursing homes are full. The waiting lists are long. If people ring a nursing home today to look for a place for a loved one, the home will ask if they have started looking in County Meath or County Dublin because the waiting lists in some cases are closed. We are not addressing that issue because the demand is so strong. I believe we are handing over our care to too many private companies. We have to look at the community model once again. The issue, in essence, stems from the fact that if we give people the option to be able to stay in their home and use their asset to provide for the care in their home, we alleviate the pressure on the nursing homes and we guarantee the best type of care to people in our society. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  Like previous speakers, I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025, which represents a significant and long-awaited step in reforming how home support services are regulated in this State. I want to quickly touch on my hope and expectation that this legislation becomes a real enabler of access to home supports across our country, particularly in regions like the west, where the need is acute. In the west, we are crying out for home care supports. I have many constituents, especially older people, people with disabilities and their families, who have been assessed as needing home support and are still waiting for months on a list. There are people who want to remain in their own homes and are trying to avoid hospital admission or premature placement in residential care, yet the supports they need simply sometimes are not there.  This Bill matters because it begins to put structure, consistency and oversight into a system that has grown rapidly but unevenly by regulating providers, setting national standards and bringing transparency to who is delivering services. We finally have a foundation on which access can be expanded fairly and sustainably. For too long, access to home supports has been dependent on geography. In some parts of the country, services are available. In others, including large parts of the west, providers struggle to recruit, services are fragmented, and families are left waiting. Regulation alone is not a fix, but it is a necessary first step if we are serious about building capacity, supporting providers to operate safely and ensuring that services can be delivered consistently across our regions.  My hope is that this Bill will not be an end to reform but, rather, the beginning. I hope it will support the development of a stronger home support sector, encourage provider stability and ultimately lead to shorter waiting lists and better access, particularly in areas that have been historically under-served. Regulation must mean more than standards on paper; for the people waiting at home in the west, including Galway East, regulation must translate into real supports. Delivery must be timely where we live.  I concur with Deputy Butterly in acknowledging the people caring for and supporting people who want to remain at home. Like most people here, we are fundamentally aware of the daily challenges for carers. Sometimes all they need is respect. The one thing that is damning for them is that the respect is not shown from the legislative side. That is why I welcome moves that we are making here.  We are all well aware of people who, as was mentioned, are caring on a 24-7 basis and do not look to the State for anything. They are doing a magnificent job out of love for a loved one who wants to remain at home. I want to say to those who do not demand pay, and those who are getting pay and need respect and support, that I thank them for that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I acknowledge Deputy Malcolm Byrne and his group in the Public Gallery. It is the second time I have seen him there this evening. I hope they are enjoying their venture into Leinster House and I hope their visit goes well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I welcome the moves in this Bill to regulate private providers and to set minimum standards for services. However, this Bill is far from what it could have been. The current and previous programme for Government promised a statutory home care scheme but after five years, the Government has only got as far as a register of private providers. There is nothing in this Bill about access and affordability of different levels of care.  It is a system designed around private provision. The ambition of the Government should be to build a genuinely public health and social care system accessible to all. In County Galway, 362 people are waiting for either a new home care package or additional supports that they have been found to be entitled to. These are often very vulnerable people. Many are suffering because they are not receiving those supports they are entitled to. This is a critical support to ensuring people can continue to live independently in their homes for as long as that is their wish. Government failure is pushing older people into hospitals and nursing homes and adding to the pressure on those services, when people could and should be cared for in their own homes.  I was recently contacted by a woman who had spinal surgery. She is unable to move out of the bed by herself as a result. She is not getting the full allocation of hours she needs. A man who recently had been in hospital for 15 weeks has Parkinson's disease, heart failure and other health issues. He cannot walk. He needs help to be fed. He needs to be hoisted in and out of bed. The family was told he would not get all the hours he is entitled to and not in the evening time or at weekends. We cannot underestimate the human impact of this situation. Some of the most vulnerable people are being failed. Delivering proper home care would reduce the length of hospital stays and reduce the risk of hospitalisation, which would, in turn, reduce hospital pressure. We have an ageing population. We need to plan and prepare for this and do everything we can to support people to live independently and take the pressure off hospitals and nursing homes. The long-promised statutory home care scheme centred on access and a legal entitlement to home care must finally be progressed to ensure people have that choice, alongside proper resourcing and building up the public system instead of relying on outsourcing.  I also want to speak about healthcare assistants who provide these services. The HSE has not fulfilled previous agreements with staff around working conditions and issues like the lack of a roster system and overtime pay. All of this is leading to stress and burnout. I know the staff in a number of counties have been balloted by their union but the same issues are replicated across the State. I call on the Minister and the HSE to engage with their representatives and get these issues resolved. They are a very important group of workers who deserve to be treated fairly.  Finally, I just want to express concern regarding the letters that have been issued to family carers, who do Trojan work as we all know. We need absolute clarity that family carers will not be pursued by the Revenue. They have been treated shamefully for so long, despite the fact they save the State billions of euro every year. Pursuing them for tax liabilities would be in stark contrast to the treatment of Government Ministers who have been overpaid and have failed to pay back money owed. These family carers play a vital role. The Government's objective should be to support them and not to pursue them for tax liability. We need absolute clarity on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I should have mentioned a group that is representative of the British-Irish Chamber of Commerce. I call Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  This Government has significantly neglected older people for many years. We saw during the Covid crisis the number of older people who were moved out of hospitals and into nursing homes were in their thousands. It happened all of a sudden. It happened on the direction of the HSE and it had the effect of bringing older people from hospitals, without testing them properly for Covid, and placing them into nursing homes. It seeded Covid in nursing homes throughout the country. It led to hundreds of deaths, no doubt. I have a letter from the National Treatment Purchase Fund which proves this was a policy of the HSE at the time. It was a shocking, horrendous action.  We also know that when the nursing homes tried to close first, the National Public Health Emergency Team, NPHET, said they could not and had to reopen and allow people in and out of the nursing homes, again seeding Covid in those nursing homes. When people were dying in those nursing homes on their own, the Government had a policy of not letting their families in to be with them when they died. Hundreds of people died on their own in solitary confinement in this country during that time. It was an incredible injustice to them. Even when those people died, their families were often prevented from even attending their funerals. Supplies of oxygen for nursing homes were actually taken, intercepted by the HSE, and stopped going into the nursing homes. Testing was inadequate. In the end, about 2,300 people died in those nursing homes. Of all the deaths that happened during Covid, 27% happened in nursing homes. The nursing homes were the ground zero of the Covid crisis and the most exposed place during the Covid crisis.  One of the real angers people throughout the country have at the moment is that most Governments internationally have had fully public inquiries with the powers to compel people and papers. This Government did not do that. It resisted it. All it is having instead is a review, one where there is not the power to compel people and papers. It is not being held in public. I have no confidence in that review. I believe it is likely to be a whitewash. I believe this Government does not want to have an investigation into its own actions during Covid, and that is a big problem.  I will just give one example. There is a constituent in my county called Mary Bartley Meehan. Mary had a husband and a son in a nursing home at the time. Unfortunately, her husband, Ultan Meehan, had cancer in the face and wounds in the face. So badly was he treated that when Mary went in to see her husband, there were maggots in the wound of Ultan's face. It was a shocking situation. It is an absolute disgrace that Ultan died and Mary has never received justice for the treatment or death of Ultan. Why? It is because HIQA does not have the right to regulate and oversee the clinical decisions in nursing homes. If the Minister is seeking to really update the legislation in terms of protecting older people, can I urge the Minister to give somebody the opportunity to regulate and oversee the clinical decisions made in nursing homes? The ombudsman for older people has cried out and urged the Government to do this. It is a necessity to do this. I think it is really important.  Turning to another issue in terms of older people, I got an answer to a parliamentary question recently that showed 100 patients in the country still occupying beds two months after they had been clinically discharged. Two months after the doctors said they could do no more for people in hospitals and they should be somewhere else, either at home, in a rehabilitation centre or some step-down facility, 100 patients are still occupying those beds. That is not on. We found out, shockingly, that 12 of these individuals have been stuck in hospital for more than nine months. Actually, two people have been clinically discharged for more than two years and are stuck in a hospital for the want of a step-down facility, a nursing home or home care.  In terms of home care, so many of the people who do home care in this country do the most wonderful work. It is actually incredibly hard work. If anyone has cared, they will know it is really hard, intense and difficult work but it is fiercely rewarding as well. In this country, though, we do not match really important work with income. Those who mind our children, our older people and children in State care are among the lowest paid in the country. We will give plaudits and patronising conversations here all day long but we will not pay the same people who are looking after our mothers and fathers and that is quite something. If you want to know what the Government values, watch where the money goes.  I will say that there is a significant problem, which has been mentioned before, with the lack of home care hours. That has the effect of forcing older people into nursing homes, which usually shortens their lives somewhat. It is also more expensive for the family and the State. Another major problem, because of the lack of the proper resourcing of this, is that so many nursing home hours fall. There are old people around this country today who expected to have a carer in at 5 p.m. to help them with their dinner or to help them to get ready for the evening. Those carers did not show up. Those nursing home companies did not provide them. No shows are happening at a rate right across the country and this is having a significant impact. There is a lot that can be done but I do not believe the Government means business in terms of older people in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I welcome the Bill. We all recognise the benefits of being able to allow people who need some level of support to remain independently in their homes as long as possible. In amending the Health Act 2007, the legislation will create the first statutory regulatory framework for home support providers, with mandatory registration, HIQA-led standards, inspections and criminal penalties for unregistered operators, bringing Ireland into line with other jurisdictions, including our neighbours in the UK. This is all well and good, but it is about the enforcement.  Over the years, the HSE has been gradually outsourcing services for older people and persons with disabilities to private companies. Between 2018 and 2022, the total home support hours increased by 22% but the HSE-delivered hours only increased by 7.6%.  By 2023, according to HSE data analysed by Home and Community Care Ireland, the independent sector, made up largely of private operators and a small number of voluntary community providers, made up 61% of all home support hours, with the HSE only accounting for 39%. The outsourcing trend has been driven by a number of factors, not least that the HSE is struggling to recruit and retain home support workers due to public sector pay issues, rostering and the basic demographics of the country with an ageing population, creating a demand that apparently rose faster than the HSE could hire staff or pay for them directly. This is what has led us to this situation where we are dependent on an insufficiently regulated sector and we need to bring in meaningful legislation. Hopefully, this is meaningful.  With so many private operators, there are massive turnovers of staff, and the risk to the patient care is suited to fit the schedule of the company rather than the needs of the client. I have seen this myself where a constituent who was catered for directly from the HSE was shifted into a calendar that did not suit her needs. However, when you try to raise issues with the provider, you are routinely ignored. There are no checks and balances or parliamentary questions, only an indirect means of seeking an inspection. This is why an enforceable, HIQA-led standard is important, along with a system of proper inspections, stiff penalties for companies that operate without being registered and meaningful consequences for operators that do not provide adequate levels of care for clients.  Of course, these higher standards may require more training and more staffing in a sector already facing shortages, which may mean people rightly needing to be paid more. That is all well and good, but the Minister of State needs to accommodate the additional outsource costs. We need guarantees that people will be paid properly. Compliance demands could also reduce the available care hours. We need some form of grant system to ensure that the companies will do this without taking away the actual hours for service.  Ultimately, what we are trying to do is keep people at home. This legislation, by the time it is scrutinised and amended, will hopefully create the framework. The resources for training, inspection and enforcement absolutely need to be provided, as well as measures to make the sector more attractive for the additional workers needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Independent Ireland had asked the Government that there would be no means test for carers. It said that there should no means test for carers for one very good reason: how can you put a price on care? People are coming into people's homes for an hour. They are driving ten miles, driving to different parts of the county and giving an hour to a family member. The statistics show that with the way the birth rate is going at the moment, we will not have the population to care for the older generation - maybe in two decades' time when the Minister of State and I will be looking for care. There will be no carers if the Government disincentivises them now.  I was very lucky that my father was cared for at home. As a family, we cared for him but we also had carers who came in to help us. They came in and lit a fire while we were out. They came in and did the basic things. From a security point of view, he knew they were coming, what time they were coming at and he knew everything about it. They became part of the family. To me, carers are family. They are looking after our loved ones in their homes, in their own environment, and in the years when they need it most. These people who looked after us and gave us benefits to make sure we could rear our own families. They paid their taxes, worked hard and looked after us as a generation. The least we can do is provide them with care in their own homes.  A woman I know very well from my parish phoned me. She has to drive to the Kerry border every day to look after her father because they cannot get a carer. That is what she has to do. They cannot get the adequate hours. She is trying to work in between doing that and being a mother. She is trying to run all of this because we cannot get the carers.  We talk about nursing homes. People have called me trying to get people in for nursing care. They cannot get into places because they are full. Why are we putting an obstacle in the way, stopping people being cared for in their own homes? If we took in the financial aspect of it, it makes economic sense for them to be cared for in their own homes if it is possible to do so. It costs the State less to have them cared for in their own homes. Why are we putting an obstacle in the way of care when the Government itself cannot provide it? We do not have the staff for it. We do not have the infrastructure in place for it.  Independent Ireland started by saying that it did not want carers to be means tested. Yet, they are getting letters now from the tax office. They are calling me asking what the letters are about. The letters are hostile. Anyone who gets a letter from the tax man says they are hostile. It puts the fear of God in them. We are saying to the carers to go out and care but we are going to frighten the life out of them in case they have a dot out of place. There is no price on care. Remember that for our own families. Would you not love to see your parents being cared for properly in the confines of their homes? We have had it. Why are we not giving the opportunities to other people to have the same? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  This Bill is about something very simple, namely who we trust to go into homes of our older people and people with disabilities and what standards we insist on. Independent Ireland supports strong, common-sense regulation. Nobody wants low-quality or unsafe care happening behind closed doors. There are positives here. For the first time, home support providers will have to register with HIQA. There will be national standards and proper inspections with the person's consent. There will also be a public register that families can check and emergency powers to stop dangerous services. We will finally get real data on where home support hours are going and who is providing them.  Regulation on its own is not enough. There is still no statutory right to home care, promised since 2017. It is still missing today. This Bill does not deliver a single extra hour of support. You cannot regulate your way out of the staffing and beds crisis. Once again, family carers are invisible. There is no relief, no supports and no move to end the means test. Home help workers, who have been doing an incredible job, are being contracted for one set of hours, and then pressurised to work far more.  A worker might have a 20-hour contract on paper, something that affects their mortgage and family life but is regularly pushed to work 30 hours or more. Others with 39-hour contracts are only given 30 hours in a week, with the rest pushed into the next. Split shifts are now routine. Workers sit at home, unpaid for hours, only to be called back out while the agency staff are being brought in to fill gaps. If they get sick, take a holiday or need a day off, they are expected to arrange their own cover without proper rosters. They are missing out on overtime and other entitlements. That is a direct loss of income for people who are already stretched. These workers are not asking for anything extra; they are simply asking for management to honour their contracts, proper 39-hour rosters issued four weeks in advance, and agencies used only when absolutely necessary. In my own constituency, families waited months for basic home help hours. An older person should not have to choose between a nursing home they do not want and no support at home. Independent Ireland stands for safe care, fair care and a real choice to age at home.  I just had a case where an 82-year-old man in west Cork with stage 4 cancer has been discharged from Bantry Hospital after three months and cannot get home help. This gentleman needs help with personal care and administering his medication but there is no home help available to this vulnerable man. In another case, a gentleman in west Cork has been waiting for over four months for home help. The HSE is unable to provide it as it has no staff available. That is what we are being told. Private operators, such as Bluebird Care, that work for the HSE were unable to provide it due to the lack of staff. Interestingly, Bluebird could provide it if the family were to pay privately, rather than through the HSE.  In another case, a young man, again from west Cork - I have the addresses here but I do not like reading out addresses because it might identify someone - is farming and caring for his mother who has dementia. He can only get home help Monday to Friday. There is no home help at the weekends. He wishes that farming was a five-day week job but it is not. Another case features a gentleman in a retirement village in west Cork who is looking for home help for his wife who has numerous medical issues. He is unable to get the home help.  The bottom line is that the home helps can do the extra hours but they will not be given them. Those at the top tell me that there are no home help hours available. There is strange carry-on going on behind the scenes that I would like to get to the bottom of but if I opened the can, there would be worms flying everywhere. There are people who get home help in the evenings and the home helps are calling at 5 p.m. or 6 p.m. and putting the person to bed. There seems to be no allowance for people who would like to go to bed later. CoAction is adopting a new method for training their recruits called \"earn as you learn\" whereby those who are training to work as home support workers with CoAction do not have to have a QQI level 5 in order to apply for the position.  They do the practical work with an experienced qualified support worker, study in the evenings and get paid from get-go. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I have read through the Bill entirely. When we look at the opening sections of this Bill, it is about people entering the home and the quality and standard of the type of person who comes in as a home carer. I find it amazing that we are now in 2026, and we are discussing that. This Bill should have been before this House 20 years. It is totally outdated. This Bill does not push for oversight. It risks more bureaucracy and costs for the people. I have been in the House for the entire debate. It has been mentioned that there are four- to five-month waiting lists to apply for carer's allowance. That is the average in this country at the moment. That is the average that TDs around this House are telling the Minister of State. I will be honest with him: I have seen it go up to six to seven months with people applying for carer's allowance. We now have a situation in the Cork-Kerry region where we have 1,300 people on a waiting list. A total of 25% of the national waiting list is in the Cork-Kerry region waiting for home helps. That is an absolute disgrace. Nothing has been addressed about that. We are not addressing that in this Bill. We are not addressing it in this House. We are seeing the figures go up week after week and month after month but we are doing nothing about it. The one thing this Government is good at and has excelled at is waiting lists and statistics. That is what it is really good at. However, the waiting lists are not going down. They are only going up. That seems to be continuously the situation here.  Deputy John McGuinness and I brought up an issue relating to the Revenue in this House last week. Deputy O'Donoghue also just spoke about the Revenue letters that went out to people and home carers. I am delighted that Revenue has written back to some of us as TDs over the past number of days and said it will not be pursuing people prior to 1 January. There is a lot more on people's plate when they are a carer for somebody when they are stressed out of their minds about how they get the dinner and cleaning done and a small bit of a break in the day to receive a letter like that from Revenue. I have yet to see a revenue commissioner in this country or any other country leave a bundle of cash behind them when they have to collect it. I would be seriously questioning the intent of Revenue after that. With the style and standard of the letter it sent out to everybody and what I have read through, and I have seen plenty of copies of them come through my office, I would seriously question the intention of the Revenue.  The Bill is good. In fairness, there are an awful lot of standards in this Bill, which mean a lot of bureaucracy. There are HSE and ICT systems that cannot provide the virtual beds that we are being told about where people can convalesce at home and be monitored. That system is not in place. That system was meant to be there two years ago. There are regulations on the State that the Government will not be able to deliver in this Bill. While the intent might be great, but the Government will not be able to deliver it. It cannot bring down waiting list. How will it deliver this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  As the Minister of State is well aware, there are an awful lot of problems regarding the provision of home packages. One of the big issues that strikes me is the privatisation of it. At the moment, about 60% of the home care packages are provided by private companies. It used to be the opposite way around. It was 60% to 40%. A total of 60% or 70% of packages in years gone by were provided by the State through the HSE. That is still the way it should be done if possible. While this Bill is about regulation, one of the issues is that if a person signs up to be a home care provider at the moment in this country, he or she will be paid about \u20ac16 per hour. The minimum wage is \u20ac14.15. It is not even \u20ac2 above the minimum wage for somebody to go out there and care for an elderly person or a person with disabilities. That is something that needs to be looked at. Yet, when the State provides that and 60% of it is provided by the private companies, it is paying nearly double that per hour because it has to pay for the administration fees and the profit margins that the companies have to make. That is their business. Fair play to them. That is fine. The State should be ensuring that they pay adequately. I talk to all of the people on the ground, and they keep telling me that they cannot get carers and people to do it. It is because they are not paying them enough. We need to be pay over \u20ac20 an hour to attract people to go in to do that kind of work. That is the reality. If the State does not step up to the mark in respect of that, it will simply not be able to provide that service.  The other issue we have to recognise relates to what they are doing when they go out to provide the care. It has now moved from being just care services only. If an elderly person needs to have a shower or whatever, they can get that done. However, if they need a few dishes picked up off the table and put them in the sink and run the brush around the floor for two minutes, the carer is not allowed to do it. The carer cannot do that. If there is something spilt on the floor, which could be a slip hazard, the carer is not allowed to mop it up. They are not allowed to that because it is not a care service. That is one of the key things that changed in the past number of years, which an awful lot of elderly people that I talk to tell me is a huge problem. There needs to be a way in which they can provide service that they need as well as the care services out there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  It is vitally important that we do not take carers and care workers for granted. Too often that is the case. Regarding carers themselves, there was an awful lot of talk about that in the general election. What has happened since then has not been anywhere near what was committed to. We are very lucky in this country that we have such a strength in terms of family carers who are willing to offer support out of duty, responsibility and love. The truth of it is that we should not take that for granted. Abolishing the means test for carers is not only the right thing to do, but in recognition of the fact that many people are providing an amount of care that the State could never provide and are getting very little and in many instances nothing for it. We need to redress that. The Government has not moved fast enough. That is also true of people who are working in care.  There is the whole issue that we used to call them home helps. There is huge respect for home helps given the work they do. They are now called healthcare assistants or home support workers. When we talk about them being taken for granted, which is too often the case, they have balloted for industrial action because of their frustrations at trying to get the HSE to implement things that it has already agreed to. That includes being paid for their 15-minute break. Most people who are working in jobs that are paid by the hour are paid for their break. That is what they are expected to be able to do. In many instances, they are not getting the required 11 hours between shifts. That is a breach of the working time Act. When that happens, the HSE is breaking the working time Act. There are split shifts too often and outsourcing. As my colleague emphasised, it is more expensive in the end. It does not provide the same standard of care. We need to tackle the issue of increasingly the HSE moving towards outsourcing home care. We have some of the best people working as what was previously known as home helps. They are fantastic and committed people. They are committed to their clients, but they need the support and recognition that they deserve. The HSE has to implement those things that it was previously holding back on. I fully support the actions of the health care assistants and home helps. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ar an nguth\u00e1n le Sonia Borwick d\u00edreach ansin. I was just on the phone with Sonia Borwick. Northside Home Care is on day five of strike in relation to caring. Sixty men and woman are on strike because what is happening them is unfair. In relation to the Bill, the carers have been on strike since 16 January. They are not doing this lightly. They are doing it because they have been pushed to the edge. These people who looked after my grandparents are all proud northsiders. Yet, speaking on the phone to her, she informed me that six of these workers had been made homeless while working as a carer. They are living in a hub in Coolock while still going out every day to care for others. That really sunk in. For years, these workers had pay parity with other healthcare staff. When the recession hit, they were included in the Haddington Road agreement. Through decisions that were made in this House, they effectively lost out. They also lost section 39 status. This was not because their work rate change, but because decisions were made in here. These were always workers who were working the best they could. The only thing that changed is how they are being treated.  Speaking to them, they told me that their pay has gone down since 2007. This policy choice needs to change. The Minister of State agrees with me. There has been a lot of work done. I welcome some of the work that his Department has done. There is no price that we can put on care. There is no price on seeing and knowing that your loved one is being cared for correctly. These workers are not asking for us to change the world. They are asking for us to change their world. It is very simple for us to do that. I will continue to raise this with the Minister and the HSE. It is day six of the strike tomorrow. They will be outside of the D\u00e1il. It is important that we listen to them. They need to be seen. The Northside Home Care Services is vital in north Dublin. They look after all of elderly, sick and anyone with a disability. They are vital. They are tireless workers. We need to look after them. I urge the Department to look at and change what is going on with these men and women. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  I welcome the Bill because there is an urgent need for the Government to prioritise the enactment of legislation aimed at setting out a registration framework for providers of home support services. I want to reference in particular those sections of the Bill under which the chief inspector of social services at HIQA will have responsibility for establishing and maintaining a register for home support services operating in Ireland. The Bill will also provide for criminal liability to be assigned for unregistered home support services and the ability to cancel registration of a provider where serious non-compliance is established. As I understand it, the HSE currently operates under its non-statutory home support authorisation scheme, which was established in 2023. Approved providers are merely obliged to adhere to the authorisation scheme's service specifications and associated standard operating procedures. This is not about pointing the finger at any individual home support service provider, many of which provide compassionate care every day and, along with their staff, do incredible work under very difficult conditions at times.  Increasingly what I see and hear from my constituents in County Offaly is that there is a sense they are caught between a rock and a hard place when it comes to the care delivered by staff, who appear to have very little training or who are, in some cases, literally unable to communicate with either the person receiving the care or their families because of language barriers. This is becoming a source of frustration. The staff are often visibly under enormous pressure to get in and get out and onto the next house. This can be very upsetting for everyone, including the staff members themselves. We need to ensure we have a national home support service capable of delivering care according to the highest standards.  In terms of the provision of home help, serious gaps need to be addressed. It has come to my attention many times in my constituency offices that when the staff or home helps take their annual leave, as they are entitled to do, or if they are ill, they are not replaced. This causes a lot of frustration and a lot of difficulty for families struggling to cope to try to fill the gap until the home help comes back. It is unfair on the home help who happens to be out that there is no substitute or replacement while they are gone. This seems to be a recurring theme. It has been brought to my attention too many times and I hope it will be addressed.  We need national legislation to be introduced as a matter of urgency. Reliance on guidelines and what are effectively voluntary codes is not ideal and it needs to be changed urgently. The fact remains that we need to respond far more effectively to the concerns of those families who can clearly identify the failings in the standard of care delivered to their loved ones. We need to listen to these people and take on board what they are telling us. These people are sometimes fearful of speaking out because they feel they are risking the minimal care time they have and receive. They fear it will be withdrawn. It is important that we listen, that we acknowledge the failings in the services, that we strive to improve and that we bring forward legislation to make sure that providers are protected and that the recipients of the care are also protected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I thank all of the people involved in home care and all of the home helps around the county of Kerry and around all of the other counties. I know the great work they do in the confined time and space they are given to do it. While I welcome regulation, and the Bill states it will ensure home care is regulated and standards are in place for all home care support for all who need it, the question I ask the Minister of State is whether there is a deficiency in the amount of home help that older people are getting. Will this be highlighted in the Bill? Is the Bill catering for this? I know of too many people who are not getting enough home help. They are left behind on weekends and holidays. When the staff, who are entitled to their holidays, go on their own holidays and things are arranged, no one is there to take up the slack. These elderly people are then otherwise compromised. Will the Bill ensure they are looked after properly? This is what it should do.  We need an awful lot more home help. When someone goes into University Hospital Kerry with a virus or whatever it is, they fully intend to come home but they may have to go to a community hospital or district hospital in the various places. A home care plan should be put in place at the time they leave University Hospital Kerry because they will spend a certain number of days, a week or two weeks at the very most, in a community hospital or district hospital. This is not happening. This is where the void and hurt happens. The family may be not available or may be far away. If we want to keep these old people, and these people who are not able to manage for themselves, in their own homes then some home care plan should be put in place at the point in time they leave University Hospital Kerry. It should not be left to the managers of the district hospitals, who are asked to make the bed available for someone else after a week or two. The conveyor belt keeps going on, people do not stop needing help and another person will need to go into the bed. The home help should be in place and we should have enough home helps.  I know young fellows who have trained to be home helps and I have often asked them whether they are working and they have told me they were not. At the same time, I know of elderly people who cannot get home help. It was awarded to them and allocated to them but no one showed up because we keep getting told there is no staff. I have known these cases and I cannot understand it. If the Bill is going to mean anything, this issue needs to be dealt with to explain whether or not home help is available and whether staff are trained up. If they are not trained up, they should be. As other Deputies have said, maybe we are not paying the home helps enough. Maybe too much pressure is being put on them. I hear they are being told to go here and there and to the next person. It hurts me very much when I hear that a home help is not allowed to do certain things for elderly people who may be not agile or mobile enough to do something for themselves. I know that some of them do so anyway. As I said, they are not supposed to be doing some of these things and this is ridiculous.  We need to develop a model like they have in Denmark. There are hardly any nursing homes there. Why is this? It is because everyone is looked after in their own homes where it costs a lot less. The Government needs to look into this a whole lot more and go into it in greater depth. I appreciate that it is looking after the issue of people not being properly trained or Garda vetted and there could be other problems. It will look after that side of it but we need to work harder on the side of it whereby the patient, elderly person or disabled person is being left without home help.  We have other issues in Kerry also which all concern elderly people. We have a new community hospital in Killarney that has been finished for almost a year. It is a community hospital and nursing unit. It is there on the side of the bypass but it has not been opened. When that is opened, we are supposed to develop the old district hospital and St. Columbanus Home to have a primary care centre and more respite beds. People are being told that where carers mind people at home and have to be with them all the time they are entitled to four weeks of respite in the year.  Those people are entitled to a bit of respite, but they are not getting it because we do not have the beds for respite in Killarney, Kenmare, Listowel, Dingle, Cahersiveen or anywhere else. We do not have enough respite beds. Then we are waiting for a minor injuries unit in the town of Killarney. This could be put into the old buildings and it could be a new modern unit. The space is there but we are waiting for the new hospital to open. What is the cause of the delay? Has the Department the staff engaged? Has the Department found the staff? Those are the questions people are asking.  Carers provide invaluable service. Some of them were terrorised with the notion that the Revenue Commissioners were going after them. Many of them were wondering what they would be done for and what they might be caught for. These things are terrible. The amount of lines the media gave it was totally out of balance and out of kilter when most of it is not true at all.  One of the things we looked for in our programme to support the Government was the abolition of the means test because many of those who care for their people at home are doing it voluntarily and they would do it anyway if they were to get nothing for it. It is very unfair. No one could put a price on the amount of money these family carers are saving the State. They need to be looked after. The means test is totally out of kilter. We are helping them in a small way this year. It is supposed to be abolished over five years. I am asking the Minister of State to expedite that.  For elderly people I see a great need for therapy and for physiotherapy. When old people go into hospital, they have other problems like viruses and they have different issues. We do not have enough physiotherapists in our hospitals. What would be wrong with having physiotherapists call to people's homes? If a person cannot move around or if there is something stiff with their leg or hand, physiotherapy works for a lot of people and it will work for those people as well. We would save a lot of money if we were to help people with those therapies and ensure they get them in their home or wherever they are. Whatever hospital or whatever care setting it is, we should be providing more physiotherapy for those people. There are lots of other therapies that elderly people would benefit from because when they are not moving around at all, they seize up and the problem gets worse. Two people are needed to operate hoists and such things whereas if the elderly people were kept going as good as they could be and for as long as they could, we would save the State a lot of money. We need to look into a lot of those things.  Why do we not look at the Denmark model to see what is happening there and why they have hardly any use for nursing homes? I appreciate the great work our nursing homes are doing. Indeed, our community hospitals like Kenmare Community Hospital and St. Columbanus Community Hospital do great work for long-term care as well as short-term care. People are very appreciative of those settings as well as the private care that is provided. In County Kerry we have great private nursing homes and they are doing great work but they are all under savage pressure and it is hard at any stage to get a bed for someone. When people are ready to go home, we should have a home care package. There is a lot of talk about it, but it does not materialise. When the person is a good bit better and can and should go home, they do not seem to be able to do so. Even though they are awarded a package and the hours are allocated, it does not materialise for whatever reason.  When I meet the youngsters who are trained up, they say they have not got any work yet. When I meet the elderly person or their family, they say they were awarded home help on a certain date but no one has arrived yet. In line with this new Bill, which is being brought in to protect and look after other measures, I am asking the Minister of State to get some section working to see how long people are without home help. How long after they leave the university hospital and go to the district hospital are they waiting for home help? That is what is happening. What happens when it gets out of order altogether? They have to apply for the fair deal scheme and try to go into a nursing home. The family does not want that, the elderly person certainly does not want it and the Government should not want it because it is costing a lot more. That is what I am saying.  There is some good in the Bill, but I hope a lot more good will come out of it because we need to ensure anyone who needs home help and is awarded it gets it. It should be included in this Bill that someone is going around to see what is happening and why people are not getting home help. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I thank the Members for their contributions. There were 27 contributors in total and they spoke on a range of aspects of this issue. I welcome the general support for the Bill in terms of regulation. To recap, the objective of the proposed legislation is to improve the safety and quality of support services by ensuring that registered home support providers do not operate below the standards set by ministerial regulations and that those regulations are provided in a consistent and systematic way. Before getting a registration, providers must satisfy the chief inspector of social services that they can comply with these regulations and other requirements under the legislation.  In the limited time I have, I want to go through a number of the points that were raised by TDs. Deputy Newsome Drennan brought up a number of points. I want to deal with family carers. Deputy John McGuinness referenced this and brought it up last week. The Revenue Commissioners have said today that they will not in any way be looking at previous years. That is to be welcomed. I want to put on record the fantastic work that family carers do. It is acknowledged and respected. They do phenomenal work for their families and loved ones. Hopefully the measure today from Revenue will bring reassurance in that area.  Deputy Newsome Drennan made reference to the adult safeguarding legislation. At the end of last year, for the first time ever, we brought out the first national adult safeguarding policy. Legislation is being prepared and I want to bring it forward as quickly as possible. It was a priority for me as well as the home care providers legislation. I want to see the safeguarding legislation coming forward as quickly as possible. It is something I am absolutely committed to doing.  People made reference to consent for the under-18s. The under-18s are now included in the Bill. They were not included in the general scheme. There was a discussion with the Department of children and they are now included. We will be bringing forward amendments around the whole consent area for people under 18 years of age. That is a very important point.  The other issue was the personal assistance, PA, exemption. It was exempted under the general scheme. It continues to be but there is work ongoing by the PA review group under the Department of children. We want to respect the work it is doing. Depending on the outcome of that, we will look at amendments if the review group wishes to bring them forward but we want to respect the integrity of the PA service. It is hugely important. We want to allow the PA review group under the Department of children to do its work within the HSE.  The three or less clients provision is included in the Bill because it is proportionate.  It was in the general scheme and we want to ensure it is proportionate.  This is all about improving the service. Deputy John McGuinness raised the funding model. Based on the regulatory impact that was done, it was estimated that the cost would be \u20ac1.1 million over the first three years for HIQA to be able to bring in the legislation and the process itself. We will engage with the sector on the regulation of costs. We are conscious of that issue.  It is important that Members are aware that the legislation is to regulate home care providers, regardless of whether they are in the public, private or voluntary sector. That is going to bring about an increase in the quality, safety and consistency of service delivered throughout the length and breadth of Ireland.  It is also important to note that this year alone we are looking at 1.7 million additional home care hours. Since 2020 we have increased from 17 million hours to 30.6 million hours. This year there are 26.7 million hours for older person's services and 3.9 million hours for disability services. I am conscious that, like me, Members here represent people the length and breadth of Ireland. I am in continuous engagement with officials in the Department and the HSE on the issues that arise in respect of the current home care service that is delivered. I will continue to engage with them on the particular points Members have raised today. These are matters I will take up with the HSE in terms of the delivery of the service. We want to get value for money. We want to look after people that are in receipt of the home support service. It is something that I will continue to work on. Regulation is hugely important.  We committed in the programme for Government to design a statutory home care service in the lifetime of this Government. When I came into the brief I looked at it in great depth with the officials. The first step in doing that is to regulate the home care providers, which we are doing with this Bill. I want to get the Bill through. I will work with Members, both here and in the Seanad, to get this legislation through as quickly as possible. I am committed to working with the officials and my Government colleagues to progress the design of a statutory home care scheme. It is an absolute priority, but it must be built on a process. As it stands at the moment, the sector is not regulated. I want to see the home care providers sector regulated. We owe that to the people to whom they deliver the service. The Bill is welcomed by the sector itself. It is something I want to work with it on to ensure we get it up and running as quickly as possible.  The other issues that were raised by Members relate to their own areas and regions. That is something we will take up and work on with the HSE. Regardless of where someone lives, I want to ensure the quality and safety of the level of service that is provided to the public. That is something that is hugely important.  Many of the speakers in the House today have worked in this sector, and that came across. I very much take on board what was said. No one has a monopoly on knowledge in this area. I very much want to work with colleagues to improve all aspects of the home care service. The issue we are debating today relates to the regulation of the sector, which is the first step in the roll-out of a statutory home care scheme.  Other issues that were raised include the work healthcare assistants do. That is hugely important. I very much value that. Members have raised particular issues that currently arise. My understanding is that the HSE is engaging on those aspects. I hope a resolution can be arrived at. Ultimately, this is all about getting to a point where we can put in place a statutory home care scheme in Ireland. This is something the Government and I are utterly committed to, but to get to that point we must regulate the sector.  We have had a very constructive debate here tonight. We will continue to work through the legislation. I welcome further ideas or amendments from Members on Committee Stage when the Bill proceeds to that Stage. The single most important point is that we have now published a Bill to regulate the home care providers sector, which will involve independent regulation of the delivery of the service. I believe this will greatly enhance both the safety, quality and consistency of the home support service delivered the length and breadth of Ireland. I thank all Members for their very comprehensive contributions tonight. I look forward to continuing to work with them on the legislation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/84","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/84\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I move:  That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Health pursuant to Standing Orders 103 and 188. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health (Amendment) (Home Support Providers) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/18","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/18\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":24,"speakerCount":20},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  Before I get on to the Bill, I want to say I am disappointed but not surprised that the Government is going to delay this Bill by nine months. Nitrous oxide is an epidemic and will only get worse in the next nine months. The Minister's amendment tonight is symptomatic of this do-nothing Government. There is no urgency and no action. It is delaying this life-changing legislation simply because it is a Sinn F\u00e9in Bill. This is no way to govern. I am sure the Minister's team of staff will find problems in the Bill and no doubt he will refer to them when he speaks, but they will be the same problems when the Minister lets the Bill pass in nine months. The Bill should be referred to the select committee at this stage because that is what the committee is for, namely, to tease out any issues with legislation. The Minister is literally kicking the can down the road. I ask him to withdraw his amendment.  As the Minister is aware, nitrous oxide has legitimate purposes. It is used in the healthcare sector, in the medical sector and in veterinary businesses as well. It is commonly known on the streets as laughing gas, balloons and whippets. When people get their hands on nitrous oxide, especially young people, they inhale it through balloons. It cuts off oxygen to the brain and gives a light-headed giddy effect. That is where the name \"laughing gas\" came from.  When it first came in, it was in small silver canisters of probably about 8 g of nitrous oxide but this has changed because of a lack of regulation over the years into super-sized canisters of 670 g. There are even bigger ones than that. Nitrous oxide causes major problems when it gets into the hands of young people. The Minister does not have to believe me, as there have been a number of reports in the last five years on nitrous oxide. The Mater hospital has said there has been an increase in the number of young people presenting to the accident and emergency department with sensory and balance issues, neurological conditions, mental health conditions and respiratory conditions. I could go on and on.  Just before Christmas, Tallaght Hospital produced a report on nitrous oxide. In the previous 12 months it had 18 people presenting to the hospital who were diagnosed with a neurological condition just because of inhaling nitrous oxide.  These conditions can be life-altering. As was reported on RT\u00c9 news, children are presenting to Crumlin children's hospital with third degree burns from inhaling nitrous oxide. When let out of the canister, compressed nitrous oxide is cold. If people put it straight to their mouths, they get third degree frostbite burns. If they hold it in their hands, they get burns on their hands as well.  A recent study by the adolescent addiction service in Cherry Orchard showed an increase of 175% in the number of young people presenting to the HSE's addiction services looking for help with their nitrous oxide use. I have worked in addiction services. When you see an increase of 175% in one year, you know there is a problem.  The EU has produced a report and is looking to put in place a derogation to prohibit the sale of nitrous oxide to the public because of the damage it is doing to people's reproductive health. That is when it is used in a clinical setting, such as in dentistry. God knows what it is doing to young people who are inhaling nitrous oxide if it is causing damage in those controlled settings. Is this one of the reasons the Minister is kicking it down the road? Why wait? We are a sovereign country. We do not have to wait for the EU. We can do this here and now.  The Bill itself is similar to legislation that was introduced in Holland a couple of years ago. There are a few changes. I thank the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers in the Oireachtas for its help on this. The Bill is 20 pages long. It was not just thrown together. It took 14 months to get to this stage. It went through every kind of critical thinking and stakeholder conversation possible. On that note, I thank the Clondalkin Drug and Alcohol Task Force for its help with the Bill. I welcome those from Dublin city's Comhairle na n\u00d3g who are in the Gallery tonight. They have done a huge amount of work to raise awareness around nitrous oxide among young people. I will simplify these 20 pages. The Bill will require wholesalers to hold a licence to sell nitrous oxide products. Retailers who sell nitrous oxide products will need to be on a register of approved sellers. It will only be possible to sell these products to exempt purchasers. It is a simple Bill that can make a big difference. The Minister has five years. He can kick this down the road for nine years but he has five years and has not come up with an alternative. If he comes up with an alternative in his ten-minute speech after I have sat down, I am open to listening to it, but urgency is needed on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Molaim mo chomhghleaca\u00ed, an Teachta Mark Ward, as a chuid obair feachtasa\u00edochta ar an gceist seo. Deputy Ward deserves huge credit for the work he has done not only in bringing forward this legislation but in setting out the issues around nitrous oxide for this House. We know it has legitimate uses in the medical and catering sectors but it is clear that its sale must be regulated in the interests of public health. That case has been made very strongly. Given what has been said by garda\u00ed, customs officials, youth workers and medical practitioners, it is incredible that the Government is seeking to delay this Bill. It is important to say that this Bill will not criminalise young people for simple possession of nitrous oxide. However, it will give garda\u00ed the power to seize canisters from those without appropriate licences.  Unfortunately, the misuse of nitrous oxide has become more commonplace across the State. It is clear that young people are using it because it is cheaper than alcohol and because it is readily available. This House has to listen to the people in the field. Sometimes we do things with the best intentions only for them to have other impacts. Ciara Murphy, project leader at the Finglas youth service, highlighted to \"Prime Time\" how the price of alcohol is driving the use of nitrous oxide. She basically said that young people at parties may not be drinking because alcohol is expensive and so they choose nitrous oxide to get their buzz. We have to listen to voices like hers.  Many of the young people who are using this product do not have an awareness of the potential dangers. Many think it is a harmless activity. The reality is very different, however. Nitrous oxide cuts off oxygen to the brain. Those who have treated young people who have ended up in hospital as a result of misusing this product have raised serious concerns. Inhalation often makes users feel light-headed. It can cause headaches and loss of consciousness. In certain cases, its use can trigger serious side-effects, including spinal cord damage. Across Europe, nitrous oxide has been linked to numerous road collisions and yet, unlike alcohol and other drugs, it is not tested for. This needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency.  This is a growing problem, particularly now, with the involvement of organised crime. Revenue and customs have said that more than 1,000 large canisters are being seized at ports every week. These are being brought into the State by organised criminal gangs. The failure to regulate the sale of nitrous oxide before now has allowed a new market to be developed, where it is being used as a recreational drug, particularly by young people. We have to take action now. The first step must be the passage of this Bill tonight. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  The harms from using nitrous oxide are very well known. I do not think the Minister will dispute any of the information that Deputy Ward has provided. There is not a TD in the D\u00e1il who does not want to ensure that this drug is kept from destroying another young life. We are all in agreement on that. I am mystified as to why the Minister wants to kick this down the road given that we all agree that action is needed. The Minister and the Government say they want to take action but, for some bizarre reason, they just do not want to act now. Will the Minister make that make sense for me?  Figures from the HSE tell us that taking action on nitrous oxide cannot wait. The 175% increase in the numbers attending the adolescent addiction services who have taken nitrous oxide tell us that this is a growing problem. The problem is growing because nitrous oxide is freely available. The people who make it and the people who sell it are far ahead of the Government and moving much faster. They are already latching onto flavours, they have colourful packaging and they are heavily marketing this to children and yet the Minister says that action can wait. That does not make any sense. There is not a town or a village in my constituency or any other constituency that has not seen the upsurge in these cans. You can see the canisters lying around. You see them lying around in the evenings. If the Minister does not believe me, he can talk to his local Tidy Towns group. They will tell him the same. It is everywhere. The reason it is everywhere and the reason it is growing is that it is freely available and unregulated. That is on the Government.  I commend Deputy Ward on the work he has done not just on this legislation but in this area generally. It is incredibly worthwhile work but it all points in the one direction, as the Minister knows. It points in the direction of us taking action. We know what the harms are. We know that young people are taking this as a cheap alternative to alcohol. We know that, in many cases, they are not aware of the potential damage. We know that the potential for damage is huge. There is only one way to deal with this and that is through regulation. That should be done today. The Minister knows well that legislation does not pass in the blink of an eye. It takes time. If there are issues with the legislation, the Minister should work with Deputy Ward to figure those out. Let us do the pre-legislative scrutiny and get this legislation passed. Let us send a message to young people, to their parents and to our communities that we take this issue seriously and that the Government is willing to take action on it. I urge the Minister to withdraw his amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I commend Deputy Ward and Joseph O'Callaghan in his office on bringing forward this legislation. It is well thought-out and well developed. The Bill Deputy Ward is bringing forward is comprehensive. It does not work against the Government. The Deputy is reaching across the floor, saying that this needs to be implemented and asking the Government to work with us. The Minister has decided to postpone it for nine months. As Deputy O'Reilly said, with how long it takes legislation to get through, it might as well have been kicked into another D\u00e1il by the time the Government gets to it. To be fair to Deputy Ward, for years he has been out front warning about the dangers of nitrous oxide and explaining how young people are at risk and can be harmed. He is trying to do something. You often hear people asking what we do up here. Deputy Ward is trying to make a difference. He is trying to come up with a solution. The Minister should engage with him and with us. We should come together.  This is surely something we can all agree on and work with. A consultant neurologist says this is causing nerve damage and potential lifelong harms and impacts to young people. Sinn F\u00e9in and Deputy Mark Ward are bringing forward a solution. The Government has had years to act. Deputies have raised this on the floor of the House. The Government once again is failing to protect young people, to regulate and to act. The EU has recognised its dangerous impacts. Holland has moved on it. Britain is looking at banning it. How many young people must be harmed before Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael finally take action? Is this because the areas the Government Deputies represent in the leafy suburbs or whatever might not be affected on the ground, the way working class and some inner city areas are being affected? Maybe then, if it comes to those doors, the private schools and the children of the wealthy, action might be taken.  One in five young people attending the HSE adolescent addiction services is now admitting to using it. There is a 175% increase in the last 12 months. How can the Government continue to ignore it? Deputy Ward is working hard. We are trying to make a difference. He has done Trojan work. This should be a no-brainer. This is something we should get together on. We are deeply disappointed by the Minister's amendment to move it out by nine months. I ask him to listen to Deputy Ward and withdraw it. We can work together then to make this the best legislation possible. This is not about criminalising young people; it is about protecting them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The misuse of nitrous oxide is no longer a fringe issue. It is not something novel. It is happening in housing estates, parks and town centres, and at the back of parish halls all across the State, urban and rural. It is overwhelmingly impacting young people. This substance has legitimate uses in medicine and licensed food businesses and no one disputes that. What we are seeing now is widespread misuse, industrial sized canisters with no legitimate purpose, and a complete failure by Government to keep pace with what is actually happening on the ground. A dangerous drug is being sold online in bulk, trafficked into our communities and pushed on children for profit. Industrial cans of nitrous oxide are ending up in the hands of teenagers. Young people are being told this is harmless when doctors are now treating nerve damage, frostbite and long-term neurological harm. Communities once again are left dealing with the damage. Garda\u00ed are left without clear powers and without a steer. The Government is sitting, once again, on its hands. This Bill shuts down that trade, protects children and gives garda\u00ed the tools they need. The question is whether the Government is prepared to act. The Minister's amendment suggests it is not; it is happy to wait another nine months.  The medical evidence is now stark. Consultant neurologists have warned of a clear rise in nerve damage linked directly to nitrous oxide misuse. Young people are presenting with numbness in their hands and feet, balance problems, heart rhythm issues and serious mental health effects. Tallaght hospital has reported multiple neurological diagnoses following inhalation of this gas. The HSE's adolescent addiction service reported that 22% of young people attending the service admitted to using nitrous oxide. That is a startling figure in anybody's language, that so many children are disclosing that as part of their treatment. Those are the children who can avail of that treatment, who are in services, who are connected with the HSE. There are serious public safety implications, too. Driving ability can be impaired, as was stated earlier.  This is why this legislation matters. The Bill introduces licensing for wholesalers and a register for retailers. It bans sales to and by under-18s, tightens online sales and, crucially, gives garda\u00ed clear powers to seize and dispose of products that are being misused.  I want to acknowledge the work of my colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, who has been raising this issue for years and has shown leadership where Government has not in bringing this Bill before the D\u00e1il. Do not wait nine months to take action. We do not need to wait for other EU member states. If we were to wait for EU member states at every juncture, there would be nothing done. That strikes me as the attitude of this Government to any issue that arises in working-class and rural communities. I am calling on the Minister to support the Bill, to withdraw his amendment and to finally act to protect children, public health and community safety. I urge him to do the right thing here, withdraw his amendment and support this common-sense piece of legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We all accept that nitrous oxide has legitimate uses in medicine, healthcare, veterinary and catering. This legislation ensures that those who legitimately want to sell, buy and use this are the only people who are allowed so that it no longer has the impact it is having on young people across the country. Deputy Ward is absolutely correct. The Government has known about this for a significant period of time. I do not think anyone has to go too far. I do not take the dog for a walk too often but over Christmas I did, with my wife, my youngest son and my niece. At that part of the Blackrock Road where it hits the Red Barns Road, I came across three of these. They are no longer the silver bullets; we are looking at these big industrial pieces.  A couple of months ago, I was going in to work in my constituency office. I parked in the Ramparts, the Louth County Council car park. There must have been a major party there as there were eight or nine canisters. That is no big deal. We see them every day, every week, almost everywhere, in parks like the park in my own estate. I do not know how many times they have been posted on the neighbourhood watch Facebook page. They are everywhere.  What has also been detailed is the absolute harm it is doing, including neurological harm, frostbite and burns, respiratory issues, nerve damage and right down to the mental health impact that we cannot even contemplate at this point. This is something we can move on today. There is still time for due diligence. The Minister could withdraw his amendment. We could let this go through. On Committee Stage, we could deal with whatever anomalies the Minister says are in this Bill. We could have something fit for purpose, like the Dutch have. I fear an awful lot of states will have something similar before this one does. The Minister and I have had many interactions on the fact that we have not got to grips with the impact drugs are having.  Organised crime has a capacity and an ability and is making an absolute fortune out of this. Unfortunately, it is legal because we have not introduced the legislation. We heard recently from the Garda that there are 169 organised crime groups, with 65% involved in drugs. We need to get serious about the whole drugs issue and about nitrous oxide. The Minister can take action now. I commend Deputy Ward on doing a decent piece of work from Opposition. We would like to see the Government follow through and deliver for the young people out there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  The Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor will move the amendment when she is closing. I will begin in the same way all the other speakers have begun, by commending Deputy Ward on the Bill he has put before the House this evening. It is important that we can have a debate on nitrous oxide. Regrettably, everyone in this House is aware of the prevalence of nitrous oxide being used throughout the country. It is evident in the canisters on the ground in all parts of Ireland. Deputy Gould suggested it was limited to certain areas or certain parts of constituencies. I represent the inner city and south city of Dublin. It is there throughout every part of the constituency that I represent. This is not an issue that is limited to one particular area of our communities. It is very beneficial that we have an opportunity to talk about it, so we can warn younger people about the dangers of taking nitrous oxide. The dangers are very significant, as has been mentioned already. It has significant neurological impact on individuals and can result in serious physical conditions as well. Somebody who is taking nitrous oxide, I regret to say, is playing Russian roulette with their health.  A number of colleagues have complained about the fact that it is the proposal of Government to put forward a timed amendment. The reason for that is not that this is a Sinn F\u00e9in Bill. Deputy Ward will be aware, and Deputy Carthy will be aware that the last time Sinn F\u00e9in had a Bill in Private Members' time, I did not oppose it and it went through. It is not because of that. In truth, the Bill only came to our attention very recently, last week, and some time is required to give careful consideration, particularly since at present, and this may not be recognised, it is a criminal offence to sell nitrous oxide for human consumption.  I want to use the timed amendment that Deputy Murnane O'Connor will propose to engage with other Departments and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in order that we can determine the extent to which this legislation can be moved forward. Deputy Ward will be aware, from recent developments at EU level, that consideration has to be given to it because of our membership of the EU. The timed amendment has not been designed to vote down a Bill just because it is coming from the Opposition. If that were my objective, I would be opposing it and voting it down now.  As I mentioned briefly, the misuse of nitrous oxide is already addressed under several Acts. It falls under the definition of a psychoactive substance. Section 3 of the Criminal Justice (Psychoactive Substances) Act 2010 states: \"A person who sells a psychoactive substance knowing or being reckless as to whether that substance is being acquired or supplied for human consumption shall be guilty of an offence.\" The sale of it for human consumption is a criminal offence. Section 74 of the Child Care Act also states: \"It shall be an offence for a person to sell, offer or make available a substance to a person under the age of eighteen years or to a person acting on behalf of that person if he knows or has reasonable cause to believe that the substance is ... likely to be inhaled by the person under the age of eighteen years for the purpose of causing intoxication.\" Responsibility for these Acts rests with my Department and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality, respectively. I have to engage with them.  It is noteworthy that the proposed Bill does not list nitrous oxide as a controlled drug under the Misuse of Drugs Act. This is a deliberate and significant policy choice. It means that unlike cannabis or heroin, the simple possession of nitrous oxide for personal use is not being criminalised. The Bill is squarely aimed at the supply chain, not the end user, which aligns with the harm reduction approach favoured by many health experts.  I will take this opportunity to commend the ongoing work of the HSE and community groups in responding to the rise of nitrous oxide use. Through public awareness campaigns, harm reduction advice and engagement with at-risk groups, they are working to mitigate the very real health risks, including nerve damage. The HSE actively monitors usage trends and runs targeted awareness campaigns for adults aged over 18 highlighting the long-term risks, such as vitamin B12 deficiency. A key part of this strategy is disseminating a harm reduction fact sheet detailing risks, effects and advice to drug and alcohol task forces, student unions and at festivals. Additionally, parents are also supported with information through various formats, including the drugs.ie website, dedicated fact sheets and a series of webinars. This multifaceted approach is delivered in collaboration with task forces across the country aligning with recommendations from the European Union Drugs Agency.  It is also worth highlighting that there are legitimate uses, as Deputy Ward and others indicated, for nitrous oxide. That is why it cannot just be categorised under the Misuse of Drugs Act. That legitimate use is in the area of the medical and catering industries. However, the challenge, as with any substance open to misuse, is to regulate its supply chain effectively without unduly penalising legitimate enterprise. In relation to regulating the supply chain, it is necessary to consider developments at EU level.  First, the EU has formally adopted a new harmonised classification for dinitrogen oxide, which is the chemical name for nitrous oxide, under the EU regulation on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures. This new classification, which will apply from 1 February 2027, designates nitrous oxide, among other things, as a substance that is harmful to reproductive health and causes damage to the nervous system. This reclassification is not merely a technical change. It is the trigger for further regulatory action. The Commission has also published a draft amendment to the regulation on the registration, evaluation, annual authorisation and restriction of chemicals that would restrict the placing on the market of dinitrogen oxide for supply to the public, subject to narrowly defined derogations. Notably, to minimise the possibility of misuse, it is under consideration at EU level whether the derogation should include specific conditions for the sale of cartridges containing this substance, such as restrictions on the maximum volume of the substance that can be sold to members of public as well as age restrictions on the sale of cartridges containing the substance.  The second key consideration is procedural. The Bill is likely to be considered a technical regulation under EU Directive No. 2015\/1535. This means it is subject to the technical regulations information system notification process, which Deputy Ward is aware of. That requires us to notify the European Commission of the draft legislation. This notification triggers an initial three-month period during which the Bill cannot be adopted. This period allows the Commission and other member states to review the measure. If a detailed opinion is issued, for example, if concerns are raised about potential barriers to trade, this period may be extended for a further three months for products resulting in a total of six months. A longer postponement of 12 to 18 months could occur if the Commission decided to block the national measure in favour of proposing its own comprehensive EU-harmonised legislation. Both developments must be carefully weighed when considering the progress of this domestic legislation.  Regardless of the EU developments, the administrative architecture proposed in this Bill raises significant questions about its practical implementation. It would impose a considerable regulatory and financial burden on reputable sellers as well as significant cost to the Exchequer. These costs include the designation and resourcing of a competent licensing and registering authority, the development and implementation of entirely new administrative systems for processing applications and maintaining registers and the necessity of conducting a comprehensive regulatory impact assessment, particularly concerning the effect on the many small- and medium-sized enterprises that legitimately use this on a daily basis.  Other issues that would require consideration with stakeholders concern the proposed offences, penalties and powers of search and seizure contained in the Bill. A primary concern is the potential for legal ambiguity due to overlap with existing legislation. For example, section 3 of the psychoactive substances Act I referred to, makes it an offence to sell a substance for human consumption, while the Bill creates a parallel offence of selling nitrous oxide without a licence under section 2. Therefore, a single act of illicitly selling a nitrous oxide canister could be an offence under two different pieces of legislation creating uncertainty as to which should be used for prosecution. I also draw the House's attention to the proposed penalties in the Bill. Under section 14 of the Bill, for the utmost serious offence of illegal sale on indictment, the penalty is a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both. That is significantly lower than the offence under the 2010 Act, which allows for penalties up to five years.  I again commend Deputy Ward on the effort he has gone to in drafting this legislation. Both he and I share a desire to inform young people about the dangers of nitrous oxide. I want to see it regulated in such a way that it cannot be availed of by young people. At present, it is a criminal offence to sell nitrous oxide for human consumption. It is also a criminal offence to sell it to somebody aged under 18. As I indicated in my response, however, there are regulatory issues involved with the EU and other matters that require consideration. The easy thing for me to do would be to just vote it down or even to let it through, but further consideration is required in order to give this Bill the consideration it deserves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I commend my colleague Deputy Mark Ward on his relentless work on this Bill. Throughout the length and breadth of the country, we are seeing that what were once small silver bullet containers of nitrous oxide are now huge canisters littering our parks, streets and shopping areas. This is no longer a small-scale issue. I have been sent photos by my constituents of an entire shopping area in my hometown covered by empty boxes of canisters and huge canisters lying around in plain sight. In one residential area alone, the noise, litter and antisocial behaviour from people using these huge canisters on a daily and nightly basis became so bad that local residents, Drogheda garda\u00ed, myself and my party colleague, Councillor Eric Donovan, had to put a collective special focus on the area for a sustained period to end the behaviour. The owners' management company installed new CCTV cameras to look at the area being used to consume vast amounts of FastGas. Local residents had to clean up the area. They ensured that whenever cars from outside their area parked and the groups began to gather to distribute and use the balloons, Drogheda garda\u00ed were called immediately. Thankfully, they responded to the calls and moved the people with laughing gas on. That was several months ago and, thankfully, residents have reported that the gangs, canisters and antisocial behaviour stayed away from this area but, unfortunately, it just spreads elsewhere.  Only last month, Revenue officials were at the public accounts committee, where I raised this Bill and what it contained with them. Revenue and customs officials said that nitrous oxide is being brought into Ireland at scale by organised crime gangs and is being used nationwide. While the smaller cartridges have a use in catering, Mr. Thomas Talbot, from Revenue's criminal investigation team said there is no legitimate use for the larger canisters. There is growing evidence of the use of nitrous oxide in communities. The number of instances of harm caused by the misuse of nitrous oxide are becoming increasingly apparent.  I explained to the Revenue officials that this Bill was coming before the House to provide for the regulation of the sale of nitrous oxide. I told them it would ensure that nitrous oxide would be regulated for commercial use only and this Bill would give An Garda powers to seize canisters from those lacking the appropriate licences. I asked if it was something Revenue would support. They responded, on the public record, that they support this legislation. I ask the Minister to take the revenue stream away from criminal gangs and protect the health of our youth. Not only should he be supporting this Bill now, but he should be doing all in his power to enact it without delay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  The Bill is about protecting children, making it harder for them to purchase so-called laughing gas and ensuring that it is only sold for legitimate commercial and health purposes. Nitrous oxide has legitimate uses in health as a sedative and in the catering industry for use in whipped cream canisters. Unfortunately, and particularly since the Covid era, we have seen its misuse by some young people. Anyone, particularly those of us living in urban areas, will have seen the discarded so-called silver bullets on the footpaths and roadsides where young people congregate. They are literally littered all over parts of my city of Limerick. It is a drug that can have a long-term impact on health. A recent study found that health workers who have been exposed to small amounts of the gas can experience fertility issues. A Mater hospital neurologist has reported on the increase in people presenting with nerve damage following consumption of so-called laughing gas. The more immediate impacts on the youths who use it in a social setting include numbness in their extremities, balance issues, increased heart rate and frostbite. Longer term there is real concern about its impact on the mental health of adolescents. The damage it does can be severe. Excessive use blocks the development of the coating that protects nerves and can lead to spinal cord damage. The aims of the Bill are straightforward and focus on the protection of our young people. It aims to make it hard for the product to be purchased by under 18-year-olds. Criminal gangs are aware of the profits they can make from selling this product. They are purchasing it in bulk cheaply and selling it for a profit to young people. It is an attractive product for younger people to use as it provides a high for up to 45 minutes and is less expensive than alcohol. The sale and supply of this product is not a niche problem. During a recent \"Prime Time\" programme, Revenue noted that they are seizing more than 1,000 large canisters per week. Thomas Talbot, who leads the Revenue criminal investigation function said that organised crime is making money on the back of society. While I am talking about organised crime, in Limerick we are in a battle against the criminal gangs, which we are unfortunately not winning. This was cruelly seen over the weekend in the Ballincurra Weston, Garryowen and St. Mary's Park areas with shootings, petrol bombs and other attacks on homes, properties and cars. I ask the Minister to speak with the Garda Commissioner about this issue, because we have a massive problem in Limerick, and I am concerned people will be killed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  Here we go again. The Government has decided to kick the can down the road on a common-sense Bill. It knows there is no way that anybody would oppose this Bill so instead it decided to delay it by nine months. Government talks about all of us working together. Yet here we have a positive piece of work and instead of supporting it going to Committee Stage and teasing out any of the issues he has, the Minister has decided to delay it. In my constituency, the use of nitrous oxide by teenagers has been an ongoing problem since way before the pandemic. Football and GAA teams have to show up early to clear their pitches of canisters, in some cases boxes of them, before a match can kick off. It is the same with our playgrounds. Parents are going to playgrounds to clean them up. The reason the use of this drug has increased so much is it is cheap, and users and sellers face little risk under the law. Anybody can go online and order a crate of it, then resell these canisters individually and make a tidy profit. This Bill cuts out all that. Anybody wanting to sell it wholesale will need a licence. Anybody selling it via retail will need to be on a register of approved sellers. The other rules in the Bill are similar to those for alcohol. The person purchasing and the person selling it will have to be over 18, and it allows garda\u00ed to seize canisters from anybody they suspect is under the age of 18. It is simple. We all know that nitrous oxide misuse is not low risk when it comes to a person's health. We see people who use it suffering serious nerve damage, neurological conditions, seizures and much more. This Bill provides a common-sense way forward. Instead of criminalising these young people who are using it, the Bill will regulate the sale and make it much more difficult for it be misused. There is no legitimate reason for a teenager to be using this. There is none, so please let us get working on this Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  I commend my colleague Teachta Ward, not only on the work he has done recently but over the past number of years. This is not work that has been done over the past two months. A lot of time and effort has been invested in it. We are all aware that nitrous oxide has become a scourge in all of our communities. Our young people are being put at serious risk by people who are making profit out of children's health. I have met with community and support groups and been contacted by members of the public across my area of Fingal East who are coming across discarded canisters outside schools and playgrounds and on football pitches where young people are. They are just discarded on the road. I went out of my house to the green area across the road and picked up 15 canisters last weekend. That was just on a green space outside my house. Every time our Tidy Towns and other volunteering groups are collecting litter, they are cleaning up bag loads of canisters all over the place. It is not only a public health issue, but an environmental challenge.  Sinn F\u00e9in's Bill is a solutions-based common-sense approach. I urge the Minister to reconsider, withdraw his amendment and not delay this by nine months. How many more children's lives will be affected in a nine-month period? We are delaying dealing with the issues just to tie it up. They could be dealt with on Committee Stage. The Minister mentioned this himself. Every time our young people use this gas they are playing Russian roulette with their health and with their lives. We need to deal with it, and we need to deal with it now. The Bill covers the sale of nitrous oxide from abroad. It deals with where it should be despatched within the State. This would require wholesalers to have a licence to sell this gas and related products. Retailers would also have to be on an approved register to sell related products. It would be illegal to sell to under 18s. It would be illegal to have under 18s sell the products even if it is on a licensed premises, in the same way as it is for them to sell alcohol. The Bill will allow garda\u00ed to seize the nitrous oxide if they believe the person is under 18 or if the person is to use it as an intoxicant. These canisters can then be disposed of or destroyed properly. I heard stories over Hallowe'en where they have been flung into fires and were going off like missiles. There are loads of addendums to this that need to be dealt with. At the moment it is urgency. It is about our children's lives. We need to look after it. I call on the Minister to withdraw his amendment, to look at this and deal with it in the manner it needs to be, as quickly and urgently as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Before the Minister leaves, I commend Deputy Ward on this Bill. This should have been brought in years ago. The issues with nitrous oxide, otherwise known as laughing gas to the common man and woman, have been causing damage for years. However, what has happened in recent years is that it has become a component of criminal activity. I am sorry, but the large-scale canisters have little use in this country in the professions the Minister spoke about. While I understand, in fairness to him, that on other occasions he has not opposed different legislation being brought in by the Opposition and let it go through, I cannot for the life of me think why he would not do the same here. This Bill may not be perfect, but certainly it is worthy of going to Committee Stage where he can bring in all of the amendments he wants. I do not understand the following: we know this issue has to be addressed, and he says he needs nine months to consider it. Why has his Department not been considering it before this?  It is glaringly obvious that this issue has to be dealt with. I know the Minister has had a lot of change in his Department and has a whole range of issues coming over from the Department of children, but surely within the relevant section his officials knew this was an issue. I think the Minister's response is downright lazy. It is lazy. It is also lazy from his Department to take nine months. If I was in the Minister's shoes, I would think that this is a pretty simple Bill to draft. He goes on about regulation and how the garda\u00ed would enforce this, etc. They are all pretty minor things that could be dealt with on Committee Stage. Why will the Minister not let the Bill through? Why can he not ensure, through working positively with the Opposition, that we deal with these issues on Committee Stage and protect our young people?  I presume this will take more than nine months. If any situations happen within the next nine months, if serious incidents or accidents happen or, dare I say, if a death occurs because of this, we may replay this back to the Minister. This issue is glaringly obvious. It is not complicated. It has to be dealt with. We all know there are uses for this in catering, healthcare and a range of other things. What is going on now is you walk through any estate in every part of Ireland and you will find these canisters. The canisters are being brought into areas by criminals who are selling them. They are then distributed and young children are using them.  There are a whole range of neurological impacts from them, which have been outlined by many Deputies already. I have heard stories in my own office in relation to people who have been pretty severely affected with severe burns as a consequence because they do not know what they are doing. There are addiction elements and a whole range of other elements. All of this is avoidable, if we had the regulatory process in place, if we had the licensing in place and if we had the enforcement capacity in place to allow garda\u00ed to do their job.  I have had garda\u00ed speak to me about this. It has been raised with me that in particular parts of my constituency, the volume of it coming in is quite extraordinary. I am from rural Tipperary. We have a lot of towns, but still. It is at that extreme where young kids are going out at night or at weekend and using this. We are not necessarily talking about those who are involved in other activities later on when they are 17 or 18; we are talking about children who are 13, 14 or 15 years of age.  I am really disappointed in the Department and the Minister because this is not something we should be having any form of political toing and froing on. This can be dealt with quickly. As someone who I think has the potential to change his mind for the right reason on the floor of the D\u00e1il, I urge him to do so.  If Sinn F\u00e9in had not brought in this Bill, we probably would have brought it in, to be honest. I encourage the Minister to accept it and not take the run-of-the-mill action whereby he just signs off on it and leaves it be because it is downright lazy. It is not good enough. I think the Minister is better than that. I think he has the capacity to deal with this very quickly through the various Stages of the Bill whether it is Committee Stage or Report Stage. This would ensure that the children of Ireland are not left open to this and do not have the opportunity to use this, that those who are involved in this at a criminal level have the legs taken out from them, that garda\u00ed are empowered to seize these within reasonable reason in relation to what they are used for and that the law will protect that decision making. It would also ensure that communities across Ireland do not have the spectre of Tidy Towns groups going around every weekend picking these up canisters all over the place. From a healthcare point of view, it would ensure we do not have situations whereby every weekend if you go into University Hospital Limerick, South Tipperary General Hospital or many other model 3 or 4 hospitals across the country you will have a range of children, in particular, who will have burns on their faces and hands because of the misuse of this substance. There are also neurological and reproductive issues because of this.  I ask the Minister to do the right thing. This Bill is not perfect and I do not think Deputy Ward said it was perfect, but it deserves to go to Committee Stage. I expect the Government to change its mind and do the right thing. We can all work on it then and at least it will be in the process of being legislated for and will give hope to people who know this is the right thing to do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Of course, the Social Democrats are going to support this Bill, but I first want to commend Deputy Mark Ward on having the diligence to bring forth such a comprehensive Bill. I also commend the heart he brings to this issue. We are supporting this Bill because quite clearly nitrous oxide misuse has become visible in too many communities because of the current free-for-all around access, particularly for children and teenagers. It is quite simply not good enough and is actually worse than not good enough. It is also the case - this was captured in the Minister's opening contribution - that the sale of nitrous oxide is already illegal under the psychotic substances Act and is already provided for under the children's Act. That screams another larger question, does it not?  When I go up to watch a local football team on a Sunday morning, go for a walk through town or bring my dog for a walk in the morning, I see these canisters everywhere. We have heard stories - I know people talk to me about it in the constituency - and we have heard media reports about how many young people are consuming these poisonous products. We have also heard about the damage that is being caused, but I do not think one single shop has been convicted for the sale of these products. The Minister talked earlier about the illegality of these products, but there is a big flashing warning sign that despite how prevalent they are in front of our eyes, there is no enforcement.  Deputy Ward has been told that the House will come back to it in nine months. However, as I support the Bill, I will support it honestly and not just simply as a box-ticking exercise because it will not be legislation on its own that will solve what people are seeing in our streets, parks and outside schools. The reality is that nitrous oxide admittedly exists in an awkward place. It is a legitimate product with lawful uses in healthcare and food preparation but it is very clearly being exploited and used as a harmful intoxicant. That is why I do not believe blunt criminalisation would work in this instance and it is very welcome that Deputy Ward is not going down this road.  Doing nothing is also a choice, and that choice has left families and local communities feeling like the State has been absent. They will hear tonight that we are doing nothing for a further nine months and then for whatever time after that. At its core, the legislation introduces a licensing and regulatory system. Wholesales must be licensed and retailers must be registered. That is the spine of the Bill. There does not seem to be anything controversial in there to me. It simply brings visibility to who is selling nitrous oxide, from where and on what basis. It restricts sales to exempt purchasers only: people in businesses with legitimate reasons to buy nitrous oxide including medical professionals and food and catering businesses. It introduces a clear prohibition on sales to under 18s, including online sales and proxy purchasing. It also gives garda\u00ed powers to seize nitrous oxide in public spaces where there are reasonable grounds to believe it is being used as an intoxicant alongside search, disposal and enforcement provision. Those are very meaningful steps. On an issue like this, clarity would be very helpful for all involved, especially the garda\u00ed.  It also very clearly matters to communities and to parents. I want to put something on the record that goes beyond this product because nitrous oxide does not exist in a vacuum. What people are experiencing in our communities is not just littered canisters; it is the normalisation of drug use and the presence of informal supply chains. In many areas, drug-related intimidation is making daily life not just unsafe but also unbearable. Families see who controls the spaces, young people know who supplies what and the State often arrives late or very rarely at all in some instances. The hardest part is addressing the demand, the culture and the perception of harm or lack thereof. Nitrous oxide is still treated by many as harmless fun when we simply know that is not true. The neurological damage, the emergency presentation and the long-term harm are very real and very terrifying. Schools are often dealing with this without supports, and parents are dealing with it without the answers from the State.  I support bringing order to the supply chain, but I will not pretend this Bill creates the education, prevention or treatment pathways to make that regulation stick.  That is where the wider failure in the drugs policy becomes impossible to ignore. I am the Chair of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Drug Use. This committee was established to ensure our drugs policy is evidence-based, health-led and effective. Yet, as we stand here today, the committee is still waiting patiently for a copy of the national drugs strategy. In fact, we have asked and we have had very little contact from the Department as to when we will see a copy of that document, which is really important to the work of all of us. I would like to see some urgency and some leadership in this area that reflects the scale of the crisis that our communities are living with the length and breadth of Ireland. If the drugs trade is at the heart of intimidation, harm and exploitation in our communities, and it very much is, then we cannot keep treating drugs policy as something to be parked or delayed for a further nine months. This Bill very clearly shows what happens when urgency exists. Deputy Mark Ward has brought a very comprehensive Bill through two Stages now. It would be very worthwhile for us to explore this at the justice committee. I do not see what harm would come from allowing it to pass.  On awareness, we also need to be honest about awareness campaigns. Awareness is a word we reach for when we do not want to fund services. Everyone says they want awareness campaigns but awareness is not automatically effective and is not automatically harmless either. There is strong emerging research that shows that poorly designed universal, skill-based interventions can lead to unintended harms, including increased anxiety and reduced well-being for some young people. That matters because if we charge into schools with a one-size-fits-all message, we risk failing to change behaviour while also increasing distress and poor-quality information. I want the State to intervene in the concept of awareness but I want it to do so in an evidence-based way. It must be properly co-designed with young people, targeted where needed, linked with real supports and evaluated honestly and consistently. A licensing and regulation system will only work if the body running it is properly resourced. This Bill allows for a licensing authority to be designated and I think at a committee level we could explore how that would work, what enforcement capacity it would have and how best compliance would be monitored at scale.  The online market is another challenge. While the Bill addresses remote sales, the reality is that young people access products through platforms, social media and delivery routes that are notoriously difficult to police. Without serious work on platform accountability, customs controls and age verification standards that actually work, we risk displacing supply rather than stopping it. Displacement is a familiar pattern in drugs policy. If we restrict one product without building a prevention and support mechanism, the use simply shifts elsewhere. That is not a reason to do nothing, but it is a reason to ensure supply control is part of a health-led strategy and not a substitute for one.  Seizure powers can also cut both ways. If they are used proportionally, they can and should prevent harm. If they are used bluntly, they can deepen it. If the only interaction a young person has with the State is a form of worthy confiscation on the part of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, with the subsequent humiliation that comes with it, we risk entrenching disengagement rather than reducing harm. Enforcement must be paired with diversion, youth services and family supports. We will of course be supporting the Bill, but supporting it should mean supporting it as a foundation, not as a finished product. If this was allowed to progress to Committee Stage - I see no justifiable reason it should not - what we could be exploring at Committee Stage would be stronger traceability and record keeping, meaningful online age verification standards, sensible product capacity restrictions and a statutory link to health and education so that prevention is not left to those who are demonstrating improvisation in their schools and communities in the absence of State support. Above all, it should mean real resources because a register without enforcement is just a spreadsheet, and seizure power without follow-through is often just a headline.  I assure the families and communities who I know will be watching debates such as this with interest that they are very clearly not imagining what they are seeing. They are seeing the effects of a drugs trade that is embedded, adaptive and too often unchecked. Too often communities are told that they have laws, as we were told earlier, but then they wonder why they never seem to be enforced. I support the Bill. I absolutely commend Deputy Ward on the work he has done in bringing it forward, I will be asking the Government to simply allow it to pass. I do not have much expectation because all too frequently during these nine months the Opposition brings forward a Bill and then on a Tuesday or Wednesday the Taoiseach will tell us that we do not bring forward any ideas. On Thursday the drugs committee will also be exploring the area of nitrous oxide and aerosol abuse and we look forward to scrutinising different areas of expertise within that also. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  Like my other colleagues around the House and from the Government benches as well, I want to congratulate Deputy Ward on this Bill, which is well put together. I accept, as the Minister said, that a little bit of tweaking here and there and a little bit of change to X, Y and Z needs to be done. That could be achieved by leaving this Bill go forward to Committee Stage. I cannot help but think there is a bit of politics being played here tonight. As a previous speaker said, we are being berated here by a Government Minister who is telling us to come up with our own legislation and come up with a new plan. In fairness, we are putting new plans together all the time. We are putting forward new legislation. We are submitting ideas to the House. We are giving information to the House and providing credible opposition. Something we are all united on - the voices around the House have been all united tonight - is that there is a serious problem with nitrous oxide. I am familiar with this product because I used it in my catering business and in my bar and restaurant business. I am familiar with the size of it. It amazes me now when I see these products coming online. I used to buy the silver bullets in packs of ten which cost about \u20ac14.95 to buy for a catering business. I used to buy it from Musgraves or MP O'Sullivans and I would use that. Those in the medical profession would use the very large canisters. There is no need for the super-sized canisters that we are now finding in football and GAA pitches, in housing estates and on the edge of the road. Whether we are in Cork, Dublin, Limerick, Waterford or Galway, we are finding them everywhere. Every Tidy Towns committee is saying the same thing.  The other thing that has not been addressed in this House is that when nitrous oxide canisters are put into incinerators, they cause huge damage across the country. Nobody is mentioning that. This is a serious problem that has been noted in the Dublin incineration plans. It is causing litter problems and damage to incinerators. As we all know in this House, nitrous oxide is just one of the issues. We have head shops in Cork city, Limerick city, Galway city and Dublin city. These head shops are selling legal highs. The nitrous oxide and the other items sold in head shops, are, to my mind, the gateway drugs of today. Kids are starting off as young as 12, 13 or 14 and being introduced to this. Years ago we used to hear stories of sniffing bags of glue. Now it is filling up a balloon and sniffing this laughing gas. It is a small way of getting into illegal highs, but what is next? Is it going to be marijuana in a year's time? Is it going to be cocaine? We all know this is readily available. We all know the types of characters that are supplying this. They are buying it from wholesalers or directly importing it on Amazon or from companies in China. They are buying large amounts of this, bringing it into the country and selling it directly, sometimes for three, four or ten times the price of what an ordinary bullet would actually cost.  On the proposed legislation and how it has been put together, what the Government has said is very minute. The Government is saying it will wait for Europe. Why is Ireland not taking a lead on this? Why are we not the leading country on this? Why do we have to wait? For example, why did we have to wait for Ciaran Mullooly in Europe recently to head the charge on Mercosur? The Government stayed quiet. The Taoiseach was saying one thing in China and Fianna F\u00e1il TDs were saying something else in the background. Here we are again, waiting for the almighty masters of Europe to tell us what to do. Why are we not taking charge of this ourselves? That is what we are meant to be doing. If we continue to respond by saying we have to wait for the European legislation to come in, this House is superfluous. There is no point in being in this House. There is no point in writing Irish legislation if we are going to be waiting for that. I have to say I am very disappointed. It seems to me that we are playing politics. I would like the Government to reverse this decision, as Deputy Alan Kelly has said. There is no shame in changing your mind at the eleventh hour when the idea is right. Leave it go to Committee Stage and leave us add extras such as the head shops. If we legislate to protect our young people, we can stop this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I support fully this Bill by my Sinn F\u00e9in constituency colleague, Deputy Mark Ward. In terms of its efforts to restrict the sale, possession and supply of nitrous oxide products, it has added to the whole debate. It should absolutely be lauded. In that context, while I take on board what the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, said about EU legislation and having to give notice and having to look at the legislation because it was seen only in the past while, we know that Second Stage Bills coming from Opposition parties cannot proceed to Committee and Report Stages unless the Government facilitates that in any event. There is a lot of time, even up to nine months, that could have been used to prepare the Bill for the next Stage and have that proper debate, so I do not see the excuse as being particularly valid. I do take on board what the Minister said about the existing legislation that makes it an offence to sell nitrous oxide if it is for unpermitted use as a drug product. The question I ask there is that if that is the case, how come that legislation has not been enforced to the extent we would like it to be enforced over the past ten years? That is a question that has not been answered. If this legislation, as proposed, makes it a little heavier and puts greater onus on the supply chain, it can only be a good thing.  There is the question, as others have mentioned, if this were to go through tomorrow, no matter what way it were to be amended, as to whether the Garda has the resources to follow up. Will the inspection authority have the resources to follow it up and prosecute where required? These are questions that have not been answered.  There is a wider issue as well, as Deputy Gannon and others have referred to. I go back to one of the comments made by one of the Sinn F\u00e9in contributors, who quoted Ciara Murphy, project leader at the Finglas youth service, who highlighted on \"Prime Time\" how the price of alcohol is actually driving the use of nitrous oxide. If anything, that should be seen as a slight positive in the sense that alcohol still causes a significantly higher number of deaths among young people than nitrous oxide. Alcohol is one of the biggest risk factors for death and disability in 15-to-24-year-olds in Ireland, and one in four deaths of young men aged 15 to 34 is directly related to alcohol. With 50,000 children starting to drink in Ireland every year, anything we can do legislatively through the pricing mechanism - the minimum price, etc. - is a good thing. Almost 50% of young driver fatalities - I am going back now because I do not have the up-to-date legislation - from 2013 to 2017 had toxicology for alcohol. More recently, we have toxicology for drugs as well.  Nitrous oxide usage is a growing public health concern. I and my team, when we go around, are picking canisters up left, right and centre. We have been told by the local authority that you can put them into domestic bins. Where they go after the domestic bins, however, is definitely another question because they can cause safety hazards for workers sifting through that rubbish, so it is better to bring them to recycling centres. I mentioned the other day, in relation to nitrous oxide but during debate on the vaping legislation, that there is a different angle in terms of the storage, supply and monitoring from a safety and environmental perspective in relation to nitrous oxide canisters. Tonight is not the time to digress too much in that regard but we have all seen them all over the place causing a blight on our landscape, so it is not just the numerous health issues, for young people in particular, but also the environmental damage. The environmental aspect needs to be brought back.  I will talk for a second about the issue of the addiction in general. I note that this legislation deliberately, and rightly, seeks not to criminalise young people for possession of nitrous oxide canisters but no more than people caught with bottles of vodka or bottles of gin, there seems to be no mechanism for intervening from a public health perspective. When we had some of the debates at local authority and national levels about decriminalisation of cannabis, for example, the Portuguese model was often cited where it was seen as a health issue. In the context of this, I am not sure about the technical nature of this proposed legislation or if it can be worked in here but if people are caught in possession of nitrous oxide canisters, or indeed bottles of alcohol, it should be recorded, not as a criminal offence but to ensure that there is some form of intervention, whether it is through youth services, an education programme or some sort of mental health service, depending on whether the community garda\u00ed are involved and know the individuals concerned. Too often, addiction spreads out. It covers a multitude. This just happens to be the addiction of choice for a lot of people in the current age. If we clamp down on this, they will find something else. There was an incident recently involving a poor young lad in relation to aerosol usage, for example. No matter what, people will try to find ways to get that buzz. It is the why people want to get that buzz as well as the how people want to get that buzz that needs to be tackled in the wider context. I am not trying to say, \"There are other issues we need to look at; therefore, this Bill is not important.\" This Bill is extremely important. It needs to be brought to Committee Stage as soon as possible so we can have a proper debate on it. I thank my constituency colleague, Deputy Ward, along with other colleagues and the service who worked with him on this, for bringing it forward because it is very useful legislation. That has to be recognised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I thank Deputy Ward for making us all aware of this. If anyone thinks I knew anything about nitrous gas or laughing gas or whatever it is, I did not. I can understand now, since it has been explained to me, its disastrous effect. It can seriously impair youngsters. Perhaps the Bill will do nothing but make parents aware and make us all more aware.  I was listening to the Minister. Apparently, he does not have the legislation he wants to put in place ready yet. He says this is being covered by other rules or other regulations and is covered in a different way, but I would like to see more stringent controls and awareness for youngsters who may be inclined to seek this buzz, like Deputy Gogarty said, or whatever it is. Youngsters, being youngsters, will try different things at different points in time. It is good that we have this talk and that legislation will be put in place in the short term. I will ask the Minister to expedite this. He said it would be nine months. I would like to have it put in place maybe in three or four months' time. We are talking about human life. When something happens in human life and if people die, they cannot be brought back, so there is urgency.  As I said at the outset, I know little about this. I am thankful for being made aware of it. I hope that we will all work together and ensure that proper legislation is brought forward to deal with it. I appeal to the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, to ensure we get the answer and the legislation we need to curb this. As well as that, I would like people to be made more aware of this. I thought I knew a lot. I am on the road every day and night and out everywhere but I never heard of this nitrous gas before. That is how it is. I am thankful for the opportunity to talk about this. I will vote for legislation when it is brought forward. I know Sinn F\u00e9in would like to have this brought forward now but I am honest, and maybe there is more to be looked at. We will give the Minister the chance to do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  I move amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"That\" and substitute the following:  \"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann resolves that the Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025 be deemed to be read a second time this day nine months.\".  Following on from my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan's earlier remarks, I too commend the Deputies on their Bill, which attempts to address the scourge of nitrous oxide misuse and its damaging effects on public health, communities and young people in particular. While we share the aim and acknowledge the intentions behind the Bill, the Government is not convinced that this approach is the correct way of achieving it. However, I commend Deputies on their willingness to explore solutions to this problem.  In my role as Minister of State with responsibility for the national drugs strategy, one of my main priorities is to respond to emerging trends and to reduce the harm caused by misuse of substances. Prevention and awareness are crucial, which was brought up tonight. I am mindful of that in helping our young people as they navigate a society where the drugs and substance situation is evolving. I know we spoke about the drugs strategy. We have not had a drugs strategy in ten years. It is nearly ready. I should have it in the next few days for the committee. Everything is changing all the time. It is important that we are ahead of this, how we look at it and how we get the right solutions. I am also conscious that there is a major environmental problem with the disposal of the canisters, which are seen littering many of our towns and villages.  The HSE continues to monitor the use of nitrous oxide, which is commonly known as laughing gas. As other speakers have said, it is most commonly known as laughing gas. It is important to tailor appropriate and targeted messages. Targeted advertisements are shared every few weeks on the topic of nitrous oxide with audiences over the age of 18 as well as messages which aim to create awareness of long-term use and signs of concern which people can look out for. There is awareness. We need to look again at whether we need to adjust it and how we work on that but there is awareness and it is important that we get that message out.  The European Union Drugs Agency has conducted an EU-wide review of nitrous oxide and it highlighted several key issues regarding the prevention of use, including the role of youth workers, targeted distribution of messages, and the role of parents. In line with the EU Drugs Agency's recommendations, the HSE continues to provide a targeted approach, working together with drug and alcohol task forces around the country. We have 24 task forces. I know and value their work. This is important. Parents are offered information on nitrous oxide by the HSE in various formats. It is important that they are well informed. Specific information is available on drugs.ie and through a parent fact sheet. The HSE has developed a harm reduction fact sheet. It is including the risks, effects and harm reduction advice. These fact sheets have been distributed to the drug and alcohol task forces, student unions, at festivals, and to third level institutions. Social media channels and drugs.ie provide nitrous oxide content that is informative, helpful and shareable. The HSE social media team responds directly to people's questions about substances, including nitrous oxide, through direct messaging on all channels. The HSE's social media posts also drive web traffic to its dedicated content on drugs.ie .  I know that we need to do more. That is why the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and I are saying this. We will work with Deputies on it. Strengthening the prevention of drug and alcohol use among children and young people is a strategic priority under the national drugs strategy. Some \u20ac1.5 million has been allocated in my Department for a three-year drug and alcohol prevention and education programme which aims to strengthen the prevention of drug and alcohol use and related harm among children and young people. We know that the challenge of regulating nitrous oxide cuts across multiple Departments and existing laws. It is a public health issue for my Department and the HSE. It is a public order issue for the Department of justice and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. I also commend the work of Revenue in tackling the illegal importation of nitrous oxide at our ports. That is another area that we have to strengthen. I compliment it for its work. It is an environmental issue concerning hazardous waste disposal for the Department of the environment. It is a trade and enterprise issue for the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment. As the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, outlined, there are important developments at EU level which must be considered carefully in our response.  Given the number of Departments involved, it is important that we work together on this challenge. A coherent and consistent approach is therefore essential. These issues need to be considered in a broader context to ensure a more developed legislative policy and operational infrastructure that addresses the issues. I am conscious of the concerns of this House and among parents as we see increasing use of nitrous oxide and the evidence from doctors of the serious harm that it is causing. I know that it is worrying and that people are frustrated as they see companies flouting the law or advertising these substances. As Minister of State at the Department of Health, I am committed to protecting the health of our young people. I will be working with my Government colleagues on the best way to do this.  As we saw the rise of HHC before it was banned, new trends are constantly emerging with serious consequences for health. I want to ensure that under our new national drugs strategy, which I will soon be bringing to Government, our health system is responsive and people can access the information and help they need. Where something like nitrous oxide is widely available and has many legitimate uses, such as catering and in the motor industry, preventing harm is difficult but I know that my Government colleagues share my determination.  This has been a really useful debate and I thank the Deputies, particularly Deputy Mark Ward, who I have worked with for a long time. He and Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe have worked extremely hard on this. I see their concerns. I know we are putting it back by nine months but I know the Bill is important. The contributions, and steps the Deputies have taken, are really important. I know, like the Deputies, that these are life issues that are being discussed, which relate directly to public health, community safety, and our obligation to correctly comply with EU laws. The approach of the Government this evening reflects that. I believe that the timed amendment provides the necessary space for this analysis. I have heard Deputy Ward speak on this several times. I know his commitment. Working in my own remit in the Department of Health and on the drugs strategy, we see things changing all the time. I thank Deputy Ward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  Three and a half years ago, I raised during Questions on Policy or Legislation the use of nitrous oxide, also known as hippie crack, as recreational drug, and asked that the Government put in place legislation to regulate its sale. To date, this has not been done, and this Sinn F\u00e9in Bill, sponsored by my colleagues, Mark Ward and Se\u00e1n Crowe, is a timely response to the Government's failure to put forward similar legislation. The use of nitrous oxide has become pervasive in many communities across Ireland, particularly among more economically disadvantaged communities. A number of years ago, it would not be uncommon to find large quantities of discarded small silver canisters along the footpaths of estates or around greens. These piles of small canisters are less commonly seen now and have been replaced by larger, fast gas canisters, which can be bought for as little as \u20ac20 or less. The hundreds of discarded canisters lying around estates, parks and rural areas pose an environmental hazard, particularly for wildlife, domestic pets and livestock.  Those using this gas are putting their health at risk. Doctors have warned of the dangers of using the gas. It has caused neurological damage and can even cause frostbite burns, which can be so severe that some children using the gas have needed skin grafts, which has led to permanent scarring. The gas is released at sub-zero temperatures and if this is inhaled, it can cause severe injury to the mouth, throat and lungs, as well as potentially rupturing lung tissue. Emergency departments are increasingly seeing cases of young people showing progressive nerve damage in their arms and legs. The sheer volume of canisters that are being found in communities every day shows that they are far too easily accessible.  There are even reports that children as young as ten are using the gas. The use of nitrous oxide as a recreational drug has now become a major public health issue. This is a gas whose intended use is for medical and industrial purposes. It should not be freely available for purchase by the general public. This Bill takes a common-sense approach whereby access to these gas canisters is regulated and only sold through licensed suppliers, thereby ensuring they only go to the people who are meant to have them. I urge the Government to support this Bill and help to safeguard our children and communities from this pervasive and harmful gas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  A number of years ago, I was on a clean-up of one of the parks in my constituency. It was a beautiful day. I remember looking down to the stream and I could see all these little silver canisters. I was aware it was really young people, children, who were actually using them. I coined the phrase \"silver bullets\" on the basis that these kids were basically playing Russian roulette. I came up with legislation and its aim was that, like cigarettes, this would be banned. I went to the Minister for children at the time, who was putting forward legislation. I met his officials and so on. Anyway, it was not a fit. I got the impression the people I was talking to did not really get the challenge being faced. At that time, the canisters were a different size. As was said, the canisters are now bigger. We have all seen them. It is not surprising that Deputy Danny Healy-Rae does not know about it because a lot of parents do not but they see these blue things at the side of the road.  Deputy Mark Ward and I put our heads together then to try to decide how we would respond to it. One of the key things was that the children taking this thing should not be criminalised. That was the approach we wanted to take. I was also aware from the Garda of the challenges its members were facing. If they seized the drugs, technically, some of these people importing them could say it was for a legitimate use. One of the things I was told was that putting it on the drugs register would make it more difficult for them and they would actually have to prove it. As people said, the challenge nowadays is that there are so many young people doing this. It is really children. I am not talking about teenagers but about children who are using it. We have heard people talking about the impact it can have. They are literally risking their lives in relation to it. We have heard about some of the hospitals and adults and children presenting in relation to it. It has become very popular and people think it is safe. Others have spoken about the effects it can have on your brain or collapsed lungs, frostbite and so on. There is a whole range of things. A lot of the young people who are trying it are not particularly interested in that; they just want a legal high. It is so cheap, and, as someone said, it is a gateway. It is probably a gateway for some and probably the first drug they have ever used.  I am appealing to the Minister of State. I do not care whose legislation goes forward. We need to do something in relation to this and we need to do it now. I am disappointed that the Government is adopting this approach. Collectively, though, we need to come together and sort this out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  I call Deputy Ward to conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I just want to thank everyone who spoke in support of this Bill. I thank Deputy Crowe in particular because, in fairness to him, he did a hell of a lot of work on this Bill to make sure we protect the children and the end-user was not criminalised. I thank the other Opposition parties whose members spoke in support of the legislation, including the Labour Party, the Social Democrats, Independent Ireland and Deputy Paul Gogarty. As was said, this is a common-sense Bill and it should be allowed to go onto Committee Stage. Deputy Gannon, I think, said it is like a foundation that can be built on. I am not egotistical enough to think this Bill is absolutely perfect. I am willing to work with the Minister of State and the Government to improve it.  I was bemused by the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. I thought I wrote his speech myself because he was making all the same points I was making. When I come in here to talk about a Bill, often there is clear blue water between the Government and the Opposition. There did not seem to be on this legislation. I cannot think of any legitimate reason, and I know a multitude of reasons was given, other than this is just a political decision not to pass this Bill. The Minister actually commended me on the legislation itself. What he did say, which does not wash with me, is that he only became aware of this Bill in the past week. I introduced this Bill in the last D\u00e1il term, and then I reintroduced it as soon as I could in this D\u00e1il, so this legislation has been ready to go to Second Stage for quite some time. Every chance I get when I am in this House, and the Minister of State herself will know this, I will raise this legislation. The Minister coming in here and saying he was not aware of the Bill simply does not wash.  The Minister also mentioned there were several pieces of legislation already out there that should be working in relation to combating nitrous oxide. Walk down any park, street or stream, as Deputy Crowe said, and you will see discarded nitrous oxide canisters. It is not working. How many people have been convicted of selling nitrous oxide over the past number of years? I could not find anybody who has been convicted, so the legislation out there is not working.  Regarding the EU issue and kicking this down the road until the EU comes in with its derogation in 2027, I said in my contribution that we are an independent, sovereign state. We should be making our own laws. We do not have to wait for the EU to come in with a law. Holland has done it already. It came out with legislation a couple of years ago, which was very similar to this. It is not waiting on the EU. We know how liberal that country is in relation to drug laws. If it is bringing legislation to tackle nitrous oxide, we know there is a problem.  The financial burden on businesses was mentioned. There is no financial burden on businesses from this legislation. There is no cost for a licence. An application is made to the Minister for the licence and to be on the approved list of retailers. There is no cost to retailers or sellers who have a legitimate reason to use nitrous oxide. The Minister also mentioned the Garda having the powers to seize nitrous oxide not being in this Bill. If we turn to sections 6 and 11, section 6 will give the Garda the power to seize nitrous oxide canisters from people who it is believed intend to use it as an intoxicant. Section 11 of this Bill sets out the powers garda\u00ed will have to enter and search properties they reasonably suspect are being used to sell nitrous oxide without a licence or to the non-exempted purchaser.  I pay tribute to Joe who works in my office. Joe, myself and the OPLA worked on this legislation. I do not have a team of staff like the Minister has. I do not think he read the Bill if he did not see sections 6 and 11 that specifically work in relation to giving the Garda the right to seize nitrous oxide canisters. The Government often comes in here and criticises the Opposition for not bringing solutions. I am bringing in solutions. I was on \"Prime Time\" with the Minister of State a month ago and I offered her the Bill. She can take the Bill and call it a Government Bill. As Deputy Crowe said, I do not really care who brings this legislation in. The Clondalkin drug and alcohol task force has said children as young as 12 are using its service because of nitrous oxide use. Is it okay for those 12-year-olds to turn into 13-year-olds? This period of nine months does not make sense.  I said I am willing to work with anyone on this legislation. No legislation is perfect. The Government brings forward amendments, and then it tables amendments to its own legislation, so do not criticise the Opposition for doing the same. I am willing to work with the Government, all parties and none, to bring this legislation in. At this stage, I will be asking the Minister of State to withdraw this amendment because I really do not think it is good enough. We are giving the Government a solution. We are giving it the answer. We are willing to work with it but it is kicking us down the road. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  The division is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sale of Nitrous Oxide and Related Products Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Funding","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport (Deputy Charlie McConalogue)  I thank Deputy Byrne for the question. I know these are funds she has a strong interest in.  As the Deputy knows, my Department operates two capital funding programmes for sport, namely the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. Sporting organisations can apply directly for CSFF funding while applications to the LSSIF must be made through either a national governing body, NGB, of a sport or a local authority.  The Department made a total of 2,500 CSFF payments to over 1,400 sporting organisations in 2025, with a total value of just over \u20ac71 million. Details of all CSFF payments made to clubs in 2025 are available on the Department's website. That is relevant to the Deputy's question. Payments to LSSIF grantees in 2025 totalled just under \u20ac25 million. Details of those payments are available on the Department's website. I will ask my Department to send the links directly to the Deputy.  I am acutely aware of the need to assist all applicants, in particular first-time and rural organisations, in advance of the next funding round in terms of guidance on the scheme itself and on the application process. In this regard, I am currently inviting sporting organisations to information and consultation evenings on the CSFF. We held one of those in County Louth just before Christmas. We held another in Galway East and another will be held in Kilkenny this coming Thursday. The feedback from these information evenings is valuable to the Department to better understand the experiences, needs and challenges faced by clubs and other organisations. This feedback will be an important input to our preparations for the next round. My aim is to have as many eligible sporting bodies as possible in a position to apply so that the Government is in a position to support them in the important work they do at community and grassroots levels. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I am delighted for all the successful applicants and I know the funding will be put to good use. All of these grants are vital to our counties and local communities' sporting infrastructure. Many of our sporting bodies, from national governing bodies to local clubs, have put out reports and press statements on the need for new infrastructure and the upgrading of existing facilities. These funding streams are crucial to that. In the last round of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund, there were 96 applications, with just 35 being successful. We need a new focus on sport in this country and additional funding to be allocated. I am going to keep repeating that.  Both Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael made commitments in their manifestos to increase the betting tax from 2% to 3% and to use this funding to invest in sport, but this has not been done yet. That increase of 1% in the levy would have raised an additional \u20ac50 million in desperately needed funding for Irish sport.  To harness and evolve various sports, the simple fact is we need more funding, but we also need application processes that are user friendly. The information and consultation evenings are welcome. I look forward to seeing more of them being rolled out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  Our objective is to try to make the application process for both the sports facilities fund and the large-scale infrastructure fund as accessible and workable for clubs as possible. Obviously, when it comes to the large-scale infrastructure fund, the grants are of a much more significant scale - into the millions - and there is therefore more involved in the application process. We take on board the views of local authorities and the national governing bodies in relation to the prioritisation of those. We have had two rounds since 2019 of the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. The fund was recommended as part of the national sports strategy. There had not been a fund to cater for projects of this scale before. It was a really important step to ensure that there was funding for projects of scale to be able to be supported by the Government. Obviously, the demand is larger than the supply. Under the national development plan, though, we have funding for another round over the course of this Government. We will be looking to ensure that we engage with sporting organisations, local authorities and national governing bodies in advance of that to make sure that the process is as practical as possible while being robust at the same time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  It is important to note that national governing bodies are finding difficulties with the application process. I have been around the country, as has the Minister of State, meeting these organisations. There is a general agreement any time we talk about the grant application processes that they are overly bureaucratic. It is all right for large organisations that have the funds to hire in companies to assist them with their applications, but it is still a drain on limited resources. Smaller organisations simply do not have that luxury. Could we bear that in mind going forward and, if a remedy is needed, do something about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  It is something that we bore in mind. We are aiming at having a new round of the sports capital fund by early summer. We will certainly be taking on board the feedback we receive before then from sports clubs around the country and Deputies on trying to make sure that it is as accessible as possible. I know there have been challenges in the past. The smaller the organisation, the more challenging and daunting it can seem to apply. We do not want that to be the case. In terms of how we structure it, while we will have to have a robust and fair system, we also want to make sure it is an accessible system. That will be to the forefront of our minds in the final framing of the application process. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Organisations","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  Safeguarding in sport must be extended beyond child protection to include clear and enforceable adult safeguarding standards. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank Deputy O'Donoghue for his question on an important issue. As we know, everyone involved in sport in any capacity, regardless of age, should be able to enjoy an experience that is free from any form of abuse. The creation of a culture that promotes the safety and welfare of all involved must be at the core of the operations of all of our national governing bodies of sport. Sport Ireland, as the authority tasked with the development of sport in Ireland, works with the NGBs to ensure that appropriate safeguarding and athlete welfare policies are put in place, as well as mechanisms to handle complaints or issues when they arise.  Sport Ireland launched a national code of conduct template for sporting organisations in 2023, setting out guidelines and principles promoting the behaviours and conduct expected from athletes, coaches, parents and guardians as well as supporters, referees and officials, and club members. All NGBs were asked to use this template code of conduct as an opportunity to review their existing policies and procedures for handling code breaches in order to ensure a safe and respectful environment for all involved in Irish sport.  In 2025, Sport Ireland commissioned Safe Sport International to conduct a needs analysis in the area of safe sport for adults. The analysis included extensive consultation with sport sector stakeholders, safe sport advocates and other relevant stakeholders, including people with lived experience in this area. Sport Ireland is currently considering the resultant report, which will be central to informing future guidance.  Sport Ireland has an extensive suite of guidelines and codes of practice for the protection of children in sport, consistent with child protection guidance and legislation. There is regular communication between Sport Ireland and NGBs regarding NGBs' responsibilities in these areas.  As Minister of State, I fully support the implementation of effective safeguarding policies and procedures for adults and children across the sports sector while acknowledging that NGBs are independent, autonomous organisations responsible for their own governance, including safeguarding procedures and disciplinary and complaints processes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  Given the increasing and well-evidenced recognition of abuse, coercive control and harassment experienced by adults across sporting environments, not only within elite levels of sports but within community clubs and local clubs, does the Minister of State accept that the continued absence of a mandatory adult safeguarding policy constitutes a serious gap in governance, accountability and participant protection? In light of the clear duty of care owed to all participants, how can the Minister for State justify the reliance on voluntary and inconsistent safeguarding measures, particularly where power imbalances, dependency and vulnerability are known risks? Concrete steps need to be taken to develop a comprehensive national framework for adult safeguarding in sport. It would be great if the Minister of State could outline a clear timeline for the introduction and implementation of mandatory safeguarding standards for adults across all sporting bodies. He mentioned guidelines. Is there anything more concrete on a timeline? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It is crucial that everyone has a security and safety support network around them to ensure they can safely participate in sport. This takes a lot of effort by our clubs to make sure those structures are in place. It also forms a key part of the Government's work, with Sport Ireland, to ensure support and guidance are provided to NGBs. That is fully expected and required of the NGBs to continue to be able to avail of State support and funding. The ongoing work by clubs in all sports is exceptional. It takes massive voluntary effort by people every evening and at weekends to make sure support is available to young people and adults to participate in sports and structures are in place to ensure they are safe and protected from risk. We will continue to make sure this at the core of everything we do from a sporting point of view. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  The absence of robust safeguarding policies in many sports often comes to light by chance. However, even minimal scrutiny reveals that safeguarding is frequently treated as an afterthought for adults. It is only considered once something goes seriously wrong. When these situations arise, clubs are often ill prepared to respond appropriately. Responsibility is often placed on ordinary volunteers and members, many of whom have no training or experience in dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, stalking or intimidation. They are left attempting to address policies retroactively rather than proactively. By that stage, damage has already been done, trust has been broken and the safety and well-being of club members may have been profoundly compromised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  Sport Ireland sets the criteria. It has a strong set of criteria for child safeguarding compliance. It is a compulsory requirement for NGBs and a critical element of NGB funding. These criteria are reviewed twice annually. NGBs are required to submit their child safeguarding statements to Sport Ireland for review. Sport Ireland expects all funded organisations, as does the Government which funds Sport Ireland, to maintain those high standards of governance, strategic planning and operational delivery, including but not limited to coaching, development, anti-doping and safeguarding. Failure to meet these standards that are agreed to, whether through governance shortcomings, failure to deliver on strategic objectives, financial mismanagement or actions that not supportive of the commitments to national programmes, such as safeguarding, may result in a range of consequences, including repayment, cessation of funding, suspension or termination of funding or of formal recognition. We have a strong oversight mechanism in place and we will continue to keep a strong focus on it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Organisations"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Funding","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport (Deputy Patrick O'Donovan)  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. The public accounts committee published a report last November in respect of the 2023 appropriation account for Vote 33, which was the then Department of Tourism, Culture, Arts, Gaeltacht, Sport and Media, together with the 2023 financial statement of the Arts Council and the National Gallery of Ireland. In the report, the committee identified governance and oversight concerns across the Department and its agencies, including the Arts Council and the National Gallery. I understand the Minister for public expenditure will shortly issue his formal reply to the committee on the report.  I am committed to ensuring the highest standards of oversight, value for money and transparency. I have acted to address the issues identified in the report. These include the appointment of an expert advisory committee in regard to the Arts Council whose report I brought to the Government today; engagement with the Institute of Public Administration to provide expert independent advice around governance and oversight to my Department; and establishing a dedicated State body governance unit within the Department.  Transparency regarding departmental use of funds is ensured via publication of the annual budget books, the annual Revised Estimate and the annual appropriation account, as audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Each of these bodies under the aegis of the Department produces its own annual report and accounts, which are subject to audit and laid before both Houses. The Department and the bodies under its aegis, where relevant, appear before the public accounts committee and both Joint and Select Committees on Arts, Media, Communications, Culture and Sport.  My Department continues to advance work to improve oversight and governance of the State bodes under its aegis. This will ensure the highest robust, comprehensive, transparent and efficient oversight and governance framework for all those bodies, consistent with my commitment to ensuring that State bodies operate with accountability, integrity and efficiency. In addition, the Department has completed an evaluation of the Department's performance information system, as recommended in the 2023 report on the accounts of the public services issued by the Comptroller and Auditor General. Guidance and training on the value of performance information and approach to choosing robust indicators has been provided for all staff. These steps, together with ongoing compliance within procurement and appraisal guidelines, will help to ensure the Department delivers value for money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I am a member of the public accounts committee. I am glad the Minister mentioned the report we published in November. The highlights of that were the capital underspend in 2023; the National Gallery's X-ray equipment; the Art Council's failed IT project; departmental oversight and governance failures; decline in the RT\u00c9 licence fee income and emergency funding; performance measurement deficiencies; the Art Council's grant funding; and strategic funding transparency. It is a laundry list of failures of oversight and management by the Government that has dominated hours of debates in this Chamber and at multiple committees. These were only the 2023 scandals. I ask for a commitment that we will not see a repeat of this in the 2024 reports. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  What the Deputy has seen from me so far is that once I become aware of the issue with the Art Council and the issues in the National Gallery, I dealt with them, and I did so fairly comprehensively. The report on the Arts Council was published today. It runs to 245 pages and contains well in excess of 190 recommendations. There are recommendations for all Departments, including my Department, State bodies and the Arts Council.  Regarding the issue with the National Gallery, we dealt with that. The X-ray scanner went into use before Christmas. Regarding capital underspend, I have addressed this issue with the Deputy and Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh previously. The problem we have with many of the buildings housing the national cultural institutions is that they are not straightforward buildings like Leinster House. We have to go through a difficult and protracted procurement system. If we did not do so, we would be accused of jumping the gun and not obeying procurement rules or adhering to the public spending code. Based on the changes we have made in 2025, we will see a far better outcome regarding capital output in 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  That is a heartening response. I will point out that there are 149 recommendations in the report dealing with one entity. We sincerely hope we will not have to have reports on all these bodies with similar recommendations. If we are learning from that going forward, that is warmly welcomed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I hope the Deputy had a chance to look at the report. It took me from 5 January until today to get in under the bonnet of it. Not all 149 recommendations are necessarily attributable to the Arts Council alone. There is an awful lot in the report from which other agencies can learn as well. Similar issues have arisen in other bodies, as I know from my time on the public accounts committee. One of the greatest learnings of the report is that small bodies such as the Arts Council sometimes expect to deliver once-in-a-lifetime projects and they do not have the experience to do so. The failings were laid bare in this case. The report will make important reading, not only for the Arts Council but for other State agencies and Government Departments. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Arts Council","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  In February 2025, I ordered an external review of the governance and organisational culture in the Arts Council, following the disclosure of a loss on a failed \u20ac6.675 million IT project in the Arts Council's annual report for 2023. With the agreement of the Government, I established an expert advisory committee comprising Professor Niamh Brennan, Dr. Margaret Cullen and John McCarthy to deliver the review. The committee has concluded its work and today I brought its review to Government, which approved its publication and it is now publicly available.  The committee was fully independent in its approach and has ensured that the review process was robust, fair and transparent, leading to practical, actionable recommendations to improve the Arts Council's governance. The review includes 149 recommendations, as Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh has said, of which 100 are addressed to the Arts Council. The remainder are to the Department, the Department of public expenditure and reform and other Departments. It includes proposals for legislative changes, on which I intend to revert to Government. As I have mentioned, there are also a number of recommendations directed at my Department and more widely for the Government.  It is vital that we put in place structures to prevent future governance failures and I intend to implement in full the recommendations which are addressed to my Department and to the Arts Council. The Department will now engage directly with the interim director and the chair of the Arts Council to ensure that the organisation is supported during this interim period, ahead of what will be a time of significant change. This will be important for the wider arts sector and I want to assure it that the council will continue its day-to-day operation of supporting artists.  The Arts Council will have six weeks from today to submit a plan to me that sets out the actions it will take to implement the committee's recommendations, along with timelines for delivery. I have also instructed officials in the Department to establish a monitoring group to measure the Arts Council's progress and to ensure that it delivers on its implementation plan.  The recommendations that relate to my Department have been accepted and will be implemented in full, under the oversight of the management board. Progress will be measured through a quarterly report with a view to ensuring that the Department has a robust, comprehensive and effective governance oversight framework in place, not just in respect of the Arts Council but for all of the bodies under our responsibility. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I welcome that there is already a set timetable in terms of the recommendations for the Arts Council and the Minister's Department but the report itself goes beyond the Department and some of it is cross-cutting. The report was commissioned by the Minister and I take the opportunity to thank Professor Brennan and her team for publishing it. It identifies a lot of issues, some of which have already been addressed in the Arts Council and some of which have already been addressed, as far as I know, in the Department. There are substantial issues in terms of the public service as a whole to ensure such debacles do not happen again in smaller public sector bodies. There are recommendations which go beyond the Department. Has the Minister liaised with the Department of public expenditure and reform to ensure the recommendations associated with it will also progress? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh has raised a very important issue. The formulation, compilation and completion of the report was done independently but prior to the conclusion of the report the chapters relating to each individual entity were circulated to those entities for their observations. I did not receive the final report until 5 January and I published it today. I have accepted Professor Brennan's recommendations together with the committee in full and I thank the committee for the work it has done. As they say, it has done the State some service here. There is an opportunity as well for the committee of which Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh is a member to peruse the report, go through the recommendations and see. I will bring forward a timetable for implementation from the Arts Council which I will take back to the Government. I will have a quarterly review from my management board which I will also report to the Government. There is an awful lot here for other Departments, State bodies and semi-State bodies to examine to see whether there are recommendations that cross over and to see how they could be implemented to improve the operation of these bodies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  One of the key points that jumped out at me, given the context of other failed IT programmes, is that the report emphasised that a multiplicity of public service bodies of a similar scale to the Arts Council should be better supported from within the public sector when it comes to undertaking projects akin to the Arts Council project. There is a challenge there for the Government as a whole. The Minister is not responsible for this but I urge him to use the opportunity at Cabinet, when the report comes up, to remind all Departments that it is public money at the end of the day.  There is still an IT issue in the Arts Council. The project collapsed and obviously there is a need to address the grants application system, which was using a defunct system which was held together with Sellotape, I am told. There is also the issue of the directorship. Dr. Moling Ryan is temporarily in the job as an interim director. Is there any word on when the Minister is likely to be able to fill the role permanently? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I think Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh would agree with me that the Arts Council has gone through a fairly tumultuous period of change in the recent past, and I acknowledge the role that Dr. Moling Ryan has played as an interim director. I have no plans in the immediate future to do any further chopping and changing. I want to leave things bed down and get a genuine schedule and timetable for the change management that is now required to go through. There will also be legislative requirements and Professor Niamh Brennan referred to this also. Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh and I have discussed possible changes to the existing Arts Act. There will obviously be consultation and engagement with the committee that we will have to do. I do not want to see any other major change. There is a sufficient amount there.  On whether the Arts Council will get a new IT system, there is a board and executive and it may be that they may feel it is worthy to come back to the Department and revisit this whole thing from the start. There was a suggestion of an off-the-shelf version that could be acquired. I will consider anything but at the moment the most important thing is that the report is there, the recommendations need to be implemented, there is a schedule of timeframes before the implementation, there is engagement with the committee and there is the Arts Council getting back to the daily business of what it is best at. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Arts Council"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Artificial Intelligence","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  In recent weeks we have seen extremely troubling reports about the misuse of Grok, the AI tool developed by xAI and integrated into the X platform. This tool has enabled users to generate sexualised images of real people, including children. What engagement has the Minister had with this organisation in relation to the use of AI to generate harmful and illegal content on that platform over the past number of weeks? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I want to put on the record my disgust at the type of material that is being created and shared on social media. It is abhorrent. My first concern is with those affected, in particular women, young children and young people in general.  The sharing of non-consensual intimate images is illegal under the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act 2020, also known as Coco's Law; and the generation or distribution of any child sexual abuse material is illegal under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. If a member of the public is concerned about images shared online, they should report it immediately to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Such reports and complaints are important for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in its investigations of suspected criminality, and it is the responsibility of the Director of Public Prosecutions to direct prosecution of any individual or company for alleged offences.  People should also report this type of content to Hotline.ie , the national reporting centre, which will also pursue the removal of that content. Finally, under our online safety framework, there is an obligation on platforms to act on reports of illegal content. This is why I would encourage any user to report illegal content to the online platform where they saw it and to Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n. An coimisi\u00fan utilises complaints to help assess compliance by platforms with the online safety framework so reporting illegal content helps an coimisi\u00fan in its work.  Under the Digital Services Act, the European Commission has lead responsibility for the oversight of very large online platforms, including X. The European Commission has been very clear in warning X that it must remedy this matter and X has claimed it has taken certain steps to do so. However, the European Commission is taking investigative steps and an announcement on further action is expected imminently. This may include interim measures such as requiring a change to a service.  Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n is Ireland's digital services co-ordinator under the Digital Services Act and in this role it is continuing to work with the European Commission on this serious matter. I support the European Commission, as the lead regulator, in taking all possible and necessary steps to ensure that X is brought into compliance with its regulatory obligations.  As Minister, it would be wrong to seek to interfere with the process of investigation but I am committed, along with my Government colleagues, to doing all that is required to ensure that people, in particular women, children and young people, are protected online. Ireland has strong laws in place and the Attorney General is continuing to examine whether these can be further strengthened. I will bring a memorandum to Government in the coming weeks to set out our next steps. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I thank the Minister for his comprehensive response. I echo his sentiment. I and other members of the media committee feel the behaviour that has occurred in recent weeks is illegal and harmful and we cannot tolerate it.  Can the Minister outline any direct interaction he has had with X? Has he had such interaction with it or does he intend to do so? One thing I picked up from the witnesses who appeared before the media committee last week is that there is probably plenty of legislation in place but that the necessary resources are lacking in the context of ensuring that we can enforce it. I found it interesting that from the point of view of some of those witnesses, it is almost expected that the large social media platforms will honour their side of the bargain in terms of enforcement. Outside of X, does the Minister feel that this kind of mutual co-operation in enforcing legislation is there among all the social media platforms?  The representatives from the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na indicated that the force was investigating 200 or so images at that point. Does the Minister know if the number of such images has increased in the week since their appearance at the media committee? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I will take the last question first. I do not know if the number has increased. That is because it is a Garda matter. It is not for the Government to interfere in the operations of the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, nor is it the role of the Minister to interfere where there is an independent regulator. In this case, there are two independent regulators, namely Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and the European Commission. Due to the very large nature of the online platform under scrutiny in this instance, X, this is a matter for the Commission in the first instance. As the Deputy probably heard me say, I am expecting a statement imminently from the European Commission on this matter. I thought it would have come today or yesterday but it did not. I expect that, hopefully, it will come before the end of the week. The sooner it comes the better, to be quite honest.  In the context of my interaction with X, I met with its representatives prior to Christmas. I met them along with representatives from a number of other platforms, including Google, TikTok, Meta and LinkedIn. In respect of the latest controversy, given the fact I am the Minister with responsibility for the regulator and ensuring that the regulator fulfils its role, I do not think, to be quite honest, that it would be appropriate for me to meet somebody who would potentially be under investigation, no more than it would be appropriate for the Minister for Justice to meet them if it was a Garda-related matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  A lot of this is new to us. This is obviously developing very fast. The very nature of these media platforms and AI tools in particular mean that much of it is new. When questioning the Minister, I am not trying to point the finger at Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n or anybody else. In retrospect, does the Minister think that we could have acted on this faster, particularly in the context of learning lessons for the future and so on? The Minister said he hopes that a statement will be forthcoming, and the sooner the better. In that context, does he think, in retrospect, that we could have done anything better?  The Minister is probably aware that X has refused to send representatives to appear before the media committee of which Deputy Byrne and I are members. Does the Minister think that is an error on X's part and that it should reconsider its position? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I do think it is a mistake. To be quite honest, X should send representatives. The company is operating in the jurisdiction. The last time I was asked about people attending the committee in question was when the FAI said that it was not going to send representatives. I was asked on the radio whether I thought its representatives should appear and I said that they should. I also stated that a letter should be issued on the afternoon of that day. A letter was issued. I think X's representatives should go in. Representatives from all the platforms should do so. Failure to engage with the people's representatives in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann says an awful lot. I do not think other social media platforms take that view. They have engaged with the committee and I know that Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n has done so as well.  In relation to what we have done, it is important to point out that the House has taken significant steps with regard to issues around child sex abuse, pornography and pornographic images of children. The State has acted in that context. It has also acted very clearly in respect of the sharing of images in a non-consensual fashion. It is illegal to do that in this country. We had a meeting the other night, convened by the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste, in respect of this issue. I will be bringing a memorandum to the Government on this matter shortly in order to update it on what exactly the current situation is vis-\u00e0-vis the law. If there are further changes that I or the Minister of Justice or both of us together need to do in this space, we will make them. Ideally, this should be done by the European Commission. It is regrettable that the European Union has not done more in this space. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Artificial Intelligence"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Telecommunications Infrastructure","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I want to bring to the Minister's attention the lack of mobile phone coverage in one of our busiest little towns in east Galway. I refer to Mountbellew, which hosts quite a lot of activity in terms of national schools, two secondary schools and a the new third level college, namely the Atlantic Technological University, ATU, campus. The one thing that is really dogging those who live and work in Mountbellew is the lack of mobile phone coverage. We need a plan in terms of making Mountbellew an attractive place to do business. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Mobile network operators are continuously enhancing and improving their networks across rural and urban areas. However, I am aware that the quality of network coverage is not uniform across the country. While the availability of mobile phone coverage is primarily a matter for mobile network operators, operating on a commercial basis in a liberalised market, they are regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. In the first instance, where customers are not receiving the coverage, they should contact the customer care team of their mobile phone operator to make a complaint regarding poor coverage and follow their official complaint procedure. Complaints, if not resolved to the consumer's satisfaction, can then be escalated to ComReg.  It should be noted that ComReg completed a multi-band spectrum award, MBSA, in January 2023 to assign long-term rights of use in four spectrum bands to enable operators to provide improved services to meet increasing consumer demand for mobile services. This award represented a 46% increase in the harmonised spectrum assigned for the provision of wireless broadband services, including 4G and 5G, in Ireland and included significant coverage obligations for operators.  Those MBSA2 licence obligations place a key focus on delivering improved coverage to population centres, such as places where people work and live, rather than solely focusing on geographical coverage. They also focus on improving network coverage of the national primary road network. Those obligations will come into effect on an incremental basis three, five and seven years after the licences were first awarded in 2023. As such,it is expected that ComReg will assess operators\u2019compliance with their three-year obligations under the licence this year.  Operators continue to add new capacity to their networks using their newly acquired radio spectrum. The timing of the improvements delivered by mobile operators are influenced in part by their ability to acquire and build new sites for increased coverage.  While the Department has no role in developing site-specific strategies for mobile coverage improvements, its digital connectivity strategy, which was published in 2022, sets ambitious targets for fixed and mobile connectivity. To assist consumers to choose the network provider that best meets their needs, ComReg continually updates and enhances its online national outdoor mobile coverage map at coveragemap.comreg.ie , which provides information on mobile network providers for 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G mobile networks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I thank the Minister for that comprehensive response. People have made calls to the relevant service providers. Unfortunately, that has not changed matters as they stand. My concern is that Mountbellew is a thriving town. It needs the interconnectivity to which I refer. What is happening is not just an inconvenience. Obviously, safety is an issue. Older people all require access to mobile phone coverage. Regrettably, people have to drive at least two or three miles outside the town of Mountbellew before they can use their mobile phones. That is fundamentally damning in this day and age, particularly in the context of a thriving village where many things are happening in the very busy co-operative mart, on the ATU campus and in the secondary and national schools. It behoves us to exert pressure wherever is required in order to make sure that Mountbellew is not left behind. At present, it is being left behind. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I will refer the Deputy's queries directly to ComReg and get a more comprehensive reply with regard to the specific geographical area. I do not know whether operators have, for instance, sought planning permission for masts or other infrastructure in the area or whether, if they have, these have been looked upon favourably by Galway County Council. Anecdotally, all of us in this House know of situations where mobile phone coverage is poor. This is always linked back to the lack of mobile phone infrastructure.  We have all been at meetings where people are present who do not want mobile phone masts but who also probably will contact our constituency offices to state they have poor mobile phone coverage. What will make an improvement is the roll-out of the national broadband plan because it will provide for improvement for indoor wireless coverage. That can be vastly improved. The roll-out of that plan by commercial operators is significantly improving across the country, including in County Galway. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  Just by way of conclusion, Mountbellew has people, businesses, educational institutions and ambition but what it lacks is the urgent need for basic, reliable mobile phone coverage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  In a lot of cases, existing public infrastructure is used for the installation of mobile telephony infrastructure and other infrastructure, for example, by the Office of Public Works for Garda stations and by local authorities when it comes to water towers, reservoirs and other such sites. In its own way, the national broadband plan will improve the quality of internal calls because people will be diverted directly on to their Wi-Fi. They will also be able to make calls via the Internet, which will make things an awful lot easier. I will get a more comprehensive reply from ComReg to the specific issue the Deputy has raised, which relates to the town of Mountbellew. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 136 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Telecommunications Infrastructure"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"National Broadband Plan","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I want to raise with the Minister the roll-out of the national broadband plan in the area west of Macroom - the switches for Carriganimmy, B\u00e9al \u00c1tha an Ghaorthaidh and Dunmanway. They cover large rural areas going from Clondrohid around Cill na Martra, Reananerree, on down towards Cappeen, Kilmichael, Johnstown and out around Togher, Shanacrane, and Doir\u00edn na Cathrach. It is a very large rural area and they are keen to get that roll-out advanced as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  In December 2022, Ireland's digital connectivity strategy was published, which supports the ambition outlined in the national digital strategy and sets out a number of targets including that all households and businesses will be covered by a gigabit network not later than 2028.  The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future, published in January 2025, sets a number of targets which include the completion of the installation of high-speed fibre broadband to 1.1 million people, including houses, farms and businesses nationwide, by 2026.  The NBP is the Government's initiative to deliver high-speed broadband services to all premises in Ireland. National Broadband Ireland is connecting approximately 4,500 homes every month.  In the Deputy's own county of Cork, NBI has passed 56,360 premises with a high-speed fibre broadband connection and over 58,750 are available to order or pre-order, with 18,996 premises now connected. A further almost 26,600 premises in Cork will be passed by NBI's high-speed fibre broadband by the end of the network deployment.  Further details on specific areas within County Cork can be monitored via the NBI's website. The National Broadband Ireland roll-out will include 4,190 premises in Dunmanway, 963 premises in Ballingeary and 3,975 premises in the Carriganimmy deployment area. Network build is in progress for all three of the deployment areas, and all premises in the Dunmanway deployment area will be made available to order or passed in the period July 2026 to September 2026, while the deployment areas of Ballingeary and Carriganimmy will be made available to order or passed in the period October 2026 to December 2026 - so by the end of the year.  The latest information on when high-speed broadband will become available can be found on NBI's website. This website is regularly updated and provides the expected timelines for the delivery and status of works in any area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I fully appreciate that the roll-out of such a large plan has to start somewhere and has to end somewhere. The switches in the Carriganimmy, Ballingeary and Dunmanway area are towards the latter part of the plan. Residents in those areas could reasonably expect that things that would have been learned from the earlier deployments could be put in place to speed up the later deployments, such as in the area west of Macroom. Is that actually being done? Is it possible to get it done faster in the later deployments than in the earlier deployments? For example, people in Ballingeary will have seen the coils of pipes standing there probably for most of the year at this stage, as the deployment has been ongoing there. They have been very patient, perhaps too patient. They want to see more headway on it and to make sure that those timelines are being met. Could the Minister confirm that the deployments will meet the timelines? Is there a way of bringing them forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I can confirm that the work is ahead of time. As well as being ahead of schedule, the work is also ahead of budget. When Deputy Moynihan and I first came into the D\u00e1il there was a time when broadband was the be all and end all and came up every second day. You could not stick your head outside the door but someone would take it off over broadband. Thankfully, we made an awful lot of progress.  As of 9 January, National Broadband Ireland reports that 62,996 km of cable has been installed. I do not know how far away the moon is from here, but I think it is a couple of times the distance from here to the moon. Some 181,757 poles have been installed. A total of 568,081 premises have been completed. A total of 567,132 premises have been submitted to Open Eir to make ready for works, and 519,013 premises have had Open Eir works completed. An enormous amount of work has been done.  Deputy Moynihan answered part of the question earlier: we had to start somewhere and we have to finish somewhere. The Deputy made specific points about Ballingeary and Carriganimmy. I will see if they can be truncated with existing works and I will come back to him on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I thank the Minister. He raises a very reasonable point about the way it was when we came in here, when it was a much bigger issue, but for the people in the Ballingeary, Carriganimmy and Dunmanway area, it has continued to be an issue. They were in the later part of the deployment and in fairness to them, they have been very patient. There is a level of frustration and people need to see that headway can now be made, and that possible lessons that would have been learned from earlier parts of the deployment can advance things more quickly in the later part of the deployment. Are they able to get ahead of schedule? Does the Minister have any more details on whether they will release all three switches at the same time or is there a possibility that an issue on any one of those switches could delay the other ones? Principally, people want reassurance and certainty that they are going to get that broadband roll-out over the coming months. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  That is no bother. The most important assurances that I can give him is that the work is running 12 months ahead of schedule at the moment nationally, which is a massive achievement for the Government. When this was being done first, certain people in this House and certain commentators in the media said it was an awful waste of money. I do not know where those people are today, but I do not hear them crowing about it today or saying that it was a waste of money. The people in the Deputy's constituency, and in my constituency, which borders it, would say that is far from a waste of money. Those political commentators will have their own day out in the near future when this is completed.  I will find out whether the existing works can be truncated. I know from my own constituency that there is always going to be someone at the end of a road where the work stops. In fairness to the contractors working for National Broadband Ireland at the moment, they are all over the country. We pass them everywhere. We see so many of them that they are almost part of the fabric of the local area now. The statistics in relation to this are absolutely phenomenal: 63,000 km of cable laid. That is an absolutely massive feat of engineering. I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Broadband Plan"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sport and Recreational Development","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  Question No. 138 will be introduced by Deputy O'Meara. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Access to sport is not a luxury, it is a right. Participation in sport delivers profound physical and mental health benefits, builds confidence, reduces isolation and strengthens community connection for people of all ages and abilities. For people with disabilities, inclusive access to sport can be life-changing, yet too many still face practical and financial barriers to participation. What efforts is the Minister undertaking to ensure that people with disabilities have an equal opportunity to participate in sport? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thought it was the next question, which is in the Deputy's name. I thank Deputy O'Meara very much for raising the matter this evening. We both know that inclusion and diversity in sport are key priorities for this Government. Despite recent progress, there is an enduring participation gap between persons with either a long-term illness or a disability and those without an illness or a disability.  The Irish Sports Monitor survey reports that this participation gap stands at 32%, which is quite large. It is clear that more work needs to be done to make this participation gap a thing of the past.  Increased funding of \u20ac1 million was allocated in budget 2025 to establish a new and dedicated disability in sport funding stream. Sport Ireland appointed a disability in sport lead in February of last year who is now collaborating with national governing bodies, local sports partnerships and other funded organisations to develop programmes to promote accessibility and participation for individuals with disabilities. To highlight this progress, the first-ever Sport Ireland disability in sport week took place in December 2025. The theme was Celebrating Ability or Ag Ceili\u00faradh Cumas. Sport Ireland worked with a wide range of stakeholders to promote progress made under the five pillars of its disability inclusion in sport policy: leadership, capacity, communication, change and access. In addition, Sport Ireland allocates \u20ac1.2 million at local level on behalf of the Government to fund a national network of sports inclusion disability officers aligned to each of the 29 local sports partnerships. Sport Ireland allocates \u20ac2.4 million in support of disability sport-focused national governing bodies to continue their work in this area. Capital support for the development of sports facilities and infrastructure is provided through my Department\u2019s community sports facilities fund and the large-scale sport infrastructure fund. Both funds include specific criteria encouraging applications that improve accessibility and inclusion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I acknowledge the positive work already under way. The sports capital programme has prioritised accessibility and universal design. Dormant accounts funding has supported disability-specific initiatives and training. Through local sports partnerships, Sport Ireland continues to play a key role in promoting inclusive support at community level. In my constituency, which comprises north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny, there is strong goodwill among clubs, volunteers and families to expand inclusive sporting opportunities. However, many local groups point to ongoing challenges with access to adaptive equipment, suitable facilities, trained coaches and volunteers, and the sustainability of inclusive programmes at grassroots level. The Minister pointed out the reason behind this question, the participation gap of over 30%. If we are working towards an Ireland for all, something our party has championed for many years, we have to continue to focus on this area within the Minister's Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  The Deputy is right to focus on it. We have seen progress on the participation of those with a disability in sport but the gap has not narrowed because participation has also increased among the general adult and child populations, for which we can be thankful. The gap has remained, however. It is a particular focus for the Government. We are going to look to see how we can address that gap further because it is simply not acceptable that people who have a disability or illness are not being given the opportunity to participate in sport in the same way as others. We are particularly focused on that. Over the last ten years, we have made great progress on the gap between genders, between women and men. That has now almost closed. Sport Ireland appointed a lead for women in sport, which made a significant impact. We have now done the same for disabilities and I think that will also make an impact. We must all work with those clubs and sporting organisations that are doing really strong work to address this gap. It is very important that people have the opportunity to participate in sport in their local community, regardless of their ability or disability. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  A lot of the local clubs I have spoken to are very interested in getting more supports, more funding and more training for their coaches. I think about cases where a child in a family is involved in sport, for example, a soccer club, and there is also a child in the family with some form of disability. If the parents in that family are involved in the club, they will obviously want both of their children, or however many children they have, to have the same chance to be full active participants to the best of their ability. Ballymackey FC, for which I played when under age, has a fantastic football for all initiative. It is absolutely brilliant. It is one of the strongest I have ever seen. It is a strong and growing club. The model of clubs like Ballymackey needs to be brought into other clubs. We need to get coaches in to get them trained to give every single child and adult, regardless of ability, the full opportunity to participate in sport. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I strongly support my colleague Deputy O'Meara on this. The Oireachtas committee on sport has considered this as a serious issue. When the Minister of State looks to the next round of sports capital funding, we urge him to include this as a factor in deciding on funding. One of our local soccer clubs, Courtown Hibs, runs very inclusive soccer training for children and young people who are neurodivergent or who have physical disabilities or special needs. On the first Saturday of every month, Gorey parkrun runs a particularly inclusive parkrun event, inviting people from Advocates for Autism, Special Olympics Ireland and other groups to take part. It is a model that has been followed by other parkrun organisers. In decisions being made on the next round of sports capital funding, those clubs and organisations that have an inclusive approach at their heart should be recognised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It is absolutely necessary that we have this focus. That focus means resources to ensure all children can involve themselves in sport, particularly those who will have greater challenges. High Five is a programme run for children, particularly those with autism, in boxing clubs. My own local club, Clann Naofa, has such a programme ongoing. We have all seen the all-stars programmes run by the GAA. I am talking in particular about Dundalk Gaels, St. Bride's and Cooley Kickhams. It is absolutely fabulous to see.  I will also speak to the likes of the Louth Disability Cycling Club. People may be aware of this club and of Kevin O'Brien, who has great interaction with the club on behalf of Variety. Variety runs the recycle mobility programme, through which families can avail of adapted bikes. These are absolutely perfect to enable children to cycle who might not have believed that was possible. It is brilliant for children with mobility issues, autism or Down's syndrome. It is a really good community interaction. We would have hoped that things would have been further on in relation to our dealings with Louth County Council on having a permanent base. I thank those groups that have contacted Louth Disability Cycling Club about putting a real base in operation. An example has been established in south County Dublin in the last while and I hope we will get something similar in Louth. We need to see that kind of support at Government level and at local authority level to deliver. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank Deputies O'Meara, Byrne and \u00d3 Murch\u00fa. The Deputies have put an emphasis on access and support for those with disabilities. The Government is very focused on making progress in this area. Budget 2025 was the first to provide specific disability funding to national governing bodies through Sport Ireland. That was important. We have seen the appointment of a Sport Ireland disability lead, which is really important. We have also seen funding for each of our 29 sports partnerships across the country to employ officers to work with sporting organisations in each partnership area to ensure opportunities are in place. As each of the Deputies has described, it is wonderful and inspiring to go to a club and see children or people of any age with a disability or illness participating in sport. It gives a wonderful sense of energy and opportunity. Those opportunities might not be as plentiful for them as they are for people who do not have a disability. We need to work together collectively to support more and more of those opportunities so that participation gap continues to close and we see more and more people get those opportunities in every community right across the country. I thank the Deputy for raising this here today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sport and Recreational Development"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Funding","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  The sports capital grants are an extremely important funding stream for many of the communities I represent in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny. During the lifetime of the previous Government, two different funds were announced for clubs in my constituency. It is nearly two years since sports capital funding was last announced and allocated. Clubs are now spending that funding and looking towards the future. When will the next round of sports capital funding open? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this and for his advocacy on behalf of clubs in his constituency. As he will know, the programme for Government commits to maintaining sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels. The community sport facilities fund provides grants to assist in the development or refurbishment of sports facilities and the provision of sports equipment.  Its purpose is to develop high-quality, accessible, safe, well-designed and sustainable facilities in appropriate locations and to provide appropriate equipment to help maximise participation in sport and physical recreation.  Over 19,000 projects have benefited from the fund to the tune of over \u20ac1.4 billion since it was first established in 1998. Over \u20ac250 million was allocated in the most recent round with over 3,000 clubs benefiting from that, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities. Over 40 different sports benefited from the fund as well.  The objective now in the plan - I know Deputy O\u2019Meara\u2019s key question is when the next one will be - is to be able to support those clubs that need support. We plan to have completed another round of the community sports facility fund by the end of this year, opening up in early summer with applications over the course of the summer and with the aim of having decisions made by the end of the year. I am also currently inviting sporting organisations to information and consultation evenings on the community sports facilities fund. We will be in Kilkenny. The Deputy tends to north-west Kilkenny very well, I know. I will be there on Thursday night. We will be seeing some clubs on Tuesday night in Wexford with the Deputy\u2019s colleague, Deputy Malcolm Byrne. This is about helping to prepare clubs for the next round and also to gain their feedback on what is most important for them and where they are finding the pressures, so we can make sure that the next round is tailored to best support clubs at ground level in terms of the phenomenal work they do providing facilities in communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I thank the Minister of State. From my own experience of dealing with clubs during the last round, I trust that the bureaucratic nature of it is something that has been addressed ahead of the next round opening. I fully understand we are dealing with public moneys here and they have to be spent correctly, but we are also dealing with voluntary organisations that are doing incredible work, often in long-term development plans for their clubs. The level of paperwork and detail they have to go into sometimes can be a bit excessive. Examples that I would give come from the last round when clubs went to appeal. It was announced some time around March 2025 and appeals were decided by September. A lot of issues around appeals the last time had to do with the appendices to the grant applications being slightly wrong, just something being slightly inaccurate in them. The information provided by the club had already answered the question, but they had not filled in the exact piece of paperwork to answer the question. They might have sent in a title document or something without signing that piece of paper. It is very important that we not deal with that level of hurdle for voluntary clubs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  It is certainly my objective and that of the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Donovan, in terms of the next round to make sure that we have it as amenable to clubs as possible and as practical as possible for them to be able to apply. Last time around with the appeals, almost all of the clubs that applied were supported. They were given the opportunity through the appeals process to have any issues corrected. The objective here has to be to work to make sure that clubs get the support they need, not to exclude them from it. That will be the objective again.  As we gather information and feedback from around the country in advance of the next round opening, we will be listening to what people are saying to make sure that it works. Obviously, it has to be a robust and effective application system. We want to make sure it is as practical as possible and also that clubs of all sizes do not feel intimidated by the process, and that they do apply. As I travel the country, I rarely come across a club anywhere that is not under pressure for space. That is a reflection of the success of the great work the volunteers and clubs are putting in. It also puts an onus on us to support them in developing those facilities to meet the demand they are creating. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I acknowledge the work of the officials in the Minister of State's Department. The officials I have dealt with in getting answers for clubs in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny in recent years have been fantastic, even for previous payments that we are trying to get out to clubs now. I am delighted to see the Minister of State coming to the Kilkenny Ormonde Hotel on Thursday at 5:30 p.m. for a briefing. I also look forward to welcoming him to Tipperary - hopefully, north Tipperary - in the near future for a briefing with a lot of clubs that are in contact with me also. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I welcome the announcement that there will be a further round of the sports capital scheme later. I commend the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Donovan, on their commitment to the development of not just clubs, but the critical role they play within our communities.  I would ask that, in the announcements, regard would be had to rapidly growing communities. As the Minister of State will appreciate, with rapidly growing communities, there is a demand for space. It is right that the Government\u2019s top priority be the provision of housing, but we also need to provide sporting, cultural and community facilities. That is critical. I would also ask the Minister of State to consider what is often a problem for minority sports, that being, where they do not own their own lands or have access to long leases on land or premises. I would ask that, when the next round opens, there is some imaginative way to try to facilitate those minority sports. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We all know the importance of sports capital for sporting organisations across the State. We are talking about this opening at the end of summer 2026. I thought it would be quarter 1 but once we have a date, sports clubs can work around it.  I agree with what has been said. There needs to be added effort in facilitating local authorities to provide municipal pitches and sporting settings in some cases, which can allow for a whole pile of other sports.  On the large-scale sports infrastructure funding, what is the timeline for that? I think we were talking about it being opened every two years. I have spoken to the Minister of State before about Louth GAA and its belief that it is on the reserve list. I suppose it is a matter of the works that are being done at the minute, not very far from my own home, continuing. Drogheda United FC was also on a reserve list. I would like to think that Dundalk FC could be in at the time it would be open. Anyone who has been to Oriel Park knows it needs a lot of work done, as happy as we are to be back in the premiership. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I look forward to seeing Deputy O'Meara in Tipperary. He has been speaking to me about that already.  In response to Deputy Byrne, the objective will be to ensure we are looking to see where the need is greatest. We are gathering that information at the moment to make sure that, when the round is announced, it is focusing on the areas of greatest need. Having said that, I think we would all accept that the great work that is happening in clubs is putting pressure on space and capacity at all levels. We need to work to support all sports and all clubs, particularly focusing on those where the pressures are particularly acute.  In response to Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa on the large-scale infrastructure fund, we have funding under the national development plan to run another round over the course of this Government. We do not have a date yet for when that will be. The focus at the moment is on making sure in the two rounds we have run - the 2019 and 2024 rounds - that we work with those projects to make sure they are moving forward. We will monitor them to see if there is additional funding available within what has already been allocated to be ready to do more. The focus is very much on making them move on, and some of them need to get moving and get running with what they have been approved for. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  They will be shovel-ready. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  We are looking at another round then, certainly within the course of this Government, but it is to be decided. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Swimming Pools","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  There are two capital funding programmes for sport, namely, the community sports facilities fund, CSFF, and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF. In total, over \u20ac1.5 million was allocated to swimming under the 2023 community sports facilities fund round as part of an overall CSFF investment of over \u20ac3.7 million in the last ten years. Swimming may also have benefited from allocations to multisport projects under the community sports facilities fund. Applications for the refurbishment of pools, installation of pop-up pools, improvements to the energy efficiencies of pools as well as improvements to the accessibility of pools can be made under the fund.  In line with previous rounds of the fund, a review of the current funding round is being undertaken. Preparations are under way for a further round of the community sports facilities fund this year.  It is anticipated the next round will particularly target areas and sports that have been underinvested in over the years.  The LSSIF supports the development of new swimming pools as well as the refurbishment of existing pools. To date, that fund has allocated \u20ac297 million to projects, which includes allocations of \u20ac41.4 million to 12 swimming pool projects. Details of these allocations are available on the Department's website. In addition, the Department has also awarded design funding in 2024 to three swimming pools at Buncrana, Mullingar and Edenderry. It is anticipated that the design phase for those pools will be concluded by 2027.  Regarding a future round of the LSSIF, as I said to Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa, our current focus is on ensuring project delivery for the first two rounds of the fund. This process will inform any decisions regarding the timing of a future round. No decisions have been made yet regarding the next round of the LSSIF. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I thank the Minister of State for that response. I was prompted to submit this question, in the first instance, by the Swimming Pool Gap Analysis Report, which the Minister of State will be familiar with, published in December and commissioned by Swim Ireland and, second, as a parent trying to access swimming lessons for my kids. I recognise the picture on the front of this report. It is of Kells Swimming Club, which is celebrating its fiftieth anniversary this year. I went to school about 20 yards away from it and had access that very many children across Ireland do not have when it comes to swimming pools. One of the key findings of the report relates to access to a swimming pool. In Ireland, we have just one public pool per 81,000 people compared with Scotland, for example, which has one per 14,000. What will the Minister of State do to address that lack of access? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank the Deputy for raising the gap analysis report. On what we are going to do about it, the first thing we did was to fund that report. We funded Swim Ireland to carry it out because we want to assess what the situation is across the country, what the level of service provision is, what the current infrastructure is like, where the gaps are most acute and what issues there are with existing infrastructure. The report outlines the heavy reliance on private pool provision, particularly hotel pools. Our officials are considering that report now. We will look at it in detail. It will also inform future funding decisions.  There is a need for us to invest more in swimming pools. We have not seen as many projects as we would like to see come through community sport facilities fund applications. We will now consider where the gaps are, particularly with local authorities and, working with Swim Ireland, see what models work well in meeting provision in the most cost-effective way. We will then assess how we can best try to meet some of the gaps that report, which we funded, identified. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I mentioned my experience as a child going to school in Kells. We had pretty unique access to Kells Swimming Pool, which is a public swimming pool. There are a number of important findings in the report. I am glad the Department commissioned it. I hope it pays attention to those findings and acts on them. The important piece is access. I talk about Kells, and we think of areas in Leinster, Connacht and south Munster where it is very stark. The issue with hotel pools is they mask a greater problem. I talked about my experience, which is a very wide experience in terms of access to lessons for kids. In County Meath, 100% of the swimming pools have a waiting list. It is a very significant issue.  I will ask about something in my supplementary question that the Minister of State touched on. There is a key finding in the report in relation to the dependence on the private sector and hotels, but also local authorities essentially stepping away from this work and passing it over to the private sector. As a result of that, there is closure of swimming pools or pools being available on a reduced hours basis, although not to swimming clubs. Swim Ireland referenced an alternative model. Is that something the Minister of State will consider as a potential to increase access? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  We will certainly look at all options. We need local authorities to step up and get into this space. It has been a challenging space. It has been challenging for pools to be run profitably. That has seen local authorities shy away and has led to some of the gaps we have. We need to see them step up. Certainly, the Department, working with Swim Ireland and Sport Ireland, will look to try to ensure that is the case as we go forward. That report is important in scoping out the current situation and looking to see what the challenges are around current provision. It is also about looking at what new models might work best and could work most profitably in a way that ensures there is provision and service that is even in communities. It is to ensure all kids have access, as the Deputy was fortunate enough to have in Kells, which is not the case everywhere. That should be addressed. We are very much intent on stepping forward from that report, looking at what the lessons are from it and seeing how we can address them. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Swimming Pools"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Facilities","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  West Wicklow has no major sports facility. It does not even have a swimming pool. A number of years ago, I successfully proposed a zoning in Baltinglass for a sports centre on council-owned land. A local sports group led by the basketball club have conducted a feasibility study, which demonstrates the need for such a centre in west Wicklow. Will the Minister of State support this project? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank the Deputy for raising this and for his advocacy on behalf of the development of facilities in west Wicklow. He will have heard my previous response in relation to the support available through the community sport facilities fund and the large scale sport infrastructure fund. On Baltinglass, I confirm that no application for funding was received under either the LSSIF or the CSFF for a sports centre there. We are opening up, as I said, the CSFF over the course of this year and, in particular, the LSSIF will be considered over the course of this Government.  As I mentioned in the previous response, we have a number of situations across the country like the situation the Deputy described in west Wicklow, where there is not the provision of swimming facilities to meet the needs of the local community. Following on from the completion of the Swim Ireland report, something we will consider is where those gaps are. We will also look to see what models can be put in place that would work and be viable in developing more facilities, could be run in a way that is cost-effective and provide the services needed in terms of swim facilities for local communities.  I will certainly work with the Deputy on his advocacy for developing facilities in west Wicklow and seeing what steps the Government can take to ensure that future funding meets the needs of communities where there is a particular gap, such as in his constituency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  Baltinglass is situated in south-west Wicklow and is 38 miles from here. It is the centre of a large hinterland. Currently, there is no sporting facility in the wider area. This project would also align with all the national policies that support balanced regional development, from the national planning framework to the Baltinglass town plan. The project is supported by Wicklow County Council and several local clubs and community groups in west Wicklow. Recent public and club-level consultations indicate significant demand for improved sports facilities within the wider area. The centre would be used by clubs from all over west Wicklow as well as nearby Carlow and south Kildare. To date, Wicklow has not received its fair share of large scale sport infrastructure funding. That should change. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  In the most recent round of the community sport facilities fund, we saw \u20ac7 million allocated to sporting projects across County Wicklow. I know this is a project the Deputy is clear is very much needed and is working closely with Wicklow County Council in relation to it. I am very open to continuing to work with him to see how we can ensure that as we open future rounds of the CSFF this year, and are looking towards the next LSSIF round, that applications, such as for the sports centre he is working on, can be considered as part of that. I acknowledge the work and advocacy the Deputy is doing to try to address a real need within the community. From the Government's point of view, it is our objective to try to support the further development of facilities. We will work with the Deputy on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  The recreation, leisure and sports audit for Baltinglass municipal district was commissioned by Wicklow County Council to assess the current provision of recreational, leisure and sporting facilities across the area and to identify future needs. Some 86% of participants in the audit said that lack of facilities was the main barrier to partaking in sport and recreation. This would fill that gap. I also know that many clubs in the area have no home. This facility, which would be community based, would allow these clubs to have a home. This is especially true of the successful basketball club. It has members who come from all over west Wicklow and Kildare. West Wicklow has nothing in the way of large sports facilities. This project, which is being promoted by a group of dedicated people, looks to correct this and I urge the Minister of State to support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I recognise the work of the county council in working with the group. The future provision of sporting facilities is something we want to see being done on a collaborative basis as much as possible, particularly with local authorities trying to bring sporting clubs together to ensure there is synergy in the utilisation of existing land and the investment in facilities. I acknowledge the merits of the project the Deputy is putting forward and we will work with him in relation to upcoming funding rounds to ensure it can be considered. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Facilities"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Arts Policy","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I thank the Deputy for raising this. The provision of local arts centres is a matter in the first instance for the relevant local authority. County and city development plans are drawn up by local authorities, including the policy objectives for development of the arts. Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to the arts and culture centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. My Department provides grants as a contribution towards maintaining and enhancing existing arts and culture infrastructure but does not provide funding for the purchase of buildings. The Complex had been leasing its building from a private landlord on a site ringfenced for redevelopment. Officials from my Department met with the chair of The Complex and other members of the team in December 2024 and advised them that the Department was not in a position to fund the purchase of the property. Further communication in June 2025 reiterated that position. More recently, The Complex kept the Department updated of the evolving situation with its tenancy and I am aware that they were in close contact with Dublin City Council during this time. I regret that a solution could not be found with the developer to keep them in their current building, and I understand the council is now supporting them in sourcing alternative accommodation.  Separately, my Department is engaged with Dublin City Council on the potential transfer of part of the site of the Digital Hub in the Liberties area of Dublin to the local authority. I have requested that the city council consider whether any of the activities which are currently conducted at The Complex could in time be facilitated in the Digital Hub complex. The Department would be happy to work with the city council on any proposals, including consideration of whether any of the Department\u2019s funding schemes could be of assistance in this regard. More broadly, the Department has allocated \u20ac3 million in funding to Space to Create, an initiative that aims to provide up to 60 artist workspaces in Dublin city, and these projects are currently being progressed in partnership with the city council. In addition, under the artist workspace scheme, \u20ac6 million capital funding is available for local authorities to increase the provision of artist workspaces across Ireland. In December 2025, I announced just under \u20ac1 million for five local authorities for the development of up to 22 workspaces, which brings the total awarded under this scheme to date at \u20ac1.2 million. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  It is concerning that there is no strategy for the arts spaces infrastructure and that we do not have an arts capital fund such as the sports capital fund and at that scale to address what is happening around the country, not just in Dublin, where large and small arts venues are closing. Many of those arts centres are in buildings that are semi-derelict or in precarious rental agreements. When the money comes for development of apartments or the like they are the first to go. Given our reputation as a country that supports the arts, it is important to not just depend on local authorities but to go beyond that. The State has to step up to increase the funding available to venues such as The Complex, which hosted quite a lot of artists over the years. It was open for 18 years and had music, art and theatre under the one roof. It was an eclectic place to be in and I encourage the Minister to look again not just at The Complex but at the strategy around arts infrastructure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  We have been looking at a strategy with regard to arts infrastructure. We may be bring forward an arts capital scheme similar to the sports capital scheme we administer. To reiterate, we have offered Dublin City Council properties to look at that have wound up in the charge of the Department through the Digital Hub in the Liberties. I would say you could puck a ball from the Digital Hub to where The Complex was. I hope Dublin City Council will engage with it. These buildings were previously offered to the city council for other uses, and it refused them. The Office of Public Works has part of the buildings taken. We will try to do whatever we can. We do not acquire buildings. We do not buy buildings. The only agencies that buy buildings publicly for the State are either councils - the largest one is Dublin City Council, which is the best resourced and best financed in the country - or the Office of Public Works. I put that on the record of the House before. If Dublin City Council wants to look at properties we have wound up with, we will be happy to engage with it to see if alternative accommodation could be sourced. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I will not get into the finances of Dublin City Council and the problem that most of the funding that is meant to go to Dublin City Council sometimes does not end in Dublin City Council especially when you take into consideration the property tax that disappears out of Dublin. Having said that, I was not necessarily asking that at this stage that the Department purchase The Complex. However, there is a need that a greater fund be available, not just for Dublin City Council, but also for Galway council. There are other areas around the country that have identified sites. Dublin City Council will reluctantly take on buildings. It has a good strategy, but most of the buildings that have been offered to it require a substantial amount of investment to bring them up to modern standards. That is one of the problems with Dublin City Council. I know well the buildings the Minister is talking about in the Digital Hub. I know the costs to bring them up to a modern standard. They have been used up to recently by the National College of Art and Design. It would satisfy one part of what The Complex is doing but not all of it and it is not the only venue that closed in this city in the past couple of years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I will not get into the finances of Dublin City Council either. Suffice to say, and the Deputy knows this probably better than I do, that it is one of a few local authorities in the country that has consistently reduced their property tax over the number of years. If it can afford to do that, maybe it could afford to see. While there is money coming out of the council----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  It has not reduced it this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  -----going to places like Leitrim and Sligo, I am sure Deputy Martin Kenny would be very upset with Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh suggesting the money should not be going to Sligo and Leitrim from Dublin City Council. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  It is going from the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I am not going to lecture a former member of Dublin City Council on the reduction of the rates in Dublin City Council----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I was never a Dublin city councillor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  -----either commercial or housing. Suffice to say, I welcome the opportunity for Dublin City Council to engage with us on the property we do own. The Office of Public Works owns quite a considerable amount as well. It cannot just throw its hands up in the air and say this is all the Government's fault and problem. If we are coming forward with alternative accommodation the least it could do is engage with us. Yes, it will require money, but it is the wealthiest local authority in the country, and it should invest in the arts on that basis. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Arts Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Facilities","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  The purpose of this question is to understand the level and nature of the engagement the Minister of State's Department has had with Dublin's local authorities with regard to their experience in acquiring land for new playing pitches. As he knows, access to pitches is a significant pressure point across Dublin, particularly in the faster-growing communities like Lucan, Clondalkin and Saggart, and the advent of new towns like Clonburris and Adamstown. Local authorities need that national support to secure much-needed playing facilities for those new populations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank the Deputy for raising this. The programme for Government commits to supporting local authorities in the acquisition of new lands for parks and playing pitches to help build liveable communities. While neither of my Department's sports capital funding programmes - the community sport facilities fund, CSFF, and the large scale sport infrastructure fund, LSSIF - provide for the acquisition of land, I am supportive of any funding proposal to enable local authorities to acquire lands for sport and recreation purposes. I have not had engagement with local authorities directly on this issue, but I am conscious of the pressure on playing space availability in urban areas in particular.  Funding to local authorities to improve the amenity of communities is primarily a matter for the Department of housing and the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, and I intend to engage with him regarding the programme for Government commitment to ensure we can move it forward. Once lands are acquired for sporting purposes, applications for capital investment, including equipment, on those lands can be supported via the community sports facilities fund as well as the large-scale sports infrastructure fund.  Over a quarter of a billion euro was allocated to 3,048 community sports clubs and facilities in 2024 from the 2023 round of the CSFF, representing the largest ever investment in sports facilities in communities across Ireland. I have asked my Department to prepare for a further round of the CSFF in 2026.  In 2024, the second round of LSSIF received an unprecedented demand for funding. On 4 November 2024, grants totalling \u20ac173 million were awarded to 35 projects, and my current focus is on ensuring project delivery under the first two rounds of the LSSIF. No decisions have been taken regarding the next round of the LSSIF as of yet. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  As I have said and the Minister of State has acknowledged, Dublin local authorities continue to highlight the ongoing challenges in acquiring land for active recreation and sports facilities, not least of all because of the housing pressures that are in the capital and the pressure on them to deliver housing, as well as the fact that they often cannot compete with the premium that is on land that is being bought for houses and that could be used to develop additional playing pitches.  Clubs and community groups have repeatedly raised the pressures with elected representatives and my clinic has often been attended by club representatives who point to the fact that there is a huge shortage of pitches. This is brought into focus when we see, for example, that less than 30% of the pitches that GAA clubs play on in Dublin are owned by the GAA clubs themselves, so they massively rely on the pitches the local authorities provide.  Dublin City Council last year stated that there is no capacity to accommodate new playing fields in existing public parks and open spaces. South Dublin County Council operates 166 pitches serving over 1,000 teams. The local authorities have rightly been told to focus on housing, but that means that they are not necessarily always able to compete with developers. Will there be an outcome from the engagement between the Minister of State's Department and the Department of housing on what this looks like as a concrete proposal for local authorities? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  It is a real challenge. I have met lots of Dublin clubs over the last period of time. Access to land is a real difficulty for them in meeting the needs of their local communities. Certainly, in order to develop thriving communities, if we are developing new houses, we have to make sure we are developing the recreation and sporting facilities to be able to match that as we go forward. It is something on which I will be intensively engaging with the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, and his Department to make sure we have an integrated and co-ordinated approach as we develop and meet the real challenge we have in housing and, equally, ensuring that sporting facilities can be developed alongside that. I am certainly very happy to work with the Deputy and other Deputies across the city to try to make progress on that. I thank him for raising it here in the Chamber this evening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  I welcome the Minister of State's positive engagement on this matter. Pointing to an example in my own constituency of late, the Dublin City Services Sports and Social Club on the Coldcut Road became available for purchase. I think it is a classic example where, if such a fund existed, it could have supported the local authority in acquiring that asset and making it available for amenity in a part of Dublin that is underserved in terms of overall sports provision.  It is important when we talk about the acquisition of land for playing pitches that we also ensure we put the proper pavilions and dressing rooms on those pitches to ensure we maximise participation in sport by boys and girls and that the playing areas and lands acquired are of such dimensions that they facilitate as many disciplines as possible. One of the things we are noticing with the Clonburris strategic development zone, which was passed a number of years ago, is that it does not always facilitate a full-size GAA pitch on the multi-use playing areas that are being made available.  I look forward to the outcome of this engagement. I might take up the matter with the Minister of State in the coming months to see if we can progress this and give local authorities support to provide the pitches that are so desperately needed in the Dublin local authorities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank Deputy Moynihan. I know this is something he has been raising with local authorities and advocating very strongly on. I have engaged with them on this issue as well. I look forward to working closely with the Deputy to see how we can make progress on this really pressing need. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Facilities"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Funding","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  The programme for Government states that the Government will prioritise the development of physical education halls and sporting facilities, including yards and play areas, for schools in conjunction with the sports capital fund to deliver for both schools and communities. Will the Minister of State therefore consider creating a schools stream within the sports capital grant in which schools can individually - that is very important - apply for sports capital funding? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I propose to take Questions Nos. 140 and 147 together.  I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this issue. The programme for Government commits, as the Deputy knows, to continued sports funding to get more people participating in all levels of sport, particularly targeting cohorts in society where there are lower than average participation levels. The community sports facilities fund, CSFF, provides grants to assist in the development or refurbishment of sports facilities and the provision of sports equipment. This programme has operated annually since 1998. One of the objectives of the community sports facilities fund is to assist voluntary and community organisations, sport national governing bodies, NGBs, local authorities, education and training boards and schools to develop high-quality, accessible, safe, well-designed and sustainable facilities in appropriate locations.  Funding for sports facilities in schools is primarily a matter for the Department of Education and Youth. However, third level colleges, education and training boards and schools are eligible to apply to the community sports facilities fund jointly with sports clubs. Such applications must provide evidence of facility-sharing arrangements that will allow sports clubs to use the proposed facilities throughout the year when not in use by the school. There are no plans to change this approach given the existing demands on the community sports facilities fund. Sports clubs within schools and third level colleges are not entitled to apply for funding directly to the CSFF. A joint application with a school enables clubs in high-density areas to access high-quality facilities without needing to purchase and develop a new site and allows a club to provide facilities that are close to home for its members, reducing travel time, and help drive increased participation in sport.  It is something we certainly want to encourage in the upcoming round. There are a lot of synergies that can be gained whereby schools can be using these facilities during the day and clubs can be using them in the evening. It can work really well for everyone, especially for everyone in the community. It is something we will be looking to encourage collaboration on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I would like to raise the case of Youghalarra National School in Newtown in relation to its summer works programme funding which came from the Department of education. It was a very useful grant and was for the installation of a 608 sq. m ball court. However, to have the best usage of that court and to mitigate against injuries, the board of management wish to have an AstroTurf surface installed on this. This would be very achievable with the funds allocated, but unfortunately the guidelines from the Department of education only allow for tarmac and concrete surfaces to be considered.  The reason I have asked this question is that this is a somewhat stand-alone school. For safety reasons, it needs the sports facilities within the school grounds. I am looking to see if we can get a stand-alone application for the school. Is it possible to engage with the Department of education? The Department of education is giving money to build the court but says its surface can only be tarmacadam or concrete or something along those lines when AstroTurf would work and would suit what the Minister of State's Department is trying to do. I think it is absolutely incredible and unbelievable that the school would not be able to do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  There has been engagement between our two Departments and we will certainly continue to collaborate to see how best we can work together and ensure that, through good co-operation, we are serving local communities well. With the community sports facilities fund coming up now and to be completed by the end of this year, there is a real opportunity there for schools to assess the potential they have to develop their facilities, to work with local clubs in their area and to come forward with an application that can work for everyone. I will certainly continue to engage with the Minister for education, as will my Department, on how we can work well together in pursuit of that too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  The example I gave of Youghalarra National School is one that probably will not fit in to what the Minister of State is saying the next round of the sports capital fund will be, but if the Department of education is giving out grants to build something, surely when the Department of sport is trying to build facilities such as AstroTurf pitches, and we want to see AstroTurf pitches because they get so much usage and are so much safer and cleaner for schools in particular, that the Minister of State would be able to engage with the Minister for education to see if the summer works programme can be changed so that, although the funding is not coming from the Minister of State's Department, it is very much sport-related. My reason for raising this question was to try and fit it in for sports capital funding, but perhaps we could get common sense to prevail here and the Department of sport would advise that section within the Department of education, as the expertise exists within the Minister of State's Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I speak in strong support of Deputy O'Meara's question in this regard. I have regularly asked the Department of education what facilities are specifically going to be provided for sport, particularly for new builds, but also in terms of existing funding streams that can be made available to schools to get sports funding. I look at somewhere like Riverchapel National School in County Wexford.  Incidentally, it is the primary school of the Minister of State's colleague and mine, the Minister, Deputy Lawless. It has over 300 pupils and it has a hard tarmac and flawed play area at the back. It is not a real sporting facility. The Minister of State needs to tell the Department of education that there has to be a more integrated approach to the provision of sport in education at primary and second levels. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charlie McConalogue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Charlie-McConalogue.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charlie McConalogue  I thank Deputies O'Meara and Byrne. They make eminent sense in relation to the potential at school level to serve the community as well as serving the school population during school times. I will be engaging with the Minister for education and her Department to see how we can better pursue that objective. I thank the Deputies for raising the matter on the floor of the D\u00e1il today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss upgrading of the N70 Ring of Kerry national secondary road and footpath through Cahersiveen town.  Deputy Albert Dolan - To discuss the allocation of SET and SNA hours for primary schools.  Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss the decision to defer the commencement of the delivery of the Dart+ South West project to 2030.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss the planned redevelopment at Bunclody Community College, County Wexford.  Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath - To discuss section 254 licence applications in relation to telecommunications infrastructure.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss the shortfall of SEN primary school places in Shankill, County Dublin.  Deputy Keira Keogh - To discuss the timeline for changes to the primary medical certificate criteria.  Deputy Conor D. McGuinness - To discuss commercial rates bills for Waterford childcare providers participating in the ECCE scheme.  Deputy Darren O'Rourke - To discuss the shortage of transport services to adult disability day services in County Meath.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss the north Kerry CAMHS review.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the remaining sections of the Athenry relief road.  Deputy Shane Moynihan - To discuss enhancing public transport links between Lucan and Dublin Airport.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss an application of Col\u00e1iste Daibh\u00e9id under the additional school accommodation scheme.  The matters raised by Deputies Keira Keogh, Malcolm Byrne, Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire, Aidan Farrelly and Darren O'Rourke have been selected for discussion "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  I ask the Minister of State to cast his mind back six years to 2020 and imagine a constituent of my predecessor, former Deputy, Michael Ring, walking into his office at the age of 18. The constituent needed a primary medical certificate to access the disabled driver's and disabled passenger's scheme, DDS. They were refused. They appealed and lost the appeal. This was not because they can walk unaided because they cannot. It was not because they can safely drive a standard vehicle, because they cannot. They were refused because they do not meet an exceptionally narrow and outdated set of medical criteria that prioritise amputations over functional ability. This young person would not be able to walk unaided from where I am standing to where the Minister of State is. This young person cannot reliably press the brake pedal with their disabled foot. Yet, because their limb is not amputated, they do not qualify. Six years later, they are about to turn 24 and still cannot drive. This is six years without independence and without equal access to work, education or social life. It is six years reliant on family, friends and taxis, not because the support does not exist but because the system is stuck in limbo with rigid criteria.  This injustice is compounded when we look at the timeline and the movements of responsibility between Departments. Under action 104 of the National Disability Inclusion Strategy 2017 to 2022, the State committed to reviewing transport supports, including the DDS. An interdepartmental transport working group was formed in 2020 but that was, unfortunately, paused due to Covid. Two years later, in January 2022, the Minister of State with responsibility for disability reconvened that group as a matter of priority at the time. Another year later, in February 2023, the final report concluded correctly that the DDS is not fit for purpose and should be replaced with a needs-based, grant-aided vehicle adaptation scheme and that responsibility should be moved away from the Department of Finance. By that point, my constituent had already been waiting three years.  In June 2003, the Taoiseach said he would convene all relevant Departments to develop proposals. That work progressed through further interdepartmental engagement, with the subgroup reporting to the Department of the Taoiseach a year and a half later, bringing us to February 2025. In May and June last year, the Department of Transport announced that it would now be the Department to develop a new needs-based vehicle adaptation scheme. We are now told the Department is beginning extensive engagement and public consultation while working towards January 2027 for the scheme to be up and running. That would mean seven years from my constituent's first application, which was made when they were aged 18, without being able to drive.  I know the response I am going to receive tonight is that the Department of Finance shares my concerns, that the DDS is outdated, that a new scheme is being developed by the Department of Transport following work co-ordinated with the Department of the Taoiseach and that, in the meantime, the existing DDS remains with the Department of Finance and assessments remain with the HSE. That, however, is exactly the problem. While responsibility has been moving from Department to Department, people are being left behind.  My constituent has not been failed by a lack of reports or reviews; they have been failed by a lack of common sense and discretion. If someone can demonstrate that they cannot safely operate a brake pedal, then they need a vehicle adaptation. That should not require an amputation to be believed. What immediate direction can be given to the HSE and the appeals board by the Department of Finance to apply a more functional and humane interpretation of the existing criteria? My constituent cannot wait until 2027 for independence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Robert Troy)  I thank the Deputy for raising this extremely important topic. She is right in part of what she said. The Department of Finance, the T\u00e1naiste and I acknowledge that the disabled driver's and disabled passenger's scheme, as the Deputy outlined, is not fit for purpose. That has been confirmed on multiple occasions. While acknowledging that it is not fit for purpose, it is important to recognise that the scheme provides relief from VRT and VAT on the use of adapted cars. It also provides an exemption from motor tax and an annual fuel grant scheme for anyone who holds a primary medical certificate. In 2024, \u20ac150 million was spent on the scheme. That is very welcome and beneficial to those who qualify. However, the Deputy is right, and she makes a very valid point in this regard, that the scheme is very rigid and excludes many people. She gave an example of someone in her constituency and I am aware of people in my constituency who I have tried to assist in relation to this. I did not come in with a prepared script from the Department because, quite frankly, some of it is embarrassing. The Deputy has given a timeline for a commitment given to reform a scheme or multiple schemes that all of us, including me and my predecessors, acknowledge are not fit for purpose. The timeline for implementation is embarrassing. I say that with regret.  In 2022, a report was published based on the national disability inclusion strategy, having established a transport working group as part of the review of all Government-funded transport and mobility schemes. I am not going to outline the findings of the report. Suffice to say that they are not at all positive. If we roll on four years, despite the fact that my Department has made a significant contribution to the national disability inclusion strategy to develop a proposal that would be fit for purpose and would mirror international best practice, we do not seem to be any further along. It is fair to say, however, that the new Government, on assuming office, prioritised disability services. Disability and supporting people with a disability into work, education and independent living are a priority.  The delay in implementing this reform further reinforces the decision the Taoiseach made to establish a disability unit within the Department of Taoiseach to ensure that schemes such as this one are pushed ahead at speed. As Government Ministers, we have to take responsibility for ensuring the decisions we take are implemented in a timely fashion by the officials working for us in our respective Departments. I cannot give a definitive timeline tonight, but what I can say is that the Deputy's amplification of this problem further reinforces an issue that needs to be prioritised. I will talk directly to the Taoiseach to ensure the unit within his Department prioritises a speedy decision in relation to the new scheme. I will talk to my colleague, the T\u00e1naiste, as I am sure the Deputy will, to ensure this process moves ahead at pace. We cannot afford to wait any longer for the new scheme to be implemented. The consultation has already happened. There should not be any need for further consultation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  I thank the Minister of State and I respect his decision to move away from the prepared script. My concern is that in 2020, nobody saw Covid coming down the line and this led to the working group being paused. We have had different reports over the years from different Departments. We now know the Department of Transport is putting the scheme out for public consultation. I am pleased to hear that the Minister of State is going to talk with others about the fact that we do not need a consultation. I am not confident, however, that the consultation will not be pushed ahead. We do not know what will happen in the world in the next year, so the scheme could be pushed further down the line.  I know a 94-year-old man with carpal tunnel syndrome who cannot feel his hands. I know a lady in her 80s whose daughter cannot bring her to the doctor five minutes down the road because she cannot get her into the car. They have been asked to go to D\u00fan Laoghaire. People from Mayo have to go to D\u00fan Laoghaire for the appeals process. There is no point in their going to the appeals process because in the appeals process they are working off the current criteria, six criteria that we all know they will not meet. There is no point in travelling across the country to D\u00fan Laoghaire to be told you will not get your appeal.  The HSE is carrying out the assessments and the appeals, but this is still with the Department of Finance. My request tonight is as follows. Will the Department of Finance issue interim guidelines to the HSE and the appeals board? We have the two reports. We know the system is failing. We know there is a new system on the way. We hope to have that up and running by January 2027, but the Minister of State and I both know that could roll on until the summer of 2027. God knows what will happen in the world. It could roll on to 2028, and I have constituents who will probably pass away in that time. These are the last years of their lives. Some of them cannot go to the doctor or go down the road. Their children are caring for them. We have to act now. This has been going on almost seven years. Can we please have an interim guideline issued to the appeals board and the HSE in order that they can do something now for the people who have been waiting for years and years? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  When the Government took office this year, we committed to a step change in the delivery of supports and services for people with a disability and their families. That is a priority for the whole of Government. Budget 2026 is the first step in the delivery of this ambition, providing \u20ac3.83 billion to specialist disability services next year. That is an unprecedented increase of \u20ac618 million a year, or 20%. That reinforces and demonstrates our commitment to disability services.  I will take back what the Deputy said about an interim measure and I will talk to the T\u00e1naiste when we meet next week about seeing whether that is feasible in the Department. I am told that it is not and that that is the reason a whole new scheme was to be devised. However, none of us as public representatives, be it as TDs, Senators or people who are fortunate enough to serve in executive positions, should accept that decisions that are meant to be implemented at a specific time are just allowed to roll on. We have to hold officials to account such that when a policy decision is taken it is implemented in a timely fashion. I always give the example of planning permissions with local authorities. It is legislatively prescribed that a decision must be taken within two months and a decision is taken within two months. I have said internally in my party that even if we have to bring in legislation that states when a decision is to be taken, the date is not a target but, rather, the decision has to be taken by that time. We are unfortunately allowing too many things slide on by weeks and weeks, which become months, and the only people who are affected are the people whom we are here to represent. That is not good enough. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I welcome the opportunity to raise this matter and thank the Ceann Comhairle for selecting it. This is an issue I have raised consistently and to which I have had numerous responses at a State-wide level from the HSE. The HSE points to the number of people, over 22,000 adults, in receipt of HSE-funded disability day service supports at 1,200 locations, working with 97 service providers. It acknowledges that many people with a disability need access to transport to enable each person to attend a day service but that the provision of transport services is not part of core services within disability services. The HSE encourages people to use public transport options and to be independent, understandably, but it recognises that public transport options are not always available to many people throughout the country. Specifically in relation to Meath, it reiterates that day services do not have a separate budget for transport.  It says that transport in Meath is managed in a combined way between service providers and the HSE transport manager, who contracts Transport for Ireland, TFI, to supply some historical transport. That is significant. There are 217 service users accommodated on this historical transport to adult day services but there are currently five others on the waiting list for particular transport routes. There is a gap in funding but also in the transport service provision.  I want to raise a specific case of one of those service users who is on a waiting list. I have his and his mother's consent to raise their case in the D\u00e1il this evening. It is the case of Noah Gibney from Slane in County Meath. He is 19 years of age, going on 20. He left school last year and has since been attending Prosper Meath in Navan. Noah is a full-time wheelchair user. He has cerebral palsy, autism, intellectual disability and scoliosis. He is not independent and cannot use public transport to get from his house to Prosper and home again daily. These services are really important. The response we have from the HSE locally is that, unfortunately, no space is currently available on the route for a second wheelchair, as the bus can only accommodate one at a time. The HSE Meath transport manager advises that Noah continues to be wait-listed for transport provision.  It is important that there is no defined timeline for the waiting list. That is really frustrating in this case. The policy objective, which we share, is that people can live independently and be provided with supports to do that. In this case, that is not happening. Noah's mum, Jennifer, has done her very best to secure safe and secure transport for her son, but every door is closed and, as a result, she is bringing him to and from his day services in Prosper every day. That is not a long-term solution and it runs directly contrary to the policy of giving people their independence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this really important issue and giving me the opportunity to discuss it on the floor of the House. The specialist disability budget supports a range of services funded through the HSE and delivered by section 38 and section 39 organisations, as well as the HSE. This includes, among other services and supports, day services and rehabilitative training for people with specialist disability service requirements.  The HSE funds on an annual basis 97 provider organisations to provide day service supports in line with the new directions policy and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, to more than 21,000 people nationally. The provision of transport is not part of core services provided by the HSE. As a general rule, public transport is used in all circumstances where it is an option. This is in keeping with the principle of mainstreaming, with a clear focus on ensuring persons with disabilities have access to the normal range of services and participate in community life as far as possible. In general, day service users are in receipt of disability allowance and are automatically entitled to the free travel pass. It is recognised that viable public transport options are not always available throughout the country and that transport support needs vary between individuals. This seems to be the case in Noah's situation.  In the absence of transport options being made available by the National Transport Authority, NTA, some transport supports are provided by the HSE or funded agencies on a case-by-case basis, and a variety of transport solutions are pursued in different health regions. These include travel training to enable public transport to be used, where appropriate, local transport such as Local Link, and private bus transport. Some service providers provide transport where capacity exists. That sounds like the situation the Deputy has raised this evening.  Ireland ratified the UNCRPD in March 2018, which clearly articulates that all State parties shall take appropriate measures to ensure that persons with disabilities have access, on an equal basis to others, to transportation. In line with the principle of mainstream-first service delivery, it is incumbent upon all public bodies to execute their functions with proper regard for people with disabilities and Ireland's obligations under the UNCRPD.  The HSE has advised that all transport provision in County Meath is managed across a range of services, including disability, between service providers and a HSE transport manager. Day service providers are asked to provide transport to people seeking access to their services. The HSE transport manager contracts TFI to supply some transport. The transport manager covers all transport across disability, primary care, dialysis and some elderly services. The role of transport manager is a legacy role that may be unique to Meath community services. The post is funded across the care groups according to the HSE and there are no transport managers in any of the other five counties that were part of the former CHO 8. There are currently 217 service users accommodated on this legacy transport route, which provides access to a number of adult day service locations. These routes are at capacity, as the Deputy said. As a result, five people are waiting for these particular HSE transport routes. From what the Deputy has said, Noah must be one of those five people.  Sanction was provided to the HSE in 2024 for \u20ac3.6 million to be used for the upgrade of transport vehicles in disability day services. Building on a similar approach to addressing the issue of ageing vehicles in disability residential and respite services in 2021, this funding was specifically aimed at supporting the provision of vehicles for transport to day services where other transport solutions are not available and where an ageing fleet exists. This funding was allocated to HSE, section 38 and section 39 services on a one-off basis and has supported the purchase of 77 vehicles, which provide services. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I know she understands the importance of these services for Noah and everybody else who accesses them for fulfilment, engagement, development and independence. She has articulated here and in the responses I have got before that a unique set of circumstances exist in Meath. It is a frustration for us in Meath that they were there. It is different now for people coming into the system. The wider point is about the need for an integrated system that can ensure that, where people cannot access public transport for whatever reason, a transport system is in place to allow people to have independence and not to be dependent on individuals. We can all imagine scenarios where someone's carer, support or transport provider, such as a family or friend, is not available because they are sick, away or so on, which has a knock-on impact. I ask the Minister of State to look at this issue, specifically at Noah's case, and at Meath, but also in a wider context at transport for people accessing adult day services. No two cases are the same. There are individual merits, for example, and if a needs assessment was done, a transport need might be identified in an individual case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  The Deputy is right that it is important that not only should we provide access to high-quality day services right across the country, which we are, but we should also ensure that people can get there as easily as possible. I appreciate that and every effort is being made to ensure that local public transport links are provided. In Meath's situation, which is unique, there is a bespoke solution that is working for the people there.  I appreciate that there is the waiting list of five, but it is something unique to Meath and I think it is working quite well from the feedback I have had. I will point out now that under pillar 5 of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, our new strategy launched last September, the Department of Transport has the lead responsibility for reducing and, where possible, eliminating transport barriers faced by disabled people. I think that is really important. Under that pillar, there is a commitment to personal mobility and to supporting those who cannot use or easily access any public transport through the provision of enhanced personal mobility options.  The Government's ambition is also reflected in the really significant investment being made in specialist disability services in recent years, with record investment of \u20ac3.8 billion in 2026 alone. This includes additional funding for a new cohort of 1,400 school leavers and 53 day-service places for non-school leavers. The Government is absolutely committed to supporting people with disabilities and to ensuring they are enabled to reach their full potential in the spirit of the UNCRPD. I thank the Deputy for raising the case with us here today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan)  We now go back to Topical Issue matter No. 2 from Deputy Malcolm Byrne to the Minister for education to discuss the planned redevelopment at Bunclody Community College. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  Go raibh maith agat. I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue matter. I appreciate it is not his Department, but I hope he will bring this matter back to the Department of education and that the officials tuning in will be very aware of the concerns around Bunclody Community College. Bunclody Community College is a school with an enrolment of 310 students. This is an increase of 42% since 2019, so it is a rapidly growing school. It is a very good school, with a very committed and excellent teaching staff and some amazing students. I met the student council there. The school had a very successful project at the Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition around misinformation and disinformation only two weeks ago.  This is a really dedicated team of people working to provide education in an area that has a lot of disadvantage. It is a DEIS-designated school, a champion school of sanctuary and also a pilot school in the supporting Traveller and Roma, STAR, pilot project of the Department to increase participation among those from the Travelling community. This is a really good school as well, when we look at the whole-school evaluations, in terms of the quality of education delivered.  I have to say that of all the schools I deal with in my constituency, and indeed beyond, in terms of the physical structures, this is by far the worst. The school operates on two campuses. It has to because of the expansion of the school. There is a 500 m walk between the two campuses. A lot of the prefabs are on the separate campus. Students have to walk the 500 m, which involves crossing a busy regional road. We are talking about four or five minutes being lost every time for staff and students when they have to travel across between the two campuses. There are only three regular classrooms in this school not currently in prefabs. I do not think there is any other school in the country like this and I will challenge people in this House to identify any other school that is in this situation. Some of the prefabs have been there for more than 20 years.  One of the difficulties is that one of the first parliamentary questions I asked in this term was around what was happening with Bunclody Community College. The response I received was that, \"The project referred to by the Deputy, has been devolved for delivery to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board, WWETB\", and, essentially, that is at stage 2b. As colleagues in this House will know, I tend to refer to stage 2b as purgatory. It is that sort of holding place that the Department of education has. If a school is told it is in stage 2b, it never knows when it is necessarily going to get out of it. I have eight schools in the constituency in this situation.  In this case, this project has been on the go since at least 2014. In 2019, there were announcements that were welcomed. In fact, the then Minister, Paul Kehoe, described it as one of the most needed investments in a Wexford school. Deputy James Browne, now the Minister of State's ministerial colleague, made very clear about how this project, after many years of campaigning, was finally going to be delivered. That was in May 2019. Complete planning permission for the project was granted in April 2023, so that permission will obviously run out in 2028. Every time I have asked a parliamentary question about this issue since I have come in here, from that first one in January, to one on 29 July, to a further one on 25 November, I have got the same answer again and again, namely, that it is at stage 2b. I hope the Minister of State will fill me with a bit more optimism from the Department and that, as with the previous question, he will not simply read the standard script. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank my friend and colleague. I will read the standard script because the previous question I answered was for my own Department. This one is in relation to the Department of education, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Naughton. I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me, on her behalf, an opportunity to update the House on the current position regarding the school building project for Bunclody Community College, Bunclody, County Wexford.  The project referred to by the Deputy is devolved for delivery, as he said, to Waterford and Wexford Education and Training Board. The project brief is to provide an extension to the existing school building, as well as the appropriate refurbishment of the existing buildings to be retained for ongoing educational use. This will cater for a long-term projected enrolment of 550 and provide two special education classrooms.  The project is currently at stage 2b of the architectural design process. This stage allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining necessary statutory permissions and preparation of tender documents. A stage 2b report has been submitted to the Department from WWETB. The report is undergoing a detailed technical and cost review in line with the public spending code. All projects, including this one, are subject to the due diligence requirements of the public infrastructure guidelines. Managing timing, scope and the cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall programme. Once the review is complete, the outcome will be communicated to WWETB as the delivery body for this project that will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress. The length of time a project takes to deliver depends on a number of factors, including scale and complexity, and is subject to the time it takes to progress through the various project stages and the statutory approval process, which I understand, as the Deputy said, it has already gone through.  In July 2025, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period from 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project roll-out for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of the period from 2026 to 2030 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.  The NDP implementation plan for the education and youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published by the Department shortly. This NDP implementation plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money, and meets functional needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I thank the Minister of State for his response. I appreciate it is not his Department but, frankly, there is nothing new in this. This is deeply, deeply frustrating. The challenge for this school and for the staff, the students and the wider community - and I spoke with my good friend and colleague, Councillor Barbara-Anne Murphy, who chairs the board of management of the school - is that this school is tired of, frankly, false promises from the Department. This situation has been running for well over a decade in terms of trying to move things forward.  The difficulty for the school is it sees other schools in the wider community where those projects have progressed much more quickly. As I said, I reiterate the point, in terms of the conditions that this school has to operate under, there are two campuses where students and staff have to travel - the Minister of State knows what the weather was like today - across a busy regional road, losing valuable education time. We are in a situation where the majority of the school is in prefab classes. That is not acceptable in 2026.  The Minister of State knows I am one of the most passionate advocates for investment in education in this House and support the capital building programme. Lots of work is being done. The question has to be asked as to why this project has taken so long. I invited the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, Deputy Michael Moynihan, to this school because this school has an excellent record in that area. It was willing to expand further in this area, something that not all schools are willing to do, yet we are still not seeing any progress. The Department needs to be much more honest with schools as to the exact timeframe that is involved. This is one of the worst schools I have come across in the country in terms of its physical structure, even though the quality of education is excellent. It deserves a clear answer now from the Minister for education as to when construction work will finally start. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this project forcefully and working with Councillor Barbara-Anne Murphy in advocating on behalf of the school, the teachers and the students who go to this school. As I said, the NDP allocation, which was announced last year, was \u20ac7.55 billion over 2026 to 2030. The Deputy made a very strong case that this school is part of that allocation process. All I can say is that I will bring the Deputy's message, that he brought very forcefully to the floor of the D\u00e1il, to the Minister for education. It is just the most recent time that he has raised the issue. I know he has been advocating on behalf of the school for a long time. It is a fair request that he has made, that, at the very least, the school authorities should be made aware of an indicative, realistic timeframe as to when they can experience the new building. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  This Topical Issue relates to Col\u00e1iste Daibh\u00e9id and its application under the additional school accommodation scheme. It is important to be open and honest in this place, and I declare an interest. This is where I attended secondary school and it is also where our 14-year-old currently attends in third year. All the same, the issue is substantial and it needs to be addressed because it has been carrying on for far too long.  Col\u00e1iste Daibh\u00e9id is a school of around 200 children at this moment. It has a projected long-term enrolment of 300. It is an ETB school. Cork Education and Training Board is the patron. It is an Irish-medium school. It is one of the few schools left in Cork city centre. Partially because of that, its growth and development is seriously constrained by the lack of development of its current site. It is a relatively young school. It has been in place for about 33 years now. The location is in St. John's College in the city centre. The buildings are not purpose-built; they are old parts of St. John's College that were provided by the patron, the education and training board. Effectively, the school was never really built. Some extensions were added to existing buildings. One of these buildings is 150 years old.  N\u00edl na foirgnimh maith go leor ar chor ar bith. T\u00e1 siad r\u00f3bheag agus n\u00edl go leor sp\u00e1is ann. T\u00e1 roinnt de na foirgnimh s\u00e1ch sean. Caithfear athch\u00f3iri\u00fa a dh\u00e9anamh orthu.  There is no sports hall, which is a huge constraint for any school. There is not an adequate reception area. The classrooms are not adequate to facilitate the potential growth of the school. It is separated across two separate buildings. The school was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for a project under the additional school accommodation scheme. Unfortunately, this has been going on since about 2018. The application is to build a multimedia room, a textiles room, a graphics room, a construction room, a technology preparation room, a science lab, a prep area, one project store, and, crucially, a potential sports hall. That is vitally important. This was submitted in its most recent round for stage 1 review, but that was on 29 July and the school has heard nothing since. That creates a huge difficulty for the school in being able to plan its way forward, and for the patron to plan the way forward and to go ahead.  It is important that a hall is part of these proposals. Project Ireland 2040 has a commitment to a physical education hall build that ensures that students in all post-primary schools have access to state-of-the-art facilities, particularly in the context of roll-out of physical education as a leaving certificate subject. The hall is vitally important. It is also important in the context of students only having their classrooms to go to. There is no place to congregate.  T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach chomh maith i bhfianaise thodhcha\u00ed na me\u00e1nscola\u00edochta tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge. There are eight Irish-medium primary schools in the city council area. This is one of three secondary schools. Clearly there is greater potential and a lack of provision. This is in the context of the then Minister, Joe McHugh, in 2019, stating: \"There are ... 60,000 young people in Irish-medium schools right across the country and I want to see an ambitious target set to double that.\" This is a perfect opportunity to expand the school, to create that potential for the school to grow and to give it the modern facilities that it requires.  I also make the point that the NCSE has been engaging with the school in relation to greater provision for autism classes and units. The buildings need to provide for that. I am looking for an update in relation to this, and to try to see that we can progress this beyond stage 1, that this can be approved in order that the school can get on with planning a building of the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter as it gives me the opportunity to update the House on the current position regarding the school building project for Col\u00e1iste Daibh\u00e9id, Cork. The project referred to by the Deputy was approved to enter the Department's pipeline for a project under the additional school accommodation scheme. The project will provide one multimedia room, one textiles room, one graphics room, one construction room, one technology prep area, one science laboratory, and prep area and one project store. The inclusion of a PE hall or general purpose dining hall depends on site feasibility, constraints and input from the local authority and heritage officer. The delivery of this project has been devolved to Cork Education and Training Board.  The stage 1 report outlining the proposed design and costings was submitted to the Department in July 2025. This is currently under review from both a technical and cost perspective in accordance with the requirements of the public spending code. Once the review is completed, the outcome will be communicated to Cork Education and Training Board which will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress. The Department is committed to ensuring appropriate accommodation is available for all school pupils and will, in the wider context outlined, ensure that each school project on the school building programme is subject to the due diligence required under the public infrastructure guidelines.  In July 2025, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026-2030 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project rollout for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project rollout over the course of 2026 to 2030 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.  The NDP implementation plan for the education and youth sector and the first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published by the Department shortly.  The plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations, with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in an area is insufficient and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I appreciate the update. I hoped for a bit more regarding when we might get through the next phase. I appreciate that the Minister of State's Department does not have responsibility in that regard. I would appreciate if he could, on my behalf, bring this matter to the attention of the Minister. I note the presence of my constituency colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, who is also keen to support the school. Perhaps he could use his good offices to contact the Department as well. The school wants to get past this stage. It wants to get to the point of being able to develop all the things that have been outlined in terms of value for money. That is fine; it all makes sense. It is absolutely the case. I have no doubt that the education and training board, which is a very professional and capable organisation, has all of that is lined up.  Will the Minister of State bring a couple of things back to the Department. He stated, \"The inclusion of a PE hall or general purpose dining hall depends on site feasibility, constraints and input from the local authority and heritage officer.\" The school and patron have amply demonstrated the fact that what is proposed is viable and can be delivered, either in the basement or on the roof of the building. They have offered potential designs in that regard.  This is a piece of community infrastructure. We are talking about bringing people into our cities to live, raise their families and work. The south parish does not have a huge number of community facilities. What is proposed here could be a resource for wider community in that part of the inner-city centre, namely the south parish, as opposed to just the school.  At present, there are constraints on the ability to provide PE in the school. There is no place for people to have lunch on rainy days. Caithfimid freisin a th\u00f3g\u00e1il san \u00e1ireamh nach bhfuil go leor sol\u00e1thair ann don mhe\u00e1nscola\u00edocht tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge i gcathair Chorca\u00ed. N\u00edl ach tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1nscoil i gcompar\u00e1id le hocht mbunscoil. N\u00edl go leor \u00e1iteanna do leana\u00ed ar mian leo dul go dt\u00ed an mhe\u00e1nscoil tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge. There is not enough provision for Irish-medium secondary education. Expansion of this school is necessary to try in order to meet some of that growing demand across the city. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  The Deputy is dead right. My colleague the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, is fully supportive of the upgrade to this school. Last year, in the updated national development plan, \u20ac7.55 billion was committed in respect of educational investment. This will ensure the completion of the 300 or so school building projects already under construction, which will deliver over 22,300 new and modernised school places across primary and post-primary, the expansion of special education provision and the provision of a record 14,000 additional places in special education classrooms and new mainstream school capacity. It will also ensure that we continue to invest and keep our existing stock up to a modern standard. It is anticipated that later this year the list of schools that are going to benefit from that substantial investment in school infrastructure will be published. The Deputy makes a very strong case, as does the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, in relation to the school in question. I will be sure to bring the message back to my colleague the Minister, Deputy Naughton. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan)  I wish to support my colleagues because C\u00f3laiste an Phiarsaigh in Glanmire is one of the other schools waiting for a long-awaited extension. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Public Transport","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I thank the Minister of State for being here. I appreciate him and the other Ministers of State present giving of their time this evening.  The Minister of State will be well aware of the outrage that met the Minister's announcement regarding the decision to defer the delivery of DART+ South West, a project costed at \u20ac1 billion that was set to increase the capacity on rail services running from Hazelhatch and Celbridge, County Kildare, to Dublin from 5,000 to 20,000 passengers at peak times. Essentially, this service was going to change people's lives and the way in which they could interact with their communities and their capital city. Before Christmas, the Minister performed a bit of a U-turn on a project that has been planned for many years. We have not had a justifiable reason as to why that was the case. The latest press release from the Minister suggests that it is something that he would like to do and would like to see come to fruition and that he is not ruling out making a U-turn on his U-turn. I raised this matter in order to try to get on the record what exactly the Government's plan is with regard to DART+ South West.  The aspect that frustrates a lot of people in Kildare, where we have seen such significant population growth over the years, is that many Ministers have been at pains to tell us that individuals and community groups taking judicial reviews are the reason why the provision of significant infrastructure projects in this country has been delayed. The project in question has full planning permission. It has gone through the railway order process. Local authorities both in Dublin and Kildare have done their bit to prepare and get this project incorporated into county development plans. A great deal of planning has gone outside of this House to prepare for this project. Yet, the Minister has essentially stated that he would like to see it happen. Representatives from the National Transport Authority, NTA, were before the public accounts committee last Thursday. I asked them about the DART+ West project and when they expect to see passengers being able to use DART+ West. They said it would probably be 2030 before that happens. If we extrapolate that timeline in respect of the DART+ South West project, it is obvious that if construction does not start until 2030, we will not see anybody availing of the service until, potentially ,2034, 2035 or beyond. Everything is in place bar the funding.  Do we have a concrete timeline for when the DART+ South West project will progress? Can the Minister, the Minister of State and the Department make it clear that there will be no more changes of heart when it comes to this important project? Planning permissions have been granted on the basis that this infrastructure will be in place. As the Minister of State knows very well, the people of Kildare and Dublin need this service. This is not an optional extra. We need this service to come into place in tandem with DART+ West.  I would appreciate an update from the Minister of State. We will see where we can go from there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Jerry Buttimer)  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter. He has been consistent in raising matters relating to public transport in the House.  I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister for Transport. The DART+ programme comprises five different rail projects in and around the greater Dublin area, extending the existing DART network to Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Hazelhatch and Celbridge and Drogheda and improving current DART services from Dublin city to Greystones. The programme will triple the length of the electrified rail network in the Dublin area and double city centre peak hour capacity from 26,000 passengers per direction to 52,000 in future. DART+ South West will extend DART train services from Dublin city centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge station, including four-tracking from Park West to Heuston station. An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la approved a railway order for DART+ South West in November 2024. In addition, procurement for DART+ South West and DART+ West is progressing, with pre-qualification questionnaire notices for design and build works advertised in May last year.  The Government is committed to the delivery of major public transport projects. That commitment is evidenced by last year\u2019s review of the national development plan, in which a total of \u20ac24.3 billion in Exchequer funding was allocated in respect of transport projects for the period 2026 to 2030. Of this total allocation, Exchequer funding of circa \u20ac10 billion for public transport infrastructure is earmarked for this period in addition to the \u20ac2 billion allocated for MetroLink.  This funding is allocated broadly in line with the Department\u2019s national investment framework for transport in Ireland, NIFTI, intervention hierarchy of maintain, optimise, improve and new. The approach involves prioritising investment in the protection and renewal of existing assets before investing in new ones on economic and environmental grounds. This represents an unprecedented level of investment in public transport infrastructure over the coming five years, which has more than doubled in comparison with the last five-year period under the previous NDP. However, it is a simple fact that within any funding envelope - no matter how big - there are decisions required in relation to sequencing and prioritisation. Those are the decisions that come with the responsibilities of being in government.  The funding under the NDP transport sectoral investment plan will see significant advancements made in a number of public transport projects by 2030, including advancing various elements of the DART+ programme.  The compulsory purchase obligation processes for DART+ South West will commence this year and aspects of the procurement frameworks put in place for DART+ West will be available for use on DART+ South West when its main construction works commence.  It is important to state that, following on from the investment in the new DART+ fleet, DART+ West was also recognised as the critical step in the DART+ programme that will help enable DART+ South West and, indeed, the other infrastructure projects of the programme, to develop for a number of reasons. The new depot in the Maynooth and Kilcock area, to be delivered as part of DART+ West, will provide essential stabling and maintenance facilities for the expanded fleet for the entire DART+ programme, which is a prerequisite for supporting service patterns across the entire DART+ network, including DART+ South West.  DART+ West will deliver the critical electrification of the city centre rail network and the necessary city centre capacity upgrades. This is a prerequisite for future trains coming from DART+ South West to enter the city centre network at Glasnevin junction from the Phoenix Park tunnel. Upgrades delivered under DART+ West, such as re-signalling and electrification, are also vital for accommodating the increased frequency envisaged for DART+ South West. The new station at Spencer Dock, to be introduced as part of DART+ West, is a key node for future service integration, supporting the operational flexibility required for DART+ South West train services, helping to address capacity issues around Connolly Station.  In accordance with the Government commitment on the delivery of major capital projects, the Department will also explore any EU funding which may become available to accelerate public transport projects. Moreover, the NDP will be reviewed around 2028 and updated at that point, and this will also provide an opportunity to examine the potential to provide additional funding to accelerate the delivery of projects such as DART+ South West. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I was preparing myself to get back up to criticise the Minister of State for giving me a blank reply but, in fact, what he has done is given me a very detailed reply and I thank him for it. There is a lot that I can take back with me to constituents and to my colleagues, Councillors Peter Melrose and Nuala Killeen, who have been working tirelessly on this for many years. I had not seen confirmation in writing before tonight that the depot for DART+ West will be in the Maynooth-Kilcock area. When we spoke with the NTA last week it did not confirm this. I really welcome that it has been confirmed this evening. What the NTA did speak about was a public consultation that might be aligned with this. Does the Minister of State know anything specifically about this, whereby communities in the area will be asked their opinion on this? I know Irish Rail has done considerable work in going back to the drawing board with regard to the depot.  I want to press on the Minister of State the importance of this next matter and I cannot underplay its significance. If a depot comes to Kilcock, can we make sure that a stop in Kilcock is part of it? For years people in Kilcock have been told they will have the depot, the noise and the lights, and they will nearly be able to smell it, but they will not be able to use it. It would make absolute sense, if we are bringing the depot as far as Kilcock, which I welcome and I support the Minister of State and the Government wholeheartedly if we can deliver this, that we can include a station with the depot. It would make massive sense from a future planning perspective. I thank the Minister of State for being here and for giving me such a detailed reply. The only outlying piece is whether there is a timeframe for the public consultation in Kilcock. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I went to college in Maynooth, and Deputy Joe Neville has been on to me, as has Deputy Farrelly in the past, to be fair. Again, on behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising this matter. This is a very important issue and I am familiar with the Kilcock issue, which Deputy Farrelly has spoken about. I do not have a definitive answer on the public consultation but I will ask officials to liaise with Deputy Farrelly on it.  I will recap the developments in the DART+ South West project. It will provide an extension of DART train services from the city centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge. Procurement for DART+ South West and DART+ West is progressing, with pre-qualification questionnaires for design and build advertised in May 2025. In addition, the railway order for DART+ South West was approved by An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la in November 2024. As I stated earlier, the national development plan sectoral investment plan for transport, which was published by the Department of Transport in November last year, will enable advancement of various elements of the DART+ programme in the coming years, including DART+ West. This funding will also allow for compulsory purchase orders to progress for DART+ South West this year, and will provide for procurement progress for the project, with some of the framework contracts being established in common for DART+ West and DART+ South West.  As the roll-out of the new DART+ fleet, which has started to undergo safety testing, progresses from 2027 onwards, it will allow the cascade of existing trains to serve new areas of the Irish rail network. The redeployment of this fleet is a matter for Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann and the National Transport Authority to decide on, based on a range of factors. There is potential for some of this fleet to be deployed on the DART+ South West line to add capacity in advance of infrastructure upgrades.  As I said earlier, the Department will also explore any EU funding which may become available to accelerate public transport projects. The public transport offering has transformed the whole Maynooth area since my days in college. Moreover, the NDP will be reviewed around 2028 and updated at that point, and this will also provide an opportunity to examine the potential to provide additional funding. I take Deputy Farrelly's point on the acceleration of projects and he made a good point on the population growth.  To be fair to the Government, there has been significant investment in infrastructure and it reflects well on us. I will take back the point on notification of the public consultation. The acceleration of projects with regard to DART+ South West is a good news story and I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising the matter tonight. I thank the staff for being here this late, and I thank An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach for chairing the House at this late hour of the night. I wish the staff a safe journey home and if they are on public transport, all the better again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan)  I thank Deputy Farrelly and the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 11.56 p.m. go dt\u00ed 9 a.m., D\u00e9 C\u00e9adaoin, an 21 Ean\u00e1ir 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 11.56 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 21 January 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Transport"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2026-01-20"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-10T02:07:58+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2026-01-15","counts":{"contributorCount":141,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":42,"questionCount":24,"billCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2026: Message from Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy John Paul O'Shea)  The Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform, Digitalisation, and Taoiseach has completed its consideration of the following Revised Estimates for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2026: Votes 11, 12, 14, 15, 17, 18 and 19. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Estimates for Public Services 2026: Message from Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Prices","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  In keeping with my form, the question is fairly straightforward. I am curious to know whether the Minister has quantified the material impact of the withdrawal of energy credits. In real terms, the value of the fuel allowance has decreased because of the increase in energy prices. That is simple maths; the Minister will know that. Has he quantified, for his own information, the actual impact and lived reality for people? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Dara Calleary)  The Government is committed to protecting vulnerable households from the impact of energy costs through a combination of financial supports, energy efficiency, awareness initiatives and investment in programmes to improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock. The overall strategy to combat fuel poverty and energy poverty is under the remit of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment. However, the supports provided by the Government are cross-departmental and, in this regard, my Department is represented on the energy poverty action group and the energy affordability task force.  In budget 2026, the Government committed \u20ac8.1 billion in additional spending, including over \u20ac1.15 billion in additional social welfare spending. As part of that budget, I was delighted, last October, to announce that from 1 January, the weekly rate of fuel allowance would increase by \u20ac5 per week to \u20ac38. That is a 15% increase, which will support over 460,000 households requiring Government support with energy costs. Importantly, from a child poverty perspective, I have also extended eligibility for fuel allowance to an additional 43,000 families in receipt of the working family payment. These increases are on top of a \u20ac10 per week increase in the core payment rates, which are 4.1% for most schemes.  Over 330,000 children will benefit from the largest ever increase in the child support payment of between 16% and 26% per week, which will be \u20ac8 per week for children under 12 and \u20ac16 per week for children aged 12 and over. Some 35,000 families will benefit from an extension of the back to school clothing and footwear allowance. In addition, almost 49,000 recipients and over 100,000 children will benefit from an increase to working family payment income thresholds of \u20ac60 per week.  Due to the measures taken by the Government in recent years, recent CSO data show a welcome reduction in enforced deprivation rates in 2025, including in relation to energy. We continue to monitor the cost-of-living situation carefully. However, given the additional supports provided by the Government as part of budget 2026, which are permanent, not temporary, supports, a cost-of-living package targeting energy poverty is not being considered at this particular time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  That is very regrettable. As the Minister very well knows, Social Justice Ireland described the Government's most recent budget as a recipe for austerity. It was made clear to the Government at that stage, not just by me and Social Justice Ireland but by others, that the value of the fuel allowance needed to increase in line with the cost of energy. We know that we pay, for reasons that are entirely of the Government's making, some of the highest energy costs in the European Union. We do not have some of the highest energy supports, however, in the European Union.  There are 300,000 households in arrears at the moment. The policy of no disconnection during winter is very welcome but it does not take account of people on prepay meters who experience a \"micro-disconnection\". I asked whether the Minister had quantified the material impact of the fact that children are going to bed hungry and people with disabilities, as they told us yesterday in the audiovisual room, have to make the choice between being able to heat their homes and power their mobility devices or being able to eat. Those are the questions I want to ask. Has the actual impact been quantified? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We are very focused on energy poverty. That is why the fuel allowance increase is 15%, which supports over 460,000 households that require most support with energy costs. This is the first year the fuel allowance has been expanded to working families. Those on the working family payment will get a back payment in March of their fuel allowance backdated to 1 January. That will bring an additional 50,000 people in.  As I said, we have also looked at other areas that directly impact on families, particularly children. That is why the record increases in child support payment are important. They give permanent increases in income to families on the lowest of incomes. This is the first time the fuel allowance has gone beyond a welfare payment to people who are on the working family payment. That is where I want to go. I want to make permanent increases that are not year to year or dependent on budgetary situations and have them as part of it. We work with our colleagues in the Department of the environment on other fuel poverty initiatives, including retrofitting and guidance, so we can reduce permanently the cost of energy bills as opposed to making temporary changes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Any changes, temporary or otherwise, might be welcome, but the withdrawal of energy credits is causing real and genuine hardship for people. I see it in my clinics. I am sure the Minister does as well. He mentioned the energy affordability task force, but that is only a continuation of the other task force. It is a little bit \"Father Ted\" - is there anything to be said for another mass - that there is another task force or group. In truth, the number of people who are in energy poverty and in arrears with their energy bills is going up. It is going up simply because the supports that are there are not keeping pace.  We know that the energy credits made a real and material difference in people's lives and to the number of people who were in arrears. The withdrawal of those credits has pushed people into arrears. These are bills they will have to pay at some point. While those who are not on prepay meters might not be disconnected, they will still have to find the money to pay for those. It is very clear that the increased supports that were given are not adequate. They do not keep pace with inflation and they certainly do not keep pace with the rising cost of energy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  The increase in the fuel allowance is 15%. That is a permanent increase; it will not be from year to year. We expanded fuel allowance to the 50,000 families who are on the working family payment. Again, that is a permanent increase and a fundamental change to the fuel allowance payment.  We are absolutely focused on energy poverty. We are working with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to address the issues that cause energy poverty. We will continue to do that, but we have also addressed a lot of the areas causing family and child poverty by looking at the child support payment and giving record increases, particularly for those over the age of 12. The fuel allowance for 2026 is a \u20ac486 million investment in families across the country. It is a total of \u20ac1,064 a year for those who are on the fuel allowance. A sum of \u20ac486 million from my Department is a very significant measure. As I said, this is the first time it has been expanded. I will certainly have an eye to the fuel allowance, as my response from the Department to energy poverty. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Energy Prices"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  People with disabilities and their families incur considerably more expense to survive on a weekly basis, due to their disability. While the Government promised a weekly cost-of-disability payment, it reneged on that promise or, at least, it has not introduced that payment. When will that payment be introduced? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  The Department of Social Protection provides a range of income support payments for disabled people. There are currently 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments, with an estimated expenditure of \u20ac3.24 billion in 2025.  The Government recognises the many additional costs that disabled people face in their daily lives; I agree with the Deputy on that issue. We are committed to improving outcomes by introducing permanent measures to help address those costs. That is why the programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people. These commitments have been further developed in the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. The strategy adopts a whole-of-government approach, with individual Departments and agencies responsible for planning and delivering the commitments that come under their remit across five pillars. The commitment to introduce a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment sits within this framework as a matter on which my Department is taking the lead. Subject to the overall budgetary context, I am determined to include that payment as part of budget 2027.  Importantly, the strategy requires that delivery of the various commitments be informed by and include the active input of disabled people and their advocates. My Department is leading a strategic focus network on the cost of disability with other relevant Departments and agencies. The work of this network, which includes disabled people and their advocates, will inform the approach to be taken in addressing the cost of disability. Officials have already held bilateral meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the structure and content of the strategic focus network. The matter was also discussed at my Department's disability consultative forum on 2 December. A meeting with the Disabled Persons Organisations Network is being organised. It is currently scheduled to take place next Friday, 23 January. I will make further announcements about consultations in relation to the payment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  People with disabilities are entitled to live with dignity, security and equal opportunity. Unfortunately, reports show that disabled individuals are four times more likely to live in poverty. In fact, one in five disabled people who are unable to work live in consistent poverty. Two in five experience enforced deprivation and are unable to afford essentials like heating, new clothes or social contact. These individuals and their families have substantial additional costs over other individuals and families, for instance, therapy, mobility, communications, medical supplies, specialised transport and heating costs. Research shows there is widespread acceptance of this and that these additional costs range from \u20ac488 per week to \u20ac555 per week. Many disabled people have to regularly make the choice between charging their wheelchair or heating their home. The Disability Federation of Ireland recommended a non-taxable weekly payment of \u20ac55 in its budget submission.  This is a very wealthy country and this is a group of people who are in a particularly difficult situation.  I urge the Minister to introduce this payment. I understand he is considering that for 2027, but some people need it urgently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I agree about the complexity of the costs facing people with disabilities. We are anxious to capture all those to make this a permanent cost, and one that reflects what they want in it. We will engage with all of the organisations, including the Disability Federation of Ireland, about that. In budget 2026 we have already taken measures, including a \u20ac10 increase in the weekly rate of payment, which brings the personal rates of payment to \u20ac254; a \u20ac20 per month increase in the rate of domiciliary care allowance, which brings that rate to \u20ac380 per month from this month; and the highest ever increases in child support payment, at \u20ac16 for children aged 12 and over, which brings the rate to \u20ac78, and \u20ac8 for children under 12, which brings that rate to \u20ac58. In budget 2026, we also allocated \u20ac3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services. This is being invested in services to make sure the day-to-day experience of people is dealt with. I am determined to pursue a cost-of-disability payment and I look forward to engaging with the committee about what it should look like, who should get it and how it should be paid. There are different models and interpretations, and I want active and constructive discussion with every member of the committee and every party. We all want to do this, but it is how we do it. I want to make sure that we have the voices of people with disabilities and their advocates in the discussion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  This is an urgent situation. It cannot wait 12 or 18 months or whatever period the Department and Minister have in mind. It is urgent and needs to be dealt with now. This Government talks about targeted measures. This is surely the most targeted measure it could devise. It is a one that deals directly with the poverty being experienced by disabled people. If it is not the Minister's intention to introduce this payment immediately and urgently, surely he will consider announcing an immediate once-off payment for this group of people who are experiencing poverty. Many of them are in the 300,000 households in arrears with their electricity bills and the 170,000 people in arrears with their gas bills. They need assistance urgently. I ask that the Minister introduce a once-off payment of at least \u20ac400 immediately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy John Paul O'Shea)  Deputy Hayes wishes to ask a supplementary question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Supplementary questions may not be asked on a priority question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy John Paul O'Shea)  I apologise. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  That is fine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy John Paul O'Shea)  I am learning something new every day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Every day is a school day. We appreciate the pressures that every family is under. That is why we introduced permanent increases in budget 2026, which took effect from 1 January. The \u20ac10 increase in the weekly rate of payment brings to \u20ac51 the increase in the weekly disability income support payment since budget 2021. There are the highest ever increases in child support payment and a \u20ac20 per month increase in domiciliary care allowance. We have also made changes that allow those being paid disability allowance who take up work to retain the fuel allowance payment for five years. We have made changes to the wage subsidy scheme to encourage employers to give more employment. I am focused on making real and permanent changes. The one-off payments are not financially sustainable. I want to ensure we have in the system a permanent payment that most importantly reflects the views of those with disabilities in terms of how it is designed and paid. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Pension Provisions","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  This again is a straightforward question. I am interested in the numbers of people who have been signed up for auto-enrolment, and also any engagements the Department or Minister may have had with agencies. I submitted this question because I was contacted by senior managers in funded agencies who had a concern that their funding was not increased but their obligation had increased. One of them cheekily said I could ask that if they had to make a choice between services and pension, where the Minister would want them to make that cut. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  As the Deputy knows, we introduced the automatic enrolment system from 1 January. The aim of introducing auto-enrolment is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and to provide workers with access to a quality-assured retirement savings scheme, thereby giving greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. My Future Fund commenced on 1 January. More than 763,000 employees who were not actively contributing to a qualifying pension or PRSA through payroll were eligible. They have been automatically enrolled in My Future Fund. I will have an up-to-date figure for the Deputy shortly. As of my most recent check, on Monday, 92% of employers had registered. I will get the employee figure for the Deputy. It has been a very good response from employers and employees to date.  The collection of employer and employee contributions has now commenced and is operating in line with the design and build of the system. The contributions are being topped up by the State and transferred to investment management providers for investment. Portals are available to employers and will be available to employees in the coming fortnight to access a range of services and to check on their accounts. This positive start is reflective of the massive effort made by my Department and other stakeholders, including payroll providers and employers, in advance of the launch of My Future Fund.  My Department has worked across a range of Government Departments and agencies through the Cabinet committee structure and bilateral engagements. The Deputy has raised this issue with me on many occasions and I, in turn, have raised it across Departments, including the Department of Finance in relation to taxation and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and with the Revenue Commissioners and Attorney General. Officials in my Department have raised with officials in every other Department the responsibilities of agencies under auto-enrolment. We cannot dictate the budget allocations for other Departments, but I assure the Deputy I have been consistent in raising the matter with ministerial colleagues. It has been raised at Secretary General level with regard to the responsibilities of auto-enrolment and we will continue to engage with Departments on the funding responsibilities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  The Minister deftly avoided answering that question. If the choice for the chief executive is that he has to put money into the pension or cut back on services, what decision does the Minister want him to make? Between 70,000 and 80,000 people are currently not covered, but the 92% figure is certainly evidence that people have heard about auto-enrolment and are signing up. I still have a concern because I know this happened previously. I welcome that the Minister has had engagements across Departments, but I ask him to redouble his efforts to ensure that at accounting time at the end of year, there is not going to be an unfortunate cliff for people. There is genuine concern. To be clear, I do not often stand up for management in here but the senior people in funded organisations who came to me want their workers to be in a pension scheme. They also want to be able to provide the services, and a lot of them said they had difficulty with Departments. I welcome that the Minister is engaging. I ask him to have another round of engagements. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Obviously, I do not want any CEO to be in that position. We will continue to engage with the Departments. I have the up-to-date figures. As of 12 January, 94,062 employers were registered and 700,256 employees were registered. The total amount collected to date since 1 January is \u20ac14.47 million. The contact centre, which has been open since 1 December, has taken 4,620 calls and 3,748 online chats. Some 57% of those are from employers, 21% from participants and 15% from agents. The contact centre is continuing to engage, and I think that will continue. I will certainly be engaging with ministerial colleagues with regard to funded agencies. I will continue to pursue this issue and keep the Deputy up to speed on my work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I record my concern with regard to Tata Consultancy Services.  I have put this on the record previously. I am not massively impressed with the Minister\u2019s defence of the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund - that if it is good enough for Norway, it should be good enough for us. We should paddle our own canoe on this and the Minister should do his own research. I do not think the State should be doing business with companies that have a significant presence in the occupied territories, and I do not think the Minister does either.  The Minister said he will continue his engagement and I welcome that. I undertake to forward to him any concerns brought to my attention because I, like him, want to make sure people are catered for in their retirement. I would prefer that money to be managed by the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA, and invested in other ways, but the decision was taken and we need to deal with the reality. I will keep in touch with the Minister as people get in touch with me. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We want to continue that engagement. In relation to Tata Consultancy Services, TCS, I have done more research since the Deputy and I last engaged on this. TCS is not included on any UN or EU database of companies that are involved in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. Specifically, the UN, pursuant to Resolutions 31\/36 and 53\/25, produces a list of enterprises involved in specific activities related to Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories. TCS does not feature on this list, which, to my knowledge, was last updated in September 2025. I acknowledge that TCS Ireland, based in Letterkenny, employs more than 1,400 people and has been an extraordinarily strong partner in the roll-out of My Future Fund to date.  As I said to Deputy O\u2019Reilly at the committee, inevitably in a project of this complexity there will be glitches. We want to address those as quickly as possible and if Deputies or Senators encounter any, they should raise them with us and we will seek to address them. Auto-enrolment is a complete change and it will be reflected in a massive change in the country's pension and post-retirement savings landscape. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 4 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Pension Provisions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Issues","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  What initiatives and plans are in place to support people with disabilities to access and sustain employment? I wish to highlight what works in practice and what is at risk if we do not protect those pathways. This is a social protection issue. In my constituency, Scoil Eoin, a school for children with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities, has a post-leaving certificate employment rate of 95%. This compares to the national average employment rate of young adults with intellectual disabilities of 30%. What is happening in Scoil Eoin works. Unfortunately, the school's designation is under threat. This means it will not be allowed to focus on children with mild to moderate learning disabilities. I am concerned this change in designation will impact the Department of Social Protection\u2019s pipeline, the people attending its services, the future viability of employment services and the success of disability services. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank Deputy Ardagh for the question. I will address the general issue first. My Department is committed to supporting disabled people into employment and offers a range of employment supports to achieve this. My Department's Intreo service is a single point of contact for all employment supports in the State. Disabled people can make an appointment to meet with a designated disability employment personal adviser to discuss employment and training options, including schemes such as community employment, T\u00fas and referral to the employability service.  Work and access is a scheme that offers seven supports that address barriers to the workplace for disabled people and make it more accessible. Funding is available for communication supports and workplace adaptations, as well as disability, equality and inclusion training. The wage subsidy scheme supports employers to hire disabled people in meaningful and sustained employment through a subsidy. Budget 2026 has provided for a further expansion in eligibility and an increase in the subsidy rates.  In December 2023, my Department established the WorkAbility programme. WorkAbility is co-financed with the EU employment, inclusion, skills and training programme. This programme aims to support 13,000 disabled people progress their training and employment ambitions through 57 local, regional and national projects over its five-year lifetime. Recipients of disability allowance and blind pension can take up employment and may continue to receive their income support. They can currently earn up to \u20ac165 per week and keep their payment in full, or earn up to \u20ac527.60 and keep a portion of their payment while keeping their secondary benefits.  Budget 2026 provided for people who move from disability allowance or blind pension into employment to be able to retain their fuel allowance payment for up to five years. In addition, people with dependent children who move off either of these payments and into employment will now be eligible for the back to work family dividend.  The programme for Government commits to expanding successful programmes like WorkAbility and work and access. This commitment is echoed in the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, for which my Department, alongside the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, leads the employment pillar. We will advance those commitments over the lifetime of the Government.  I will liaise with the Deputy in relation to Scoil Eoin. The figures cited seem very impressive and I am anxious that this continue. Schools generally do not come under the Department of Social Protection but I will engage with the Deputy on the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  While I understand this is an education issue, when dealing with employment for people with disabilities we have to take a whole-of-government approach. I thank the Minister for his detailed and constructive reply and acknowledge the significant work led by his Department. The range of supports he outlined and the work and access, wage subsidy and WorkAbility schemes demonstrate his continued commitment to supporting people with disabilities in employment. I welcome in particular the measures he announced in budget 2026, especially the practical supports which allow people to take up work while retaining key secondary benefits. This kind of flexibility is what helps people sustain employment.  I will pivot back to Scoil Eoin because while it is in the education area, it relates to the pipeline of the Department of Social Protection. When these people stay in employment there is less reliance on the Department. A whole-of-government approach is, therefore, needed. I ask that the Minister ask the Minister for education not to redesignate Scoil Eoin as a special school and to keep it as a school for mild to moderate disabilities. Parents and children like choice and this school works as regards people with intellectual disabilities staying in employment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I will engage with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, in relation to Scoil Eoin and its designation. We want to continue to raise the profile of people with intellectual disabilities in employment throughout 2026. During the course of the year, we will have a specific range of training and work events for employers, offering opportunities for those with disabilities. I say again to all employers that they are missing out on serious talent and skills if they do not recruit people with disabilities. I commend all of the employers who avail of the wage subsidy scheme and encourage and offer opportunities to people with disabilities. We will continue to work with various groups on the wage subsidy scheme, employability services and the WorkAbility scheme, which are on-the-ground responses, working in specific areas with specific responses. I am happy to continue working with these schemes and to continue funding them to enhance their approach.  We continue to support the upskilling of staff in the Department on how we treat people with disabilities, in particular, through the just-a-minute, or JAM, initiative being rolled out across the Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  I commend the Minister on his leadership on this. I also commend the Oireachtas work and learning programme, OWL, developed in partnership with WALK, an organisation based in Walkinstown in my constituency, which does outstanding work supporting people with intellectual disabilities to access meaningful employment. The programme shows how supported employment works in practice when organisations lead by example. As the Minister said, we already see many large employers, including in the retail sector, and small and medium-sized businesses quietly providing inclusive and supportive workplaces. There is real merit, as the Minister said, in acknowledging these employers, large and small, which support people with disabilities and also the benefit they get themselves when they hire people with disabilities. I thank the Minister for his response. I would be grateful if he could raise the issue of Scoil Eoin in Crumlin with the Minister, Deputy Naughton. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I will do that. In relation to the wage subsidy scheme, as of the end of November 2025, we had 1,550 employers and 2,615 employees availing of the scheme. On the work and access scheme, we had paid 221 grants to the end of November 2025. On WorkAbility, we have supported 4,585 people since 2024. I join the Deputy in paying tribute to the Oireachtas, in particular to former Ceann Comhairle, Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl, who led on the OWL initiative. It shows we can all offer that opportunity and avail of that skill and talent.  I think it has been a very successful programme. Under employability, through 2025 to the end of November, we had 3,076 referrals and 9,500 early engagements. For those in the early stages of disability payment there was a meeting with them to point out the available employment supports. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Issues"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Issues","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  Somewhat following on from the last question on the wage subsidy scheme, I want to acknowledge the reforms introduced by the Minister over the last number of years. I want to further explore the possibility of reducing the minimum hours from 15 to ten. Doing so this would help many service users in centres of excellence like MooreHaven in Tipperary town to achieve their dreams and it would make working in local communities a more realistic option. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  As the Deputy knows, the wage subsidy scheme is a key disability employment support. It aims to encourage employers to offer substantial and sustainable employment to disabled people through a subsidy. In December 2025, 1,551 employers were availing of the wage subsidy scheme and 2,626 employees were supported through the  scheme. Budget 2026 provided for the scheme to be expanded to those who acquire a disability or who have a progressive or degenerative condition that worsens and to those who transfer from invalidity pension to partial capacity benefit.  In 2024, the Department published a review of the wage subsidy scheme. Based on the findings in the review, my Department reduced the minimum required hours for the scheme from 21 hours per week to 15 hours per week. This change sought to make the scheme more accessible and flexible for disabled people. However, it also sought to ensure that the wage subsidy scheme maintains its key aim to encourage employers to provide substantial and meaningful work to disabled people.  The scheme needs to operate within the new 15-hour minimum requirement for a period before we can assess the impact the change has had. As the Deputy knows, there is already a commitment in the programme for Government and the national human rights strategy for disabled people to further reviewing the minimum hours of the wage subsidy scheme. I will advance this commitment but I need time to judge and measure the impact of the new 15-hour minimum requirement. I am very happy to engage with the Deputy and to visit the project in Tipperary to see how it is working. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  I welcome the Minister's reply. I thank and acknowledge everybody working within the scheme and, in particular, individuals in the Department of Social Protection around the country working on this and other activation schemes. It is such a fantastic scheme and it is not about money or policy. It is about being able to be seen to be capable of working, to be able to work with others. I am conscious of those individuals who just do not have the capacity to work 15 hours a week and may only have the capacity to work ten hours a week. There has been a lot of feedback from employers and service providers indicating that the current minimum threshold of 15 hours per week can be a barrier. While the scheme is well designed, this requirement can limit its reach. As the Minister said, there is a commitment in the programme for Government. I look forward to working with the Minister to explore whether we can reduce the minimum requirement further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank the Deputy. We will certainly work across the House in relation to this area of furthering employment opportunities for those with disabilities. As we discussed earlier, WorkAbility is working on 57 local, regional and national projects right across the country. We have also work in access, which is one of the changes we announced alongside the changes to the wage subsidy scheme. This offers seven supports to improve access in the workplace for people with a disability. Funding is available for communication support, work equipment, workplace adaptation and training. I am currently reviewing the work and access scheme with a view to looking at the new assistive technology that is available for employers and those with disability in terms of maximising the opportunities that are available.  We have made changes again to the wage subsidy scheme. We have made changes to the balance of the wage subsidy scheme to encourage people. As I said previously, throughout 2026 we will be having a number of work and skills events that are themed for those with a disability. We had a very successful pilot last October with AsIAm. I intend to roll those out nationally during 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  It was remiss of me not to acknowledge the many employers across the country who participate in the scheme. Indeed, their willingness to provide opportunities has had such a positive impact. I am engaging with service providers, not just the MooreHaven centre, but others within my constituency, and they have indicated to me that the ten-hour threshold would be far more achievable, first of all, for many employers but more importantly, it would better suit the needs of many participants, having regard to their abilities and indeed their limited capacity to work. As I said, for many the 15 hours is simply a bridge too far. This is not due to a lack of willingness but just practical and health-related constraints. Reducing the minimum requirement from 15 hours to ten hours is a sensible and what I would call inclusive adjustment. As the Minister said, it fully aligns with the objectives of the programme for Government, but I accept what the Minister is saying. The 15 hours minimum requirement was only introduced in 2024 but we are now two years on, so I appeal to the Minister to maybe accelerate that consideration. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I would like to echo Deputy Murphy's call to reduce the time requirement for the wage subsidy scheme. The OECD published a report not too long ago saying that 10% of the working-age population had a disability and 25% of people with disabilities in 2019 were unemployed. It is the largest employability gap in the developed world and is higher than the United States or the United Kingdom. Dr. Mel Cousins from Trinity College said that income from employment would be the best way of tackling poverty for people with disabilities but, importantly, making sure that people do not lose employment would be the best way of tackling poverty for people with disabilities. One thing that is not mentioned too often in the wage subsidy scheme is that the number of employers that are availing of it has actually dropped over the last number of years. What will the Minister do to tackle the highest employment gap for people with disabilities in the developed world? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Just to come back to Deputy Murphy's point first, we will keep it under review. In 2024, the hours were reduced from 21 to 15, which is quite a substantial reduction. It is important that we also keep an eye on the main aim of the scheme which is to provide substantial and meaningful work and I think we need to keep that in mind as well.  In relation to Deputy Hayes's point, we very focused on addressing that gap. As I said, we have made changes to the wage subsidy scheme. We have provided quite a lot of information to employers. Throughout 2025 we relaunched the wage subsidy scheme and made changes to it and we have made further changes to it to address a particular point the Deputy raised, that is, that those who acquire a disability employment can be retained within their current employment and avail of the wage subsidy scheme. Previously, if somebody within a workforce acquired a disability, they were not supported through the wage subsidy scheme and would have had to give up that employment. We have made that change. We will be making further changes to the workplace activation scheme to support employers.  I am also committed to engaging with employer organisations in relation to showing the opportunities that are there. I am referring to the skills that are being missed, the talents that are not being availed of when employers do not look to people with disability for employment opportunities. I am looking at various social enterprise models that will reflect where Deputy Murphy is coming from in terms of how we can use that skill and talent. I am very committed to addressing that gap. Deputy Hayes's statement about the gap being the worst in the developed world is wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  That is what the OECD said. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We are close to the EU average, but it is nowhere near where I want them to be and I am determined to make a change there. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Issues"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I would like to talk about carers, in particular, those who are over the age of 66 and in receipt of the State pension. I ask the Minister to outline the steps that are currently being taken to ensure that parents who have, for their lifetime, cared for their children and reached the age of 66 can retain the full rate of carer's allowance and concurrently receive the State pension. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  The main income supports provided by the Department to carers are the carer's allowance, carer's benefit, domiciliary care allowance and the carer's support grant.  Spending on those payments in 2026 is expected to be over \u20ac2.2 billion.  In general, people who are eligible for two social welfare payments at the same time receive the higher payment for which they are eligible; they do not receive both payments simultaneously. For instance, a jobseeker who falls ill does not receive both a jobseeker payment and an illness payment. In recognition of the vital role of caring, however, an important exception already applies. Where a person is receiving a full-time social welfare payment, such as the State pension, and is providing full-time care for at least 35 hours per week, they may receive up to half the carer's allowance rate in addition to their primary payment. This arrangement applies across almost all weekly social welfare payments, including those with increases for a qualified adult. At the end of 2025, there were 49,234 carers benefiting from these arrangements. Of that figure, approximately 14,500 were receiving a State pension, either contributory or non-contributory. That means that a person in receipt of carer's allowance who qualifies for the full State pension on reaching the age of 66 and retains a half-rate carer's allowance will see their payment increase from \u20ac270 a week to a combined pension and carer payment of \u20ac453.30 per week.  The programme for Government commits to ensuring that parents who are aged 66 or over and who are caring for children with lifelong disabilities retain the rate at which they are paid their carer's allowance and concurrently receive the State pension. We are committed to progressively increasing weekly carer's payments. We will continue to increase various payments in this space.  A big focus is that the carer's allowance means test is abolished. The process for phasing out that means test is well under way. From July of this year, the weekly income disregard will increase from \u20ac625 to \u20ac1,000 for a single person and from \u20ac1,250 to \u20ac2,000 for carers who are part of a couple.  We will continue to advance these commitments over the lifetime of the Government, having regard to the overall policy and budgetary context. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I acknowledge the work being done but, as a former family carer myself, I know full well that our carers provide an enormous service not only to their loved ones and those they care for but also to the State itself. It is estimated that each year the State saves \u20ac20 billion that would have to be invested in our health services were it not for the work of family carers. These carers work long and difficult days in the most demanding of roles, and caring for a loved one in older age can often be deeply challenging. I am therefore of the strong opinion that the State has a responsibility to look at our carers in an exceptional way and to care for them and to support them in every single way we can. While I said I welcome the body of work that has been done to phase out the carer's means test the Minister mentioned over the course of the current Government's term, I strongly support the commitments made in the programme for Government to ensure that the State give every support possible to help our carers in their role. I therefore ask the Minister to take one further step and to ensure that everything possible is done to provide pensioners caring for their children with the full rate of carer's allowance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We absolutely agree with the Deputy on the role of carers and the role of family carers. That is why we have made changes and made such commitments in terms of the means test. It is also why the exception in relation to the half-rate of carer's allowance is made. Those in receipt of the half-rate are the only cohort for whom that exception is made. We have a programme for Government commitment to better support parents aged 66 or over who are caring for children with lifelong disabilities, and I will advance that commitment over the lifetime of the Government. As I said to the Deputy, at the end of December last there were 49,234 recipients of the half-rate of carer's allowance and, of those, just over 15,000 were receiving a State pension. We will continue to progress that commitment in relation to those aged 66 or over and we will continue to engage with the Deputy on that commitment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  That is very heartening to hear, and I look forward to working together to ensure that the commitments in the programme for Government are advanced.  While I am here, I would like to raise the immense financial strains carers often find themselves under in spite of the services they provide. In a recent survey, 69% of carers reported having difficulty making ends meet and, of those, 29% have begun cutting back on essentials such as food and heating. Some 39% of all carers live in households with a combined total income of less than \u20ac30,000 per annum, so the financial challenges that come with being a carer, particularly in older age, must be addressed head-on. The Minister has mentioned the ambition that has been shown in supporting our carers through an increased domiciliary care allowance, which I acknowledge. He has outlined the increased welfare payments that started this month. I know that this Government intends to ensure, as he has also outlined, that our carers are fully and properly supported. I have so many such constituents who are pensioners. They do not understand why, despite having provided care and having been in receipt of the full rate of carer's allowance their entire life, when they reach pension age, when in fact the job sometimes gets more difficult, their full rate is reduced. They see it as a sign that the State does not acknowledge their work as carers. I again urge that the commitment in the programme for Government is advanced. I thank the Minister for his work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  There are supports. There are additional supports as well. It is important that everybody is aware of them in order that they do not miss them. We know that the carer's support grant increased to \u20ac2,000 last June. I refer to those who are getting carer's allowance at both the full rate and the half-rate and other full-time carers. The household benefits package is available to help to meet the costs of electricity, gas and the TV licence. It is available to carers under the age of 70 who are getting carer's allowance at the full rate or the half-rate. Carer's allowance has been a qualifying payment for fuel allowance since this time last year, since January 2025. We have additional supports available. As I said, we have a programme for Government commitment in this space. The Deputy has spoken to me about this before, and we will advance it during my time in the Department. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cost of Living Issues","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  As the Minister will know, and as a direct result of Government policy, the housing situation in this State is - what is the word we are using now? Is it \"crisis\"? \"Emergency\"? \"Disaster\"? Any of those would be used, but \"expensive\" and, in many instances, \"unaffordable\" are the words people will most use. My question relates to additional cost-of-living measures. Has the Minister given any consideration to such measures, given the rate of housing costs in the State? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We are fully aware, as a Government, of the challenges facing individuals and families. We have consistently ensured that core social welfare rates have increased at or above the rate of inflation. For example, as I said earlier, core rates increased by about 20% over the period between 2021 and 2025, which is more than the rate of inflation of 18.5% over the same period, and the increase of 4.1% on most payments announced in the October budget exceeds the increase in consumer prices reported by the CSO of 3.2% over the 12 months to November 2025. We supplemented these rate increases with further supports.  We have decided, however, to move away from the use of one-off payments, which are difficult to target. Instead we are prioritising permanent measures targeted to those who need them most.  This year we will invest \u20ac28.9 billion in social protection measures, which includes more than \u20ac1.15 billion in new measures comprising an above-inflation increase of \u20ac10 per week in core rates and significant targeted measures, including \u20ac320 million in increases dedicated to alleviating child poverty.  This investment enabled the largest child support payment increase in the history of the State. This payment increased by \u20ac16 per week to \u20ac78 for children aged 12 and over, which is a 26% increase, and a weekly increase of \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12, which is a 16% increase. This brings the total annual value of the child support payment to more than \u20ac3,000 for each child under 12 and more than \u20ac4,000 for each child of 12 and over. Since 2019 the value of the child support payment has increased by about 110% for children over 12 and by 71% for children under 12.  The budget package also includes significant supports to help householders with the cost of heating and other energy bills, including, for the first time, families receiving the working family payment qualifying for the fuel allowance.  These are targeted rather than one-off measures. They will give increased certainty to recipients in need and to those on the lowest incomes across our State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  The Minister mentioned the rate of inflation and did not mention the rate of housing inflation, the cost of housing. That was specifically mentioned in the question.  The cost of housing in this State is rising and has risen every single year, whether people are renting or are struggling to buy. After housing costs, 40% of renters live on an income below the poverty line. That is 43% for local authority tenants. It is almost 60% for those on HAP, RAS or rent supplement, who are living below the poverty line when we take it into account. The Minister is not getting the full picture if he is not taking into account the cost of housing. Perhaps in a normal economy where the Government had not crashed the housing market repeatedly into a wall, leaving out housing figures might give an accurate picture, but it does not, because when we take housing into consideration, we actually see the true rate of poverty and the fact that Social Justice Ireland, the ESRI and others pointed out that the increases in the last budget did not do anything other than impose austerity on people and do not keep pace with the rising costs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  In relation to rent, the Department of Social Protection rent supplement as it exists today is seen as a short-term support paid to families and individuals as an initial payment where they first encounter difficulties in meeting rent costs. Longer-term support is given through the housing assistance payment. The rent limits applied on rent supplement are aligned with those on the housing assistance payment. Expenditure for rent supplement paid by the Department of Social Protection in 2025 is provisionally estimated at just over \u20ac52.2 million, which compares with the 2026 estimate of over \u20ac570 million for HAP and the rental accommodation scheme within the Vote of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. A review of rent limits is a matter on which my colleague, the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is taking the lead. Officials from my Department are working on that review. Any changes to the rent supplement payments will then be aligned to the outcome of the housing assistance payment review.  Various arrangements and flexibilities are in place in relation to rent supplement payments, with higher rent supplement payments that are payable in certain circumstances. For instance, my Department, in conjunction with Threshold, has a special protocol in Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Galway, Meath and Wicklow. Threshold advises, advocates and intervenes on behalf of families or individuals in receipt of rent supplement who are in danger of losing tenancies. We also have a protocol with the Dublin Regional Homeless Executive and with Cuan to assist people fleeing domestic violence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Half of Dublin is on homeless HAP. I know what it is and the Minister does not need to explain it to me. The fact is that when we factor in housing costs, we see the true picture of poverty in the State. A quarter of children under 16 years of age, 26.7%, are growing up in poverty. Almost a quarter of workers, 22.3%, are living in poverty. These are very real figures. I ask the Minister to give consideration to additional cost-of-living-measures for people who are experiencing deprivation in the here and now. I am aware of homeless HAP. I talk to people every single day of the week. As I said, half of Dublin is probably on it at this stage, because all it is doing is fuelling those price increases for rent. I am sure that keeps some people happy, but the people I represent want to know whether the Minister is considering short-term measures, because they are in dire straits. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  That is why we have delivered. Deputy O'Reilly has raised child poverty in particular. I have mentioned and reiterate the record increases in the child support payment, which goes to those on the lowest incomes. There is \u20ac1.15 billion in new measures for 2026 in the Department. The child support payment, to reiterate, increased by \u20ac16 per week to \u20ac78 for children aged 12, which is a 26% increase in the child support payment, and increased by \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12, which is a 16% increase. The total annual value of the child support payment is \u20ac3,000 for each child under 12 and over \u20ac4,000 for each child aged 12 and over. That goes to those specifically on the lowest incomes. As we discussed earlier, we have also increased the fuel allowance by \u20ac5 per week, which is a 15% increase. We will continue to work with the Department of housing in relation to supports offered through rent supplement for housing costs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  It would be quicker if the Minister just said, \"No\". Is he considering additional cost-of-living measures given that people are absolutely battered? I have read out the figures to him that show that a quarter of children are living in poverty and nearly a quarter of workers are living in poverty. If the Minister is not prepared to give the measures that will ensure that these people do not live in poverty then he should have just said, \"No\". I regret that the Minister does not have a better answer for me, to be brutally frank, because the cost of living in this State and the cost for people who are on low incomes, as we know, means they are very heavily exposed to any price increase, including any increase in the price of food, but the Government has refused to negotiate or rein in the large-scale supermarkets. Any increase in energy again is the same story. It is a case of saying to carry on lads and keep increasing the energy costs. All of the people who are on low incomes are very badly exposed to these. The very last one, and the one that is raised in this question, is housing. These people are right up against it. They need help and they need it now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I have given Deputy O'Reilly the answer. I have given her the increases that we have made in payments this year. There is a \u20ac28.9 billion investment in social welfare, \u20ac1.15 billion in new measures, and \u20ac320 million to reduce child poverty. As I said, there are record increases in the child support payment. These increases are well in excess of inflation, particularly for children over the age of 12. Once again, I reiterate that there is a \u20ac16 per week increase to \u20ac78, which is 26%, and a weekly increase of \u20ac8 for children under 12, which is a 16% increase. That brings the child support payment to \u20ac3,000 for children under 12 and over \u20ac4,000 for children over 12. We have also increased the fuel allowance. There is a 15% increase of \u20ac5 per week for those on fuel allowance and we have extended it for the first time to those on the working family payment and to those in employment. There is a significant change in the fuel allowance and that will provide a lump sum to those on the working family payment at the beginning of March. I reiterate that there is a \u20ac28.9 billion investment in social welfare, with \u20ac1.15 billion in new measures for 2026, and \u20ac320 million of that \u20ac1.15 billion is for child poverty. We are addressing poverty on a daily basis and that kicked in from 1 January. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cost of Living Issues"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Pension Provisions","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Auto-enrolment is a significant change for people who are in employment and preparing for pensions. It has been up and running since the beginning of the year, as the Minister will be aware, and the first pay packs are arriving in. It is very visible there. Can the Minister give an outline of the number of people who are registered at this point, and, in particular, the figures for Cork? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising this issue. As he knows, we made a commitment to introduce an automatic enrolment retirement savings system. The aim of introducing automatic enrolment is to address the pension coverage gap that exists in Ireland and, in particular, to provide workers with access to a quality assured retirement savings scheme, thereby giving greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. My Future Fund commenced on 1 January 2026. More than 763,000 employees who were not actively contributing to a qualifying pension or PRSA through payroll have now been automatically enrolled in My Future Fund. That includes 75,468 employees in County Cork.  The collection of employer and employee contributions is now under way. It is operating in line with the design and build of the system. The contributions are being topped up by the State and are being transferred to the investment managers for investment. The myfuturefund.ie portal is available to both employers and employees to access various services and will in time allow participants to view their account. This outcome is reflective of the huge effort made by officials in my Department and other stakeholders, including payroll providers and employers, in advance of the launch of My Future Fund. This is a significant and positive result which will ultimately provide employees with greater comfort and security regarding their retirement income. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  With more than 760,000 people to be enrolled across the country, and I hear the figure of more than 75,000 people in County Cork, are they all registered and up and running on it or are gaps emerging in places where employers have not registered and people are not yet registered for various reasons?  If gaps are emerging, can the Minister outline where they are and if they are in particular sectors or concern large or small employers? Can the Minister please give an overview on this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  At this point, we have 94,062 employers registered, with 700,256 employees registered. There is a gap between 700,256 and 763,000 and we are working to address that by engaging in further information campaigns with employers. The call centre dealing with this has been open since 1 January. It has taken 4,620 calls and 3,748 online chats. Of those queries, 57% have been from employers, 21% from participants and 15% from agents. The numbers are continuing to climb every day. At this point, I think a 92% response from employers is very positive one month into the scheme. We are continuing to engage, and the National Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings Authority, NAERSA, will engage, to ensure we give everybody the opportunity to enrol in My Future Fund to give the security it will make available in a post-retirement situation. We are very focused on that and on seeing it through. The operating body for the My Future Fund, NAERSA, understands the priority the Department gives this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  In relation to the gaps emerging, it would be interesting to know if these are in particular sectors or geographical, if there is a little bit more information on this, as well as how quickly, or otherwise, the gaps might be closing. The Minister might not have the information now, so it is okay if he is able to send it on afterwards.  I have been discussing this with people locally and a number of different issues have been emerging. For example, where people are not registered but will be at some stage in the future, there will be a catch-up time. This is because there would be an expectation that 1 January payments would be made. Would a lump sum be taken from a pay packet on the first one if a catch-up is being done?  A second issue has to do with a means test and if somebody's situation changes in the future. People are asking me whether, if they are applying for a county council grant to repair the roof or whatever it might be in ten or 15 years' time, the lump sum in question, perhaps from a pension fund, will be taken into account as part of a means test. These are the kinds of questions people have been asking and I would like to get clarity on them, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  To come back on those figures briefly, the Minister referred to just under 100,000 employers having signed up to the scheme and over 700,000 participants. This gives me a sense that the average number of employees per business that has signed up is about seven. I would like to get a sense of whether the Minister has an understanding of the spectrum of sizes of employers and the number of employees per employer that have signed up to the scheme. Is it disproportionately small businesses, for example, or retail and hospitality businesses? What has been the feedback from employers?  In particular, I am just conscious that the regulations that came in at the end of the year, just about a week before the launch of auto-enrolment, changed how employers dealt with the auto-enrolment question and how they were giving pension provision to employees. I would just like to hear from the Minister regarding the different small businesses or the spectrum of different employers that exists by number of employees. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  In relation to the breakdown of employers and employees registered, we will certainly provide those figures when we get through this period of bedding in and NAERSA will be in a position to provide them. I do not think we can just divide the number of employees by employers in terms of saying it is seven. Multiple types of employment and employers are registered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  An average. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I will go back and get some detail for Deputy Moynihan regarding his specific queries as well. I also encourage every Deputy in regard to this matter. We have the My Future Fund portal up and running and quite a number of scenarios are outlined in it in relation to people's questions. I will revert to the Deputy in relation to his specific queries. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Pension Provisions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The maximum limits on rent supplement have not been reviewed for years, as far as I know. They are ridiculously low compared to where rents have gone. For example, if a couple or a single parent on rent supplement has three children, you cannot rent a place in Dublin for more than \u20ac1,300. Now, there is no such thing as a rent of \u20ac1,300 for a family home of that size in Dublin. These limits are crazy and they have to be reviewed upwards. I will give more examples of situations in my supplementary contribution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank the Deputy for the question. Rent supplement, as it currently exists, is a short-term support paid to families and individuals as an initial payment when they encounter difficulties in meeting rent costs, for example, on loss of employment when they apply for a jobseeker's payment. As we discussed earlier with Deputy O'Reilly, where longer term support is required, the person transitions onto the housing assistance payment, HAP. The rent limits applied on rent supplement are aligned with those on HAP.  Expenditure on rent supplement paid by the Department of Social Protection in 2025 is provisionally estimated at just over \u20ac52.2 million. This compares with a 2026 estimate of over \u20ac570 million for HAP and the rental accommodation scheme----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  What is that figure again? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  It is \u20ac52.2 million for rent supplement and \u20ac570 million for HAP. The issue of a review of the rent limits is a matter in which my colleague, the Minister for housing, is taking the lead. I understand the Minister has approved the commencement of a review of HAP rent limits. Officials from my Department will provide input to this review. Any changes to the rent supplement limits will then be aligned to the outcome of the housing assistance payment review.  It is important to note, however, that there is flexibility in the application of rent supplement limits, with higher rent supplement payments that are payable in certain circumstances. For example, my Department, in conjunction with Threshold, operates a special protocol in Dublin, Cork, Kildare, Galway, Meath and Wicklow, where supply issues are particularly acute. Threshold advises, advocates and intervenes on behalf of individuals or families in receipt of rent supplement who are in danger of losing their tenancies. My Department operates a protocol with the Dublin Region Homeless Executive, DRHE, which liaises on behalf of the local authorities. We also operate a special protocol with Cuan to assist people fleeing domestic violence. Additional needs payments are available to assist those with essential expenses, such as rent deposits, rent in advance and household bills they cannot pay from weekly incomes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Yes. I know there is some flexibility and discretion, so I accept that. The maximum limits as set down by the Department, though, have not been adjusted for years and they are completely out of line with where rents are actually at. I have had cases where it has been true that, eventually, after some difficulty, anxiety and concern for people, you sometimes get them sorted. I take the point that most people have moved onto HAP. These temporary, emergency, special or exceptional needs payments, where for one reason or another people are not on HAP, are very important to the people who get them. They should not, though, be the starting point in a context where the limits do not make any sense. They need to be reviewed. At the moment, they are almost meaningless. This is the case in Dublin, Kildare, the commuter areas and so on. These limits have to be reviewed upwards, even if it is a relatively small number, as the Minister has outlined. A figure of \u20ac52 million still means a lot of people are getting it, so these limits need to be reviewed upwards. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  That figure is 5,706 for active recipients. I apologise because I meant to give the Deputy that figure, too. I work with the Department of Housing on reviewing the limits and ensuring that our rent supplements are aligned. I am conscious and aware that they have not been reviewed in some time and I am absolutely determined to make sure we work with them.  If there are delays or blockages in cases, then I ask the Deputy to bring them to my attention and we will look at ensuring that those delays are not adding to people's stress in terms of homelessness or the distress at that particular point. I will certainly work with the Deputy in relation to particular cases on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I appreciate that response from the Minister and I accept it. These payments come under exceptional needs, essentially. If I might take the opportunity in my second supplementary contribution to raise another issue under exceptional needs, albeit under the same sort of general heading, there is the moving-in payment for people when they are allocated a house. There is a problem with that. I will give an example.  Katie and her family got an allocation due to a transfer from a terrible situation just before Christmas, but she cannot apply for the moving in allowance. She is delighted about her new place and just moved in yesterday, but all that was in the house was two mattresses and a fridge. That is where she, her kids and her partner had to sleep. You cannot apply for the moving in allowance until you get your keys, even though she was allocated the house before Christmas. That does not make sense. That is just one example. As soon as you can confirm you have a place to move into and you are eligible for the moving in allowance, you should be able to get it there and then and not have to wait until you are in with the keys, which means either you have to continue to stay in your old place and pay two rents, which happens to some people, or, for weeks, you and your kids are going around with no carpets, no fridge and no this, that or the other. By the way, the heating was not working when she moved in either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I am not going to comment on an individual case, but I will certainly revert to the Deputy.  In relation to exceptional needs generally, the matter has been raised by the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach and Deputy O'Reilly in the committee. I plan on organising a session with the community welfare team to go through everything to get feedback. We will be doing that in the audiovisual room at some stage in February. The Deputy's example is the kind of anomaly I want hear about. Explanations might also be given as to why they are there and we can have a discussion around that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  When will that be? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We will be doing it in February. It is an issue that keeps coming back. We want to try to get feedback from every Deputy and Senator in relation to that. We will do that at some stage in February. I will let every Deputy know. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The programme for Government promises an annual cost-of-disability support payment, suggesting that it will be incrementally increased. Instead of introducing that in the last budget, the Government introduced an incredible series of cruel cuts, totalling over \u20ac1,400 for disabled people. When is the Minister going to right this wrong? What level of payment is he going to introduce? When is he going to introduce this annual cost-of-disability payment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  The Department of Social Protection provides a range of income support payments for disabled people. There are approximately 231,000 recipients of disability income support payments, amounting to an estimated expenditure of \u20ac3.24 billion in 2025. The Government recognises the significant additional costs that disabled people face in their daily lives and is committed to improving outcomes for disabled people by introducing permanent measures. That is why the programme for Government includes a range of commitments to support disabled people. Our programme for Government commitments will be advanced over the lifetime of the Government, having regard to the overall policy and budgetary context.  The programme for Government commits to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment. My Department will lead a strategic focus network, with the involvement of other relevant Departments and agencies, as a commitment under the national human rights strategy for disabled people. The work of this network, which will include disabled people and their advocates, will inform the approach to be taken in delivering on the programme for Government commitment. My officials have been asked to expedite this work with a view to bringing a proposal to the Government in the first half of this year. Officials have already held meetings with a number of organisations to discuss the possible structure and content of the strategic focus network on the cost of disability. My officials met a number of organisations on 2 December at my Department's disability consultative forum, at which the cost-of-disability strategic focus network was the main agenda item. A meeting with the Disabled Persons Organisations Network is scheduled for Friday, 23 January.  The views of disabled people and all relevant research, such as the Indecon report and the more recent ESRI report, will be considered by my Department when progressing this work. To reiterate what I said earlier, we will also be having public consultation where we look forward to views from across the House in relation to what the permanent cost-of-disability payment should look like. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It says a lot about the priorities of the Government that it can have fast-tracking of VAT cuts for fast food giants and developers whereas, although it has this on-the-paper commitment to an annual cost-of-disability payment, the payment does not come in. Instead, the Government cuts disabled people's income substantially. We know and the Government acknowledges - it has commissioned the report itself - that it costs a lot of money to be disabled in this country. Adjusted for inflation, the Indecon report states it is between about \u20ac10,000 and \u20ac15,000 a year. It means an extra \u20ac500 a week. That is how much disabled people need to come close to a normal standard of living. The rate of enforced deprivation for disabled people who are unable to work is massive at 39%. The rate of consistent poverty is one in five. We have the lowest rate in the entire European Union of disabled people who are in work. The Government had a \u20ac400 lump sum disability payment last year. That was a drop in the ocean. Far from increasing it as promised, however, the Government actually abolished it completely and then cut a whole series of other payments, putting people into even more dire poverty. That needs to be reversed immediately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We are currently providing 231,000 people across the country with a disability income support payment, with an expenditure of \u20ac3.24 billion in 2025. There are a number of significant measures in budget 2026. We have included a \u20ac10 increase in the weekly rate of payment, which would bring the personal rate of payment to \u20ac254 per week from this month. That is a \u20ac51 increase to weekly income support payments since budget 2021. There have been the highest ever increases in the child support payment, with an increase of \u20ac16 to \u20ac78 for children aged 12 or over and of \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12. There has been a \u20ac20 increase in the rate of domiciliary care allowance, bringing that rate to \u20ac380 per month from 1 January. We have also made changes to those moving from disability allowance to take up work so that they will be allowed to retain the fuel allowance payment. The budget 2026 allocation of \u20ac3.8 billion for the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026 represents another significant investment.  We are prioritising the work on a permanent cost-of-disability payment. I look forward to views from across the House as to who should get that and what the rate should be. The work on that is already under way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  If the Minister wants to quote payments, we can quote payments. The Irish Wheelchair Association, Access for All Ireland and the Disability Federation of Ireland have done very good work in making people aware of the cruel cuts that the Government has introduced in the last budget. The disability support grant was \u20ac400 previously. It has been removed, meaning a loss of \u20ac400. The living alone allowance saw a loss of \u20ac200. The fuel allowance saw a loss of \u20ac160. The October double payment saw a loss of \u20ac254. The loss of the electricity credit was another loss of \u20ac250. This is a total net loss for disabled people of \u20ac1,404.  There was a powerful briefing in the audiovisual room yesterday, where we heard from all these organisations and from disabled people about the extreme crisis that they were in. One woman said her life was a balancing act between heating her home or feeding her children. Another disabled woman spoke about how she was no longer able to afford to put her child in a cr\u00e8che. These are horrendous stories and the Government has made these people's lives worse. It could reverse that. We will come to the next question on an emergency payment while we are waiting for this annual cost-of-disability payment to come through. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We heard a whole pile of horror issues in the audiovisual room. In fairness, the Irish Wheelchair Association, Access for All Ireland and the Disability Federation of Ireland have done really good work in putting this idea out there and making sure that people are aware of the need for a cost-of-disability payment. The Minister obviously accepts that, given the fact that there is a review process under way. At the minute, though, we are listening to horror stories. I think it was summed up in some of the documentation provided, including the comment that, some weeks, it is a toss-up between food or bills because there is nothing left. That is just the reality that people with disabilities are living with. We all accept there is an added cost. It is all well and good speaking about how we are not going to offer one-off payments, but they previously had been getting payments of up to \u20ac1,400. That has been stripped away from them. What we need to see, and what their request is, is a \u20ac400 emergency winter cost-of-disability payment and the possibility of energy credits specifically for those on disability payments. This is all imperfect. The piece of work that has been done should have been done earlier as regards reviewing what a cost-of-disability payment should look like and who should get it. That work needs to happen as soon as possible. The fact is there needs to be a payment now for people with disabilities who are under severe pressure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank both Deputies. I am certainly aware of the pressures that people with disabilities are under. Nobody has an exclusive right in relation to that understanding. That is why we want a permanent payment, one that is shared and the design of which is agreed by those with disabilities and their advocates.  That is why we are engaging in this process already ahead of budget 2027. Within my Department, I have made it very clear that this is my priority for budget 2027. We have increased payments this year ahead of inflation. We have increased the payments across all our payment schemes. We have increased fuel allowance and disability allowance. We have made changes in relation to a number of other measures. We will continue and engage. There will be further engagements next week in relation to the cost-of-disability payment to a permanent cost-of-disability payment and that is not one from year-to-year, depending on budgetary context. This will be a permanent payment but it is one the design of which will be shared with people with disabilities and their advocates. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Benefits","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":6},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank the Deputy for her question. In budget 2026, we have provided for a substantial package of \u20ac28.9 billion of social protection measures with \u20ac1.15 billion of new social protection measures. This contained significant targeted measures to support people with disabilities, including a \u20ac10 increase in the weekly rate of payment bringing the personal rates of payment to \u20ac254 per week from January and the highest ever increases in the child support payment - an increase of \u20ac16 to \u20ac78 per week for children aged 12 or over and of \u20ac8 to \u20ac58 for children under 12 years old. There is a \u20ac5 increase in the fuel allowance, bringing it to \u20ac38 per week from 1 January. In addition, the budget 2026 allocation of \u20ac3.8 billion to the Department of Children, Disability and Equality for disability services in 2026 represents a significant investment to ensure that those with disabilities receive the right support at the right time in the right place.  To make the welfare to work journey as smooth as possible in 2026, we provided additional supports for those moving from disability allowance or blind pension to take up work. They will be able to retain their fuel allowance payment for five years. Those getting disability allowance or blind pension who have children will be eligible for the back to work family dividend when taking up employment and moving off those payments. There is an expansion of the wage subsidy scheme to those who acquire a disability while in employment and those who transfer from invalidity pension to partial capacity benefit. We are increasing the rates paid from April.  The programme for Government is committed to introducing a permanent annual cost-of-disability support payment. In addition, under the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, my Department established a strategic focus network on the cost of disability. My officials met with a number of organisations on 2 December at my Department's disability consultative forum, at which the cost-of-disability strategic focus network was the main agenda item. A meeting with the Disabled Persons Organisation's network is being organised. It is scheduled to take place next Friday, 23 January. I have asked my officials to prioritise this work with a view to bringing a proposal to the Government in the first half of this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  Other Members in the House have articulated the huge pressures people with disabilities and their families are under in relation to paying their bills and surviving. Like the Minister, I have heard from many disabled activists of their devastation. They are feeling very let down about the cost-of-disability payment. I understand all the arguments. Those arguments and the practical reasons there was not a cost-of-living payment or support for disabled people in this year's budget is understandable and logical but practically for people who have disabilities, it is a huge let down. It has a huge impact on their families and lives. I cannot stress enough how disappointed they are but \"disappointment\" is just a word. These are families who are on the breadline anyway with that grant. I wish to articulate how crucial the work, the review and the engagement with people with disabilities the Minister is doing at the minute is. It cannot happen fast enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Absolutely. It is crucial and a priority for the Department. Within budget 2026, we included a \u20ac10 increase in the weekly rate of payment. That goes to \u20ac254. There was a \u20ac20 increase in the monthly rate of domiciliary care allowance increasing to \u20ac380 a month from 1 January. There were the highest ever increases in the child support payment - a \u20ac16 increase for children aged 12 or over, bringing it to \u20ac78, and an \u20ac8 increase for children under 12 years old, bringing it to \u20ac58. There was a \u20ac5 increase in the fuel allowance.  We are very focused. I will be doing detailed consultation with people with disabilities, their advocates and the public generally about a permanent of cost-of-disability payment. This is not a payment that depends on the year-to-year budgetary situation. This will be a permanent payment to reflect the cost pressures - the very real pressures - people are under. I am determined to progress that in terms of budget 2027. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  We all will herald in the success of that cost-of-disability payment and want that payment to come through. The Minister articulated clearly the increases that have been put forward but there are so many people who are the working poor and who do not qualify for so many of those grants. Whether it is lower employment rates or lower income rates, or higher costs of living for people who need extra heat, who cannot travel work or for whom there is a lack of access to transport, there are extra charges on those people and their households. There are so many working poor but there are far more working poor people with disabilities. I want to make sure the cost-of-disability payment takes into account the thousands of people with disabilities in this country who are working, continue to be poor and caught in that poverty trap of not getting access to benefits and the costs still being there for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We all accept there is a need for a cost-of-disability payment. That goes without saying. We also need to ensure we facilitate as many people into employment as possible. The Minister has accepted there is underemployment within the State of those with disabilities. He quibbled some of the figures that are out there. If the Minister could come back on that, it would be useful. I have spoken many times with him before in relation to the wage subsidy scheme, WSS, and the drop in the number of those who are employed by it over the past number of years and the employers taking it up. It has been reviewed but I do not think a proper job has been done in relation to what needs to be delivered. The Minister has corresponded with me in relation to what has been brought to me from the likes of the Rehab Group, Mr PRICE and others who employ a number of those with disabilities. They believe the WSS is not up to scratch at the minute. We need to see greater employability and workability. We also need to see reasonable accommodation funding, as in work and access. It needs to be fit for purpose. At this point in time, it is not in relation to those who need assistive technologies or the employer or whoever has to go through the administrative burden. It is too much at the moment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I was not going to say anything but I felt moved to do so. It is interesting to hear a Government backbencher describe how people with disabilities were left devastated and feeling let down by the budget. Of course, the difference between myself and the Minister's backbench colleague is that she voted for budget and I did not. This is the very same budget that devastated and let people down. I have a simple question to the Minister. People with disabilities say the budget left them \u20ac1,400 worse off. Does the Minister accept that figure? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I have been speaking to a lot of disabled people over the past few weeks about their experiences and on this question of a cost-of-disability payment, permanent or otherwise. Some of the stories they told me were that they were using only one heating bar on their electric heater rather two because they could not afford the cost of electricity, that they were going in for central dialysis in a hospital because they could not afford the energy costs of doing it at home thus increases the risk of hospitalisation and that they could not charge their electronic wheelchair. A wheelchair user was going to several shops to try to figure out where she could get the best deal for food. There is real anger and frustration at this drop of \u20ac1,400 that has been stripped from people with disabilities. These costs are affecting everyone but this is the most vulnerable population in the State. They were vulnerable before the cost-of-living crisis. They will be vulnerable after the cost-of-living crisis.  Importantly, I reject this question of it being a one-off payment. If the Minister intends to introduce a cost-of-disability payment, a payment in lieu of it through the Supplementary Estimates process would absolutely be within his gift and within the gift of Fianna F\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  There are a number of issues. I made it very clear that we are working on introducing a permanent cost-of-disability payment. I look forward to hearing people's proposals on this with a view towards budget 2027. In relation to the employability issues raised by Deputies McGreehan and \u00d3 Murch\u00fa, we have made changes to the wage subsidy scheme. At the end of November, we had 1,550 employers and 2,615 employees participating. I have made administrative changes, in particular in terms of centralising the decision-making process in this so that it is quicker.  In terms of work and access, I am making changes in relation to adaptive technology so that we can support it. Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa has engaged with me on this a number of times and we are making changes to support employers who use assistive technology. It gives many more opportunities. We have changed the rates and we continue to review the rates and their impact. As I said earlier, we will do a number of themed disability employment events throughout 2026 to encourage employers to offer opportunities to those with a disability, not only here in Dublin but across the country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy John Paul O'Shea)  We move to Question No. 13. I can only allow one supplementary question because we are out of time. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Benefits"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  This follows on from a number of previous questions. I would say disabled people watching this at home are screaming at their television screens because they are being told by the Minister not to worry as a permanent payment is coming. What they are saying, and I quote Joan Carthy, is that people are suffering today and they cannot wait another day, never mind another four years. They desperately need an emergency \u20ac400 winter cost-of-disability payment now to make up just a fraction of the cuts the Minister has implemented. This is the ask and it is very simple. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  What Deputy Murphy is not acknowledging is that we have responded with a \u20ac10 increase in the weekly rate of payment. We have responded with the highest ever increases in the child support payment. We have responded with a \u20ac20 per month increase in the domiciliary care allowance and a \u20ac5 increase in the fuel allowance, all of which are permanent and none of which will be changed from year to year. That is why we are doing the work on the permanent cost-of-disability payment, on which I look forward to hearing Deputy Murphy's thoughts and proposals and engaging with him. That is why we made changes to the wage subsidy scheme in recent months to encourage employers to give more employment opportunities to people with a disability. That is why, in budget 2026, a record amount of \u20ac3.8 billion was provided by the Department of Children, Disability and Equality to disability services, to ensure people get the right supports at the right time and in the right place throughout the country, and to ensure that services are where they need to be for people with a disability. There was a response in budget 2026, and the continued interpretation that we have not responded is unfair and untrue. We will respond with a permanent measure and I look forward to engaging with all of the groups on what this looks like. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I find it bizarre that the Minister is saying he has responded. He has not responded. There is an ask that has come as a consequence of his budget decisions, which cut a bit over \u20ac114 from disabled people. While it is true that the Minister has given a little bit of this back through the small increases, he has left people worse off to the tune of more than \u20ac1,000 per annum. Their ask is that they need, at the very least, an emergency winter payment now. The Minister is claiming he has responded to that with the original budget, which is where the cuts were made in the first place. Disabled people are responding to the budget. It is why they have come up with their ask. In response to the Minister's point about services, which is what we hear non-stop, disabled people would say that the majority of them are not in receipt of services. This is not addressing the additional costs they have as a consequence of being disabled. Before the latest round of costs, 13.6% of disabled people were unable to heat their homes properly. One in five are in arrears on their utility bills. It is a very simple ask for an emergency payment now. Disabled people cannot wait for this process. They cannot wait for the next budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  We are working on a process. We have introduced extra payments through budget 2026. We cannot just dismiss services and the extra investment in services in the way Deputy Murphy has done. That is also crucial and we continue to work on this process. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Public Transport","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  There is huge demand for proper and reliable public transport. Homes are being built in my area without adequate parking. The idea is for the residents to use public transport but it is simply not there or it is not reliable. I am one of the commuters in my area who would love to get the bus and public transport in here every day but I cannot rely on it. Will the Minister give me the reasons for the delay in certain critical public transport infrastructure despite having all of the necessary planning permission in place? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Transport (Deputy Darragh O'Brien)  I thank Deputy Ward. I assure him there are no delays. We published the review of the national development plan and we set out very clearly what projects we are going to deliver. I will go through some of the specifics. I thank Deputy Ward for the question and I thank him for acknowledging the number of homes being built in his constituency. His constituency colleague sometimes does not recognise it but it is good that he does.  Deputy Ward has asked a good and valid question. The commitment we have on public transport was evidenced by the national development plan in which we allocated \u20ac24.3 billion in Exchequer funding to transport, and this is just from this year to 2030. This means \u20ac1 in every \u20ac4 in the national development plan review is going into transport. This is an unprecedented level of investment in transport. It is an almost 87% increase when compared to the five-year period under the previous national development plan. It is also a fact that in any funding envelope, no matter how big, decisions are required on sequencing and prioritisation. These are the decisions that come with the responsibility of being in government but we will deliver and we want to deliver these projects.  There has been much commentary since the publication of the national development plan about certain projects, and I will use one or two as an example. There has been commentary that they have been allegedly delayed, and I welcome the opportunity to set the record straight. One project referred to in particular is the Luas to Finglas. Let me be very clear that under the last national development plan, and in the greater Dublin area transport strategy, delivery of this project was scheduled to start after 2030. The funding I have secured under the new national development plan will bring the delivery forward into this five-year period. That is one example. It is a major project. The extension of the Luas into that area will serve 56,000 additional homes.  Similarly, funding secured under the new national development plan will see construction start before 2030 on the DART+ programme, beginning with DART+ West, which is a crucial enabler for the rest of the programme and particularly DART+ South West, which has also been the subject of some commentary. I will come back with more details in my supplementary reply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  There are another couple of issues that I would like to raise. Major transport projects are at risk of being delayed due to the huge demand already placed on the energy grid, and we have seen reports this week in the newspapers. The Government's support for building more data centres will put more pressure on the energy grid. As we stand, 25% of all electricity in Ireland is consumed by data centres and this could increase to a minimum of 31% under the Government's plan.  Putting data centres before the national interest is pure folly. Let us get all the other infrastructure in place first. The Minister mentioned the MetroLink expansion, the expansion of the DART, the Luas services and Luas to Finglas. There was also meant to be a Lucan Luas since 2000 and it has not been delivered yet. Dublin Bus, for example, has nine depots across Dublin and only two of these have the capacity to charge electric buses. A lack of electricity in the grid is going to seriously delay this much-needed transport. I would like to know how the Minister is going to address these, in particular some of the things he mentioned earlier, especially the extension of the DART and the Luas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  To complement the national development plan, NDP, which we have published and in which we have detailed the projects, we have also published the capital investment plan for our grid, known as PR 6 or price review 6. That is up to \u20ac18.9 billion of investment in our grid between now and 2030. That takes into account all the major projects we are delivering. It also takes into account the new 300,000 homes we need to deliver and the need to further expand energy generation and distribution to enable further investment in things like data. About 185,000 jobs are supported in the tech sector and we need to continue to be at the cutting edge of new technologies like AI and others and data centres are critical to that. We will be able to manage that.  That grid investment is critical. For example, the North-South interconnector project needs to start. It needs to get going. It is the most critical part of energy infrastructure that we need on this island - on an all-Ireland basis. I intend to get that project started this year. It has to happen. Further engagement will be happening in the next couple of weeks on that. I ask politicians of various parties in some of those areas to get on board with this. This piece of infrastructure is critical to deliver the things that Deputy Ward wants and I want. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  Speaking of things we want in Dublin Mid-West, I would like to touch on DART+ South West. There was some commentary on that this week. That DART service will bring passengers through Clondalkin, Adamstown and Lucan. It was first granted permission in 2024. Construction was expected to take place this year but has been pushed out to 2030 at the earliest. This project would enable 20,000 passengers to travel each way every hour. That will be absolutely fabulous for the people of Dublin Mid-West if it is delivered.  We are in dire need of public transport as the Minister mentioned. I mentioned the 9,000 homes that are being built in the Clonburris strategic development zone, SDZ. This is a project the Minister's colleagues on South Dublin County Council did not support at the time. There was a further 4,000 homes in the Adamstown SDZ being built and this train line was part of that. I do not know if the Minister is in breach of the SDZ at this stage in relation to that.  In Dublin Mid-West we are not surprised to see these things delayed. The Lucan Luas was delayed in 2000. The date for this was 2015. This was pushed back and we still have no date for the start. On DART+, the service is going to bring passengers to Clondalkin, Lucan and Adamstown. Will the Minister reverse his decision and bring the necessary funding forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  We are. DART+ West and DART+ South West are interlinked and are both critical. I want to use this opportunity to set the record straight on this. Deputy Shane Moynihan, a constituency colleague of Deputy Mark Ward's, has been at the forefront in ensuring this project moves forward. DART+ South West must be advanced as it will provide the depot capacity for the new fleet on the south-west line as well. It also provides capacity in the city centre to allow for the DART+ South West services to proceed. On DART+ South West, we are commencing the compulsory purchase order, CPO, processes on that project this year. Aspects of the procurement framework put in place on DART+ West will also be used for DART+ South West. I can assure the Deputy there is no delay on it. That has to be done in advance of the main construction. CPOs and procurement will be done this year and I hope to accelerate that further through NDP funding, which will be made available from 2028 onwards.  I agree with Deputy Ward that it is a critical service. We are committed to doing both DART+ West and DART+ South West. They are interlinked and complement each other. There are aspects of both projects that need to be delivered, some of which in DART+ West need to be delivered first to enable DART+ South West, particularly the docklands station and clearing up the bottlenecks in Connolly Station. It is a project we are absolutely committed to and will do. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Transport"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Road Safety","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  I am glad to hear the Minister's comments on DART+ South West. We will keep pressure on him there.  This question relates to road safety. The brightness and intensity of the new style LED car headlights is a cause of concern for a lot of people. Is the Minister aware of a survey commissioned by the RAC in the UK into the safety of LED headlights in modern vehicles? It found four in five drivers were concerned about dazzling headlights. Has the Minister, his Department or the RSA considered the independent research study published by TRL, Transport Research Laboratory, in October 2025 titled Glare from Road Vehicles? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I thank Deputy Ahern for raising this question. Ministers of State, Deputies Canney and Buttimer, and I had good discussions on this with officials yesterday in preparation for questions here. This issue of the new LED lights and high intensity discharge, HID, headlights are known to provide greater brightness, improved colour rendering, increase efficiency and, in the case of LED in particular, longer performance life. That is fine and that is good. However, I am aware of the concerns and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and I have discussed the concern expressed in some quarters in relation to glare particularly with LED and HID headlights. The Deputy might note that the use of these headlights in the EU is regulated by the European type-approval system. This system establishes the technical and safety standards required for a vehicle or component of a vehicle to be placed on the European market and to place a vehicle or a vehicle component on the market and used within any member state. Type-approval requires the vehicle or component to meet specific safety requirements. Accordingly,if a headlight has been approved and entered into service, it is considered safe to use within the EU. During roadworthiness testing, the lighting system in a vehicle is tested to ensure it is in full working order and, importantly, correctly aligned for the safe performance of the vehicle. Factors which can contribute headlamp glare include misaligned aim and various other things. I understand that the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling is going to establish a task force to investigate this issue and I can assure Deputy Ahern that I, Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and my Department will be guided by that work.  On a personal level, I have experienced this as well. I do think this is a matter which needs to be looked at. It is a European competence in relation to the specifications. However, the survey clearly shows that four in five motorists have experienced this. All of us have at this stage. It does merit further investigation. That working group will be important and we will be guided by its recommendations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  Many constituents, friends and family of mine who perhaps were travelling a little bit more on country roads over the Christmas period have come to me saying this is not a comfort issue and that it is a serious road safety issue. Depending on the direction or the angle of these lights coming at the driver, which is often from new higher cars and higher positions, they can temporarily blind the driver. Unfortunately, I am raising this in the context of a record of 190 people dying on our roads last year which is the highest since 2014. I raise this with a the view to try to probe any and all solutions to improve our road safety record. It is all well and good having the Minister and I discuss our anecdotal experience. I would push the Minister to carry out some research into this and not necessarily rely on the UK research but doing our own to try to push this issue forward to determine the cause and effect. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  The Deputy is right but we do have a way of doing this now. As I mentioned, the UNECE Working Party on Lighting and Light-Signalling is going to establish that task force. That had to be done looking at European standards as opposed to British standards. As I said, I have discussed this with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and he will be putting this on the agenda for work to be done at a European level because anecdotally and from my experience, I think it is an issue. I am not a lighting specialist. I do not set the standards either as they are set at an EU level but it does merits further investigation. The question the Deputy put down is not only very timely but is very apt too and is an important one.  The Deputy mentioned road safety. Road safety for us is an absolutely critical priority. Last year was a terrible year for road fatalities and road injuries. All of us want to improve that. Every life lost on our roads is an absolute tragedy for families and communities across the country. We all must work together to do whatever we can to reverse that trend we have seen in the past couple of years of increasing road fatalities. Any measures, such as this one, which I am not saying is the reason for any of those fatalities, merits further investigation and work to be done in a structured way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  It would be interesting to get the statistics on collisions and fatalities in order to understand what the contributing factors are. I appreciate this is a European competency but I want to ensure we are feeding into the European agenda and, to the extent we have any data, providing it in support of any changes needed.  Acknowledging the European competency, there are some things from an enforcement perspective we could focus on as part of the NCT. I understand the illegal retrofit of certain LED lights is an issue. Maybe that is something we could clamp down on to ensure it does not happen and bring it more to the attention of the RSA and the Garda when it comes to enforcing the existing standards in our cars. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I will make a suggestion. It would be helpful to all of us working on this if the transport committee looked at it. Through the UNECE working group, it will be, and is, on the agenda. I do not have any data at this stage to support claims the changes in standards have led to road accidents, though I am not saying that has not happened either. The transport committee's input would be useful. It could get lighting experts, Department officials and the RSA in to discuss this.  The next question, which the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, will take, relates to road safety. We all need to work together on that. We have responsibility and are acutely aware of that. We take it really seriously. Every party and individual has an input into doing everything possible to improve road safety. Core to that in many instances is driver behaviour. We have to address that. The State can only do so much. We need further resourcing - as the Minister of State will go through in more detail - and further measures in relation to speeding, which we are doing. We have to get extremely serious about this issue over the course of this year. I look forward to working with colleagues on it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Road Safety"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Road Safety","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I agree with the Minister that last year was an absolutely terrible year for road deaths in our country. The number of road deaths has been steadily increasing. What steps is the Minister of State taking to reduce road deaths and improve road safety? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney)  I thank the Deputy. I extend my condolences and those of the Government to those who lost a loved one on our roads in 2025. With 190 lives lost, it was the worst year on our roads since 2014 and a sobering call to action for all of us to do more to make our roads safer.  Reducing deaths and serious injuries is an all-of-society challenge. It is a priority for me, as Minister of State, and for this Government. This priority is made clear by our investment. Budget 2026 provides a record \u20ac1.7 billion for investment in our roads, helping to deliver safer roads infrastructure. In addition, \u20ac360 million has been allocated for investment in active travel, helping to make walking and cycling safer modes of travel. The Road Safety Authority has again been directed to ring-fence a budget of \u20ac18 million for investment in public awareness, communications and education campaigns.  Last July, I published the phase 2 action plan of the road safety strategy. It includes 12 primary and 77 supporting actions aimed at delivering transformative change. Concrete recent actions include the introduction of a safer default speed limit of 60 km\/h on rural roads, which affects 80% of our national road network. That was brought in last February. In October, local authorities were instructed to review speed limits in their urban areas and, where appropriate, introduce a 30 km\/h limit. They have been directed to complete this work and implement the new limits by 31 March 2027.  Long-standing issues are being addressed, such as individuals repeatedly renewing a learner permit without sitting a driver test. Regulations are now in place to end this practice, with the changes coming into effect in November.  Legislative changes are progressing. The Government has approved the general scheme of the national vehicle and driver file Bill, which is targeted for enactment in the first half of this year. Among other measures, the Bill will restore direct collision data-sharing with local authorities. My officials are developing the next road traffic Bill to fulfil key programme for Government commitments, including in relation to graduated speeding penalties and camera-based enforcement of mobile phone and seatbelt offences. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I join the Minister of State in extending thoughts and deepest sympathies to the 190 families whose loved ones lost their lives on Irish roads last year and the three people who have died so far this year. These are not just statistics and numbers; they are real families who had real lives and it has a big impact on entire communities. There is a crisis level of fatalities and collisions at the moment. I commend the Garda roads policing unit on its work on detection and enforcement but it needs proper resourcing. It is as simple as that.  There are issues with driver behaviour and drivers making conscious bad decisions about what they do and how they get behind the wheel. Drug driving is becoming a real problem. The substances and drugs people take before they get behind the wheel are ever changing. As drugs and people's behaviour are always changing, does the Minister of State have any plans to amend the Road Traffic Act to include other substances for roadside testing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  The Deputy makes a very important point. The four major causes of collisions on our roads are speeding; driving under the influence of alcohol or drug substances; not wearing a seatbelt; and distraction through the use of a mobile phone or all the technology in a car, which is more like an office than a vehicle to get from A to B. There are many issues we have to deal with but the Road Traffic Act is looking at all of these to consolidate what we can into more relevant legislation to deal with the challenges we have.  I commend the Garda. We do not have enough garda\u00ed doing roads policing but the numbers are increasing. I thank the Deputy for his acknowledgement of the work they do. It is very effective and they will continue to do that. I have had discussions with the Garda Commissioner and deputy commissioner on this. As numbers increase in the force, we will see more visibility on the ground as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I will return to drug driving. A number of people have contacted me about people driving cars while inhaling nitrous oxide through balloons. This behaviour is idiotic and dangerous. The people doing that need to cop on. Nitrous oxide is commonly known as laughing gas. It cuts oxygen to the brain and is an extremely dangerous substance generally; behind the wheel, it is absolutely lethal. I was on a debate on \"Prime Time\" with a colleague of the Minister of State recently and we heard of the death of a young man by a hit-and-run driver. The driver was suspected of being under the influence of nitrous oxide. There have been a number of deaths across Europe associated with driving under the influence of nitrous oxide.  I wrote to the Minister of State last week and got the answer this week. I asked him to amend the Road Traffic Act to include nitrous oxide on the list of intoxicants for roadside testing. His response was he has no plans to do this. Will he reconsider this position? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  Absolutely. It is being considered. I did not see that reply going out. We have a huge amount of work to do to update our legislation on road safety. However, going back to the point the Deputy made, personal behaviour is vital. We will provide the legislation and enforcement. At the end of the day, if somebody makes a conscious decision to sit in a car and do the wrong thing, it is very difficult to deal with that. The public must know there are consequences - not just a collision happening, the outcome of which could be death. Last year, there were 190 cases of that. We never talk about the people injured to a life-changing extent and who continue to live with that.  I thank the Deputy for his question. This is not a political issue. It is an issue we need to continue to address together in this House and to be forceful with. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Road Safety"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Bus Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I am looking for an update on the Glendalough to Bray Local Link service. This is a hugely important route. In May 2025, the NTA said it was a priority and the funding had been allocated.  The contract has been awarded to a bus company and a driver is ready to go. The bus company is ready to go with this but we still have no detail on the actual start date. If the Minister of State could provide an update on that, I would be very appreciative. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Jerry Buttimer)  I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising issues of local transport in County Wicklow. As Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for rural transport, I clearly reaffirm Government's commitment to strong and ongoing enhancement of our Local Link services right across rural Ireland, particularly in County Wicklow.  Under the Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future, we are delivering on our promise to strengthen rural connectivity, ensuring villages, towns and cities are better linked, more accessible and more resilient. Crucially, this commitment is being backed by real and sustained investment. Funding for the rural transport programme has increased from \u20ac16 million in 2022 to over \u20ac25 million last year. This step change is already transforming services on the ground, particularly in County Wicklow. As a direct result, passenger numbers on Local Link's regular bus services have surged from 1.8 million to 4.7 million in just two years.  Through the National Transport Authority and the 15 transport co-ordination units, the Local Link network now delivers a comprehensive mix of scheduled rural routes and flexible door-to-door services designed around the real everyday needs of local communities and real people. The impact is evident across a number of counties, particularly in Wicklow. In that two-year period, we saw a 46% increase in funding and a 61% rise in passenger numbers. A strong example of this progress is the launch of the new Carnew to Baltinglass service last year, which includes evening services, improves access to key destinations and significantly enhances regional connectivity.  Looking ahead, the Department's allocation for this year is firmly focused on advancing existing programmes and honouring commitments already made, including our commitment to the route the Deputy has referenced. We continue to work closely with the National Transport Authority as it finalises its 2026 service plan, ensuring that our commitments are met but also that decisions are strategic, evidence-based and responsive to the needs of communities nationwide. As I have said, we are awaiting a response from the NTA on the service plan for this year. When we get that, we will publish it. We will have the answer to the Deputy's question and a definitive start date when we get that service plan from the NTA. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I was hoping that, when I came in today, the Minister of State would give me a start date for this service. It was meant to start in September of last year. As I have said, the NTA told me in May that this was a priority route and that funding had been allocated. Everyone is ready to go with this. Along with other public representatives, I have been trying to get information about this route and to find out exactly when it is going to start. There are many communities - the people in Glendalough, Laragh, Roundwood and Kilmacanogue - waiting for this bus route so that they can have direct access to shops, doctors and schools in Bray and to the DART. The fact that we have now been waiting for nearly a year for a tangible response as to a start date for this is incredible. I really was hoping the Minister of State could give me a start date because we are not getting the information from the NTA. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I know Deputy Whitmore and Deputy Timmins have raised this before. We are engaging with the NTA. We are awaiting the service plan. As the Deputy will know, we do not announce routes in part. It is part of the whole national service plan. The Department has made a commitment. The NTA has advised us that the procurement process for Transport for Ireland route 199, Glendalough to Bray, is complete. We are awaiting the service plan. From our end, the Department has fully committed to the development of the route. The Deputy is right; it is about looking after the travelling public and commuters. We have seen that in a whole range of services in her own county. We have seen investment and increased passenger numbers. People are voting with their feet in using these services. It is about connectivity, a deliberate response from Government and a Government policy to have more people use public transport. Local Link services and the connectivity they provide have been a success story for the Department of Transport. We are working with the NTA on its service plan. When that is complete, we will announce the routes as a block. We are committed to the development of the service. We will have the date in due course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  When will that service plan be complete? We need to give people some idea. This is obviously about connectivity and it is really important that these services are put in place but we are really starting to see a lack of trust in the Government's ability to provide public transport. The NTA said nearly a year ago that the funding was available, that the route had been awarded and that it was a priority but we still do not have a start date. This is not only impacting people lives because they cannot get a bus, but it is also undermining people's trust in the bus service, in the NTA and in the Government's ability to deliver. This is not a large infrastructure project. It is not the metro. We are talking about a Local Link bus from Glendalough to Bray. It really should not be that hard. It certainly should not take that long to put in place. I ask the Minister of State to talk to the NTA because it is not a good look for the Government that the NTA is not giving it those dates. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  The real facts are that the plan is imminent. To put this in context, the budget was in December. The Department gave the NTA its allocation. To be fair to it, it is working through the process. This is the first week of January. The Deputy used the word \"trust\". Look at the Government's commitment in terms of its investment in rural transport. Some \u20ac84 million has been invested and there has been a 36% increase in the budget for this area this year. As a Government, we are committed to rural transport and want to see enhanced connectivity for people. The Local Link service has seen a 43% increase since 2025. Some \u20ac658.4 million has been invested. The Deputy speaks about trust. Trust the Government to invest in Local Link services and rural transport. We are doing that. I understand the frustration and annoyance of people. As a Government, we are working to enhance and improve the offering to people. That is what we have been doing for the past five years. It is a success story. The results can be seen in the increase in the number of people using these services and the demand for them. We will work with the NTA to ensure these services are provided. As I said a second ago, the work is complete. The NTA is going through the budgetary process, which is deliberate. The NTA is before the Committee of Public Accounts today. The service plan is imminent and we will publish it in due course. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Bus Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Bus Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Blanchardstown is about 14 km away from Dublin Airport and yet we have not had a direct bus route linking the two since 2010. We have heard a number of commitments that this route, the N8 under BusConnects, would be delivered. However, we are now told that the route has been pushed back until 2027. Is it because of a lack of funding that the N8 orbital route from Blanchardstown to Dublin Airport is not being delivered in 2026, as had been committed to? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I thank the Deputy for his question. He will be aware that BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in our bus network and system that will provide much better services across our cities, covering Dublin, Cork, Waterford, Limerick and Galway. It is the largest investment in our bus system in the history of the State and is managed by the NTA. The city programmes cover the construction of new bus corridors, new network services, bus electrification and the development of enhanced ticketing in an integrated manner to help maximise the benefits to the public, the customers.  The network redesign as part of BusConnects Dublin will improve the existing bus network by providing high frequency spines and new local, orbital and radial routes. Orbital routes are a really important part of the new design as they offer an efficient way for passengers to travel without needing to pass through the city centre. New bus services in Dublin are already being delivered as part of BusConnects. Since 2021, we have rolled out the first seven phases of the network redesign in Dublin. This has included the northern orbital routes connecting Blanchardstown to the Point Village in 2022 and the western orbital routes connecting Blanchardstown to Tallaght in 2023.  This new N8 route is really important. The Deputy raised it just before Christmas. It will connect Blanchardstown with Dublin Airport. It is still planned to have the service in place late this year, in 2026. We have just mentioned the NTA's service plan. We have to get that back. The Deputy will be aware of how this works. We will announce all the routes in the round. That has to be stepped through. We also need the human resources to do it. Blanchardstown and the Dublin 15 area is a major growth area. The Deputy and I represent different parts of Fingal. We will continue to improve the public transport offering there. We are seeing people's response to this in the record number of public transport journeys. The Dublin Bus figures for 2025 show a further increase.  With Transdev and the Luas, we have an increase of a million journeys there alone. Overall, BusConnects will transform bus services in our cities. The N8 is a very important route and we intend to get that in later this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I will give the Minister a bit of a history of the delays with the N8. I wrote to the NTA in August of 2024 and was told the N8 would be launched in 2025. In April 2025, when I enquired with the NTA about where it was at, I was told it would start in quarter 2 of 2026. In September of last year the Minister said in this Chamber that it could potentially be introduced \"within the next year. To be clear, next year, that is, by the end of 2026\". That is what the Minister said in September. I wrote to the NTA over Christmas and got a reply on 5 January this year which says that it currently anticipates implementation of phase 9 and specifically the N8 to be in 2027, subject to funding and operational readiness. The Minister has said 2026; that is not what the NTA is telling me. It has obviously assessed a longer timeframe. It is not fair to the commuters who want to get to the airport, or the workers in Dublin 15 who work there. The constant chopping and changing of this deadline is not fair either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  My answer today is consistent with the answer I gave the Deputy in September. I plan to get the N8 up and running in 2026. We have done other things with BusConnects as well. We have started the first two quality bus corridors. Liffey Valley corridor is under construction now. I have signed the contracts. There is major investment in that scheme, about \u20ac200 million. We have signed the contracts now for Ballymun-Finglas as well and that will start construction this year. Not only are the services going in but the infrastructure is going in, coupled with and complemented by active travel schemes along those routes. I want to get the service in place in 2026. As the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, outlined in response to a previous question, we need the NTA service plan. I expect that imminently. Three Ministers will go through that plan, taking into account the expert view with regard to the National Transport Authority. We will then assess that plan. We made a very significant step forward with regard to increases in the PSO of about 46% in this budget. That means not being dependent on constant supplementary budgets, which was the case over the previous five years. Myself and the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, want to ensure that is not the way we move forward. I reiterate that the answer is 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The Minister's answers are consistent but unfortunately they are not consistent with what the NTA told me last week. The Minister is saying the NTA service plan for the year is coming to him. That is great. Is the Minister going to go through that? Can he commit to us here that he is going to say to the NTA that 2027 is not acceptable and that he wants the N8 delivered in 2026? It is clearly flagging what is coming in on its service plan to the Minister. It is going say 2027, a further delay for Dublin 15 commuters. Is the Minister able to commit that he will say to the NTA that is not acceptable and the N8 orbital link has to be delivered in 2026? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  Those in the NTA are very good colleagues. We have a new chief executive in place now. They are very competent at what they do. I want this service in place 2026 and I will be saying that to them. I have said that to them. I do not control every letter that goes out from the NTA. It does a very good job and it has more resources now than it has ever had. Thankfully, because of the hard work of our people and the good economic management of the last Government and this one, we have moneys to invest and continue to invest in public transport. Our bus network is just one element of it. What needs to be understood, and is understood in the NTA, and I and the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, will be reinforcing it, is that Dublin 15 and the Fingal area is a major growth area in our country. That is not just because I represent part of it. We can look at south Dublin as well. There are areas that have seen significant growth where we need to further improve the public transport offering.  To answer the Deputy directly, will I be saying to the NTA that I want this service in place in 2026? Yes. I am saying it here on the floor of the House. My answer is consistent with what I said to the Deputy in September. I thank him for raising the matter. I know the importance of getting this route up and running. It will be very successful and heavily used, I have no doubt about it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Bus Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Dublin Airport Authority","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  My question relates to the health costs report on aircraft noise from Dublin Airport, which was submitted in April 2025, and estimated costs per annum of \u20ac800 million. They are significant health costs. How and why is that being ignored in light of the European Environment Agency report in the European Heart Journal of 9 January this year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I fully acknowledge the impact of aircraft noise. I live beside the airport myself and have lived there my whole life. I represent a community and a constituency that sees the benefits of the airport but also communities that are impacted by it. It is really important that residents' and communities' views are taken into account and that the airport operates a good neighbour policy. I have met with the Deputy and with residents' groups on that and continue to engage with them.  It is my understanding that the health costs report on aircraft noise from Dublin Airport that the Deputy is referring to was prepared by PMCA Economic Consulting on behalf of the St Margaret's and The Ward residents' group, and that the report attempts to quantify the health impacts of aircraft noise and the opinions therein. The second report and recently published journal article referenced by the Deputy have not been submitted to my Department. I would like to thank the Deputy for bringing them to my attention. I have asked my officials to consider the contents of the documents and communicate them to the relevant competent authority, the Aircraft Noise Competent Authority, ANCA.  The Deputy will be aware the ANCA monitors the aircraft noise climate around Dublin Airport and publishes noise contours that show the geographical impact of aircraft noise on communities around the airport. These contours represent aircraft noise that is averaged over a full year for different periods of the day in a standardised European format. The noise level of individual aircraft events is also available publicly from an extensive network of DAA noise monitors around the airport. Every year, ANCA carries out an assessment of the effectiveness of the noise management measures at the airport and publishes a report on its findings. This is in addition to publishing annual reports by the airport authority on the compliance by airport users with the noise management measures. If regular review or an assessment of the potential impact of development at the airport indicates that new or amended measures are required to manage aircraft noise at the airport, ANCA will facilitate a period of public consultation on draft proposals to address any noise problem or potential noise problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I acknowledge the opportunities to meet the Minister. The findings of this European report are stark, estimating 16 premature deaths per 100,000. The information in that report of April 2025 is vitally important. As a matter of correction, in April 2024, ANCA sought noise data information from DAA. It was declined, citing judicial review proceedings, which is wholly inaccurate. That information is vitally important relative to the April report and the more recent report.  As the Minister and I both know, there actually is a solution which was put forward by the north runway technical group, namely adherence to the 2007 An Bord Plean\u00e1la planning permission for flights departing off the north runway to fly five nautical miles straight out. The reality is that the flights departing from the north runway are turning after 400 m. Simple adherence to the planning permission and the current legislation would solve this problem for 30,000 of the Minister's and my constituents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I should say that ANCA is currently carrying out an assessment of the noise situation at Dublin Airport and the potential noise impact of planning applications that seek permission for infrastructure and increases to the permitted passenger capacity at the airport. The airport is a critical piece of national infrastructure, we know that. It underpins tens of thousands of jobs. I have always supported airport growth, but that being done in a sustainable manner. The airport has to operate a good neighbour policy and it has not always doe so. I have written to DAA on a number of occasions, including just before Christmas, asking it to further expand noise mitigation measures and looking at further insulation schemes.  The Deputy has a very specific matter in her area, as there are communities being overflown now that were not expecting to be overflown. I have been on the public record as saying that airlines and the airport should operate under the granted planning permissions. They are subject of further retention applications now. We want the airport to develop and grow. I will be removing the cap on Dublin Airport. That is important. It must be done in a sustainable way. Communities need to be listened to. On the new report, I have not got it yet but I will make sure it goes to ANCA through the good offices of the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  Go raibh maith agat ar\u00eds for the reply. This is a matter of absolute importance. There is no denying the economic benefit and employment opportunities for an island nation in connecting people, goods and places. The good neighbour policy and the mission statement of the DAA board is being completely ignored when there is a viable solution. The capacity for flight path resolution is probably not within AirNav, but Bratislava is well capable and is amply employed by other jurisdictions in constructing flight paths. Again, it probably should not even have to go to Bratislava, if the conditions of the 2007 planning permission are met. I can even show the Minister graphically here, and he probably has the information already, what is happening versus what was planned. There is a so-called environmental corridor, which is a term that was created by the DAA, but it was never approved. There are multiple issues here but we have solutions that were offered almost a year ago. I appreciate the Minister's input. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  All of us, including the Government, want the airport to continue to grow in a sustainable way. I want the false inhibitors to that growth, such as the airport cap brought in in 2007-08, to be removed. I will bring forward legislation to Cabinet very shortly. We want to get that through the D\u00e1il as quickly as we can. That does not override concerns of residents. I grew up beside the airport and I see its benefits. People understand there will be a level of noise that people do get used to, but for those in close proximity, particularly to the western part, the opening of the new parallel runway has been a major change for them and other communities.  I have asked for noise insulation to be further expanded, which it will be. As one example, we spent \u20ac23 million last year on buying homes and insulating homes and schools to date. A total of 227 homes were eligible of which 204 have been completed. That is not a bad outturn. The expedited noise insulation grant increased by 50% to \u20ac30,000, which will now be available to over 1,000 homes. I continue to engage with the DAA directly on that. We will bring in mitigation measures for those who are impacted. There will be some properties close to the airport for which the voluntary purchase scheme needs to be improved. I have asked for that too.  I will continue to work with the Deputy. I thank her for her constructive approach on this important matter. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Dublin Airport Authority"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Road Network","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I have been in elected politics a long time and I have to say that the state of local roads generally has never been as bad in all of my time. It is evident not enough funding is being provided to local authorities. Will the Minister indicate how much funding was allocated to local authorities in my area, Cavan and Monaghan county councils, last year? What is the proposed allocation for 2026? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I know this matter is of great interest to the people of Cavan and Monaghan. I met with councillors from there before Christmas. At the outset, I should state that the improvement and maintenance of the regional and local road network is the statutory responsibility of the local authority, in accordance with the Roads Act. Works on these roads are funded from the council's own resources and are supplemented by State road grants. The initial selection and prioritisation of works to be funded is a matter for each local authority. Indeed, Cavan and Monaghan do a very good job. Although they have been constrained by resources, they have got the resources every year they are required.  As regards the basis for allocating grants, within the budget available to the Department, grant funding is allocated on the basis of grant programmes and not on the basis of the category of road. The allocation of funding across specific roads, or across categories, is something we get submissions from local authorities about, which we assess. The main regional and local road grant programmes are targeted at specific policy objectives, including pavement sealing to protect the road surface from water damage, road strengthening based on pavement condition rating to lengthen the life of the roads - good work has been done in Monaghan, in particular, on that using new technologies - and a discretionary grant that allows for a range of activities, including pothole repairs, edge strengthening and renewal of signs, etc. These three grant programmes account for most of the grant funding and are allocated based primarily on the length of the road network in a particular local authority area.  Apart from a requirement that 15% of the road strengthening grant is spent on regional roads, the allocation of funding to different categories of road is entirely a matter for decision by each local authority. Having said that, in 2025, Cavan received an allocation of \u20ac19.193 million, which was an increase of nearly \u20ac1.8 million on its 2024 allocation, and Monaghan received an allocation of \u20ac18 million, which was an increase of just short of \u20ac1.8 million on the previous year's allocation.  I am awaiting the draft allocations for roads. I expect to have that in the next week. I will then go through that, taking into account working with officials, to allocate that and get it out quicker than we did last year. There was a slight delay because of the election and road allocations did not go out until around March. We intend to get them out in January of this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I agree with the Minister on two fronts. Local authority staff in Cavan and Monaghan are doing a huge amount of work and are getting efficient use out of the funding that is allocated in terms of the road programme. The second area is that councillors across all political parties and all local Oireachtas Members agree that the funding in place is nowhere near sufficient in order to deal with the issues.  There are a number of different problems. The road network deteriorated as a result of cutbacks following the financial crash and costs have increased substantially. The increases we have seen, even in recent years, come nowhere close to addressing that. In Monaghan, for example, in real terms, the extra allocation was about \u20ac1 million last year vis-\u00e0-vis the two years in terms of actual funding provided. Well over \u20ac400,000 of that - it was actually closer to \u20ac500,000 in Monaghan - had to be spent on speed limit signs because of the new speed limits. The situation is that more roads are in need of urgent repair than ever before.  The Minister said he cannot give the actual figures. Will there be a substantial increase in the 2026 allocations? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  Every local authority is looking for additional funding. Last year, we provided significant additional funding, which the Deputy acknowledged. We intend to provide a further increase in funding this year. I am not being evasive; I cannot give him that figure. I need time with colleagues to be able to go through the draft allocations, which I will look at. We take into account the submissions and feedback we receive from local authorities. I have met with most, though not all, local authorities in relation to the roads programme. I could not meet all of them in the short space of time that I had. Both Cavan and Monaghan do an excellent job. I know both local authorities well and the staff therein. Monaghan, in particular, has been to the forefront of using new technologies for road repair. It has got additional funding for that and is one of the counties that has piloted that programme. I commend its chief executive, Robert Burns, and its director of services on the work they have done there.  This will be in the next few weeks. I intend to get this out, if I can, in January. I will obviously share that with Deputies. We will get the allocations out to the local authorities so they can continue the good work they are doing. This will not all be fixed in one year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  No, but here is the difficulty. I have visited roads, including one that is close to the town of Ballybay and one close to Castleblayney, in recent weeks. The roads are in a terrible condition. From dealing with the local authority, the best it can do in the short term is patching work, which in many ways is economically crazy but it has to be done. The best-case scenario under the current trajectory is that it could take five or even six years before those roads will be properly restored.  Here is the frustration of people in those areas: they have seen their cost of insurance increase; they are paying their road tax; they have seen the cost of petrol and diesel being increased by the Government on an annual basis; and, for those who have to travel to Dublin or elsewhere, their toll charges have increased. They are asking themselves what they are getting for all of this, if they cannot even drive to their local school without risking bursting the suspension on their car.  I know the Minister cannot give the precise figures. Will there be a substantial increase in road funding so we can ensure that the programme for road maintenance and restoration will be accelerated in the coming months and years? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  We cannot just look at this in isolation. There is the NDP and the projects we are advancing for new roads and new national roads across the country. In Cavan-Monaghan, there is the trans-European transport network, TEN-T, road network, which is critically important in the north west. There have been unprecedented levels of investment. There will be a further increase. The Deputy's definition of \"substantial\" and mine might be different, but I do not have a figure yet. I do not have the draft report. When I do, it will be considered. We will do that.  We will work with our local authorities across the country, which do a good job in this regard. The funding increases last year were significant. It has been good to see the local authorities being able to deploy those resources. More work needs to be done. Deputy Carthy would also acknowledge that this situation will not be fixed in one year. We have got to be able, on a phased basis and in a structured way, to continue increasing that funding. We are coming through, but are still in, a high-inflation environment where more money has been allocated but, in some instances, it has really just covered that inflationary amount. That has to be managed well, and it will be. In the coming weeks, we will be announcing the allocations. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Road Network"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Bus Services","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  What new bus routes will be provided under the Department's 2026 current expenditure allocation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  Improving accessibility, reliability and affordability of public transport while ensuring the system remains well funded and responsive to passenger needs is a core priority under the programme for Government. While my Department sets the overall policy direction and funding framework for the delivery of public transport services, the NTA has the statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public transport services nationally. In this context, we secured an unprecedented allocation of \u20ac940 million for the PSO services in budget 2026. I mentioned this in my previous answer to the Deputy. That was a 43% uplift in one year alone. It has raised that base. As I mentioned earlier, we did not want to continue the practice of the previous five years of going back for continued supplementary budgets because you cannot plan properly. We need to get the PSO onto a sustainable footing. We have taken a real step forward in that regard. As the Deputy is aware, supplementary funding has become a recurring requirement and we wanted to move away from that. Accordingly, the 2026 allocation prioritised advancement of ongoing programmes and commitments in line with operational readiness and resource availability. This includes recently announced changes to the route alignments under phase 7 of BusConnects and the upcoming roll-out of new town services in, for example, Mullingar, County Westmeath, in quarter 1 of 2026.  I will continue, with colleagues, to engage with the NTA as it finalises its 2026 service plan, ensuring that planning and strategic decisions are informed by operational and resource considerations. Once we receive the draft plan, the Ministers of State and I will assess that. I expect there will be new services in 2026. We have to consolidate the new services brought in during the past couple of years. We have to manage the resources properly, which we will. I do not have the service plan yet, but I expect to get it imminently. We will take the feedback we get from all colleagues, Government and Opposition, with regard to services that are needed. People are using public transport at a level they never have before, which is great, and we want to continue to support that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The Minister has set out the size and, in his own words, the unprecedented current expenditure allocation for 2026. I am concerned it only gives him enough to maintain existing levels of services. That seems to be backed up by what his officials said. The minutes of the management board meeting were quoted in the paper: \"The allocation, while substantial, will not allow for new services to be delivered\" in 2026. For example, on the BusConnects programme for Galway city, the NTA said in 2023 that Galway's new bus network was scheduled for 2025 to 2026. However, when I contacted the NTA in November last year, it said that the new bus network in Galway city was currently scheduled to commence implementation in 2027 to 2028, subject to operational readiness and confirmation of funding. To be clear, the NTA is saying this is not an infrastructural issue, but a funding issue. Funding is key to the decision about whether Galway gets its new BusConnects system. I am concerned that gap in funding for new services identified by the Minister's officials is the blockage for BusConnects in Galway. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  I also saw that article and will take the opportunity to say we need the investment in the new services, like the N8 bus link from Dublin 15. However, we definitely need investment in existing services as well due to a growing population, growing demand and growth in housing. The Minister and I spoke about the fact that investment in existing services in Dublin West had reduced to \u20ac97 in 2022 and there was zero budget for 2023 in enhancing existing services. That led to serious reliability issues across the 37, 38, 39 and 40 buses. They are the backbone of our constituency. We need to invest in both new services and enhancing existing services. It was foolhardy to prioritise new services over existing services, leaving communities like mine behind from 2022 to 2024. It would also be foolhardy to now go in the opposite direction. I know from speaking to the Minister that it is a priority for him to invest in both and get it right for all the population of Dublin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  We will take Dublin as an example. I am using Dublin because two Dublin Deputies have asked this question. We had 164 million passenger journeys on Dublin Bus alone last year. Those are record-breaking numbers. That has been supported by new services being rolled out and improvements to existing services, even acknowledging that there have been human resource challenges. We still have issues in some areas with reliability of services. The ghost bus phenomenon needs to be addressed because the customer needs to be central to everything our bus and rail operators do all the way across the country. It has to be about serving the paying customer because people are responding to the investment. We will not be able to do every new route that everyone wants in one particular year. We have to step that out and move it through.  Deputy Currie mentioned the N8 and has asked me direct questions on that before, as have Deputy O'Gorman, the Minister, Deputy Chambers, and others. I intend to get that route in place in 2026. I am clear about that.  We have to work with partners in the NTA and we have a budget to manage. We do not have infinite resources either. Let us be clear about that, too. Getting the PSO onto a sustainable footing was critical. I was not going to do what was done over the past five years, which was to depend on large supplementary budgets coming in at the end of every year to support service expansion. That is not the way to do business. That is why my two Minsters of State and I insisted that we get a significant increase into the base in the PSO. That gives us a real platform to move forward into 2027 to 2028 and beyond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  For my part, I will always fight for new bus services and public transport routes around the country. I brought in a question earlier specifically about the N8, a new service we have desperately needed for years and that has been pushed back. I am glad that the Minister is going to intervene, and we look forward to seeing that delivered this year.  I think about the growth of housing around our city and brand new estates in areas like Tyrrelstown, Hollywoodrath and Kilmartin Grove. These are entirely new estates in places that were fields two or three years ago. Those areas need new services. It is not always enough to say we have boosted the existing services, because there are brand new areas that have been created. Particularly in those parts of my constituency, and the Minister and I were at the opening of many of those homes, I know that many people cannot get into town because the bus routes are inadequate. That is why we have to fight for new services as well as improved capacity on existing services. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  When I want to take a bus or train from Belfast to Dublin, Dundalk or Drogheda, the routes have improved. By rail or bus, they are absolutely excellent and even on the hour. However, if I want to go from east to west, from Clogherhead to Dunleer or Ardee and on to Trim or Kells, there are no buses and no public services to enable people to get to work or to get to medical appointments. I have written again and again to the NTA with no reply. If there is any reply, it is saying they have no plans to develop any services east to west within County Louth, or even connecting County Louth to County Meath. I find this extraordinary when we are trying to encourage people to use more public transport. There is the cost to car owners and to people who have to take time off work to bring loved ones to medical appointments. Surely this is something that can be considered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  By the range and depth of the questions and contributions here, we see all of the different demands on the Department of Transport. That is good. We have advocates right the way across the House, but we have a Government that needs to deliver. We need to continue a phased and sustainable improvement in services. My predecessor in transport, the former Minister, Eamon Ryan, did a good job and we worked with him in that regard.  We needed to get that funding on a sustainable footing and I was not going to continue what was done previously. It meant having to go back every single year and look for short-term moneys to plug the gap. We need to be able to plan in a sustainable way. That is how the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, answered Deputy Whitmore earlier when she asked for a bus service to be announced. It has to be done in a planned way. We have to look at the network in its totality, all the way across the country. Deputy Dolan raised specific issues in his own constituency that we will work through.  I am concerned that the Deputy said he wrote to the NTA and got no response. That is not acceptable. I ask him to bring those to us. Every Deputy deserves a response and for their input to be respected. We will make a further improvement this year in 2026. Am I going to be able to keep everybody happy with all the services they want in 2026? No, I am not. However, we are going to see a further step change in that regard, an increase and improvement. We particularly have to serve our newer communities. We cannot look at this in isolation to the NDP capital investments. We are talking about the bus network. The first two BusConnects corridors have started and there has been major investment in rail, road and our bus network as well. We have lots of good things. This period of time could be transformational.  There were 343 million public transport journeys in 2024. That was throughout the full year. That will have substantially increased further in 2025. People are responding to the investment the Government is making. This is good for our climate and quality of life. We need to continue to improve it, and we will by working with people. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Bus Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Bus Services","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  Many communities and individuals across Mayo continue to face significant challenges in accessing essential services like employment opportunities and social activities, as well as doctor's appointments, due to limited public transport options. Will the Department consider introducing additional Local Link routes and, more importantly, additional increased frequency to better connect communities in Mayo? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I thank Deputy Keogh for raising the issue. As Minister of State in the Department of Transport with special responsibility for rural transport, with my colleagues, the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, we are, as I told Deputy Whitmore, investing considerably in services throughout the country under the NTA\u2019s flagship Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan, supported by funding allocated by the Department of Transport. I thank the Deputy for being a constant advocate in her own county of Mayo for rural transport and connectivity. We have seen funding increase by 56% between 2023 and 2024, with passenger numbers increasing by 72%. A great example of this continued investment can be seen in the launch of routes 460a and 460b in September of last year. These new routes offer connectivity to regional bus services in Castlebar station, Mayo University Hospital and to the villages located between Castlebar and Achill Island. I am pleased to share with Deputy Keogh that, last July, Ireland\u2019s first ever smart demand responsive transport service was launched in Achill. This pilot marks a major milestone in rural mobility innovation and is a flagship initiative designed to revolutionise how rural communities connect and access public transport, and the service includes a flexible door-to-door app-based transport model, tailored to local needs, offering greater connections, convenience, accessibility and frequency. Since its launch last July, the pilot has seen encouraging passenger numbers, with a notable increase in repeat users highlighting the importance of the service as a transport link for residents in areas with limited transport options.  In October 2025, the operating hours of the TFI Anseo in Achill were extended and it now operates from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. to better meet the needs of the local community, providing more travel options for greater convenience and accessibility.  In conclusion, my Department supports continued investment in rural transport in line with the commitment in the programme for Government to continue delivering on the fundamental and foundational public transport service produced under our flagship Connecting Ireland rural mobility plan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I will conclude on this. There is \u20ac31 million ring-fenced for rural transport, a 38% increase on funding from last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  I was at the launch of TFI Anseo and I welcome it, along with all of the increases in spending. When we look at the map of Local Link in Mayo, it looks like we are really connected, but I am thinking of a lady in Fahy outside Westport who is in her 60s. Her mind is super active and she is a fantastic woman, but she has arthritis and cannot drive. She has one option to go to Westport on a Friday morning at 12.10 p.m, but she has three hours and 20 minutes in town before she has to be back on the bus for 3.30 p.m. It sounds as though that is great and she can go to town once a week and do her shopping and meet her friends but she has to plan that in advance. With TFI Anseo doing so well, it would be great to see that expanded into Erris and Westport so that people do not necessarily have to plan ahead. I also think of Pullathomas where one when can go as far as Curraunboy on a Monday or Wednesday at 10.30 a.m. and get a bus to Ballina at 10.44 a.m., but cannot get back. A lot has been done but more needs to be done. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  The map paints a very good picture and I accept there are challenges. There are the provisions we have to bring and we want to see a further enhancement of the service. As I said earlier to Deputy Whitmore and I will say again now, we await the NTA service plan. As the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, said to Deputy Carthy in terms of road funding, we will listen to all requests. We have a finite budget, as the Deputy will appreciate, but with the NTA, we will work to ensure we continue to invest in our rural transport. In the Deputy\u2019s own county of Mayo, we saw an increase in investment of 56% between 2023 and 2024 to more than \u20ac2 million, with passenger numbers increasing by 72%. As Minister of State, I will work with the Deputy to ensure we look at that map and see how we can fill the gaps in provision for the people the Deputy mentioned. I am fully committed, along with the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, to ensuring that map has connectivity all the way around. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  We need to box clever when we are looking at it. For example, Knockrooskey is an area that does not have footpaths or lighting, so we cannot put an extra bus stop in yet for the Bus \u00c9ireann route that moves through it. A Local Link would be really welcome there where the nearest bus stop is Coill an Bhaile and it is too dangerous to walk to. I think of Louisburgh, where the bus service finishes around 6.30 p.m. and the residents are cut off from the nearest swimming pool where kids want to attend lessons, the theatre or cinema.  I welcome the increased investment and numbers but we can think smart about it. We should expand the likes of TFI Anseo more so that we are being flexible and adaptive to the needs of our constituents and boxing clever with the resources we have. That would go a long way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  The Deputy is right that it is about boxing clever and TFI Anseo is a success. I fundamentally agree with her. She mentioned Knockrooskey. It is about that joined-up approach in terms of the local authority with footpaths, the NTA and Bus \u00c9ireann. What I would like us to do further as a Department is better linkage in terms of more accessibility and highlighting what the Deputy referenced in terms of the child who wants to do swimming lessons being able to get on a bus, the footpath, the lighting, and having a bus stop on the road. That comes down to an holistic approach by the NTA, the Department, local authorities, local communities and the local bus service providers to make sure that we are more accessible and resilient.  People are voting with their feet. We as a Government and a Department are strongly committed to enhancing our Local Link services, as I know the Deputy is. She has been a champion for that for the 12 months I have got to know her and I hope we can work together to deliver further for the people of Mayo. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Bus Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Rail Network","counts":{"speechCount":14,"speakerCount":6},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  Athenry as a town is growing at a rapid rate. The town has been without a bus for a year and our trains are completely wedged. I welcome the investment in Ceannt Station in Galway, bringing it from a two-platform to a five-platform station. I welcome the investment in the passing loop at Oranmore to increase frequencies. However, I have to ask whether there is any plan to double-track the line from Galway city to Athenry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Transport (Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney)  I thank the Deputy for the question and I wish to confirm straight off that my Department is working with the National Transport Authority and Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann to progress a number of rail projects in Galway, including double-tracking the line between Athenry and Galway. In order to progress this project, Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann has appointed a multidisciplinary engineering consultancy, and the Galway line capacity study commenced last summer, so the work is in hand at the moment.  The development of an emerging preferred option is expected to be identified later this year. Separately, and related, as the Deputy said, works commenced at Oranmore Station last October. This project will provide an additional platform and a passing loop. This will increase capacity on the Galway to Athenry line. The project is scheduled to be completed next year and will be of immediate benefit to the route.  Work is also progressing on Ceannt Station. These works, which are scheduled to be completed later this year, will increase the number of platforms from two to five, which will support the growth of train service frequencies envisioned under the all-island strategic rail review. In order to start making the vision set out in the rail review a reality, the NDP sectoral investment plan for transport, which my Department published in November, provides funding to advance a number of early interventions by 2030, including new passing loops and platforms to boost rail connectivity and resilience.  Included in these early interventions are new platforms at Clara and Woodlawn on the Galway line which will support journey times. The sectoral plan also provides funding to commence the construction of the reinstatement of the western rail corridor between Claremorris and Athenry. I look forward to seeing these projects being delivered in the years ahead. This morning I met the chief executive of Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann to get a progress report on the works that are going on right across the country in terms of the all-island rail review. I am happy to say that progress is being made and that last year we had 55 million journeys on rail. We are now talking about rail in a fashionable way as opposed to how we were talking about for the past 20 years, which was talking about closing it down. We are now in expansion and growth mode, and that is what we will be doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  I really appreciate the update and the fact that it is being looked at and that a team has been appointed to design a preferred option. However, I have to re-emphasise that Athenry is a town with a population of over 5,000 and currently has 200 homes under construction across four different sites. Things are going great for the town. Jobs are coming but that access to Galway city is vital but right now a town with over 5,000 people has no bus service. Our trains are completely wedged in the morning. I know that the trains and carriages are on their way but they cannot come quickly enough. The people are crying out for them and they want to see this happen. The double tracking is critical because that would enable a direct commuter link from Athenry to Galway city. The passing loop at Woodlawn as per the sectoral plan is vital as well because that would drastically reduce intercity times. All of this is progress but the Minister of State has to understand how serious it is right now in Athenry. There has been no bus service for over a year and trains are completely wedged. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Butterly, did you wish to come in on this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  Yes. County Louth, where there are 140,000 people----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Ah Jesus, what has that got to do with Athenry? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  The Deputy is allowed to speak. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy is allowed to ask the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  It is based on rail, Deputy Mac Lochlainn. With a population of 140,000, County Louth is growing and houses are spawning at an accelerated rate. Our businesses are growing and we are attracting businesses into the county, month after month. However, our two train stations are jammed. There is no parking and there is no facility. I listened earlier when the Minister of State talked about how we have to be ambitious, and we are ambitious, but it is now time to have a serious conversation about a third railway station. We have the land zoned in Drogheda and it would make sense to have another train station in Drogheda, or north of it. However, if we are truly ambitious, surely we should consider a brownfield site half way between Dundalk and Drogheda and really plan for the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  I thank the Deputy for raising that issue. As someone who has been in politics since 2004, I am glad to see the demands that are now coming for rail and for investment in rail. At that time, the agenda was to close down the railways and people continued with that up to two or three years ago. I am glad to see that my colleagues in the constituency have seen the light of day and are now supporting the implementation of and investment in rail. It is a success story and we are now in growth and investment mode. There are 285 new carriages on order at the moment, with a total of 750 to be procured over the next number of years. That is an investment. What is happening at the moment is that we have demand that is growing every year and that is great. What we have to do is make sure we, as a Government, provide the investment to make sure we can meet that demand and give a good experience to the passenger.  The idea of a new train station for Louth has a lot of merit. We need to get the population there travelling by public transport rather than by cars and all that goes with that. Over the next number of year, I will look forward to making sure we invest. My two colleagues here are totally behind me on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  For fear there would be any confusion, I invite the Minister of State to look back through my social media since I was elected in politics in 2019. He will see that month on month, I consistently raised the need for the passing loop at Oranmore. On radio and in local media I have consistently pushed for the double tracking. Those projects are vital and they will be delivered but this has to be done collegially and together. I look forward to working with the Minister of State in the constituency to make that happen. We have a town that is growing at a rapid rate and the commuter service and the access to the city before 9 a.m. are vital. I appreciate the work that is being done but I would definitely invite the Minister of State to look back through my social media and I think he might be pleasantly surprised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  When mentioned colleagues, I was not referring to Deputy Dolan but he knows the history of what people were trying to do. They were trying to close down lines and they were from political parties and none. Basically, I am saying that agenda is gone. What we need to do now is to work together to make sure we deliver what we can deliver. We have the will to do it and Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann is capable of doing it. We will start in a logical way. We are going to make sure that Ceannt Station is capable. In the meantime, while we are getting the double tracking done, we will get a passing loop and a new station at Oranmore.  We are also going to open up the line between Athenry and Claremorris, so that we can service the west of Ireland. I know well the Deputy supports all of that. The agenda has changed and people are demanding investment. They are getting the investment and we will continue to do that. Not everything is going to happen at the one time. We have set out our strategic plan for investment over the next five years and beyond. When I met representatives of Irish Rail this morning, I got their programme. They are looking at the next 15 to 20 years. I am looking forward to seeing all of that being delivered, as the Deputy is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is wonderful to have that clarified and those in the constituencies are working together. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  Yes, I thank the Leas-Ceann Comhairle. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Rail Network"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"School Transport","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I ask for the Minister to resolve the issue of school bus drivers, when they reach their 70th birthday, having to bow out and retire. This has to be addressed because it is causing problems. I have been raising this issue since January of last year. Right throughout the year, I have been at it. I hope there is some progress being made. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  I thank the Deputy for asking the question. I know he is passionate about it, as are a lot of Deputies and Ministers, because it is something we need to get sorted.  The overriding consideration in relation to age limits for bus drivers has been safety. It is a matter for relevant bus companies, including Bus \u00c9ireann, to set their own terms and conditions in relation to employment, including retirement age. Bus \u00c9ireann applies a retirement age of 70 years for drivers across its wider road passenger services, including semi-State PSO services and school transport services operated or managed on behalf of the Minister for education. This approach is consistent across the PSO cohort, as neither Dublin Bus nor Go Ahead Ireland employ drivers over the age of 70.  Bus \u00c9ireann\u2019s policy of operating services with drivers up to age 70 is grounded in safety considerations. This policy is informed by the company's operational experience and also by ongoing engagement with relevant stakeholders, including the RSA and other public operators. At this stage, I have had contact with Bus \u00c9ireann over the past year since I came into office. I have asked it to look at the requirements for people over 70. It has been looking at that. It has a safety board and an accessibility committee and they are considering whether to increase the upper age limit to 75 for its drivers. Bus \u00c9ireann is looking at this at the moment and it will continue to engage with the Departments of Education and Youth and Transport on all of this.  Hopefully, we will get a conclusion on it which will be acceptable to all in the not-too-distant future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I thank the Minister of State for that. The issue is straightforward: bus drivers on the school transport scheme cannot drive beyond their 60th birthday. They cannot drive a minibus for two or three hours a day with ten or 15 pupils on it, yet they can drive a 50- or 60-seater coach hundreds of miles, and are doing so. School bus operators are losing drivers every year, and in Laois this is a real problem. They are finding it very difficult to replace them because the work is part-time and really suits retired people. I emphasise this to the Minister of State and the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. The cohort driving the school buses is largely retired people. People generally retire at 60 or 65 and get five or ten years' driving. I am not asking for them to keep going until 100 or 90 years of age; I am simply proposing that they go to 75 on the condition that they pass a strict medical test. This is the key. I do not want to endanger anybody. I can understand Bus \u00c9ireann and other bus operators being concerned, but there are real issues starting to arise here. I refer to somebody driving a minibus two or three hours a day five or ten miles to a local school. They can drive 50-, 60- and 70-seater coaches, which they are doing and I know people who are doing it, yet they cannot drive their local school bus. That is a ridiculous situation. The Minister of State is right that we need to address the safety issue, but we need to solve this issue as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  A private operator can be asked by the school to bring a group from Galway to the zoo in Dublin and someone aged over 70 can drive the vehicle, but someone that age cannot drive students in the local area to the local school, a route with which they will be a lot more familiar. There is an issue there to be resolved. In all fairness, Bus \u00c9ireann is looking at that. It has to look at it from a safety perspective. It also has to look at it from a logistical point of view as to how this will work. This probably affects the private bus operators more than Bus \u00c9ireann because they have people who are well experienced and school bus runs are part-time work.  This is a work in progress. The Department of education is involved in it as well as Bus \u00c9ireann. I will continue to work with them to try to find a solution, which the Deputy is requesting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The school bus scheme is working fairly well, and it is good that is happening. I think problems were ironed out a bit quicker this year, and that is welcome. I acknowledge that. However, we have to have the drivers to fill the positions, and it is the Government's ambition, as I understand it, to expand the scheme, maybe to bring in people who are closer to the school and to reduce the distance from the school to qualify for it. If the Government is going to expand the scheme, that, along with an expanding population, will require more drivers. It is really important that we try to fix this because in September there were problems again trying to fill positions. Bus operators were frantically going around trying to get people to take on positions. We could extend the age by three, four or five years beyond 70 with a strict medical test. We do not want to see anybody put in danger. As I said, this has become a problem in Laois. I know it is starting to become a problem elsewhere because other Deputies have started raising it as well. The strict medical test is the issue. I ask the Minister and the Ministers of State to bear this in mind and to use their influence with Bus \u00c9ireann because the Department pays money to it every year. People's health is better now. They live longer now. Their health is better beyond 70. Seventy is the new 50. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Canney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Canney.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney  I reassure the Deputy and every other Deputy in the House that this is a priority for the Department of Transport and that I have the support of the Ministers and the Government on this. We are making sure that any changes we make, or made, take into account all the safety factors that have to be considered as well. I agree with the Deputy. I see this in my constituency where private operators find it hard to get drivers to do part-time work and there are very well-qualified drivers who may be 70, 71, 72 or 73, who can do this and who were doing it last year but who cannot do it this year. We have to look at that and have a pragmatic approach, and that is what is being done at the moment. Hopefully, we will get the solution to it in the not-too-distant future. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Transport"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Greenhouse Gas Emissions","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Over Christmas, the Minister raised the white flag on our 2030 emissions targets four years ahead of schedule. One of the areas where Ireland continues to struggle is the emissions from our transport sector. The NDP sectoral plan the Minister published in November referenced the corrective action modelling project that the Department of Transport is leading to try to tackle the gap in our transport emissions. When does the Minister expect to publish that work? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  First, no one has raised the white flag. I read with real interest and, actually, amusement the Deputy's comments in that regard since he is someone who served in the Government in the past five years and his former party leader did a very good job in that area. We are reducing emissions while the economy and the population are growing. A lot of the projects we have been talking about today will help to further decarbonise our transport system. Transport is critical in that regard. I am being honest with people and changing that climate conversation to ensure that people see the benefits of the transition that is under way in this country. Really significant progress has been made across many sectors, including agriculture, transport and, in particular, energy.  We are clear on the climate obligations we have. I am committed to advancing the progress we have made. However, we also have to be very honest with ourselves about where we will land at the end of the decade. I gave a view on that, which was based on projections I have, and it is important people know that. That is not to surrender anything at all. I can see where we will further accelerate our progress between now and the end of this decade and in the early 2030s. That conversation itself needs to change, and we are having an honest conversation with people and stakeholders and further advancing the good work that was done by my predecessor and the previous Government. However, we need to be honest with people too. That is where the discussions we have had even here this morning about the competing demands, and rightly so, with regard to public transport will be critical. I refer to continued electrification of our public transport network and of our car fleet. We have exceeded targets, by the way, with regard to electric vehicles. We have targeted the supports there for people through tax measures and grants. We will accelerate retrofitting of homes as well. In no way has anyone raised a white flag in that regard. Of that I can assure the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The Minister's comments over Christmas cannot be taken in any way other than raising a white flag on this issue. What shocks me is that it is happening four years before the date for our 2030 targets.  Notwithstanding our disagreement on that, will the Minister speak to a particular project taking place in his Department, the corrective action project, which is to address the emissions gap pre-2030 as well as post 2030? If the Government is to effectively try to bring us on track in the transport sector pre-2030, this has to be published soon so those actions can start to be implemented and can take place. Has the Minister engaged with his officials on this project? Does he have any sense of the recommendations for new, extra measures, that this will bring forward? Does he have any sense of when that document will be published? Will any additional budget be provided for these extra measures? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  We will get back to the point of agreement in this regard. I thank the Deputy for the question. It has been widely acknowledged that transport is and continues to be a difficult sector to decarbonise, but we are making progress. The development of the transport chapter of the climate action plan identified and set out policies intended to put the sector on a pathway to achieve an emissions reduction of 50% by 2030. Current indications, however, are that the carbon budget 1, 2021-25, target of 54 MtCO2eq has been exceeded and any overshoot will therefore be deducted from the carbon budget 2, 2026-30, target of 37 MtCO2eq. Achieving that more demanding target will be a challenge. Again, we have to be honest with people on that.  With that in mind, my Department has been working very closely with the NTA over the past 12 months to deliver the CAP corrective action modelling project that the Deputy has asked about. The aims of the project are essentially to identify potential policies and measures to correct the trajectory, which we are doing; determine whether the transport sector can go beyond this in order to address the issue of unallocated savings for carbon budget 2----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  I will come back on the supplementary question with the rest of my time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The Green Party has called on the Minister and his Government to publish a plan B to show how, across all sectors of the economy, they will try to get us back on track to meet the emissions reduction targets. This project could serve as a model as to how that could be done across the economy. As regards one of the key consequences of the decision set out in the Department's sectoral plan for transport in November of last year, moving that 2:1 ratio of public transport to roads back to 1:1, I think we are already seeing the negative consequences of that.  If the project recommends, in light of the height of our transport emissions and the importance of investment in new public transport, a return to the 2:1 ratio, will the Government accept that recommendation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  To put to bed this mistruth in relation to the ratio, the Deputy is not correct and has been peddling this mistruth. The 2:1 ratio always was and always will be a relatively rough and ready reckoner. Having said that, based on the NDP sectoral plan, the ratio is as at more than 2:1 in relation to investment in public transport versus new roads. That is a fact. The Deputy cannot dispute that. We are looking at an investment package in the NDP that is heavily weighted towards public transport. On that basis, the ratio is about 2.6:1 in favour of new public transport over new roads. That is a fact.  To get back to the Deputy's question, the corrective actions modelling project is progressing very well. That will feed into the 2026 climate action plan. It will be completed in the coming months. I cannot tell the Deputy that it will be this quarter but it is well under way. I met officials yesterday evening and got a progress update on that. Where we can take corrective measures, we will, and we have a real opportunity to do that in the transport sector. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Greenhouse Gas Emissions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":44,"speakerCount":12},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Seacht m\u00ed \u00f3 shin, cuireadh Rialtas an Aire ar an eolas go raibh Air\u00ed, daoine at\u00e1 \u00edoctha suas le \u20ac200,000, i bhfad n\u00edos m\u00f3 n\u00e1 gn\u00e1thoibrithe na t\u00edre seo, tar \u00e9is an iomarca p\u00e1 a fh\u00e1il. Seacht m\u00ed ar aghaidh, t\u00e1 a fhios againn anois go bhfuil deichni\u00far Aire sa Rialtas seo nach bhfuil tar \u00e9is pingin rua den airgead sin a thabhairt ar ais. Ba ch\u00f3ir d\u00fainn a bheith ionraic faoi cad go d\u00edreach at\u00e1 i gceist anseo. N\u00ed airgead an Rialtais n\u00e1 airgead na Roinne \u00e9. Is airgead an phobail \u00e9, airgead c\u00e1in\u00edoc\u00f3ir\u00ed na t\u00edre seo.  Seven months ago, the Government was informed that Ministers, people who are already handsomely paid - far more than average workers - have been overpaid. Seven months on, we now know that ten serving Ministers have not paid back a single red cent. They have not arranged a repayment plan, settled their account or even taken the most basic steps of returning money that never belonged to them in the first place. On top of that, we know that 17 former Ministers have not repaid what they owe either. A total of 27 individuals who have held high office, some of whom still hold high office, who know better, who earn salaries and pensions far out of reach of the ordinary person, are still sitting on taxpayers' money. Let us call it what it is. This is not the Government's money. This is not the Department's money. It is the public's money. It is taxpayers' money. The shocking thing is that the public only came to learn about this yesterday after my question to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in the finance committee. His explanation, if you could call it one, is that there is ongoing follow-up with the Ministers. Seven months later, and there is ongoing follow-up. Only in this Government could a phrase like that be used to justify a complete absence of urgency, discipline, accountability or consequence.  Let us be clear about the contrast here. If ordinary workers or pensioners are overpaid by the Department of Social Protection, through no fault of their own, they are not given seven months to agree to pay it back. What happens in the real world is very simple. The Department acts without delay. That is the experience of ordinary people right across the State. Why is it one rule for ordinary people and another rule for Government Ministers? Why is the ordinary worker or pensioner given little or no time, yet the Ministers, some of them on up to \u20ac200,000, think it is okay for them not to repay the public the tens of thousands of euro they were overpaid?  These are not trivial sums. We are not talking about small numbers. We are talking about amounts of up to \u20ac30,000 that are owed by individual current Ministers and still, they could not be bothered to pay back even one red cent. These are the same Ministers who decided the recent budget, a budget that left ordinary, working people worse off in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. All the while, they are sitting on public money that does not belong to them, that they were asked to repay seven months ago, and that they have not repaid. These are the Minister's colleagues. God knows, they could be sitting beside him. What exactly are these Ministers waiting for? What is the Government going to do about this scandal? Will the Minister tell us today when every single cent of this public money will be paid back? There must be no vague assurances and no ongoing follow-up. Crucially, will the Minister please tell the Irish public what defence the Government offers that ten current Government Ministers have neither paid back this money nor even made an arrangement to pay back this money seven months after they were requested to do so? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Peter Burke)  I thank the Deputy for his question. I want to clearly point out that the underpayments and overpayments in question have come about through a series of administrative errors in the National Shared Services Office, NSSO. Critically, the cohort of people who are affected include, first, retired civil servants who previously work-shared and whose pensions were undercalculated and, second, current and former Ministers and officeholders and retired civil and public servants. Those are the cohorts who are affected by the error in the NSSO. Primarily for Government Ministers, what has happened is that, through a series of Government decisions where Ministers took a deduction in their pay, a salary sacrifice, the question was posed of whether the pension deduction calculation should be on the gross salary or on the net amount that was sacrificed. This was obviously brought to the attention of the Minister for public expenditure and reform last year.  Unlike what the Deputy said, there was a public statement on the matter and the Minister answered questions at that time. This was not the fault of any politician or former civil servant; it was an error by the NSSO. The Government immediately committed to having a review carried out by Derek Moran, the chairperson of the NSSO. That will report in March to ensure that something like this does not happen again.  Regarding the ten Ministers the Deputy cites who currently have not concluded the pay agreement to repay moneys owed, a number of clarifications have been sought about the calculations that were brought forward. I know that everyone has the right to ensure that they are paying the correct amount and every single Minister wants to ensure they are doing that. That is very important.  The Government is crystal clear that any retired civil servant or Minister who does not comply or pay back what is due to the Exchequer will not receive their pension because this is a key requirement in funding their pension. I also robustly challenge what the Deputy says about the social welfare protection code that we have in this country. I, like many politicians, do weekly clinics, meeting constituents who are very vulnerable. The Department of Social Protection does not demand a repayment immediately. It works out payment plans that respect vulnerable citizens throughout the State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Not seven months later. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  There are limits on the gross threshold that is deducted every single week, bearing in mind the vulnerable situations that families find themselves in. I have worked with the Department in representing people who, sometimes through no fault of their own, have an overpayment to the Department of Social Protection. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Did you ever get seven months of a window for them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  The second point I want to robustly challenge is that there is nothing in this budget for workers or those who are most vulnerable in society. We have put forward a \u20ac300 million package for people who are vulnerable and to ensure that those who are working on lower incomes are rewarded. We have increased the minimum wage by 40% over the last four years. Deputies will see from the Central Statistics Office, CSO, returns that real growth in wages in our economy has come through over the last number of years, with 13 sectors growing. We have also protected the most vulnerable by reducing the VAT rate on gas and electricity to 9%, which is \u20ac100 a month, implementing the free schoolbook scheme and increasing social protection payments by \u20ac10, which amounts to \u20ac520 for families every single year, as well as making improvements to the hot meals programme.  There is also the public service pay agreement, which gives an increase of 17% over the lifetime of the agreement to those who are most vulnerable, in particular, a 3% top-up for incomes under \u20ac50,000. That is how the Government is delivering and protecting the most vulnerable. To do that, we need to have a strong engine room, a strong economy, about which Deputy Doherty would know absolutely nothing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Give the Minister a wee clap there because he defended some of you anyway. God knows, it may be the people beside you who owe the tens of thousands of euro, money that is still resting in their accounts no doubt. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  There is a lot of dodgy money around----- "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The Minister doth protest too much. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darragh O'Brien","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Darragh-O'Brien.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darragh O'Brien  How did you buy your constituency office? Yourself and P\u00e1draig bought it for cash, did you not? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Let me make the point. Maybe the Members heckling have the most to answer for in relation to this. The core issue is that Ministers were overpaid tens of thousands of euro. Some Ministers paid that money back. In fairness to the Minister, Deputy Jack Chambers, he called on all the Ministers to pay it back. The Minister, Deputy Burke, did not even have the audacity or cop-on to do that. This money is not the Ministers' money. It is the public's money. These are Ministers who are paid \u20ac200,000, senior Ministers who are holding on to this money seven months later. There are clear rules in relation to this. The money has to be paid back within 12 months. Deductions of at least 8% have to be applied in relation to salaries and Ministers are holding out. It is absolutely unacceptable. These are the same Ministers who stand in front of me and tell me they did not leave people with disabilities high and dry even though we know they are \u20ac1,400 worse off. I do not know to this day whether the Minister in front of me today, yesterday or last week----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I ask the Deputy to conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  -----owed \u20ac20,000 or \u20ac30,000 to the public purse and has been refusing to do it over the last seven months. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I ask the Minister to do the decent thing and----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Please conclude Deputy Doherty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  -----call on the ten Ministers and his former colleagues, the 17 ex-Ministers, to immediately engage in a repayment plan to pay that money back without delay. It is now seven months on. Nobody else gets that latitude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Doherty, please conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  These Ministers think they are above the rules and it is not acceptable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I robustly challenge that Ministers are not engaging with the NSSO and are not going to pay this money back. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  They have had seven months. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  This has a huge net in terms of the number of people affected. I listed the three cohorts that were affected by the NSSO, through no fault of any public representative or anyone who was in----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Should they pay it back? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  -----or anyone who was in receipt and was overpaid or underpaid in relation to a pension deduction for the NSSO. I am making quite clear that all Ministers are engaging with the NSSO, all Ministers will bring this to a conclusion and will ensure----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  When? Will it be next year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  When they get the clarification. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Allow the Minister to answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  People are fully correct and entitled to seek clarifications from the NSSO, which has made a series of errors in this regard over a number of years. People are entitled to seek clarifications right across the public service, and people are doing that. I can absolutely assure the House this will be brought to a conclusion.  I can also say that in terms of our budget, we have protected the most vulnerable with a \u20ac300 million package to ensure the most vulnerable in our society - our carers and those with disabilities - are protected and, critically, that our lower paid workers are getting an increase that is outpacing the rate of inflation in our economy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Should the Ministers pay the money back? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  The Government has not protected the most vulnerable. In the last hour, the consumer price index came out and it shows families had to pay more for basics like clothing, footwear and education costs over the past year. Inflation may be slowing but prices are still rising. The Minister knows this because under his Government's watch, the price of beef has increased by 44% in the last five years. It has gone up 24% in the last 12 months alone. Butter and milk prices have risen by 45% in the last five years. In the last year, the price of butter has risen by 10% and that of milk by 5%. In real terms, diced beef prices are up \u20ac4.10 in the last five years alone. This is the economic cut of beef to make a stew or a casserole and its price is up by that amount. The price of two litres of whole milk has increased by 73 cent in the last five years. This impacts everyone who has to go to the supermarket to feed a household. The average price of a pound of butter has increased by 55 cent and that of a kilogram of cheddar cheese by 62 cent in just one year.  These price hikes are hitting people really hard, especially now when we know from research that one in five people planned to borrow money just to get through the short but expensive Christmas period. It is not just the everyday costs that are going up. This week, we saw Diageo, a multibillion-euro company, announce that the price of a pint of Guinness will go up by 20 cent. An Post has announced that the price of a stamp is going up by 20 cent. This is just to send a simple letter. These increases are constantly chipping away at people's disposable income and their sense of financial security.  The most recent data we have on motor insurance costs show a rise of 9%. The cost of health insurance has risen by almost 10%. As we know, Irish households are paying more than most in Europe for electricity. People are getting hit in every single direction. The Government is even piling on the direct pain. The cost of third level education rose by \u20ac500. Road toll prices are going up. Energy prices go up while the energy support payments are gone. Hope that this Government has any interest in tackling the affordability crisis has all but disappeared.  A recent study by Core Research shows the cost of living remains the defining concern in 2026, with 74%, three quarters of the population, not expecting it to ease. Of adults surveyed, 72% are unconvinced that housing affordability will improve. Some 52% of adults also now expect Ireland to face a recession in 2026. This is a damning indictment of the Government's ability to tackle the affordability crisis and to provide hope and confidence to people.  The question that has to be asked is whether the Government has just given up. It has no answers for increased grocery prices, no answers for increased insurance costs and no answers for increased utility bills. When is the Government going to step up and provide direct supports for those working people, vulnerable people, who need them? Is it prepared to look at such measures as windfall taxes on the big energy companies and the big supermarket chains to target supports at people struggling to pay their bills? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for his question on a very important area which is very much to the fore in the mindset of the Government, namely, the cost of living and how vulnerable families grapple with the weekly shop and the price of groceries. In the context of budget 2026, I want to outline how we as a Government are supporting people who are the most vulnerable. We came forward in budget 2026 with a \u20ac9.4 billion package. This is about 3.25 times the size of the pre-pandemic package. In terms of wages, if we look at the CSO data, which is the gold standard, it shows a 45% increase in weekly wages since 2015. The average wage is over \u20ac1,000 a week. All 13 sectors of our economy are growing evenly. Critically, regarding real wage growth, we are outpacing the rate of inflation.  To assist the most vulnerable families, we extended the clothing and back to school footwear allowance to two- and three-year-olds. We increased the child support payment by \u20ac16 for over-12s and \u20ac8 for under-12s. We brought forward the reduction to 9% in the VAT rate and extended it to the end of 2030, saving people \u20ac100 a month on utility bills, at a cost of \u20ac254 million. We brought forward a number of changes to the social welfare code. We brought the fuel allowance to help 46,000 additional families. At this point, one in four households gets the fuel allowance. We have increased the allowance by 15%, which is well above the rate of inflation. Again, we are looking to prevent poverty and fuel poverty over these critical periods. We have also increased the basic rates of social welfare and the thresholds for the carer's allowance, bringing us on a pathway to abolishing the means test. Again, this is rewarding carers and trying to assist those who are protecting the most vulnerable and doing the State a huge service in keeping people in their homes and living independently.  We have worked very hard in increasing the basic social welfare payments by \u20ac520 per year. This, again, is a great assistance. We have extended the thresholds of the working family payment for those who are working and on lower incomes. In the public sector pay agreement, we can see how we have ensured that people on incomes under \u20ac50,000, those who are under the most pressure, get the greatest increase. Over the lifetime of the agreement, as I just outlined, the increase will be about 17.3%.  This demonstrates what the Government is doing and the action we are taking to respond to the challenges. This year, I will enhance the powers of the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, the key agency that looks into competition in our sectors, to ensure we are getting fair competition in the grocery sector. We have seen a number of investigations to date in this regard. We have also seen the work the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is doing in meeting the energy companies. They are very clear. They have hardship funds, and anyone who is in danger should liaise with their energy company. There is assistance there.  We want to work to ensure that everyone is protected in society. That is what you do when you have a strong economy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Has the Minister dealt with anyone who has tried to apply for hardship funds for a utility company? It is an absolute nightmare. None of these measures, unfortunately, are working enough. Why are people stopping me in JC's supermarket asking why I cannot reduce the price of groceries? Why are people turning up to my clinic, Deputy Wall's clinics and my colleagues' clinics with utility bills that they cannot pay? It is just not enough. That is the reality of it. The people who cannot pay their bills this month will not get any comfort from what the Taoiseach said yesterday about the Minister, Deputy O'Brien's affordability group that is being set up. No one is going to get any comfort when they cannot pay their bills this week and are going to have to go to St. Vincent de Paul or their community welfare officer and beg, plead and borrow. These are working people who are doing everything they can to try to keep a roof over their head.  This Government does not do legislation. That is clear from last year. It does task forces and working groups. It does not even do them well. What it does is procrastination and inaction, or, when it can, it does deflection. It is very hard to do deflection on the cost of groceries. The Government can do it on housing when it tries to blame immigrants, but it cannot do it on groceries or utility bills. When is the Government going to take on the big utility companies? When is it going to take on the big conglomerates? When is it going to provide targeted payments to those who need it, those workers who are doing everything right and are being let down by the Government? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I have pointed out a series of actions that the Government has taken to protect the lowest-paid workers in our economy, those who are on disability and those who are caring for the most vulnerable in our society. There is a \u20ac300 million package aimed at child poverty, for which we have a unit in the Department of the Taoiseach, trying to ensure that families are protected through what we see is a significant challenging period through inflation. Families are now in receipt of all of those actions throughout 2026. We want to do more as a Government. That is why we have set out a pathway that is sustainable. Some of the calls made in this House weekly are not costed and are not sustainable. Our job is to protect the most vulnerable in society through the social welfare code. As I said, one in four homes in our country is now in receipt of fuel allowance. We have seen improvements in terms of social welfare being linked to work with the back-to-work allowance, all those key areas that we need to do more on. If the Deputy looks at the warmer homes scheme, there has been an elevenfold increase since it was brought in in 2020 to future-proof homes throughout our country to ensure that we bring costs down and make our households more sustainable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The issue I am raising with the Minister is house prices and the availability of housing. In County Laois, house prices are up, rents are up, homelessness is up and notices to quit are up. Despite the best efforts of the council, which has a good active housing programme, the homeless figures increased by 60% when you compare December's figures with those last year. The Government's social housing target for 2025 was 10,000 - a low enough, modest target. In the first nine months of the year, just 3,143 were constructed - 31%. Cost rental and affordable to buy targets were not met, with just 925 cost rental and 563 affordable purchase delivered. Rents in Laois on new tenancies are up by 12.1% in one year according to Daft surveys. A small house in Kilminchy, a suburb of Portlaoise, is advertised for \u20ac2,100 per month. That is more than \u20ac500 a week. Workers cannot afford that. It is way over what people can budget for.  House prices are up 60% on average compared with 2020. Notices to quit are being issued every day. I do not know if the Minister is getting that in his office, but I am certainly getting it. There has been a sharp rise in the number of notices to quit since Christmas. Some rental housing is not yet registered with the RTB and there is no tenancy agreement in place. A notice to quit can just be verbal. I saw one last week that was sent to a girl by text. Before the Minister tells me this is illegal, I know it is. The tenants know it is illegal, but tenants cannot complain because they are in such a vulnerable position and are trying to get permission to stay there longer. Renters in some areas are going to face a 10%, 20% and 30% hike on 1 March and after 1 March. Laois will be one of those areas. Rents on new tenancies can be then set at the highest rate of the market - I just read out one case to the Minister - and thereafter 2% every year on top of that. There is a particular cohort of low- and middle-income workers, workers who are generally earning between \u20ac35,000 and \u20ac65,000. They cannot keep up with the rent hikes and cannot get on a local authority housing waiting list because they are over the income threshold, but they do not have sufficient income or savings to get a mortgage. Delivery of cost-rental and affordable purchase homes are key to sorting this out. We need to be able to get them into a situation where they can either buy an affordable home or rent one. The Government needs to scale up affordable and cost-rental housing.  Will the Government now take action to head off the inevitable sharp rent hikes on 1 March and thereafter for workers and families who will not be able to afford them? Will the Government and the housing Minister increase the number of cost-rental and affordable to purchase homes being constructed in County Laois and other counties? Can the Minister's Department and the Department of local government review the income thresholds for rented council housing to allow more low-income households to get on that ladder? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Over the negotiation of our capital plan, the Government took a view that we have clear priorities. Critically, we know that if everything in an economy is a priority, nothing is a priority. In the \u20ac19.1 billion that we are going to spend this year, there are four clear priorities. Housing is number one, along with the enablers of housing in water, wastewater, energy costs and transportation, which are key to unlocking housing. For every single person in this State, it is one of the critical things. You have to see a trajectory for owning your own home, for getting the keys to your own home or to be supported in accommodation if you do not have the means to do so. That is why this Government has worked to ensure we are prioritising housing.  If the Deputy looks at the CSO data that was published at Christmas, apartment completions are up 30% year-on-year for the first three quarters of 2025 compared with the previous year. Other scheme dwellings have seen a significant increase, with 12,200 for schemes and single dwellings, one-off houses, at about 4,136. The first-time buyer rates are at record levels. A total of 27,000 drew down mortgages to September - 60% of the market share. That is the balance we have had a huge challenge in reversing over the last seven years. We now have first-time buyers at that level of drawdowns in the market share. At this point, we have 29,000 social housing units that are at varying stages of completion in the cycle that will be coming into our economy. We also know in terms of our first-time buyers that we have 24,335 in the first three quarters of the year, which is up 13% year-on-year. That is why the Government is really focused on making the changes that are going to bring more affordable housing into the economy, to ensure that we have options for people who want secure tenure for renting in terms of our cost rental model, for those who are most vulnerable in social housing, and also the opportunity to buy and own your own home, like the first home scheme, which gives that opportunity, as well as the help to buy scheme, which has helped thousands of families across our economy get the keys and realise their ambition of owning their home.  I assure the Deputy that this is one area that is being supported by record capital on behalf of the Government to ensure that people get that opportunity. Year-on-year, the Deputy will see huge improvements, as the data shows. The Deputy only has to look at the CSO data. It is the gold standard. If you go around the country and look at the construction sites, people can see diggers on the ground, builders there and housing being delivered which is of the highest quality it has ever been in the State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I thank the Minister for his reply. He quoted different sets of figures from the CSO. I am quoting figures from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Yes, it has to be a priority, but the Government needs to scale up the delivery of cost rental and affordable to buy for that wedge of people, workers and families, who are caught just above the threshold for social housing but below the level of income that would make getting a mortgage achievable . One of the things I would say to the Minister, and I have said it to successive Ministers for housing, is that we need to reduce the bureaucracy around the construction of social, affordable and cost-rental housing. We need to work to standard plans. This is how the big developers are doing it. They are doing it and they are selling the houses like hot buns. There is no problem with that. People do not mind if their house in Laois looks the same as a house in Cork. The Department insisting on councils starting with a blank canvas for every scheme is not the way to go because it is costly, with architects' fees, etc., and it slows the production of houses. We need to mass-produce affordable to buy and cost-rental housing. That is the message I am giving the Minister today. It will save money and time and it will get people housed.  We need to house those people who are squeezed in that middle cohort. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  The Government has taken a number of actions across 2025 and into 2026 to try to speed up construction while ensuring that we are getting high quality housing into the marketplace. We have revised the national planning framework which ensures that we have the infrastructure matched with the zoned land to ensure that we are getting those high-quality houses. We have increased the amount of funding for the purchase of local authority housing. This is key to ensure security of tenure for those who fall into a position where their property is being sold. We have also increased significant investment in our State utilities, such as Irish Water, to ensure that we have the infrastructure and allowing developer-led initiatives. Again, this is trying to speed up the timeframe in which we can deliver housing. I absolutely assure the Deputy that, in terms of cost rental, affordable housing and social housing, it is a fact that we are at record levels. These have not been seen since 1970s in terms of social housing and also since the records go back to 2007 in relation to first-time buyers coming into the economy. This Government is critically supporting first-time buyers to get their keys to a new home. This is vastly different from what other politicians offer in this D\u00e1il. They want to pull the rug from under them. We want to support them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  The stated purpose of the Government rental reform package, including a six-year minimum tenancy to give tenants security and certainty, is something that we in Independent Ireland very much support. However, these measures now have produced seriously undermining consequences for families dealing with homes tied up in the fair deal nursing home scheme. Under the fair deal scheme, a loan secured on the family home generally has to be repaid within a one-year process. That would be the standard up and down the country dealing with nursing homes and the fair deal scheme in general. The practice is often required that they have to sell the property to pay for the bills that are there for the fair deal patient.  The new requirements under the new laws that the Government has brought in that offer a six-year tenancy directly conflict on some occasions with the obligations placed on the executors and executrices of these wills. It puts them in impossible illegal and legal positions. The executors have a duty to repay debts, administer estates promptly and protect asset values for the benefit of the beneficiaries. While it is technically possible to sell those properties that have a tenant in situ in that timeframe, it often reduces the sale price of the property and undermines the duty of, and conflicts with the burden that is on, the executor or executrix. The Government has accepted that these reforms will change landlord behaviour. We welcome that but, in these cases, there is probably something that we did not look at or did not think about.  In the case of families who are having to choose, they are in a situation where they are leaving the homes vacant rather than renting them out, which runs against the entire housing supply goals. These are the goals that were set up by the Government. Will the Government commit to reviewing the conflict and providing a targeted exemption or flexibility where property must be sold or repaid under a fair deal loan and settlement to allow the executors and executrices of those estates to administer within the law? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter. It is a priority of the Government to get as many rentals as possible, cost rental and indeed in the private rental market, particularly those mom and pop landlords who have one and two houses, of whom there are about 85% in terms of those who have the market share. It is critical for a functioning economy that we bring in further supply into rental accommodation which is so important. That is why we have also been supporting renters by increasing the rental tax credit. This is critical to assist them and ensure that 320,000 people who are renting get that key support. If renters are jointly assessed, they get \u20ac2,000. It is so important that would continue.  In relation to the changes that the Deputy mentioned, I understand that the Bill is coming before the House shortly. It is critical that if there are any issues or unintended consequences, we can put forward amendments in relation to that. The pre-legislative scrutiny report has concluded. That is being presented to the Minister and the Department. They will take into consideration some of the issues that have been raised by the Deputy and at the committee. It is important that we look at how we can get more rental properties into the market. That has to be the first objective here. Second, how do we protect those who are vulnerable and renting in our economy and ensure that we have and continue to have the security of tenure that we have done over this current Government? This is key to ensure that people have that certainty in the rental market. That is why there are so many forms of cost rental of rental options now which are critical for renters.  As the Bill comes forward, it will be up to the House to scrutinise it. The pre-legislative scrutiny report from the Oireachtas joint committee will also provide recommendations to the Minister. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, is working very hard on it. There was strong collaboration with all the bodies in this sector in trying to ensure that there are no unintended consequences and that we get those key rental properties into the marketplace. This has been a challenge, if we are being honest, over the past number of years because of either the regulatory burden or the supply issue. That is what we are committed to resolving. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I thank the Minister for his reply. It is fair. There was no intention from anyone in any place to say that this was just overlooked. We in Independent Ireland will be tabling a couple of amendments when the legislation hits the floor. I am quite happy to meet with the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, about this and bring to him a small delegation who have a number of concerns about the fair deal scheme. There are an awful lot of houses in Ireland that are sitting idle at the moment under the fair deal scheme that people are not renting out because of the situation. They are anticipating situations like this that are not currently being looked at in the legislation. Roughly 8,000 houses around the country are currently vacant due to the fair deal scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  The fair deal scheme has its own primary legislation that underpins it. Any unintended consequences can be looked at through that prism. We absolutely do not want any policy that would go against the Government's incentivisation with regard to dereliction and vacancy. One can see the very significant moves we have made by bringing 20,000 homes back into use, supported by the vacant property refurbishment grant. We can see the extensions of that, particularly for over-the-shop living and through the cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe scheme where people can get a grant to bring a derelict property back into use, as well as grants from the SEAI. There is \u20ac100,000 collectively between both grants to bring derelict properties back into use. For those who are in a situation where they are embarking on drawing down the fair deal scheme, we will also have to look and ensure that we do not see properties vacant for a long time. We have to respect the wishes of relatives too. This is very important in that process. We will work with the House in the context of the pre-legislative scrutiny report and when the legislation comes before the D\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Under Standing Order 38A, I call on Deputy Timmins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  The programme for Government states:  Local Government is the beating heart of our democracy. It is responsible for many of the essential services on which we depend \u2013 housing, local roads, planning [and many other things].\"  I wish to talk about my experience of over 20 years as a local councillor before I came here and how the powers of the councillor have been diminished.  First is planning. In 2004, I could and did make changes that made a real difference to help rural planning. In 2022, I was told that they must comply with national planning guidelines, so my changes were not allowed. In the 2022 Wicklow development plan, we dezoned vast areas of land because of the Planning Regulator's guidelines. These were based on the outdated 2016 census. We knew we had a housing shortage. At the time, I pointed out how crazy this was but nobody was listening to us councillors at the time. At one stage, the Planning Regulator told us that we could not zone for four houses in a town of 2,000 people. In addition, the section 140 powers for councillors covering planning were abolished.  Housing bodies have taken over much of social housing. They are not accountable to public representatives. As they do not have to sit before councillors at a monthly meeting, the democratic input is further reduced. Water and wastewater are completely outsourced. Again, the responsible body is not accountable before councillors on a monthly basis or through a strategic policy committee, SPC. The number of councillors has reduced from 1,627 to 949 after the changes in 2014.  This is one of the lowest per capita representations in the whole of Europe.  The only significant funding income for current expenditure comes from commercial rates and property tax. All other funding must come from central government. This further limits councillors' powers. The property tax was supposed to bring extra funding to the local authorities but all that happened was that it reduced Government grants. Some councils still do not retain all of the property tax collected and this needs to be addressed as it is simply unfair. I ask that we consider using the taxes that are very much local based, for example, motor tax, the residential zoned land tax and the new derelict property tax.  I understand the local democracy task force met six times and will produce a report in February. I hope it will recommend many of the points in the Seanad report on local democracy of October 2024. I urge the Minister and all of his colleagues to support these recommendations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Timmins for raising this very important matter. Like him, I served many years as a local authority member and I was also privileged to be cathaoirleach of my county in Westmeath. I got a huge amount of experience through the process. I am always very much aware that local government is the closest arm of government to the citizen, with the more than 1,100 services it provides in many sectors of society. They are absolutely key and they are upheld and fought for by our local authority members throughout the country. This is why, when I was Minister of State with responsibility for local government I prioritised making improvements by introducing maternity leave for female councillors, which was so important, and bringing about proper pay and conditions for local authority members. I am very much aware of the challenges they face, particularly in our modern era when devising county development plans, local area plans and all of the strategies that local authorities are now obliged to have under primary legislation.  Notwithstanding the 180 powers in the reserved functions they have, erosion has taken place in many sectors and many areas of our local authorities. I know from working with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, that he is doing great work in the local government sector. The Government established a task force on local democracy back in June. This has been working to progress and bring proposals forward. It held its inaugural meeting on 26 June and has met on seven occasions to date. It will meet again this afternoon. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, will be in very close contact and will be watching over the reform proposals therein.  I am absolutely a strong supporter of local democracy and of our local authority members, of all parties and none, and the great work they do throughout our country. I would be very supportive of additional powers for our local authority members. We are very clear about the work they do. In many cases, and I know this from my work on local government, local authorities in particular are first responders. If we look at the Ukrainian crisis, when thousands of people came to our shores, local authorities were at the very forefront. We can look at the global pandemic and the work they did. We can look at any of the significant weather events that hit our country. Local authority workers, and particularly our ground staff, are often out there risking their lives, trying to ensure that people can get to work safely and that our local communities can function. A huge debt of gratitude is owed to all of our outdoor staff and all of our local authority members who work tirelessly to ensure we have stronger communities. They are working to plan how infrastructural investment takes shape in our communities through county development plans and local area plans. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I appreciate that the Minister understands and that he has been there. I repeat that powers are far too centralised in this country. We all know the word \"subsidiarity\". The programme for Government supports it, and it is stated in it, but we do not apply it to councils. They have the local knowledge and must be allowed more autonomy in decision-making. In addition to this, communication between Departments and local authorities must be improved. At the beginning of last year, I asked in the D\u00e1il that the Minister give local authorities housing targets and that every quarter he would meet, on a formal basis, with the CEOs and directors of planning of the councils and that he would monitor these targets monthly. This must happen. It is too important not to happen. This will lead to hard questions being asked of the councils and also hard questions being asked of the Departments. Similarly, more communication needs to happen with county councillors. There are six times as many county councillors as TDs and we need to use this resource. The voices of the people who elect councillors are not being heard. The centralised decision-making process undermines our democracy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Timmins for his response. I am very much at one with him and the vision he is setting out. The Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, along with the Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste, has brought in a number of local authorities and continues to do so with regard to housing and zoning. This is setting the trend that we need to be more ambitious to ensure we underwrite the infrastructure for the growth of the growing economy we have in this country and the significant growth in our population. Section 28 guidance encourages ambition and local authorities taking a proactive view. This is what we want to see in the trajectory of local property tax, which gives a significant uplift to the budgets of local authorities; we need to see more responsibility being taken on. The local democracy task force is examining these functions and the report will be received by the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, in the coming weeks. We want to ensure that local authorities take responsibility and this will be important for housing. We have to hold the feet of the local authorities to the fire, and we are unambiguous in saying this, in respect of housing. We also commend them on their work in other areas, which is really appreciated by communities up and down our country. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":86,"speakerCount":27},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I want to return to the issue of the fact that ten ministers have not paid back money owed to the public funds, in some cases tens of thousands of euro, seven months after it was requested. When I questioned Deputy Chambers, who is the Minister responsible for the NSSO, the body which will deal with these repayments, he said he is not privy to the interactions between Ministers and the NSSO and that he does not know the identity of the ten. The Minister has made a stout defence of the fact that those ten have not yet paid back the money. I want to put a number of questions and I expect direct answers. Does the Minister know who the ten Ministers are who have so far not paid back the thousands of euro they owe the public purse? How many of them are Fine Gael Ministers? From where was the information the Minister put on the record of the D\u00e1il today in their defence elicited, if it was not from the individual Ministers? Crucially, when are the Ministers going to cough up and pay back the money they owe the taxpayer? I ask for direct answers please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  This is questions on promised legislation but I will respond directly to Deputy Doherty, as I have been very clear in relation to the NSSO. This is an error by the NSSO and Ministers are engaging with the NSSO. I do not know, nor should I know, the identity of anyone's payroll matters in the State. I do know from dealing with the NSSO because, as I said, between underpayment and overpayment everyone who served and gave a salary sacrifice in government, with regard to the decision to reduce salaries by 10%, was affected. This is why it is critical----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Where did you get the information on the ten? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Let me finish. In relation to the ten the engagement is ongoing. My point was----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Who told you? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Because I dealt with it myself. I know exactly how----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  How do you know what the other ten are doing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Cummins  This is promised legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Who said that no Minister is willing to pay this back? Who said that? That is the reverse of Deputy Doherty's question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Jack Chambers said they have not paid it back and they should pay it back. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  He did not say that no one is willing to pay it back. We are very clear that anyone who does not take action will not get their pension. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Do you know who the ten are? How many of them are Fine Gael Ministers? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We will continue on. I call Deputy Duncan Smith. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  In the week when special school classes were announced for 2026, I need to raise with the Minister the case of River Valley Community National School in Swords. It is not looking for a class in 2026; it is looking for a class now. This is in agreement with the NCSE. The school is a developing school in good but interim accommodation. It is being refused by the Department of education the provision of an autism class right now only because it is in temporary accommodation, even though it has the space. I ask, please, because I will continue to bring this up, will the Department meet the patron body and the principal on site to get this matter over the line? Autistic children are being let down, as are mainstream children and the staff. This can be resolved, please, Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I know there is record level of investment in places for those with special and additional educational needs for 2026. My colleague, the Minister, Deputy Naughton, is working very hard on improving it and ensuring everyone has a place. I will raise the specific issue in Deputy Smith's constituency with the Minister for education and report back to him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Compliance with the law is not a gift for X to give to this State but this is the benevolent tone in which it announced this morning that it will indeed comply with law in jurisdictions where that law exists.  This belated assurance for geo-blocking, which in itself is hugely problematic because it can be so easily circumnavigated, is too little, too late. It is not surprising that we are hearing this tone from this tech company because kid gloves is the approach that this Government and this State has taken to dealing with big tech and the harms it is wielding on society. The response over the last two weeks has been chaotic and it has taken a Minister of State in the Minister, Deputy Burke's Department to actually cajole this Government into action. I want to hear an update on what is happening with the Attorney General and his analysis of the law. I want to know if the Garda investigation, which we heard about yesterday in committee, has finally reached the doors of X on Fenian Street, and I want to hear what further Government action is going to happen so that we can take off those kid gloves and wrestle back control from big tech on the absolute havoc it is wreaking on society. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Gibney for her question. I really want to stress that the primary concern of the Government is our people and our children. Irrespective of any revenue that ever comes into this State, that is our main objective to protect. We have independent institutions that administer justice in our country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  But they are not doing----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is investigating this matter. It has confirmed this week at the committee that it is investigating breaches in this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  It has not got to X yet. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I cannot instruct the Garda where to go. It is independent. It conducts its investigation and we must let that take its course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  There are regulatory bodies supposed to deal with it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Under the Digital Services Act, DSA, it is very clear. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and its chief executive were out stating that they were examining this issue. They will take action with our European authorities in the Commission. The Government is being very hard on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  The UK is threatening to block. The Irish Government could be much stronger. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  We will protect our people. We will protect our children and that will always be the case on behalf of the Irish Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  The Housing Agency is finding new ways to exclude people from the remediation scheme. We have already seen the system fail when pyrrhotite in concrete was ignored. The agency has now introduced a new method to refuse access, stretching IS 465 and selectively presenting facts. The approach will not withstand scrutiny and must be addressed. The decision has been independently reviewed by engineers and a legal expert, both concluding it is wrong. Reliance on an appeals process to correct such decision is reactive, costly and causes harm to homeowners. The Minister has the authority and responsibility to act proactively and treat the decisions as a test case and set a fair, consistent standard before people are affected. This matter goes beyond a single property. Now that this has been brought to the Government's attention, will the Minister intervene to stop this and review the test case or will it be allowed to continue? I want a simple \"Yes\" or \"No\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Obviously, I am not the Minister for housing, but I will take this issue up with him. I would point out that the Government has been very proactive in protecting homeowners in Donegal. I acknowledge all those homeowners who have applied for the current scheme, which was enhanced, and the work done throughout our communities to ensure people and families are protected, because that is a primary concern of the Government for all those families that are affected in Donegal. I will raise the specific issue Deputy Ward brought up with the Minister for housing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  In Ireland, we use over 200 million single-use tea and coffee cups a year. That equates to at least 20,000 cups an hour. That is a staggering figure. Coffee cups are, according to Irish Business Against Litter, among the top five most littered items in the country according to a recent survey. Most of these cups cannot go into recycling bins because of the polyethylene lining used in the paper, making them non-recyclable. The Government had proposed a 20 cent levy as well as other measures. As the Minister knows, the litter issue is one thing, but the long-term environmental damage is another. When is the Government going to use or amend the Circular Economy and Miscellaneous Provisions Act 2022 to bring in a refundable deposit? Along with other products that I have referred to before such as the vaping material and nitrous oxide canisters, they are littering our country and we need to have something with a behavioural impact as well as increased fines. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  The Government has made significant progress in this area, particularly with the deposit return scheme, which we can see has had a very significant impact in our country. I will raise the Deputy's specific issue with the Minister in relation to the circular economy. A lot of retailers are taking action themselves. That is one area where customers can choose a more sustainable model. I will raise the Deputy's concerns with the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  In County Offaly, renewable energy developments are mainly located on peatlands around Rhode, Croghan, Edenderry, Banagher and Cloghan. These projects require abnormal load vehicles of up to 135 tonnes on 16-axle trailers. The damage caused by one trip of one of these vehicles is equivalent to one year of normal traffic. As a result, these peat-based roads now require annual maintenance, placing major pressure on our local authority roads budget and taking funding away from other roads that also need work.  Offaly has historically carried the heaviest load in providing power to this country and we are doing so again through renewable energy. We are simply asking for a fair crack of the whip and that separate, dedicated funding be provided to Offaly County Council for these road projects. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy McCormack for his important intervention relating to Offaly. I will raise it with the Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, in connection with the request for additional funding that Deputy McCormack has placed on the House. Our road network, particularly in rural counties, is of significant importance to the community. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  I am very proud to come from a small village called Kinnitty where we have benefited significantly from multimillion euro investment in the public realm, public services and the development of the Slieve Bloom mountain bike trails. However, in the last 12 months, we have lost our post office and our last shop, which had served the community for decades. Thankfully, a 68-year-old man, Mr. Jodie Flaherty, has stepped into the breach to open a new shop. However, it is a reflection of the challenges in the market conditions and trading environment for micro-businesses in small villages right across the country. I appreciate the measures the Minister has introduced through, for example, the local enterprise office in terms of supports, but there is a concern around viability. I ask the Minister and the wider Government to ensure there are further measures to make sure the viability of our micro-businesses in the best interests of our public good, our economic good and our social good. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I acknowledge the huge work Deputy Clendennen is doing in being a firm advocate for our small family businesses. I know, as Minister for enterprise, that they employ two thirds of people right across our community. We have taken a number of initiatives this year around viability and worked to ensure that they are more viable, including setting up our small business unit and working with our cost of doing business advisory forum, which is looking at the interoperability of regulators that are currently on our landscape and ensuring we are doing things faster and being agile as an economy. We also have a huge amount of work to do, as is outlined in the programme for Government, related to other viability measures. We will work with Deputy Clendennen to ensure our small businesses continue to grow. As I pointed out in my earlier contribution, all 13 sectors of the economy are in a strong growth phase right now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  Yesterday, the Irish Wheelchair Association and other disability organisations had a session in the audiovisual room. They gave some stark facts and figures to us. Sometimes, we all get lost in statistics and figures. The reality for people with disabilities is that they are affected far more by the high cost of living - approximately 16% more. They are in need of some form of a one-off payment now. This winter and the next few months can be severe and extremely cold. At present, they are receiving huge electricity and gas bills, some up to \u20ac500. They told us they were in a position where they had to give up a few meals a week to heat their homes and stop their home dialysis treatment and go to their local hospital to save on their electricity bills. There are a few cases where they stopped recharging their mobile wheelchairs.  I ask that the Government consider a one-off targeted payment of \u20ac400, with an estimated cost of \u20ac145 million. Considering the surplus billions of euro that is in the coffers at the moment, it is a very modest ask for the most vulnerable people in the country. As they say themselves, they are 22% of the invisible minority. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  During Leaders' Questions, I raised quite clearly what the Government was doing for people who were most vulnerable, particularly the 15% increase in our fuel allowance, of which one in four households is now in receipt of, to reflect the challenges related to the cost of living. I also mentioned the social welfare increase for carers, those with disabilities and those on the margins of society of \u20ac10 per week. There are further interventions that assist people through the social welfare code. I always point out that the community welfare office is ready to assist people if they have any one-off shocks or meet a liability they are unable to discharge. I assure people that the Government will continue to work to support people with disabilities. In 2026, we have a record budget for disability services - this is a fact - and the Government wants to continue to support that sector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  The importance of public transport and connectivity in rural areas cannot be emphasised strongly enough. In that regard, I acknowledge the tremendous work of Alan O'Connell, manager of Kerry Local Link, and his staff. As a councillor, I called a number of years ago for a hop-on, hop-off bus service on the Ring of Kerry. Today, thankfully, there are several buses going in both directions but there is a great need for additional routes. The tender process for the Killarney to Mallow route is complete and we await funding.  I will raise three other important routes: Beaufort to Killorglin via Whitefield; Kate Kearney's Cottage at the world-famous tourist attraction, the Gap of Dunloe, to Beaufort village and on to Killarney town; and from Dooks in Glenbeigh to Cromane and on to Killorglin town. Will the Minister ask the Minister for Transport to allocate the necessary funding to the NTA for the Connecting Ireland mobility scheme to allow these important routes to proceed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Deputy Cahill gave us a good tour of the kingdom. I join him in articulating how important Local Link is and the agility it provides for communities across the age spectrum. It is striking to see in my locality the varying age groups that use it weekly to help them socialise or go to hospital appointments. It is a key asset to our community and another way of thinking. I absolutely support the Deputy's call and will raise it with the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  The Minister for Health and the HSE agreed to provide funding for the first floor of Mallow General Hospital to be developed so 24 beds could be put in place. Work is ongoing. What progress has been made on bringing forward the opening of the development? There is huge pressure on Cork University Hospital and on Mallow as regards extra beds. I understand day beds are being used in Mallow to accommodate inpatients. Can the opening of the 24 beds be brought forward to alleviate the pressure on the hospitals? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  The Deputy is right to highlight the opportunity Mallow presents and has presented for some time to HSE south west to provide step-down facilities and other healthcare facilities, particularly to help with the discharge from Mercy and Cork University Hospital. There have been beds there that have been available. I am having a full seminar with HSE south west on 5 February, when I will go through all of that in detail, including making sure all the beds funded are opened on time and in a timely way, as well as making sure all discharge pathways that currently exist are being fully utilised by all model 3 and model 4 hospitals there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I am supporting a local family in Drogheda in dire straits because of a mind-boggling decision made by the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, to bring forward an arbitrary deadline of 1 October for parents seeking special class or special school placement for their child in the upcoming academic year. Eight-year-old Alfie has a diagnosis of developmental language disorder and global delay sensory overload which means he cannot deal with change, has issues eating and drinking, needs help with toileting, wets and soils himself regularly and has severe anxiety and stress along with no sense of danger. He has been hospitalised owing to stress responses and mental health difficulties. The challenges he faces have increased since moving to mainstream education and his mam advises that only following hospital admissions in early October did she begin pushing for special class placement and learned of this deadline. They have secured a place in a special class in a different school that would meet Alfie's needs but the application could not be completed without a letter of eligibility from the NCSE. The school closes to applications tomorrow.  I do not like raising individual issues on the floor of the House but, having contacted the local SENO and the NCSE to plead for flexibility in the deadline, I have been told the facility to issue the letter of eligibility has ended. It is completely unacceptable the NCSE's refusal to issue a letter of eligibility will mean Alfie or any other child could not complete an application for a special school placement. For the sake of these vulnerable children, this arbitrary deadline needs to be scrapped. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  You should conclude, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  As well as that, I ask for urgent intervention from the Government with the NCSE to ensure Alfie and his mam get the eligibility letter they need for tomorrow and Alfie gets the education and care he deserves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. It seems a very genuine case in connection with Alfie. The date was brought forward to give greater certainty but the Minister is working with the NCSE. If the Deputy raises that with the Minister on a case-by-case basis, I hope we will get a satisfactory resolution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  My office has been inundated with telephone calls from worried carers in receipt of carer's benefit and carer's allowance. A number of them received letters from the Revenue this week and last week telling them they are liable for tax. Does the Minister accept many of these carers were unaware there was a tax payment due or a burden upon them? Will his Department consider exemptions and thresholds for transition and protection of carers affected to ensure they are not penalised. Carers are among the most vulnerable people in our community. The Minister mentioned how big our welfare system is and how big the budget is. I find it entirely unfair people who are giving up and sacrificing and are getting out of the house to get a break for a couple of hours while caring for and committing to their families are receiving worrying letters from Revenue saying they are being audited, owe tax and will be paying tax on their carer's benefit or carer's allowance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. I am a firm advocate for carers. We in society owe a huge debt for the work they do. That is why the Government is responding through supports and is on a trajectory to abolishing the means test for carer's allowance to demonstrate our support for the sector. The taxation is based on other income people may have received. The Taoiseach has sought a briefing on this. It was raised in the House earlier this week. We can revert to the Deputy in due course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  In December the IDA published its annual results for 2025, stating it has secured a record 323 investment proposals, representing a 38% increase on the previous year, and expected to deliver over 15,000 new jobs. In Wexford last year, Bank of New York Mellon disposed of 310 highly skilled jobs. The workers lost their jobs and the offices are on the market in an IDA business park in Wexford town. This is an ideal opportunity to acquire a really good suite of offices in a building that an IDA company could move into. I urge the Minister to impress upon the IDA to purchase this building and secure employment - perhaps replacement employment for the 310 workers of BNY Mellon who lost their jobs in Wexford. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter. I assure him the IDA is liaising with BNY on the building and a future occupant for it. That will be to the forefront for any building that becomes vacant because of a change in operations, like BNY had in terms of its consolidation. We will do everything we can to get a replacement tenant in it. One of the things I am really driving the IDA on is the dispersement of jobs. We need to see a strong proportion going to regional areas. It has hit 56% or 57% and we hope that will continue throughout the remaining four years of the current strategy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I raise the horrific case of a peaceful working family in Finglas who suffered the terrible trauma of being petrol bombed out of their home. Their house was destroyed in the arson attack and they just made it out alive because of the brave actions of one of the children, Amanda Uwase, who is in the Gallery today. She went back into the burning home and rescued her younger brothers and sister. Her mother works as a carer and was rescued by the fire services. However, the response from the Government and the State to this terrible attack on peaceful working people in Finglas has been absolutely outrageous in its silence. The family has been left homeless. This is not good enough. Where is the response from the Minister for justice to find the perpetrators, bring them to justice and be tough on such a heinous crime? Is the lack of response because these are disadvantaged communities? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  This is disgraceful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  This is scandalous. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Is it because this attack could have been racially motivated? Members could give me the respect of letting me finish. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy Hearne. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Give the garda\u00ed some respect. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Is it because some people's lives are worth more than others? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I have asked you to conclude, Deputy Hearne. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  A child was murdered in an arson attack in Edenderry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  That is appalling. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  An entire family was almost murdered in Finglas. Will the Minister meet with Amanda and her family----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Hearne, you should conclude, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  -----and do everything possible to ensure they are moved to appropriate housing and the garda\u00ed find the perpetrators? These are reasonable questions and this is a reasonable ask. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  You are politicising garda\u00ed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  The family is homeless. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  Deputy Hearne should be ashamed of himself. He really should be. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Deputy Brophy should be ashamed of himself. The family is homeless. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Where is the response? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Where is the response? Where is your press release? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Can we have some order, please, Deputies? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  If it was a deportation flight, you would be out. The family has been made homeless and nobody has talked to them. There has been nothing in this Chamber about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  If the Minister resumes his seat, we will just move on. Do the Deputies want to listen to the reply? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I want to acknowledge Amanda's presence and say how proud of her I am. I saw her report on the news. The work she has done in tertiary education has been exemplary. As an Irish Government Minister, I want to say that she and her family are really welcome in our country. My heart goes out to her on what she has had to experience.  I will say to Amanda that we have an independent justice system in our country. I absolutely assure her that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will investigate this heinous crime in full and ensure that someone is brought to justice for it. I also acknowledge the huge contribution that people who come from many different countries make in ours. I am very proud of the one in five people working in our economy right now who were not born in Ireland. They make a contribution to our healthcare and hospitality sectors. Many of them keep the cornerstones of our economy together. Amanda, you are very brave. Keep the faith. This country will have your back. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Why is the Government demonising them every day? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  Families in Kildare North are still reporting that their children do not have confirmed secondary school places for September. This is despite the apply to school pilot programme the Minister for education introduced in Celbridge and other locations around the country to provide earlier clarity and reduce duplicate applications. The overlap between towns in Kildare North is delaying offers and leaving parents and, more importantly, sixth class children in complete uncertainty. If this pilot is genuinely producing more robust data, then that information needs to be used to identify where additional capacity is required. This is particularly pertinent to Maynooth Community College, Maynooth Post Primary School and Salesian College Celbridge. I ask the Minister to ask the Department of education and the Minister how the data from the apply to school pilot is being used to ensure that the children still awaiting places in Kildare North receive timely offers and how it will inform capacity planning moving forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for raising those very important issues on behalf of his constituency. I will raise them with the Minister for education and ask her to revert to him on the policy position directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  What specific measures are the Minister's Department and Enterprise Ireland undertaking to ensure that SMEs in Ireland stay up to date with advancements in AI and digital technologies as they grow at a rapid rate? Local enterprise offices, LEOs, have been very good at giving grants to small companies but what I am talking about are mid-range SMEs that would like to get involved with Enterprise Ireland but sometimes struggle to do so. What steps can we take this calendar year and next year as we look forward? These changes in our society are huge. Rapid improvements are being made and we need to get them into our companies to ensure that we stay in touch with technologies and companies from outside Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Neville for raising this very important issue and for the work he is doing for the enterprise sector to ensure rewards for enterprise are very much embedded in our economy. A number of offers are currently going through Enterprise Ireland. We have doubled the value of the innovation voucher, which is a huge assistance with tertiary education. It provides for a great deal of the commercialisation of research that can be seen taking place in our economy. The grow digital voucher offers up to \u20ac5,000 for smaller businesses. To support them, we also have bespoke schemes offered by Enterprise Ireland for cybersecurity, business consultancy and process innovation. These allow businesses to see how bringing in artificial intelligence can result in greater productivity and, critically, allow workers to work on other areas, focusing on growing business and bringing more revenue streams into the economy.  We have seen record growth among Enterprise Ireland companies this year. Exports were worth \u20ac36 billion, which is something never heard of before. We want to continue that growth, add 75,000 additional jobs over the next five years and see growth in research, development and innovation, where the tax credit will help. We are aiming to bring approximately \u20ac2 billion into the economy through Enterprise Ireland high-value jobs and continued exports. I will work with the Deputy to help companies to start growing in scale through the schemes we have over the coming years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Coppinger. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Did the Leas-Cheann Comhairle call on me? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I am sorry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Do not be shy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I will try not to be.  How does the Government justify ploughing ahead next Thursday with a Bill that still allows the counselling notes of victims of sexual assault, rape and child sexual abuse to be accessed in trials despite all it has been told in recent months and years about how damaging and traumatising that is? I refer to the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026. This provision should never have been contained in this Bill because it is such an important issue. It has been thrown in with pepper spray, street furniture and a million other things in order to get it passed. On 22 December, the Minister said that he was going to look at further amendments but the Bill has appeared with no further amendments. People are still going to have to choose between therapy and trial. The only change is that, instead of the person waiving their right, it will now be passed over to a judge for a disclosure hearing on whether the counselling notes should be allowed. This does not take away the chilling effect of your notes being accessed. It forces the victim to choose between proceeding with a trial or proceeding with therapy. It is absolutely disgusting that any law that allows this exists. The Government has had ample opportunity to outlaw it completely. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Coppinger for raising this very important issue. I understand that the Bill was published on 9 January and that it is down for Second Stage in the House. It is important to raise those issues. I will raise the Deputy's specific concerns with the Minister for justice during the week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  They have been raised with him already. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  It emerged this morning at the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts that there had been a significant overspend on an IT system for SUSI grants, which has now cost almost three times the originally budgeted figure of \u20ac2.2 million. The Comptroller and Auditor General drew attention to this at this morning's meeting. The project, titled \"My SUSI\", began in 2015 and by 2024 it had run to \u20ac6.4 million, although it is still only at the pre-project phase. What does the Government know about this? What oversight is the Department providing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Lawless.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy James Lawless)  I understand this is an historical issue. As far as I am aware, there was a write-down on the project in 2021. Value for taxpayers' money is paramount. The project should deliver. As the Deputy has said, the project is ongoing. It is an important and fundamental system but it must be delivered efficiently in a cost-effective manner. I have asked for a full inquiry and will update the Deputy and the House as that goes on. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/4","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/4\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Equal Status (Access to Toilet Facilities) Bill 2026: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Equal Status (Access to Toilet Facilities) Bill 2026: First Stage","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I move:  That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to entitle customers with certain medical conditions to make use of staff toilet facilities in retail establishments in certain circumstances, to provide for redress where the entitlement is not met, and to provide for connected matters.  I am delighted to introduce the Equal Status (Access to Toilet Facilities) Bill 2026 to the House today. Some people simply cannot wait until they get home to use toilet facilities. This is particularly true for those who live with chronic and invisible health conditions such as Crohn's disease or bladder conditions. Organisations like Crohn's and Colitis Ireland and Spinal Injuries Ireland offer \"no wait\" cards. These aim to empower individuals to request access to toilet facilities when they are in urgent need. However, these cards have no legal standing in Ireland. This is in contrast to places like California and Texas, where there are laws providing people with certain medical conditions access to a staff toilet when they need it most.  The lack of legislation in Ireland places many people living with Crohn's disease and other conditions in social isolation. My Bill aims to offer a compassionate and practical solution to this by placing no wait cards on a statutory footing, ensuring that, where there are no public toilets available, shops and businesses with a staff toilet will make it available to a person with a medical condition who is in urgent need. The Bill also addresses previous concerns from businesses regarding liability under section 3 of the Occupiers' Liability Act 1995 by excluding businesses under section 5 of that Act. There will be no cost implications under the Bill on businesses to make any adaptations or other changes to staff toilets for the purposes of their use.  This Bill is not just about access to toilet facilities. It is fundamentally about recognising the lived realities of people with chronic medical conditions.  It is about creating a caring Republic. It could be life-changing for so many people.  I want to use this opportunity to thank Maria Crowe from my home county of Kildare. Maria contacted me a number of months ago and we met up to discuss her condition and the problems she was having with businesses refusing her the use of their facilities. I was immediately struck by how brave she was and how she wanted to help others who were suffering in the same way as she was. She created the \"No wait card Ireland\" social media page and I encourage everybody listening and looking in today to support that page and the Bill I am launching today. I am asking the Government to work with me and Maria on this Bill for the sake of so many people. Of course, the reason for the need for this Bill is the lack of public toilet facilities in this country. That is something that will take time and we must have further conversations about it. However, time is something those who need such a card simply do not have. We need to reassure businesses that they would have no liability for allowing people holding this Government-issued card the use of their facilities. I have already reached out to their organisations to discuss this important matter.  I have Crohn's disease and I know there are other people in this House who unfortunately have that disease too. We are among over 40,000 people in the country who suffer from this chronic disease. Many more thousands have chronic bowel diseases and problems which need such a card. Believe me when I say that when you get a flare-up from this disease, your life is put on hold and there is only one room in your home that you are concerned about. This is why it is so important to introduce this Bill. When a person with such a bowel disease gets an invite to go out with their friends, as many of us do, their first concern is not what to wear or how they might look, but finding out if the location has publicly-accessible toilet facilities. That is the quality of life for so many people in this country. It can change and they could have a better life and make better life choices if such a card was accepted by Government and introduced in the quickest possible time. I appreciate the Minister of State staying with us today. I ask him to work on this card with me, Maria, and everybody who suffers. I plead with the Government to fast-track the introduction of this card. It could be life-changing for so many people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Is the Bill opposed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Colm Brophy)  No. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I move: \"That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time.\" "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.23 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.03 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.23 p.m. and resumed at 2.03 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Equal Status (Access to Toilet Facilities) Bill 2026: First Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Artificial Intelligence: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":34,"speakerCount":29},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Neale Richmond)  It is a great pleasure to address the House on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, who will join us momentarily.  The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment asked me to begin by addressing the serious concerns that all of us have in relation to the abuse of Al capabilities, more specifically regarding Grok\u2019s ability to \"nudify\" individuals without their consent. To be absolutely clear, the sharing of non-consensual intimate images is illegal and the generation of child sexual abuse material is illegal. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n, as Ireland's new online safety and media regulator, is at the heart of Ireland\u2019s online safety framework, including the regulation of social media. Under the online safety framework, there is an obligation on platforms to act on reports of illegal content, so the public can report illegal content to the online platform, which must react on that report, and to Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n. A failure by the platform to protect against illegal or harmful content being shown can lead to significant financial sanctions and, under the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act, continued non-compliance can lead to criminal sanctions for senior management. Under the Digital Services Act, the European Commission has powers with respect to the proliferation of illegal content online on platforms, including X, and the protection of fundamental rights, including protection for minors. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n is engaging with the European Commission in this context in relation to Grok. The Attorney General has also been asked to advise on other mechanisms within the legal framework to protect people from digital harms like these.  To move on, the Department would like to share its key priorities and long-term vision for Ireland\u2019s approach to artificial intelligence. Our country has long been recognised as a dynamic and forward-looking digital hub, but maintaining this position demands continuous effort and ambition. To secure the country\u2019s place at the forefront of technological change, it is essential to embrace the transformative potential of artificial intelligence across the economy and wider society. Last week\u2019s announcement of the \u20ac4.7 billion sectoral capital plan marks a decisive moment in our ambition to lead in innovation and advanced technologies. This is the largest ever investment in our enterprise and innovation ecosystem. It is a long-term commitment to jobs, competitiveness and building the infrastructure that the world\u2019s most advanced enterprises demand. Crucially, more than \u20ac1.3 billion of this plan is dedicated to enterprise, innovation and commercialisation. That means sustained investment in disruptive technologies, technology centres, research partnerships and major European projects.  Through these investments, we are clearly signalling our ambition to position Ireland as a global leader in advanced manufacturing, Al and space technologies. As the Department pursues this ambition, we must also acknowledge that rapid technological progress brings real societal challenges, particularly around safety, privacy and the protection of fundamental rights. Building public trust in Al is at the heart of Ireland\u2019s Al strategy. Our Government has prioritised putting in place the appropriate governance mechanisms and guardrails to ensure Al is used responsibly in Ireland. The opportunity Al offers is immense, but so too is the Department\u2019s responsibility to get this right and to use Al for our greater good in business, the economy and wider society. That is why the Department has been actively working to build public understanding of Al through trusted independent voices, including the enterprise digital advisory forum and the Al advisory council; implementing the EU Al Act; rolling out standards and certification for Al; establishing a new Al office of Ireland; and making Ireland's voice heard in international Al governance forums.  The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment will continue to couple bold innovation with strong, trusted governance. Citizens and businesses need confidence that Al systems are safe, fair, trustworthy and accountable. The Grok Al scandal and the misuse of Al to generate appalling deepfake images is a prime example of why governance is so important. This leads me to one of my, and the Government's, key ambitions in the broader Al agenda, namely, cementing Ireland\u2019s position as a centre of regulatory excellence and as a strong voice in Europe advocating for well-designed digital regulation that is fit for purpose to protect individuals' safety and fundamental rights while enabling innovation. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment is firmly committed to implementing the EU Al Act, which is a forward-looking framework that balances innovation with proportionate safeguards. The Department is making very good progress. It has adopted a distributed model implementation allowing businesses to work with regulators who understand their sectors, making compliance more practical and effective. This past Tuesday, the Government approved priority drafting of legislation to give full effect in Ireland to the EU Al Act.  Looking to the months ahead, the Al office of Ireland is set to be established by August 2026, supported by \u20ac1.5 million in start-up funding. Work is well under way on the general scheme of the regulation of artificial intelligence, which will create the office as an independent statutory body. The office will act as Ireland\u2019s central authority for implementing the EU Al Act. It will also promote research and adoption. All businesses should begin assessing their Al use and compliance. The Department has already put resources in place to help businesses do that, through CeADAR, Ireland\u2019s national centre for applied Al, the Department\u2019s website and the EU Al Act service desk\u2019s compliance checker. The Department also needs a place where businesses can safely test, learn and innovate. An important function of the office will be to ensure the establishment of a national Al regulatory sandbox. This sandbox will support Irish businesses, particularly SMEs and start-ups, to navigate the Al Act requirements while driving innovation.  Together, these measures strengthen our national framework for trustworthy Al. They are also aligned with a wider European effort to ensure regulation is effective and proportionate. In October, the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, sent a letter to her colleague, Henna Virkkunen, European Commission executive vice president for technological sovereignty, security and democracy. This letter called for an ambitious digital simplification package that supports the EU\u2019s strategic positioning as the location of choice for trustworthy digital innovation. The European Commission\u2019s digital simplification omnibus package, published last November, is an important development because it includes proposals to simplify rules on data, cybersecurity and artificial intelligence. These proposals are a very welcome first step to improving competitiveness at an EU level.  The Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, has been vocal at meetings with ministerial colleagues across the EU that Ireland believes the digital simplification package should take a dynamic, ambitious and risk-based approach, focused on removing regulatory overlaps, reducing administrative burdens and yet supporting compliance. However, the Department wants to be clear that simplification does not mean deregulation. The proposed simplification measures have been arrived at through significant stakeholder consultation by the Commission.  They maintain the same high standards for safety and fundamental rights protection while ensuring more effective implementation of the Al Act. The Department is confident we can create a future where innovation and integrity go hand in hand with a more simplified and straightforward approach to deregulation.  Trust and effective regulation give us a strong foundation. Equally important to our future success is to fast-track widespread adoption of digital and Al technologies across the Department\u2019s enterprise sector. The Department has seen first hand the impact that Al can have on boosting productivity and enhancing competitiveness in firms of all sizes. The Department\u2019s key focus is to empower more businesses, particularly SMEs, to do exactly that. The Department is working with the local enterprise offices, European digital innovation hubs and enterprise agencies to ensure that every SME is aware of the benefits of Al use and the State supports available to them. These range from targeted funding programmes, expert guidance and consultancy to research and development grants. The Department is building on this momentum and recently announced a further \u20ac23 million in additional funding for lreland\u2019s four European digital innovation hubs to support SMEs in their uptake of Al and other cutting edge digital technologies. These hubs in Cork, Dublin, Mullingar and Sligo are delivering real and practical supports that help SMEs understand, test and adopt advanced digital technologies with confidence.  Ireland already has a strong reputation as a choice location to research, test, develop and scale the latest cutting-edge technologies. This has not happened by chance. It is the result of sustained investment in our talent, creativity and capacity to innovate. The impact of this investment can be clearly seen in initiatives like the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund. This fund awards funding to collaborations between SMEs, multinational corporations and research performing organisations and Al is increasingly at the centre of these projects. The number of DTIF projects placing Al at the core of their solutions has grown rapidly. To date, \u20ac183 million has been invested by Government in the 51 DTIF projects that place Al at the core of their solutions. The Department is determined to accelerate this progress even further so that Ireland remains well positioned as new technologies continue to evolve. Our recently announced sectoral capital plan reflects that ambition. It will strengthen Irish SMEs and attract world-class foreign investment. Under this plan, \u20ac1.33 billion has been allocated for enterprise innovation and commercialisation, including \u20ac190 million in funding for technology centres, \u20ac196 million for the Disruptive Technologies Innovation Fund, \u20ac170 million for European Space Agency programmes and \u20ac120 million for Important Projects of Common European Interest.  Innovation is what drives our competitiveness. By investing in disruptive technologies, research collaborations and digital transformation, the Government is positioning Ireland as a global leader in advanced manufacturing, Al and space technologies. The Department also allocated \u20ac250 million to the seed and venture capital programme and \u20ac100 million to a new scaling fund for Irish SMEs. The Department will continue to develop an environment where funding for entrepreneurs is accessible, and ambition is backed so that transformative ideas that create jobs and drive progress can be realised and scaled right here in Ireland.  The Government shortly plans to publish an updated national digital and Al strategy, which will set out a clear roadmap for lreland\u2019s digital and Al adoption and development in the years ahead. The strategy will take a whole-of-government approach. Alongside commitments to Al adoption across sectors and company sizes, it will address the wider critical enablers for a successful digital economy, building on Ireland\u2019s strengths in digital skills to infrastructure and the way we deliver our public services.  As Ireland prepares to take the wheel for the Presidency of the Council of the European Union, it is a huge opportunity for Ireland to shape and drive forward work in the areas we believe are of the greatest relevance for the European Union and, crucially, its citizens. Next October Ireland will host an Al and digital summit in Dublin. This will be a flagship event bringing together over 1,000 participants to include thought leaders, businesses, governments and innovators. The Department is looking forward to showcasing lreland\u2019s leadership in Al and digital innovation, fostering collaboration across EU member states, and exploring opportunities for ethical, sustainable, and inclusive technology development.  This debate comes at a particular moment but it is a timely one regardless. It gives us a great opportunity to discuss events that have occupied the public mind over the past number of days and weeks, and indeed have haunted the minds of many people who use social media or, more pertinently, have children who use social media. It also gives an opportunity to talk about the wider strategy. I look forward to engaging thoughtfully and earnestly with all Deputies from across the aisle and the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, looks forward to responding at the end of the debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  It is unfortunate we are here discussing AI at this particular time because it forces us into a space that nobody wants to be in. At the outset, I want to talk about the benefits. If everything in the plan presented by the Minister of State is to be implemented to its fullest in a timely manner, then we will be making progress. As a party, and personally as the spokesperson on enterprise, tourism and employment, we will work with the Minister of State to progress that. It is true it can bring many benefits to businesses and individuals, from reducing costs to improving productivity. One thing I say with regard to the many millions of euro announced is that we make it easy for small and medium sized businesses to access that money in an easy way because small businesses will not have the resources to do that. The last thing we want is for AI to end up costing the businesses which are already on their knees and struggling to survive. We need to be really conscious of that.  I was glad to hear the Minister of State say that simplification does not mean deregulation because that is enormously important. The Minister of State knows that the drivers - some of the richest people in the world - will be driving for that simplification to turn into deregulation and we must be acutely aware of that and stand up robustly to not be sucked into that. That speaks to the whole EU agenda following the Draghi report. The difference between simplification and deregulation is hugely important. That needs to be monitored on an ongoing basis.  The Minister of State also referred to public services. They obviously can be delivered in an efficient way with AI but at the same time, it can give rise to much social exclusion. I am talking about people who are not AI literate or indeed technological. People who are elderly and disabled are not used to that and just want to talk to a human being on the other end of the phone. Because of AI, they get one message after another. It is impossible for them to access public services, so I again ask him to be acutely aware of that and put measures in place to ensure everybody can access public services in the same way. Everybody deserves the same treatment.  Last week I was at the Stripe Young Scientist Exhibition and saw the wonderful and innovative projects created by students from my own county of Mayo, from Claremorris and Crossmolina. It was fantastic to see what they have achieved, and I commend everybody involved in that and the winner. To me, everybody who was there was a winner.  AI is the present and the future and it can be a force for great good. However, without robust regulation it can be destructive and dangerous. What we experienced this week, particularly on social media platform X, exposes the darker reality. AI is only as ethical as the rules that govern it and right now those rules are failing us. Over recent weeks we have seen the disgusting and appalling behaviour from users on Elon Musk's X who deliberately promoted the platform AI tool, Grok, to generate child sexual abuse material and non-consensual nude deepfake images, predominantly of women. Let us be absolutely clear. This is not experimentation. It is not curiosity and it is not victimless. It is sexual abuse facilitated at scale by technology and enabled by corporate and government negligence. It is vile and misogynistic. It is criminal sexual exploitation, regardless of whether the image is synthetic or not.  What makes it even more alarming is that it was not even hidden in the dark web. That will tell you the arrogance and impertinence of some of the people promoting that. It happened in plain sight on a mainstream platform owned by one of the wealthiest individuals on the planet, who has many followers in this country I am sad to say. X chose to deploy a tool without adequate safeguards and effective moderation and without regard for the predictable ways it would be abused by its users.  X last week confirmed Grok\u2019s image generation function had been disabled. I welcome that, but it says this has been done in jurisdictions where actions are deemed illegal. It should be disabled immediately across the globe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I welcome the opportunity to speak on these statements. I would like to have the opportunity to talk about the potential benefits and the approach we need to take to reap those benefits and mitigate the potential negatives. This debate will have a significant focus on the real negatives. We did not have to imagine them because they presented in very clear terms. The Garda confirmation yesterday of 200 active investigations into child sexual abuse material generated by the Grok AI chatbot is not just alarming; it is a damning indictment of the despicable conduct of X and its owner. This is a platform and leadership that has shown a blatant disregard for basic decency and the safety of our children, treating both Irish and EU regulations with contempt. I say that even in light of the partial row-back overnight.  The very ability of this tool to create such vile images represents a profound failure of corporate ethics and a direct assault on the most vulnerable in our society. This case exposes a toxic culture emanating from the very top of X, where the pursuit of profit and a warped sense a free speech are placed above human dignity and the law. When the company's CEO openly ridicules legitimate concerns and regulatory efforts, it fosters an environment where abuse is facilitated. Therefore, this scandal must be the catalyst for immediate and forceful action. We have laws in our Statute Books, from Coco's Law to the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act, and the EU Digital Services Act. The critical deficit is enforcement. Legislation alone is meaningless without the power and will to apply it. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n must be empowered and resourced to act decisively. The European Commission must follow through on its warning and use every enforcement lever the Digital Services Act provides, without delay, including by imposing dissuasive fines and sanctions. Platforms that wilfully enable the generation and distribution of child sexual abuse material cannot be allowed to operate with impunity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  AI, including generative AI, is the most challenging issue of our time. It is architecturally composed of a mixed blessing, with both good and ambiguous components. We were all shocked and disturbed by the recent revelations regarding Grok and how AI can manipulate and destroy a person's reputation in a split second. Therefore, it is incumbent on all of us to ensure proper regulations and that laws governing AI platforms are complicit with human rights, the protection of citizens' intellectual property and GDPR, and, above all, that they encompass the rights of children.  As a member of the Oireachtas committee, I welcome the establishment of the national AI office in August and the AI observatory. However, I believe it would best serve the nation if it was a separate independent entity, with a dedicated commissioner and its own budget. I ask the Minister to consider placing an AI joint committee on a permanent footing to provide ongoing parliamentary oversight and ensure democratic accountability. This is a very important recommendation as it would have the effect of holding these platforms accountable to the public and provide a forum for all of our citizens and any organisations that find themselves being denied due process to deal with these platforms.  Approved terms of reference must be established for any advisory bodies placed on a paid, permanent footing, ensuring clarity and mandate and accountability. The obligation on platform owners to provide the use of AI recommender systems for misinformation campaigns aimed at destabilising society should be included. I ask the Minister to address these issues.  All bots must be clearly identified to users. Operators must provide transparent notifications regarding data storage, ownership and sharing practices. We must also insist that data centres publish their electricity and water consumption figures and develop new and innovative cooling systems. As has been said, these are very challenging issues. AI will have a positive effect on many mundane and repetitive tasks, but it must be accompanied by civil rights, the rights of children and the rights of those sections of society that are most vulnerable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  In April last year, two young men died by suicide. I am not going to put their names on the record but they are in the public domain. Both of these young men had been chatting with an AI bot at the time of their deaths. Their families say that a specific version of this artificial intelligence bot designed to be friendlier, more empathetic and encouraging had in fact encourage the deaths by suicide of these young men. These claims made by the families are being investigated. These cases serve as a lesson because AI is easy and fast, and it is becoming a tool more and more people rely on. Therefore, it will increasingly become a tool that people communicate with. It is not necessarily always a force for good and there are more than two families who have real reasons to watch this and other debates as they try to make sure we get this right. We know that artificial intelligence offers huge potential but it carries with it great risk, as is the case with all new technologies. There has to be regulation. This particular form of technological endeavour might move a little faster than others, but that does not mean regulation should not be able to move fast as well.  We know the EU has put a lot of store in its digital policy work. It obviously wants to be a world leader in the online space, as does Ireland because that would make us good and fair Europeans. In practice, it is going to fall to Ireland, as the place where many of these companies are based, to be the regulator.  In the previous D\u00e1il, I was worn out pleading with the then Minister for enterprise, Leo Varadkar, to intervene and help content moderators, as their jobs were being outsourced and downgraded. Content moderators are the front-line defenders when it comes to online activity. They are the people who stand between the user and the AI platform. The then Minister response was that a lot of that work would probably be done by AI in the future. Mr. Varadkar is not here but I am sure if he was, he would regret those words. We need to put safeguards in place, which will not be easy. This cannot just mean banning social media for under-16s because social media can be harmful to over-16s and over-18s. Austin Gordon, who was 22 when he died by suicide, had identification that would have enabled him to use the platforms. The protections must be real and workable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  I acknowledge and very much welcome the Minister's comments on deregulation. The stories we have heard over the past few weeks in relation to the Grok feature on X have shocked many people here and across the world. The AI element within social media has been encouraged by tech tycoons such as Elon Musk, owner of X. The Grok website features a claim that, as part of X, Grok offers real-time search image generation, trend analysis and more. Musk also claims Grok is now a source of objective information that users use to verify information. We have all seen the Grok \"Is it true?\" questions on X, but let us be honest, that is not what Musk invented this for. Recently, a clip went viral of Musk speaking about Grok\u2019s ability to do a viral roast of somebody you know recently. In essence, you can take a photograph of somebody and ask Grok to make fun of that person in increasingly disgusting ways, as Musk put it. That Musk found this hilarious is really worrying. This is the man in charge of an AI revolution on social media, who now says, after a lengthy bout of criticism from all corners of the globe, that Grok will no longer be able to use and edit photographs of real people, including children, to show them in revealing clothing in jurisdictions where it is illegal. This is nonsense because social media, as we all know, has no borders and can be read across the globe. That feature needs to be disabled completely.  How can we trust Elon Musk and this technology going forward? We know he thinks this type of thing is funny, even though it is so damaging to women and young children. We need the Taoiseach to stand up to Musk and his ilk and ensure this nudification feature on Grok is completely outlawed. We also need to ensure we are not prioritising data centres to facilitate AI taking precedence over new homes, because AI is insatiable when it comes to energy. We are going to need an increasing number of data centres if we have to keep this up.  Information obtained by my party colleague Lynn Boylan states that a single data centre in west Dublin consumes enough energy to power 200,000 homes.  We have already seen a data centre given priority over a housing development in Castlebaggot. This was meant to be for houses but because of the first-come, first-served model, it was given to data centres. A Herbata Limited data centre is set to be built in my constituency in Naas, County Kildare and many constituents have been in touch because they are really worried about this because we have power cuts all over north Kildare and we just cannot keep up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  Over the past year or so, we have all seen the emergence into the general populace of what can only be described as a profound technological transformation. Artificial intelligence is no longer a distant concept. It is here and it is partaking in every part of our daily lives, shaping our economy, public services, our ways of communicating and, increasingly, our vulnerabilities. The decisions we make in this House or further afield in other parliaments will determine whether AI becomes a force for human flourishing or a tool that magnifies and indeed encourages exploitation, inequality and harm. AI is not inherently good or bad but it is powerful. Power, as history teaches us, must be governed with foresight, responsibility and moral clarity. We cannot afford to be passive observers.  Today, we all need to speak frankly about both sides of this technological revolution - the extraordinary benefits AI can bring to Ireland and the world but also the grave danger it poses, particularly when it comes to the sexual exploitation of women and children. I also want to address without equivocation the deeply troubling behaviour of certain AI systems or apps and platforms, including the Grok app on X whose reckless design choices and permissive content generation have raised legitimate alarm. I welcome Grok's announcement overnight with regard to its facilitation of clear abuse of people, albeit enforced on it by worldwide outrage.  Ar dt\u00fas, let us begin with the positive, because the potential is immense. AI is already helping doctors detect cancers earlier, analyse scans faster, and personalise treatments with unprecedented precision. AI assisted radiology can identify tumours invisible to the human eye. Predictive models can anticipate cardiac events before symptoms appear. Virtual assistants can support people with chronic illnesses, improving quality of life and reducing strain on our health system. Imagine how the HSE would benefit where waiting lists shrink because of an AI triage system that would streamline diagnostics and where rural communities in particular gain access to world class expertise through AI powered telemedicine. This is not fantasy; it is happening now. For instance, AI apps are analysing vital signs for heart conditions, diabetes, hypertension and fall risks.  AI can also be transformative in education and learning. Tools for students with dyslexia, ADHD or autism can level the playing field. In a country which in theory commits itself to opportunity for all, AI can be a great leveller.  As we are all aware Ireland\u2019s tech sector is already a global powerhouse. AI can both enhance and amplify that success. It can drive innovation in agriculture, manufacturing and renewable energy. If we harness it wisely, AI can strengthen our competitiveness and create high-quality jobs for decades to come. AI can help Government operate more efficiently and transparently and God knows nobody in this building would denounce that. Fraud detection systems can protect public funds. AI driven analytics can improve transport planning and reduce congestion. Emergency services can use predictive modelling to allocate resources more effectively. In short, AI can help us build a smarter, more responsive state and community.  However, we must also speak with equal clarity about the dangers because the same technology that can diagnose cancer can also generate deepfake child abuse imagery. The same algorithms that can personalise education can also personalise harassment. The same systems that can empower us can also exploit. The sexual exploitation of women and children is the darkest frontier of AI misuse and it is expanding at a terrifying pace. AI can now fabricate hyper realistic images and videos of people - often minors - without their consent. These deepfakes are being used to harass, blackmail and degrade. There have been cases where teenage girls discover their faces pasted onto pornographic images circulating among classmates. Women have been targeted by ex-partners who use AI tools to create fake sexual content as a form of coercive control. Predators use AI to generate fake child abuse material that is indistinguishable from reality.  This is not, as we know, hypothetical. It is happening now and at a frightening scale. The psychological devastation inflicted on victims is profound. Their reputations, their sense of safety and their dignity are all shattered by images that never existed but feel real to everyone who sees them. We must be absolutely clear. AI generated sexual exploitation is sexual exploitation and is absolutely and completely a criminal offence and must be punished. AI generated child abuse imagery is child abuse and is absolutely a criminal offence and must be punished. The harm is real.  The Grok app on the X platform has become a symbol of this irresponsibility. Its design choices and its willingness to generate inappropriate, sexualised and harmful content have demonstrated a profound failure of duty. However, Grok is not the only app to facilitate this type of deviant behaviour. A quick Google search this morning revealed a myriad of such apps. A review of one of them stated:  Using the app was a surprisingly engaging experience. The interface is user-friendly, making it accessible even for individuals with limited technical skills. I uploaded a simple photo, and within seconds, the AI generated a stunning transformation. The ability to adjust the level of nudity was particularly impressive, allowing for a customized outcome.  What an amazing review of such a deviant app.  We must condemn, in the strongest possible terms, any platform that treats safety as an afterthought. We must condemn any AI system that trivialises harm or enables exploitation. We must absolutely condemn the culture of \"move fast and break things\" when what are being broken are people's lives. We must most definitely ensure that the people responsible face the rigours of the law and face criminal conviction. We, as a Parliament, must show in the strongest possible terms, using every available power we have, that we cannot and will not tolerate AI systems that facilitate abuse, harassment or exploitation. We must hold platforms accountable legally, financially and morally.  AI can also generate convincing fake news, fake speeches and fake evidence and, as a result, democracies are vulnerable. A society is judged by how it protects its most vulnerable. Women and children are disproportionately targeted by AI enabled abuse. That is a fact we must confront. Ireland must lead with strong, modern legislation. We must establish clear rights for victims, including rapid take-down mechanisms and legal recourse. We have already seen that we cannot rely on voluntary codes of conduct. We need enforceable laws. AI does not respect borders and neither should our response. We simply cannot do it alone. We have to work with the EU, the UN, and international partners. It is also imperative that we equip parents, teachers and young people with the knowledge to recognise and report AI enabled abuse. Digital literacy is now a form of safeguarding.  Despite the dangers, I certainly remain optimistic because AI, with proper governance, can be a force for extraordinary good. We should invest in AI tools that protect, not exploit. AI can empower people with disabilities with real-time captioning for the deaf, AI powered mobility aids for the visually impaired and communication tools for people with speech impairments. That is AI at its best, expanding human capability.  We cannot stop the AI revolution, nor should we want to but we can shape it. We can use our powers to guide it. We can ensure that it serves humanity rather than harms it. The question is not whether AI will change society. It already has. We have to ensure that platforms that feel they can operate without consequences get the message very directly that there will be no hiding place for their ambivalence or inaction. AI in the wrong hands can do dreadful things but in the right hands - in responsible hands - it can save lives, expand opportunity and strengthen our society. Let us in this Chamber and in this Oireachtas ensure that Ireland stands as a global leader in ethical AI. It is our responsibility but we must act with the urgency the times we live in demand. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  I welcome the opportunity that has been afforded to all Members of the D\u00e1il to speak on AI. I particularly welcome it in my capacity as Vice Chair of the Oireachtas AI committee. A few moments ago there was a school of young children sitting in the Gallery. I am fairly certain that somebody here thought it wise to perhaps say that this was not a debate that their ears should be listening to in the context of what we have heard this week, so a simple act of child safeguarding took place and the children left the Gallery a few moments ago. It really beggars belief that an AI provider, a global organisation, a multibillion-dollar organisation, cannot implement the most basic levels of children's safeguards in the operation of what it is trying to produce. What has happened this week is a stark reminder of the challenges and the risks we face with AI.  We know what the public think about AI. In every poll in this country, in the United States, all around the world, people are fearful of AI. The majority of people are fearful of AI, and it is our job in this Chamber to ensure that as AI is introduced into society and into our State, we regulate it in an appropriate way so we can harness its benefits.  I am extremely proud of Ireland's membership of the European Union. I am extremely proud that the European Union, in great distinction from the United States and China, is adapting a regulatory approach to AI. We are certainly not there yet, and this week is a reminder of the challenges we face, but I am very proud that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na does not discriminate between what is taking place online and what is taking place within the real world. From the remarks that were made in the Oireachtas committee yesterday, it is quite clear that the garda\u00ed in this country will be carrying out the laws that have been initiated in these Chambers to their fullest when it comes to any illegal behaviour that takes place, whether it is Grok or any other AI provider out there. They must comply with the laws of this country, and we must ensure that when it comes to the EU regulations we are introducing here, Ireland becomes a beacon, a global leader, for regulatory enforcement.  The EU Presidency, which Ireland will host, is a great opportunity for Ireland to lead in this direction. There is the intention to host an AI summit that would champion regulatory enforcement. We have already demonstrated that Ireland can attract some of the biggest technological companies in the world to base here, to attract a skilled labour force, to be supported by universities and research, that can develop extraordinary things that will literally change mankind. We have been able to do that, support employment and provide a regulatory based environment in which they operate. Ireland can show, when we host the Presidency and implement the AI Act, that we established the AI office and we have multiple competent authorities. We know that AI will touch every edifice of every single Government Department. We can show that with a strong regulatory environment, we can harness the benefits from AI and address the harms.  Out there in the public, however, there is no doubt about it. We are talking this week about sexual harm that can be imposed from how AI entities can be manipulated, but one of the biggest concerns people have when it comes to AI is the disruption to the labour market. That is why it is so important that right now we get this right and that we adapt AI in a way that we ensure we are meeting the future skills needs for the kids who were here earlier, the kids who are in primary school, secondary school and third level. Whether we like it or not, this is a pivot moment in society the likes of which we have not seen for generations. We have seen in Ireland when moments like this arise that people stand up. One thinks back to T. K. Whitaker and all the changes that were made in this country to open Ireland, to open our economy, to give us the kind of society and the kind of wealth that was unimaginable in decades past and that we have today, that we survive off today and that puts Ireland in the envy of Europe when it comes to employment. This is another one of these moments where we, as a State, as a country, have to decide how Ireland will harness the benefits from AI, how we will change how we operate in education and how we will change how we operate in our health services. For that reason, I really welcome this opportunity to speak. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  I want to speak about AI because it is obviously so important, it will become so important and, as Deputy Geoghegan has outlined, it will cut across different boundaries and different areas. Other speakers will probably choose to speak on other areas on which we all well know the impacts. We can see even on social media that it has become a topic of conversation not alone in Ireland but across the world. I think that will be covered in the debate. It needs to be covered and we really have to be conscious of it. I will focus on the impacts AI will have on business, what we can see, the positives and the negatives, the risks associated with that and, ultimately, how we need to be ready, as Deputy Geoghegan outlined, countrywide. I will focus on business.  Under the leadership of the Minister, Peter Burke, we have seen the announcement of a dedicated AI office to co-ordinate strategy, policy and implementation across all sectors. This really needs to be done to ensure that our businesses are at the forefront. We know that AI can lead to a huge competitive advantage, possibly for different companies, but if we are not at the forefront, we will lose out. We are at the forefront in many ways in Ireland, mainly because of the FDI we have had over many years, its impact and how it has soaked in around the country. We have so much knowledge coming from those companies that came here, including ex-employees who have gone on to build other companies and smaller companies. We have seen it in med-tech, finance and agri-tech. All across the areas we have seen these companies start up, but we need to ensure that they are using AI and that we are in the position as a Government to supply the companies with the relevant supports. Earlier today I raised a question during Questions on Policy or Legislation on that point specifically. We need to ensure that we are driving SMEs with innovation in SMEs, that we are driving not only funding but also the knowledge and the need for these AI tools. We know that Enterprise Ireland is an amazing section of our Government and how our country runs. As a CFO previously, I sought its benefit. It helped keep so many businesses afloat during Covid, but sometimes the difficulty with Enterprise Ireland is how you navigate getting into it. We need to ensure that Enterprise Ireland is part of the network that is going out to these SMEs to make sure that they can actually use those tools and involve themselves in getting those tools because some people will have the ability and the knowledge but not everyone will.  We also have to be aware in many ways in Ireland, because we have so many of these high-skilled jobs, that AI integration into business will change how business is done. As someone who came through from PwC, I saw many people starting off in year one. You wonder in a few years about all the work. Will people starting off in their careers be there to do it, or will an AI model simply go through invoices and do checks and spot checks? Obviously, the world is changing. If we are not there at the forefront, we will lose that but we will have nothing else to replace it.  As we know, AI offers benefits but it also means that we need to be strategic. We also need to be fully ready, through governance and everything else, to make sure we do not fall behind. Ultimately, if we delay AI adoption, or if the skills are not put into the Irish companies, we risk ceding advantage not just to the US or maybe the UK, which we previously would have been focused on, but all across the world. We deal in English in business. That would have been an advantage we had before, but we see all across Asia and all across eastern Europe that all these countries are as adept at the business world as anyone else. There is no reason to think we will be special and will continue to stay ahead.  That is why I come back to the Government support. The Government has been at the forefront, as I said, with the AI office, but we also need to ensure that that gets out to the individual businesses. In a way, what we can do there is invest in the companies, put out funding into the companies and monitor all the way through. Something we have been really good at from an IDA perspective is going abroad, but Enterprise Ireland is building companies from within. We really need to use that to champion AI and to push it across all systems, be they supply chain, business, financial or even sales tools, in order that all across that AI ecosystem we can ensure that our companies are ready, more so than anyone else, to be there for the future generations of what the business world might look like.  As a Government, we have taken the proper steps to date and we need to continue that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in  While AI has many benefits for convenience, it is not a force for good, and therefore must be regulated, as Grok's widespread generation of sexually explicit images of children has proven. Grok is run by the platform of X and the European headquarters of X is just a 20-minute walk from this Chamber, so there is no excuse for the Government not to act immediately. While AI is a form of high-tech plagiarism, and certainly makes life easier in a range of areas, convenience generally comes at a price. It is a kind of Trojan horse that we invite into our lives.  The infrastructure that makes AI possible is a network of data centres. AI has significantly driven the demand for the roll-out of such centres across Ireland. These centres service the needs of transnational corporations and their profit models first and foremost. The multimillion euro corporation Echelon is planning to install two such centres in my local area, just outside Arklow. However, data centres and AI come at a high cost to the local consumer. I attended its glitzy reception in the Arklow Bay Hotel last year. However, Echelon conveniently did not tell us about the cost, nor do politicians who seem fanatical about AI and the rolling out of such data centres. They are okay with proliferating a vast network of centres in Ireland so that we have to bear the burden and process an ever-growing load of social media content from much of the world's population. They talk up and greatly exaggerate the supposed benefits but conveniently do not mention the high cost to upgrade our electricity network, a cost borne by Joe and Josephine Public in their electricity bills. We know that an AI search consumes between ten and 30 times the amount of energy of a normal Google search and that one data centre alone can consume an equivalent amount of electricity to the city of Kilkenny on a daily basis.  Meta uses 3.1 billion litres of water for the cooling systems of its data centres each year. Numerous groups and even senior departmental officials, in a confidential memo, warned Government Ministers that Ireland's rapid growth in data centres to facilitate AI is using up electricity capacity and adding to the risks around energy costs and climate targets. They estimate that these centres, to power AI, will devour 31%, or just under one third, of Ireland's electricity by 2030 and that this will affect homeowners in getting connections to the electricity grid.  On the morning of Echelon's launch, we officially opened the Arklow wastewater treatment plant nearby, which will allow for badly needed housing development to take off in the town, which could not take place previously. What guarantee is there that these future homeowners will be able to connect to the electricity grid? Who will be given precedence, the local Joe or Josephine Public, or a multibillion euro corporation? Of course, Government politicians will not mention that inconvenient truth, because Ireland, is in effect, getting prostituted out for the interests of big tech corporations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  When I think of AI, I get so excited, because I genuinely see this as an evolution of us as a species from when we first picked up tools to a point in our history where we are about to see those tools take on a life of their own. It is genuinely awe-inspiring to consider the transformation that could bring to us as a globe and what it could do for us as a population, but sadly, the other thing I think of is that we cannot have nice things. Unfortunately, the way AI is being governed and managed is wreaking havoc on our society. Nobody is talking honestly about labour displacement from AI. We are talking about the fact that it will displace jobs, that it will create other jobs, and that it will have to keep up with the tech and create better, more high-skilled job. That is simply not true. We will see labour displacement at a scale which is unprecedented in our history. We have to start talking about the just transition which that will require on the same level that we will see the environmental just transition. It is already happening, with issues with labour quality and labour precarity that we have already seen happen over the past number of decades simply being a result of the automation and AI that we are seeing. Unfortunately, those who are most structurally disadvantaged in society will be the ones pushed into poverty and disadvantaged even further.  Another way that it is wreaking havoc on society is through decision-making, because ultimately, when we think about it, what AI can do is allow us to delegate decision-making from humans to machines, which is exciting when considering the efficiencies that can bring about and potentially the impartiality, but, unfortunately, again, what we are seeing is that those tools are being developed with biases and errors that we as humans bake into them, only now, when those biases and errors play out, they are at such a scale that they can absolutely destroy parts of our society.  The area which I am most concerned about, which we are seeing play out right in front of our eyes, is the vulnerabilities that we as humans are exposed to, and the exploitation. Just as the business models of big tech right now exploit our data, AI will exploit our human emotions. That is exactly what is happening. We have heard stories of the suicides that people are being pushed to through AI chatbots. We have seen across society over the past couple of weeks the horrific way in which it is being used to promote image-based sexual abuse and the development and proliferation of CSAM. It makes me so sad, because I see so much that could happen if we were properly governing AI. We could look at labour displacement in a way that allowed us to have more leisure time in our lives, that allowed us to care for our loved ones without the poverty that normally ensues.  There is so much we could do on labour. There is so much that we could do on decision-making and the vulnerabilities that I mentioned that could be flipped on its head and turned into positive forces in our society, but because the governance and regulation of AI is so weak in this State, in the European Union and across our globe, that is not happening. I want to pick up on one thing that the Minister of State said in his opening statement about the fact that simplification does not mean deregulation. I absolutely reject that statement, because that is what it does. To deny the fact that big tech is lobbying Brussels, Washington and Dublin is just sticking your head in the sand. Of course it is about deregulation and capitulation to these big tech companies. I also have issues with the fact that the dedicated AI office, which I appreciate is going to be detached from the Department of enterprise, is being developed within it. I see a slew of conflicts with the fact that that is a Department helping and assisting enterprises to use AI while also trying to govern it and the sandbox in which those things are being tested. AI will only have this transformational impact on our society if the public has trust in it. None of the things that this Government is doing are inspiring that trust right now. I laud the Minister of State with responsibility for AI and what she has done to shift this Government into action on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I have been keeping an eye on the statements. Many of the issues have been raised and I do not want to go over them, so I will give these two minutes over to young people's opinions on AI for the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond's, interest. The National Youth Council has been leading a programme where it has had youth juries on AI, specifically on themes such as education, the environment, jobs and misinformation. The last of those juries, this weekend, is on laws and regulation. So far, they have come up with very interesting recommendations. We often speak about AI and social media. The concern goes straight towards children and young people and their interaction with these apps and services, but their own voices are often misheard. To give a flavour of some of those recommendations, they state that Government should fund research on the social development of young people and the impact of AI on that development; the national AI office should have an explicit mandate to address AI in vulnerable groups; and when making a complaint in an AI-enabled app or service, users should have the option to automatically send a copy of that complaint to Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n. They are some practical steps that the Minister of State might take on board and consider in his future work. Young people's voices need to be central in any debate about AI. They are predominantly using it every day. We have seen so much research. Young people too often rely on AI for friendships, relationships and support. It is about how we do that safely. I appreciate that young people's voices are central as part of that debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  This week's Grok scandal tells us something important about artificial intelligence. Artificial intelligence is never neutral. It takes the values of the people who build it and the people who control it. What we saw this week was one of the most powerful AI tools aligned to a social media company in the hands of a creepy little slimeball who has shown again and again that he does not care about harm. Under Elon Musk, the platform X has rolled out an artificial intelligence tool that could be used to undress, sexualise and humiliate real people, women, men, teenagers and children, all without consent. That was never a glitch but a design choice. We are told it was about innovation, but it clearly was not. It was simply about power being exercised without any restraint.  A billionaire with a track record of recklessness is now shaping how artificial intelligence interacts with human bodies, identity and dignity. What predictably followed when there was an uproar was that we were told this feature to do all of those horrific things would only be available to paid users. Now, we are getting different information today that it will be turned off. That is not nearly good enough. If someone built a tool allowing strangers to create sexualised images of children, we would shut it down immediately. We would not ask for patience or wait for a voluntary code of conduct, but because this tool sits inside a tech platform, there was hesitation. That hesitation is and will continue to be dangerous.  Ireland hosts these companies, regulates them and gives them legitimacy. This means we have a duty to act when their products cause harm. This week is not just a story about Grok; it is a warning. AI in the hands of people who lack empathy, restraint or basic decency will be used to hurt people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  AI has the ability to be useful and harmful. In the last couple of weeks, we have not been able to open newspapers without seeing the negative impacts of AI. As a result of the disgrace of Grok on the X platform, I will no longer be using it. I was a Twitter user for about ten years. I have to say that since its current owner took over, I will not be using it because of the misogyny, the meanness and the racism. I have to say the step too far for me is the generation of child sexual abuse material. It is a step too far for humanity and there is no benefit to this tool whatsoever. It needs to be banned and legal steps need to be taken to prosecute the platform.  At the education committee before Christmas, we discussed leaving certificate reform and the use of AI and examinations formed part of it. Part of the conversation was about the fact that educators needed to be enabled to support young people who were using generative AI instead of doing the work themselves for coursework or exams. Of course, we also discussed the use of AI as an excellent way of assisting young people and, actually, everybody in terms of learning. It is a tool, like books and the Internet, to help students learn. However, if they are not able to use it as a tool in a way that helps them learn instead of just generating the work itself, that is where the difficulty lies because they are not learning the stuff themselves. Again, educators need to be supported in understanding AI. It is moving at a pace that far exceeds our training and CPD provision for educators now.  In two weeks, I will be hosting the CyberSafeKids charity in the audiovisual room. I am looking forward to the conversation because it is saying it wants to discuss the use of AI and other technologies in children's lives. It is calling for stronger regulation enforcement, embedding critical digital literacy into school curriculums and equipping parents to assist their children in their online lives. I encourage all TDs and Senators to attend because the organisation has a lot to say and we have a lot to learn. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  The EU AI Act aims for AI to be transformative, trusted and transparent. I think we can all agree that, in recent days and weeks, we have seen how swiftly AI can move to put dangerous tools in the hands of millions of people all across the globe. Make no mistake, though, Grok might have put the ability to nudify into the public domain and it might have opened the eyes of people and governments who were not already aware of the huge dangers of these tools, but these tools, especially the nudify apps, are not a new phenomenon. We know AI is being used every day, hour and second to exploit mostly women and minor girls. This is why, no matter what pay walls or features are geographically disabled, we must continue this focus that has been so sharp in the last couple of days and the urgency for global co-ordinated action, stronger regulation, mandatory safeguards and accountability measures to prevent AI from becoming a weapon of exploitation. We must ensure that innovation serves human dignity and does not undermine it.  As the Chair of the Joint Committee on Children and Equality, I am committed to advocating to protect our young people. To do that, we have to provide legislation and regulation, but also education and empowerment. We did a survey in November that went out to over 2,200 parents. At that point, Grok had not even been launched. In some ways, then, that survey is nearly out of date. We do not know what is coming next week or the week after. We do not know what other apps and technologies are coming down the line, so we have to give people tools to prepare them for the unknown. We have to start building in safety by design.  Safety by design and even co-design are also key when we look at AI for people with disabilities. I also sit on the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. We have heard of the fantastic ways in which AI can assist those in our disabled communities, including 131,764 children in Ireland. AI is bringing massive help in the form of assistive technologies. This includes things like screen readers, speech-to-text technology, navigation aids, eye tracking, voice recognition, real-time transcription for those with hearing impairments, etc. These AI tools can lead to greater autonomy, inclusion and participation in education and society. However, we heard really loudly and clearly in the disability matters committee that AI, as it becomes increasingly integrated across public and private services, has the ability to further push the inequalities already present. There are built-in biases already in many of these tools, and new barriers can be created. In the short time we have left to us, therefore, we must use the opportunity to ensure that people with disabilities are properly supported and are meaningful co-designers, especially in things we are using across public services, so AI continues to be a tool for inclusion and not inequality in the disability space.  In the time left to me, I want to touch on something Deputy Farrelly mentioned, namely, the rise of AI companionship, especially in relation to our minors. We have seen that there has been huge growth in romantic relationships with AI chatbots. I was alarmed to see that 10% of adults in Ireland had had an AI romantic relationship in the past year and 12% were considering it. That is a massive number of people. The adults in Ireland now did not grow up with chatbots. We grew up learning about relationships in what I do not want to say is the normal way, because maybe this is the new normal, but the teenagers coming up now who are starting to engage in these romantic relationships do not know what to expect. The AI romances are all about control and customisation. You could have the perfect partner and it is really dystopian. We must ensure, therefore, that we are providing supports so our young people coming up are not becoming emotionally dependent on chatbots. We have seen the harm caused in relation to suicide. We are not, though, fully seeing yet the harm being caused in relation to physical and sexual abuse when it goes from offline to the real world, so we really must tackle this crisis.  I will finish by saying AI offers unprecedented opportunities for accessibility and inclusion, but only if it is governed by robust regulation, ethical integration and ongoing research into its impact on children, underpinned by education and empowerment. We do not know what is coming, so we have to ensure technology serves human dignity and supports independent living rather than redefining or diminishing it. AI is here. We cannot fight it and we cannot resist it, but we can legislate for it, regulate it and guide it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before we move to the next Deputy, I advise Members to be aware there are some young attendees in our Gallery. The usher will advise their chaperone that this may not be an appropriate debate, I am afraid. We do welcome you, other than that.  I call Deputy Ryan O'Meara. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Go raibh maith agat. I might change my speech around a bit from what I was going to start with for a few minutes to talk about the positives of AI to begin with, just to give the group in the Gallery a moment. What I was about to say here was quite negative and scathing of what we had seen through Grok and X in recent weeks, but I had planned on concluding by saying the positives were there for AI and an entire conversation was to be had around that point. I am not coming in here to be entirely negative. It is obviously the future and it has the potential to be transformative for our society, economy and the way we do so much in terms of productivity across our country. The positives are there, with an awful lot of work needed.  Am I okay to go ahead now with the other part of my speech? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Yes, you are. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I would like to talk about Grok. Requests to Grok have included: \"remove her clothes\", \"take her clothes off\", \"Grok, bikini now\", \"put her in a bikini\", \"replace her clothes with dental floss\", \"Grok, make her clothes transparent\", and \"Grok, make her look like she is kneeling for Donald Trump in a bikini\".  These are some of the requests made by warped individuals on X to take photos of women without their consent and produce sexually explicit, harmful and illegal imagery. Elon Musk's AI invention on X, Grok, duly complied with all requests, normally within minutes. The Guardian in the UK has reported that relatively tame requests by X users to alter photographs to show women in bikinis rapidly evolved during the first week of the year, hour by hour, into increasingly explicit demands for women to be dressed in transparent bikinis, then in bikinis made of dental floss, placed in sexualised positions, and made to bend over so that their genitals were visible. By 8 January, as many as 6,000 bikini demands were being made of the chatbot every hour. Also reported by The Guardian in the UK, a woman called Evie had an image of her altered by Grok to depict her in a bikini covered in baby oil. Evie said:  People saw it was upsetting me and I didn\u2019t like it and they kept doing more and more. There\u2019s one of me just completely naked with just a bit of string around my waist, one with a ball gag in my mouth and my eyes rolled back. The fact these were able to be generated is mental.  The article further states:  Some users, mostly men, began to demand to see bruising on the bodies of the women, and for blood to be added to the images. Requests to show women tied up and gagged were instantly [created within minutes].  Ashley St. Clair, the mother of one of Elon Musk's children, had pictures of her as a child undressed by Grok. Images of a child actor from \"Stranger Things\" were produced at the request of warped-minded Grok users of the child in a banana bikini print. The more women spoke out at the exploitation and sexual harassment inflicted upon them, the more Grok was asked, and duly complied, to create even more explicit images of the women brave enough to speak out. It was first used to harass women, to inflict emotional and mental harm on them. Then, where women were brave enough to speak out, it was used to intimidate and silence them. I am angry about this. The general public should be angry about this. Parents concerned about online safety should be angry about this, but we have to do something with that anger.  For the year since the last general election, many of us in this House have focused on online safety, and rightly so, across all parties. We are working genuinely hard to try to make the online world a safer place. When we talk about a smartphone ban and a social media ban for under-16s, what would those do to protect the women and young children who have been victimised in recent weeks by warped-minded individuals on Grok and X who have asked for these images to be created as well as the horrendous, mindless and numbing individuals who created this to begin with and who stand over it? It is not a veil of incorporation that is creating this. People are responsible for it, like Elon Musk, who is making billions from the technologies he is creating, but the people working for him, too. What sort of human beings are they? They allowed for laws to be broken. They allowed for mechanisms to be created without protections in place for these images to be created of women and children. The people who asked for these images to be created should be prosecuted, too. We should take a very firm stance on this and we should go after every single person who created child pornography in recent weeks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  Like any technology, there are pros and cons when it comes to the use of artificial intelligence. It has the potential to be incredibly important in areas like healthcare, science and technology. We saw that at the Young Scientist exhibition last week in the RDS, where many of the projects demonstrated to us how it could be a force for good. A school from my own constituency, Gaelchol\u00e1iste Reachrann, had a really impressive project on how AI could improve mental health supports. Indeed, the overall winning project also used AI as a part of a brain cancer diagnosis tool.  Unfortunately, in recent months, we have all seen how this technology can be abused, the most obvious being its use on X to produce illegal sexual abuse material and other images intended to humiliate people. It also led to a huge increase in misinformation, not to mention serious copyright and privacy laws infringements.  We have also seen the use of AI systems by militaries, particularly by Israel in Gaza to completely blur the lines of accountability when it comes to the responsibility of war crimes. Like any new technology, the regulation governing its use needs to evolve at the same pace. We have all probably heard about situations where AI is being used to screen applicants for jobs, for example. There are concerns that this could result in applicants of certain backgrounds, class, gender or race being excluded from a shortlist when CVs are filtered through the system. That can just be down to the original data used to train the system not being reflective of society as a whole. There needs to be strict monitoring and regulation of AI systems used for this purpose.  The big issue here, and it is something that the National Youth Council of Ireland mentioned recently, is the need for proactive public engagement and education on AI systems. Digital literacy and education for young people is particularly important because the reality is this technology is not going away, so they need to understand it. They need to know the rules around it and they need to be equipped for the challenges that it also poses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I move on, I welcome Baroness Margaret Curran of Townhead in the city of Glasgow and Mr. Chris Murray, an MP from Edinburgh East, who are in the Visitors Gallery as guests of Deputy Conor Sheehan. They are most welcome to the Parliament.  I call Deputy Paul Murphy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  There was an interesting opinion poll a few weeks ago that showed only 27% of Irish people had a positive view of AI compared with 48% who believed that it would be a force for bad in the coming years. Research by RED C found that Irish people have among the lowest levels of trust in AI in the world. That demonstrates some good sense. Why? I think it is because people smell a rat. This is being forced down our throats by big tech and by propaganda from a Government that is in thrall to big tech. People get it. This is not improving my life. It is not making my life easier.  Last year, the Taoiseach told us that AI was \"in the same realm as the industrial revolution, and the printing press\". I challenged him on this on one occasion and he stood over it, 100%. He said this was just as significant as the printing press or the industrial revolution. His conclusion was that the EU needed to innovate more and regulate less when it came to AI, that it must not \"tie companies up in knots so that don't over-regulate to the extent that we paralyse certain sectors of the economy\". On Tuesday, he said that arresting the people in X who were responsible for Grok producing child sexual abuse imagery would be like 1984 . How low can he go in bending over for big tech? We now have the rightful and righteous horror of people about the realities of AI and what it is being used for, but the Government is going to continue on its same track of being fundamentally subservient to big tech. What is really Orwellian are the breathless claims that AI is some kind of fourth industrial revolution.  The Government has drunk the big tech Kool-Aid big time if it believes that churning out child sexual abuse imagery and misogynistic image-based sexual abuse of women on an industrial scale - over 160,000 images in one 24-hour period at the start of this year - is an industrial revolution. If it is, it is an industrial revolution that ordinary people want no part of. This is a revolution of the warped, big tech billionaires and their Government cheerleaders. They want this pollution in our lives because it makes them so much money. If you look at Musk's reaction to the scandal, it was to say that the feature would be limited to subscribers in order to monetise it. For depraved billionaires like Musk, Zuckerberg or Bezos, there is no such thing as bad publicity, only free advertising and opportunities. To hell with the human or the environmental cost. Their latest reaction to attempt to assuage public concern was to geolimit it.  In other words, if a person has a virtual private network, VPN, they will be able to continue to access and produce this abusive and illegal imagery.  The background to the latest AI scandal is the Covalen strike. Content moderators hired by big tech and outsourced to police the wild west that it has created are to be replaced by AI. Anybody worried about AI should support this strike. Without humans moderating it and social media, it will become even more of a hellscape than it is already. Content moderation is an incredibly hard job that is traumatic. It should be highly paid and carried out by humans. Otherwise, child protection is going to be left to AI. Does any parent want that?  The only way that the AI revolution is genuinely industrial is in the escalating demand for power and for water-hungry data centres. The 19th century industrial revolution turbocharged the burning of fossil fuels for profit, ultimately laying the basis for the climate crisis. The AI revolution is doubling down on that, accelerating climate collapse. Donald Trump told the World Economic Forum last year that he wanted to double US energy production to power AI and big tech and that they could fuel it with anything they wanted, including coal. Our Government is following Trump's lead by bending over backwards to facilitate data centre expansion. Data centres are already maxing out the grid. They are already swallowing up electricity that we need for housing and public transport even though we do not know what is going on. We got a glimpse from the genocide in Gaza where Irish data centres were holding Israel Defense Forces, IDF, intelligence data used to target and murder whole families. They are used to train AI using vast amounts of stolen data created by artists, creatives and ordinary people in their social media posts. They store vast amounts of our personal data that they use to target us with advertising and algorithms.  Next week, I will be introducing our online safety recommender algorithms Bill to turn off these hateful toxic algorithms for children under the age of 18 and turn them off by default for adult users. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Donald Trump's pal - the richest person in the world - Elon Musk is profiting from producing sexualised images of women without their consent and, disgustingly, child abuse material. When the alarm bells are raised and people express anger about it, Elon Musk still wants to monetise it. It is far from clear that the announcement, which has been forced on X as a result of the outrage that has been expressed over the last while, will mean that this sick, depraved practice and the profiteering of Elon Musk from it is going stop.  Last Friday, when I was on national radio and suggested that the laws existed and the police should be sent into X at that point, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, was saying that it was the users who were responsible, not the companies. To my knowledge, nobody - the Government or the Opposition - were suggesting that the police should be sent in directly to X. There was talk about legislation being done over time and so on. However, it turns out that, as we learned from the Garda, there are complaints being made and investigations are taking place. We were right.  We are still having a protest outside X's headquarters on Saturday at 12 noon. This sickness and the people profiteering from it need to be protested against. People have been abused. Children have been abused. Women have been abused. There is absolutely no certainty. I am gathering from reading between the lines from Deputy Kelly's comments yesterday that, of the companies that say that they are coming in, the one that is not is probably X. This is the attitude of these people. They do not give a damn about the abuse of children or women if they can make money from it. Insofar as they have been forced to do something about it, it is because of outrage and pressure from the public.  Then there is Covalen. I wish to echo Deputy Murphy. I was just talking to one of the workers in Covalen at the moment. It really tells a lot. They will be picketing outside the headquarters of Covalen in Sandyford today between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. and again tomorrow between 3 p.m. and 7 p.m. They are content moderators doing content moderation for Meta, which is another company. Their job was to train AI. It now turns out that they were training AI to get rid of their jobs. Three hundred of them have been made redundant. Covalen is owned by Cpl, which is another important name with lots of Government contracts working for the HSE and so on, and using the bare minimum statutory redundancy that it can get away with legally. There is no engagement. It is refusing to recognise the trade union and so on. It is miserable treatment of these workers who were the ones who had to sift out this sick material, who protected the public and children from this sick material. That is what they do, but now it is AI that is going to do it. That is where we are heading with this stuff. The workers, who are protecting us, stressed to bits and have to deal with mental health issues over protecting our mental health and our children, are treated in an absolutely despicable way and have to go out on strike.  I hope we are going to get intervention and support of the Covalen workers from the Government and certainly from the public. It is not only in the interest of the workers that they are successful in their fight for union recognition and decent treatment, but they are protecting us from these profiteers who make money from the sort of depravity we have seen from X. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  Is m\u00f3r agam an deis an seans seo a thap\u00fa labhairt ar cheist na hintleachta saorga. It is a timely discussion. It is important to recognise that the recent surge in conversation has led us to an reset about how we think of AI, the potential it brings and the power it has as a technology. Oftentimes in this House, we have looked at the positive benefits and positive potential of AI as a new technology. However, this is a point for us to reset that conversation and talk about it in terms of harnessing the potential, placing as much import and emphasis on the harness as we do on exploring the actual potential. It is a pivotal moment where societies will need to come together, understand fully the risks and take a risk-based approach to how we take account of the fact that there is a new technology in AI. No one is going is reverse the technology, but we need to make sure that our legislative frameworks and regulatory approaches are fit for purpose and allow us to benefit as a society from what AI can do while ensuring that we fully eliminate the risks.  Any parent who has observed the discussion in the last few weeks has been disgusted by the use of AI tools to create child sexual abuse material, CSAM, and the weaponisation of intimate images of women, which it is important to emphasise are already illegal according to Irish law. I pay tribute to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, for her proactive approach in leading from the front on this and vocalising what a lot of constituents have been saying to me about the horror they have felt at this underbelly of AI use.  When we talk about the harnessing of potential, that indicates the importance of talking about the guard-rails that we put in place, the responsibility, the governance and, most importantly, having control as a society. AI can be an excellent servant for our society, but it can be a wicked master. We need to make sure that the balance is perfectly set back towards governments steering and regulating the overall direction of the technology.  In this House, we have explored the potential of AI already regarding healthcare, the improvement of diagnostics, early detection and personalised care, and assisting in administrative support for our front-line workers, such as garda\u00ed, nurses, prison officers and so on. There is a role AI can play in education and expanding innovation, which many of us saw in the RDS last week when we visited schools from our constituencies that were using AI as part of their work. Regarding the overall economy and approach to work, there are gains to productivity that AI gives many workers across the economy in various different sectors by allowing them to focus on being creative and bringing into focus the importance of emphasising human skills, such as the ability to work as part of a team, think critically and solve a problem. These are skills that are not developed by AI and are intrinsic to human beings.  As we have this discussion about the impact that it will have on the world of work, we need to acknowledge that there will be disruption in the employment market. That is why it is important that we take a skills first approach to how we set up our society and our economy to take advantage of the AI technology. This is not just in terms of digital skills. We have work to do in terms of ensuring that digital skills penetration is where it needs to be to allow the population to take advantage of AI. It is also about ensuring that people understand what AI technology can do. It can have biases built into it by its creators. It is ultimately artificial. It is built on training data. It does not have the intrinsic ability of a human being to analyse and think about a problem. It is a machine and not the equivalent to a human consciousness.  This is why I encourage the need for reskilling, not only for digital skills but also in the area of critical thinking. I know the Minister, Deputy Lawless, is working on this. This is where arts, humanities and social sciences are so important in promoting these skills and making sure that when people see content on the Internet they do not take it as gospel but question the source from whence it came, the assumptions on which it is based, whether it is strong enough to hold up and whether it is something we should hang our hat on.  We know that in various spheres of the economy, and I have spoken about e-scooters in this House previously, that technology often outpaces regulation. The discussion in recent weeks shows us the need for our policy-making apparatus to be up to scratch in order to have the skills to be able to engage with those it seeks to regulate. We need to protect our children above all else. It is important we protect them from harmful materials and the AI-generated risks they encounter but there is also the fact they are entering a world that has AI, as opposed to our generation for whom AI entered the world. They are growing up with AI. They need the basic skills to be able to engage with it properly. Ireland has the opportunity to position itself as a world leader, not only in terms of the benefits of harnessing AI but also in taking a rules and risk-based approach to regulating it properly and preparing all aspects of society for it. The economy can benefit but society knows how to steer it. I look forward in particular to the AI summit to be held next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  Artificial intelligence is no longer emerging; it is already embedded in how society functions. It shapes how information is ranked, what people see online, how decisions are made and, increasingly, how power is exercised. This reality requires us to move from abstract discussions and act with urgency, clarity and competence. One of the biggest misconceptions about AI is that it is something people choose to use. In fact, the most influential AI systems today are the ones people never consciously engage with. They sit inside platforms, search engines, social media feeds, recommender systems and automated decision-making tools that quietly influence behaviour at scale. This is where the real impact is. System such as Grok, which we have discussed this week, embedded directly in social media platforms demonstrate how quickly AI can shape public discourse when it is trained on live data, optimised for engagement and applied in real-time and, in Grok's case, enables legal non-consensual image manipulation. These systems are not neutral. They reflect incentives, values and commercial priorities. When these priorities conflict with the truth, well-being or democratic norms, the consequences are serious.  Another major shift that is still not widely understood is the move from AI that responds to AI that acts. We now see the rise of autonomous AI agents that will carry out tasks across multiple systems, write and deploy code, interact with other AI tools and make decisions without continuous human interaction. These systems are already operating enterprise environments and will soon appear in public services. Our governance frameworks are not yet equipped for this level of autonomy.  We must also confront the impact on children and young people. Algorithms are designed to maximise attention and emotional engagement. For children this can mean exposure to content loops that amplify anxiety, distort self-image and damage mental health. If we fail to recognise algorithmic exposure as a child protection issue, then we are falling behind the reality that families already deal with. This is why the establishment of the national AI office is not only important but urgent. I published legislation to create the office because I believe the State needs dedicated expert capability focused solely on AI. The office must be more than a future structure box ticking exercise. It needs to be operational now.  AI systems have already been deployed across public and private sectors. Decisions are already being automated. Data is already being processed at scale. If the national AI office is still finding its feet in eight or ten months' time, we will already be regulating after the fact. What should the office be doing immediately? It must act as a centre of real technical expertise in the State, not only regarding a legal interpretation of things such as the EU AI Act but a genuine understanding of how models are trained, how data flows and how risks emerge in practice. Without this, oversight will always lag behind deployment. The office must actively guide public bodies that are already experimenting with AI. Departments and agencies need clear practical advice on what is acceptable, what is risky and how to deploy AI safely. Silence or delay create uncertainty and drive poor decision-making. The office must be able to intervene quickly. AI deployment cycles are measured in weeks and, in some cases, days rather than years. If our response mechanisms are slow, fragmented or overly cautious, and if we are dealing with AI purely in the political cycles, then we will fall behind. We have already fallen behind and let us be clear about this.  AI is not waiting for us to get comfortable with what it is and what it is doing. It is moving fast and it will continue to do so regardless of how prepared we are. The real risk is not that we act too boldly but that we move too slowly and with too little understanding. The natural fear that is there around AI has caused us to act slowly and to double check and double think what we are doing, particularly when it comes to regulation. Particularly when it comes to the national AI office, we need to act quickly and boldly and ensure that people can see the State is working to protect the interests of the public. Ireland has the talent, the credibility and the values to lead in AI, particularly with regard to regulation, but leadership requires urgency, expertise and the willingness to engage with AI as it exists today and not as we might wish to exist in future. We can shape it if we engage. Putting our heads in the sand and asking whether it will go away will not cut the mustard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  Artificial intelligence is playing a bigger role in society today. While it has some benefits, I do not always see artificial intelligence as a force for good and I will give an example. South Dublin County Council has a system in place, and I know Deputies Shane Moynihan and Gogarty are well used to using it, whereby elected representatives can contact South Dublin County Council on behalf of constituents and get a written response which we are able to send to our constituents. Before Christmas I noticed some very unusual language in some of the responses I was getting. I contacted South Dublin County Council and asked whether it was using AI to generate the responses. The response I got was that it has 25 staff members with access to AI and they use it to generate content, including responses to elected members. The council stated it is committed to maintaining human oversight of these responses but I have concerns. I have had to contact the council numerous times about some of the responses I have received which did not make sense. I have been using the system since 2016 when I was first elected to South Dublin County Council. I know when I am getting a computerised response that does not make any sense. We cannot send them out to constituents.  Constituents in Dublin Mid-West cannot meet a council official face to face since the civic offices in Clondalkin were closed to the public. When they make a phone call they get an automated message and they cannot get a human at the end of the phone. While AI has its benefits, we must not lose human contact. Constituents and people need this human contact as they go on.  People have spoken about Grok on Twitter being used to make sexual images of children and women. The Minister of State has condemned it and everybody in the House would condemn it because it is absolutely deplorable. It needs to be tackled with the full weight of the law. If the law is not strong enough, it is up to us to make it stronger. I have heard horrendous stories of women who have had sexual images made on Grok without their consent. Earlier this year, and it is at the lower end and I will not compare it, an image of me was AI generated. It was at the lower end of the scale but it did involve the removal of some items of clothing. I reported it to X and the first response I got was that it did not go against its community standards. On 8 January I received another response because the account was reported by numerous people on X. This response, after several complaints, stated it did break X's abusive behaviour rule and the account is now locked. It is locked but it is not banned despite several complaints. The bigger issue is whose account was locked. It is an anonymous account. There is no accountability for people with anonymous accounts and this needs to be tackled. I have no problem with people having a different opinion and having a go at me over my political opinion. That is fine but at least own it and do not hide behind an anonymous account. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Artificial intelligence is already embedded in all aspects of our lives. We look at healthcare, education, transport, the creative arts, music, business and Government services. As others have said, there are many practical applications that are useful but, equally, there are a lot of dangers out there which have been referenced. They are now impinging on our basic human rights and we need to protect our children and manage threats to our energy resources.  It is not going too far to say there is an existential threat to humanity from AI. Even the creators of it have acknowledged that. We need to be very careful. That said, AI is not going to go away which is why it has to be hugely regulated to protect our basic freedoms. The likes of Musk talk about taking away freedom but to protect our freedom we need to regulate him and his ilk. It should not be left in the hands of the tech bros. None of these massively wealthy individuals has shown any inclination or ability to put the common good at the heart of their businesses. The algorithms are all about prioritising engagement no matter how negative, no matter how down right evil. They are all about maximising revenue and there is little or no moderation left. As others have mentioned, moderators have been fired to push up the profits.  That is why I welcome that Ireland has taken some first steps in implementing the EU Artificial Intelligence Act and designating the 15 national competent authorities to enforce it, which places it among some of the first EU member states. However, if we want this legislation to truly protect our citizens, we need rigorous enforcement, enhanced transparency and resources to adapt to any technological advances as they come. Quite frankly, the jury is still out.  As of now, we have regulation under bodies like the Central Bank, the Data Protection Commission, Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n, the HSE, the Health and Safety Authority but we still need one single, empowered point of co-ordination. I am interested to see how the proposed national AI office is actually going to work. Will it be in place by this year? Will it be properly resourced? I am talking about technical experts, the engineers, the auditors and the data scientists who can do a deep dive into the AI and algorithms, rather than just carry out sample audits and tick boxes.  Enforcement must be proactive, not reactive. High at risk areas like policing, elections, healthcare and employment must be routinely inspected, not monitored after the harm or after the event, and non-compliance needs to have the strict penalties at our national remit and at EU level. I acknowledge that the EU is doing a much better job than other jurisdictions but we need to go further and not ease up due to pressure from the likes of Trump.  I note the Minister, Deputy Burke, has said that building an AI ecosystem requires something that is informative, trusted and transparent. To deliver on that we probably need a public register of high-risk AI systems that are deployed in Ireland and keep our public in the loop rather than let them be disinformed by the trolls and the bots.  The EU AI act is a landmark piece of legislation but we need to resource it to keep up because the technology is going to change all the time and we need to be at the forefront and keep up the pressure. If they are not going to play ball, we should get rid of the AI systems. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I move to the next speaker, I welcome our visitors to the Gallery. They look like minors. They are very welcome. I am not sure where they are from. I am going to leave it up to their chaperone but we are having a debate on AI and the recent Grok controversy. It may or not involve some explicit detail and it is up to the visitors' chaperone as to whether or not they stay and hear the content. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Aont\u00fa is a long-term critic of AI and its gross under-regulation in this country. We were the first party to call for an Oireachtas committee on AI. We believe there should be far stricter democratic oversight of AI. There is little regulation if we are honest and that is because a lot of governments are afraid to stand up to the oligarchs who own the technology. In many ways, AI, like nuclear power, can be used for good but for sure it can be used for serious damage. However, imagine the damage nuclear power would cause if it was not regulated properly.  I want to speak to the Grok crisis this week. We, as a party, have drafted Bills previously to ban the provision of hardcore pornographic materiel to children. We regularly provide evidence to this D\u00e1il of the damage of that material to young minds. Hardcore pornography distorts the minds of children, it leads to horrific violence against women and it leads to rape and murder. Yet, we have very little support for this Bill in this House. All we received from the Government is shrugs and measured tones in response.  There is a subsidiary of Pornhub that operates in Dublin as part of the Government's foreign direct investment policy. It pays corporation tax to the State. Pornhub provides hardcore pornographic materiel to children without checking their age. There is a US lawsuit against Pornhub alleging the distribution of child pornography yet, as far as I can see from this Government, it is ignored. Aont\u00fa is currently drafting a Bill that will see smart phones for children under the age of 16 banned. The damage these screens are doing to our children is incredible.  Regarding the nudification tools, there are nudification tools provided by Grok, Merlio AI, SoulGen, Nudify-Online, Undress AI, DreamGF, deepnude-cc, Promptchan.ai and Candy AI. They are all should be criminally banned. The Wan video generation tool was developed by the Chinese giant Alibaba. It is completely unmoderated. The users are free to upload a photo of anyone at any age and generate any AI video they want. This is a disgrace. ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok, offers its own unmoderated video generation tool which also allows users to generate nudification images for a small fee, completely unmoderated. This should also be banned. Why is there no focus on these companies as well?  Any legislator that stops using X but does not use their legislative power to ban these tools is not doing their job. They are substituting the real beneficial action to citizens for virtue signalling that makes absolutely no difference. We need to get strong but we need to do it with legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I thank the Minister of State for joining us in the House. I know she had a personal situation this morning but in fairness she and her office reached out to nearly every Member of this House to tell us why she would not be in the House and I appreciate that.  I may be misquoting the Minister of State but when she took this Ministry role, I think I read somewhere that she said she did not have a huge amount of experience when it came to artificial intelligence. In fairness to her, what she has produced so far, and calling a spade a spade, she has been very good in her role. As my grandfather used to say, I might not have gone to school but I met the scholars on the way home. The Minister of State has played a very progressive, active role.  My experience with AI has been very positive. I remember visiting a Shanghai hospital a number of years ago, going to a training unit in that hospital and witnessing how AI was so important, not only for diagnosis of cancer and for checking all results coming through the hospital but also for the training processes for nurses, doctors and surgeons. I went into a virtual reality room depicting a crash site, and we were geared up like \"Star Trek\" or \"Star Wars\", but you were able to operate, to assist and to learn all through AI. It was absolutely fascinating. They are the benefits of AI and they are areas which prove that AI works very well.  There are huge benefits for someone like me who is dyslexic. I have Copilot, which is the programme allowed on the Oireachtas computers. It has been enormously beneficial. Dragon NaturallySpeaking 9 has been enormously beneficial to me. I can upload something from Leinster House which could be 100 or 200 pages and it reads it back to me. It is very helpful to me. AI has been beneficial to many people in society today.  There is a lot to say, and I know I have a short time left on the clock, but people have mentioned Grok and those images that are circulating. It is absolutely appalling that non-consensual images are allowed of males, females or children on any social media and that has to be regulated in Ireland and Europe. However, I wonder if the owner of Grok had been Greg Brockman or Sam Altman, who are the directors of ChatGPT, whether it would be a very different story with the outrage here.  Given the outrage that has come from TDs today, I must ask about all those people who have gone through the court systems in Ireland and who have walked away with suspended sentences for downloading thousands of genuine child pornography in this country? Continuously we are seeing people walking out of court rooms with suspended sentences. I would like to see the outrage that has come from some Members of this House applied to those getting suspended sentences. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  That is an absolutely shocking statement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  I think this is the second set of statements we have had on artificial intelligence. A bit like the previous speaker, I do not think anybody in this House is an expert in AI in the same way as there are in industry. That is part of the challenge for us as representatives of the people. That is why we are here. It is for us to understand, articulate and predict an industry that is rapidly changing. Its applications are rapidly changing. What we saw this week was a fairly grotesque application of a tool.  We would be wrong to think in terms of one platform or in terms of AI being the issue. The issue here was the application of the tool. That could happen on X, ChatGPT, Copilot or others. It often does not because those companies have put safeguards in place. Initially, at least, X seemed to revel in not putting any restrictions on technology. That is because of the overall ideology of its owner. If somebody goes on X and asks somebody to create an image which involves the sexualisation of children and a company produces that image, my view is the person who requested it and the company which generated it both created the content. Whether you use a camera and a light, a Photoshop from ten years ago or AI, you are responsible when you generate sexual images of children. I understand there are investigations and I hope that is the interpretation the Garda takes, regardless of what Acts are in place. I note the comments from the Taoiseach on the 1998 Act. There is also Coco's Law, which we probably never thought would apply in the area of AI, but it has. Both of those Acts appear, in my reading of it, to be sufficient for the Garda to act. This is now an enforcement issue. I welcome the Minister of State saying she is willing to look at new legislation. Of course we should look at new legislation.  There are many areas of AI. When we think of AI as an additional tool, we have to think of how it will impact. Whether it was the industrial revolution, rural electrification, the Internet or AI, this is just a different version of new technology and of course it will have impacts. An area of concern is creativity. When somebody creates something, who are they creating it with? They are contributing their ideas and prompts, which can be creative and dynamic, but they are co-creating it with a platform. Who is credited for that? How will that be credited in terms of creativity and rights going forward?  There is the area of skills. My daughter is in transition year and has an AI class. They are learning how to use AI; they are not necessarily learning how AI can replace traditional work. There are so many societal impacts. Grok caught everybody by surprise because it is a company that did not seem willing to be bound by the norm of not approving images involving sexualisation of children. There are many people out there who do not accept the norms of society. That is why the Government should step in and make changes where required.  I acknowledge the work the Minister of State and the Taoiseach have done. I hope the Garda Commissioner will follow through. In the American system, the chief police officer is able to stand up and say, \"We're going after this guy\", and make a public statement. Our police do not operate in that way. That is regrettable. If there had been a statement from the Garda earlier in the week, we might be in a different space in the debate. I wish good luck to the Minister of State. It is a very open area and one we have to be careful of. It is a tool with positive and negatives. Our job as legislators is to balance that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I welcome this debate. This is an incredibly important subject. I thank the Minister of State for the leadership she has provided in this space. Working with me as chair of the Oireachtas committee, she has been very co-operative, as have officials in her Department.  As my colleague Deputy McAuliffe said, artificial intelligence is a tool, not a goal in itself. We use any tool to, hopefully, improve all our lives, our community and the delivery of public services. It is here and there are many positive use cases. I have been fortunate to experience those, such as the National Library using it to translate ancient manuscripts and GP surgeries using it to assist patients. Recycling companies are now using it.  I read something interesting recently from the AI for Good Lab. Ireland is, among the working-age population, the fourth highest user of artificial intelligence of all countries around the world.  I have just come from Amazon Web Services where they had a hackathon. Their programmers and others worked with charities such as Vision Ireland, Rehab and GOAL to see how AI and technology can improve delivery of their services.  I am sure the Minister of State was at the Stripe Young Scientist and Technology Exhibition and was amazed by the number of projects about AI and in which students used AI. I draw her attention to one she will be interested in, a project from Bunclody Community College, an excellent school in north Wexford, by Sam Bolger, Thomas Larkin and Aaron Sharlott called \"The Firehouse Effect\", which looked at misinformation and disinformation and how AI can supercharge those.  We know all these changes are happening in society. The Minister of State will be aware of the interim report of our committee from before Christmas in which we made 85 recommendations. The key to what our committee is trying to do, which is critical to Ireland's approach to this area, is proper regulation and safety by design, and that we balance that with supports for innovation. We have to get the message out clearly that regulation and innovation are not mutually exclusive concepts. We have to make sure they work hand in hand. Throughout history, as Deputy McAuliffe pointed out, with any new invention, proper regulation allows it to develop appropriately.  We have to focus on how Ireland can become the AI island. That is about tackling the problems Grok and others have caused. Our first obligation is to ensure our citizens and those who reside here are as safe online as offline. We also need, through the use of sandboxes and so on, to encourage innovation, particularly in deploying AI against the dangers we face.  The Minister of State is driving the national AI office. It is important it does not become a \"thou shalt not\" office, but an enabling office that is focused on supports for SMEs, charities and community organisations to use AI safely to improve their services. It should be a hub supporting other regulators operating in the space. It is critical those regulatory bodies are sufficiently resourced and have the necessary people to carry out the functions expected of them.  I am a big fan of the creation of an AI observatory. We are seeing huge changes. The Higher Education Authority, HEA, recently produced a report on the huge changes we will see in the skills base in this country. We need to upskill and reskill across nearly every category of work. It is therefore important we have an observatory that can inform us in real time of changes in society and the economy. We can respond to that. The Minister of State and I have been working with the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless, on this, particularly on the development of short programmes and microcredentials, so every individual can access, for example, a simple programme or course on what AI is, and SMEs can embed AI in their business and use it safely to improve their processes.  We need to start thinking about what is coming down the line. I introduced the Protection of Voice and Image Bill to the House. Part of our digital identity is not just the standard form of data and, particularly as politicians, our voice; the image, identity and likeness of every citizen are crucial. We need to address that as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  The AI genie is definitely out of the bottle. It is a technology with huge positive potential for medicine, mental health, construction, media, education and all parts of human interaction. In the wrong hands, however, AI has the potential to do huge harm. Palantir Technologies is a significant presence in Israel, providing the Israeli military and intelligence agencies with advanced AI and data analysis tools. What does that do? It creates kill lists for the Israeli military.  It also enables drones and remote machine guns to identify individuals in the West Bank and Gaza and to shoot and kill them without human interaction. That is what AI can do. That is the danger of this type of technology in the wrong hands.  I will go back to Grok and Elon Musk's X. Grok has manipulated photos of people to create images, often removing their clothes or making them pose in suggestive ways. Members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na were here yesterday. They said the organisation was dealing with over 200 new cases of women and children being abused. Can the Minister of State imagine that? There were 200 cases in the last couple of weeks. The Garda knows where they are being produced. It is just down the road from here in X's headquarters. That is where these images are being distributed from. I acknowledge what Deputy McAuliffe said because he was absolutely spot on. He said that there are people sitting at computers asking Grok, which is just down the road, to do despicable things to women and children. They could not produce those images without the technology of Grok and X. They could not do it. I simply cannot believe that this Government is as outraged by the actions of Musk and X as the Irish people are because it did not deal with this immediately. I am not talking about looking at new legislation, considering doing something down the road, having a look at it or seeing if it fits into some category or other. The Government did not go to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and say that it knows that digital images of child abuse are being produced down the road. It is mind-boggling that this has not been done yet.  I genuinely ask the Minister of State if she can imagine any other circumstances in which the Garda knows that a company is enabling the distribution of child pornography and the abuse of women who put up photos online on their own social media profiles and no action is taken against the producers of that technology. I am sorry but I do not accept that taking the details of more than 200 victims of abuse is good enough. By the time the perpetrators, those people who created those images, get to court, there will be thousands of victims. I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle; I will finish with this but it is really important. If Joe Bloggs sitting in his bedroom had created this technology, that house would have been raided, the computers would have been seized, that person would have been in court and he would have been charged. The reason that has not happened is because it is Elon Musk, Trump's buddy, and X. That is the only reason. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Artificial Intelligence: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss core funding for Ballyfermot Youth Service.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the development of equine therapy facilities at the Toghermore Campus in Tuam, County Galway.  Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh - To discuss funding for a nurture room at St. Brendan's College, Belmullet.  Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss the ongoing use and misuse of e-scooter vehicles in urban areas.  Deputy Gary Gannon - To discuss drug-related intimidation and associated violence.  Deputy Sean Fleming - To discuss the need for womens' refuge accommodation in Portlaoise.  Deputy Tom Brabazon - To discuss section 39 arrangements for healthcare assistants.  Deputy Dessie Ellis - To discuss funding for the breakfast club for St. Malachy's MNS, Finglas south, Dublin 11.  Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss the labour market conditions faced by young people.  Deputy Robert O'Donoghue - To discuss waiting times for children awaiting speech and language therapy assessments in CHO 9.  Deputies Joanna Byrne, Conor D. McGuinness - To discuss losses of connectivity for vulnerable people using a health monitoring or pendant alarm.  The matters raised by Deputies Gary Gannon, Louise O'Reilly, Joanna Byrne and Conor D. McGuinness, and Rose Conway-Walsh and Dessie Ellis have been selected for discussion "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Artificial Intelligence: Statements (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Niamh Smyth)  I will begin by thanking colleagues around the House for their understanding that I could not be here at the very beginning of the debate. I also thank the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, for taking the reins. I thank colleagues who made contributions here today, which were all very heartfelt. This week has shown how we can react and respond. It is not just about reacting. I will take up a couple of the points that were made here today in a more nuanced way.  We have three laws in place in this country that I believe are very robust. We have Coco's Law, the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act and the Online Safety and Media Regulation Act. These laws provide that this activity is not allowed to continue. These laws make very clear that, in this country, it is illegal to create, possess, disseminate or share these images. Those of us in this Government, in this House and in the Upper House could not be in any clearer that these are the rules here in Ireland. I appeal to any companies listening to this debate to obey these laws and to abide by them. Our law enforcement body, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, came before the committee yesterday in the committee rooms here in Leinster House and it was made very clear that we have these robust laws in place. I appeal to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to enforce them. I have to be reasonable and measured in my contribution and say that I know enforcement takes a little bit of time.  If a provision to shut down X was available to me when it became apparent to me that this vile poison was available so freely online, I would have liked to have the opportunity to ban it. I am very serious and earnest when I say, as Minister of State with responsibility for AI, that any user or creator who continues to perpetrate this type of abuse against our citizens, whether male or female and including children, will be stopped and held criminally liable because it is a criminal offence to do what we have seen over the last week. I know it has been going on for a little bit longer than a week but it became very apparent to me in the last week. I have reacted and responded as quickly as I possibly could. I have met with Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and with the Taoiseach and I am meeting with the Attorney General this afternoon to be absolutely clear in my mind that all of the necessary provisions are in law. If they are not, I will bring legislation in here as quickly as I possibly can. Looking around this Chamber, I know I will have support in doing that.  I thank the Chair of the Committee on Artificial Intelligence, Deputy Malcolm Byrne, who is here. I thank him and his committee for their first interim report and the associated recommendations, which I take very seriously. I also thank Deputy Alan Dillon in his absence for the work he is doing. I encourage all of the tech companies who have been invited in on 4 February to come before that committee. Its members are our legislators and do the pre-legislative scrutiny that informs me and the Government. It is critically important that those companies present themselves before our legislators on 4 February.  If the Ceann Comhairle will allow me, I will also take a moment to thank our Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council, led by Dr. Patricia Scanlon. It has done incredible work. The members are experts in lots of different areas within AI. They worked very quickly to provide me with a concrete document that has given me a deeper insight and advised me about the existing legislation, giving me the confidence that sufficient legislation is in place. It is about enforcement. I appeal to anyone listening in to make reports to Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the hotline. There are mechanisms available to report. There are also supports for victims who have had their images used, distorted, shared and disseminated. There are supports in place and I encourage victims to use them. I thank the council for the four recommendations it gave to me and the Department. I thank my officials. I may be the face but a team of people have worked night and day over the last week since this issue became apparent to address it in the quickest way possible to protect our citizens, man, woman and child. Our goal is to protect our citizens and we will continue in that vein over the next number of days.  I assure Members that I am also meeting with X. That meeting is happening tomorrow. I will relay all of the views that have been made very clear to me today. I will also relay that what has happened over the last week is illegal and that X will face the full rigours of the law here in Ireland.  There are a number of things I want to highlight because not all of the conversation today was about that issue. Really important issues were raised here today. Deputy Gibney raised the issue of skills. She has been very vocal on that issue. The Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Artificial Intelligence and Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail also raised the issue. I assure them all that I am working very closely with the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to ensure that observatory is created very quickly as well as the AI office.  The transposition of the EU AI Act will be done as quickly as I possibly can. I assure Members that the AI office is established, not in its fullest sense, but it is established. There are resources behind it and a location for it. It will be at arm's length from the Department and will be able to work independently of any of us. That gives me good confidence as well.  I will point to a few of the other measures within the Department that address education, skills and regulation, which has been to the forefront of all of our minds over the last week. Digital and AI technology is transforming every aspect of our lives, for good and for evil, it has to be said. What we have seen over the last couple of days is evil. Not everyone has equal access to the benefits of these technologies. In 2025, I introduced a charter for digital inclusion as a landmark step in Ireland's mission to create a more inclusive digital society. The initiative emphasises the importance of partnership, particularly the role of larger businesses, to support SMEs to adopt and benefit from digital technologies. I know Deputy Gibney feels very passionately about this. I do acknowledge and am looking at how we can mitigate job losses that will happen. It is inevitable. I do not deny that for one second. The charter reflects the UN's principles of leaving no one behind, as outlined in Digital for Good: Ireland's Digital Inclusion Roadmap. This sets out commitments for businesses and organisations to help close the digital divide by promoting digital skills, affordability, raising awareness and enabling access to online resources. I assure Members that I work closely within the Department and that my colleagues here have a number of forums within the Department that give us direct access to people who are at the coalface. We are constantly engaging with small, medium and large businesses to provide financial support and also to hear from them, where and how they are struggling and how we can support them. We will do everything we can to do that.  Artificial intelligence is a disruptive technology. I am acutely aware of the concerns raised regarding the impact of AI on the labour market. The impact of AI and the future of work is still unfolding. The expert group on future skills needs report on AI and the Irish labour market shows that Ireland is relatively more exposed to AI-related disruption than other advanced economies, with higher exposure among those who have higher educational attainment. It also indicates that female and younger workers are more likely to be in the roles that could be affected. The research also found that Ireland's enterprise sector and workforce are adapting rapidly to AI, with strong demand for AI skills matched with solid supply. However, as the report rightly notes, the Government must continue to monitor and address any risks AI poses to our workforce. That would be the role of the observatory. Doing that with the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, who is all about further education and the skills base, means we have the right combination to make it work well.  My Department, with the ESRI and the National Competitiveness and Productivity Council, is undertaking research on the potential impacts of AI on key sectors of the Irish economy. The final report is due to be published early this year. It is clear that the development of new capabilities and capacities within the workforce will be necessary as it is very likely that new types of work will emerge. Ireland has always had an agile and adaptable labour force. The Government's priority, through targeted investment in reskilling and upskilling initiatives, is to empower the workforce with the skills needed to thrive in an AI-enabled economy and to meet the demand for evolving roles. We will also create an observatory, as I have said, dedicated to monitoring the use of AI across enterprise. Working in tandem with a new national skills observatory, it will guide the development of future enterprises.  I thank Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and wish to remind anyone watching this difficult debate today that there are supports in place. I urge them to report, report, report. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Artificial Intelligence: Statements (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Crime Prevention","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_38","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  It is great to have the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy in the Chamber again today. It follows on from the conversation that was initiated by my colleague, Deputy Hearne, earlier. The Ceann Comhairle was not in the Chair herself but there was quite a furore in the Chamber earlier. My colleague was speaking on behalf of a constituent of his, Amanda Uwase, who was in the Gallery at the time. Over Christmas, Amanda's family experienced an absolutely terrifying ordeal very few of us could even comprehend, when their home was targeted in an arson attack. The Garda is investigating so I will not speak to the specifics of the incident, more to the follow-up. Deputy Hearne was making the point that there are perhaps differences in how some communities are being policed. The community which Amanda came from is quite disadvantaged. That resulted in some interruptions, and understandably so. It is a charge that is highly emotive. One may consider it to be fair or unfair and that is absolutely fine.  I went for a cup of coffee with Amanda after the session. She was speaking to the horror of seeing her house targeted, having to go back inside a burning home to rescue two of her siblings and watch another of her siblings jump from a second-storey window through which she, too, had to leave the premises, and then wait for the fire brigade to come and get her mother from the burning building. It was terrifying. In the weeks that have passed, Amanda's family has not been allocated a Garda liaison officer yet. I find that extraordinary. They have been placed in an accommodation that is not only too small but also minutes away from the home that was targeted. They are absolutely terrified. The council they are dealing with has not been overly responsive. Amanda today, with a bandage still on her arm, had to do another interview with the media. She is so frustrated by the lack of engagement from the State with her family's experience that she has had to park her trauma and muster the courage to speak to RT\u00c9 earlier in the week and another media outlet today. That does mean something. I cannot imagine another community being targeted and not receiving comprehensive engagement from the State.  There was an horrendous incident in Edenderry at the start of December where a child was murdered in an arson attack, again, a four-year-old and a 60-year-old caregiver who was his great aunt. I expected to come into the D\u00e1il that week to have statements and to hear it described as a line that we shall not cross again, and that we must really get to grips with these incidents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, I just want to be careful because these are all under investigation. I know the Deputy is cognisant of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I will speak more broadly. I will not even refer to the fact that a woman in Clondalkin opened her door to be smeared with petrol and set on fire also. There have been 2,500 incidents of drug-related intimidation since 2001. Of these, over 150 were arson attacks linked to drug-related intimidation. Arson attacks connected to drug crime rose sharply, from just 13 in 2022 to about 50 last year. Despite more arrests, only 4% of cases have led to prosecutions. Recorded incidence of drug-related intimidation overall has increased by roughly 38% since 2001. It is fair to say we are reaching extraordinary levels of intimidation targeted at particular communities. It is not just urban communities. I appreciate that there has been a significant increase in smaller, rural environments.  I have no clue as to what the response is from the State. I know we have one small initiative that is badly funded and poorly advertised, yet we have what can only be described as pandemic levels of intimidation being experienced by communities. There have been no statements on the matter, no major interventions, nobody tweeting from their accounts, just silence. I would love to hear what the Minister of State and his Department are doing about this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Colm Brophy)  I have a reply on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, to the topical issue as originally put forward. I was here earlier on for the Deputy's intervention. I am very glad to have an opportunity to make this point. From where I was sitting, I felt and still feel that some of the Deputy's comments were totally unacceptable. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is an organisation which this country can be justly proud of. It investigates all crimes equally and fairly. There was a major attempt made by the Deputy and his colleague to politicise or to imply that there were other motivations or reasons why An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na was not acting in a particular case. I think that is wrong.  I acknowledge and endorse the remarks the Minister, Deputy Burke, made in his answer to the Deputy in relation to the bravery and wonderful contribution people make when they come to our country. They should never have to encounter that type of violence but I will stand by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. I will not ever sit and listen to Deputies who I believe, for political point-scoring reasons, are trying to undermine one of the institutions of the State.  On the more general point, I will outline some of what we are doing. I assure the Deputy that we are tackling the scourge of drug dealing and targeting organised crime groups who intimidate and inflict violence and misery on families. Drug-related intimidation is a pervasive issue that inflicts profound harm on individuals and families. I am conscious that such intimidation can be a terrifying experience for families. I agree with the Deputy that, unfortunately, we have seen several incidents of this serious and reprehensible criminal behaviour recently. I assure him though that tackling drug intimidation is a major priority for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, which he probably does not accept. It is successful in securing convictions and putting those responsible behind bars. The Garda Commissioner has tasked an inspector in every Garda division to respond to the issue of drug-related intimidation.  Investigations and convictions cannot happen, however, without people coming forward and reporting instances of drug-related violence and intimidation. We want to significantly reduce the harms caused to families and communities by illicit drug use. The three main policy objectives of the Minister in this area are: tackling organised crime; minimising the harms caused to those with addiction issues; and diverting people from involvement in crime. We know that organised crime groups are the ones carrying out these threats. The Government is fully committed to providing An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na with the resources needed to fight organised crime. That is reflected, and again the Deputy will probably not give us any credit for this, in a budget of \u20ac2.74 billion in 2026.  An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na operates Operation Tara, which aims to disrupt, dismantle and prosecute drug trafficking networks, at all levels, which is again something the Deputy will probably just dismiss. Under Operation Tara, individuals and groups involved in the drug trade are the target of enforcement activity based on intelligence and the latest crime trends. In terms of minimising harms, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na takes the issue of drug-related intimidation extremely seriously. The Garda will afford the person or family subject to a threat with the best level of security, advice and support that can be offered. Most importantly, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will deal with this issue in the utmost confidential and secure manner.  In May of last year, the Minister and Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, launched the drug-related intimidation and violence engagement, DRIVE, project. DRIVE brings together law enforcement, health services, social services and community organisations to tackle drug-related intimidation from multiple perspectives. It operates on a national scale across Ireland, ensuring consistent and comprehensive support in all regions. DRIVE\u2019s primary goal is to establish effective systems and structures for a unified, timely and sensitive response to drug-related intimidation. It focuses on responding to incidents, supporting those affected and preventing future occurrences.  There are also over 400 publicly-funded drug services, including family support services, across the country, which advise and support people affected by drug-related intimidation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I went back and read Deputy Hearne's contribution as the Minister of State was speaking. His contribution was targeted at the Department of justice and the Minister responsible. We do not doubt for a second the work of the Garda, given the supports available to it. It is not the Garda itself that leaves police stations understaffed or undermanned. That is the responsibility of those who allocate budgets, which is the Government.  I find it quite insulting to the Garda that because we have an exchange in the Chamber to do with budgetary allocations and absolute priorities, the Minister of State says we are going after the Garda. Let me be clear: we are going after his Department - the Department of justice. It was not the Garda, for example, that failed to facilitate a parliamentary discussion on drug-related intimidation, which we have been asking for since early December. It was the Government and Chief Whip, who was present today, that did not allow those discussions. Please do not conflate the two. Garda\u00ed do a difficult job in difficult circumstances. It is the absence of priority from the Government that enables a scenario in which some communities are absolutely not policed as well as others. That is also something the Minister has written into the record of this House, when he said that there are parts of Dublin that are not as safe as other parts. Which parts was he referring to exactly? Probably not his constituency in Dublin 4. It is definitely the more marginalised communities that are left to deal with these incidents. It is also hard to take the Government seriously when it tells me that it is tackling drug-related and gang-related intimidation and violence when we see that only 4% of cases have led to prosecutions. That is only 4% of cases out of 2,500 incidents since 2021.  I would like to work with the Department on prioritising the issue of drug-related intimidation. It is very clearly costing lives and destroying communities. The DRIVE programme is a good start but it does not have the right level of funding allocation. People do not know too much about it and it is not endemic in the heart of the communities that are most impacted by the violence we are discussing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  We are doing stuff. I will take a few moments to outline what we are doing. Among the number of key actions we have taken is to increase the maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder from ten years to life and enact new laws that criminalise the grooming of children into a life of crime, which is legislation that is at the forefront of anything any other European country is doing. We are drafting new laws that will provide for the use of facial recognition technology and investigation of certain drug offences. We are rolling out the support programme to break the link between gangs and the children they try to recruit.  I also mention in particular the Criminal Assets Bureau. The motivator for all the organised crime groups when it comes to dealing drugs is money. CAB is at the forefront of fighting organised crime in this country and disrupting its activities. The Minister is progressing legislation that will strengthen the State's ability to seize criminal assets and target the proceeds of crime. The new Bill was also speed up the process of disposing of seized assets.  This Government is fully committed to fighting drug gangs, crime and resourcing An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. It is fully committed to making sure that is done in a way that treats everybody fairly and equally, enables An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to go after people who are committing crimes that we do not want to see and doing everything in our power to ensure that the Garda has the resources to tackle them "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Crime Prevention"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Youth Unemployment","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_38","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I welcome the opportunity to have this discussion with the Minister of State. You will often hear reference made to some person, group or entity being the \"canary in the coalmine\". I believe that young people, when it comes to unemployment, are that canary in the coalmine. Looking at the trend, the general unemployment rate increased from 4.5% in quarter 3 of 2024 to 5.3% in quarter 3 of 2025. When you delve down into that, that is where you find the canaries, if you will. For those aged 15 to 24, which is the group known as \"youth\", the unemployment rate stood at 14.1% in quarter 3 of 2025, which was an 11.5% increase on quarter 3 in 2024. That is almost three times higher than the national rate. Not only is the rate higher but the rate of increase is also higher. There are 54,800 unemployed people, 9,400 of whom are classified as young people.  When we look at the trends, we see a number of things. The reason I put this Topical Issue down was because of talking to friends, family and people in my constituency. This Christmas was a very bittersweet one for many. Young people in families were having their last Christmas at home because they are going to Australia - the Minister of State will know this - Canada, Dubai and America, although fewer and fewer are going to America. They are going to places where they think they might be able to build a life or shelter from the housing crisis and perhaps come back when, under a different Government, there might be better options. I put down this Topical Issue because when I spoke to people, I was prompted to look at the statistics. The statistics bear out what I am saying, which is that while the general rate of unemployment is low, although the trend is going slowly upwards, for young people the trend is going upwards at a much faster rate. They are proportionately representing a larger group.  Young people face a lot of challenges. They are already subject to subminimum rates of pay, which is something the Government could change by way of legislation, and are at the business end of the housing crisis. What is needed is specific research into those labour market conditions that are being faced by young people. It is only by conducting the research into those labour market conditions that the Government can get the accurate picture and from that come up with a strategy to address it.  The Minister of State has heard it said, and it has been said to me by young people, that this generation of younger people coming through will be the first to face a worse standard of living than their parents. You can see it. People are not able to buy their own house. The average age at which people can afford to purchase a house has gone up almost to age 40. That was certainly not the case when I was younger. All of these factors point in the direction of a need for specific research and specific targeting for this group of people. They are not necessarily the same as the general population of unemployed persons, so they need that bespoke research and a targeted plan of action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Neale Richmond)  I am grateful to Deputy O'Reilly for raising this important issue. While I am taking it on behalf of the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, it is one I have a personal interest in. We spent many a day on this topic in the previous D\u00e1il. As the Deputy will know, the programme for government sets out a strong enterprise and fiscal framework prioritising economic and employment growth, with a target of creating 300,000 extra jobs by 2030. I am pleased to report that Ireland's labour market continues to perform strongly with record employment of over 2.8 million people last year, rising participation and sustained growth.  For clarity there are more people at work today in Ireland than the population of Ireland in the 1950s and 1960s. This reflects the resilience of the economy and the success of Government policies supporting job creation, fostering innovation and providing opportunities across sectors. Skills and talent are in high demand with near full employment and continued growth in ICT, pharmaceuticals, medtech, financial services and agrifood driven by both indigenous firms and foreign direct investment providing opportunities for young people to begin exciting careers.  All the research in the past week from three or four different bodies showed that the Irish workforce and population is now either the fourth or second most educated workforce in the world. While unemployment edged up to 5% in December, it remains broadly consistent with full employment. As the Deputy rightly points out, the youth unemployment rate reached 14% in December at 50,700 persons, which is below the EU average of 15.2% and euro area average of 14.8%. As everyone would accept, I think it is not unusual for youth unemployment rates to be higher than those of older cohorts, due to a lack of relevant work experience among younger workers, skills mismatches or difficulties experienced moving between education and employment, with clear seasonal and demographic patterns. This is nothing new in that regard. However, many of these factors are temporary in nature. As young people widen their professional networks and gain broader work and life experience, their employment prospects improve.  The Deputy raised an action plan. It is a valid point and anybody in this Chamber can work on these things. It does not need to be party political. As she will be aware, in May 2024, the then Minister, Heather Humphreys, and the Minister, Deputy Burke, launched the updated Pathways to Work Strategy, which included a number of initiatives to reduce youth unemployment and the employment and youth engagement charter, an initiative to support and inspire young jobseekers and other marginalised groups to build their knowledge, skills and experience to enhance their employability. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and its agencies will continue promoting employer awareness and encourage uptake of supports such as the expanded JobsPlus subsidy scheme and the work placement experience programme. The Department will continue to work closely with the Department of Social Protection to implement revised Pathways to Work actions and to develop the successor strategy, which will support jobseekers to find and maintain quality employment.  The Deputy alluded to the anecdotal experiences of many families at Christmas, which I do not dispute. In my new role as Minister of State with responsibility for diaspora, I have spent the past seven months extensively engaging with the Irish abroad. Some have been abroad for generations and some only recently. There is this notion that people are fleeing Ireland because there are no jobs, which was certainly the case when I left university when we were in the grips of the financial crash. We need to knock that on the head. There is a great opportunity to emigrate and move abroad but when we look at the category of people who came back to Ireland last year, we see over 30,000 Irish people returning after an experience abroad. We talk about housing and destinations such as Canada and Australia. The biggest issues there are the affordability and availability of housing with average prices in rental terms in cities such as Melbourne, Toronto, Vancouver and Sydney all ahead of Dublin.  It is important that we play fair. This is an issue. I am not denying it is an issue. It is an issue being experienced by other European partners. We have a strategy in place and we are more than happy to work with the Opposition to make sure that it is fit for purpose and that we listen to those canaries in the coalmine the Deputy alluded to. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  The Minister of State said he thinks we would all agree that it is not unusual for youth employment rates to be higher than those of older cohorts. I respectfully disagree with him. Dr. Elish Kelly from the ESRI has described the youth unemployment rate as it currently stands as a worrying trend because when you look at that age profile the chances are that they have lower levels of education and attainment. They are more likely to be employed on temporary-type contracts and in more vulnerable sectors that are often the first to let people go when the economy takes a turn. The ESRI would challenge the Minister of State's view that it is not unusual. I am pointing it out to him simply because within the overall trend not only is it ahead of the general unemployment rate but it is rising at a faster rate. When I say the canaries in the coalmine that is what I mean. It is worth looking at that.  The Minister of State will not find anyone on the Sinn F\u00e9in benches objecting to a body of work in that regard. He knows that we will work with him. The first thing that needs to happen is research into those labour market conditions. A job is one thing but a job that can sustain you and you can live on is very much another thing. The Minister of State knows what the rental rates are like. Notwithstanding the fact that they might be high in Melbourne, young people are still going there in large numbers. They are going in numbers that are bigger than have ever been seen before. I think the year before last, 22,000 visas were issued for Australia alone. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  That is after five years of low numbers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  What we see as part of the trend within the general unemployment figures is something that should be concerning, and no more than that. I think it bears more examination and that piece of research into those labour market conditions and the factors driving that faster rate of increase would be useful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  Where we are in agreement is that the trend is the concern. Youth unemployment being ahead of general unemployment is something we can accept happens but the rate at the moment is a worry. I share that with the Deputy and it is important we clarify that. That is why the Government continues to monitor labour market conditions and the youth unemployment rate and several of our recent initiatives will be central to supporting the broader economy, not least our ambitious investment plans and the action plan on competitiveness and productivity the Department published last year.  An interesting thing when I was in the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment was the work of the labour market activation committee, which brings together that Department and the Department of Social Protection to see where those gaps are. They are consistently working with stakeholders from civic society, the labour movement, industry and representative groups as well as those academics who look into this research, whether from the ESRI, the Nevin Institute or any other bodies of a similar nature. That is something constantly looked at by the Government as well as why there is a constant evolution of our enterprise strategy and why we say we need to create 300,000 extra jobs in the programme for Government. That is not simply to stand still or offset anything. It is just to move forward, which is so important.  We look at the general economic trends across the European Union and in the United Kingdom. There is a serious worry there but Ireland, thankfully, has not been caught up in that. However, there are serious headwinds. One thing of particular focus is the fact that when we are creating 100 new jobs per week, these are new jobs and that they are generally tailored with the educational abilities of the next generation of Irish workers coming out at whether at second level or third level.  Certainly, any trend that is slightly above normal requires investigation. The Government is committed to looking at that on an ongoing basis. If Sinn F\u00e9in wants to contribute to that research or have its own research, we are more than happy to work in tandem in the national interest. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Youth Unemployment"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Medical Aids and Appliances","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_38","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  Storm \u00c9owyn was the first test for this Government in the new D\u00e1il term. It took almost three weeks for power and connectivity to be restored to all homes, farms, schools, businesses and clubs. The Government failed its first test.  Lessons have to be learned. Ministers cannot just sit in meetings or berate Internet providers, because we will have another storm like Storm \u00c9owyn. Power and connectivity will be lost again, especially in rural Ireland, and we must do everything to mitigate the risks. We must take proactive steps now and into the future to remove potential threats to the network.  Storm \u00c9owyn damaged or took down more than 6,000 telephone poles, which had to be replaced, along with vast expanses of cable. The majority of this damage was caused by extreme wind and diseased and damaged trees. The length and breadth of this country, there are elderly people doing their best to live independently but who rely on health-monitoring and pendant alarms. When that damage was caused, a number of elderly and vulnerable people had no monitoring in place for an extended period of time throughout the country. This is not acceptable. Our citizens' lives are at risk if they cannot call for help. I have asked questions on this matter of the Department. The Department formed the telecommunications response and resilience group, the purpose of which the Government has said is to promote resilience and high availability of Ireland\u2019s telecommunications infrastructure and provide a co-ordinated sectoral emergency response capability. So far, no proactive steps have been taken to address the damaged or diseased trees.  The Government has said that the issues of vegetation and forestry management and vulnerable persons are, per the review of Storm \u00c9owyn published in October by the Department of housing, complex and multisectoral and will likely require an all-of-government approach. It has been a year since Storm \u00c9owyn, so what is this proactive multidepartment approach and is connectivity for vulnerable people using a health-monitoring or pendant alarm a priority of same? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Last January, Storm \u00c9owyn exposed serious weaknesses in how the State protected older people and sustained rural communities. In many rural areas, the loss of power and connectivity carried consequences far beyond inconvenience and unpleasantness. For elderly people living alone, often at a distance from family and neighbours, pendant alarms and home-monitoring systems are a vital safety net. Those systems exist precisely because Government cuts and neglect mean Garda and ambulance response times are too long and there is a dearth of public services in rural communities. When connectivity fails, that safety net all but disappears. What happened during Storm \u00c9owyn and in subsequent weeks followed a well-worn pattern. Large numbers of older people remain dependent on copper landline-based alarm systems, even in areas where fibre broadband is available. These systems are more vulnerable to storm damage, harder to repair and, in most cases, operate without any mobile network backup. When overhead lines go down, the alarm systems go down with them. Alongside this, local community and voluntary organisations are carrying a growing burden. They manage alert systems, support vulnerable residents and step in during emergencies, often with limited funding and capacity.  Demand continues to rise as our population ages, yet funding and supports have not kept pace. If the Government is serious about the future of rural communities, practical steps are required. Communities must be supported to move away from copper-dependent alarms to modern devices with mobile backup, and monitoring systems need to work properly with fibre where it is available. Providers in the State must also be equipped to deploy mobile-enabled alarms quickly after major storms.  Rural communities are being asked to live with higher risk, weaker services and slower responses. That needs to stop and they need to be listened to. We need to see this becoming a matter of political priority and older people taken out of harm's way, this issue being recognised and action being taken. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I thank both Deputies for raising this important Topical Issue. I welcome the opportunity to outline the position on this important matter on behalf of the Minister.  This Government takes the safety of vulnerable individuals in our society extremely seriously and recognises the effect of Storm \u00c9owyn and the impact it had on power, water and telecommunications services for those individuals. The Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht is responsible for the seniors alert scheme, which provides older people with personal monitored alarms. These personal alarms operate over available telecoms networks to connect users to the monitoring services, allowing users to call for assistance. Since the scheme was launched in 2015, 159,090 participants have been approved, including more than 17,700 in 2025 alone. Participants are provided with the device for free as well as free monitoring for the first year.  I am informed by the Minister, Deputy Calleary\u2019s officials that the Department is currently reviewing all aspects of the seniors alert scheme, including the technology and services available, and plans to launch a new iteration of the scheme in 2026. The new scheme will take account of the learnings from recent weather events and will also have regard to modern technology advancements to ensure that the most reliable, robust devices currently available are procured.  With regard to the broader issue of connectivity losses during emergencies and the work ongoing in the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport in relation to this issue, the Deputies should be aware that the provision of electronic communication services such as mobile phone and broadband services is a matter for telecommunications operators, which operate in a liberalised market, regulated by the Commission for Communications Regulation, ComReg. ComReg is independent in the exercise of its functions in accordance with section 11 of the Communications Regulation Act 2002.  Storm \u00c9owyn had an unprecedented impact on telecommunications networks. The impact of power loss on the sector during the storm, and delays to repair of overhead lines in some areas afterwards, had significant effects on citizens, particularly in rural areas of the north and west. The Government and the telecommunications industry recognise the challenges faced by those whose telecommunications connectivity was impacted during the storm, in particular vulnerable individuals who rely on the functioning of this technology for health monitoring and pendant alarms.  Since the storm, the Department has undertaken significant engagement with a variety of stakeholders to address gaps in sectoral preparedness and response. Operators have independently assessed their preparedness and committed to a variety of network-specific measures, including reviewing the power requirements of sites, acquiring additional backup battery and generator capacity, preventative network maintenance, enhancing redundancy with backup routes to their core networks, and accelerating the use of satellites to provide additional resilience.  The Department has formed the telecommunications response and resilience group, the purpose of which is to promote resilience and high availability of Ireland\u2019s telecommunications infrastructure and to provide a co-ordinated sectoral emergency response capability. The members of the group, which include Government stakeholders, ComReg and industry, have agreed an initial work plan to include the development of measures to improve the physical and power resilience of networks, co-ordinate and communicate more effectively during emergencies, and prioritise key infrastructure to provide minimum levels of connectivity during emergencies. The focus of the group\u2019s initial efforts is to improve the resilience of telecommunications sites, particularly mobile, as well as communication and co-ordination between response stakeholders. These broad, impactful and achievable measures will restore connectivity more quickly to all customers during emergencies, particularly those who rely on using health monitoring and pendant alarms. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  There are clear, proactive actions that can be taken by the Government. The Government can review the tree-cutting capabilities each local authority has so that it can respond adequately when we have another storm event and tackle trees on public land. The Government can ensure landowners are complying with the Roads Act 1993 to remove diseased or damaged roadside trees throughout the State. The Department should, and must, engage with pendant providers to identify who the vulnerable users are and what type of network they are connected to. The expert advice we have received is that home-monitoring and health alarm customers should be migrated from copper landline-dependent devices to newer hardware devices with a mobile network backup. Home-monitoring and health alarm customers should be migrated onto more modern devices that will work with fibre to the home, FTTH, broadband where such networks are available to them. FTTH networks are significantly more resilient to storm damage than copper landline networks and are more easily repaired. We should maintain a stock of monitoring devices that work with mobile networks and can be deployed by the providers following major storms to impacted customers who are likely to experience extended fixed-line outages. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  To follow on from what Deputy Byrne said, it is not good enough for the Government just to acknowledge the challenge and engage with industry on this. That is helpful, but it does not change the reality on the ground. Older people were left without monitoring during Storm \u00c9owyn and will be again when future storms that are bound to come cause similar levels of destruction. The same vulnerabilities remain in place and that is what needs to be tackled. Copper-based alarm systems are still widely used, fragile and unsupported by mobile backup. We need to see the Government investing in that stock of mobile devices that can be deployed at short notice in those communities that are impacted. Community organisations should not be left to absorb this level of risk indefinitely. Families cannot substitute for a functioning system when a storm hits.  We also need to see local authorities empowered to deal with trees that are not being cut down by landowners. Anyone in this Chamber who used to be a councillor will say that the most a local authority can really do is write letter after letter to a landowner, sometimes a landowner who is no longer receiving letters and may no longer even exist on this Earth. It is really important that local authorities be empowered to tackle these and are resourced to do that work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  The review of Storm \u00c9owyn, published in October of last year, by the Department of housing recognised the particular challenges of providing humanitarian support to vulnerable people during emergencies, acknowledging the complex and multisectoral nature of developing effective response measures and the complexities of defining, reporting and sharing information in relation to vulnerable people.  However, it did more than just acknowledge it. Some of the recommendations of the review include exploring outreach structures to ensure communication is possible with vulnerable and isolated people in the event of an emergency, where typical challenges of communication are unavailable, and that the area of vulnerable people be further developed under the auspices of the Government task force on emergency planning. The Department will continue to engage with relevant processes developed as a result of Storm \u00c9owyn and, where appropriate, link industry with developments in State response measures, including central government and local government.  The review recognises the importance of the role that An Post played during Storm \u00c9owyn. When the impact of the storm on telecoms and data infrastructure made contacting people difficult, An Post staff delivering post provided a direct link to persons living in remote locations and checked on the welfare of older or vulnerable individuals. An Post has indicated a willingness to continue to support the co-ordinated response to a national or local emergency in this capacity.  The ComReg consumer care team is also dedicated to offering help to all consumers who may experience difficulties with their mobile phones, home phones or broadband providers, including vulnerable elderly people and consumers with disabilities who experience difficulties in outages or have no service. Where a consumer has difficulty with a provider, it recommends contacting its consumer care team, which can be done via a wide variety of channels outlined on its website. An information campaign is under way now to make sure that people are aware of those channels and that it is not simply when the event happens that people are desperately seeking around to know how to make contact, particularly when that might be the very reason the person is having to make contact. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Medical Aids and Appliances"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"School Meals Programme","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_38","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  I would like to raise an important issue with regard to St. Malachy's Mixed National School, St. Helena's Road, Finglas south. St. Malachy's is a mixed senior DEIS band 1 school and has been central to the community of Finglas south for almost 50 years. When it opened first, it catered for over 200 children. St. Malachy's was the third primary school in Finglas south along with St. Finian's National School and St. Oliver Plunkett's Junior National School. At its height from the early 1980s onwards, St. Malachy's had almost 600 children and 19 teachers. However, from the late eighties, numbers began to fall gradually and today there are 132 students. Currently, the school has a principal, seven class teachers, three special education teachers and one shared home school liaison officer. St. Oliver Plunkett's Junior National School has provided around 95% of the children to the school since the late 1970s.  St. Malachy's became part of the DEIS programme of support for schools in 2005. It is also a trauma-informed school. The school ensures that there is a safe, nurturing and supportive environment for all of the students. For example, many of the children who attend St. Malachy's have experienced or are experiencing homelessness and this has had a major psychological effect on them and greatly impacted their education. That is why the school's participation in the school completion programme is so important. The school completion programme provides support for children and young people at risk of early school leaving. Through this programme, St. Malachy's has access to four play therapists, a breakfast club and a school transition programme, assisting the sixth class students with their transition to secondary school. The programme has proven to be very successful, as many students come from vulnerable communities. Through this programme, they are encouraged to complete their education, helping them to develop into confident and accomplished young people and young adults.  However, it is a struggle for many of the children. Some come from as far away as Ashford because they are living in homeless accommodation. It would be difficult for an adult experiencing these circumstances, but it is 100 times more difficult for a small child to get themselves up and about to be in time for school in Finglas. It is no surprise that many of these children will not have a breakfast and probably will not have a proper meal until they get home late in the evening. This is why the provision of food at school is so important for these vulnerable children. Studies show that school food will significantly impact the student's physical and mental health by improving concentration, overall academic performance, and behaviour.  St. Malachy's has made an application previously for funding for a breakfast club. It received funding for a so-called snack club and the provision of hot meals later in the day. The snack club provides pupils with some sliced apple, a rice cake or a similar thing each morning. They get two pieces of whatever is on offer. Breakfast is often said to be the most important meal of the day. For many of the children who go to St. Malachy's, it is an essential meal to start every day of their learning. Who knows when some had a meal at home after school? They might not have had any or it might have been so long since they ate last that whatever they have for breakfast in school might be essential to sustain them for the next few hours.  St. Malachy's does not get any funding for a breakfast club. In the past, the school used any surplus money provided for the snack club and the hot meals programme to provide a basic breakfast for as many children as it could manage. The school completion programme does not provide any funding for staff to run a breakfast club. The individual who puts the breakfast together does so on a voluntary basis. The school has been told that it cannot use funds allocated for the snack club and the hot meals programme to be diverted into providing a breakfast for pupils. It should be the case that schools are the ones in the best position to decide how the children should be fed. It makes no sense that, if there is some surplus money out of the existing funds, it cannot be used to provide the most important meal of the day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I am very grateful to Deputy Ellis for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Social Protection.  The objective of the school meals programme is to provide regular, nutritious food to children to support them in taking full advantage of the education provided. The programme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance and extra educational achievement. In the last budget, the hot school meals programme was extended to all remaining primary schools. This means that approximately 3,700 schools and 682,000 children are eligible for school meals. There are 3,200 primary schools participating in the hot school meals programme for the current academic school year. A budget of \u20ac286 million has been provided for the scheme in 2026. There are a number of meals clubs available under the school meals programme. The breakfast club is but one of them and was aimed at DEIS schools pre 2022 to ensure that the most disadvantaged children were able to have a breakfast meal before school. To date, 778 schools are receiving the breakfast club. This means that 149,401 children benefit from this club, at an annual cost of \u20ac19.4 million.  An evaluation of the schools meal programme was conducted in 2023. The report highlighted the effectiveness of the programme, including improved academic results. Studies show that school meals improve academic performance by increasing the time children spend in school and so provide support for families. The programme saves money and time on food preparation. Under the programme for Government, there is a commitment to continue to expand and improve the free hot school meals programme and ensure that suppliers adhere to robust guidelines on the nutritional value of meals, the dietary requirements of students, the reduction of food waste and the use of recycled packaging.  As the rate of payment for a breakfast club and snack club funding are the same, some schools operationally split the snack club funding allocated between breakfast and snack. This does not alter their total allocation. St. Malachy's Mixed National School has been in the school meals programme since 2016 and continues to receive payment for a snack club and hot school meals for 131 pupils. The total funding allocation for this school year is \u20ac93,141. When the hot school meals programme was being rolled out to original DEIS schools, they were entitled to retain meal club funding for their snack clubs. St. Malachy's Mixed National School is part of a school completion programme funded by the Department of Education and Youth, with operational responsibility managed by Tusla's education support service and a local management committee. The committee is responsible for the oversight of the project delivery at a local level, including the use of project resources, employment of staff and accountability of public funds. The Department of Social Protection has provided the funding request from St. Malachy's Mixed National School and the local management committee of the school completion programme is considering how best to utilise the funding. If there is anything that we can do to be supportive of the Deputy's efforts and to make sure that this is a school-led initiative, the Minister is more than happy to meet him, perhaps for a deputation meeting, should that be required. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  I thank the Minister of State. We are constantly being told that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. To any child in homelessness or in a vulnerable circumstance, it is essential that the morning start with a proper breakfast. It is a credit to St. Malachy's that it has managed to provide a proper breakfast for some of its pupils. Funding for a snack club is simply not good enough. It is totally inadequate. There is also no funding available to run a breakfast club or for staff to run it. St. Malachy's does fund raising and also uses money left over from the snack club to provide some pupils with a breakfast.  Funding should be allocated on a more general basis as being for the provision of meals for pupils. The position should be that the schools know best. They are the ones that should allocate the funding as they see fit. It should not be the case that there is some diktat on how funding should be spent on meals in schools such as St. Malachy's. I urge the Government to reconsider the Department's attitude with regard to how money is spent and to provide the necessary funding for breakfast clubs for this DEIS school. The Government constantly talks about DEIS schools. We know the work being done and how important these schools are, but to provide a meal that consists of just a small snack or similar is not good enough. There are a lot of very vulnerable kids in these schools, including in this school. We really need dedicated funding for our breakfast club and for those children to go to school in order that they can learn and are not going there hungry. That is so important. I therefore urge the Government to look at the way this money and this funding are being provided. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I thank the Deputy once again for raising this matter and for allowing an opportunity to discuss the school meals programme and, in particular, the breakfast and snack clubs. I assure him that the Ministers for Education and Youth and Social Protection are both very much aware of the importance of children being able to receive a breakfast meal before they start their school day. The breakfast or snack club is a targeted support to those most in need. The Department of Social Protection continues to expand the school meals scheme and has prioritised the rollout of hot school meals to all primary schools.  In relation specifically to the situation in St. Malachy's in Finglas, I discussed the management structure and the operational need. The funding has been provided from the Department. It is up to the committee to decide the best way to allocate it.  I take no issue with the points the Deputy has raised. There is no pushback or opposition from this side of the House. We are all very much trying to achieve the same result in this. That is why I reiterate my invitation to the Deputy and representatives from the school to seek a deputation meeting with the Minister, Deputy Calleary, who is probably the most appropriate, but if not, the Minister of State, Deputy Naughton, on this matter. Whatever I can do in my power as a Minister of State within the Government to help the Deputy to facilitate that, that offer stands. This sort of common-sense use of a Topical Issue is so important to make sure we are all working collectively for the greater good, in this case not only for the children, the families and the community more widely in St. Malachy's but for all those who face these issues. I thank the Deputy once again for raising this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)  Before we move along, I would like to say a big \"hello\" and \"f\u00e1ilte\" to Dundalk Grammar School, here on the invitation of Deputy Butterly, and to the Deputy's former business teacher, Mr. Brady. You are very welcome to Leinster House. I hope you enjoy yourselves. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Meals Programme"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-15\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2022\/94","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2022\/94\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":23,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  This Bill aims to finally end the non-collection of derelict sites levies and to force transparency on the reasons why the levies are not being collected. Since the introduction of the derelict sites levy 35 years ago in 1990, we have heard excuse after excuse as to why the levy is not being collected. In 2023, less than 10% of the levies that were owed were actually collected. This does not go into the number of sites that were not on the derelict sites register or the number of sites to which the levy was not actually applied. This Bill would require every local authority that does not collect 75% or more of the derelict sites levy to produce a report as to why it was not collected and what plans the local authority will put in place to ensure its collection. This Bill also requires the Minister then to engage with those local authorities as to why it is not happening and what needs to be done. Is it resources? Is it supports? This would end the blame game whereby local authorities blame the Minister in the Department and vice versa . This puts a requirement on everyone to solve the derelict sites levy and make sure that it is collected.  As regards the impact of this, it will not solve dereliction overnight. It will not end the blight of dereliction in the towns, the villages and the cities. As to what it will do, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael for far too long have been cosying up to landholders, speculators and developers - their buddies - and allowing them to get away with this. Is there any law that was brought in over 35 years ago that has been so disrespected and abused? The Government that brought it in - because this was brought in by Fianna F\u00e1il - has allowed this to happen. If an ordinary man on the street got a parking ticket or did something wrong and got a fine, the local authority would force him to pay his parking fine. If he did not, the local authority would bring him to court. If, however, you are a landholder or a speculator and you owe hundreds of thousands, if not millions, of euro, what does this Government do? It lets you off. Once again we have here one rule for the rich and the wealthy and another rule for ordinary people. This allows speculators to get away scot-free. Then they sit in these properties that destroy communities and they see the value of their investment go up. Where is the justice? Where is the law? Where is the right for ordinary people? This Government has given an amnesty to speculators not to pay the derelict sites tax. Over \u20ac20.5 million is owed in derelict sites levies. If we ever needed proof that this Government was more interested in looking after speculators and issuing nice press statements, we see it with what happened in the budget. We have a housing crisis. This will not solve the housing crisis but it is a small step. This is a solution we are bringing forward. The one thing we hear from the Government all the time is \"The Opposition do not bring forward solutions\". This is a solution. This is a positive step. Why will the Minister not support it?  This will be a self-reported tax that will be collected by the Revenue, the same as the vacant homes tax, another damp squib the Government brought in.  Just to give an idea, there are between 90,000 and 140,000 vacant homes in the State, depending on whether you look at CSO figures or GeoDirectory. Does the Minister know how many homes the vacant homes tax was paid for? It is less than 2,500, which is 2% of vacant homes. That was the Minister's solution. Some 98% of people get away scot-free and 2% of people are put on the register, which does not charge enough. As if that is not bad enough, the Minister announced the derelict sites tax and then said that, as Minister for housing, he would have a war on dereliction. That is a load of bull because the tax does not come in until 2027. I am not sure how the Minister's maths work out, but from last year's budget to when the tax comes in will be at least two years. Think of all the derelict site levies that will not be collected, plus the \u20ac20 million that is already owed, and then the Minister says it will not come in until 2027. How can he describe that as a war on dereliction? How can he stand over that? Why is that levy not being paid today? It should have been paid since 1 January.  What the Minister has done, instead of having a war on dereliction, is have an amnesty on dereliction. This Bill is only an interim measure that will end that amnesty and put in place plans to collect more and collect the \u20ac20 million that is currently owed to the State. If ordinary people owe money to the State, they have to pay it. If people have not paid their local property tax, it comes out of their salary, but if they do not pay hundreds of thousands on derelict properties, they are all right. The Minister tells them he knows them and they are sound. These people are letting billions rot in the heart of communities. I invite the Minister again to walk the streets of any town, village or city with me. If he walks around Dublin today, he will see derelict buildings, dirt, rubbish and antisocial behaviour. How can he stand over that?  In 2024, this Government - Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael - and RT\u00c9 brought 5,400 people to court for not paying their TV licence, at a total cost of \u20ac864,000. When the ordinary man on the street does not pay the \u20ac160 for his TV licence, he will be dragged to court, but when someone owes tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands of euro, they get away with an amnesty. When will those people and companies go to court? They should be brought to court for the destruction they are doing to communities. Instead, the Minister is giving them an amnesty.  I am not sure where the Minister comes from or how much dereliction there is in his area, but in the area that I represent, and in the areas of other TDs here, we see first-hand the destruction dereliction causes. Can the Minister imagine people growing up with a house or building next door that is derelict? Can he imagine the negative effects that has on children and the environment they are growing up in? This is about more than finance. This is about quality of life, protecting communities and not letting speculators get away scot-free. If they are not going to use the buildings, they should be the subject of compulsory purchase orders for housing. If that is not the case, they should be used for youth clubs, community centres, boxing clubs, the arts and dance. I was talking about it with a TD here. Youth groups, sporting groups and voluntary organisations that are crying out for buildings see these empty, destroyed buildings in their community, while they have none or are struggling to pay for the buildings they have.  The antisocial behaviour and dumping in the heart of some communities are shocking. In areas that are crying out for housing, decent, hard-working people are going to work every day and looking at derelict buildings. Community groups, local authorities and sporting organisations can be pulled together to turn these derelict buildings into housing or make them suitable for community buildings. There is also the business community. There are probably people who want to start or expand their businesses, but they are looking at a derelict building next to them that is preventing them from taking the opportunity to create more business, hire more people and be a positive impact on the community.  A number of issues are involved here. These buildings are not just derelict. They are an insult to people, because they could be worth more. They could be vibrant places that have a positive impact on communities. They could be an asset but, instead, they are left to rot. There are currently thousands of homeless children living in hotels and bed and breakfast accommodation. How heartbreaking must it be for parents to be in emergency accommodation and, at the same time, have to look at derelict buildings that could be turned into homes?  The Minister said he wants to solve the housing and homelessness crisis. For years, I have taken Ministers at their word, but I have to judge the Minister on his actions. If he is not going to tackle dereliction today and take it on head first, then I cannot believe his words because I look at his actions. People who cannot buy a house, rent a house or get on the social housing list, for different reasons, are looking at these boarded-up, derelict houses. They say to me, \"Tommy, how is that right?\" It is not just one place. I have met people from Dundalk, Limerick, Cork, Dublin, and all over.  Last year, I went up the west coast, through Sligo, Galway and all the way up to Donegal. I saw cottages empty and derelict, where families could live if they were supported. Behind my office was a building that was derelict. I put it up on Facebook. I was contacted by a lady who was born and reared in the house. Her family was raised there and sold the house. There are now holes in the roof and the windows are broken. The only ones living in the house now are the pigeons of Cork. I am not trying to be smart or make a joke of it. There is a house in the centre of the city that was left to rot. Through his actions, the Minister will continue to allow that to happen. The lady who contacted me was angry and frustrated because she had a great experience growing up in that home and she was hoping the next people to live in it would have the same experience, but they did not. She sent me photographs of her family when they were growing up in this house, which is off Shandon Street, showing the life that they had. The house was immaculate and spotlessly clean. It was a beautiful home that has been left to go to rack and ruin.  This legislation will force local authorities which do not collect 75% of their levies to take action to produce a report about why and when that will happen and it will force the Minister to engage with them to ensure that it does. If the Minister is genuine, I ask him to accept the Bill. For far too long in this country, there has been an old boys' club. It has been a case of not upsetting Johnny because Johnny is sound and one of our own. We have to start upsetting Johnny because there are land hoarders and speculators who do not give a damn about the communities they are in.  The Government has a big job to solve the housing crisis and dereliction. This is a start. We are trying to come up with solutions. It is not just me but all of the Opposition. We will work with the Government but, from what I can see, the Government will not work with us. No matter what solutions we bring forward, the Government is not interested.  We have advocated for years for something along the lines of the new derelict sites tax the Minister will be introducing in 2027. We think such a tax is the right way to bring in revenue.  I will leave the Minister with this. On Tuesday night, I spent 11 hours with a family member in a hospital accident and emergency department in Cork. Nine homeless people were in there, and I got to talking to them. Does the Minister know why they were in the accident and emergency department in Cork on Tuesday night? It was because it was freezing outside. They came in out of the cold to get a bit of heat. This is how bad the homelessness and housing crisis is in Cork. This Bill will not solve the whole problem, but it would be a start in tackling dereliction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)  I thank the Deputies for the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I am opposing the Bill because the Government's proposals far exceed what is being proposed by the Opposition. We have gone beyond what is in the Bill by bringing in the derelict property tax.  The Deputy spent a long time criticising the existing regime, but the only solution he offered is to keep it in place and increase the administrative requirements relating to reporting. That is the height of it. We are getting rid of it because it is totally ineffective. It is not ineffective because of the Government, which brought in the existing scheme; it is ineffective because the local authorities are not applying it.  Every solution the Deputy brings forward always ticks one of a couple of boxes. It is either to write a blank cheque for local authorities or to give them a free pass and ask me to step in and do the job for them. We either trust local government to do its job or we do not. Where it does not do what is required, we either take the power from it or give power to it where it needs to have it. In this case, local authorities have proved totally ineffective. I agree with the Deputy that the levy has not been applied. That is probably because of lobbying at a local level. That is, however, at a local level. We are going to get the Revenue Commissioners to collect this tax. Unlike the Deputy's proposal whereby if 25% or more of revenue is not being collected, a report should be compiled and we should debate it, we are giving responsibility for this matter to the Revenue Commissioners. I do not accept a threshold of 25%. There should be 100% collection of the derelict sites levy. I see dereliction as antisocial behaviour.  As far as I am concerned, rent seekers are responsible for what is happening because they are leaving their properties derelict. Regardless of whether you are a socialist or a capitalist, I am of the view that those properties should not be in the hands of the people to whom I refer. I am sure the socialist view would be that the properties should be taken from them. From a capitalist perspective, they should be forced to bloody sell them to people who would actually make proper use of them. Dereliction does not meet any ideology, and I have been very strong and clear in my comments on the matter. That is why I am opposing the Bill. I understand the intent behind the Deputy's Bill. I agree with that intent, but I think he is taking the wrong mark in pointing at me or the Government, because it is the local authorities that have failed to use the existing legislation, which is strong enough but which is not being used. We are going to bring in new legislation to tackle this problem.  We are doing an awful lot to tackle dereliction. One aspect of that involves strengthening the rules around how we charge people for dereliction and effectively try to compel them to do something with their properties. Ideally, they should fix up their properties or sell them to those who will actually use them. We are also taxing them in relation to their properties. We are also using a lot of carrots. We are supporting people to be able to acquire properties. Tackling dereliction and vacancy, whether in our villages, provincial towns or cities, is the other side of the coin, and it is so important that we tackle both.  In the context of how the new legislation will work, the tax will be legislated for in this year's Finance Bill. This will be followed by a preliminary national register of derelict properties in 2027. Local authorities will still identify and assess derelict sites through their derelict sites registers. Crucially, the tax will be collected by the Revenue Commissioners. This will provide consistency and effectiveness in tax collection and enforcement. While the final rate of the tax still has to be confirmed, it is anticipated it will certainly be no lower than 7% of a property's market value. I certainly would not like to see any lower than that. By international standards, a rate of 7% is actually very high. The problem, as the Deputy rightly states, is that the levy is not being applied. This is why we are giving its collection to the Revenue Commissioners, which is effective in applying and collecting this type of levy. I recently met the deputy mayor of Paris, who is a member of the Communist Party, who is in awe of our rate of 7%. As I acknowledged when speaking to him, the problem here is that it is not being applied and collected. That is what I want to address.  Importantly, the future collection of the derelict property tax will not be the responsibility of the local authorities. As a result, the amendments proposed in this Private Members' Bill for a new section 23A to be inserted into the Derelict Sites Act 1990, which would require local authorities to report on their levy collective activities, are redundant.  I want to highlight that the derelict property tax forms part of a wider package of measures. I refer here, for example, to the work of the vacant homes officers and town regeneration officers in local authorities, the implementation of the vacant homes action plan, a related resourcing of funding supports, the funding included in call 3 of the urban regeneration development fund and the vacant property refurbishment grant, which provides up to \u20ac70,000 in grant support. There has been significant interest in the grant since its launch, with 15,600 applications made to local authorities to date and over \u20ac230 million in funding paid out across the country. In December, I announced a new enhanced support package of up to \u20ac140,000 to bring vacant above-the-shop properties in our cities, towns and villages back into use. This package will be available from quarter 1. A compulsory purchase order activation programme was launched by my Department in April 2023. I also highlight THRIVE funding, the town centre first heritage and revival scheme, which represents a transformative opportunity, the living city initiative, which is a tax incentive scheme that has been extended in the recent budget, and the recently published national housing action plan, Delivering Homes and Building Communities.  The Deputy and I agree that dereliction is an absolute blight on our society. However, he is misidentifying the cause of the problems relating to application and collection. We are of the view that we need to have a really robust collection method. The amount collected should be 100%, and that is why we are bringing in the amendments I have outlined to tackle dereliction. Dereliction is totally unacceptable and is a form of antisocial behaviour. I have said it before and I say it again - the people who own derelict properties are little more than rent seekers. Under my watch, there will be nowhere for them to hide when it comes to dereliction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  I commend my colleague Deputy Gould on bringing forward this very simple but sensible legislation. Leaving homes derelict in the middle of the deepest housing crisis in the modern history of the State is akin to hoarding food during a famine. This is a comment that I and many other Members of this House have made repeatedly. I note with some interest the language the Minister has started to use with respect to dereliction. He has used it again here by using terms like \"antisocial behaviour\" and \"war on dereliction\". In a recent interview, he stated that if he had his way, he would make dereliction a crime.  The problem I have is that I have been on this side of the Chamber for a decade and this is the fourth Minister with responsibility for housing to make these type of promises regarding dereliction. I have learned the hard way not to take those promises at face value and to judge people on the basis of delivery. The difficulty after a decade of having had four Ministers and four housing plans is that the record of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael in terms of tackling vacancy and dereliction is, quite frankly, appalling. I do not believe the Minister said anything that is going to make that difference.  Simon Coveney had an entire pillar of his housing plan in 2016 dedicated to vacancy and dereliction. He introduced a plethora of new initiatives, including buy and renew, repair and lease and the rolling Housing Agency fund, all of which were abysmal failures in terms of the promises he made regarding bringing back into use the quantum of vacant and derelict homes. Those initiatives continue to exist and limp on ineffectively. In effect, they have been abject failures.  When Eoghan Murphy became Minister, following a very sensible proposal from former Deputy Fergus O'Dowd, he was asked by Leo Varadkar to investigate the idea of a vacant property tax. He studied the idea and came back with proposals, but he was told by Leo and Paschal that it could not proceed. Again, Eoghan Murphy's record as Minister in bringing back the tens of thousands of vacant and derelict homes that lie idle across the State was an abysmal failure.  Then Darragh O'Brien arrived. Again, the record is very poor. The only major initiative he announced was the vacant property refurbishment grant. It took three years to get up and running. They had to change the rules of the scheme on three separate occasions. Finally, people are now able to draw it down, although significantly, that scheme still excludes huge numbers of people who have applied and have been approved because payments are not made on a stage basis - a key reform of the scheme we have urged the Government to take.  When we eventually got to see the vacant property tax, this actually was not going to be a meaningful tax collected by Revenue on the tens of thousands vacant homes across the State. As Deputy Gould has outlined, the actual number of property owners being charged this tax is tiny and the level of the tax is very low. That is why many of us treat with great scepticism the proposal by the Government to transfer the derelict sites levy to Revenue for derelict sites tax. It is not just that the Minister is delaying it. In fact, I think Deputy Gould is being generous to him. I do not believe a cent of that tax will be collected until 2028 based on previous experience. How many will actually pay it? On the evidence of the mishandling of the vacant property tax, we could have a situation where not only is it delayed for a long period, but many of those who should be paying it do not. In his speech, the Minister listed a whole series of other initiatives - initiatives that have been around for a long period. Sure, they make small incremental changes in some locations, but in terms of tackling vacancy and dereliction with the ambition and the scale that is required, the Minister is simply repeating the same propositions as his predecessors. That is why, on this side of the House, there is such scepticism.  It is pretty disingenuous to dismiss legislation by an Opposition Member because it is not dealing with the totality of vacancy and dereliction. The Minister knows as well as I do that we cannot bring Bills here that place a charge on the State. He also knows, as he does often as Minister, that small, sensible propositions can be very effective while addressing the broader issues. Let us just look at the broader issues to remind him what Sinn F\u00e9in's policy is on the areas beyond Deputy Gould's proposals. First, at the very centre of our alternative approach to tackling dereliction and vacancy is putting tackling it at the very centre of public housing provision. This State should be funding and delivering in the region of 25,000 social, affordable rental and affordable purchase homes each year, more than double what is currently being produced. There should be targets within local authorities for a percentage of those homes to come from vacant and derelict stock. To do that, the Government would have to reform the way in which it funds local authorities to tackle vacancy and dereliction. Currently the Department does not provide funding to a local authority that wants to buy a vacant or derelict property through CPO and refurbish it to bring it back into use. On top of that, the Minister's predecessor and his predecessor before him promised to reform CPO legislation, which is completely unfit for purpose and unable to tackle the issues at hand.  We also need a single vacant and derelict property tax - a punitive vacant and derelict property tax - that is actually applied and collected as a matter of urgency. How can the Minister stand there and expect us to take him seriously when he says he is going to wage a war on dereliction but just not right now, next year or probably not even the year after that? That is the kind of war that anybody who tried to wage it would lose and would lose immediately. Deputy Gould has been very upfront. He has made it clear that this is not going to tackle all of the problems, but in the meantime - during the two or three years while the Minister and his colleagues are dithering and not introducing a Revenue-collected tax - this would at least force local authorities to put on record what the Minister says are their failures, and then allow us to force him to do something about those.  It seems to me what the Minister is saying in respect of the derelict sites tax is, at some point in the future it will be there, but in the meantime, he is accepting the status quo . That is what I am hearing on this side of the House. The fact that this is the position the Minister has taken, and he is not even willing to accept and work with my good colleague's Bill, tells me he is not serious about this. The Minister can have all of the nice catchphrases and soundbites he likes, but he is the man in charge. He is the person who can actually bring forward the proposals to dramatically increase and accelerate not just the total output of social and affordable homes, but the number of those homes that are taken from vacant and derelict stock. He is the man who, once and for all, could actually finally reform the vacant property refurbishment grant to make it fully fit for purpose. He is the man who could introduce the CPO reform legislation to make it quicker and more cost effective for local authorities and State agencies to access those properties. Yes, he has some years to go yet in office, but so far, in his first year in office, I see nothing whatsoever from him that is going to address vacancy and dereliction this year.  Again, Deputy Gould quoted figures from geodirectories and the census. For me, one of the most shocking figures from the most recent census is that about 40,000 homes were vacant between the two censuses. Not only have we high levels of vacancy and dereliction, but the length of time they are vacant or derelict is unacceptably long. If the Minister was really serious, if this was a war and he wanted to make it a crime, if he really believed it was antisocial behaviour, there would be a level of urgency and a willingness to work with the Opposition to tackle those issues. We have not heard any of that here today.  Here is my prediction: in two, three or four years' time - whatever amount of time this Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and Lowry lackey Government limps on for - somebody standing on this side of the House will not just be mentioning the failures of Simon Coveney, Eoghan Murphy or Darragh O'Brien in tackling vacancy and dereliction; the name of James Browne will be added to that sad and sorry list of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Ministers who talk the right talk, but when it comes to action and delivery, fail. Just as the Minister is presiding over record levels of homelessness, record rents, record house prices and the slowest rate of social and affordable housing delivery in recent times, so too is he going to fail on vacancy and dereliction. Why? Because he is offering nothing new, and nothing different from his predecessors. They failed, and so too will he. Who will be the losers? They will be the very people who my colleague spoke about - those in desperate need of social, affordable or private to purchase homes. Those are the people he is letting down. We will not let up on holding the Minister to account so long as he is in office. We will not stop bringing forward sensible, credible proposals to tackle these problems. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I want to start by thanking Deputy Gould and his office for bringing forward this legislation and for all of the work they do and continue to do on this serious issue. When people look in at the proceedings of the D\u00e1il, at least they see that some people are interested in taking action on dereliction. They also see the Government and its complete lack of interest in it. I am struggling a little to understand what point the Minister is trying to make. On the one hand he told us that the legislation that exists is good and is fit for purpose. On the other hand he tells us that we all have to wait because the Government is bringing in new legislation.  I am also struggling to understand the reluctance to enact this sensible legislation, which, as has been outlined already, will not fix all of the problems the Government has created and the disaster it has made of housing, but will make a contribution. In truth, if the Minister was interested in solving the problem of dereliction, he would be listening to Deputy Gould and working with Deputy Gould but he is not. His script, as he read it out to us this evening, tells me exactly that. There is a level of arrogance there that I do not think belongs in the mouth of a person who has presided over 17,000 homeless people, 6,000 of whom are children. A little bit of humility might go a long way. I understand that is not necessarily how he wants to be. He should reflect on where we are because he has been in some form of government - confidence and supply and all the rest of it - for ten years. In those ten years, we have seen so many lives destroyed by the Government's housing crisis.  The housing crisis has been created by Government policy. It has not been solved by Government policy and I am sure not even the Minister would be arrogant enough to try to claim that. Of course, it has got worse. Numbers and facts do not lie. The Minister certainly could not come in here and claim to have any achievements in the area of housing while there are 17,000 people in emergency accommodation. The Minister and I both know that is an underestimation of the actual number of people who do not have somewhere secure to live. As we all know, somewhere secure to live is so important. It means that you can build every other aspect of your life. Yet, there are thousands and thousands of people who do not have somewhere secure to live. They cannot start a family. They cannot build their lives. They cannot get their career going. They are stuck. They are stuck in their ma's back bedroom. They are stuck in overcrowded accommodation. They are stuck sofa surfing or they are saving for a one-way ticket to Australia.  The Minister said himself that dereliction is a form of antisocial behaviour. It causes antisocial behaviour. It causes dumping. If a person is living in an estate where there is a derelict house - I doubt there are too many of them in the leafy suburbs surrounding here but there are plenty in the area that I represent - as sure as night follows day there will be black bags in the front garden. There will be kids messing in it and broken windows. All of those things happen. It is then left there for years. I had a woman in my clinic on Monday who lives in a small three-bedroom house in Balbriggan. It is herself, her husband, her daughter, their four children and two sons, one of whom has a partner and another who has occasional access to his child. That is ten, 11, 12 and sometimes 13 people living in a small modest house. She asked me a fairly simple question as to why there was a boarded-up house down the road from her. She named the number and has been onto the council plenty of times about it. What is the answer? Government policy is that is fine and that there is no urgency to get rid of that boarded-up house. There is no urgency to turn that into a home for her daughter and four children who are in one room, that is, a mam and four kids in one small bedroom. She looked at that derelict house and had a very simple question as to why that house was still derelict. She asked why she had to walk past that when she goes to work every single day when she knows it would be perfect for her daughter and her daughter would keep it well. Her neighbours ask the same questions such as why there are rats running in and out of that house and why that house is derelict in the middle of a housing crisis.  Why is that, when the Minister says he is going to war on dereliction? Going to war, is it? It does not feel like he is going to war. It feels like he is quite all right with dereliction and thinks it is okay because it can wait. The claim he is going to war on dereliction would be funny if it was not so bloody serious. He is not fighting for ordinary people in his war. He is fighting against ordinary people in his war. He is not fighting for people who need somewhere to live in his war. He is fighting against those people but he is prepared to put up a fairly substantial fight to ensure that any levies that are collected will not be collected this year or next year and possibly will not be collected the year after that. All of that can wait. Meanwhile, people who have nowhere to live, are living in overcrowded accommodation, emergency accommodation, hubs or hostels and who cannot start their lives look at vacant and derelict houses and buildings and ask themselves a simple question, \"How is that allowed to happen?\" It is because the Minister facilitates it. He says he thinks it should be crime. He is in the Government for Jesus's sake. If he wanted it to be a crime, he would be talking to the Minister for justice but he does not. That is just something that he says. He says that he wants it to be crime. It is not. He is in the Government. Any Government that has presided over 17,000 homeless people is clearly not pulling every single lever and is not talking to every single Member of the Opposition and the Government for ideas because clearly, the Minister does not have any. What he has tried has not worked. He could not come in here and claim to be a success story. I am sure he would not. I am sure he is ashamed. I am sure that when he goes home and thinks about those 17,000 people, including 6,000 children, he is a little bit ashamed. However, if he was serious about it, he would be talking to Deputies Gould and \u00d3 Broin and other people on the Opposition benches and on his own benches. He would try everything and anything if he was serious about tackling the scourge of dereliction.  Does the Minister not see how inadequate is his proposal that we wait until 2027 or 2028 until money starts coming in or maybe even after that? Does he not understand? What if a person like that mam was looking in here - I told her that we would be having a debate today so she might be watching and I certainly will tell her to look back on the debate - was to hear him talking about his war on dereliction? She would ask me what does the war on dereliction mean and when is the war coming to Balbriggan. She would ask me when is the Minister bringing his war on dereliction to the people of Balbriggan. It is possibly 2027 or maybe 2028. Jesus Christ. Regarding the mental ill health that people suffer from living in overcrowded accommodation, imagine listening to the Minister. There is no sense of urgency coming from him at all. He had a few potshots at the Opposition and that is fine. It a bit of ding-dong and back and forth. He did not offer anything that tells me that he believes or understands that there is a crisis now. There are people who are making shed loads of money out of this crisis. The Ministers knows that there are people making shed loads of money and he is okay with that. Shame on him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I welcome the Bill, have read through it on a number of occasions and thank those who brought the Bill together and assembled it. The Bill tells us quickly, however, and I am sure the Minister will admit it himself that the system is broken. Unfortunately, the Bill does not fix it. It is a good attempt but it needs a little bit of fine tuning. It creates more reporting without guaranteed actions. It risks become a box-ticking exercise. There are no penalties for councils that fail or repeatedly fail. There are no performance targets in the Bill. There are no obligations on the Minister to intervene.  I am happy to work with my colleagues in Sinn F\u00e9in to give my thoughts and feed into the Bill as well. What I am saying is not a criticism. At least you are doing something. When we hear people saying that it will be 2027, as my colleague said about \"war on dereliction\", they are great words. However, they are not much comfort to the people who meet in our constituencies, including the Minister's constituency. He must be meeting the same as us if he is facing the public these days.  When I ask people how I can assist them, they will tell me that their daughter has been on the housing list for ten years in Cork County Council, Cork City Council, Limerick City and County Council, Wexford County Council or wherever. They will say that there are two houses down the end of the street that have been vacant for the past five or seven years and that would be perfect for her. They come along to Cork City Council and ask why this stock is not being turned around. The council will be very honest with people and will say that its allocation from the Government is not enough money to repair the property. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  That is right. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  It is being allocated \u20ac11,000 or \u20ac12,000 per year to bring properties back into property stock. The cost of an average composite door now for a front door of a house is \u20ac2,500. That is what a person will pay. Most people have to go to the credit union for a loan to get it if they are in private houses. There are then all the criteria and laws that are there. If a house is made vacant by a local authority or has been handed back to the local authority, the fire marshal goes in and says, \"You have to get rid of this, you have to get of that and you have to get rid of the other. You have to take out the kitchen. You have to take out the lovely glass doors. You have to seal up the bannisters in case you get sued. We have to check this, check that and the other.\" It is bringing thousands of extra euro to the cost of it. I do not know about the rest of my colleagues in here but I do not know how many people have said to me that were the house given to them as it stands, they had a brother who was an electrician, a cousin who was a plumber and had somebody who would help them out if they were given a small relaxation on the rent over the next two years to bring it up to a standard. The house could be inspected on a regular basis and they ask if the house could be handed over to them. I have gone to the local authorities and they have said they cannot and their hands are tied.  In fairness to Cork City Council, which I served on with my colleague, Deputy Gould, for 18 years, it has the highest rate of levy collection nationally. There has to be great credit. There has been a huge turnaround in a positive way since Valerie O'Sullivan became the chief executive of the council.  I see dereliction everywhere. I see dereliction in Cork City Council and Cork County Council areas, mainly because funding has not come through and big enough funds are not available. Houses are sitting idle and this is horrifying. As the story goes, people see a house they say would be perfect for their daughter. Imagine passing it every day and thinking about family members sleeping on a pop-up bed in their front room while there is an empty house. This is what we are dealing with. I do not know whether the Minister can fathom this or work it out but this is what is going through people's minds. They are wondering why and what is wrong with the system when they hear the Minister say he is at war with dereliction.  Something that was very well brought in was the refurbishment grant. It is a great system but, unfortunately, it is not working to its maximum. The payment structure is wrong. It is very slow to pay out and it is difficult to negotiate and get through. It needs to be sped up and we need to put more investment into it.  I want to speak about the residential zoned land tax. It is important to mention this in the debate. Some people love to say developers and builders are the worst in the world and that they are tr\u00edna ch\u00e9ile with this fellow, that fellow and the other fellow but not every developer is a bad guy, a bad agent or a bad actor. I know of somebody in Blarney with residential zoned land who went to Cork City Council for planning permission. Planning permission was granted by the council for the site and for a supermarket in Blarney, which would be ideal because it needs an additional supermarket to cover the area from Tower to Blarney. There was one objector, the lord of the manor next door, and now the person has to pay the residential zoned land tax because it is a derelict site. This is despite planning permission being granted on the site and the person having to go to An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la and judicial review. Surely the developer, who is anxious to break ground on the site and who has entered competitive dialogue with the local authority regarding affordable housing to help us and the Government bring up our housing stock and reduce our housing crisis, should be exempt from this tax. The developer is actively pursuing it and is trying to do the right things to have property built and services put on the site. Surely there should be an exemption for this type of person.  We are tinkering around with this. I do not want to be offensive to anyone because great credit is due to people who write Bills in the House, in particular those in the Opposition, but we are tinkering around with this. We know at this stage that the present rules and systems that are there for dereliction are not fit for purpose. The legislation the Minister is promising to bring in in 2027 or 2028 is not fit for purpose either. We need to have a system whereby we can go in and say someone has sat on a pile of bricks for the past 20, 15 or ten years, has done nothing with it and there are no planning applications involved. We need to be able to purchase it through CPO at much less than market value. They should be punished for it. It should be taken from them for a minuscule amount of money. This would teach them a lesson. I imagine we would see a lot of people putting up \"for sale\" signs very quickly on their derelict sites if they knew the value of the site was worth nothing all of a sudden because the Government or local authority would move in and say it is taking it from them, they are not doing anything with it, they are a menace to society, and they are causing serious problems to their neighbours. It is true.  There is a house in Blackpool, and Deputy Gould would know it quite well also, which has gone in for planning permission 23 times and has been turned down. It has been a derelict site for the past 30 or 40 years. The developer is looking for an extra floor. The developer needs to build an extra floor to make it profitable. Nobody from the local authority has picked up the phone and said there is something wrong and they are getting it wrong, and asked them to come in to have a preplanning meeting to see how to get it over the line. There is no incentive to get these people in. It does not matter a damn to the officials. This is the reality of it. I am speaking about local authority officials and not the Minister's officials.  There is a situation here whereby we need to look at the entire process and say this has not worked. The State is more than 100 years old now and this has not worked. What we need to do is look at the standards and best practices throughout the world and throughout mainland Europe. In a lot of countries and a lot of places, and in certain counties and states in the United States in particular which have introduced their own state law, a property is taken from someone if it is not maintained. People are fined for not having a property up to a proper standard. Some places, and I do not overly agree with this, will tell people how to paint a property, what to paint it and what the painting scheme can be. I do not endorse this by any means but at least they are taking a proactive approach in their cities and towns. They are ensuring dereliction is not there, it is not a dumping ground, it is not a breeding ground for antisocial behaviour, and that there are no rodent infestations. If we were serious about having a war on dereliction I would be only too happy to join the Minister but come up with a plan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)  Bogfaimid ar aghaidh go dt\u00ed an Teachta Rory Ahern. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  It is Rory Hearne, thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)  Rory Hearne. T\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Just to clarify, I am no relation of the former Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)  T\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  What about Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)  An Teachta Hearne, go raibh maith agat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Go raibh m\u00edle maith agat. We have tens of thousands of vacant and derelict homes up and down the country. It is one of the biggest scandals and failures of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments. Government after Government has failed to tackle this issue. Buildings up and down the country are rotting, falling apart, dangerous and left vacant while we have thousands of children and families in homelessness. In Finglas in my constituency families are being made homeless while a massive building, the Drake Inn, has been left derelict for years. Trees are growing up out of it. How hard must it be for these children and families, and for a generation locked out of a home, to walk past these empty derelict buildings? They have no home and here are these buildings that could be homes left idle because of policy failure.  The Minister says he is going to war on dereliction. I have to say that from my perspective, the only war he is waging on dereliction is one in his own head. The new dereliction sites tax will not come into place until 2028. Why will the Minister not implement the tax this year? There is a fundamental flaw in his derelict sites tax. It is designed to fail, just like the vacant homes tax. It is a self-assessment tax. We have 166,000 vacant homes identified by the CSO. It is a self-assessment tax but how many of those liable self-declared for the tax? The figure is 2,300. Less than 2% of the total vacant homes are liable for the vacant homes tax. It will be the same for the derelict sites tax.  Local authorities are responsible for identifying the sites. At present there is huge underidentification and under-registration of these derelict sites by local authorities. What will change with this tax? Around 2,000 sites are currently identified but GeoDirectory states there are 19,000 derelict properties. If the Minister wanted to wage war on dereliction he would fund local authorities properly to compulsorily purchase derelict and vacant buildings and do them up to be used as affordable housing. He would introduce compulsory sales orders to force owners to sell buildings that are rotting and falling apart. He would introduce a vacant property tax that would actually tax the vacant homes throughout the country. He would introduce the derelict tax this year and make it compulsory. He would fund councils to be able to renovate their properties to ensure they are not leaving thousands of council properties vacant.  The most reprehensible and nasty politics has emerged from the Government in recent months from the T\u00e1naiste and the Taoiseach. This is the shift to blame immigrants and migrants for the housing crisis. It is absolutely disgusting. I read the T\u00e1naiste's Substack where he outlined again the false claim that people in emergency accommodation do not have a legitimate right to housing. I ask the Minister to respond to this. Do people in emergency accommodation have a legitimate right to housing? We know that of course they do. What is being done by the Government is a deflection of responsibility. It is a dangerous move and it is stoking the social divisions the T\u00e1naiste claims he is concerned about.  Nowhere is there an acceptance of responsibility for the cause of the housing crisis being decades of failure in policy by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. If we look at it in terms of dereliction and vacancy, we have seen failure of Government after Government to tackle this issue. The Minister says he is waging war on it, but where is the evidence? Will we see a derelict property tax? Why will it not come into force this year?  What we are seeing is words. We are not seeing action on dereliction and vacancy. It is deeply frustrating because when we look at these claims and what the Government is doing, it is fomenting and adding to the Ireland-is-full nonsense. Ireland is not full. Ireland is full of vacant and derelict buildings that Government after Government have failed to tackle and have allowed property owners to sit on while thousands of people are homeless. Again, I ask the Minister to withdraw the comments from this Government that are blaming immigrants for the housing crisis because they are literally stoking fires and attacks on people which we see happening. The housing crisis being blamed is absolutely disgraceful.  Regarding policies that could be pursued, I have outlined them in terms of actually introducing a derelict sites tax. I also want to talk about Dublin City Council and its attempts to deal with dereliction. We look across Dublin and see derelict site after derelict site. Our capital city is full of them. The Minister is probably aware that Dublin City Council has developed a plan, a proposal, a policy to set up an arms-length company, which it is doing, to purchase derelict properties and renovate them. This is an excellent idea. It was developed by our own councillor, Cian Farrell, with Dublin City Council. The problem is the scale of what is being proposed and the timeframe of it. They cannot deal with it on any level that could be considered a reasonable timescale because Dublin City Council is capped in terms of its borrowing. Also, the Government is not giving Dublin City Council sufficient funding. We have a budget that will end up giving over \u20ac1 billion in VAT cuts to developers and fast food giants and yet our capital city's council does not have enough funding to meaningfully go after derelict properties and compulsory-purchase them.  I mentioned my constituency of Finglas. I invite the Minister to Finglas Village to see the level of dereliction there. These are communities where people feel excluded and left behind. They go into their village centre and see derelict building after derelict building. What does it tell them about what the Government thinks about them and how it cares for them? They feel completely abandoned. I have proposed that Dublin City Council should be compulsory-purchasing buildings like the Drake Inn and converting them into affordable housing like that proposal being done, but it does not have the funding.  I ask the Minister to engage with Dublin City Council and ensure it has the funding so we can have this war on dereliction he is talking about. I ask he introduce the compulsory sales orders as well and let us actually genuinely go after them and give new buildings and new homes to communities that have been excluded and tackle that issue of dereliction and vacancy which is absolutely disgraceful and needs to be tackled properly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  Dereliction makes our towns look worse, damages local pride, drives footfall away from businesses and sends the message that neglect is tolerated. At a time of such acute public infrastructure needs, this is simply unacceptable. This Bill does not create a new tax. It asks only that the existing law be taken seriously and enforced properly.  In my constituency of Dublin-Fingal West they deserve better than boarded-up streets and wasted land when solutions are sitting in plain sight. The constituency of Dublin-Fingal West, and particularly Rush, is being visibly and needlessly ruined by dereliction. Anyone who has walked down Rush Main Street in the last 20 years can see how the town centre has had the heart ripped out of it. This is at a time when we are living through an unprecedented housing crisis. Because we are in the north county and because we are one of the fastest growing places in Ireland, if not the fastest and one of the youngest, this is critical.  Across our towns and villages sites are laying idle year after year. Empty buildings, boarded up premises, brownfield land where families cannot find homes, young people are forced to leave their town and local services are under severe pressure. The dereliction is not just an eyesore, it actively blocks delivery of housing, large GP services, early education facilities, school-age childcare facilities and the basic infrastructure our communities urgently need.  These sites should be contributing to vibrant town centres and sustainable development, not decay and stagnation. We already have a tool to deal with this in the derelict sites levy but the reality is stark. It is not being enforced. Local authorities are applying the levy in some cases but collecting almost none of it. Millions of euro remain outstanding and nobody is being held accountable for that failure. This Bill introduces the basic and essential principle of accountability. If the local authority is failing to collect the levy it must explain why. It must set out how it intends to fix that failure and the Minister must respond, ensuring that local and national governments and not operating in silos while dereliction worsens on the ground.  Dereliction and vacancy are a scandal that require robust State intervention moving beyond grants to direct action and reform of local government powers to bring empty buildings back into use. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  The scourge of dereliction in the time of a housing crisis is, as was said, antisocial at best and a scandal. Many of the problems we face today predate the Minister's tenure as Minister for housing. I have served with the Minister on Wexford County Council. In my experience councils are afraid of their lives to go anywhere near derelict sites.  Every time we bring proposals for remediating a particular property or doing something with a derelict site there always seems to be a problem. There always seems to be a difficulty. There always seems to be some stumbling block that a council cannot get over. One of the things the Minister needs to do in his Department is surround himself with problem solvers because in my experience over the years there are too many problem finders all across sectors of our Government, be it local or national.  I will give an example of a site on Clonard Road in Wexford. The Minister will be familiar with the area. A derelict site notice was put up on 10 February 2025. Five minutes ago I texted the person who brought it to my attention. Nothing has been done. I draw it back to my belief that councils are afraid to engage in any way, shape or form in resolving the problem of dereliction.  In many respects, when we look at some State agencies it is no wonder people leave properties derelict. Another property the Minister will be familiar with is Wexford General Hospital. It is one of the worst derelict sites in County Wexford. The HSE has sat idly by and let a wonderful property that has a history to it go completely derelict, so much so that it is now on the Abandoned Ireland website. There has been no intervention whatsoever by Government over years. Do not ask me why because it is a complete eyesore rotting in the heart of Wexford Town. What could be done with it now I do not know. There is a preservation order on it that has served nothing but to make it derelict because the HSE was not going to spend the extra money needed on a preserved building.  Let me give an example of some of the stumbling blocks I am talking about. I submitted a question to the Minister for public expenditure and reform on 19 March 2025 in relation to Hookless Village in Wexford - a completely derelict leisure centre, bar and swimming pool.  The Minister has probably seen photographs of it. I asked if anything could be done and part of the response I got was that the company that owned it had been dissolved since 19 October 2007 but could be restored to the company register up to 20 years after that date. If restored, any property it held would revert to the company as if it had never been dissolved. In law, a derelict site that belonged to a company that was dissolved in 2007 can lie derelict for 20 years for fear the company may somehow be reinvigorated, at which point it will revert back to the company's ownership. That is ludicrous. Legislation that this Chamber has introduced will allow a property to lie derelict - a dangerous property that children are breaking into, a swimming pool full of stagnant water, chairs, tables and \"Space Invader\" machines. We facilitate that by letting it lie there for 20 years in case the defunct business comes back into being. That is ludicrous and indefensible. Local authorities are afraid for their lives of derelict properties. I am more than a little disappointed to hear it will be 2027 before the derelict properties tax comes into place. We need immediate action.  Fleadh Cheoil na h\u00c9ireann came to Wexford town and I was involved in its executive committee. There were a number of derelict buildings along Wexford's main street. Anthony Bailey, our manager, looked at these and said we could not have 8,000 people coming to Wexford. We CPOed a number of the buildings. We did so because our town centre needed to look its best as the nation and world descended on it. It was action by a proactive member of Wexford's local authority that brought that about. We need to get the problem-solvers into the system.  I agree with Deputy Hearne that we need the compulsory sales order. It is a no-brainer. We cannot continue with CPOs. We need to inflict - I deliberately use the word \"inflict\" - compulsory sale orders on these blights and eyesores on our community. The housing problem is a huge and important issue and the thrust of Deputy Gould's Bill, but it is only one part of it. If we are sending the signal to our authorities they can have a derelict hospital or a derelict building left there for 20 years, what are the other guys who own derelict sites thinking? They are asking why they should get rid of their derelict sites if other such sites are lying there. We need to go hard to send the signal to every sector that dereliction and blights on our landscape and on our housing lists, seen by people walking by derelict houses every day of the week, will not be tolerated any more.  The Minister has received some criticism here today but I have known him for a long time and hope he is the Minister to ensure these blights on our housing lists and our communities are removed once and for all and we can stand in this Chamber and say we are achieving something for the betterment of this nation and its people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)  I agree with Deputy Lawlor that these are a blight on our communities. There should be nowhere to hide for people who have properties they are letting go into dereliction. Not only that but there are areas, as the Deputy highlighted, where the law is overcomplicating the matter. Those areas need to be addressed one by one. It is unacceptable. It is antisocial behaviour. I am declaring a war on derelict sites. We are tackling it. The implementation of a new derelict property tax will help significantly address dereliction.  I understand Deputy Gould's proposals with this legislation but we are going way beyond that. I do not think increasing administration and reporting will be effective. As a number of Deputies pointed out, whatever the reason may be, local authorities have not been able to implement the existing legislation. The existing legislation is strong enough but they have not been able to do it. Bringing in the Revenue Commissioners with their power to tackle dereliction is the correct way to go about it, while providing significant carrots for people to purchase vacant and derelict properties and turn them back into homes, bringing life back to our town, village and city centres. We want people back living in our communities and that will be done by other positive measures we are bringing in or have brought in, such as the town centre first programme and the various grants - the urban regeneration and development fund, URDF, the rural regeneration and development fund, RRDF, and the town and village renewal scheme. We are putting money behind those positive projects and can see them in my county. Look at the transformation of New Ross town in recent years using all the grants approved by the Government through Government policy. We have seen it in many towns across the country. We are tackling it.  Deputy O'Reilly gets up every time with personalisation of politics - no substance, again and again and again. The usual from you, Deputy. Engage with the substance of the issues for once. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  And it is the same from the Minister. There is rising homelessness, the same as every month. If he was doing his job, we would not have anything to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Browne  And she resorts to the usual when I am making my comments, by trying to shout me down. We are well used to it. For those interested in trying to tackle the issues affecting our society, I have heard many good comments from across the floor. I will take them into account as I continue to develop policies. Taking on dereliction is a fundamental part of my role as I see it. That is why we are bringing in positive elements to support people in transforming their village, town and city centres while taking on those who are leaving properties derelict. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I thank my staff, especially my PA, who have done a tremendous amount of work on this legislation. I also thank the Office of Parliamentary Legal Advisers, OPLA, which has assisted me in bringing in this legislation. The Minister might criticise it but it is right and has gone through the whole process. As a back bench TD, I am limited in the legislation I can bring forward. I would love to go much further. I would love to work with the Minister on it but he comes in here and criticises the proposals I have made. He just said he was having a war on dereliction. What he did not say was it was not starting for another two years. He comes in here and criticises local authorities and councils but he has given local authorities the job of pulling the derelict sites register together. They have had that job for 35 years. The Minister is telling me they could not get it right for 35 years and is blaming them for not collecting the levy, but he is still leaving them in charge of putting the list together. The Minister cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds.  I spoke earlier about being in the Mercy hospital on Tuesday night, a freezing cold night. It was jammed out the door, with trolleys everywhere. I was 11 hours in there with a family member. People told me they came into A and E to get out of the cold. I do not know whether the Minister knows where the Mercy hospital is in Cork. Within minutes' walking distance of the hospital are derelict buildings. Around the corner from the hospital are buildings that are rotting. The Minister should be bringing in this legislation now. I know that when his Bill is enacted, my Bill will fall, but at least until the Minister's Bill comes in, this Bill will be working away.  The Minister commented twice but he never once mentioned the \u20ac20 million owed by speculators to whom he is giving an amnesty. Those are the facts. He also never discussed why the 2024 figures on dereliction have not been released. They are normally released every March. The Minister is hiding the figures. I got them from every other Minister but I cannot get them off Deputy Browne. Why is he hiding and covering up the dereliction and the landholders and speculators who have derelict sites all over the State? The Minister says he wants a war on dereliction. Give us the figures. Release them. Why will the Minister not release them? It is because they will show how bad things are.  Other Members have made comments about different towns and cities. Does the Minister know how hard it is for people living in overcrowded accommodation with two or three generations in the one house when there is a derelict site around the corner? Does he know how hard it is for people in emergency accommodation to bring their children across the city to school, passing a dozen properties that could be their home?  The Minister talks about his Government. Why is he not doing this now? He should be tackling dereliction today. This Government has been in place for more than a year. Why is it not doing its job? It is because Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael are up to their tonsils in vested interests, the landholders and speculators who are only interested in making money. If the Minister wants us to take him at face value, he needs to tackle this now. People want action. They do not want the Minister to be talking about this next year or the year after. They want action now. People are leaving this country to go to Australia because they cannot find somewhere to rent. There are people leaving because they cannot find a house to buy. There are people who are stuck because they cannot get social housing but cannot afford rent.  I am not sure about the Minister's pride in his responsibility. I am genuinely not trying to insult him but these are the facts as we stand in the D\u00e1il today. We have the highest rents, the highest house prices and the highest homelessness figures in the history of the State and Deputy Browne is the Minister. He can blame us in the Opposition but I am trying to fix something. This Bill will not fix everything but it would be a start. It would send a message to those the Minister has called criminals, those involved in the antisocial behaviour of destroying communities through dereliction. It would send a message that this will not be tolerated any more. It would also send a message to people who are struggling and who are looking for a light at the end of the tunnel. It would tell them that this Government will do something.  This Government has done nothing on dereliction for 35 years. Does the Minister know the joke about this? Does he know who brought in the original dereliction legislation? In 1990, Charles Haughey was the Taoiseach and P\u00e1draig Flynn was the Minister. Those two individuals thought it was bad 35 years ago. Governments have done nothing for 35 years. Charles Haughey, the former Taoiseach, owned an island. Those two men knew back then that this was wrong.  I am here today trying to work with the Government but it will not work with us. It will not work with the Opposition and it definitely will not work with Sinn F\u00e9in. We propose having Revenue collect this levy. That should have started on 1 January. The Minister could give local authorities funding and staff to compulsorily purchase buildings. He could give local authorities support to take on the developers who are sitting on these sites and not developing them. There are people out there who want to buy these properties to turn them into businesses, homes, community centres and sports facilities but the Minister is letting them rot. There are buildings rotting in this country. Who is responsible? Who is going to do anything about it? Deputy Browne is the Minister. We could walk out the door here and see building after building that is derelict but the Minister is coming in here and asking us to wait until 2027, when we might get to it. With no disrespect, I do not believe the Government will get to it in 2027. Enough is enough. The Minister said he was not going to tolerate this but what is he doing? He can make these statements but the proof is in the pudding. The proof is in his actions and his actions are not delivering.  This Government, the Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste and the Minister have brass necks to tell us they are going to solve the housing crisis and the homelessness crisis and that they are going to stop people emigrating because they need homes. I know people who have left. Does the Minister know what they are hoping for? They are hoping there is going to be another financial crash here so they can come home and buy a house. They are telling me they will never be able to come home with the price of houses and rents here and that their only hope is another financial crash. They do not believe the Government is interested in them. They do not believe it wants to support them. Every day, I talk to genuine hardworking people who are trying to build lives for themselves and their families. All they are looking for is a safe and affordable home so they can live their lives. Is that too much to ask? Over the last few days, I have been listening to different Ministers talking about all the people who are working and how well the country is going. For a lot of people, it is going well. However, if you do not have a house, a home and a roof over your head and your children's heads to call your home, where are you going? Where is this Government going? It is not good enough.  I brought forward legislation to work with the Government. I would have amended it. We could have amended it down the road. We could all have worked together. We still can because the vote on this is not until next Wednesday night. I ask the Minister to think about it. Perhaps he could pull the Opposition together with his own backbenchers. Those backbenchers are telling him the same. We could still work together and make a difference. At the end of the day, it is about helping people and providing housing for people to make a difference. It is about stopping dereliction and the speculators. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Barry Heneghan)  The division is postponed until the weekly division time next week. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 6.28 p.m. go dt\u00ed 2 p.m., D\u00e9 M\u00e1irt, an 20 Ean\u00e1ir 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 6.28 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 20 January 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2026-01-15"},{"contextDate":"2026-01-14","debateRecord":{"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-11T03:07:56+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_2","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Ambulance Service","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_4","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Mental Health Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_5","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Sentencing Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_6","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Educational Disadvantage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_7","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Bus Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_8","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":28},"showAs":"Uisce \u00c9ireann Infrastructure Delivery, Accountability and Repair Timelines: Motion [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_9","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":45,"speakerCount":9},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_10","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_11","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":59,"speakerCount":20},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_12","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":119,"speakerCount":16},"showAs":"Post European Council Meeting: Statements","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_13","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"statement","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":58,"speakerCount":17},"showAs":"Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_14","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/2","event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/2\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026: Referral to Select Committee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_15","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/2","event":{"stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2026\/2\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":28,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_16","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/53","event":{"stage":"4_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/53\/dail\/4_sub","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"billReport","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Mercosur Trade Agreement: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_17","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Uisce \u00c9ireann Infrastructure Delivery, Accountability and Repair Timelines: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/dbsect_30","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30"}}],"counts":{"divisionCount":5,"billCount":3,"debateSectionCount":17,"questionCount":0,"contributorCount":168},"house":{"chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34"},"date":"2026-01-14","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/main","debateType":"debate","formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-14\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}}}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-07-01T02:13:16+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2026-01-13","counts":{"contributorCount":171,"divisionCount":1,"debateSectionCount":31,"questionCount":43,"billCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":28,"speakerCount":7},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before we start, I wish everyone a happy, peaceful and progressive 2026. As we now move to the first Leaders' Questions of 2026 under Standing Order 38, I call Deputy McDonald. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Government has approved big pay hikes for CEOs of semi-State organisations and the pay increases are substantial. The pay packet of the head of CI\u00c9 is up by \u20ac35,000. There is a \u20ac60,000 hike for the CEO of the Irish National Stud, a \u20ac50,000 pay bump for the chief executive of Bus \u00c9ireann, a \u20ac75,000 hike for the head of Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann and it has also been reported that a pay increase has been sought for the RT\u00c9 director general, which would bring the salary package for that position close to \u20ac300,000. I think we can agree that is good news for the CEOs of semi-State bodies.  The contrast with the Government's treatment of working households could not be more stark. These are households, workers and families who count every euro just to make ends meet. Some 1.4 million workers in this State earn less than \u20ac45,000 per annum. Can the Taoiseach imagine their disbelief when they see the Government increase the salaries of semi-State CEOs by \u20ac60,000 and \u20ac70,000, increases far higher that which is earned by those who keep the country going, such as young nurses, garda\u00ed and teachers, those who work in retail, factories and hospitality, cleaners and carers. There is no big pay hike for them. On the contrary, the Government's bumper budget of \u20ac9.4 billion abandoned those working people and, in fact, left them worse off. The Government could not find the money to give ordinary workers a break in their income tax. There was no money for a cost-of-living package, no money for an increase in the renter's tax credit, no money to maintain energy credits as electricity bills go up and up and no money to cover the extra cost of living with a disability. The Government left people with disabilities \u20ac1,400 worse off, but it could and did find the money for generous tax breaks for developers, landlords and banks and now we know it found the money to deliver bumper pay increase for top brass semi-State executives. Where is the fairness in that?  For many workers, wages have been outstripped by relentless price hikes. The daily struggle of low- and middle-income workers to keep their heads above water, look after their children, pay their bills and put food on the table is very real, but the priorities of Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il in government are clear.  The Taoiseach, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael will always show up for those at the top. Meanwhile, ordinary working people are taken for granted, brushed aside and short-changed over and over.  N\u00edl fadhb ar bith ag Fianna F\u00e1il agus Fine Gael ardaithe m\u00f3ra p\u00e1 a thabhairt do phr\u00edomhfheidhmeannaigh i gcomhlachta\u00ed leath-St\u00e1it, ach tagann siad le faic i gc\u00f3na\u00ed don chosmhuintir. C\u00e1 bhfuil cothrom na F\u00e9inne ansin?  The Taoiseach abandoned ordinary workers in his budget. Can he explain to them how he can stand over big pay hikes for semi-State CEOs when they do not get a red cent of a break on their income taxes? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We have no clock. We have a problem for the moment but I am using a stopwatch here so I will give the Taoiseach a few seconds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Having no clock is a gift to all Members of the House.  Could I say at the outset, ar dt\u00fas b\u00e1ire, n\u00ed aonta\u00edm in aon chor leis an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 r\u00e1ite ag an Teachta. N\u00edl aon amhras, sa bhuis\u00e9ad a bh\u00ed againn le d\u00e9ana\u00ed, go raibh muid ag s\u00fail go h\u00e1irithe leis na daoine is boichte sa t\u00edr. Is iad pr\u00edomhaidhmeanna an Rialtais n\u00e1 n\u00edos m\u00f3 tithe a chruth\u00fa, fosta\u00edocht a choinne\u00e1il agus an m\u00e9id fosta\u00edochta sa t\u00edr seo a ard\u00fa. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin \u00e1 dh\u00e9anamh againn agus t\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin soil\u00e9ir \u00f3 na figi\u00fair\u00ed is d\u00e9ana\u00ed at\u00e1 tar \u00e9is teacht ar an bhf\u00f3d. Is mian linn cabhair agus taca\u00edocht a thabhairt do dhaoine at\u00e1 ag brath ar leas s\u00f3isialta, go h\u00e1irithe leana\u00ed, agus bh\u00ed s\u00e9 sin le feiscint.  I do not agree with the Deputy's assessment of the Government's priorities. Our overarching priority has been to sustain a very strong and robust enterprise economy, and particularly employment, because the most effective thing we can do is to create opportunities for people to gain meaningful employment in this country. By any yardstick, we have achieved that as a Government over the past number of years. We have the largest ever number of people working in this country, with over 2.8 million people working. We equally have had substantial growth in the numbers working in our country over the past number of years. That is key in terms of living standards and enabling people to cope. There are 2.825 million workers and that is a record for the Irish labour market. There is an increase of over 550,000 people between 2020 and 2025. That is a staggering achievement. When Ireland is compared with other EU member states in respect of the creation of employment and a robust economy, I think you will not find an equal. Under the IMF, in terms of the world economic outlook, the Irish economy is the fastest growing among the world's most advanced economies.  That is why, in the budget, we focused on services and a substantial increase in allocations to education, disability and health. Those increases will make a difference and are making a difference in respect of those key areas. Looking at the analysis by the ESRI and others in respect of the investment in children, you will see that those on the lowest decile of income gained the most from the budget. That was our priority in the budget, particularly in regard to children and child poverty and the analysis bears that out.  Equally, in respect of disability, we have made substantial progress both in terms of a record number of additional special classes for 2026 and earlier notification so children can get appropriate offers at the appropriate time and so forth. There has been a 20% increase in disability services expenditure and that is where we have put the focus.  There has been a huge allocation for capital infrastructure in the budget and over the past number of years to deliver the water, energy and critical infrastructure needed to sustain the employment I spoke about earlier and to sustain our economy.  Real wage growth this year will be about 3%. Wages will increase by about 5.5% and with 2% plus of inflation that means real income growth. The growth in consumption expenditure will be more than 3%. That does not reveal the type of scenario the Deputy created.  We acknowledge there are cost-of-living challenges to people - there clearly are - but we have worked hard, through a range of supports and free schemes that I could list, from free books to hot school meals, that we have introduced to cushion people against the undoubted pressures of cost-of-living increases.  In relation to semi-State CEOs, the Deputy knows full well that an independent body got together. There had been few increases in recent times. It was becoming difficult to recruit people to key positions within the semi-State sector, which is important for the economy also. That underpins the figures the Deputy outlined. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The actions and decisions of the Government speak for themselves. It is clear for anybody who wishes to see precisely what the Government's priorities are that they are to look after those at the top. We saw that in the Government's \u20ac9.4 billion budget - landlords and developers - and now in this decision. It is a decision, approved by the Government, to increase the pay of CEOs.  Here is the point of contrast. Some 1.3 million workers, as I told the Taoiseach, earn \u20ac45,000 or less. That is half the workforce. I cannot believe the Government is, frankly, so tone deaf and detached from reality that it cannot see the profound unfairness in its actions. It gives pay hikes for one set of privileged workers and nothing for working people. That has landed badly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. I call the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  As we return for this new year, those families who struggled last year are struggling still on the Taoiseach's watch and he steps by and tries to argue that is not the case. They are living this reality. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As the Deputy knows, we have public service pay agreements, where we work with the social partners in agreeing on a regular basis. We have had effective agreements with the public service unions in respect of workers in the public service. We will continue to do that. Because of what have been very good outcomes in terms of the fiscal situation and surpluses that we have managed to sustain, that will enable us in future budgets in terms of personal taxation and so on.  We decided in the last budget to invest in services. I would have thought that is something the Deputy's party would want us to do. There would have been a time when the Deputy would have argued for that but she keeps flip-flopping all over the place in terms of her policies. I do not know where Sinn F\u00e9in is coming from or going to in respect of any sustained consistent policy or philosophical position in terms of where Irish society should be. We are investing in services. We make no apology for investing in special education or in disability services and we make no apology for investing in childcare or, indeed, disability and other services and particularly in infrastructure, which we need to do for the future of this society and the economy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Keep saying it; you might believe it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I wish the Taoiseach and everyone a happy new year. As we begin this new D\u00e1il term, we are at a moment of genuine international crisis. The world is in turmoil. Violent authoritarian regimes are increasingly threatening peaceful democracy worldwide. Russia continues to rain terror upon the people of Ukraine, while we see courageous pro-democracy protestors being massacred by the highly repressive regime in Iran. At this time, it is sad to see this trend towards authoritarianism and warmongering also happening in a country that, for decades, has been an ally for Europe. We have seen Trump's Administration in Washington, even just in recent weeks, becoming increasingly erratic, volatile and dangerous. Over recent weeks, he has committed an outrageous and flagrant breach of international law through intervening by military force in Venezuela. There is no doubt that Maduro was a brutal leader without democratic legitimacy - we in the Labour Party condemn him - but Trump's move was blatantly illegal and it has had no effect in improving the lives of Venezuelan people as a result.  Trump is not stopping there. We are hearing new threats issued daily from him, to Mexico and Colombia and, unbelievably, he is now even threatening potential military takeover in Europe, with the dire warning that he will take Greenland, by force or otherwise. No one can say we were not warned. Last year, Trump renamed the US Department of Defense the Department of War. He has sanctioned the International Criminal Court and at home in the US, he has taken extraordinary unilateral actions, without recourse to Congress and purely through executive order.  When authoritarian rulers tell us what they plan to do, we must listen and act. If Trump is prepared to menace his own NATO ally, Denmark, over Greenland, then we do not know where his line will be. We are facing a stark reality now. We can only call it imperialist warmongering by the US. Ireland and the EU must take an unambiguous stance in defence of the UN Charter and the principle of national sovereignty. They are not abstract ideals; they are the foundations of international order. We, as a small country in particular, depend on those foundations for our security and prosperity and our voice in the world. We must stand up for the people of Greenland just as we stand with the people of Ukraine and Gaza. We must protect the soul of this country because there is a risk of political contagion. We heard Steve Bannon openly boasting of engineering a so-called Irish national party, developing an Irish Trump, which is a really scary prospect. When people like Bannon and Trump tell us what they plan to do, we need to listen and act. We need to assert ourselves to tell world leaders in an increasingly despotic landscape who we are too, and they need to listen. This July, Ireland will host the EU Presidency. The Government faces a showdown between Boston and Berlin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  It is not easy; we know that. How will it navigate the growing pressure between the EU and the increasingly despotic US? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank Deputy Bacik for raising a very important issue and for wishing me a happy new year. I reciprocate and wish her a very happy new year also.  The showdown at the moment has been Russia versus Europe. That is the real showdown of substance. I do not like using the word \u201cshowdown\u201d \u2013 it is conflict. It is an illegal invasion of Ukraine, which has been going on for four years, an appalling attack on the infrastructure of Ukraine, incredible loss of life, deliberate killing of innocent civilians and endeavouring to render Ukraine non-viable into the future in terms of the attack on the energy infrastructure. The losses of life on the battlefield are beyond comprehension - both Russians and Ukrainian men and women at young ages. It calls for an immediate cessation. That is the real conflict going on in Europe right now.  I know the Deputy does not mean this but I am struck in this House that we always end up with the US as the big baddie. We have spent precious little time on Iran in this House for quite a number of years. It has always struck me that Iran has been invisible in any discussions on the Middle East if you go through all the debates in this House, bar the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, raising it on a previous occasion on the Order of Business, I think, in the previous D\u00e1il. It is interesting. That has been the prism through which many people look at the world. That is notwithstanding some of the legitimate criticisms Deputy Bacik made, which I acknowledge. We need a sense of perspective here.  Iran has been, fundamentally, a malign influence in the Middle East through Hezbollah, Hamas and its behaviour in Syria in support of the Assad regime. We stand with the people of Iran in terms of their right to freedom of assembly, freedom of speech and freedom to associate and the need for a new form of government in Iran that is democratically based and facilitates the flourishing of those freedoms.  On Venezuela, Ireland is very committed to the UN Charter and the international rules-based order. Maduro was a very repressive ruler. Unfortunately, the international rules-based order has not been in a position \u2013 I say this as a factual observation as opposed to a value judgment \u2013 to restrain some of these very authoritarian leaders across the world. There is a problem at the top in terms of the authority and credibility of the international rules-based order. I worry we are at a similar period to that which pre-dated the Second World War when the authority of the League of Nations was eroded. We know what happened then. The world got a chance after the Second World War. We will not get another chance after any confrontation that may arise if the geopolitical situation gets worse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  In the spirit of new year\u2019s goodwill, I will start by agreeing with the Taoiseach. Of course, Russia represents the biggest threat to Europe and to democracy. That is why I prefaced my remarks by saying that.  Of course, Iran is a brutally repressive regime. The Taoiseach does not need to tell us that. I am the only Opposition leader on Putin's blacklist. We have stood very clearly and firmly in solidarity with the people of Ukraine and, indeed, the pro-democracy protesters in Iran, but it is at this time, when we are seeing authoritarianism spreading across the world from countries like Russia, Iran and China, that we need our allies to stand with us. This is when we need to be sure we can rely on other peaceful democracies to stand with us. That is why I framed my remarks as I did. Right now, we cannot rely on the US as a functioning peaceful democracy because we are seeing Trump threatening international law and, indeed, riding roughshod over international-law principles. That is really dangerous. Ireland is going to have an important position this year when it holds the Presidency of the EU. What is the Taoiseach going to do as leader of the country then to take a stand in support of international law and principles of democracy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Ireland's unequivocal position is to support the international rules-based order and the United Nations. We want reform of the United Nations to make it more substantial and authoritative, particularly in terms of the under-representation of many parts of the world. In our view, Africa, for example, should be represented on the Security Council, and other major blocs should be as well. The Security Council is outdated in terms of composition and membership. We believe in full participation at all multilateral forums. That has always been Ireland\u2019s position and will continue to be. We support the peaceful resolution of disputes through the multilateral frameworks without question. That will be our position when we have the Presidency of the EU. It is also a case of strengthening the EU's own self-reliance and capability. In this regard, the Deputy is correct that Europe cannot always rely on others. That is why there is now additional expenditure on defence and military capability in Europe. Europe in many ways agrees with what the Deputy is saying, and many EU member states feel Europe itself has to develop its own capability and self-reliance in many fields. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  \"@grok Put her in a bikini and rub her down with baby oil.\" \"@grok Replace her outfit with dental floss.\" \"@grok Have one of them grab her boobs from behind and the other one put his hand under her skirt while kissing her.\" These are just some of the vile prompts given to Grok, an AI tool, on the X social media platform, which has generated hundreds of thousands of abusive images online. These images are not a mistake. This is the model working as intended.  Last year, new edit features were added to Grok to make it easy to undress people in photographs. Incredibly, apparently no thought was given to how this tool would be used and weaponised against women. The company did not even bother to include age restrictions to prevent child sexual abuse imagery being generated. This has resulted in hundreds of thousands of sexualised images of women and children proliferating on X. According to one study, up to 6,700 sexually suggestive or nudifying images were being created every hour by Grok. This is not just horrifying and shocking; it is illegal under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act.  Professor Conor O'Mahony, former special rapporteur on child protection and dean of the school of law at UCC, has been clear about this. According to him, the definition of child abuse image material in the Act is broad enough to cover real images, manipulated deepfakes and entirely fake images, and, crucially, the potential for prosecution is not limited to those who create or share child abuse material. Offences under the Act can be committed by companies. This means that a company like xAI, which is facilitating the creation and distribution of child abuse material, can be prosecuted here. The real question is why that is not happening. Why has the response from the Government to this scandal been so muted and confusing? The communications Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, has stated responsibility for the creation of these disgusting images lies with users rather than the company. Meanwhile, the Minister of State with responsibility for AI, Deputy Niamh Smyth, has said X is breaking the law. She also said enforcement action should be taken against X and Grok.  Which is it? What is the Government\u2019s position? Why are we not seeing criminal investigations into the production and distribution of these child abuse images? We know that the Trump Administration has a close relationship with X and Elon Musk. Is that the reason the Government is unwilling to protect women and children and enforce its own laws - the fears of pushback from the Trump Administration? If that is not the reason, can the Taoiseach tell us why a company that is facilitating the creation and publication of child sexual abuse images is being treated with kid gloves by the Government? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, I thank the Deputy for raising the issue because it is a very grave and serious issue that the Government will respond to. In terms of specific prosecutions, as the Deputy knows, garda\u00ed investigate any breaches of the law or any criminal activity, and the DPP decides whether prosecutions take place or not. I believe the public should report these incidents in the first instance to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na so the full range of the law can be applied.  I have asked the Attorney General, and the Attorney General is providing advices. I am convening a meeting of a number of Government Ministers who are relevant to this issue with the Attorney General. There is existing legislation. There is the AI Act, which may not cover all aspects of this. I want a rigorous examination of that, and then, if there are any gaps at all in the law, and there may be, for those to be addressed quickly.  It is a very serious issue, and one on which we have to engage with the platforms. The friendship of any owner of the platform with anybody else is irrelevant to the Government\u2019s consideration of this. It is about protecting our children, protecting women and protecting citizens generally from unacceptable images, unacceptable activity and manipulation of AI tools for wrong purposes. We have to be very clear and forthright with the platforms in respect of this. It is not just Grok or AI tools. It is in respect of any platform that, in any shape or form, facilitates abusive images to be portrayed on that platform, or any illegal material. We have to be ruthless across the board in respect of these issues to protect our people.  There is zero necessity for this. It is outrageous and shocking. We will deal with it as a Government. Existing law enforcement should be applied. As the Deputy knows, we have the Digital Services Act. The European Commission has powers with respect to the proliferation of illegal content on online platforms, including X, and there is the protection of fundamental rights and protection for minors. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n has been established. The public can report illegal content to Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n, which has to react. It is our online safety and media regulator, and is at the heart of the online safety framework here in Ireland. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is also there. Reports can be made to the Irish national reporting centre at hotline.ie , and there are fines and so on. The AI Act is also there. We will examine it again because this is a fast-moving area in terms of the advance and movement of technology. We want to make absolutely sure that all angles are covered and that we deal with this robustly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  I thank the Taoiseach for his reply. I am aware that the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, had said she would arrange a meeting with X. That did not exactly fill me with confidence in the first instance. On \u201cMorning Ireland\u201d, we heard the UCD law professor and chair of Digital Rights Ireland, T.J. McIntyre, say that an immediate criminal investigation was warranted. He said that if somebody set up a child abuse image producing factory on, for example, Fenian Street, and their name was not Elon Musk, they would have been raided by the garda\u00ed long ago. It is safe to say that in that scenario, there would not be any kind of meeting with the Minister.  I am glad the Taoiseach acknowledged that we have existing laws in relation to this for companies. Not distributing child sexual abuse images is one that very clearly should be abided by.  It is welcome that the Taoiseach has spoken to the Attorney General. I wonder when that happened and when he plans to convene the meeting of the relevant Ministers. Is the Taoiseach aware of any kind of investigation already taking place? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, has spoken very frankly and robustly to me in respect of this issue.  She clearly has very strong views on it and how we engage both with the platforms and how we should legally respond. Because there are a number of different Departments with responsibility for different dimensions of this, we want to develop and formulate a co-ordinated response that will be there on an ongoing basis to respond to issues that may arise from time to time as technology develops; as AI develops. I think that is sensible and it is the right thing to do.  In terms of the investigations, that is a matter for the investigating authorities and it always has been in respect of any illegality or breach of the law. I am not aware of a specific investigation yet by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na but it does not alert us to every investigation that takes place. It has to observe due process. I presume that is how this issue will be dealt with also. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I wish the Taoiseach a happy new year. On the 24th of this month we mark the one-year anniversary since Storm \u00c9owyn, the strongest storm ever experienced here, hit Ireland. Over 800,000 homes were left without power and over 100,000 without water. This had an enormous impact on families, farms and businesses. Tens of thousands of homes waited over a week before basic services were restored to them. In the wake of the storm the Department of housing and ESB Networks set out separate assessments of the State\u2019s preparation, its response and what lessons can be learned for the next storm of this size and there will be more storms like this.  As extreme weather events become more frequent and more destructive due to climate change, we need to strengthen our emergency services and resource those who repair critical infrastructure to respond rapidly and effectively. One of the key elements of responding to a major storm is the ability to get engineers from other countries on the ground quickly to help restore power. While we have a mutual aid agreement with the UK, we do not have them with European providers. I raised this lack of mutual aid agreements with European networks with the Taoiseach last October. I met ESB Networks last month. While it is actively negotiating mutual aid agreements with the European networks, they are still not in place. This is one year after Storm \u00c9owyn.  The Government's review of Storm \u00c9owyn identified trees in private forestry plantations falling on power lines as a significant cause of outages. It set out that the laws governing the obligation to maintain corridors around power lines are inadequate and in July the Cabinet gave approval for the drafting of the electricity supply (amendment) Bill to put electricity corridors on a statutory footing but in December when I asked the Minister for climate when the Bill will be before the D\u00e1il, he was not able to give me a date.  It is not just me raising concerns about how prepared we are for the next major storm. Over Christmas RT\u00c9 reported that the Climate Change Advisory Council was extremely disappointed by the sectoral adaptation plans to deal with extreme weather events approved by the Taoiseach's Government in November. The advisory council stated that there is no clear costings for activities within the plans, no indication of investment needs and no clear commitment of available funding to support implement. It has even asked that the Minister for climate attend one of its meetings to engage with it on this matter.  As we approach the one year anniversary of Storm \u00c9owyn, can the Taoiseach tell me when the electricity supply (amendment) Bill will come before this House for debate? Will he ensure that mutual aid agreements with EU electricity networks are rapidly put in place? Will he commit that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will meet with the Climate Change Advisory Council to hear why it feels the Government's plans to deal with severe weather events are not good enough? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising a very important issue and one which is under constant review and attention by the Government. Storm \u00c9owyn was probably the worst storm we ever experienced in terms of severity - wind strength - and it had enormous impacts in terms of power outages and people being without water for quite a considerable period of time.  An overarching review was undertaken by the National Directorate for Fire and Emergency Management under the Department of housing which focused on a range of areas. Its findings were submitted to the Government on 21 October.  The key recommendations related to humanitarian support, communication with the public, co-ordination of the response, resilience of critical infrastructure and essential services. A number of those measures have been taken in advance of this winter. Community supports centres, for example, were identified as a priority at the start. When I went out and about after Storm \u00c9owyn, the community-based response was mixed. It was particularly strong in some locations and weak in others. We wanted to standardise the response and we wanted a rapid activation of community support centres that would co-ordinate with local authorities to support communities impacted by severe storms. For example, in Donegal on 4 to 6 October, eight community centres were activated in response to Storm Amy. We are improving that area. In addition to that, all those areas will, as soon as the tender is over, have the generators in place so they can respond to the needs of individual households in a given community where a storm might occur.  Likewise, the Department of Transport is working with local authorities and Transport Infrastructure Ireland to confirm winter planning arrangements for all the road networks. Agreements between local authorities and local contractors are now formalised in terms of forestry and agriculture, so they could be stood up quickly for road clearing. The normal routine stuff - sandbags, salt road treatments and so on - has all been well prepared in advance, and likewise with TII. The procurement process for mobile generators had to be entered into by the Department of Rural and Community Development but those generators can now be deployed rapidly when required to support community support centres. There have been a series of ongoing meetings.  One of the issues with Uisce \u00c9ireann during Storm \u00c9owyn was there were very few generators in place at many of its facilities. It has now made significant progress on the installation of circa 30 new permanent standby generators.  I will come back in on the legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Absolutely, community supports are important and need to be improved but the Taoiseach has not addressed the issue of getting power back to people as quickly as possible and making sure we are resourced to do that. Last January, the strongest critique of Government's failure after Storm \u00c9owyn was not getting power back to people quickly enough. In Mayo, 43,000 people lost power at the height of the storm; seven days later, 17,500 were still without power. In Galway, it was even worse: 59,000 people lost power on the day and seven days later 31,000 were still without power. That is why it is so important we have mutual aid agreements so we can get more engineers on the ground more quickly to help the ESB address those power outages.  I ask the Taoiseach to address the point as to whether the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will meet with the Climate Change Advisory Council to understand why it thinks the Government's storm preparedness plans are not good enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There are two things on that. I am instructing and driving Ministers to push and push to get many of these issues resolved because of the experience of Storm \u00c9owyn. The legislation has been drafted. On the mutual aid agreements, we had very strong support from Europe, in fairness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Not quickly enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I would not agree, actually. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Thirty-one thousand. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, this is not a back-and-forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Many of them came very quickly to our aid, just as we go their aid. We might not have a formal legal agreement but there are strong informal agreements and they have worked. I do not want to go through the statistics. The impact of that storm was devastating but 70% of customers had their power restored after 72 hours, 90% after seven days and, in 18 days, all remaining customers.  The issue is with the corridors. That is critical. In the future, we should not have a domino effect when trees fall and destroy the power lines. That has been complex and was probably left too long to be worked out between the various players. I am saying, \"No more of that\". It has to be very clear. We have to protect the grid at all costs. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"orderofBusiness","bill":null,"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","counts":{"speechCount":80,"speakerCount":25},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Willie O'Dea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","memberCode":"Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  Tuesday's business shall be:  -\tMotion re Appointment of Ordinary Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  -\tPublic Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 (Second Stage, resumed) (to adjourn after 2 hours and 4 minutes)  Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Mercosur Trade Agreement, selected by Sinn F\u00e9in.  Wednesday's business shall be:  -\tStatements and Q&A post European Council meeting of 18th December 2025, pursuant to Standing Order 133 (not to exceed 1 hour 33.5 mins, followed by 20 mins Q&A and Ministerial response for 5 mins)  -\tGas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026 (Second Stage) (to conclude within 3 hours and 34 minutes)  -\tEnvironment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 (Report and Final Stages) (to commence no earlier than 7 p.m. and to conclude within 1 hour)  Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Uisce \u00c9ireann Infrastructure Delivery, Accountability and Repair Timelines, selected by Independent Technical Group.  Thursday's business shall be:  -\tStatements on Artificial Intelligence (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes)  Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022, sponsored by Deputy Thomas Gould.  Proposed Arrangements for this week\u2019s business:  In relation to Tuesday\u2019s business, it is proposed that:  1.\tthe ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that private members\u2019 business may be taken earlier than 6.12 p.m. and shall, in any event be taken on the adjournment of proceedings of the resumed Second Stage of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025, or where those proceedings conclude within the available time, on the conclusion thereof, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business, namely, oral Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, and topical issues, and on the time for the adjournment of the D\u00e1il;  2.\tthe proceedings on the Motion re Appointment of Ordinary Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and  3.\tin relation to the resumed proceedings on the Second Stage of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 the following arrangements shall apply:  (a)\tsubject to subparagraph (iii), the proceedings shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 1 hour and 54 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (i)\tthe speaking slots from the arrangements for the resumed first round from Wednesday 17th December, 2025 shall be continued from the point at which they were adjourned;  (ii)\ta second round of speeches shall be taken on conclusion of the resumed first round and in accordance with Standing Order 183, the second-round speeches shall not exceed 20 minutes in each case;  (iii)\twhere speeches conclude before the 1 hour and 54 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and;  (iv)\tmembers may share time; and  (b)\tthe proceedings shall not be resumed on Tuesday.  In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:  1.\tthe ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  (a)\tthe time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the D\u00e1il may sit later than 9.30 p.m.;  (b)\tthe Statements and Q&A post European Council meeting of 18th December 2025, pursuant to Standing Order 133, shall be taken at the time when the SOS pursuant to Standing Order 25(1) would normally be taken, and on the conclusion of the Minister\u2019s response to the statements, the sitting shall stand suspended either for one hour or until 4.10 p.m., whichever is the later; and  (c)\tin the event the Second Stage of the Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026 concludes before 7 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 7 p.m. when the order of business shall resume with the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025;  (d)\tthe weekly division time may be taken later than 8.45 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, and the D\u00e1il shall adjourn on the conclusion of the weekly division time;  2.\tthe Statements and Q&A post European Council meeting of 18th December 2025, pursuant to Standing Order 133, shall not exceed 1 hour and 58.5 minutes, and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (a)\tthe arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b)\tfollowing the statements, questions and answers shall be taken for 20 minutes;  (c)\ton the conclusion of the questions and answers, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed five minutes; and  (d)\tmembers may share time;          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    15    10    5    9    3.5           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    5    8    3.5    5    8           SF      ITG      Gov      SF             Mins    3.5    5    8    8         3. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Gas Safety (Amendment) Bill 2026 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 3 hours and 34 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply thereto:  (a) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) on the conclusion of the first speaking round or where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; and  (c) members may share time; and          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20     4. the proceedings on the Report and Final Stages of the Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 shall be taken no earlier than 7 p.m. and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.  In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that:  1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Statements on Artificial Intelligence, with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the Derelict Sites (Amendment) Bill 2022 and on the time for the adjournment of the D\u00e1il; and  2. the Statements on Artificial Intelligence shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (a) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (c) members may share time.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    25    15    10    10    3           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    10    10    3    9    10           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    3    9    10    3    5      "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Under Standing Order 35(3), I want to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry, but we will take that afterwards. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  We have to have a debate in the House on how special classes are allocated and how the announcements of these classes are conducted. I have received many queries from parents and even school principals asking if the schools in their areas have been allocated special classes. I could not answer those questions, but if I was a Government TD, I probably could. Yesterday, backbenchers and Ministers announced classes for their own areas while leaving other communities in limbo. It is shocking to think that this Government would use classes like this as political capital and a political football. How disgraceful towards families. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  The decision by Paschal Donohoe last April to give \u20ac10 million in additional funding over and beyond what was initially recommended by his officials to the World Bank raises a number of questions about what his intentions were at the time and whether he was aware that he would be taking up a senior role in the World Bank later in the year. The Minister for Finance, T\u00e1naiste and leader of Fine Gael, Simon Harris, should come into the D\u00e1il and answer questions on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  We need to urgently debate the threat that Donald Trump and US imperialism pose to the entire world. The Taoiseach was at pains to downplay it earlier. We have seen nothing but a boot-licking craven response by the Irish establishment. At the start of this year, the US bombed Venezuela. It killed multiple Venezuelans as well as Cubans and kidnapped Maduro and his wife Cilia Flores. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy Michael Collins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The response to that from the T\u00e1naiste was to say that the kidnapping was complex in terms of international law. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Murphy, your time is up. Thirty seconds is 30 seconds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The UN Secretary General has been very clear that it is a breach. We need to discuss this and if the Government thinks it is okay for the US to go around kidnapping presidents it does not agree with. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  No legitimacy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank Deputy Murphy. I call Deputy Michael Collins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  We need an urgent debate this week with the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment regarding An Post. The announcement that the cost of a stamp is increasing from \u20ac1.60 to \u20ac1.80 comes at a time when post offices are closing all over the country and the current contracts are not stacking up. A post office in Durrus in my constituency is closing on Friday. The Government cannot stand idly by as we leave rural post offices to close one by one. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We have two Members speaking under Standing Order 35(3). "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Under Standing Order 35(3), I want to propose an amendment in line with the concerns raised by Deputy O'Callaghan. I refer to the decision of Paschal Donohoe, then Minister for Finance,----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please, read out the amendment, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  -----to hand over \u20ac141.4 million to the World Bank, way above what the bank required. It raises very serious questions and I believe the Government needs to make statements of clarification. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  On behalf of Aont\u00fa, I would like to table an amendment to the Order of Business under Standing Order 35(3). Aont\u00fa proposes an amendment to the Order of Business to add to Thursday's business and set a time in the House to discuss and debate the health implications of known carcinogens being produced under the Mercosur deal and beef produced in Brazil being permitted to enter Europe under that deal. Aont\u00fa believes a debate is necessary because the Government, through its inaction, has allowed this dangerous beef into Europe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  I note the various proposals from the Opposition Whips. Any time there is an announcement about special classes for children with additional needs, that should be welcomed regardless of who announces it. It is important, and I want to compliment both Ministers on all of the work they have done in regard to special classes.  I have noted all observations. We have a busy schedule for the week. I will not be accepting any of the changes to legislation and the Order of Business stands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the proposed arrangements for the week's business agreed to and the proposed amendments negatived? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  There will be a significant impact today on Questions on Policy or Legislation. It is likely the last three Members will not be taken. I call Deputy Mary Lou McDonald. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Mercosur fiasco has the Taoiseach's fingerprints all over it. He claimed for years that he was defending Irish interests, yet when the decisive moment came Ireland was left isolated in a tiny minority because the Taoiseach had failed to lead, build alliances and act. France and Poland took a stand and Austria and Hungary likewise. Belgium could not support the deal an the Netherlands made its opposition clear. Ireland, on the Taoiseach\u2019s watch, showed up late, voted \u201cNo\u201d and utterly failed to influence events. Now this dangerous deal advances, threatening Irish farmers and exposing consumers to low standards, weaker traceability and food produced in ways that we would not tolerate here. Why did the Taoiseach let this happen? Why did he fail to build the blocking coalition that was clearly possible? Will he finally accept that his complacency, dithering and deference to Brussels have put Irish livelihoods, the environment and consumers at real risk? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is nonsense. Everything the Deputy has asserted in relation to that issue is absolute nonsense. Over the last year, since we came into Government, we have negotiated strongly on behalf of Irish farmers on a number of fronts, including securing an extension of the nitrates derogation, which is very important for the overall agricultural industry and economy. In respect of Mercosur, we have negotiated very significant safeguards across the board, not just in terms of sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, but also new legal instruments from the Commission, market safeguards and coming down from 10% to 5% either in reduced pricing or in volume of products. These are very significant protections that were not there. Legally binding commitments have now been put in place. That said, we do not believe they were sufficient in terms of what Irish farmers require and particularly in terms of the environmental obligations that have been placed on Irish farmers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Ivana Bacik. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy is engaging in politics----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We are sticking to time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----to the detriment of Irish farming and the Irish economy more generally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Today, the Cabinet met regarding the Government's latest performance of deterrence theatre, the new proposals designed to look tough while making life harder for international protection applicants and refugees. The T\u00e1naiste has doubled down, framing these changes as prudent but, in reality, it is posturing. The Labour Party is concerned about this. It is very regrettable because members of the Government have chosen to publicly link vulnerable people to homelessness, which is plainly not supported by evidence and is disputed by those responsible for homelessness services, such as the Dublin Region Homeless Executive. Instead of owning its failures in housing policy, it seems the Government is punching down on migrants, refugees and people leaving direct provision. This is not leadership; it is deflection. These new proposals the Government is making to tighten up family reunification are going to be very harmful and hurtful for people who have been through the system and have been granted refugee status. It is deeply regrettable and I ask the Taoiseach to reconsider these proposals and stop shifting blame for his Government's policies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I disagree fundamentally with what the Deputy is saying. The new Act, which will be the most comprehensive Act in relation to asylum and immigration ever enacted in the history of the State, is important legislation that will offer a robust, procedurally efficient and effective framework for dealing with asylum applications. The majority of asylum applications are rejected. It is up to 67% after appeal and it can be close to 80% of applications, on first instance. Clearly, there are a lot of people applying for asylum who do not qualify and have in many cases no prospect of qualifying. It makes sense, therefore, that we have an efficient system from a timeline perspective, so that people are not waiting for years for the outcomes of their applications. Essentially, this Act will put in place a far more efficient and effective framework for dealing with asylum seekers in the country. That is a good thing. Every country has a system----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. I call Deputy Gannon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and this will align with the European situation also. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  It is the lack of consistency from the Taoiseach that often bothers me most. He referenced the fact that the majority of applications by those seeking international protection are turned down, yet the measures announced today and yesterday in the media are specifically targeted at those who have succeeded. Family reunification, which is factored into the Geneva Convention and the UN refugee convention, was only available to fewer than 600 people who came here last year, either to be with their wife or husband or as children to reunite with a parent. These are the people the Government has targeted with this measure by imposing a three-year wait and a financial barrier. A child who comes here unaccompanied at 16 will not be able to be reunited with a parent because they will have timed out of the system under the measures the Government has announced under its family reunification scheme. There is no consistency. This is not fair. It is a form of performative cruelty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I do not know where the Deputy's party is in terms of this issue either, to be quite frank. Does it support----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I am in the D\u00e1il for Questions on Policy or Legislation. Will the Taoiseach answer the question? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Does the Deputy support a robust system that is procedurally sound, timely in terms of people not waiting for years and also one that facilitates legitimate applications and legitimate refugees fleeing conflict and war? When you have a situation where close to 70% are rejected there is an issue----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  What about the appeals? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No, stop. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It has gone on for years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  People are accommodated and so on. We want legal routes to migration in this country. Migration is a good thing. We have been very positive about it and it has been important in terms of the economy, but we do it through legal routes. We want to be very clear and send clear messages in respect of illegal applications for asylum. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The Taoiseach did not answer the question at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  It is madness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I have regularly raised with the Taoiseach the need to strengthen our social media regulation. Recently we have witnessed the proliferation online of sexualised images of children and women made using X's Grok AI tool. This has to be a wake-up call for taking action against the further debasing of the online space. No society should stand for the targeting of people - children - like this. Does the Government believe the generation of non-consensual intimate images and child sexual abuse images by the Grok's AI tool on X is a criminal offence? If it is not a criminal offence, will the Government take steps to criminalise it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As I said earlier, the prosecuting authorities need to proceed, and they will proceed if it is. I sought advice from the Attorney General in relation to the specific question the Deputy has raised and I am convening a meeting with relevant Ministers and the Attorney General, not just on that issue but on the issue more broadly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I start by wishing everybody in the house a happy new year. On Monday, 12 January, The Echo, a Cork local newspaper known to the Taoiseach and me, reported dozens of early childcare facilities closing across Cork. In fact, 130 facilities have closed in the past five years in Cork and that is echoed throughout Ireland. Providers are warning that Government funding levels, statutory burdens and staffing pressures are making the sector financially unviable. Many parents are losing places, not just in Cork but across the country. Staff are leaving the profession and the community is left without housing. Will the Taoiseach now admit that his Government has got it wrong, its policies are actively driving the providers out of business and working families deserve better? These providers do not need additional paperwork and they certainly do not need platitudes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have the highest number of partner services and core funding at any point since the childcare scheme was launched in 2022, and the number continues to grow. A small number of providers have decided not to sign up for core funding for the current 2025-26 programme. As of today, 4,590 services have signed up, the highest number since 2022. An assessment of the withdrawal of providers from core funding was undertaken on 3 November. It revealed that about 4% of services had left at one point over the lifetime of the scheme to that date. If there are individual issues pertaining to specific providers, the Minister is always open to engaging with such providers.  In that assessment, approximately 70% of services have now returned to core funding. Some people left and came back in again----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and these are issues the Minister will continue to engage with the providers on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Willie O'Dea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","memberCode":"Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Willie O'Dea  Twenty years have elapsed since the financial criteria for qualification for civil legal aid were last set. It was in 2006. It is estimated that someone who purchased goods or services in 2006 with \u20ac100 would have to pay \u20ac250 to \u20ac300 today, which means that two of every three people this State judged eligible for legal aid because of their financial circumstances would no longer qualify. I have been dealing with people who can barely buy groceries for the week and they are judged to be too affluent or wealthy to qualify for civil legal aid. That is an indefensible situation. What plans does the Government have to deal with it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate the Deputy is raising an issue he has clearly experienced in working with his constituents and people more generally. I will engage with the Ministers for justice and public expenditure on the issue to see what we can do to improve the situation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Maxwell  I would like to ask about the status of last year's changes to exempt smaller, modular and ancillary units such as granny flats or home offices up to 40 sq m, depending on the final regulation. Easing of these planning regulations to allow for larger, unattached structures to be built in people's back gardens and sites is a welcome development. This proposal to increase the stand-alone structure size will allow families to construct suitable modular buildings to suit their needs. I believe the interdepartmental and public consultations are complete. Will the Taoiseach give an indication of when the new regulations will come before this House for final ratification to allow people to move forward with being able to site and build these important units behind their main homes? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  My understanding, having spoken to the Minister, Deputy Browne, and Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, recently, is that February might be the timeline because it has become much more comprehensive than was perhaps originally envisaged. Therefore, I will seek further clarification on the timeline but my understanding is that it will be around February. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I raise the issue of home help hours across the country, but particularly in my constituency. We have serious problems with people who have been allocated home help hours on the recommendation of the district nurse. They are allocated three calls per day of half an hour or an hour each, seven days per week, but staff cannot be got. No one can get anyone to work in the service. Even those providing services through agencies cannot get staff but it is particularly the case for HSE. I understand that SIPTU is balloting for strike action because of the issue of terms and conditions and the huge pressures there are. One of issues is that they are paid \u20ac15 to \u20ac16 per hour. These are people who work with people with disabilities and people who are in wheelchairs and use hoists to get them in and out of bed. Surely, in our society they are worth more than that. If we are to provide this service for people, we have to pay the staff properly. Earlier, we talked about the money CEOs are getting. If we put that kind of investment into providing and paying adequately the people who----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  -----provide these services, we might have a chance of being able to provide it to people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I thank the Deputy. He did not mention the specific county. I presume he is talking about Sligo-Leitrim. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Yes, Leitrim, Sligo and Donegal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  He was not specific but I am taking it to be there.  The HSE is continually recruiting. If particular issues have been brought to the Deputy's attention, he might come back to me on them and I can follow up with the HSE in the region. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  The three housing grants administered by local authorities are very effective. They need to be reformed in general but specifically the older person's grant does, which the Taoiseach will be aware, allows for works such as roof repair, heating repairs, windows and doors and so on. There is a minimum age requirement of 66 years of age. There is discretion at local authority level to go below that age in hardship cases. We need to look at and formalise that. For example, someone who is 59 years of age on a long-term disability payment might need to get a roof repair carried out. It is not acceptable that is at the discretion of the local authority. The grants need to be formalised in this respect and we need to provide for people on such long-term payments so the age needs to be looked at in the grants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is a fair point. I appreciate the Deputy raising it. I will work with the Minister in respect of that proposal or idea. I will certainly explore it with the Minister because it is a good idea. It makes sense. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  I need to discuss the rail service between Wexford and Dublin that serves huge population growth areas such as Gorey, Arklow and Rathdrum. On a daily basis, my offices in Gorey and Arklow are contacted by commuters who are deeply frustrated and inconvenienced by the current service. The Wexford to Dublin train now only offers 185 seated tickets. By the time the train picks up commuters in Arklow or Rathdrum, it is filled to capacity with people standing for the entire journey and reports of overcrowding. To put it simply, two trains leave Gorey that will arrive in Dublin before 9 a.m. That is compared with five trains from Dundalk and seven from Portlaoise. It is not a fair reflection at all on the people of Wicklow and Wexford. The all-island strategy published in July last year recommended improvements on this line but it is simply not happening based on the most recent report that came out in December. More than 300,000 people live on this line. This issue is not going away and it needs to be addressed as a matter of urgency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue, which I have no doubt is urgent and of concern. The Deputy will be aware that many rail projects are covered by the national rail review. Unprecedented capital funding has been allocated to rail projects over the next five years. I will talk to the Minister about the specific project the Deputy raised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The Taoiseach will be aware that Heba Muraisi is now on the 72nd day of her hunger strike in New Hall prison in Britain. Two more people have been on strike for more than 50 days so they could die any day. They are very much in that lethal period. Ms Muraisi has not been tried or convicted but has been in prison for a year, well over the usual six month pre-trial detention limit. The Taoiseach does not have to approve of Palestine Action to be concerned about pre-trial detention of more than a year for public order offences - and that is what this is - or to recognise legitimate grievances about their welfare. Has the Taoiseach raised this and, if he has not, will he raise urgently with the British Government his concerns about the nature of their detention and welfare? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In the first instance, irrespective of the context, I agree that every effort should be made to end the hunger strike and have these issues resolved through the legal and judicial processes as quickly as possible. I have not specifically intervened in this case but I will discuss the specific issues with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. However, ultimately it is a matter for the British Government in this instance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I ask the Taoiseach to make contact. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I hope the issue will get resolved in a way that will prevent any loss of life or further injury or ill health. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I ask the Taoiseach to make contact. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, it is not a back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  For a number of weeks, it was not possible to log on to the X app without being confronted by extremely disturbing sexualised imagery. Grok has created thousands of these images with a significant number being child sexual abuse imagery. This is not an online phenomenon. Online abuse is a gateway to offline abuse and exploitation. X's European headquarters are less than a kilometre from this Chamber and the fact that company benefits from our favourable taxation arrangements for tech companies means the State has skin the game and could be inadvertently somehow complicit in this abusive, illegal action. It is clear from the creation of Grok that X cannot regulate itself. We need to ensure there is a Garda investigation into what has happened. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n must be given adequate powers and resources to regulate that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  Will the Taoiseach commit to come back as soon as possible on what he said about convening a Cabinet meeting? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Many people are gravely concerned about what is happening with Grok and the thousands of images, that are illegal on the face of it, without question, particularly in respect of minors, women and citizens more generally. The State is not complicit in this but we will robustly examine all of this to ensure the full legal instruments available to the State will apply here. If we need more laws, we will enact further laws. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  The Taoiseach will be familiar with the fact that Local Link bus services have greatly improved mobility and quality of life in many rural communities. However, I ask him to visit east Cork where a Local Link service has not been developed and where the existing bus service is nothing short of an absolute shambles.  In villages such as Ballycotton, Cloyne, Aghada and Saleen, residents may as well be living on a remote island when it comes to public transport. Not only that but they face entrenched traffic gridlock around the Lake view roundabout every morning and evening.  I am aware the public service obligation for the Department of Transport is chronically underfunded. The Department has excellent officials who want to enhance existing Local Link routes sand develop new ones but they are prevented from doing so by the Department of public expenditure. The public want Local Link in east Cork, the Department of Transport wants it and local operators are keen to provide those services, yet the cold accounting of the Department of public expenditure says \"No\". That Department is neglecting its duty to the wider economy and society as a whole. This is a Fianna F\u00e1il Ministry. Will the Taoiseach come down to east Cork and see for himself the level of need there? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have been to east Cork on many occasions and continue to go there. The Local Link service has been a very significant enhancement for public transport across rural Ireland and has undergone significant expansion in recent years. The been a huge investment in the Cork to Midleton railway line has had a huge impact on east Cork and on to Cobh and has made public transport a real option. Further significant investment in that commuter rail service will increase the frequency of the service and its availability for people to go to work or to use it for other activities. As soon as the resources become available, we will be in a position to expand the Local Link.  There are limits to what the Government can do in any one year. Our public expenditure, both current and capital, is at a very high level, and we have been criticised for our public expenditure outlays. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  It is severely neglected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  This is not a back-and-forth discussion. The Deputy should write to the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  As temperatures plummet, thousands of people with disabilities face increased hardship and isolation due to the Government's poor budget decisions. People with disabilities are \u20ac1,400 worse off due to the removal of essential supports in budget 2026. I have been contacted by many constituents over the Christmas period who are struggling with these cuts. Donegal is an isolated area and we have had bad snow and ice. People with disabilities have been basically abandoned. I want the Taoiseach to think in particular about disability and people living in defective homes during this cold snap. Disabled people are at greater risk of poverty and social exclusion. Two in five people with a disability are unable to afford essentials like heating and clothing. One in five people with disabilities lives in constant poverty. Will the Taoiseach address this by introducing an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In the budget we made significant efforts to support people with disabilities and people on low incomes in respect of fuel. There was a basic \u20ac10 per week increase in the maximum rate of all State pensions. There were big increases in child support payments. There was an increase of \u20ac16 to \u20ac78 per week for children over the age of 12 and children under the age of 12 received an additional \u20ac8 to bring the payment to \u20ac58 per week. The fuel allowance will increase by \u20ac5 per week from January 2026. This gives an additional \u20ac140 over the fuel season. The fuel allowance now covers 26% of households, up from 23%. The extension to the family working payment to come in during March will be backdated to January. We have extended the reduced VAT rate of 9% on gas and electricity until the end of 2030. Record funding has been made available for home energy upgrades, retrofitting and solar PV via the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, SEAI, with \u20ac558 million allocated. Then there is the microgeneration income tax exemption and so on. We have put in place a lot more reliefs to support those most in need. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before we move to a motion without debate, I wish to make a brief announcement for the information of Members. As previously notified, Elaine Gunn's appointment as Clerk of the D\u00e1il and Secretary General of the Houses of the Oireachtas Service was approved by the Oireachtas Commission on 21 October last year. Elaine's appointment is effective from today. On behalf of Members, I wish her well for her future in the role and I look forward to working with her. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Members applauded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Thank you. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Appointment of Ordinary Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann, in accordance with section 8(3)(a) of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission Act 2003, as amended, appoints Deputy Brian Brennan to be an ordinary member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission in place of Deputy Frank Feighan who has resigned his office in accordance with the aforementioned section 8. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Appointment of Ordinary Member of the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna - Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","counts":{"speechCount":73,"speakerCount":16},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I also congratulate Elaine Gunn on her appointment. We look forward to working constructively with her in the time ahead. She is very experienced and knows the operations of this House very well indeed, as well as the various personalities who make up the House and how they all have to be managed differently and carefully. Deputy Boyd Barrett, the applause was for Elaine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I knew that. I was only joking. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You basked in it nonetheless as you walked in.  I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 15, inclusive, together.  The Programme for Government: Securing Ireland's Future, recognises the importance of Cabinet committees to the policy development and oversight work of Government. The Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs was established by the Government on 18 February 2025. It meets quarterly in advance of regular European Council meetings and as required. Its role is to oversee the implementation of programme for Government commitments in relation to the European Union, including preparation for Ireland's Presidency in the second half of this year and international issues.  The Cabinet committee on EU and international affairs last met on 8 December in advance of the meeting of the European Council on 18 December. Matters discussed included the agenda for the December Council meeting and plans for Ireland's Presidency of the Council of Ministers in 2026.  I attended the European Council meeting in Brussels on Thursday, 18 December. On 17 December, I attended the European Union's western Balkans summit which also took place in Brussels. Leaders discussed Ukraine, specifically future financing; the next multi-annual financial framework; European security and defence; enlargement and reforms; migration; geoeconomics; and competitiveness. Other items included the pact for the Mediterranean, the fight against antisemitism, racism and xenophobia, and the fight against disinformation.  As the House will be aware, I also had the opportunity to discuss issues on the agenda of the European Council with its President, Ant\u00f3nio Costa, during his visit to Dublin on 9 December. We looked ahead to Ireland's Presidency of the EU in the second half of this year and I briefed President Costa on our preparations. Accelerating our work to secure the European Union's future competitiveness as well as advancing negotiations on the Union's next seven-year budget will be important priorities for Ireland's Presidency. The date for the next meeting of the Cabinet committee has not yet been scheduled. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I will begin with Deputy Malcolm Byrne. As there are 13 Deputies, I propose they take a minute each. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I welcome the Taoiseach's continued commitment to multilateralism and human rights, the rule of law and democracy. As someone who has raised Iran in this House before, I salute too the brave men and women who are fighting against that oppressive regime. Equally, it the right of the people of Venezuela, now that the despot Maduro has gone, to decide on their future, even though his removal was in breach of international law.  I raise the question of Greenland. In August 2018, I made a personal visit to Greenland, including to Ilulissat inside the Arctic Circle. It is a beautiful and special place. The people are very friendly and welcoming. They are, understandably, increasingly nervous. It is a matter for the people of Greenland to decide on their future. I ask the Taoiseach to express solidarity with the people of Greenland, reiterate that it is a matter for the people of Greenland to decide their future and work with Denmark, our EU partner, on this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I acknowledge the Taoiseach's criticism of the Iranian and the Russian regimes. Similar to Deputy Byrne, I have particular concerns about Greenland and Denmark. Has the Government engaged with Denmark or EU parties regarding recent EU statements on Greenland? What is Ireland's position on safeguarding EU territorial and sovereign lands such as Greenland, particularly as we move into the EU Presidency in July of this year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  Around the world, LGBT+ people remain under continuous attack. In December alone, Kazakhstan's senate approved a ban on so-called gay propaganda, which basically amounts to blocking any information on the LGBT community. In T\u00fcrkiye, a court shut down an LGBT youth organisation for supposedly encouraging people to be lesbian, gay or bisexual, while in Budapest the police have recommended pressing charges against the mayor for simply organising a Pride parade.  These incidents cannot be viewed in isolation. They are part of a pattern of escalating repression. We also know that there are still 65 countries where it remains a crime to be homosexual. What is the Taoiseach and the Government doing globally to promote LGBT rights? Does the Taoiseach support a UN convention on the rights of LGBT people? Will the Taoiseach be advancing LGBT rights as a priority during our Presidency of the European Union? Ultimately, what is the Taoiseach doing at home to protect and enhance LGBT rights? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It would be fair to say that the world is not exactly where we would like it to be, whether we are talking about the draconian actions of the Iranian regime, the so-called \"peace\" in Palestine or the ongoing conflict in Sudan. We have seen Donald Trump tear to bits international law. Whatever people's view of President Maduro, nobody can stand up and state that America has the right to remove whichever leaders it does not like. This State has not been sufficiently strong in its reaction to this. I would also state the European Union has been particularly weak. Some of this is based on a weakness due to the need for American support for Ukraine but this is not good enough. Where does this end? As has been brought up by others, the fact is the threat is there in relation to Greenland. While we hope this is an ideal boast, we do not know when we are dealing with Donald Trump.  It is also fair to ask the Government what it intends to do in relation to Mercosur and the fear of 100,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry that are not up to the standard of European and Irish farm produce and what the Taoiseach hopes to do from here on in in relation to properly combatting the Mercosur deal, which is bad for Irish agriculture. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  Will the Taoiseach immediately publish a full and detailed account of all legal, political and diplomatic actions that the Government has taken or intends to take to oppose the ratification of the Mercosur trade agreement and outline definitive steps to ensure that Mercosur beef cannot enter the Irish food chain under any circumstances? Will he actively and publicly support the legal action taken by Members of the European Parliament against the ratification of the Mercosur trade agreement? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  Ireland's upcoming EU Presidency represents an important opportunity to advance economic competitiveness. Can the Taoiseach advise if there are plans to host EU Presidency-related meetings or events in Cork and other regions across the country to ensure that the whole country can benefit in some small way from hosting such events?  The EU Presidency also represents an opportunity to show policy leadership. Can the Taoiseach outline some of the key policy areas the Government will prioritise during this time?  As the Taoiseach will be aware, I have a personal interest in the area of rare diseases and access to drugs in particular. Can he comment on whether that will be on his platform when the EU Presidency is held later this year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  We should all declare our solidarity with Iranian people protesting against rampant inflation, corruption and the violent repression they are facing at the hands of the Iranian regime. The regime should stop killing protesters and should lift the censorship that it has imposed on Iranian people fighting for legitimate change and reform in their country. However, we should be equally clear in saying that Donald Trump and the American military have no right to threaten Iran or any other regime, as they did with Venezuela, kidnapping its leader whatever we may think of Maduro, and I do not think much of him. They have no right to threaten Greenland, Cuba or Mexico, or, as Trump is threatening as we speak, possible military action against Iran. If we are going to be consistent in our principles, in standing up for human rights and standing up for self-determination, as well as calling out the violent repression of the Iranian regime, we have to call out Donald Trump's warmongering and naked imperialism across the globe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Last weekend, the US ambassador attended a far-right conference in Meath. It was a who's who of the Irish far right - Malachy Steenson, Sharon Keogan, multi-billionaire businessman Declan Ganley, an array of transphobes and anti-choicers. The conference explicitly encouraged American interference by the American far-right in Irish politics. Presumably, the US ambassador was nodding along when the conference chair, Eddie Hobbs, told the audience to reach across the Atlantic and seek help from the US MAGA movement to change the Irish Government. This comes after Steve Bannon telling Politico that he is working on developing an Irish Donald Trump and developing an Irish national party. Is the Taoiseach concerned? The US MAGA movement just kidnapped a head of state in Venezuela and brought him to America, killing many Venezuelans and Cubans on the way. Does the Taoiseach think that by being craven and just licking the boots of Donald Trump, he will not interfere in our politics or will he change course and call out what is happening on the international stage? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  The European Union launched, in December, a groundbreaking affordable housing plan with revised state aid rules and new approaches to delivering affordable housing. Will the Taoiseach put affordable housing central on the agenda of the European Union Presidency that Ireland will hold? Will he take action to ensure Ireland draws down funding that is available through the European Union and new approaches? Does he accept that the Irish Government and governments across the European Union have failed a generation of young people who cannot afford the rents and cannot afford the house prices? We have new apartments being built in Dublin. The rent for a two-bedroom apartment is \u20ac3,150. Does the Taoiseach accept that it is not migrants who can be blamed for the housing crisis but it is the failure of governments across the European Union? Does the Taoiseach accept that Ireland has to take responsibility and should put affordable housing central to the European Union Presidency? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  \"The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.\" That is from Orwell's 1984 . I am wondering if that is what happened with Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael in relation to what Donald Trump is doing in general, and has done in Venezuela. On Truth Social, he announced that he is now the de facto leader of Venezuela. They swooped in, kidnapped a leader and his wife, by the way, killing 130 people in the process, which the Taoiseach seems to have been silent on.  The Minister for foreign affairs put out a statement that the fate of Greenland should be decided by Greenland but the Government does not seem to apply that to Venezuela, and we seem to be selective about who is dictator. The Government announced sanctions against Iran but none against Israel, which has been carrying out a genocide for over two years.  This lickspittle boot-licking subservience to US and western imperialism is not going to do the Taoiseach any good. It has not worked for Machado trying to hand her Noble prize back and it will not work for the Taoiseach either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Toisc gurb \u00e9 an ch\u00e9ad uair dom a bheith ag caint sa Teach seo i mbliana, ba mhaith liom athbhliain faoi mhaise a ghabh\u00e1il le gach duine.  I am seeking a clear update on the progression of the occupied territories Bill. The programme for Government I signed up for promised the advancement of legislation prohibiting the importation of goods. Given the ongoing genocide and Ireland's stated obligations under international law, it is now essential that we bring the Bill in as soon as possible. I stress that at the committee there was cross-party support for the inclusion of goods and services.  What is the Taoiseach's current stance on the position of the Palestinian Action political prisoners who are still on hunger strike? Britain chose to let Irish hunger strikers die in 1981. What is the Taoiseach's current take on this situation? They have not been eating for 70 days. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The AGRIFISH meeting in December last year at which quotas were set for this year for the entire European fishing fleet was the deepest and most severe shock that the Irish fishing industry has ever faced. The industry is on its knees, it is on the ropes and its demise is imminent unless there is action take.  On 3 December, the Taoiseach met with Irish fishing industry representatives. On 11 December, the Taoiseach met with the Working Group of Committee Cathaoirligh at which I implored him to give his political support and take action to build political support at European level. A couple of days later, Ireland was isolated at European level and the Irish fishing industry was, once again, sacrificed on the altar of European commercial fishing interests.  My colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, submitted a freedom of information request to the Taoiseach's office seeking all outgoing correspondence, calls, logs and memorandums relating to it. It seems the Taoiseach did not lift a finger, lift a phone or do a tap to build political support. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The Taoiseach allowed the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, to go into those negotiations without any political support from him as Head of Government. It is not good enough. The Irish fishing industry and coastal communities have suffered because of the Taoiseach's failure to take political action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  Recent public statements by US President Donald Trump have raised the extraordinary prospect of the United States seeking to forcibly take control of Greenland, a territory of Denmark, an EU member state.  Such an action, if pursued, would present a fundamental challenge to international law, the sovereignty of small states and European security. It would also have serious implications for the strategic balance in the north Atlantic region of direct relevance to Ireland\u2019s security, particularly in relation to undersea infrastructure, airspace monitoring and hybrid threats. Given Ireland\u2019s military neutrality, limited defence capabilities and increasing exposure to geopolitical instability, will the Taoiseach outline what assessment has been made of the implications for our defence and national security? Will he update us on discussions taking place at an EU level regarding Greenland\u2019s sovereignty? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Taoiseach\u2019s record on Mercosur has been a disaster. Last week saw one of the most incredible flip-flops in political history. One day, the Taoiseach was in support of Mercosur, saying it could be of benefit to the State and the next day he came out against it as well. I am not sure if that flip-flop came as a result of instability within Fianna F\u00e1il and the backlash from its TDs or because Fine Gael basically outmanoeuvred Fianna F\u00e1il just at the last minute also or because Italy gave the Taoiseach cover to make that change. It is fiercely cynical in relation to what is happening to farmers. Mercosur is an existential threat to farmers in this country. Will the Taoiseach help to lobby MEPs throughout the European Union to persuade them to vote against Mercosur? Will he support a boycott of Mercosur beef, which operates at a lower regulatory standard, in this country? Will he make sure there is proper labelling of Mercosur beef so Irish consumers can make that choice? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There were quite a number of questions. Deputy Malcolm Byrne raised the issues of Iran and Venezuela but in particular Greenland. I appreciate he is probably one of the few Members of the House who took the trouble of going to visit Greenland. Ireland\u2019s position is very clear. I have spoken to Mette Frederiksen, the Prime Minister of Denmark. Ireland stands in solidarity with Denmark and with the people of Greenland in respect of the sovereignty of Greenland and the absolute centrality and importance of an international rules-based order in terms of adherence to the democratic wishes of the people of Greenland. We have made that clear at European Union level and bilaterally. I publicly issued a statement in that regard last week, I think, when asked about it. It is interesting that the US had a military base in Greenland for a long time with up to 10,000 troops there; there are now just 200 troops. If there are issues in respect of security in the general Arctic area - there may be, though not in that specific location but in other parts \u2013 they are issues that fall to negotiation and dialogue. Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail also raised that issue. As I said, I have engaged. I have also met the Prime Minister of Greenland in international forums. I have spoken to him in respect of the issues and concerns and to the Prime Minister of Denmark. Europe is very clear on this. I urge that whatever issues people have be dealt with sensibly and in accordance with the normal dialogue that ensues between sovereign nations and also in accordance with international rules and the rules-based order.  Deputy Rice raised the issue of LGBTI rights being under attack, which they are. He instanced Kazakhstan, T\u00fcrkiye and Budapest. We have raised this with Hungary not just on the specific issue of the Pride parade in Budapest but on other issues that have emerged over the past two years. I have been very clear at Council level in this respect consistently over the years. In terms of our engagement internationally, Ireland affirms LGBTI rights everywhere it goes and in any agreements or development aid we provide. We are very clear on our policy goals in that respect and in defending and supporting the rights of LGBTI people. We will explore the issue of the UN convention.  Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa raised the issue that the world is not in a good place, and it is not. The multilateral order is under threat \u2013 of that there is no question. There are too many authoritarian regimes which have not been impacted by the international rule either and have carried on regardless. Sinn F\u00e9in has had a checkered record in this respect. It attended the inauguration of Maduro. It endorsed his election. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We are not talking about that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is an important point. I have got a few lectures from the Sinn F\u00e9in benches this afternoon and maybe a bit of consistency from yourselves in respect of human rights----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  You just got back from China. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  It is not back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have gone back over the record. I have read what Deputy McDonald said in respect of Maduro and defending Venezuela. You have a good record in that part of the world over many years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  You were out in Israel pointing at ceilings. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy McGuinness. This is not the way it works. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  There have been many poor leaders supported by America for many years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Sinn F\u00e9in has a really dodgy track record in supporting very dodgy leaders over the years. You had very dodgy relationships. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  As have you. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You had many dodgy relationships with governments across that hemisphere where you shared your expertise in given matters with such authorities down through the years. Maybe a small bit of humility on your side now in terms of lecturing other people about geopolitics might not go amiss. You are the most self-righteous bunch I have ever come across at times in your pontificating about human rights and whole lot of other things. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It is Taoiseach\u2019s questions. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You guys showed scant regard for human rights when practised by rulers and authoritarian leaders you were friendly with and shared expertise with.  Deputy O\u2019Rourke raised Mercosur. Significant improvements were actually made to the Mercosur agreement. Ireland trades \u2013 we are a small open economy. We export \u20ac20 billion of our foodstuffs all over the world. There is a need for perspective in this debate. We export \u20ac20 billion of foodstuffs and drink all over the world and we expect other markets to take them. I believe in free and open trade. That said, there are issues. We have a legitimate right to provide safeguards for our farmers. There are a lot of safeguards, if one compares the agreement that got through because Italy decided to support it for its reasons. The idea that we control Italy is just absurd but that is the proposition I have had to listen to from Deputy McDonald and others, that somehow Ireland failed to persuade Italy. Italy has its own interests in terms of trade and has made its judgment. On market safeguards, it has gone from 10% down to 5%, which is significant, and legal instruments have now been put in place. That is what I did last week. I acknowledged that. It would have been churlish not to acknowledge it. That was a result of countries like France, Italy, Ireland and others which continued to negotiate for additional safeguards and members of the European Parliament like Barry Cowen and others who put down amendments and got them secured. They had to work on two premises \u2013 one, that it does not get through and the other that it might get through. If it gets through, the stronger the safeguards there are the better to protect Irish farmers. Italy also worked to see if we could get the CAP included in negotiations. The CAP is far from where we want it to be. There will be important negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework over the next 12 months which will fall and conclude in our Presidency. The previous seven-year financial framework gave farmers about \u20ac10 billion. We are down to about \u20ac8.2 billion now. We have to get that back up. Some of it has been frontloaded as a result of negotiations last week which will help farmers in 2028 but it is not where we want it to be. We have had a very successful outcome to the extension of the derogation. We have to mind that over the next while also. It is very important to the agricultural industry. My overall objective has been to protect Irish farmers and support them as well as the Irish economy. My view is we should think of what is in the best interest of Ireland and Irish farmers, not what is in the short-term electoral benefit to ourselves. There was a lot of that going on last week. It is still going on in the House. I would argue there is a certain degree of short-term electoral politics going on, Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn. You are all racing to try to outbid each other. There are all sorts of tensions between Sinn F\u00e9in and the Independent Ireland Party. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Everyone is trying to gain ground. I am very focused and clear-eyed in terms of protecting Irish farmers across all the suite of issues we have to deal with over the next 12 months. The most important one will be income to farmers because income matters in terms of the multi-annual financial framework and how much we can ring-fence for the Common Agricultural Policy for the next seven years after 2027. That is vital for Irish farmers. It is something we will continue to work on.  Obviously, the European Parliament will make its decision in respect of that.  Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan raised the issue of the Presidency on two fronts, including the area of key policy. On competitiveness, the expansion of the Single Market, savings and investment union and enlargement, I would like to see progressive steps on enlargement whereby we would at least be in a position to close out the negotiations on Montenegro, for example. That is a real prospect and we have given a commitment to trying to advance this during our Presidency.  The Council took a decision in December that it wanted to conclude the multi-annual financial framework by the end of this year. That means the Irish Presidency will have to conclude it. Impossible demands in terms of the availability of funding and so on will have to be resolved. Values, as have been discussed here, will be a key objective.  There will be quite a number of informal Ministerial Council meetings in Ireland and other conferences. About 25% of the ministerial meetings will be outside Dublin, and clarity will be provided on the specific meetings that will be held across the country in respect of the Presidency.  I note the Deputy's ongoing consistent interest in and advocacy in terms of rare diseases and orphan drugs. I hope the Minister will be able to bring to the Government shortly an agreement after the negotiations with the Irish Pharmaceutical Healthcare Association in respect of our domestic allocation of funding for medicines this year. I took an interest in that also given the Deputy's advocacy on the issue. It is a very important issue for many groupings and people with rare conditions who need more urgent responses. It is challenging and an area of increasing focus. The cost implications are enormous. Hopefully, the agreement we hope to conclude and bring to the Government shortly will deal with a lot of this in terms of our domestic capacities.  That covers most of the areas we will be covering during the Presidency. There will be others.  Deputy Boyd Barrett referred to President Trump and Iran. Again, Iran has been a very malign actor. I take the Deputy's point that he has no truck with the Iranian regime because it has persecuted its civilians for a long time. Long before Mr. Trump became the US President, people from different political backgrounds always argued about interventions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  He is threatening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry now, none of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am just saying Iran has been a malign influence for as long as I can remember. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It has created havoc across the Middle East. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Saudi Arabia too, of course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Israel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Others. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  Egypt, Israel----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We cannot----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Does that mean we ignore Iran, does it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  No, no. I said Iran was a malign influence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  This is not a back-and-forth forum. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The world has tolerated Iran since the ayatollahs took over. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The shah was more than tolerated----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please, Deputies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Look at the damage that Iran has caused across the region, including, more fundamentally, to its own people\u2019s quality of life and so on.  There are legitimate issues but they are for another day because it is very difficult to discuss them when people are more interested in heated exchanges than what may be a more reflective discussion on all of this. The world is in great difficulty, principally because the authority of the UN has eroded over the years through the absence of reform and the dominance of major powers on the Security Council. The Security Council needs to have its representation broadened and its authority needs to be restored. That is the more fundamental problem with what is going on in the world today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The Taoiseach will not call out Trump----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have been very clear and consistent that international rules must and should apply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  And he broke them by kidnapping Maduro. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Ah, Lord. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Paul Murphy referred to various meetings. I am not aware of the US ambassador's attendance at the meeting in question. I have no truck with those who attended the meeting. Again, we have to have faith in our own democracy and assert our own principles here in this House. We should do this and do so collectively, but, again, it is a challenging area. The increasing fragmentation of Irish politics is a problem and it is opening the door for exploitation and manipulation. This is something everyone in the House should be mindful of. There will be those who will seek to exploit it and we have to resist that. All of us have to resist that type of influence, be it external or internal.  On Deputy Hearne's remarks, we will be hosting a summit on housing during our Presidency. It is late in the day that Europe has come to the housing question because housing is a core competency of member states and always has been. The last EU Council meeting, or the one before that, in October, was the first at which the Heads of State ever discussed housing. I welcome that discussion. On the area of state aid, the removal of barriers to member states supporting housing would be a simple and progressive move that could facilitate their doing more. The housing crisis is a Europe-wide phenomenon. I spoke to and met the head of the European Investment Bank, who has prioritised housing for the first time ever in the work of the bank, simply because, after touring all the European capitals, housing was the number one issue that came across from all EU governments. The more the EU can support member states on housing, the better. We need more supply. That is the fundamental issue for us.  Deputy Coppinger referred to George Orwell's 1984 . It is a great book by an outstanding author. Greenland has not been attacked and nobody has violated it. There have been threats, talk and this, that and the other. We believe in dialogue and sensible engagement. Above all, we believe in Denmark's sovereignty in respect of Greenland and in the people of Greenland having the ultimate decision on Greenland\u2019s own self-determination and destiny. We have spoken with Denmark in that respect and I have also spoken with the leadership in Greenland. We will continue to support Greenland. We do not believe in any shape or form that there should be any violation of its sovereignty and territorial integrity.  On Deputy Heneghan's comments, I will discuss again with the Minister for foreign affairs the legal opinion that was in before Christmas on the occupied territories Bill. My comments on services are well known. There are issues with services, to be quite frank. I have said that to the Deputy before and we need to realise it. The implementation will be challenging overall but I will talk to the Minister for foreign affairs about where the Bill is at now. On services, there are implications in terms of legislation in the US and so on. The Bill is completely non-implementable on the services side, to be honest. I do not see how it can be implemented. Parking that for the moment, there would also be an impact for Irish multinationals or multinationals based in Ireland. We need to be clear-eyed about that and people need to realise it. I have said that before.  On Deputy McGuinness's remarks, the fundamental problem, which he failed to articulate, is what was found in the research in respect of overfishing, not by Irish fishers but by Norwegian and non-EU actors who have agreements with the EU. This overfishing is the fundamental reason Irish fishing is in deep crisis. There has been a 70% reduction in pelagic stock available for fishing because of conservation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  There was not equitable distribution of stock for the Irish fishing fleet. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry, Deputy, this is not the forum. It is not a back-and-forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy McGuinness knows I am telling the truth. The same problem arises with nephrops in that there is a significant------ "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The Taoiseach is ignoring the truth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is the fundamental issue. We should consider the income we lose now because of our not being able to fish because of the conservation efforts that arise because of the research. What we have to do now \u2013 I have met the fishing industry in this regard \u2013 is devise supports for the industry that can sustain it over the coming years while fish stocks are replenished. We also have to work harder and robustly with the EU on what it is doing in respect of neighbouring countries that are raiding the fishing stocks in the North Atlantic and in Europe more generally. That is a big issue. There is no question but that the waters are being overfished, the result being a 70% reduction in the amount available to fish. That is catastrophic. It is not because of negotiations or anything like them. Whatever the research shows has always been accepted. It is having a devastating impact.  On Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh\u2019s remarks, I have referred to Sinn F\u00e9in's position on Venezuela, which was not great in recent years----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I never mentioned Venezuela. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy raised defence and security. The fundamental change to the defence and security posture across Europe relates to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia\u2019s utilisation of modern technologies, the appalling loss of life on both sides in the war at the front line and the trenches, and the indiscriminate bombing of energy infrastructure.  Europe feels very vulnerable to Russian attack and Russian rearmament. That is the more fundamental issue, not the US or anybody else. The fundamental issue facing European security right now is Russia. The Baltics feel it is an existential threat. The defence budgets of all of those countries have gone way up, and there are huge strains on their budgets as a result. Europe is very vulnerable to that, and it feels it.  Whether we agree with that here or not, it is the reality on the ground across the European Continent. There is a real debate within Europe about increasing military and defence capabilities. From an Irish perspective, that means that, yes, we have to increase our spending on defence and our military capability. We are focused on undersea critical infrastructure in terms of cybersecurity and developing technologies that can protect that. In other words, the economic security dimension is very important to Ireland. We have to increase our spending in that area to protect our economic security, and do it in solidarity with others. I make no apologies for saying that. If we are honest, that is the real driver of the defence and security concerns within Europe.  In response to Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn, I dealt with Mercosur in my earlier remarks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  We have not discussed the changes or why the Taoiseach changed his mind on Mercosur within 24 hours. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I did not change my mind. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Taoiseach changed his language, then. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am sorry. I made it very clear on this issue. I spoke about the safeguards that were negotiated. We did negotiate additional safeguards. There was additionality in terms of the Common Agricultural Policy and the bringing forward of funding. That is an improvement. That has to be acknowledged, no question. I said there would be a meeting that evening between the three leaders, and there was. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  It is still an existential threat to rural Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is not actually existential. That is over the top. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  For many, it will be. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cabinet Committees"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","counts":{"speechCount":47,"speakerCount":14},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 30, inclusive, together.  The Cabinet committee on Government co-ordination generally meets in advance of Government meetings and is expected to meet on Monday, 19 January. I am a member of the committee, with the T\u00e1naiste and the Minister of State at the Department of Transport with special responsibility for international and road transport, logistics, rail and ports. The Secretary General to the Government and the relevant chiefs of staff also sit in on the meetings. The committee reviews the activities of Cabinet committees and the agenda of Government meetings, and discusses political priorities and implementation of the programme for Government.  The Government has approved the spring legislation programme, which includes 30 Bills scheduled for publication and 33 for priority drafting, alongside a further pipeline of 79 Bills in preparation across Government Departments. The programme reflects the Government's determination to deliver on commitments that matter most to people - strengthening critical infrastructure, accelerating housing delivery, improving healthcare and modernising transport. It is an ambitious agenda for a short ten-week session in the Oireachtas.  The programme prioritises measures to fast-track essential projects and strengthen energy security, including legislation to underpin a State-led strategic gas reserve and establish the National Cyber Security Centre on a statutory basis. New tenancy protections and rent regulation will take effect from March, while legislation will provide statutory supports for the remediation of defects in apartments and duplexes. Public health remains central, with legislation to regulate nicotine-inhaling products. The programme will also see work continuing to address parentage and citizenship issues arising from assisted human reproduction. Measures in the transport legislative programme include road safety measures, updates to railway safety standards, tackling planning constraints at Dublin Airport and empowering the National Transport Authority to deliver public transport infrastructure in regional cities.  The spring programme also includes the international protection Bill, which will implement the EU migration and asylum pact in Irish law. This legislation is an important step in ensuring that Ireland is fully prepared to lead on migration and asylum matters during the forthcoming EU Presidency, while maintaining a fair and efficient system for those seeking protection.  Since we took office, 21 Bills have been enacted, and there are a further 18 Bills at various stages currently in the Oireachtas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  What co-ordination has there been across the Cabinet on what is going to happen regarding Grok? We all know the importance of the tech industry to Ireland, but I do not think anybody in the House could stand over what we can only call a child pornography factory. We know how it can be used and is being used. It is disgraceful. It is fair to say that the answers from Elon Musk have not been up to scratch, and I think that would be accepted. We can make a fair claim that ketamine might possibly impact your brain function over many years. What do we intend to do? Do we need legislation? What interaction has there been with the European Commission and across government? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  An issue that has come across my desk a few times in the past year concerns young couples or individuals being refused planning permission along national roads and having it objected to by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII. I understand TII objecting in the case of national roads. The problem is that these people are already living at home with their parents. They are proposing to build beside their parents and come out the same entrance that they are already using, so the justification for objecting or not allowing them to build a home beside their parents is lunacy. Does the Government have plans to look at the issue of planning permission on national routes? I know it forms part of the programme for Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  As the Taoiseach knows, school secretaries and caretakers went on indefinite strike action last September. That strike lasted a week until F\u00f3rsa and Department officials agreed to go to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, where talks collapsed before Christmas. The issue is before the Labour Court this week. When are we going to get a resolution for school secretaries and caretakers on the issues of pension parity, bereavement leave and sick leave, among other issues? Caretakers have been waiting for years for the same payment system as secretaries. It is completely unacceptable and unfair that caretakers are still waiting for this. When will we see the Government resolve these issues for caretakers and secretaries? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I want to raise the issue of access to judicial review and costs. We all appreciate the need for the delivery of critical infrastructure, housing, transport and all the necessary infrastructure we need for our communities. There is a consultation going on at present on the issue of costs for judicial review. This could potentially mean that where local communities and individuals take a judicial review, they would be liable for costs in the region of tens or possibly hundreds of thousands of euro even where they win the case. Will the Taoiseach ensure this does not happen? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I want to raise the issue of the lack of ambulance services, particularly in north Mayo and the west of Ireland more widely. It is a dire situation that I have never seen as bad in all of my time, where people cannot get an ambulance on time. There are incidents where people have had to travel 50 miles on very bad roads to get to the nearest hospital. When people call an ambulance, they cannot even be told when it is going to come. My question is this. Does the Taoiseach know how many people are dying prematurely because they cannot get an ambulance on time? What is he going to do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  Given the growing concerns about the misuse and manipulation of images on social media platforms like X, formerly Twitter, does the Taoiseach believe it is appropriate that Ministers would continue to use this platform for official public messaging? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  As I said on national radio last Friday, I honestly do not understand why the police have not gone into X and started arresting the people who run it in its European headquarters. Any fair reading of the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act or, for that matter, the Harassment, Harmful Communications and Related Offences Act will show that the peddling of these sexualised images of children is a criminal offence.  The people who are facilitating this child pornographic abusive imagery should be under arrest. Why is the Government soft pedalling on that? The law is there. If it needs to be tweaked, sure, but to be honest, any reasonable reading of the existing legislation says X is guilty of a crime and arrests should be made. The police should be in its headquarters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Is the Taoiseach at all concerned that it appears the public paid a \u20ac10 million sweetener to the World Bank to ease the way for Paschal Donohoe to get his high paying \u20ac600,000-a-year top job there? Was the Taoiseach made aware at any stage in the discussions that the World Bank was asking for \u20ac131 million? The Department officials were advising not to give any more than that anyway yet Paschal Donohoe decided that we would give an extra \u20ac10 million to make \u20ac141 million. Was there any sense at that stage that this position would be emerging as his predecessor would be retiring as he was due to retire? Is the Taoiseach concerned? Has he asked questions of his colleague about this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  It is not clear how the Department of Social Protection decided that long Covid is not worthy of classification as an occupational injury for healthcare workers who had been in receipt of special Covid leave with pay until 31 December and how the Department of Health informed that decision. A group of these workers met the Taoiseach in Cork in June. As I have said here before, they felt he gave them a lot of time, showed genuine empathy and concern for their situation and, critically, that he validated the seriousness of their symptoms and the fact that they had contracted Covid in the workplace yet nothing has been done for them since. They are now on standard sick leave which will run out in three months and ultimately they are on a pathway to retirement on medical grounds.  It is difficult to do justice to the stress, worry and sense of betrayal that this has caused them. The health committee wrote to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, before Christmas asking that she extend special Covid leave with pay for six months to give time for proper consideration by the Department of Social Protection of long Covid as an occupational injury. I am urging the Taoiseach to intervene between those two Departments on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Since we began this debate 67,700 images of a sexual nature of children have been created by AI. I have spoken many times in this D\u00e1il on the issue of abuse and how these social media companies are child groomers and endanger women and children by encouraging misogyny. However, we now have an app that actively allows people to participate in child abuse. What is the Taoiseach going to do about it? His Minister, Deputy Patrick O\u2019Donovan, said it is up to the individual users - it is not the fault of Grok at all. It is an absolutely unbelievable statement. That was an excellent question from one of the Government\u2019s backbenchers: is the Government officially going to continue supporting X? I have decided I am not going to participate any longer in this abuse. It is bad enough encouraging fascism, racism and misogyny but now let us send a message to Musk. It does not seem like the Taoiseach is going to do anything about it in the face of - and I will finish of this - his love of AI and multinational corporations. It should not make him silent about child abuse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The latest South East Economic Monitor shows that while the south-east region has 9% of the country\u2019s population, it has 4% of national GDP, 5% of IDA-supported jobs and just 1.8% of ongoing major public capital spending. Several times on Taoiseach\u2019s Questions and Questions on Policy or Legislation, I have raised the lack of inward investment into Waterford and the south east, particularly in terms of transport with the Taoiseach. The economy of the south east is flatlining. There is neglect by the IDA and the Government when it comes to investment. Major capital spending in the south east is now the lowest of any region. It receives just \u20ac1,738 per person in major public capital investment, which is less than half the spend in the south west and 14 times less than Dublin. What is the Taoiseach going to do to address this imbalance to end the inequity and make sure that Waterford and the south east get the fair investment they deserve? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I wish to raise the decision by Paschal Donohoe to excessively fund the World Bank to the tune of \u20ac10 million. There is potentially a serious conflict of interest in relation to this. That a former Minister for Finance would provide an extra \u20ac10 million of funding in excess of what the World Bank sought and in excess of what his own officials in the Department advised, an increase of 33% in funding just seven months before he landed a job worth \u20ac600,000 a year, is highly problematic. When we ask for money for people with disabilities or carers, the Government says there is no magic money tree yet there seems to be a magic money tree when it comes to funding organisations such as this. Will the Taoiseach join with Aont\u00fa in seeking that Paschal Donohoe makes himself available to the finance committee to answer questions on this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We are four minutes or more over time. With the agreement of the House the Taoiseach might want to deal with some of these questions as quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Leas-Chathaoirleach. Deputy Dolan raised the issue of young couples being refused planning permission as a result of objections from TII. I do not think TII should be objecting to planning applications on housing. We have discussed this at Government level. There is over-reach by TII in respect of many of these issues. I understand some of the road safety issues if it is onto a motorway or if there is an issue with protecting a motorway but in terms of generically getting involved in planning applications where the exit is the same, that should be left to the local authority and we will be communicating that to TII. I do not think it is acceptable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  Thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy O\u2019Meara raised school secretaries and caretakers. The issue is now in the Labour Court. We do want it resolved. There are a lot of issues there. Ultimately, we want to sustain a resolution into the future for both secretaries and caretakers. I hope this can be resolved very quickly with a decision by the Labour Court, which we would support.  Deputy O\u2019Rourke raised access to judicial review. Again, you need to make up your mind which side you are on. Sometimes he is objecting to delay in infrastructure and so on but some of the costs have been far too excessive. We have to look at the collective interest and what is in the public interest more generally in relation to infrastructure. Judicial review is being over-used. Planning issues should be resolved through the planning process. There is not an obligation on the Government to fund excessive costs in relation to judicial reviews which hold back vital infrastructure that is to the benefit of the entire public. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  These are cases where people win. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Conway-Walsh raised ambulances. There is a national framework on the organisation and administration of ambulances. There are various criteria and metrics around outcomes and so on. I will refer her question to the National Ambulance Service.  On Deputy O\u2019Sullivan\u2019s question, I would not make a general rule at this stage about the utilisation of social media in general. Many of these issues will apply to a number of different social media platforms. What is more important is that we focus on any criminality that has occurred. Existing laws should be enforced by the garda\u00ed, Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and the European Commission. I have asked the Attorney General to get back to us in respect of whether there is a need to strengthen the laws in respect of AI and AI apps then. That is the critical issue at this stage. Everything is under review.  On Deputy Boyd Barrett\u2019s point, he cannot become the police person. He cannot become the prosecutor. He is a public representative. It is great stuff - going in and arresting people in headquarters in Dublin who may not be responsible for it at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  If somebody said they were making bombs next door I think the police would be in, would they not? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes, the police but not the Deputy and not Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I said why are the police not----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  You have to have an independent criminal justice system. That is all I am saying. However, again, the Deputy has given us a taste of what we could expect if he came to power: he would be arresting people left, right and centre for different things. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  We would tackle big tech, yes. Correct. We would want that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  So the Taoiseach is not concerned with child abuse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That said. Nineteen Eighty-Four and all that. You know what I mean. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We want to arrest people for producing child pornography. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We will have to conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  They would be disciples of all of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Any other comments, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  The Taoiseach's jokes are not funny. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There is an important point to make because comments have been made about the former Minister, Paschal Donohoe and the International Development Association. First, the IDA provides highly concessional finance, grants and zero or low-interest loans to the world's poorest countries and supports 75 of the poorest countries globally, including 39 in Africa. It is the largest single donor for basic social services in these countries.  The IDA 21 negotiations concluded in Korea in December 2024 and covered IDA operations for July 2025 to June 2028. The World Bank developed multiple funding scenarios, low, medium, high and very high. Indicative contribution arrangements were provided to each donor, including Ireland. Scenarios are non-binding. Countries may choose higher, lower or no contribution. Ireland could not pledge at the December 2024 meeting due to the general election on 29 November and the convention that outgoing Ministers do not make binding financial commitments for a subsequent government.  The Irish delegation noted that a new Government decision and business case would be required. The World Bank kept the pledging window open until mid-February 2025 and the final IDA21 package was approved by the World Bank board thereafter. A formal business case was prepared in line with public expenditure guidelines. That was the Department of Finance business case. The assessment was on alignment with Ireland's multilateral development policy, bank governance approach, financial implications, comparison with prior Irish contributions and commitments by peer European Union and OECD countries. The options examined - this is from the Department of Finance information - included going from no contribution to maintaining the IDA20 level, that is, \u20ac105 million. The low option was \u20ac141.4 million. The high option was \u20ac158.9 million. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  It was \u20ac148 million. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The mid-point recommended by officials in the Department of Finance was \u20ac150 million. The Minister for Finance----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  That is not what the FOI states. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  My understanding is the FOI was in respect of the then Department of Foreign Affairs. My understanding now from preparing this note is this. The finance officials sent this information to me when I requested it. The Minister for Finance agreed to \u20ac141.4 million, classified as \"the low option\". The proposal was then approved by Cabinet and the business case is to be released in full under FOI.  IDA negotiations are conducted by officials, not ministers, across all donor countries. Ireland's negotiations were handled by Department of Finance officials. A senior official acts as Ireland's IDA deputy on behalf of the Minister for Finance. Ministers do not participate directly, as per World Bank procedures. The final contribution decision is made by the Minister for Finance on official advice and is approved by Cabinet. Former Deputy Paschal Donohoe became Minister for Finance on 23 January. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We are gone well over time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Sorry. It was just to put that on the record. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  That concludes Taoiseach's Questions. We will now move to the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  A Leas-Cheann Comhairle----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  There were a couple of questions unanswered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I am sorry but we are 11 minutes over. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I can come back separately to both of the Deputies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Taoiseach has said he will come back separately to each Deputy who has not received a response. Is that correct? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  To Deputy Quaide in respect of the specific issue of long-term Covid. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  But if there are other issues------ "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The others are more general policy issues. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cabinet Committees"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/70","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/70\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":24,"speakerCount":22},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question again proposed: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\""},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I will try to pick up where I left off. I was commending the recommendations of Meath Comhairle na n\u00d3g. In the realm of drugs of addiction, alcohol, vaping, etc., the feedback from that and other youth groups around the country is that education is key. They want to know about the harms of different products on the market.  I sat in on the Joint Committee on Drugs Use a couple of weeks before Christmas. I am not a member of that committee but there was a very insightful and encouraging presentation by Ms Leanne Maher, a drug education worker with Canal Communities regional addiction service in Dublin 8. She gave the example of an escape rooms project funded from its own small budget. It is a youth initiative whereby there are four rooms covering cannabis, vaping, nitrous oxide and alcohol. Young people can complete a survey before going into the rooms and complete another on coming out. Then there is a debriefing session. After visiting the rooms, the learnings of the young people were doubled and in some cases tripled. That validates the young people's desire to know more about the possible benefits of products and, more important, the harms.  When I left off previously, I was going through the side effects of the ingredients in all vaping products, not just the disposable vapes we are primarily concerned with. I will raise this as a point of learning and as something for us to take note of in the vaping space in general. Let us discuss some of the ingredients. Propylene glycol is commonly known as anti-freeze. We would put it into the engine of the car. Would we dream of putting it into something we might inhale? It is there. There are formaldehyde and benzene, products with demonstrable cancer risks. There are heavy metals, including lead and nickel. The impacts of nickel include asthma, dermatitis, rhinitis, nausea and vomiting, and headaches; prolonged exposure can increase the risk of cancer. Lead contributes to behavioural and learning problems, hearing problems, fatigue and loss of appetite. We are getting a merger and possible confusion whereby what can be deemed to be behavioural issues for young people become completely intertwined with known side effects of products.  It is important to get right what this Bill is attempting to do and to ensure, particularly on Committee Stage, that there is robust scrutiny of it. We need to pay attention to the learnings and reviews that have taken place since June 2025, when the UK carried out a similar exercise. They are at the review stage now. I think everybody received the briefing note from Responsible Vaping Ireland. Two salient points are coming out of that review, the first of which is enforcement. We have to make sure the Health Service Executive, as the agency responsible for enforcement, is adequately resourced around both the inspection and the education sides of things. I suggest the remit of the quit line be extended to include quitting vapes. If the disposable vapes are removed, we know that, despite the age limit on vaping, there will be many young people dealing with physical and psychological withdrawal effects. Where will they go?  Another area that will have to be resourced is youth work organisations and the comhairl\u00ed na n\u00f3g, as well as the well-being teams in our secondary schools. There will be fall-out from this. There are the best of intentions but we have to be prepared and have the safeguards in place. That may involve using nicotine replacement therapy, NRT, which is nicotine replacement without those ancillary chemicals with dangerous side effects I have listed.  The other piece will be mental health supports. Apart from peer pressure and maybe wanting to look cool, if there is a mental and emotional health issue underlying use of a vaping product, we have to be ready and have a robust and well-resourced mental health safety net.  The key thing arising from today will be to learn from the loopholes identified in the UK, particularly around non-compliant manufacturers who have moved quickly to include charging ports and refill features in their products as a means of circumvention. The other point is delivering effective and enforceable legislation. It will be worth spending time on this. We cannot on the one hand be here debating at budget time the spend on health, be it public health or rehabilitative health, yet not be taking proper measures to ensure our respiratory and circulatory systems and our physical and emotional health are well resourced.  This is one of the stepping stones as a preventative measure.  Along the way, we have to listen to our young people, including the voices of the members of Comhairle na n\u00d3g, drug rehabilitation teams and community drug and alcohol rehabilitation teams. They have their fingers on the pulse and their ears to the ground. I do not know whether the escape room concept can be funded from a health promotion perspective or through proceeds of crime funding but I was highly impressed. If possible, I ask the Minister of State and her officials to read the transcript of the Committee on Drugs Use. I will get the date and flag it with the Minister of State. I can send the video link to her. It is something I will explore and try to implement in County Meath. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  On 2 January, I very happily celebrated 19 years without cigarettes. I did not vape; I do not think there were any vapes at that stage. If there were, they were very new. I was lucky and did not use chewing gum. I relied heavily on licorice all sorts, crisps and anything else I could get my hands on. The important thing is that I managed. Regrettably, I smoked my first cigarette - if my mother was alive she would burst me - when I was 11 years of age, nearly 12, which was not good. I was a very committed and dedicated smoker for a long number of years.  One of the things that facilitated me being able to smoke at the young age I was was access to single cigarettes. One could buy a single cigarette. Anyone under the age of 45 listening to this debate would be tearing their hair out but it is true. It was possible and was done. One could buy a single cigarette, or two or three, for 10p each, depending on how much money one had. That is why the Bill is important.  I will not allow the Government to overstate the importance of the Bill because it knows what else it should be doing. It is a small step but an important one. It is a move that will be welcomed by every tidy towns organisation the length and breadth of the State because they are tortured by single use vapes. It behoves us, as legislators, to do anything we can to ensure that people do not end up addicted to nicotine. It is a highly addictive substance and we need to keep it away from kids. If we can keep it away from kids and foster a positive environment, we will be on the road to being nicotine free, which is a good step to take.  I do not doubt the usefulness of vapes in getting people off cigarettes but some people have switched their addiction to cigarettes to an addiction to vaping. I know a person who is addicted to nicotine chewing gum. Nicotine is a highly addictive substance and the people who finance nicotine addiction are moving much faster than the Government. They are flying ahead. For young people now, it is less about vapes and more about nicotine pouches.  I welcome the Bill. It is important to recognise that this is a small step in the right direction. If we are going to ensure that we move quickly in the direction of becoming nicotine free, we need to look at resourcing youth work, resourcing and equipping teachers and making sure that children and young and older people are getting the message at every available opportunity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  Like my colleague, I am a former smoker but I am a vaper. That being said, the Bill has a somewhat piecemeal approach to vaping. We need a comprehensive public health response to vaping and nicotine. This is the third Bill on smoking in the past three years and there is at least another one on the way. Sinn F\u00e9in fully supports a ban on single-use vapes. We sought a similar ban for a number of years.  A 2024 study by TobaccoFree Research Institute Ireland found that one in 20 young people uses nicotine pouches and one in ten has tried them. However, the Bill only targets products that are already being phased out. The Government needs to get ahead of the curve and introduce health legislation that is proactive rather than reactive. The Minister for Health needs to introduce modern and comprehensive legislation on vaping.  Single-use and short life vapes are highly wasteful, and contribute to our litter problems and impact on the environment. In 2024, 25 tonnes of e-cigarette and vape devices were collected for recycling in Ireland, equating to over 1.1 million devices. I have no doubt that there was an increase last year. The contents of a disposable vape include plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals and flammable lithium ion batteries which all leak into our water and soil. Like cigarette butts, e-cigarette waste is not biodegradable even under the most severe conditions. Single-use vapes discarded on our streets eventually break down into microplastics and chemicals that pose a threat to the environment.  The biggest issue is that vapes are targeted specifically at our young people. Before 2021, the only widely available disposable vapes were cigarette-like e-cigarettes targeted at those aged over 35 and those trying to give up smoking. The newer disposable vape brands are designed to be far more aesthetically pleasing and sexier looking. They target our younger people and are appealing and trendy. The HSE describes disposable vapes as becoming popular in Ireland, in particular with young people. Some of the most common brands include names like Lost Mary, Elf Bar and Vuse. They all clearly target our young people who may be averse to smoking cigarettes. Vapes lure them in with flavours, colours and names.  The HSE has confirmed that children and young people who vape are more likely to be addicted to nicotine, develop mood disorders and find it hard to control their impulses. Sinn F\u00e9in wants a comprehensive public health led approach to vaping. It may be less harmful than cigarettes, but that does not mean it is harm free. We are open to better regulations for vaping and in line with tobacco that would include restricted flavourings and packages, especially those targeting our young people.  We need to get this policy right. It needs to be balanced so that vaping is not made as expensive as smoking or penalised in the same way. I know a number of people who have spoken about going back to smoking cigarettes because of the impact of the budget. That has had a huge impact. The Bill needs to be part of a wider proactive public health response to vaping and nicotine products. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sorca Clarke  I too know people who have spoken about going back to cigarette smoking after the last budget. This will be a bit of a trend. I am a vape user and a former smoker. Like most people, I used vaping as a way to get off cigarettes. That is probably more reflective of my age and generation than it would be for any of our younger people.  I support the ban on single use vapes contained in the Bill. They are environmentally destructive and wasteful but also have no place in a serious public health framework. However, while I support the intent of the Bill, I also strongly criticise the Government for the approach it has taken overall to vaping and nicotine pouches. The most glaring contradiction in this is the recent budget decision to, in effect, make reusable vaping more expensive than single use vapes. Disposable vapes can now be bought for about \u20ac8 and a bottle of vape liquid costs about \u20ac11, sometimes a little bit more. The measure in the Bill is entirely counter-productive. If we are serious about discouraging wasteful throwaway products while supporting people in moving away from smoking cigarettes, public policy should not push consumers in the opposite direction.  Right now, it is cheaper to buy a product that the Government says it wants to eliminate. That simply makes no sense to me.  The Bill is another example of the Government's piecemeal approach to this issue. It is the third time we have had legislation on vaping or smoking in as many years and, most likely, there will be more. Meanwhile, the industry continues to innovate, adapt and work around regulations faster than the State responds. We are always playing catch-up on this issue. We need modern, comprehensive and dynamic legislation that deals with vaping as a whole, not just one narrow issue at a time. I again refer to those nicotine pouches.  I want to be clear that protecting children has to be a priority. The targeting of young people through bright colours on almost toy-like packaging is blatant and unacceptable. Sales to minors are still happening but enforcement is weak and illegal products in breach of EU standards are widely available. I will always fully support any measure that meaningfully tackles those practices. However, we have to get the balance right. Vaping should not be as expensive as smoking for somebody who is trying to quite cigarettes, nor should it be more attractive to non-smokers to take up. There is a middle ground. I am open to tighter regulation on flavouring and packaging, particularly where it is clearly designed to appeal to children, but restricting all vapes to tobacco flavour alone is excessive. It is also counter-intuitive because it drives people back to the object they are trying to get away from, namely, the flavour of cigarettes and drives them into unregulated markets.  Public health policy must reflect reality - no nicotine. The ideal outcome is that people neither smoke nor vape but until we reach that point, we must ensure that adults who are quitting smoking are not punished financially for making that choice. Banning single-use vapes is absolutely a step forward but without coherent taxation, proper enforcement and comprehensive regulation, it risks being undermined before it has even taken effect. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to move beyond short-term fixes and deliver a joined-up strategy that protects children, ensures smokers can quit and finally gets ahead of this industry, which has been running rings around regulation for far too long. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  This Bill represents a piecemeal approach from this Government. It is the third Bill in three years, with another one on the way. That tells its own story. Instead of this Government using forward thinking and having a modern, comprehensive approach, we are left reacting, catching up and legislating bit by bit. Sinn F\u00e9in has sought a ban on single-use vapes for years. They are highly wasteful and damaging to the environment. Yet, this Bill will really only target products that are already being phased out, while failing to deal with the wider and growing problem of vaping.  The Government needs to introduce modern and comprehensive legislation on vaping instead of piecemeal legislation. It needs to look forward because new trends and products will continue to come on the market. We cannot be left trying to catch up again. Public policy must be balanced. Vaping should not be made as expensive or penalised as much as smoking. Nor should it be made more attractive to non-smokers, particularly children and young people. We need to see restrictions on flavouring and packaging that target young people and children addressed properly in law. The use of vaping among young people is rising. Among 15- and 16-year-olds, vape use now stands at 18%, with 39% in this age group saying they have tried vapes. That should concern us all.  Vapes are brightly coloured and flavourful and are marketed to look cool. I have seen young people with vapes because they think it looks cool or their friends are vaping. Some of these young people with vapes may never have lit a cigarette or ever wanted to light one. Yet, according to the Irish Heart Foundation, Irish research shows that teenagers who vape are three to four times more likely to start smoking compared to those who have never used vapes. That is a serious warning sign we cannot ignore. We know the harm is real. According to Professor Eamon Keenan, the HSE's national clinical lead for addictions, children and young people are increasingly falling ill from vaping cannabinoids. The HSE has confirmed that ten people were admitted to acute hospitals for vaping-related illnesses in 2023. Figures from the Health Research Board show that in 2025, 169 young people sought treatment for problems with HCC, hexahydrocannabinol, a drug contained in some vapes and edibles.  The environmental impact cannot be ignored. Vapes contain plastic, nicotine salts, heavy metals such as lead and mercury and flammable lithium-ion batteries. They pollute waterways, hurt wildlife and harm people. In Ireland in 2022, an estimated 12.5 million disposable vapes were sold. With use on the rise, we must ask where these devices are. They are being binned, thrown on the ground, polluting waterways and adding to our growing plastic waste problem. As someone who works with my local Tidy Towns group in Shannon, I see this every time there is a litter pick. Vapes are on footpaths, grassways and parks. Even vape shop owners have shared this concern, with many in Clare reaching out to me directly. According to Clare Parenting, vaping impacts physical and mental health, concentration in school, activities, hobbies, relationships and finance.  Sinn F\u00e9in believes we can and must do better. We must have legislation that is comprehensive, forward looking and focuses on protecting young people, public health and our environment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. This is about being proactive and taking positive health initiatives. As an ex-smoker and a vape user, I know the difference between the two. I am worried about the reactive, as opposed to proactive, stance this Bill takes. While it moves us forward, it still does not do enough. I have read the latest press release from Responsible Vaping Ireland. It states that similar legislation was passed in England last year and the manufacturers have already started to modify these vapes to make them look like they are reusable by putting in fake charging points to get around that issue. It is just a worry.  I understand where we are coming from and the need to keep vapes away from young people who have never smoked before. I noticed before the recess, when the Government introduced an additional tax on vaping liquids, that we are taxing addiction again instead of being proactive and taking a health initiative. It seems to be always about revenue. This will drive stuff into the black market. I have seen this and I am well aware it occurs in other countries. We know vapes were banned in Australia. I have spoken to people who live in Australia. People with an Irish accent who ask for these vapes in a shop will be given them from under the counter. We have to learn from the mistakes other countries have made.  I am worried about having a knee-jerk reaction and banning all of these disposable vapes. What happens next? As other speakers asked, What about those people with addiction issues? Last year, surveys on smoking - I think there were two of them - asked all the hard questions, such as how we think we will stop smoking with bans or closing smoking areas. I never saw a questionnaire that set out where there to find an addiction helpline or an accessory to try to get people off what is an addictive substance. I worry about that. While I support the Bill, it needs to be made strong and robust on Committee Stage. We need to make sure vaping does not move into the black market because as bad and all as things are now, if vaping moves under the counter or into the black market, people will not know what they will be vaping. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in  The single-use, flashy and flavoured disposable vapes that are targeting our children definitely need to be banned. However, the Government Bill only targets products which are being phased out anyway. Sinn F\u00e9in has been raising this issue for years. Ireland is years behind the curve in comparison with many countries.  Vapes and nicotine pouches in particular pose a very serious health risk to children. My son is 13 years old and one in ten 13-year-olds has vaped. Their brains are still developing. We need to change tack to keep up with these manipulative companies, which are innovating and changing course. They are targeting children with rechargeable, disposable models to circumvent the legislation. We need to be equally innovative in our legislation.  In my constituency of Wicklow-Wexford, there are dedicated vape shops in both Gorey and Arklow. Vaping can lead to nicotine addiction, which affects brain development, mood, concentration, anxiety and memory. It can contribute to health issues, mental health issues and a transition to smoking and tobacco products. As I said, the vaping companies are manipulating our young people through very clever marketing tactics. They are being very innovative and moving quicker than we are moving. We need legislation that can and will move with the times when these companies change tack.  We need to ban vapes that target children with appealing flavours, designs and colours. These companies have a very strong social media presence, especially on TikTok. Irish research has shown that 23% of 15- to 17-year-olds vape regularly and that teenagers who vape are three to five times more likely to start smoking in comparison with those who never vaped.  Vapes are harmful to the environment. In the UK, 5 million disposable vapes are thrown away every week. We then have plastic, heavy metals, nicotine salts and lithium batteries in the environment.  Most of the popular vape brands are owned by the big tobacco companies. In Ireland, an estimated 12.5 million disposable vapes were sold in 2022. One in ten 13-year-olds have vaped. These disposable vapes are ending up in landfill sites. They are hugely damaging to the environment and pose serious health and environmental risks. The same companies that profited from telling us back in the 1950s how great smoking was for us are now aggressively targeting a new generation of customers, and they have vastly increased their market. We need action, and we need to be very innovative and clever in our legislation. It is about protecting the youth through education, regulation and awareness.  Sinn F\u00e9in wants a ban on disposable vapes because they are the equivalent of smoking a battery. They are the most dangerous form of vape for the environment and children. As I said, this is the third Bill in three years on vaping and smoking issues. We need action and legislation instead of mere fine words. As the old saying goes, fine words butter no parsnips. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  I welcome the opportunity to speak in support of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 and the Minister of State\u2019s comments on tackling what has become a serious public health and environmental issue. The Minister of State will know that I have raised in the House previously concerns in regard to the rapid growth of single-use vapes, particularly their impact on younger people. These products are cheap, colourful, very easy to use and heavily marketed. They may look harmless but the evidence tells a different story.  Disposable vapes have flooded the Irish market in recent years and youth vaping has risen alongside them. Research shows that experimenting with vapes often begins as soon as students enter secondary school. According to the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs, ESPAD, one in three students has tried vapes, one in six is a current user and one in 13 has tried nicotine pouches. That is a scale of exposure that we cannot ignore.  The HSE has found that while most young people do not use vapes, regular use is increasing. Parents report feeling overwhelmed and unsure of how to respond and teachers say many students believe vaping is a healthier alternative to smoking. However, vaping still involves nicotine, a highly addictive substance that raises blood pressure, increases heart rate and affects brain development in young people. Emerging evidence also links vaping to cardiovascular risks, chronic lung disease and asthma. Studies show that people who use both cigarettes and e-cigarettes may face even greater health risks than those who use either one. Therefore, while vaping may be less harmful than smoking, it is far from safe.  These products are clearly designed to appeal to young people. Bright colours, sweet flavours and packaging that resembles sweets or desserts make vapes look more like treats than tobacco products. Focus groups commissioned by the Irish Cancer Society and Irish Heart Foundation found that students found vapes more appealing than traditional cigarettes, with marketing similar to milkshakes or desserts. This Bill restricts point-of-sale advertising and displays, limits flavour descriptors, bans misleading imagery and prevents devices from resembling toys or games. These are practical, evidence-based measures to protect young people from nicotine addiction. The Bill also complements wider public health efforts, such as the HSE\u2019s Take a Deep Breath campaign, which is now providing parents and schools with clear information on the risks of vaping.  The new e-liquid tax of 50 cent per millilitre, introduced in last November's budget, is expected to increase the price of typical disposable vapes from \u20ac8 to over \u20ac9. That matters because young people are more price-sensitive and price measures are often proven to reduce experimentation. The tax is expected to raise around \u20ac17 million per year but, more important, it supports the goal of reducing youth uptake. Smoking cessation supports have expanded significantly, with funding for the HSE quit service almost doubling since 2020. For young people, the Quit4Youth programme offers a dedicated seven-week support pathway.  Public health is only part of the story, however. Disposable vapes are also an environmental problem. In 2022 alone, an estimated 12.5 million single-use vapes were sold in Ireland. Most were simply thrown away. These devices contain plastic, heavy metals and lithium batteries. When they end up in bins, waterways or on our streets, they pollute the environment and pose fire risks. A ban on single-use vapes is the most effective way to tackle this problem at source. The Bill strikes the right balance. It is grounded in evidence, aligned with EU regulations and focused on prevention. It reflects what parents, teachers, health professionals and communities have been saying for some time, namely, disposable vapes are doing more harm than good.  We know that most young people do not vape, and we want to keep it that way, but we also know that curiosity, peer pressure and clever marketing can lead to long-term addiction. Our role as legislators is to create an environment where the healthier choice is the easier choice. This is not about punishing individuals or businesses. It is about protecting children, supporting families, reducing addiction and cleaning up our environment. This Bill is a positive and necessary step forward. It reflects our commitment to a tobacco-free Ireland, youth well-being and responsible public health policy. I commend the Minister of State on bringing it forward and I am pleased to support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I support the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 because it addresses a regulatory gap that now carries real, not abstract, consequences for health, the environment and the coherence of our public health and environmental policy. Disposable vapes occupy a peculiar position in our regulatory framework. They are legal and widely available, yet they combine elements we would rarely tolerate together, namely, an addictive substance, electronic waste and a design that actively discourages responsibility for responsible disposal.  Much of the debate has focused on packaging, flavours, names and marketing. Those issues have already been addressed in Irish law. Even stripped of marketing gimmicks, however, the core problem remains. A single-use vape is a short-lived delivery system for nicotine, intended to be discarded and replaced. That design choice is the issue before us. Nicotine is not benign. It alters neurodevelopment when exposure begins early, reinforces dependence pathways and produces measurable cardiovascular effects, even in young users. In clinical practice, addiction rarely begins with a dramatic moment. It develops through repetition, accessibility and normalisation. Products that remove barriers to that use accelerate that process, and disposable vapes do exactly that.  While we are not certain of the long-term health impacts of vaping, we know the effects of nicotine exposure and addiction, nicotine toxicity in pregnancy and nicotine harm to brain development until about the age of 25, and we know that adolescents who use nicotine may be at increased risk for future addiction to other drugs. We know, perversely, that youths who vape are also more likely to smoke cigarettes in the future. We know the additional risks of e-cigarette aerosols, with cancer causing chemicals and heavy metals such as nickel, tin and lead and tiny particles that can be inhaled deep into the lungs, with volatile organic compounds increasing risk of chronic lung disease.  In the UK, a prospective longitudinal study is being carried out with 100,000 children between the ages of eight and 18 for over ten years to try to learn what is happening to their systems. That is why the evidence on youth vaping matters. Irish and European data show high levels of experimentation among teenagers, and a significant proportion of teenagers are current users. That tells us something important, namely, that this is not confined to a small high-risk group. It is occurring at scale. While there is ongoing debate about vaping as a harm reduction tool for established smokers, there is no clinical or public health rationale for a product format that lowers the threshold for nicotine initiation as far as possible. This Bill draws that distinction carefully. It does not attempt to relitigate every aspect of vaping policy. It does not deny that some adults use regulated vaping products to move away from tobacco. It targets a specific category that serves no essential cessation function but carries a disproportionate share of risk, especially for young people. This is proportionate regulation.  There is also a broader responsibility here and it is one the public increasingly understands. Disposable vapes are electronic waste by design. They combine plastic, metal and lithium-ion batteries into a product intended for a very short lifespan. Millions of them are sold each year in Ireland. Most are not recycled. Many enter our general waste streams. Others end up in our streets and public spaces. Our litter monitoring already reflects this trend. As well as being eyesores, discarded vapes have a hugely damaging impact on our environment and wildlife. Whether littered or thrown in a bin and sent to landfill, single-use vapes also release substances, including lead and mercury, into our soil, rivers and streams. The plastics used in these products are nearly impossible for nature to completely break down. Instead, they break into tiny pieces of microplastics, which can enter our food chains.  Last year, Material Focus estimated that almost five million single-use vapes were either littered or thrown away in general waste every week in the UK. That is the equivalent of eight being thrown away every second. This is an extremely wasteful use of valuable resources contained in these vapes, such as cobalt and copper. In 2022, the same group found that 40 tonnes of lithium were discarded in single-use vapes in the UK. That is the same amount used to power 5,000 electric vehicles. We can extrapolate those figures to Ireland.  For the small number of single-use vapes that are sent for recycling, it is a difficult job because they contain many chemical components and they are not designed to be taken apart. They usually have to be disassembled by hand, a slow and tricky process which struggles to match the avalanche of vapes that are produced and discarded. The lithium-ion batteries in these vapes can also cause fires, which risks the safety of waste management workers, fire fighters and the public.  International evidence reinforces the point. Other jurisdictions are now grappling with the scale of battery waste created by single-use vapes and the loss of critical materials that are in short supply. At a time when the State is investing heavily in electrification, energy storage and sustainable supply chains, continuing to permit a disposable electronic product of this kind is increasingly difficult to defend.  The Bill does not attempt to resolve every issue associated with vaping. Rather, it focuses on one product category that introduces avoidable risk and waste into everyday use. Considered from a health and environmental perspective, it is difficult to justify leaving this issue unaddressed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  It is not often in this House you feel like you are making any progress at all, but I wish to congratulate the Minister of State on bringing forward this Bill. I know it is something which she and many of us in Fianna F\u00e1il have been working on for some time. I should probably also note the support of the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, when he was in the House.  In August 2023, a number of people in the local Tidy Towns group in my area contacted me reporting the proliferation of these disposable or single-use vapes. They were seeing them increasingly outside of betting shops and schools, littering the village. They had a genuine question: what do we do with them? It prompted a question that I asked of many local authorities around the country, namely, what are the local authorities doing with these vapes? What emerged was that a new product that was coming onto the market was having a significant impact on our environment, public domain and, importantly, the health of people.  At the time, many people were quite rightly reluctant to have a ban on vaping because it plays a role in reducing people\u2019s dependence on tobacco. We should say that tobacco is a far more dangerous substance than the nicotine products, although it is hard to say that definitively because we do not fully know the make-up of many of the vaping products. We know how dangerous tobacco is, however. Of course, vaping has a role to play in assisting people to come off an addiction to tobacco. It is important to say that, with this Bill, we are not removing vaping as a mechanism of supporting people to come off a tobacco addiction. Rather, we are ensuring that, in doing that, they are using products that are sustainable, do not have an impact on our environment and are not accessible, advertised or attractive to children. It is a reasonable and sensible step.  I was taken aback by the number of people who contacted me from different parts of the country when I made the suggestion, and there were many of us who made the suggestion at the time. This is a real common-sense proposal. I thank the Minister of State for bringing forward this legislation. I know legislation in this area can be difficult and tricky. There are European elements to it as well, so I know it has taken some time and been tricky but it is great to be at this Stage. I acknowledge all those people who, early on, raised the issue with me because it has made a difference and it has changed the legislation here in the House.  I also acknowledge that it was not done alone. Obviously, the tax placed on the e-liquid for vaping was another measure. The additional licence on vaping shops was another measure, which is worth revisiting. Many of those vaping shops will disagree with me, but we should consider whether we need to increase that charge on vaping shops. In all of the time we had tobacco products, in Ireland in any case, there were very few shops that exclusively sold tobacco. They often sold papers, newspapers, milk and all sorts of other stuff. We now have an emergence of vaping shops, and it is attractive for young people to gather at those places. Of course, those places do not mind young people gathering at those locations because they are selling their products.  We need more vigilance from parents. It is a difficult thing to do. I am a parent of teenagers. It is a difficult thing to do. More vigilance from parents, schools and the local authorities is needed. While we can bring in measures to ban single-use vapes, there is no doubt the black market will continue to provide these products. We should be trying to work with the local authority teams right across the country to determine whether they continue to see these products in the waste that is collected on our streets.  I acknowledge the huge work that is being done. The legislation will introduce a prohibition of point of sale displays and advertising, with an exemption for retailers who only or primarily sell these products. For gambling and betting environments, we have very strict standards on advertising and what can be seen in the window and so on. There will probably be more room, once we get this legislation over the line, to return to that point. I would like to see much more limits put on the advertising of those dedicated vaping shops. I know we will introduce restrictions on colours and imagery for nicotine-inhaling products and their packaging. There will also be restrictions on devices resembling or functioning as other products, such as toys or games, which aim to prohibit flavour. I have seen in the drugs area that prohibition does not necessarily work. A lot of people will say that we should just get rid of vaping and it will be gone. In my view, that will not work. These types of measures will work, however. They are sensible and show that the Government is listening. They show that Ministers are working hard and working with us on the backbenches. We appreciate that and we encourage them to keep going. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  I echo the concerns raised by my colleagues across the House today. The sales of single-use vapes to minors and their use of these vapes have reached epidemic levels in Ireland. The vaping industry has deliberately exploited this reality. The figures are incredible. WEEE Ireland found that vapes accounted for 33% of all electronic devices sold in 2024. That is a huge percentage. These brightly coloured, sweetly flavoured products are targeting vulnerable young people in particular who are unaware of the serious long-term dangers that they pose. As the Taoiseach rightly said, vapes are the revenge of the tobacco industry and they have the potential to bring another generation back into addiction. We have all seen it at first hand throughout the city. You cannot walk around Dublin without seeing several young people vaping. While the sale of vapes to those under 18 has been banned since 2023, more than one in five vape shops have been found to be in breach of the law in this regard. They are profiting directly from the addiction of young people to substances that have been increasingly linked to serious negative health outcomes.  I understand that many have found vaping to be a useful tool for getting away from smoking. It is clear now that this is a minority of those who purchase vapes on an ongoing basis. The 2024 Irish report of the European School Survey Project on Alcohol and Other Drugs, ESPAD, indicated that more than three quarters of e-cigarette users had never smoked traditional cigarettes in their lives and just 0.6% used them as a means of stopping, getting away or transitioning from smoking.  The environmental damage is the other side and it is equally alarming. A typical disposable vape contains a battery of approximately 550 milliamp hours. As these batteries are built into tightly sealed, single-use devices, getting them out of these devices safely and recovering the metals inside is nigh impossible. At the waste-to-energy facility in Poolbeg, I have seen the potential risk of even small lithium batteries. They get into the fire chamber, explode and cause all sorts of issues.  There are millions of small batteries now being disposed of, often incorrectly, representing not only a big waste of materials but also putting a lot of pressure on recycling infrastructure in the city and down the country in dealing with that waste. When they are thrown away, they can leak toxic substances into the environment. These include heavy metals like mercury, lead and bromide along with battery acid and, as I mentioned, lithium. Lithium is a combustible component of batteries. Some e-cigarettes contain such high levels of hazardous waste chemicals that they should actually be classified as hazardous waste. If we are serious about reducing waste and protecting the environment in Ireland, we simply cannot justify selling single-use electronic devices like these on an ongoing basis. I commend the Minister of State, and the Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, for advancing this legislation and recognising the scale of the challenge, for young people in particular, that we now face. We cannot ignore the growing evidence of harm that vaping poses for young people. We have to step into this, lean into it and deal with it. The progress Ireland has made in preventing smoking among new generations is at real risk of being reversed by these toxic and wasteful products unless we take the action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  It is a great start to the new year for me to be here in the Chamber addressing an Aire St\u00e1it, another strong female TD from Carlow. Go raibh maith agat. I commend the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, for the work she is doing for the young people in Carlow and Kilkenny. Thank you once again.  Speaking as a parent first and foremost I am alarmed at the increase in the sale of vaping products among our young people. I welcome the new legislation being brought forward by the Minister of State, which is coming online next month. It will mean that a premises must now have a licence to sell vapes. It is long overdue. While 7% of adults report regularly vaping, this number is dwarfed by the 13% of children between the ages of 12 and 17 who say they now vape regularly. Of those who vape, the majority of children report that their vapes of choice are single-use disposable vapes. Having begun as a means of helping smokers to quit, vaping has unfortunately become an addiction in its own right with health consequences that we do not firmly understand yet. I am of the strong belief that we have a responsibility to help prevent our young people becoming the nicotine industry's test subjects. As a result, I firmly support the measures contained in this Bill. While we do not yet know the long-term consequences of consistent vaping among our young people, what we do know about the short-term effects should be enough to argue the case. Nicotine dependence, sleep problems, mental health difficulties, damage to the lungs, heart and blood vessels and exposure to toxins are just some of the adverse effects that consistent use of vape products are known to cause in young people. According to the HSE, even nicotine-free vapes carry risks. Vape liquid that does not contain nicotine often contains other more harmful chemicals such as colours and flavourings that can be harmful when inhaled. That is the key point here.  Any product that causes such blatant health concerns is clearly inappropriate for young people. Yet, vape products are brazenly marketed with bright colours and a variety of flavours in an explicit appeal to children. Vaping products are known to use cartoon characters and are designed sleekly, calling out to the younger generation. Some vaping products are indistinguishable from toys. In many other countries, like in Ireland, the rate of vape use among children exceeds that of adults. It has been shown that even brief exposure to e-cigarette content online strongly correlates with a greater intention to use these products, as well a more positive outlook towards e-cigarettes in general. Young people who regularly make use of vaping products are also more likely to engage in much more harmful behaviours such as smoking. On average, children who vape are three to five times more likely to take up smoking. Unfortunately, what was once seen as an off-ramp for smokers is now increasingly a gateway to smoking for our young people. In my experience as a sports coach I know the harms that vaping presents for athletes. Vaping can decrease lung capacity, increase fatigue, and ultimately make it more likely for children to give up sports long before they may otherwise to do so. This is a really alarming consequence of the single-use vape.  I welcome the many measures that have been taken to combat the spread of vaping among our young people, which include an e-liquids tax that came into effect last November, and the launch of a licensing regime that will come into effect in the next month. On the ground in Carlow and Kilkenny, as the Minister of State will know, measures have also been taken to try to reduce the impact of vaping on young people. Of these, the success of the Not Around Us campaign has been particularly impressive. This campaign, under the stewardship of Carlow County Council and Kilkenny County Council together, is an ask from young people to adults to consider their activity in outdoor spaces that are used by children and young people, so that young people can experience smoke- and vape-free spaces and environments. The aim of the campaign is to de-normalise smoking and vaping around children and young people. Initiatives such as this showcase the desire on the ground to protect our young people from the dangers of nicotine dependence.  On an environmental level this Bill aims to not only protect our natural heritage from pollution with disposable vapes, but also to protect the health and well-being of workers in the waste industry who regularly face potentially hazards owing to the use of lithium-ion batteries in vaping products.  Single-use vapes present an enormous number of challenges for our young people, our environment and our public health in general. Over the past months we have seen measures come into effect that will directly combat and reverse the trend of children taking up vaping. Of these measures, an outright ban as proposed in this Bill will, in my view, represent the firmest possible statement of this Government's intention to safeguard our children's health. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  It is very strange that the majority of us here seem to be from Carlow and Kilkenny. The Labour Party and I welcome the general thrust of what the Minister of State is trying to do with this Bill. I stand here as someone who has struggled an awful lot with nicotine addiction. It is something that personally I have found very hard to overcome for a number of years. I have been on again and off again. I have been smoking cigarettes and have been off cigarettes, I have been smoking cigarettes and I have been off cigarettes, and I have been vaping. I have found that of all of the different methods of nicotine consumption, vaping is the worst of them, and especially in relation to single-use vapes. Here in my pocket I have an old Elf Bar vape which I found in the drawer in my office. There was one stage when I went through four and five of those in any given week. I agree with what the Taoiseach said when he spoke about vaping being the \"revenge of the tobacco industry\". The fact is that the tobacco industry is so inventive it will find any way it can to get past whatever level of regulation comes in. We are seeing this right now with nicotine pouches. If vaping is the revenge of the tobacco industry then nicotine pouches are the revenge of the vaping industry. I have been shocked by this. I know, and I hope, that the Minister of State will be dealing with this soon with a separate piece of legislation. I was shocked when I went into a local shop near my house a couple of months ago and was offered a nicotine pouch. I was asked did I want to sample a nicotine pouch for nothing. I could not believe it. The pouch was literally put on the counter of the shop and offered to me.  I want to make a number of points in relation to some potential loopholes that may appear. We know that single-use vapes have been banned in the UK. We know that the legislation there has had some success, but at the same time there have been issues with so-called fake reusable vapes. We are already beginning to see this here. Consider the Elf Bar vape that I have here. One can buy this Elf Bar vape right now in any given shop or petrol station with a little charging port and a part that comes off, like the lid comes off the body of it. That is, essentially, the same product as the pre-existing disposable vapes. There have been issues in the UK in this regard. I would welcome the Minister of State and the Department looking into this issue whereby the industry is attaching a bit of a charging point or nominally making the pod removable in order to qualify the device as being reusable.  The tobacco and vape industry need to be mandated to have a particular type of pod or a series of maybe three or different pods. I make that point because in being cognisant of the role vaping plays for certain people in smoking cessation, which is important, we need to ensure when we ban single-use vapes and people are purchasing vapes that they are buying, say, a substantial vape that comes with a standard set of pods that they will not just throw in the bin after they have used it. The issue the UK has had with this small change of pod design is it is just enough in terms of its legislation for big tobacco or big nicotine to dodge the definition of disposable.  Deputy Callaghan said we do not want our children to be the nicotine industry's test subjects but they already are. I was in a local secondary school recently and the staff were talking about the sheer amount of vapes they find in a given week. I was talking to caretaker who I am quite friendly with and he told me at least twice in a given month he has to call some sort of drain specialist out to this secondary school, which is small enough, because somebody has tried to flush a single-use vape, which could be an Elf Bar or Lost Mary vape, down the toilet where it then gets caught. Government needs to come forward with a specific strategy on vaping cessation because we have a generation of people who were smokers and then use vaping to give up smoking, which is fine and legitimate, but we are going to have a generation of people who will have just vaped and there are no targeted resources or an information campaign targeted at getting them off the vapes. That is really important.  It is urgent and important, as I said, that as soon as the Minister of State is finished with this legislation she move on to the nicotine pouches because the advertising of those has already started. I go over and back to the UK a good bit and the vast majority of people I know who use single-use vapes are in my peer group and maybe use them when they have a few drinks. They are already starting, especially friends of mine who live in the likes of London and Liverpool, to move over to nicotine pouches. They moved over to the pouches because they knew the ban on vapes was coming in the UK. The advertisers had moved and it all clicks in like that, so it is really important this is all being done this year and that we keep an eye on what the UK has done to see how we can tweak and tighten up our legislation based on the loopholes the UK has had with, for example, the black market and the idea of a vape being, ipso facto , reusable when it is not in reality.  A big awareness campaign is needed on vaping but specifically on the implications for waste providers and recycling companies. I have visited bin companies in Limerick. I visited Mr. Binman a couple of months ago and I was told about the number of fires the company has in bin trucks due to single-use vapes exploding or bursting into flames. It is unbelievable. The company had an incident a couple of months ago when it had to dump a bin truck in a residential housing estate because of a fire. The message really needs to get out to people that they should not throw these things in the bin because when they get crushed the lithium ion battery will be crushed and this will cause a fire or potentially an explosion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I welcome the opportunity to speak on Second Stage of this Bill. At its core this legislation is about clear principles in protecting public health, especially the health of our young people, while tackling a growing environmental problem in our community. On that basis, I fully support the intent of the Bill.  In my constituency, it is impossible to ignore the extent of the issue. Almost every town and village has at least one vape shop. Never before has nicotine been so accessible in our society and with that accessibility comes serious societal and environmental consequences. In Galway East communities take enormous pride in initiatives like Tidy Towns and in keeping our towns and villages clean, yet disposable vapes are now a common sight on our streets, in hedgerows, near our schools and in our playgrounds. You cannot walk down the street without seeing a discarded single-use vape. These products contain plastics, electronics and lithium batteries and do not belong in our environment. This Bill takes an important step towards removing harmful and wasteful products from our streets. The public health concern is even more pressing. Despite age restrictions these products are finding their way into the hands of young people, often in brightly packaged, fruit-flavoured forms clearly designed to appeal to them. Ireland has worked hard over the decades to reduce smoking and nicotine use but sleek devices, sweet flavours, aggressive marketing and a presence in popular media are now undoing much of that great progress. What was once marketed as a smoking-cessation tool for adults has normalised nicotine use among young people and thereby created habits that risk lasting a lifetime.  The Bill fits squarely within the wider public health direction. While vaping is often presented as harmless nicotine addiction remains a serious concern, especially for adolescents. Galway East has a modest youth population yet there are a striking number of vape shops operating from small country villages to the city centre and we must ask what is sustaining the level of that supply. The sheer availability of these products highlights that legislation alone is not enough. We need strong enforcement and that will be critical in combatting this.  Second Stage is agreeing the principle of the Bill and the principle here is sound. If we are serious about protecting our young people, reducing nicotine addiction and addressing the environmental damage caused by disposable vapes action is required. The task ahead is to ensure this legislation is implemented properly, resourced adequately and enforced consistently in every community. Our responsibility is to safeguard public health, protect our environment and ensure the hard-won progress made in reducing nicotine use is not lost with a new generation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I welcome the opportunity to speak on vapes again. I spoke about it in September and said vapes are the bane of many parents and their children. I have been contacted since then, and was contacted prior to that, about how vapes cause so many arguments in families. As parents, we thought children do not smoke anymore and young people do not smoke but now we have vapes. When I was sitting here I wondered how much a vape costs. A vape is about \u20ac10 but a packet of cigarettes is about \u20ac23, so it is significantly cheaper to buy vapes and you can get your nicotine hit much more cheaply. Part of the difficulty is every year we put up the price of cigarettes but maybe we need to think about that for vapes as well to make it prohibitive for people to buy them. I am talking specifically about young people for the reason that I am a mother of four and vaping comes up quite a lot. It comes up with my friends and constituents that young people are really affecting their health and there is not a widespread understanding of how bad vapes are for people.  It is an addictive substance that damages lungs and people.  I spoke to a beautician who mentioned the number of young people she saw who had poor skin because of vaping. There are all these things that do not get talked about and the challenge is something I talked about in September. I was quoted in the newspaper. I was not being flippant at the time, but people can get vapes to match their outfits and people who use vapes do that because they are being marketed to a certain cohort. As I said in September, if I were that age, I possibly would vape. I was not that fashion conscious to be honest at that age, but I probably would have been looking to be part of that marketing thing. It is clever and we are behind, in that we are not challenging these companies and this business in the way we can.  In September, I spoke about the fact that under-18s were being sold vapes even though it was not allowed. At the time, I asked whether anyone was ever prosecuted. I heard over Christmas that people had been prosecuted. I am delighted about that. Can we have more of that, please? I certainly do not want young people going to buy a substance that is bad for them that they are not supposed to be able to get. I am delighted there were prosecutions of that.  Schools have had to fit particular smoke alarms to detect vapes and that is an additional cost for schools that they should not have. There is a lot of research on health issues and schools are doing great work to try to let young people know that it is as detrimental to their health as smoking a packet of cigarettes. I am delighted to see that and I commend schools that are doing that and supporting parents to make sure they understand the situation as well.  As the previous speaker said, single-use vapes are a challenge environmentally - they are just used and then dumped - but as Deputy Sheehan said, those that can be charged, which are just a notch up from being disposable, are a challenge as well. All the wires have to be disposed of. It is detrimental to our environment.  This conversation is timely. I would love to see us get to a situation where we do not have to continue to talk about it and we are able to make sure all those things are implemented for people not to be reliant on vapes. When vapes came out, I had family members who used them to try to come off cigarettes. However, that was years ago and they are still using vapes. They could perhaps stop using cigarettes, but they are using vapes.  I was happy to hear the Government was looking at legislation to ban the use of vapes in pubs, restaurants and so forth. Happy days. I cannot stand the smell, as I am sure lots of people cannot. If we cannot smoke in there, we should not be able to vape there either. I look forward to the day we do not have to worry about young people having access to vapes, when they are not attracted to them and when we have restrictions in place on people who sell these products.  Before I finish, there is also the issue of nicotine pouches that are being used by young people and that are hugely problematic for their health. We are not talking about that specifically today, but we need to talk about it. Big nicotine companies are profiting from the ill-health of our young people and other citizens. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Mark Ward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  Good timing. Give me a second. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I should have kept talking. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I was trying to give Deputy Cummins a nod there.  This is the third vaping Bill we have discussed. Another is on the way. This piecemeal approach is not working. A comprehensive Bill that encapsulates everything the Minister of State is looking to do in one Bill would have gone through the Houses much more quickly. While we are waiting for these Bills to be passed, our communities are suffering.  In Clondalkin village, the proximity of vape shops to schools is a major issue. A person only has to walk around Clondalkin village at lunchtime to see hoards of young people in their school uniforms going in and out of vape shops, no doubt getting vapes and then coming out onto the road vaping. The Minister of State will see that is a problem. They are in their uniforms. They are openly vaping. They are vaping with their friends. It also leads to antisocial behaviour at night because a number of young people congregate around these vape shops. It is leading to residents feeling intimidated. There have been reports of antisocial behaviour, open drug use and open drug dealing in and around vape shops and other shops at night. Residents have reported this to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. The Garda station is only around the corner, but the Garda's reaction in getting around to resolving this problem needs to be addressed. It does not seem to have the resources in Clondalkin Garda station.  We have also seen environmental problems associated with single use vapes. People who walk down any street in any village will see discarded single-use vapes littering our villages. The Sinn F\u00e9in representative for Lucan, Derren \u00d3 Br\u00e1daigh, informed me earlier that this was a big issue for Lucan Tidy Towns. Lucan Tidy Towns does great work in cleaning up our area, but a lot of that time is taken up tediously peeling off stickers that are in these vapes. I had to ask someone what the stickers were for. They are to protect the batteries in the vapes until they are used. Young people take off the stickers and stick them to a bin or pole and this is causing big problems for how our areas look. They look unkempt and untidy and it takes a long time to remove them. It can be demoralising for such organisations as the Lucan Tidy Towns group in the work they do. They are cleaning up and going about their work only to suddenly come across a bin full of stickers that looks absolutely terrible.  There are also long-term environmental impacts of disposable vapes, for example, the plastic. They are powered by batteries that have lithium and copper in them. The circuit boards inside disposable vapes contain a number of heavy metals and rare minerals, including cobalt, lead and mercury. In addition to the unsightly litter, this can have an impact on soil if they are discarded on grass verges, for example, and on water if they get into our waterways.  I have a bit of time left so I will mention something else. Vapes came along and there was no regulation in place. No one knew what impact they would have and the Government is trying to play catch-up now. When something that is unregulated comes in, it can lead to wider implications. I spoke to the Minister of State before about nitrous oxide and how it was not regulated. As no legislation has been put in place to tackle nitrous oxide use, commonly known as laughing gas, in our communities, there is a wild west situation in our areas. People who walk down any street will see discarded nitrous oxide canisters. When they first came in, they were small silver bullets and then they increased to big industrial-sized nitrous oxide canisters. These large nitrous oxide canisters have no legitimate use. They are not for the catering trade or medical trade. They have no legitimate use, yet - the Minister of State participated in the same debate as me and saw how - a journalist was able to order these overnight and got them the next day. We need to see something in place to stop this because it is having a long-term impact on the health of young people. It is also having an impact on people driving. There is still no test for garda\u00ed to be able to test people for nitrous oxide. The HSE adolescent addiction services are playing a bit of catch-up in how to deal with it because they do not know the long-term effects. We need to start to see legislation in place. I have brought forward legislation that passed First Stage and that would make it a lot harder for nitrous oxide to end up in the hands of young people.  The connection with vapes is - I will bring it back around - that the same marketing ploys are being used for nitrous oxide as are used for single-use vapes. They are brightly coloured and flavoured. They are marketed towards young children. I have always asked myself, if someone needs to use this in the dental industry or catering industry, why they would need to have a raspberry- or blueberry-flavoured nitrous oxide. That goes to show it is directly targeted at young children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  Looking at this Bill, the four pillars of it are a new tax, a full ban, 40 new enforcement posts, and an annual cost of new inspection powers. I would have preferred the Bill to go into more detail about the power of the inspection, what we are expecting from that and the costs surrounding it, but I am sure it will be fleshed out later. I am sure the Minister of State will address it as time goes on.  Like my colleague, Deputy Mark Ward, said, there is no town, village or city that has not seen a huge influx of these types of shops, single-use vape shops that are brightly coloured. Some of them almost look like ice cream parlours with bright neon and various lights inside them, attracting young eyes.  It would be very easy to say it looks more like a pick and mix shop than anything tobacco related, particularly because of the bright colours such as raspberry, watermelon and all of these sorts of things. There is a question on this issue we are not addressing in this House. There seems to be a huge influx of these shops popping up everywhere, along with the barber shops that will only take cash, will not take a credit card and will not or are unable to print a receipt. There are questions about that. I regret very much that this Bill is not encompassing head shops. That is a serious problem we have in this country. We have not looked at the planning permissions either when it comes to local authorities giving out permission because these shops seem to be popping up everywhere. How is it we can have a high street with these types of vape shops and head shops down the road? As Deputy Mark Ward said about the gas bullets that are available out there, they are all being sold in head shops. They are available to people and it is something we need to crack down on.  This Bill has a lot of merits. I am concerned about where the taxation is, the spending, the creating of 40 new posts and exactly what will be done, but we need to address these matters.  The other side of this is that we have to get the balance right. Everybody has the right to smoke a vape or cigarette, drink alcohol or whatever. I have no problem with that. That is up to anyone who is over 18. That is fair. However, we have to take account of health. We also need to look in particular at how we educate people to stay away from these things. How do we educate people on how this is damaging their health? How much of the tax that is being collected is being directly put into advertising and into informing people of better health choices? A Deputy spoke about how it was affecting young people's skin and how her beautician told her that it had a negative effect on people's skin. Why are we not advertising that to young people? In an age where we have young people on TikTok trying to imitate the Kardashians and whoever else of the social media people out there living their best lives, or portraying that, why are we not advertising towards them? A little bit more of the moneys collected via tax needs to be aimed directly towards young people and telling people that it is their choice if they are over 18 but these are the consequences. That is what we really need to look at. It is a mature conversation and it is the right conversation to have. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I am a reformed smoker - I have not smoked a cigarette in 30 years. Then came in the smoking ban, which was targeted at adults. I do not agree with these one-off vapes but if one is an adult, one should have the common sense to know whether to use a vape. Personally, I would nearly prefer to see somebody smoke a cigarette than what is inside those vapes because their contents are unknown, as are the adverse reactions to them. If one is an adult, that is a decision one has to make.  My issue is with the number of pop-up shops selling these vapes. We have had shops that were there for decades but had to close down because they could not make a living, yet these pop-up shops can set up on high-end streets and keep their doors open. They can make massive profits and keep the doors open by just selling vapes. It is absolutely crazy. We have generations upon generations of people trying to keep their shops open for the delivery of food and goods to people but who cannot, yet a pop-up shop can do so.  I have massive concerns about the age group who are now using these vapes. Children as young as nine are getting vapes. They are getting strawberry and Coca-Cola flavours. How easily led are children at that age? There should 100% be a crackdown on vapes.  When the smoking ban came in, the then Government said it tried to limit the number of people who were using cigarettes. It raised and raised the taxes on cigarettes. There are a lot more people addicted in this country to nicotine than there are people who are smoking. The highest rate is among people who are vaping. We are catching people throwing one-off vapes away. We are talking about recycling and looking after the environment, yet all of these vapes are being thrown on the ground. We now have an issue with refillable vapes as well because it looks like liquid cocaine and so on can be put into them and people could be on drugs while they are having a vape.  One makes the decisions for oneself as an adult. If you go down that slippery road, you are an adult, but for any person who is not an adult and any person who gives these vapes to people who are under age, the full rigour of the law should apply. There are children from the ages of nine, ten and upwards involved.  One responsibility that has not been mentioned is that of the parents who are themselves vaping and showing their children it is okay to vape. Accountability comes back to parenting as well. We are responsible for under-18s, including children. Adults are responsible for themselves and their health and what they are putting into their bodies. We can try to put things in place to tell people that vapes are bad for them but they are putting them into their own bodies. I heard somebody mention it recently, and I actually told someone myself, that they might be better off to go out and put their lips around the exhaust of a car with the fumes coming out of it than breathing in what is in some of these vapes. It is unknown what is in these vapes but any person who gives or sells vapes to a child should be 100% held accountable, and I would be 100% behind that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Tens of thousands of people in this country smoke cigarettes. Tens of thousands of people use vapes. Those are the facts. A lot of these people do so as a bit of a relaxant. We have to understand that is a fact in this country. We tend to think that we should ban everything.  This Bill proposes a full ban on the sale of single-use vapes and when it comes to children, I fully agree that no child should ever have access to these products. Adults are a different matter, though. Adults know the risks. Many adults use vapes as a substitute for smoking, which we all know is harmful. Adults are exactly that - adults - and they should have the freedom to make their own choices. We cannot keep sliding into a nanny state where the Government dictates every personal decision. This is presented as a public health measure but with everything happening in Ireland right now, I believe our time would be better spent elsewhere.  We are on the verge of allowing carcinogenic meat and poultry products into this country under a thing called the Mercosur deal. This is a real public health crisis and one that could affect every single person in Ireland for generations, yet there is barely a word from the Government or media. If this Government truly cares about health it, should be sending a very strong message to Europe, \"No to Mercosur\". The Government should be ensuring all of its own MEPs agree to \"No to Mercosur\" and no to poisoning the Irish people.  Back to vapes, taxing vape liquid is another mistake. Most adults who buy these products are trying to quit smoking. Adding more tax will push them back to the cigarettes. This is just another cost for Irish people dressed up as a protection. If the Government wants to protect citizens, it should start by protecting our own food supply.  Let us talk about the cost. It will cost \u20ac3.1 million per year to enforce this ban, plus the 40 new enforcement posts. Instead of creating more bureaucracy, why not invest in education? Teach young people about the dangers of vaping and smoking. That is where prevention starts. We in Independent Ireland are critical of policies that hit ordinary people and small businesses such as Green-style taxes, over-regulation and extra public sector staffing. This Bill has all four: a new tax, a full ban, new inspection powers and annual costs. That is overkill. We support protecting children but the right approach is targeted measures such as a ban on sales to under-18s, restrictions on flavours and packaging, enforcing existing nicotine rules and cracking down on illegal imports, and not punishing adult users. Our position is simple. Right aim; wrong tool. Protect children, yes, but stop piling on bans, taxes and bureaucracy.  Respect adult choice and focus on real health threats, such as Mercosur. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I also broadly welcome this Bill, incremental as it may be. This legislation is a long-overdue partial measure responding to a significant public health concern, especially for our younger people.  The Irish and international research has been sounding the alarm for several years. We have had multiple debates about this. The initial measure to clampdown on the underage sales had some impact. It was welcome. The Healthy Ireland survey showed that daily vaping among 15- to 19-year-olds had reached 12.9% in 2023 before falling to 9.3% in 2024 following the ban on under-18 sales. It is good to see that but the underlying trend remains deeply worrying in terms of moving forward.  A major study published in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe led by researchers from the HSE, Trinity College, the Royal College of Surgeons and UCC found a 20-fold increase in vaping among young people and concluded that vaping is hooking a new generation of Irish people on nicotine, rather than helping them quit smoking. It, in itself, is creating a new drug, rather than being an aid for smoking, as an allegedly more dangerous activity.  Meanwhile we have the Irish Health Survey 2024, using CSO data, reporting that nearly one-in-four young adults aged 18 to 34 now use or have at least once used vaping products, with almost 14% vaping every day. These are not numbers we can ignore. They represent a major shift in nicotine consumption patterns in Ireland - something that the companies are pushing big time to keep the revenue streams going.  In previous debates as well as in this debate, we have had discussions and revelations about the chemicals contained in the products, the individual chemicals and their cumulative effect. There may be a lack of long-term research but there certainly is some research showing that vaping products have a health impact. The environmental footprint has also been mentioned, adding the likes of the plastics, the lithium batteries and the electronic waste onto our streets and waterways, as other Deputies have referred to. No more than in my constituency, Tidy Towns groups, environmental groups and individual concerned citizens have reported a massive increase in these disposable products.  I want at the outset to reference something I raised previously. It is not related to this legislation but we are doing nothing about the nitrous oxide canisters. That is a major environmental and health concern also.  In relation to the vaping, this Bill is a necessary limited step to protect public health and the environment but it is focusing too narrowly on the single-use devices when the research shows the problem is broader and the industry is already adapting to the changes, as noted elsewhere.  The Lancet study I referred to makes clear another problem, namely, dual-use - smoking and vaping together. This gives the lie to the argument that vaping is about helping people to quit smoking. It is no longer strongly associated with quitting intentions and, as I stated previously, it is a new profit vehicle for producers. If our goal is to reduce any type of nicotine addiction, we need this more comprehensive regulatory framework for all nicotine products, including the refillable vapes, nicotine pouches, which I mentioned in this Chamber previously and which have their own negative health indicators that need to be looked at, and other emerging synthetic nicotine products.  It is also the case, even with the welcome initial reduction, that enforcement still remains a major challenge in this country in terms of catching out companies and individual businesses selling to young people. The drop in youth vaping after the under-18 sales ban showed that the regulation works but it will continue working only if that enforcement is resourced and ongoing. The online sales, the social media marketing and other informal retail channels, including the likes of influencers, continue to target and supply minors in whatever way they can. By saying \"minors\", I am not only talking about those under age; I am talking about young people who otherwise may not have even considered trying vaping products. Without significant investment in the enforcement capacity such as dedicated environmental health officers and customs staff, the ban risks becoming more of a symbolic victory - talking the talk but not really walking the walk.  The Bill does not go far enough in addressing issues such as marketing and product design. Other jurisdictions have moved much more decisively. The UK announced a ban on disposable vapes and restrictions on flavours, packaging and point-of-sale displays, and several EU countries, including France and Germany, are pursuing broader bans and stricter controls on nicotine concentrations. We, as a country, risk falling behind if we do not bring in similar measures.  The Bill narrowly focuses on single-use disposable vapes. That includes the enforcement powers, the offences, the definitions of single-use and related administrative provisions but it does not include flavour restrictions, nicotine strength limits, packaging or advertising rules, or design restrictions, especially ones anticipating the measures brought in by sellers and producers in other jurisdictions such as the charging ports and pre-fill pods some of my colleagues have reference.  What I am particularly concerned about is that the Bill does not ban or regulate flavours. That is the most glaring omission in the legislation. The HSE-supported study in The Lancet Regional Health - Europe found that the sweet and fruit flavours were the most common reason that young people start vaping. The ESRI's research shows that flavour descriptors significantly increase the appeal of vaping products to teenagers. I get why the Government might be leaving this element out and instead say it could bring it in through separate regulations under the Public Health (Tobacco and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act 2023 or amending that or other legislation. The most logical reason relates to the requirement under the EU's tobacco products directive where member states must notify the European Commission before introducing new product standard rules, including flavour bans. My understanding is this process takes six-to-12 months and requires things such as justification, a standstill period and clear scientific evidence. The Minister of State may correct me if I am wrong but it appears the Government has not yet notified the EU under the tobacco products directive of any intention to ban or restrict flavours. It could have done that concurrently up to the point of introducing this Bill so that it was ready to go alongside until it had a near-final drafted regulations. It appears that no matter what, a key factor to help stop attracting young people and older people to vaping is now still a long way down the road because of that. If I can get that clarification, it would be great but the work could have been done alongside.  The UK's upcoming legislation, as I mentioned, includes flavour restrictions along with the plain packaging and display bans, etc. France is looking at exploring the flavour limits and is pursuing a full ban of disposable vapes as well. The Netherlands has already banned all non-tobacco flavours in e-liquids. Germany is considering similar restrictions and has already tightened advertising rules. We risk falling behind. To quote the famous album by The Cranberries, Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can't We?  I support the Bill in principle because it protects young people, reduces the environmental harm and moves Ireland closer to a coherent nicotine control strategy. However, we need to speed up on the other measures. Otherwise, we risk being left behind because the flavours are a hugely important element as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  I thank the Members of the House for their contributions to the debate today and I look forward to their support as this Bill is further considered on Committee Stage.  The range of measures that we have developed to address the problems caused by vaping are the result of thorough consideration. This Bill has one purpose, which is to ban single-use vapes, but we are soon bringing in the legislation to address the many other issues around these products. We are moving ahead of some EU counterparts with some of the measures in this Bill and in our upcoming law. For instance, France and Belgium are the only other EU countries to have progressed with a ban on disposable vapes. The UK and New Zealand have similar laws and I welcome our Government being so progressive on this issue.  There is a risk in this approach. It means that consumers may be able to avoid these measures by making purchases from other countries. We are aware of that.  I know it was spoken about today. That is why the Minister for Health has repeatedly called on the European Commission to bring forward a new tobacco products directive as soon as possible, for example, an EU-wide ban on single-use vapes. It would be much more effective with an EU-wide ban on cross-border purchase of these products which would mean progressive member states can continue with other regulations without the concerns that measures will be undermined by purchasing from countries with different laws. We will continue to call on the EU for wider measures but we will also continue to legislate to protect the health of our children. This Bill needs to be notified at EU level and assessed by other member states and the European Commission. The required notification was made in December. There is a six-month assessment period which must be served. It has been sent to the EU. I look forward to a positive response from the European Commission on this measure.  I am also finalising a law to provide for baseline measures on all current and future nicotine products. This is important as we see newer products like nicotine pouches on the market, and several Members brought this up. We are very much aware of these new nicotine pouches. Last year, we held a public consultation on vapes. We sought views on issues such as flavours, packaging and point-of-sale advertising and displays. The consultation received nearly 16,000 responses which tells you the number of people who have concerns. We were really pleased with that. This level of interest is not surprising. Like all of us, I hear the concerns of parents and teachers every day about the level of nicotine used by children and young people. The responses to the consultation along with evidence reviews, a regulatory impact assessment and legal advice, have informed our proposed law. We are working to ensure that it will be legally robust as well as effective. As was said today, this has to work and has to be effective. We are talking about products such as nicotine pouches that already exist or any further products that may be designed for recreational use of nicotine. It is important that these types of products are covered by legislation now. We saw how quickly vapes increased in use among our young people and how widely available the different colours and flavours became. It happened so quickly. We do not want the same thing to happen with other nicotine products. It is important that a comprehensive law addresses new products as it is constantly changing.  The further approved measures we are currently finalising will prohibit the sale of these products and any future nicotine products to any person under the age of 18. The next Bill will restrict colours and imagery on the packages of vapes and on devices to make them less attractive to children. It will also restrict the flavours available and ban all flavour descriptors and language other than the basic flavour names. This is to remove the marketing potential of the use of child-friendly flavours which is important. The Bill will also ban the advertising of these products in shops such as supermarkets and convenience stores as well as specialist shops and the vape shops we see popping up. With the new licensing system coming in, pop-up shops will not be able to get a licence. People spoke about the number of pop-up shops. I have written to local authorities about this. We will ban the retail display of these products in supermarkets, convenience stores and other mixed retail outlets.  An awareness campaign came up today as well. I am mindful of that. Working with my Department, which I would like to thank for its hard work, and the HSE, we will have a big awareness campaign on this. We will go into schools and will advertise it. I am mindful of that around the country.  A few issues were raised. One in particular was why the two Bills are separate instead of one. This was on the advice of the Attorney General and due to the regulatory framework for single-use vapes being different from that of the nicotine inhaling products. Our plans to restrict flavours, regular packaging and restrict point-of-sale displays for nicotine inhaling products will be delivered in the public health (tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products) (amendment) Bill. This Bill will be drafted by the end of the month. We are working hard with the Department and my team. It will be drafted by the end of the month and, subject to Cabinet approval, will then be ready to enter the Houses.  There was also concern about the definition of single-use vapes. The definition used is based on a UK law. That has been worked through with the Office of the Attorney General. We are satisfied this has the intended effect. Time given for prosecutions and offences also came up. This is a standard provision in the tobacco control law. It ensures our National Environmental Health Service has enough time to prepare a robust case for any prosecution taken. Resources were also brought up. As Members know, we work closely with the HSE to provide sufficient resources for our National Environmental Health Service, our enforcement body. More resources would allow our environmental health officers to do more. In budget 2026, I am delighted to say I secured an extra environmental health officer in each region which will help with enforcement matters. We have extra staff in each region. The team has worked very hard on that.  On taxing of vapes, last year, my colleagues and the Minister for Finance placed a tax on e-liquids of 50 cent per ml. This was put on as an incentive not to buy them. The delay and industry pressure came up as well. There was a suggestion there were delays in bringing this law forward owing to industry pressures on the Department of Health. I assure the House neither the Department of Health nor I engaged with any tobacco or vaping industry. Ireland is part a framework convention on tobacco control which provides that parties should protect their public health policy from interference by the tobacco industry. The Department of Health actively complies with the legal requirements and has urged other Government Departments, public representatives and public officials to do the same.  Our national tobacco control policy, Tobacco Free Ireland, is currently being reviewed. This review will consider the full range of existing legislation and voluntary measures to protect the public from second-hand smoke and aerosols, which came up a lot today, and whether they should be strengthened. This will be done in the context of Council recommendations on smoke and aerosol-free environments which recommend that member states protect the public from second-hand smoke and aerosols in a range of indoor and outdoor spaces with a particular focus on spaces for children, education and healthcare. Education is key to this.  As I said earlier, this legislation is about prevention. By banning single-use vapes, we are taking further action to protect young people from nicotine addiction and to prevent a new generation from becoming dependent on these products. This is about protecting health and well-being in particular for younger people. I look forward to returning to the House when we have finalised, comprehensive laws on other aspects of vapes and other tobacco products such a nicotine pouches. I know there will be further debate on Committee Stage. I hope Members will work with us in ultimately enacting this important legislation.  I thank everyone. This is really important legislation. It is important we get it through the House as soon as possible. We are ready with the enforcements and the team from the HSE on awareness. With all of us working together, it will be game-changing. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Mercosur Trade Agreement: Motion [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":80,"speakerCount":39},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:  condemns:  \u2014 in the strongest possible terms, the catastrophic failure of the Irish Government to prevent the advancement of the European Union (EU)-Mercosur Trade Agreement, despite many years of warnings, repeated opportunities to build a blocking minority, and repeated appeals from Irish farming organisations, environmental experts and Sinn F\u00e9in; and  \u2014 the role of the Taoiseach, who not only failed to challenge the Mercosur process, but who previously led the charge in misleading the public on the Lisbon Treaty, dismissing concerns at the time about weakened democratic processes, control over EU trade policy, reduced veto powers and diminishing national leverage;  recognises that:  \u2014 the Government's job was to stop the Mercosur Trade Agreement, and that they have failed utterly in this task;  \u2014 the Irish Government failed to stand firm, refused to engage seriously with like-minded EU member states, and refused to use Ireland's leverage when it actually mattered;  \u2014 at the eleventh hour they have cynically announced, in an act of political cowardice, they will vote against the Mercosur Trade Agreement, only after the deal is effectively locked in at EU level;  \u2014 this failure reflects a broader pattern of passivity, complacency and unwillingness to challenge the European Commission on behalf of Irish farmers, Irish environmental obligations, and Ireland's strategic interests; and  \u2014 the Irish Government was wrong to dismiss public concerns about the Lisbon Treaty, and that warnings at the time about weakened democratic controls over EU trade policy and reduced national veto power have proven correct in the context of Mercosur;  notes with concern:  \u2014 the catastrophic impact that importing 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry into the EU would have on Irish and EU farmers, depressing prices and destabilising rural livelihoods;  \u2014 that the Mercosur Trade Agreement runs entirely counter to EU and Irish climate legislation and would incentivise further deforestation, biodiversity loss and environmental destruction in Mercosur countries, particularly Brazil; and  \u2014 that agricultural products imported under this agreement are frequently produced using toxic chemicals banned in the EU for decades, and the 2024 EU audit confirmed Brazil cannot reliably trace or guarantee hormone-free beef, yet the Mercosur Trade Agreement would allow exporters to self-certify compliance with EU standards;  further recognises:  \u2014 the grave and immediate threat posed to Irish agriculture, the environment, food safety standards and fundamental human rights by the proposed Mercosur Trade Agreement;  \u2014 the enormous benefit that Irish agriculture provides to the Irish economy and its essential role in sustaining rural communities, family farms and local industries across the State;  \u2014 that Irish farmers are custodians of the land, actively promoting biodiversity, protecting soil and water quality, and working to improve environmental sustainability;  \u2014 that Irish agricultural produce is respected worldwide for its high quality, traceability and the rigorous standards to which it is produced;  \u2014 the exceptionally high environmental, labour, animal welfare and food safety requirements placed on Irish and EU producers, that imported agri-food products must also meet if there is to be any fairness in international trade;  \u2014 the need for sustainable, equitable and enforceable international trade agreements that support, rather than undermine, Irish and EU agricultural sectors and rural economies;  \u2014 that tariff reductions can benefit consumers only when they are implemented in a fair, transparent and sustainable manner, and not when they create a race to the bottom on standards;  \u2014 the absolute necessity that all imported products meet the same environmental, traceability and animal welfare standards as those required of producers in Ireland and across the EU; and  \u2014 the various agreements, declarations and frameworks to which the Irish State is a signatory, including the Rome Declaration on World Food Security, the Paris Agreement, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework; and  calls on the Government to:  \u2014 immediately publish a full and detailed account of all legal, political and diplomatic actions it has taken, or intends to take, to oppose the ratification of the Mercosur Trade Agreement, and to outline definitive steps to ensure that Mercosur beef cannot enter the Irish food chain under any circumstances;  \u2014 actively and publicly support the legal action taken by members of the European Parliament against the ratification of the Mercosur Trade Agreement;  \u2014 mandate all their party Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) to vote against the Mercosur Trade Agreement, and launch an urgent diplomatic initiative to build a blocking minority among like-minded EU member states; and  \u2014 engage immediately and directly with other MEPs across the political spectrum to urge them to reject the agreement, and to work with civil society, farming organisations and environmental groups to build a broad coalition of opposition at EU level.  I understand I am sharing with other Members. The reason we are here this evening, as the Minister is aware, is that the Mercosur trade agreement is detrimental to Irish agriculture, the people who live in rural Ireland and people who live across the entire island of Ireland and across the European Union because of the detrimental impact it will have on food safety. Food safety is primary in all of this. We see product coming in from Mercosur countries which is well below the standard we expect Irish or European farmers to meet. For that reason, we are totally opposed to the Mercosur trade agreement.  Our motion this evening calls out the Government on its inaction in respect of this. On the one hand, the Government has suggested it is opposed to the deal but, on the other, it does not do anything to block or stop it when it goes to Europe. It had ample opportunity over recent years to build an alliance with other countries across Europe to block it. It failed to do so.  I will bring the Minister of State back to July 2019, when Sinn F\u00e9in had a motion to oppose the Mercosur trade agreement here in the D\u00e1il. The then Government, a Fine Gael Government, tabled an amendment to it making a nonsense of it. That amendment was actually defeated and the D\u00e1il gave a mandate to the then Government and subsequent ones to build alliances with other parties and countries across Europe to block the deal. They utterly failed to do so. We can see this from the utterances of the current Government in recent weeks. At every turn, it has spoken about the positives of the agreement and has said what can come from it that could be good. It has said it could be good for other sectors and referred to there being safeguards in place. All of this is a simple and total betrayal of the Irish agriculture sector and European consumers.  We recognise that the whole system in place for trade deals requires a vote in every parliament. What happened in this case, however, was that the proposed agreement was split into two parts so this would not happen. There is a challenge to go to the EU in respect of that. What we are doing this evening is calling out the Irish Government on its complicity in all this. We also recognise that we have to have a commitment from the Government to publish the political, diplomatic and legal steps it has taken to block the Mercosur trade agreement. It should prove it has done what it has claimed to have done over recent months, because the reality is that nobody believes it has done anything. Now we are left with an agreement that is going to go through. Only at the last minute, when the Irish Government recognised a majority was going to vote in favour of it and that a blocking minority was not going to be in place, did it turn heel and decide it was going to vote against it. The day before, when the Taoiseach was in China, he more or less said to everyone that Ireland was going to vote for it. How can the Government be so wishy-washy in here and tell us it is going to Europe to do the opposite of what it has been suggesting? Nobody believes it. That is reality and it is why we have this motion this evening and are calling on the Government to work with other countries and put pressure on all the MEPs across Europe to vote against the Mercosur trade agreement when it is before the European Parliament and build alliances everywhere we can to block it to protect the livelihoods of Irish farmers.  The Government often mentions that only 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of chicken will come in. The reality is that this is the door slightly opened. The next time there is a crisis in Europe, owing to disease or something else, we will see the floodgates opened and more and more inferior product coming in from Mercosur countries.  For these reasons, we simply have to hold the Government to account. It did not play the game fairly. It pretended it was opposed to the deal when in reality, and as everyone knows, it worked hand in glove with its friends in Europe to get it through, basically for Miche\u00e1l Martin to look good to Ursula von der Leyen. That is what is happening here, and everyone knows it.  We are here this evening to discuss this motion. I have read the Government\u2019s counter-motion. It is a self-congratulatory fairytale pretending the Government has done this, that and the other to protect Irish farmers and Irish livelihoods and that safeguards are in place. Nobody believes anything has been done effectively to build an alliance to block this Mercosur trade agreement. It was the Irish Government\u2019s responsibility to block it but it has failed miserably and basically betrayed the Irish people, Irish consumers and Irish farmers in respect of it. That is why we have this motion this evening and why we are holding the Government to account. We saw thousands of farmers protesting over this situation in Athlone last Saturday. People are angry across the entire country. It is not just farmers and people in rural areas but also others across the entire country, because they recognise what is happening. It was the very same thing with the fisheries. The Government failed to stand up for an indigenous industry and it let it go to the wall. We simply need the Government to make the proper commitment to block the deal from here on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  I strongly welcome this motion. The Government\u2019s last-minute decision to vote against the Mercosur deal was a cynical and opportunistic move. To take a decision only once it was certain the vote would pass shows an utter lack of political spine when it comes to standing up to the European Commission. This failure of leadership is at complete odds with the people the Government claims to represent. On Saturday, almost 30,000 people from every corner of Ireland rallied in Athlone to say \u201cNo\u201d to Mercosur. Many of those people have supported parties like Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael for generations. For what? It was for the purpose of more crumbs from the EU table just to survive and keep struggling. I do not want those in our farming community to just survive and get by; I want them to have a viable future. I say this for the next generation, for children like my boys growing up on our family farm and for every child who wants to keep up the tradition of farming and providing for communities. It is about not being forced off the land as a result of Government politics.  The devastation of Mercosur will not just hit beef farmers because it will also shatter communities across rural Ireland, communities this Government has taken for granted for far too long. As we saw on Sunday, people are waking up to the Government\u2019s false promises. Last week, the Food Safety Authority issued a recall of Brazilian beef on sale in Ireland \u2013 beef containing banned cancer-linked hormones. That recall was not a joke. The meat was tested last October and had long been bought and consumed before the warning was finally issued. How can the Minister of State expect ordinary people to have confidence in a system that allows this to happen? Is he going to stand up and tell us he is happy to buy and eat this product? God knows what is in it. Take a product I have to hand as an example and look at the labelling. It is a well-known brand, the so-called \u201cFinders of Fine Foods\u201d. Instead of using Irish beef, it chooses Brazilian beef, produced to standards decades behind our own. You would need a magnifying glass to read the country of origin on the back of the product. It is shameful and deceitful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. I call Deputy McGuinness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  After all the health warnings and after seeing the evidence, would the Minister of State be happy to feed this crap to his family? He has sat on his hands for far too long. It is time to take a stand and ensure Ireland actively supports this legal challenge. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The time is the time. If Deputies eat into one another\u2019s time, they will still only have a set time. I call Deputy McGuinness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Sinn F\u00e9in has been clear and consistent for years in opposing the EU\u2013Mercosur trade deal. It is bad for Irish agriculture. Farmers, exporters and rural communities are telling us that. It is also bad for food standards. Every expert is telling us that and the evidence that has already been mentioned indicates it. It is bad for rural communities. Is mar Thadhg an d\u00e1 thaobh at\u00e1 an Rialtas, at\u00e1 ag cur an dallamull\u00f3g ar mhuintir na h\u00c9ireann agus ar an bpobal tuaithe. For years, farmers have warned the Government of the damage this deal would do to income, confidence, the future of generational farming and the brand Irish farmers and Irish Governments have worked hard to create and export around the world. They warned how it threatened to flood the European market with beef produced to standards that would be illegal here \u2013 beef linked to deforestation, weaker animal welfare rules and lower labour protection. Those warnings were dismissed by those opposite me. We were told concerns were overstated, and many Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael MEPs, TDs and Senators have been saying in the media in the past 24 hours how these concerns were overstated, but not one of them has sat here in this Chamber for this debate. That tells its own story. Not one Fianna F\u00e1il or Fine Gael backbencher has made it their business to be here in the Chamber today. In fact, there is nobody from Fianna F\u00e1il in the Chamber today----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  The Deputy is speaking from the Opposition. He knows how this works. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  -----and that is telling. The Minister of State can try to dress it up how he wants but they are not here for this debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  The Deputy can make his remarks but he does not have to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Now, on the eve of ratification----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  The Deputy knows----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I did not interrupt the Minister of State and I will not interrupt him when he speaks later. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please. Decorum. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  On the eve of ratification, the Government has performed a dramatic U-turn, knowing there will be no cost to doing so for a domestic audience, to try to save face somewhat. It has suddenly claimed to oppose the deal. The members of the Government parties, including Ministers, and Irish Government representatives in Brussels previously spoke in favour of Mercosur. Let us not rewrite the record here. Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have been championing this deal for many years, speaking from both sides of their mouths. Nobody has changed their position on this except the Government, but we all see that the emperor has no clothes and that the about-face in the media last week was nothing more than playing to a domestic agenda. However, nobody is falling for it. Rural communities are not, nor is the Irish farming industry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The ratification of the Mercosur trade deal represents the greatest failure of an Irish Government to protect Irish family farmers since we joined the EEC. It is a betrayal of Irish agriculture comparable to what the Common Fisheries Policy was to our fishing community.  The roots of this betrayal, which is what it is, go way beyond the last week or so. The roots lie, in the first instance, in an Irish Government agreeing to a negotiating mandate at a European level. They lie in the Lisbon Treaty, which removed the ability of small states like Ireland to protect our interests in trade negotiations.  Over the past decades, Sinn F\u00e9in has repeatedly called on the Government to stop this deal at times when it could have been stopped. Instead, we got deflection. Fine Gael tried and failed to block a Sinn F\u00e9in motion in this House in 2019 mandating it to call \u201cStop.\u201d We even had Phil Hogan, the then Commissioner, telling Irish farmers at one stage that beef was off the table in the Mercosur talks, which was an attempt to dampen down opposition. In 2017, after I was at a private meeting in the European Parliament when the European Commission confirmed that beef was very much central to this, I called on the Government to stop the deal. Sinn F\u00e9in representatives in every single year since have been urging the Government to stop this deal.  Rather than heeding those calls, the Government played an absolutely obscene game of duplicity, pretending to farmers that it was opposed to this European trade deal with the Mercosur states, and at the same time doing nothing to bring it to an end. We have had this dismal failure to answer the question that cannot actually be answered: how can you supplant beef, poultry and other products that are produced to the highest standards in the world, and replace them with beef coming from the far end of the world that is being produced at the cost of the rainforests? It says a lot about the Government Members of this House. A former Member of this House, Eamon Ryan, tells us today that we should support this deal, all the while knowing that what they are actually doing, economically, environmentally and from an agriculture perspective, is absolute madness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  This is the third motion brought forward by Sinn F\u00e9in in relation to the Mercosur deal. The Government's position was not clear here in Ireland. On Wednesday, the Taoiseach said a lot of progress had been made, and then, on Thursday, he said we were not backing Mercosur. We had our motion last month in this Chamber, when the Minister for agriculture refused to categorically state the Government\u2019s opposition to this deal. If the Government\u2019s position was not clear here in Ireland, then I would imagine it was not clear at all in Europe.  Our D\u00e1il motion in 2019 gave a clear mandate to the Government to go out to Europe to build alliances and to build a block against the Mercosur deal. That clearly did not happen. The calls that have been made in the motion brought forward this evening are very important. What we saw in Athlone on Saturday shows and tells us that the public want answers to the calls that have been made in this motion, particularly in relation to the publication of a full and detailed account of all of the actions this Government has taken at EU level - the conversations, the debates, what has been said by Ireland at a European level and what work had been done at an EU level in relation to this deal.  We are asking in this motion for the Government to actively and publicly support the legal action. We need an answer tonight. Is the Government doing that or is it not? We also need to know that all Irish MEPs will be mandated to vote against Mercosur, and that the parties in government will do the same.  Standards matter. It is backbreaking for Irish farmers to follow the rules, regulations, inspections and everything they have to follow to make sure they produce a quality standard, which they do. They are not the standards that are available in any of the countries in Mercosur. It is a joke to think we would allow sub-standard beef on our shelves and put our people at risk of serious breaches in food safety by allowing these items to be on our shelves. The Government needs to do the right thing by telling us what it has done and will do to block this deal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  The reality of this deal is simple. It is a sell-out. It is a sell-out of Irish farmers, our food standards and even our environmental protections. The European Commission has forced through this agreement, completely ignoring the huge cost it brings to the people of Ireland and of Europe. The cost of this deal is Irish livelihoods. Irish farmers cannot fairly compete with cheap imports from Mercosur countries with lower standards. The cost of this deal is our public health. It weakens the standard of food within the EU by allowing imports produced with EU-banned pesticides, hormones and antibiotics. What is it for? It is to increase the profits of giant businesses.  This has been a catastrophic failure by the Government. It has to see that. The Government should have been there to protect Irish farmers and protect Irish people. It has failed to do that by failing to stand up against Mercosur. This agreement was not sprung on us. An Teachta Kerrane has just outlined how this has been raised in the Chamber numerous times, and an Teachta Carthy spoke about how this has been talked about for decades. It was not sprung on us. There has been a long-standing campaign against Mercosur, rightly so.  As a nation, we are proud of our beef. Our beef is known around the world for being of very high quality. That did not come about by accident. It comes down to the hard work of farmers for generations, and not just their hard work, but their passion and their pride in their produce. Irish farmers adhere to the highest standards when it comes to traceability, animal welfare and environmental standards, and they do so willingly to ensure the best quality. Then, what happens? The Government does not stand up to protect that. It does not have that same pride in our beef, in our standards and in our quality.  We know that the same traceability and regulation are just not there when it comes to Mercosur countries. Beef is produced using hormones and antibiotics that are simply banned in the EU. It is not a level playing field for our farmers, and it is not right for our people. The Government has failed our farmers but, equally, it has failed our people. For those who do not think this is related to them, the environmental damage is catastrophic. It is related to public health, environmental standards and common decency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  I attended the protest in Athlone on Saturday. It was a very powerful demonstration and reflection of what the people think of this deal. People travelled from all across Ireland to be there. It was a clear message that this deal will impact everyone, urban and rural alike, particularly when it comes to food safety, food security and fairness. The day before the deal was agreed, the Government claimed that it was voting against it, but let us be honest: it did it because it knew it was going through anyway. It was safe to say \u201cNo\u201d because it had already failed to do the work when it actually mattered. In the programme for Government, the Government committed to building an alliance across Europe to form a blocking minority but it utterly failed to do that. Despite numerous warnings over many years from Irish farming organisations, environmental experts and Sinn F\u00e9in, it did not do enough. Irish farmers and consumers will pay the price for that failure.  We need a full, detailed account of every legal, political and diplomatic action this Government has taken or failed to take in relation to the Mercosur trade deal. I spoke to people in Athlone on Saturday, including farmers from County Clare. They want a level playing field. That does not exist under Mercosur. There is no meaningful regulation and no proper traceability. They do not even tag their cattle.  The rebranding of this deal as a so-called partnership agreement is undemocratic. Member states must have the right to debate and vote on this in their national parliaments. Allowing exporters to self-certify compliance with the EU standards, while Irish farmers are held to the highest standards of animal welfare, traceability, regulation and environmental protection, is fundamentally unjust. The Government must actively work to maximise opposition to this deal among MEPs and finally block Mercosur for Irish farmers, rural communities, our environment, food safety and food security. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I call the Minister of State, I remind Members that under Salient Ruling 342, the production of exhibits or displays, such as newspapers, postcards, placards or anything like that, is strongly not recommended. I call the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Neale Richmond)  I move amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann\" and substitute the following:  \"notes the vote of the European Union (EU) member states on 9th January, which accepted by a qualified majority the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement; and  recognises that:  \u2014 every effort was undertaken by the Government to work with like-minded EU member states who shared concerns with the Mercosur agreement to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the Mercosur Trade Agreement; and  \u2014 Government Ministers, including the Taoiseach, T\u00e1naiste, Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Minister of State for European Affairs and Defence have worked extensively with fellow EU ministers to make changes to the Mercosur Trade Agreement, but the improvements made unfortunately were not acceptable to the Government;  further recognises that:  \u2014 following the initial Mercosur Trade Agreement, which was agreed in 2019, the then Government and other EU governments expressed strong objections to the agreement, and required the EU and Mercosur to return to the negotiation table;  \u2014 in 2024, the EU and Mercosur agreed an additional legal instrument on trade and sustainability commitments;  \u2014 in October 2025, the European Commission (EC) responded to the demands of Ireland and other concerned member states by presenting a number of flanking measures to address the concerns of the agriculture sector;  \u2014 these additional measures included:  \u2014 a 'safeguards' measure to protect against a surge in import volumes, or price falls in the EU;  \u2014 a financial safety net for farmers;  \u2014 strengthened sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) controls along with a 50 per cent increase in audits and checks; and  \u2014 commitments on the alignment of production and SPS standards, notably on pesticides and animal welfare;  \u2014 the EC has also proposed additional flexibility in the EU budget and to enhance the availability of Common Agricultural Policy funding for farmers and rural communities; and  notes that while the additional commitments are welcome, on balance, the Government considered they are not sufficient to satisfy the concerns of Irish farmers and citizens; and  welcomes, in line with the firm commitment in the Programme for Government that the Government voted against the adoption of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement.\"  I want to be absolutely clear. The Government rejects entirely the arguments and positions put forward in the Sinn F\u00e9in motion before the D\u00e1il and, indeed, the contributions from the Sinn F\u00e9in Deputies heretofore. The motion does not reflect the reality of what the Government has done, nor does it acknowledge the sustained, serious and good-faith efforts undertaken by Government Ministers, officials and diplomats at the European Union level, and with like-minded EU member states, to oppose the EU-Mercosur agreement and to defend the interests of Irish farmers and rural communities.  I am utterly aghast at some of the revisionism coming from Deputies so far.  The Government countermotion replaces assertion with fact. It sets out clearly the actions taken by the Government, the evolution in the agreement in terms of trade and sustainability commitments, the significant concessions obtained from the European Union to address the concerns of the agricultural sector and the basis on which Ireland reached its decision. It is that position I wish to place fully and clearly on the record of D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann this evening.  On 9 January, EU member states voted on the signature of the EU-Mercosur trade agreement. That vote was carried by a qualified majority. Ireland voted against the adoption of the agreement. That vote was entirely consistent with the programme for Government and with the position articulated by this Government repeatedly and unambiguously over a sustained period.  It is important to emphasise that this decision was not a symbolic gesture. Ireland's opposition to the EU-Mercosur agreement has been consistent and focused on ensuring the best outcome for our most vulnerable sectors, both in our efforts to achieve a blocking minority and in our work to seek out supports and protections for our farmers in the event the agreement would ultimately be adopted.  Crucially, Ireland did not stand alone and shout from the sidelines. The Sinn F\u00e9in Deputy who criticised Government and Opposition Members' absence is himself absent having made that assertion. One has to worry about when to take people seriously in this Chamber. Every effort was undertaken by the Government to work with like-minded member states which shared our concerns about the agreement. Who else voted against this? France, Austria, Poland and Hungary. The Belgians abstained. Our objective throughout was to stand up for Irish farmers, to protect the rural economy and to ensure that Ireland's voice was heard clearly and credibly at EU level. Government Ministers engaged extensively with EU counterparts. That engagement was sustained over time and took place across multiple forums: European Council meetings, sectoral Council meetings, bilateral engagements and direct dialogue with the European Commission, including during a focused visit by trade Commissioner, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, in October last year.  The purpose of that broad-based engagement was twofold - first, to attempt to build a blocking minority of member states and second, to seek substantive changes and safeguards that would meaningfully address Ireland's concerns. That work was done seriously and persistently. It represents the kind of diplomacy that a small, influential member state must practice if it is to defend its interests effectively within the European Union. That is something this Government and Irish Governments of every fold can look back throughout our membership of the European Union and point to real actual wins over time. That effort matters and it is entirely ignored in the Sinn F\u00e9in motion. The lack of real assessment and objective analysis of the work that goes in at EU level sticks in my craw.  It is also essential to situate this debate in the wider context of Ireland's approach to trade. Trade is not an abstract concept for this country. It is central to our economic model, to our employment base and to the living standards of our people in urban and in rural communities. Ireland is an open, outward-facing economy. Our prosperity has not been built on natural resources or protectionism but on the talent of our people, on innovation, on high-quality agricultural production and on our ability to compete in global markets. Deputy Farrell was right when she said that Irish beef is world-known. It is known because of the consistent effort to go on trade missions to get access to markets such as the reopening of the Chinese market to Irish beef this week. Our membership of the European Union is fundamental to that success. It amplifies our influence and allows us to shape trade agreements that reflect EU values and standards.  Through the EU, Ireland has benefited from a network of free trade agreements that have opened markets, supported exports and reinforced high standards in areas such as food safety, animal and plant health, environmental protection, labour rights and sustainability. For a country that exports approximately 90% of the food and drink we produce, trade is indispensable.  Deputy Carthy gave the game away. Sinn F\u00e9in has opposed every single EU trade deal and has voted and campaigned against every single European treaty since the referendum in 1972 on Ireland joining the then EEC. Sinn F\u00e9in is a Eurosceptic party. It always has been. It got a bit woolly on it during the Brexit years when it thought it might be able to back it but its true colours are showing and it is trying to catch up with people who have been criticising it for its lack of consistency on the European front. However, openness is very clear; it has never meant naivety. The Government has always been clear that trade policy must be balanced. Supporting open, rules-based trade does not mean supporting every trade agreement in any form, regardless of its distributional impact or its consequences for vulnerable sectors. The Irish Government has consistently shown this. We have backed the trade deals that have been beneficial to Ireland and we have worked on trade deals to improve them and make them even more beneficial to crucial sectors. That balance between opportunity and protection and between competitiveness and sustainability has been at the heart of the Government's approach to the EU-Mercosur agreement.  Ireland's concerns about the EU-Mercosur agreement are long-standing and well documented. Following the initial political agreement reached in 2019, the then Government, alongside other EU governments, expressed strong objections and insisted that the EU and Mercosur return to the negotiating table. Those objections were grounded in substance, not ideology. They reflected concerns about the impact on sensitive agricultural sectors, about the enforceability of sustainability commitments and about the fairness of exposing EU farmers to increased competition from producers operating under different regulatory and environmental regimes.  As a result of sustained pressure from Ireland and others, further negotiations took place. In December 2024, the EU and Mercosur agreed an additional legal instrument on trade and sustainability commitments. That represented progress but the Government was clear that progress alone would not be enough. What mattered was whether the final package, taken as a whole, adequately addressed Ireland's core concerns, particularly those of Irish farmers and rural communities.  In October 2025, following continued advocacy by Ireland and other concerned member states, the European Commission presented a set of flanking measures aimed at addressing agricultural concerns. These measures were not incidental. They were the direct consequence of member states insisting that agriculture could not simply be treated as collateral damage in a broader trade deal. Those measures included a safeguard mechanism to protect against surges in import volumes or significant price falls in the EU market; an enhanced financial safety net for farmers; strengthened sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, controls, including a commitment to increase audits and checks by 50%; and commitments on the alignment of production and SPS standards, particularly in relation to pesticides and animal welfare.  The Commission also proposed additional flexibility within the EU budget and enhanced availability of Common Agricultural Policy funding for farmers and rural communities in the context of the next multi-annual financial framework. Ireland has been absolutely clear that CAP must remain a central pillar of the European Union and must be adequately resourced to reflect the cumulative pressures facing farmers, from market volatility to climate obligations to regulatory change.  The Government welcomes these additional commitments and acknowledges that they represent a genuine response to concerns raised by Ireland and others but welcoming progress does not require us to suspend judgment or to ignore remaining risks. On balance, the Government concluded that the package of measures did not sufficiently mitigate the risks to Irish agriculture or to the rural economy but we consistently worked to try to achieve a package of measures.  The Sinn F\u00e9in motion tonight, in line with its motion in 2019, proposes we would remove ourselves from any negotiations, simply accept what is presented and just put in our vote but that is not how the EU or qualified majority voting works. If the Deputies opposite do not know it, they should know.  The conclusion made by the Irish Government was reached following detailed examination, consultation with stakeholders and engagement with like-minded member states. It was not predetermined and it was not ideological. The Sinn F\u00e9in motion fails to acknowledge that reality, that governing requires ongoing analysis, engagement with a variety of stakeholders and careful, balanced decision-making.  The EU-Mercosur agreement is viewed by many member states and by the Commission as a strategic instrument in a changing and uncertain global trade environment. Ireland understands that context and has engaged with it seriously and responsibly. However, strategic considerations cannot override the lived reality of Irish farming families or the structure of the Irish rural economy. Indeed that message was delivered loud and clear by the large numbers of farmers and farming families who attended the rally in Athlone over the weekend and countless other meetings and engagement with every single member of the Government parties.  The Government recognises that agriculture in Ireland is not just an economic sector; it is a social and regional foundation. Irish farmers operate to some of the highest standards in the world, and it is neither fair nor sustainable to expose them to increased competition from imports produced under different conditions without adequate safeguards. That is why, in line with the programme for Government commitment, Ireland voted against the signature of the EU-Mercosur agreement.  That vote reflects a consistent, credible and principled position. It supports open and fair trade. It values Ireland's membership of the European Union. It recognises that the agreement will undoubtedly benefit other sectors of the economy but it refuses to accept a deal where the risks to agriculture and rural Ireland have not been adequately addressed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I welcome the farmers who are in the Gallery this evening. Nobody is buying it. For years the Government sat on the fence about whether it would support or oppose the Mercosur trade deal when it came to a vote. Not until the day before a vote was due, when thousands of farmers were organising to take to the streets and when it knew the deal was going to pass anyway, did it finally come out and say it was against this deal.  In the time it was dithering, it failed to build a blocking minority with other EU member states and now Irish farmers are left to deal with the consequences of that failure and the likelihood of the deal passing. The deal opens the door further to a substandard product, directly threatens our beef industry and family farms, and puts food safety and security at risk.  The Government needs to give a full account of the actions it has taken. The amendment and the Minister of State's speech have not set that out, as has been claimed. The motion is an opportunity for the Government to finally take action. The Minister of State said he would voice concerns but he has avoided the key questions, and deliberately so. If it really opposes the Mercosur trade deal, will the Government whip all its MEPs to vote against it? Will it engage with MEPs from across the EU to vote against it? Will it support the legal action being taken to stop the ratification of this trade deal? These are the questions the Minister of State must answer tonight. The motion outlines the practical steps that can be taken at this late stage to stop this disastrous deal. There will not be a level playing field for Irish farmers, who follow the highest standards in food production, sustainability and traceability. Even at this late stage, the Government must do everything in its power to oppose the Mercosur deal. I call on the Government to support the motion and finally stand up for Irish agriculture. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sorca Clarke  I commend all the farmers who turned up in Athlone last weekend. I also commend the members of the public not involved in farming who turned up to support them. They are just as concerned - entirely rightly concerned - about what the Mercosur deal will mean for them as consumers. They are asking a simple and reasonable question: how will they know where the food they put on their table comes from, what it contains and if it meets the same standards as Irish produce?  That concern and lack of confidence was compounded by the shameful conduct of the Government, which, at the eleventh hour, sought to position itself in opposition to the Mercosur deal. That last-minute grandstanding amounted to nothing more than thumbing its nose at Irish farmers who had been warning about the damage of this deal for years. Food imported from Mercosur countries must be clearly and prominently labelled as such. It cannot be buried in fine print or disguised by clever marketing to mislead consumers. Inferior Mercosur food cannot continue to be hidden behind Irish-sounding brand names, images of green fields or packaging that implies local origin when, in fact, it has travelled thousands of kilometres. That is misleading, unethical and deeply unfair to consumers who want transparency and to farmers who are consistently held to the highest standards. Existing EU food labelling law is clear in its intent. Consumers must not be misled. The information must be accurate, clear and easy to understand. Those principles must be robustly enforced and strengthened. Does the Minister of State support imported Mercosur food being prominently labelled as such? Ireland should lead from the front on clean, transparent food standards. Consumers do not want vague reassurances or last-minute theatrics. They want real action that protects them and their families and supports Irish producers. They deserve that, not more spin from the Irish Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  As stated by my colleagues, the Mercosur deal is a deal with consequential pitfalls that far outweigh the notion that, somehow, Irish farmers and poultry farmers will be better off. Let us face it, in that the trade-off for cars and pharmaceuticals is at the core of this anti-farmer deal. Make no mistake about it. The Government's handling of Mercosur was feeble and weak. It only decided to vote against it in the dying moments when backbenchers and some Ministers of State revolted and the Italians capitulated.  Commissioner von der Leyen and the EU are not playing with a full deck of cards either. Their political manoeuvring to change the Mercosur agreement from an associate to a partnership agreement was a coercive manipulation of the democratic process that removed the power of each nation to vote individually for or against the deal. We believe this is a breach of EU treaties. This must be challenged. We ask the Government to stand by rural communities and farmers and to mandate its MEPs to vote against this bad deal. The importation of 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry will depress the markets and introduce unregulated meat of lower quality, with a high risk of banned pesticides, hormones and antibiotics entering the nation's diet. Combine this with 75,000 ha of rainforest wiped out in 2025 alone, and much more to come, destroying the lungs of the Earth and trampling on indigenous people and their way of life. Surely these actions will lead to a huge carbon footprint, increased climate change and, most of all, depletion of our beef and poultry sectors.  We call on the Government to mandate its parties' MEPs to vote against this anti-farmer deal, to publicly and fully support the legal action taken by MEPs and to stop ratification of the Mercosur trade deal before we realise the true meaning of Oscar Wilde's quote. Nowadays, we know the price of everything but the value of nothing. I call on all Members to support the motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in  The Government is very much out of step with the farmers in my constituency, Wicklow-Wexford, who marched in Athlone on Saturday. The Government could have stopped Mercosur but never made any effort to block it over the 25 years it was in the making. There was no real effort to reach out to other countries to form a blocking minority. Just before Christmas, Sinn F\u00e9in had a Private Members' Bill in the Chamber. Ministers refused to state then whether they were opposed to it. The eleventh-hour vote against the rotten deal was welcome but ultimately meaningless. Many people saw it is a cynical manoeuvre. The Government waited in a cowardly manner until Italy had changed course before opposing it. I say \"oppose\" in inverted commas because it has now made it very difficult to defeat. It is still possible but, due to Government inaction over the years, it is an uphill battle, with us having just 14 MEPs out of 720 in the European Parliament.  Sinn F\u00e9in has been opposing Mercosur on this side of the House for years. We had a motion in the Chamber seven years ago on it. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael were never really opposed to it. The Government signed us up to the Lisbon treaty, which removed Ireland's veto on trade. Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il signed us up to a negotiating mandate that allowed the European Commission to negotiate this rotten deal, knowing full well it would have negative consequences for Ireland. It is bad for anyone who eats beef or chicken, bad for farmers and bad for the environment. As Deputy Carthy mentioned, Phil Hogan deceived the people, stating beef was off the table in negotiations when it clearly was not.  It became in the end a battle between Irish beef and German beamers and we know which takes precedence for von der Leyen. The Government has one last opportunity to redeem itself in the coming weeks. It can outline the steps it intends to take to stop Mercosur beef entering the Irish food chain alongside Irish meat, which is the best in the world. Will it support the legal action? Will it mandate its MEPs to oppose this deal? Will it actively engage with other MEPs to do so? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  Destabilising rural livelihoods is not fair trade. It is a race to the bottom. What has happened with Mercosur is not right. We all understand trade and the necessities of it but I come from a rural community in Mayo and see the promises that have been made. We were told me must stand back and look at it in the wider context but I see what was done over the years going back to the EU directive in 1997, where farmers were promised and promised. They were promised they would be compensated in relation to designations. Where does that leave us today? There was no compensation for designations. In not only the designated areas but also the buffer zones, there are real questions of property rights. People cannot build on their own land as it is.  The Government has not opposed Mercosur in the way it needed to do. It has not stood up or made alliances in the EU. What has happened is a bypass of national vetoes and sidelining of national parliaments. It undermines democratic oversight. There are much bigger consequences of what has happened. There is food security. My God, look at the geopolitical situation at the moment. Food security is something people depend on. This is much more than just a farming matter; it is a matter for everybody living in this country. That is why we have said \"No\" to Mercosur right from the beginning. When we were told beef was taken off the table, we knew it was never taken off the table. It has to be \"No\" to Mercosur. I listened intently to the Taoiseach again today. Even at this late stage, there are steps that can be taken by the Government. Take back the power and stand up for rural and farm communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  At the outset, this debate is not about opposing free trade, nor is it about pretending that Europe can insulate itself from a volatile global economy. In an era with political instability and the imposition of US tariffs on the European Union, international trade agreements matter. They are important and can be beneficial, but importance alone is not enough.  When we examine the Mercosur deal, we have to ask whether it stands up to the values and obligations that Ireland and the wider European Union claim to uphold, in particular on climate action and environmental protection. Europe talks a great deal about climate leadership, but too often that statement is not matched by action. Across the EU, in particular in some of the dominant political groups in the European Parliament, we are seeing environmental protections being treated as if they are expendable and something that can be bargained away. That is why environmental standards embedded in the Mercosur agreement give real cause for concern. When it comes to deforestation, biodiversity loss and climate enforcement, the protections simply do not meet the standards we expect or that apply in the European Union itself. If the deal is to proceed, we need some stronger, firmer and enforceable guarantees. While I acknowledge that there are safeguards in the deal, will they be enforceable?  This debate is not just an agricultural one, but a political, environmental and ethical one. The agreement affects far more than one sector and demands a far more rigorous analysis than it has received. Crucially, the environmental enforcement mechanisms in the deal may not be robust enough to withstand political backsliding. If there is a change of government in a Mercosur country, a Bolsonaro-type election or we return to a political climate with hostility to environmental protection, as we are seeing happen in other countries, the safeguards in the agreement may not hold. Are they strong enough to prevent renewed deforestation or environmental degradation?  In a political climate where climate change is already not taken seriously enough, including in some trade policies, if climate and environmental protection are not central to the deal then the deal is, quite simply, a problem. Caution is not obstruction. Scrutiny is not rejection. Proceeding without adequate guarantees across all trade sectors would be a failure of responsibility.  While the debate in Ireland has centred heavily on beef, I want to speak on behalf of family farmers across Ireland, some in my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, in particular, with regard to the very real and damaging impact the Mercosur deal may have on the future of farming in this country. Family farms are already under enormous pressure. Farmers face ever-growing burdens of rules, regulations and inspections. The payments many families depend on are constantly under threat of being reduced or withdrawn if even minor requirements are not met. Compliance and running costs are rising year on year, while family incomes continue to fall behind the cost of living.  At the same time, they will be asked under Mercosur to compete with beef imports from countries such as Brazil where production standards, inspections and regulations are not at the same level as those imposed on Irish farmers. It costs significantly less to produce beef in these countries, not because they are more efficient, but because they are not held to the same environmental, animal welfare and food safety standards, and that is why enforcement needs to reflect this. This creates an uneven playing field. Cheaper, lower standard beef will enter the European market and inevitably compete directly with high-quality Irish beef. In today's cost-of-living crisis, consumers will push towards the cheaper option regardless of quality. That threatens farm incomes, rural communities and the reputation of Irish agriculture.  For many farmers, the question is no longer how to grow their business but how to survive. For the next generation, the outlook may be even bleaker. Why would a young person take over the family farm when they cannot be guaranteed a living wage? Why would a farmer encourage their son or daughter to stay in the industry when there are such poor prospects for the future? Mercosur may make a difficult situation worse. If we continue down this road, we risk losing the family farm model that is the heart of rural Ireland. That would be a devastating loss, not just economically but also socially and culturally.  Ireland cannot continue to demand world-leading standards from its farmers and ask farmers to do more and more in terms of their climate obligations while simultaneously undermining them through trade deals that fail to protect their livelihoods. Our farmers deserve respect, fairness and a future. I want to be clear; this deal and debate go far beyond agriculture. There are benefits for Ireland in other areas but we cannot sacrifice one sector to advance another.  While I back the farming community and their concerns about this deal, I take issue with some of the wording in the motion. Looking to the figures, trade policy is a competency of the EU. The EU has a population of 450 million and is the world's second-largest economic area. That brings with it more weight when negotiating with a block of 270 million people in Mercosur countries. We do not have to run a hypothetical on this; we can look next door to the sunlit uplands of Brexit and the trade deals the United Kingdom has done that will affect its farmers over the next ten years. While I support the motion, euroscepticism, that very British phenomenon, has no place here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  On 9 January, the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, declared that Ireland could not support a deal where imported beef came from production systems that were not as carbon efficient and did not have the same stringent standards as Irish agriculture. He declared this as if this news had fallen from the sky. It was known for years, yet the Government failed miserably to garner support to ensure that sufficient numbers were available to defeat this proposal in the EU.  As part of the programme for Government, the coalition committed to work with like-minded EU countries to stand for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal. Irish MEPs have for years highlighted the public health risks of allowing large volumes of beef produced under looser pesticide and veterinary rules into the EU market. Even after proposed EU safeguards, the Government said it still had insufficient confidence in the measures to protect food standards, yet it could not manage to convince enough of our colleagues in Europe of this. The rest of Europe seemed content to have substandard food safety and standards and allow hormones into their food chains.  Environmental groups and Irish political figures argued for years that the deal could incentivise further deforestation in South America to expand cattle production. We are being told that we will have to cut our national herd, but Brazil will be allowed to increase its national herd by 28 million by 2034. As the motion states, the Mercosur trade agreement runs entirely counter to EU and Irish climate legislation and would incentivise further deforestation, biodiversity loss and environmental destruction in Mercosur countries, in particular Brazil. This deal creates a double standard. Irish farmers face strict climate rules while competing with imports produced under weaker environmental protections. This totally contradicts EU climate ambitions and also undermines Ireland's commitments to sustainable agriculture.  This deal is undoubtedly a threat to the economic fabric of rural communities that rely heavily on beef and livestock. As part of the programme for Government, the coalition committed to work with like-minded EU countries to stand up for Irish farmers and defend our interests in opposing the current Mercosur trade deal, yet the week before Christmas, the IFA called on the Taoiseach, Deputy Martin, to clarify whether he had done some backroom deal with Ursula von der Leyen to back Mercosur and sell out Irish beef and poultry farmers such was its level of suspicion about the Government's stance on Mercosur. Other sectors will benefit, of course, but none of these sectors will seek to send substandard products to South America, be they tech, pharma or whatever else. We also have the issue of workers' rights in South America. The Government must oppose this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  The Labour Party will support the motion from Sinn F\u00e9in. I thank Deputy Martin Kenny for bringing it forward. I stood on the floor of the D\u00e1il with my colleague, Deputy Lawlor, when Deputy Kenny brought a motion on the Mercosur trade deal forward on 18 November. It is a shame that we have to speak about it again in the Chamber.  It is one of the most important trade agreements that will ever happen in this country. The Mercosur agreement, which has been pushed aggressively by Fine Gael's European People's Party, would throw Irish farmers to the wolves. It would open the door to 99,000 tonnes of South American beef entering the European market, directly undercutting Irish producers which already operate on tight margins and have to meet the highest standards in the world.  Irish farming is the standard bearer for production and quality of produce. Irish farmers have made strenuous efforts to reduce their carbon footprints in line with Government policy and are doing their best to help us meet our legally binding climate targets. They have rightful concerns about their livelihoods and the value of their produce under this proposed deal. I am concerned about the impact that an inadequately regulated market for beef from South America will have on workers' rights and also on the environment in Mercosur countries. We must be cognisant of workers' rights in all trade deals, no matter where in the world they are. What should benefit workers in Europe should benefit workers in South America.  The agricultural and farming sector holds a particular importance in rural Ireland. Our local economies have grown around the sector. Traditionally, local supermarkets were established to provide services and produce products for local people who were employed in creameries, co-ops and State agencies. Those of us who live and have grown up in rural Ireland know well the importance of agriculture. While rural economies have grown and diversified, we know the vital role agriculture has in our local economies.  I have serious concerns about this deal, as do many people throughout the country. We are talking about cheap importation. The deal does not meet the EU's green and food safety standards. While it does include commitments on the environment, including to prevent further deforestation after 2030, Friends of the Earth have called this deal \"climate-wrecking\", stating it would lead to increased deforestation as Mercosur countries would sell far more produce and raw materials sourced from forest areas, including the Amazon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing forward this motion. This is a very important and timely debate. A huge number of people are very worried about the Mercosur deal. I am sure the Minister of State is well aware of the large number of people who attended the meeting at the weekend to express their concern about what could potentially happen to them and their families in the future. They are also extremely disappointed with the Government and how it has handled this issue from the get-go.  It has been said a number of times that Ireland could have stopped the Mercosur deal. I do not know if that is the case. We are a small country. What I can say is that Ireland could have tried much harder to work with like-minded countries to try to put a halt to this deal. It is nearly a year since I first asked the Minister whether Ireland would formally submit its opposition to the deal. Following that question, I regularly asked what countries the Minister was working with and who he was talking to? We knew there were a number of like-minded countries and a number of countries that may have been on the fence. From this side of the House, it seemed nothing was happening and there was no robust attempt by the Government to form alliances. That is what people find most frustrating.  For the past year, and prior to that because this has been an issue for many years, people saw a lack of action on the part of the Government. During that time, they repeatedly called for support and help and for the Government to stand with them, only to see the Government's U-turn just before Christmas. That smacks of performative politics. It appears there was a lightbulb moment just before Christmas when the Government realised this was a big issue and people were not going to stand for it. At that stage, the Government decided to take a very small measure to try to tell people it was on their side all along. People will not fall for that. Farmers and environmentalists will not fall for it. Indeed, families who are struggling to feed their families high-quality produce at the moment will not fall for it because this does not just impact farmers, as the Minister of State is well aware. It is not just an issue for beef farmers or poultry farmers. It is an issue when it comes to health standards, toxins and how food is produced and it is an issue from an environmental perspective.  The Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, spoke about trade. Trade is really important. I get that the world is difficult and fractious at the moment and I understand the real urgency and need for Europe to come together, have this trade deal and show strength on a global front. It is, however, even more important during these very difficult global political periods that we hold to our standards. It is important that we have standards, whether for our farmers, workers and communities or for animal health and welfare and the environment, and that we hold to those standards. Unfortunately, this trade deal does not do that. What we are seeing is that Ireland, as a small player in the broader European economic framework, is being sacrificed and farmers here are being sacrificed in order to get this deal through. I also believe farmers and indigenous communities in Brazil are being sacrificed to get this deal through. That is not good enough.  I said this in the previous debate and I think it stands true. As the Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, Deputy Dooley will be well aware of the legacy our fishermen and marine sector have had to deal with because of mistakes that were made and sovereignty that was given away during the negotiations on the Common Fisheries Policy. A similar type of deal was done then. Ireland was told that if it gave access to its seas and fish, the European Economic Community would support Ireland and give it money to build its roads. That was a trade deal and we lost out hugely as a result. I see this as being a similar sacrifice that Ireland is expected to make at the table of the European Union and its trade ambitions. In ten or 15 years' time, parliamentarians in this House will be asking how the hell did we sign up to this. The downsides to this deal are so great at this stage that we cannot accept it. I cannot see it being changed or made better at all.  I have concerns about whether some deal was done in relation to the derogation. This issue has been mentioned a few times. Obviously, when it comes to trade, there are negotiations and countries have a certain amount of leverage. I fear that we have seen another situation where beef farmers are the poor second cousins of dairy. I want to put that on the record. A significant amount of political capital was spent fighting for the derogation. We are the only country to get it. I am just wondering what we gave up in order to get it. I know that, as a country, we gave up our water quality. That is the unfortunate reality. Hopefully, my fear is not correct but I think it is the case. I wonder what we gave up as a State. I think we gave up our beef and poultry sectors. That is a very unfortunate way to be.  I absolutely agree with the Sinn F\u00e9in calls. Aont\u00fa has an amendment as well. It is important that Deputies of all parties vote against this deal and that the Government continue to strongly fight it.  It is not over yet. There is still an opportunity to actually make a change with this. I ask that the Minister of State do so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  Is mian liom mo bhu\u00edochas a ghabh\u00e1il le Sinn F\u00e9in as an r\u00fan a chur os comhair an T\u00ed. I also voice my dismay at the delay by the Government in reaching this decision. This is not the first time this coalition has struggled to make decisions in a timely manner. Unfortunately, there are many issues facing this country that need to be sorted out and this is one example.  I am a TD for Dublin South-Central, which I know is not the farming centre of this country. However, I too want to use my voice because many of my constituents have contacted me and asked me to use my voice to show opposition to this deal. They have a number of concerns around protecting farmers. I believe there are farmers in the Gallery. They probably passed through Dublin South-Central on the way. They are all very welcome. We really want to support them. The concern is for the farmers. It is about beef farmers and the 900,000 tonnes of beef that will be allowed to come in to the EU from Mercosur. It is about the 180,000 tonnes of poultry that will be sent to the EU over the next five years. Given that poultry is not heavy, that is a lot of poultry. It is about how this will affect farmers who already struggle. That is a concern my constituents have.  My constituents are also worried about animal welfare. They are particularly worried about the use of antibiotics and hormones, all those things that, for the most part, are banned over here. I read in an RT\u00c9 report last week that the Department of agriculture was notified by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland in December that there was an issue with 128 kg of beef, basically because it had a growth hormone. That beef was sent over here, then up to Northern Ireland and then down here. That is an issue. We are very strict in Ireland about what can be used with regard to hormones, growth hormones and antibiotics. Is that going to slip now because of this deal? That is not good enough. It is not good enough for the animals. We have strict measures on farms here. Those cost producers and farmers a lot of money and if they are being undermined, it is not acceptable.  The constituents who contact me are asking why the Government could not make a decision on this deal and if there was a commitment in the programme for Government, why the Government wasted time. Why did the Government not build alliances with EU partner countries that objected to the deal, such as Poland, France and others? Why did it leave it to the last minute to challenge the deal, leaving it now scrambling at the end? Forward planning is important from an environmental and animal welfare point of view, but also for our homegrown farmers and how we support them. Let this be a lesson to the Government that when it has to make decisions it is not faffing around trying to figure out what is going on. I was very interested to hear what my colleague Deputy Whitmore said. We need clarity and leadership on issues such as this. I thank the Minister of State very much. Hello to everybody in the Gallery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  The Mercosur deal is a great example of the Government again putting EU demands over the wants and needs of our own citizens. It is yet another example of the Government completely failing to do the right thing and then, embarrassingly, trying to save face at the last minute. The Government had to be dragged kicking and screaming to do the right thing for its own citizens. The reality is that it knew this deal would go through anyway, so it voted \"No\". It did so to save face and it decided to do so when it was obvious the deal had been done. It was a last-minute desperate attempt to save face because it knew the public was turning. There was no attempt by the Government to make the case against the Mercosur deal in Europe or to convince other countries to vote against it or use our voice.  Rural communities will be left to carry this burden. The deal is an attack on Irish agriculture. Our rural communities have been completely undermined. We have the best food standards, animal welfare protections and climate commitments. These are going to be thrown into the rubbish when the Mercosur deal comes in. Our farmers are being punished. What is coming down the line is nothing but a travesty.  Our fishing industry is also being bled dry by Europe. In Ireland, we hold 12% of EU waters and we are allocated less than 6% of the fishing quota. The new fishing quota saw us lose one third of that. This will also happen to the Irish farmer. Mark my words, when this meat comes in we are done.  The Government has to stop prioritising European demands over the needs of its own citizens and consider that we are getting absolutely nothing out of Europe. It is bleeding us dry. We need to stand up and fight and we need to say \"No\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  When we joined the EU Single Market back in 1972, there was supposed to be free trade, but also fair trade, between the states of Europe, and all treaties since underlined that. The Single Market was sold as a level playing pitch with standards harmonised. However, with substandard products coming in from outside, it is not harmonised. The Mercosur deal completely undermines it. Farmers are having to compete with food produced to lower standards from other countries. The importation of 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of chicken, produced at lower environmental and animal health standards, will cause market distortion. We all know what that means.  Irish farmers produce meat under strict rules of tag and trace and must have prescriptions for what they give to cattle. Here we have double standards. What is the justification for this? The revelations recently that Brazilian beef with banned hormones entered the Irish food chain are now being investigated by the Food Safety Authority of Ireland. That should set off alarm bells.  What justification is there for further destruction of the rainforest and the carbon footprint required to haul food halfway across the world to get it here when we are already producing loads of it?  What is not clear is why it took the Government so long to express its opposition to the Mercosur deal. This deal has been in the making for six or seven years. Up to 24 hours prior to the vote, Miche\u00e1l Martin's words were those of a man ready to vote for it. There is confusion in Government about this because Barry Andrews MEP and Regina Doherty, a Fine Gael MEP, have said they are going to vote for the deal. Former Fianna F\u00e1il Minister Michael McGrath, now a Commissioner, welcomed the EU Council vote on Mercosur. The Government needs to get its act together and ensure that all Government MEPs vote against the Mercosur deal when it comes to the European Parliament. It should lobby MEPs of all political persuasions to form a blocking majority at EU level. In the event of the deal being passed at the European Parliament, the Government needs to act to prevent substandard beef and poultry from entering the Irish market. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  After two decades of negotiation, the Mercosur agreement looks like it is a done deal for Europe. It is a bad deal for Irish farmers but it is a disaster for the environment in a world that needs to protect its Amazon forest green lung and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. A central issue here is how increased demand for South American beef for export to the EU markets is going to create a demand for more land and more cattle, resulting in more jungle being felled and cleared to make way for poor-quality grazing land. If we are to listen to some of the supporters of this deal, we are told the protracted negotiations have led to a fairer outcome and sufficient safeguards to protect our environment. However, I do not see those safeguards. Indeed, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael MEPs and their respective European parties recently delayed the introduction of a vital law that would protect the Amazon rainforest, namely, the EU's deforestation regulation. This law would have forced EU companies to carry out proper due diligence to ensure they are only selling products that are absolutely guaranteed to be from non-deforested land. That law was first written in 2023. Its implementation was initially delayed from 2024 until the end of 2025. However, just six weeks ago, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael MEPs voted against its immediate implementation and have pushed back its implementation yet one more year. The Irish Government and other governments failed to stop this. At a time when we are being told there are safeguards being built into the Mercosur agreement, the actual EU law that could make a difference has been postponed for yet another year and we have no guarantee that we will see it implemented next year. This shows me that this deal does not have the adequate safeguards for the environment that we have been told it has. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The Mercosur deal is a sell-out of farmers in this country. It is a sell-out on the fight for climate action and the fight against deforestation. It is a sell-out on the protection of workers\u2019 rights. It is a recipe for the race to the bottom and completely exposes the agenda of the big powers that dominate the European Union, which are only interested in promoting the interests of the big car manufacturers and the big multinationals at the expense of ordinary working people, small farmers and the environment. That is the truth about this deal.  From an environmental point of view and the point of view of our farmers, why on earth was the European Union negotiating a deal to get 99,000 more tonnes of beef to Europe when we can produce that beef here? How does that make any sense from a climate point of view? How does it make any sense for the livelihood of our farmers? Why would it even enter into a negotiation like that, other than to serve the interests of big manufacturers like German car manufacturers that are willing to sacrifice the climate, farmers and so on in order to pursue their interests?  In respect of how this connects with the Trump stuff, Venezuela is temporarily out of Mercosur but if Trump gets control - he now claims he has control of Venezuela after taking out Maduro, whatever Members may think about Maduro \u2013 he has made it clear that he wants to undermine all of those standards which the European Union claims it represents. He has asserted the right, under national security policy, to take control of South America and decide the policies of governments in South America. The EU is giving a man who has openly declared a war on climate action and all the sorts of standards that Europe says it wants to protect but does not actually protect a way in to encourage the race to the bottom.  I am in favour of trade but it should be fair trade that is about levelling up rather than a race to the bottom. This is about the race to the bottom and it is a sell-out. In the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond\u2019s speech, he is ambivalent. I hate it to say, \u201cI told you so\u201d, but this was the reason we opposed the qualified majority voting in the Nice treaty, the Lisbon treaty and the Single European Act. If we had not given up the right to veto these things, we would be able to do something about this. The truth is that the Government is ambivalent about this stuff. It is ambivalent because it is ideologically committed to this idea of free trade when what it should be committed to is fair trade and protecting the livelihoods of farmers, the environment and workers\u2019 rights instead of selling out on those things. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  The Mercosur deal threatens the future of Irish agriculture and Irish farm families and it harms rural communities. The European Commission concluded negotiations with the four Mercosur countries in December 2024. The deal was to be subject to the approval of national parliaments and unanimity at EU level but, in a political stroke in September 2025, the deal was split into two separate sections, meaning that national parliaments would have no say in the ratification of the deal and only a qualified majority would be required at EU level.  The importation of 99,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry into the EU will have serious detrimental effects on Irish agriculture, and these figures are only the thin end of the wedge. This raises the appalling vista of the devastation of the Irish fishing industry. Are we seeing here the real start of the devastation of Irish agriculture?  Imported agricultural products from the Mercosur countries are often produced using chemicals that have been banned in the EU. An EU audit in 2024 found that Brazil cannot reliably trace or guarantee hormone-free beef, yet the agreement will allow exporters to self-certify compliance with EU regulations. The deal effectively trades off the future of Irish agriculture and rural communities for the benefits of the export of cars, machinery, chemicals and steel to the Mercosur countries by the big European powers and economies. This is further confirmation of the erosion of Irish sovereignty.  Ursula von der Leyen\u2019s attempt to travel to South America to sign off on this deal is an insult to the elected Members of the European Parliament and seriously undermines democracy. Trust in European institutions has been seriously damaged not only by the handling of this Mercosur deal but also by the EU\u2019s ability to manage trade partnerships arising from the genocide in Gaza. Proposed safeguards included in this deal to suspend trade cannot be taken seriously when the EU did not suspend trade with Israel despite the genocide in Gaza. Irish MEPs must be mandated to oppose this deal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  First, I salute every farmer and person, not alone farmers, who came to Athlone last Saturday. It was a credit to them. The worrying thing tonight is when I see a consultation for 30 days in a factory not far from here. It shows the signs of policy over the last number of years. A factory in a deboning hall is having a 30-day consultation. You do not have to be a professor to know what is coming out of that.  Yesterday, in Brazil, soya producers said they are going back into the rainforest and forgetting about their president and what he is doing. They are going to keep at what they are at.  A total of 120 kg of hormonal carcinogenic beef came into this country. What more has come in without us knowing? We should be ashamed of ourselves as a country. Someone should be accountable. There should be a case on this and every bit of it, from the unfortunate person who ate it and right through the chain, needs to be exposed.  Let me give one very clear message to factories and distributors: the game is on. They will be chased up for what they are bringing into this country from third countries because it is not trusted. Would they like their sister, brother, mother, father, son or daughter to have eaten that meat? Do they want them to be eating carcinogenic meat? Do they want them to be eating meat containing has medicines that have been banned in Europe for 30 years but are not banned in Brazil? For the sake of a Mercedes, we are going to let it through.  How do we go about winning the second part of this game, this dirty rotten deal? The first place to start is at home. The first place to start is in ensuring we have our team on side to win this game. Unfortunately for Fine Gael, two of them seem to be offside at the moment. Unfortunately for Fianna F\u00e1il, one of them seems to be offside. If any Members on that side of the House decide to vote against the Government during a budget or a Bill on health, however, the big finger is out, the Whip is imposed and the Member is thrown out of the party. Is there law and order on MEPs? Are the two main parties - I welcome that they came out last week and said \u201cNo\u201d to Mercosur - going to allow the people who are representing them in Europe with the EPP or other groupings to vote for this deal? It is time they get their house in order. Stand with the farmers in Athlone and the farmers of Ireland. I ask Members of the Government to stand with the rest of this D\u00e1il and their own conscience. They should think about it: do they want their kids to eat stuff that can cause cancer? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na estimated that 27,000 people turned up last Saturday. There were 3,750 tractors there. Thankfully, there were no incidents. These are community people who want to protect the health of people. They were not all farmers; there were business people and people who have an interest in the health of the citizens of their country. There has been serious confusion coming from the Government with regard to Mercosur. We did not have a clear picture last week. The Taoiseach was saying one thing and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, was saying another. No one knew what was going to happen until the last minute. The Government was not gathering support when it should have been doing so. We have lost the fish and the Government is almost on the verge of losing the beef and poultry along with it.  Would you God damn hell wake up at the other side of that building? The bottom line is that we have 14 MEPs going out to Europe in two or three weeks' time and they have a pen to say \"Yes\" or a pen to say \"No\". The problem we have is that Se\u00e1n Kelly does not know what he wants to do. He is sitting on a ditch and looking over the ditch at Mercs and perks for Ursula. We have Regina Doherty saying she is going to vote for it. We have Barry Andrews saying he is going to vote for it. In the name of God, what kind of political parties are you across the way? Have you any standards at all? Have you any respect for the people? Do you look at the thousands who turned up the other day and the concerns they have for their industry and the health of their people? The Government parties have MEPs worried about Mercs and perks. It is time to wake up. The game is over for Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. If they do not use the whip on their MEPs this week then each and every one of them will be culpable for this disaster they are bringing on this country.  Perhaps in his summing up the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, will tell us what Regina Doherty, Se\u00e1n Kelly and Barry Andrews are doing. Are they with the people of Ireland or are they with Ursula? That is what I want to know. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Independent Ireland held a protest in Athlone where 27,000 people turned out from all across different areas around this country. Sinn F\u00e9in came. Even the Green Party came. It was not just about the farmers. They all came to support an Independent Ireland protest that was organised by Ciaran Mullooly, MEP, Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice and the Independent Ireland team. They came and supported it. I did not see People Before Profit there. I did not see the Labour Party there. I did not see the Social Democrats there. This is about the quality of food for the people of Ireland. I saw the Leas-Cheann Comhairle there and I saw other Deputies from Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. They do not believe in your silence in Europe. Independent Ireland and Independents are the only ones who have been talking up in Europe for Ireland and quality foods coming into Ireland. What are the rest of you doing over there? All you have done is try to stop Independents getting on committees to talk up for Ireland. It is about time we audited committees to see what Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael are saying over at the committees, and any other MEPs over there from the other parties. Have they opened their mouths or are they just over there for the dollars, sitting on their backsides and forgetting about the people in Ireland and the quality of food that needs to come into this country? That is what this is about. Independent Ireland stood up for this country and for the quality of food coming into this country. It is about time you stood up for Ireland and not for yourselves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I move amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"qualified majority the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement; and\" and substitute the following:  \"calls on the Government to:  \u2014 undertake a diplomatic campaign to lobby and campaign a majority of Members of the European Parliament in Europe to oppose the Mercosur Trade Agreement;  \u2014 take a case to the Court of Justice of the European Union to test whether or not the Mercosur Trade Agreement conflicts with existing EU Treaties; and  \u2014 ensure that the Taoiseach and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade seek in-person meetings with the leaders of all political groupings within the European Parliament in advance of any vote taking place on the matter in the EU Parliament, and to ask them to reject the Mercosur Trade Agreement; and  calls on:  \u2014 the EU Commission not to implement the Mercosur Trade Agreement before the European Parliament has a chance to vote on the matter; and  \u2014 to oppose any importation of beef or poultry products produced at lower regulatory standards than exist in Ireland.\".  It is time for the Government to get off the ditch on this issue. The duplicitous attitude the Government has in relation to this is, frankly, disgusting and disrespectful. The Government is going to the ploughing championships and so on and telling farmers, \"We are with you and we support you\". A number of weeks ago when Sinn F\u00e9in brought a motion the Minister was unable to state what way the Government would vote on this issue. In the most important week of the year the Taoiseach was in China contemplating signing the deal. All the while the Government is saying \"Well, it is in our programme for Government\". It means absolutely nothing in the programme for Government, as the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, well knows, because Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and many other parties supported the Lisbon treaty, which handed over our veto in relation to trade. That is the truth of it.  The most galling act of all took place when the Government knew the qualified majority vote was collapsing. At that point the Government came out and said it would reject the deal. It is utterly shameful. I am calling on the Minister of State to get off the fence. First, the Government must get a handle on its own MEPs. Are they with us or are they against us? If they vote for this deal what sanctions will be applied within Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael?  I also ask the Minister of State to engage in a full diplomatic offensive in relation to this issue. It is very clear that the Minister of State has, at best, sat on his hands on this issue. The clock is ticking. I ask him to engage, to send a delegation, and to send the Head of Government, the Taoiseach, out to Brussels to meet with every political grouping in Brussels ahead of the vote in the Parliament.  The other issue is that we are demanding a litmus test on this. This must be sent to the European Court of Justice. There are serious issues, for example in relation to the free trade and environmental aspects. This deal is the very definition of an anti-competitive practice. We are tying our own farmers up in knots with animal welfare and environmental standards and so on, and yet those same regulations do not apply to these products that will be sold right across the European Union. On the environmental aspect, according to our Climate Change Advisory Council Ireland faces up to \u20ac28 billion in fines by 2030. The same European institutions that want to saddle us with this debt are actually seeking the destruction of the rainforests. We are calling on the Government to get off the fence, to mobilise and to reject this deal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  In every deal a country that is a member of the European Union it is giving up some sort of sovereignty in return for something it believes will be of more benefit. Certainly Mercosur does have a marginal benefit to Ireland as a country in terms of our industrial side but it has a massive downside in terms of agriculture. We give out about the EU but we would not have had a nitrates directive and other environmental legislation without the EU. Ireland got a derogation because we were going cap in hand, so there is a little bit of a double standard here. We are asking for permission to put animal excrement into our waterways and to pollute our country so that we can export beef and dairy. If anything, we should be reducing our consumption of beef and dairy because all red meat, even when it is organic, has carcinogenic properties.  I take on board what my colleagues before me said with regard to whether we could expect the Brazilian product to be any better. It is going to be worse because of the lack of regulation. It will lead to the cutting down of more rainforests, which are vital to our ongoing survival as a viable species. The European Union has not done enough work in that regard. This is why I support the motion and I support Ireland doing more to oppose Mercosur.  In that context, I will just point out that we have the European Union vote and we also have areas where Ireland has mixed or its own competence in certain parts. While the European Union can proceed, even with the qualified majority vote side of things as the deal is passed, there are certain areas where we can veto, delay and block. We should be doing it for the right reasons. It is great to hear people talking about climate change here and the impact this deal will have. I would like to see that level of conversation continue going forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I heard a few Members of the House speaking tonight about the fisheries and what we have lost. I have been engaging with the Minister of State, and I hope he will address that issue and how the EU is taking advantage of our seas.  With regard to the Mercosur deal, I welcome Deputy Gogarty's acknowledgment that there are some benefits. There are farmers here tonight. I come from a constituency in north Dublin. The only fields in my constituency are GAA pitches but I have been contacted by a lot of people. I am also well aware of the environmental impact this deal is going to create. From speaking to people, and from all the emails I got into my office, as it stands the deal is fundamentally incompatible with Irish agriculture given the food safety standards our farmers are held to and the regulations that they have to meet compared with those for the producers of meat we will be importing from the Mercosur countries. It is completely hypocritical.  I welcome the work that the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the leader of the regional group, the Minister of State, Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney, did in relation to Mercosur. This is why I welcome the fact that we are voting against the Mercosur agreement. With regard to including the strict limits on antibiotic use and the complete ban on growth hormones, allowing imports from countries that permit weak regulation in this area is unacceptable. It is indefensible and it undermines the trust in our food system. Ireland is known around the world for how good our food system is.  I heard a lot of Members talking about labelling. I will be very interested to see how the labelling will be done. I welcome some parts of the Sinn F\u00e9in motion but I will not be supporting the motion. If one reads the entire motion, there is a lot of stuff in it that is not good.  The agreement also contradicts Ireland's climate commitments. As an environmental engineer it does not make sense to me for our farmers to be held to the strictest environmental standards while on the other side of the world the Amazon rainforest will be cut down for cattle to be reared, and then giant ships will be used to ship the beef here to be eaten.  It makes no sense when you look at the entire carbon emissions of the Earth. I welcome that we are voting against this Mercosur deal. We should not support any trade agreement that compromises food safety, animal welfare, public health and climate responsibility. This agreement should be rejected outright. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  I have continually opposed the Mercosur agreement. I should call it a deal because it should not be an agreement. I want to ask who the Government serves. Does it serve its EU masters and try to be the best boys and girls in the class out there or does it serve Irish farmers, who have worked so hard and tirelessly to contribute to our economy? Whose interests does the Government serve? I am so concerned that it is willing to sacrifice a sector that has helped us in the bleakest times and helped keep the lights on when things were bad in the country. The Government is willing to sacrifice all that and turn its back on Irish farmers. It is absolutely disgraceful. Not alone is the Government willing to sacrifice that sector but it is willing to put people's health at risk as well by allowing inferior beef to come into the country. It really is shocking.  I am asking for a simple thing to be done here. How serious is the Government's opposition? It came out in the last few days to say it was opposed but how serious is that? If the Government is serious about opposing then it should ensure it disapplies the agricultural elements of the deal. We are not agreeing. The people have spoken loud and clear in Athlone. I was there. There were thousands of people. Surely the Government is here to serve them and not to appease Germany or Ursula von der Leyen. The Government needs to serve the Irish people. They have spoken.  People are so disillusioned. I spoke to many people who were not from farming backgrounds and they expressed concerns and views along the lines that if the EU could do this to France, the largest agricultural exporter, and could do it to our beef farmers after destroying our fisheries, then how could they believe it had their interests at heart on any other issue? It does not have our interests at heart and the Government needs to disapply the agricultural elements immediately. We have already sacrificed too much in Ireland. Our fisheries have been decimated. Do not let the same thing happen to agriculture. I am saying loud and clear that there are solutions. The Government needs to stand up and forget about being the good boys and girls in the class in Brussels. It needs to stand up and represent the interests of the people who elected its members to this House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  Well done to Ciaran Mullooly MEP for organising the demonstration in Athlone, which I attended as a member of the Fine Gael Party and as a TD for Longford-Westmeath and to support the local Longford and Westmeath IFA organisations that I have worked with for a long time.  I wish to highlight a couple of things. There was an Oireachtas committee meeting held with the IFA and the Irish Farmers Journal around mid-December to discuss the issue with the beef coming in from Brazil. There were very few Opposition Members at that and over 50% of the people at it were Fine Gael Oireachtas Members. A lot of people have got very vocal in the last couple of weeks but they were not vocal previously. The Government has been very clear about our concerns regarding the EU-Mercosur agreement for a long number of years. We put into the programme for Government that we would not support it in the form it was in and we would work with like-minded countries in opposition to it. That is what we did as a Government, collectively, represented by our Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon. We worked with like-minded countries and when Italy got whatever sweetheart deal it got, our Minister went out to Europe batting in the middle of last week to work with other like-minded countries to make sure there was support, and a number of countries voted against this agreement. I support the calls that our MEPs, when it comes to the decision in a number of weeks\u2019 time, support the decision that has been made by the Government.  Ultimately, the Government has concluded that the recent additions and the commitments were not sufficient for our agricultural sector, so it has stood behind the agricultural community throughout the country. We voted against the deal, which we committed to doing in the programme for Government passed here 12 months ago, so to say we only made decisions in the days leading up to last Friday is totally and factually incorrect. It is in the programme for Government and it is being supported by the Government. The other parties that are shouting and throwing their flags, as they did last weekend up in Athlone, are only coming to the table now. The Government has been committed to supporting the agricultural industry here. We have seen it in the work done by the Minister, Deputy Heydon, in securing a three-year derogation when people did not feel it would be got and I am confident in the ability of the Government and our representatives going out to Europe that we will get a strong and fair CAP deal for the farmers of our country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle agus an Aire St\u00e1it. I am going to take a slightly different approach here as a healthcare professional and also as a farmer\u2019s daughter. It is not going to change the current position but it is just to make the case that essential food molecules, including protein, carbohydrates, fat, vitamins, minerals and water, are the very things that constitute beef, chicken and grain. Maybe not so much honey, although it primarily has a high carbohydrate content. Essential nutrients such as these should never have been part of a World Trade Organization deal going back 20 years or even well before that. The reality of that is borne out if we take books such as Farmageddon: The True Cost of Cheap Meat , which was written 13 or 14 years ago by Philip Lymbery, Ultra-Processed People by Chris van Tulleken and Food Fight: From Plunder and Profit to People and Planet , written last year by Stuart Gillespie. Despite the gap of 13 years between the first and last of those books being written, they identify some very serious trends. Probably foremost in everybody\u2019s minds is the lack of a fair playing field, traceability, food standards, the inclusion of hormones and the rampant use of antibiotics in foods produced in other jurisdictions. We can look at what global food systems are leading to around the world. This crosses over with climate change and migration. It is key to all those issues that face Europe, including Ireland. Global food systems are currently leading to widespread hunger. Indigenous communities are being moved off their land to make way for supersized farms.  Obesity is a very clear problem in this country. Ultra-processed foods and the fast fattening of animals are contributing to a higher fat content and this is making its way to the Irish market. Some 45.9% of Irish household purchases include ultra-processed foods. That is not to mention the hormones and the additives potentially coming in as well. The environmental damage is in itself hypocrisy. Clearing forests and river basins for intensive paddock formation, tillage, etc. in the southern hemisphere is bringing its own problems. We do not know what the ultimate CAP figure is going to be but we need a radical overhaul of our food system, one that prioritises public health, traceability and viability. Essential nutrients should never be part of a trade deal. If we learn nothing else from history, where did the Famine of 1845 to 1848 lead? That was a control of supply of food and cutting off a food supply. When including food in these trade deals, we are at high risk of history repeating itself in the 21st century. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I begin by reiterating that the Government rejects entirely the arguments and assertions put forward in the Sinn F\u00e9in motion. As stated by the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, the motion does not at all acknowledge the serious and diligent work undertaken by the Government and by numerous Government Ministers at European level with like-minded EU member states to oppose the EU-Mercosur agreement and to defend the interests of Irish farmers and rural communities.  I have heard from many tonight that they wanted to hear us shouting and roaring over that period. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The Government did nothing. Zero. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  When at some point Sinn F\u00e9in gets an opportunity to be in government - it has experience north of the Border - it will know how diplomacy works. When people have the privilege and obligation to work on behalf of the people, they do so behind the scenes and they work generously. We set our frame forward when we entered government with a programme for Government that set out clearly that we were against the Mercosur agreement as it was constituted. The Government worked tirelessly with like-minded member states that shared our concerns about the agreement with the objective of standing up for Irish farmers, protecting the rural economy and ensuring Ireland's voice was heard clearly and credibly at EU level because that is where the decisions were being made. This effort was led by the Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, and the Minister of State with responsibility for European affairs and defence who engaged extensively with EU counterparts. These are all matters of public record. Efforts to build a blocking minority were sustained over time and took place across multiple forums, at European Council meetings, sectoral meetings and bilaterally. We did not focus our efforts on member states alone. There was close and direct dialogue with the European Commission, including during the visit of the trade Commissioner, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, in October last year and at the agricultural ministers political meeting with Commissioners Hansen, \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d and V\u00e1rhelyi last week.  As the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, set out earlier, the purpose of that broad-based engagement was twofold. It was, first, to attempt to build a blocking minority of member states and, second, to seek substantive changes and safeguards that would have meaningful impact and address some of Ireland's concerns. Thanks to these serious efforts by the Government alongside like-minded member states, real improvements to the agreement in the form of tangible flanking measures and supports for farmers have been achieved.  I am taken by some of the theatrics tonight. I do not question the validity of anyone's mandate, but there have been some theatrics in recent days. It reminds me of the wannabe Texas rancher - big hat but no cattle.  I will turn to the broader context in which this debate sits and underline a central truth that has guided the Government's approach throughout. Ireland is and will remain a trading nation. Trade is not an abstract policy for this country. It underpins our economic success, our employment base and, essentially, our living standards and that includes those of our rural communities. Our openness to the world and willingness to engage, compete and build partnerships beyond our shores is what has allowed a small island nation to develop a global economic footprint far beyond its size.  Through our membership of the European Union, Ireland benefits from access to the world's largest trading bloc from an EU trade policy that opens markets, reduces barriers and creates opportunities for Irish business. That remains a core strategic advantage of our economy and in that context, the Government acknowledges the EU-Mercosur agreement has the potential to enhance trading and investment opportunities between Ireland and the Mercosur region. I have heard the flippant remark that it is giving away Irish beef for German cars. There is a company in Galway that employs 1,000 people and makes products for the automotive sector, and there are many more around the country. Deputy Healy made the point that the agreement was just for other countries. We have a significant pharmaceutical sector that would benefit from this. However, Ireland already has a significant and growing trading relationship with Mercosur. In 2024, Ireland exported goods worth approximately \u20ac820 million to those countries, while services exports in 2023 were valued at approximately \u20ac1.8 billion. Taken together, total trade between Ireland and Mercosur, including goods and services in both directions, is worth about \u20ac4.1 billion.  These figures matter. They demonstrate that Mercosur is not a hypothetical market for Ireland, but a real and increasingly important trading partner. The agreement could open further opportunities for Irish exporters across a wide range of sectors. These include business and professional services, pharmaceuticals, chemicals, machinery, medical devices and advanced manufacturing. The agreement would also improve access to Mercosur public procurement markets, offering Irish companies new opportunities to compete for major contracts in rapidly developing economies. There are also potential benefits for parts of the agrifood sector, beyond our most sensitive areas. Opportunities exist for processed food and dairy products as well as for alcoholic beverages and spirits. In addition, the agreement would provide protection for two important Irish geographical indications, Irish cream liqueur and Irish whiskey, helping to safeguard the authenticity and reputation of iconic Irish products in international markets That comes at a time when there are issues with our trading into the United States and the tariffs that apply there.  There are tangible and significant benefits and the Government does not dismiss them. On the contrary, they are an important part of our overall assessment of the agreement. The then Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment's Economic and Sustainability Impact Assessment for Ireland of the EU-Mercosur Trade Agreement, published in June 2021, found that the agreement could have broadly positive impacts for Ireland overall. Taking into account direct and indirect effects, the assessment estimated that Ireland's global goods exports could increase by approximately 0.24% or \u20ac1.1 billion. It is also important to consider what this could mean for small and medium enterprises, as 97% of Irish exporters are small companies. For many of these businesses, exporting outside the EU can be particularly challenging due to tariffs, complex customs procedures and administrative burdens. The EU-Mercosur agreement has the potential to help to address these challenges. It would reduce costs by eliminating tariffs and simplifying customs procedures; ease administrative burdens by making it easier to certify products for local sale; and improve access to public procurement opportunities by increasing transparency and access to information. For many Irish SMEs, these changes could be the difference between being able to enter a new market or not.  The Government recognises all of this. We recognise the opportunities, the potential benefits for exporters, enterprise, services and job creation. We recognise the strategic arguments made by the European Commission and other member states in favour of the agreement. However, the role of the Government is not simply to catalogue the potential gains. It is to assess the full picture, weigh opportunity against risk, consider distributional impacts and ensure progress in one part of the economy does not come at an unacceptable cost to another. In Ireland's case, agriculture and the rural economy are not peripheral considerations. They are central to social cohesion, regional development and national identity. While the agreement may deliver benefits for some sectors, the Government concluded on balance and after exhaustive engagement that the risk to Irish agriculture and rural communities had not been sufficiently mitigated. That is why Ireland voted against the signature of the EU-Mercosur agreement in line with the programme for Government commitment.  I am setting out for the House the journey that was taken by the Government and the conclusion. I heard a few contributions stating we should have made our position clearer earlier. We worked our way constructively with other member states to try to build a blocking minority. I know how that has worked against us, with respect. I know it from the fisheries perspective. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  As well as it did in fisheries. It did a great job there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Yes, because others worked together to block us. The Deputies opposite know the facts of this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Do not mention the fisheries deal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  They know full well that this decision does not diminish Ireland's commitment to trade with the European Union or to the international engagement. Rather, it reflects a careful, evidence-based judgment that trade policy must be fair, sustainable and balanced. The Government will continue to engage constructively as the process moves forward, including ahead of the European Parliament vote. We will continue to advocate for the strongest possible implementation of safeguards, standards and commitments secured through Ireland's engagement. This is the balanced and responsible approach the Government has taken throughout. It is one that recognises opportunity, confronts risk and places the long-term interests of the Irish people in urban and rural areas at the centre of decision-making. For those reasons, the Government stands by its position, commends its amendment to the House and reaffirms its commitment to Irish farmers and rural communities, to Ireland's future and to the outward looking trading nation we are.  While the Deputies seek to undermine our activities here, I have heard no one - perhaps one or two on the other side - give any credibility to the work of the Government on the retention of the nitrates derogation----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Was that a trade-off? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  -----or the reopening of market access for beef to the Chinese markets. This Government has shown time after time a commitment to rural communities. Time after time, it has delivered for rural communities. We can all get up here and shout and roar, but the reality is that I, as someone who was born and bred in a rural community and brought up on a small farm,----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Minister of State should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  -----know how much agriculture has changed over the past 50 years. I know what engagement within the European Union has meant and I am shocked by some of the utterances, that some people say our future would be better - I am not saying Deputy Kenny said this but it is part of this narrative - outside the European Union. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Then the Minister of State knows how long it took farmers to get there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Sadly, the Deputy and I know that is not the case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  On a point of order, I asked the Minister of State to clarify whether Barry Andrews, Regina Doherty or Se\u00e1n Kelly will be voting with Ireland or voting with Ursula in a couple of weeks' time. The Minister of State has to give clarity on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  That is not a matter for the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  It is hugely important. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is. Deputy Bennett. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  That the Mercosur trade agreement has even reached this point is a result of political strokes. In the first instance, the supporters of the Lisbon treaty, including Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, opened the door to the European Commission circumventing member state vetoes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Which European treaty did Sinn F\u00e9in support? We would not be there today if it was up to Sinn F\u00e9in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Sinn F\u00e9in and others sought the Government to formally express its opposition to this deal and it refused. Instead, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael spoke of safeguards that we know to be worthless. The following year, the Government endorsed the reappointment of the Commission President, Ursula von der Leyen. She executed the stroke the Government parties empowered her to use under the Lisbon treaty and stripped Ireland of its veto. Still, the possibility remained that a blocking minority could be formed in Europe of those states not willing to sacrifice their farmers' livelihoods or the environment in favour of German car manufacturers. Did the Government kick into gear then? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Every day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Not a chance. That is, until the day on which the deal's passage was secured, at which time the Taoiseach said that we would vote against it, secure in the knowledge it would not have a meaningful impact. The Taoiseach is not opposed to the Mercosur agreement. He just thinks the Irish people are fools who will buy his cheap charade. They were working behind the scenes is what an tAire St\u00e1it said. What a laugh. Sinn F\u00e9in's motion tonight gives every Member of this House the opportunity to lay on the table exactly where they stand and if there will truly join the fight against a bad deal for Irish farmers. Shame on any Member who backs the Taoiseach's threadbare theatre and believes he or she can take farming families for fools. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  I listened to the debate in my office today. The industry will be decimated, full stop. We have seen it with the fishing industry. We cannot say we went out and bargained for this, that and the other. The fishing industry was sold out. We should have a fishing industry worth billions of euro worth here. The Minister mentioned in his speech about quality of life. How can a person have a better quality of life if he or she is eating muck? It is muck. We debated a Bill on vaping about two hours ago and the carcinogens in it and we are banning it straight away. We will, however, bring in 90,000 tonnes of beef and 180,000 tonnes of poultry but it is okay to eat that because we will have a better quality of life. It is absolutely bonkers.  The Government will drive young farmers into extinction because if this goes through they will have nothing. The EU fines farmers for environmental breaches and all of that yet it will be grand to go over to Brazil and other countries where there is massive deforestation. We are talking about an environmental impact and the carbon footprint to import this stuff. The EU does not care about it. It is all about getting the best deal for Ursula and her buddies because they paid off another country during the week with millions and millions of euro. This is how the game works.  It is absolutely farcical that we are here and we have been waiting so long for this. I have listened to other speakers state that all our MEPs have a duty there. If the deal is not good enough for Ireland let us be honest with Europe and say no, we got stung once. We dipped our fingers in the water and we got burnt. That was in regard to the fishing industry. Now you are telling us the water is not as hot any more, it is probably lukewarm, we will get away with it and everything will be grand. I know the Minister of State mentioned trade. There is no guarantee with that. What have we got in trade when it comes to our fishing industry? We have foreign vehicles and foreign trawlers coming in wiping the country out and we have the best fish in the world. We saw the other day that crabs came off a truck that were being exported to Portugal. I always say that when you go on holidays, it is the best of Irish fish you are eating. I am very worried about this deal. We are banning carcinogens in vaping as we debated today but yet we will bring thousands and thousands of tonnes of muck - that is all I can call it - into this country and we are being told it will be fine because we will get better deals for something else. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Mercosur trade deal and I welcome the farmers to the Gallery this evening. As an urban TD I have to put on the record that I have been contacted by a large number of constituents who have raised this trade deal with me in the run-up to last week's vote. They were concerned about two things, namely, food safety and the damage to the environment. I was shocked to read the report produced by the Irish Farmers' Journal . Its journalists travelled to Brazil and investigated just how easy it is to buy growth hormones for cattle, as well as antibiotics and other products that were banned in Europe or that require a prescription. They were able to walk up to the counters in the shop. They did not speak Portuguese. They were able to point at the bottles and buy them. No prescription or identification was needed and there were no checks whatsoever. The lack of controls or oversight on the sale and use of these products has serious implications for the Irish and European food chains.  In terms of the environment, there are farmers in Brazil with 50,000 or more cattle and they are clearing huge tracts of rainforest for grazing. When this beef is ready to export it is being sent halfway around the world to Europe. Seriously, how does the Minister of State square that with Ireland's commitment to protect the environment? The Government needs to take action. It needs to do everything in its power to oppose the ratification of this trade agreement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  The decision by the EU Council to approve the Mercosur trade deal was a bad day for Ireland. It is bad for our public health, our environment, our agricultural industry and our citizens. The Government's eleventh hour conversion to opposing the deal was a cynical move to save votes but the public and the farming community saw through this manoeuvre. The Government only made the decision to oppose this dodgy deal when it was safe in the knowledge it would have passed because of Italy's decision to support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  It would have passed either way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  For years, Sinn F\u00e9in has been highlighting the reasons we should oppose this deal. We urged this Government to come out and join us in campaigning against the Mercosur deal but it sat silently refusing to defend Ireland's interests until the last minute when it was too late. Sinn F\u00e9in will continue to actively campaign to put an end to this disastrous deal. Our MEPs Lynn Boylan and Kathleen Funchion are taking a legal challenge against the deal and there will be a vote on it in the EU Parliament. Sinn F\u00e9in is calling on the Government to put into the public domain all legal, political and diplomatic actions it will now take to stop the Mercosur trade deal. We are also calling on the Government to publicly support the legal action being taken by members of the European Parliament against the ratification of the Mercosur agreement and, finally, we ask that the Government mandates its MEPs to vote against the deal and build a blocking minority among like-minded EU member states. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  That is the European Parliament now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  The Minister of State has had his opportunity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  At the nub of this issue is the reality that everybody knows, across Europe and the world, that the standards we are expected to meet in Europe when it comes to food production and the standards that are expected in Brazil and other Mercosur countries are not the same. We all know that. They are decades behind when it comes to food quality standards. The Minister of State knows that, I know that and everybody knows that and yet that is set aside. Public health is set aside for what? For the profit of a certain number of corporations. I know there are certain jobs and all of that but that comes to the nub of it. In the Minister of State's summing up earlier he got to what is the issue here. The issue here is that he said on one hand the Government tried to build a minority to block the deal but at the same time was trying to work with people to improve the deal. You cannot do both. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  It is as simple as that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  It is from both sides of the Minister of State's mouth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  It is a contradiction if the Government says it wants to improve the deal but it is also saying to the same people it also wants to block it. The Government cannot do both and we all know that. We hear it back. We do not live in a vacuum. We hear what goes on in the country and we hear what goes on in Europe also. The truth is, on one side of the Minister of State's mouth over here he was saying he wants to block the deal but when he went out to Europe and European meetings were happening with Irish officials they were wishy-washy, saying well, if we could improve this and if this little thing could be done it might help.  It was all about getting the deal improved so that it could be palatable for the Irish Government to sell. That is exactly what was being done. The Taoiseach, when he was in China the other day, thought that he was at the point that it was nearly palatable, and he was sort of saying that a lot of things have improved and everything is good now. Basically, what he was saying was that the Government was going to vote \"Yes\" to it - the Minister of State knows that - and only at the last minute was the U-turn done. That is the reality. Everyone knows that.  We will put the past behind us. We will put the Government's duplicity and all its nonsense behind us and we will start a new day tomorrow. Will it tomorrow make sure that every MEP elected in Ireland will vote against this agreement? Will the Minister of State make sure they vote against it? Will he make sure his Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael colleagues who are Government MEPs vote against it? Will he do that or will he not? That is a mark of what his commitment is. Will he make sure that he works with other countries across Europe to block this deal? Will the Government publish what it has done in the past and what it intends to do in the future, as stated in the motion we put before the House, or will it not? At the end of the day, we know where the Government stands. The Government thinks it can ride both horses; it cannot. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment No. 1 to amendment No. 1 put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  The division on Aont\u00fa's amendment to the Minister of State's amendment is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Mercosur Trade Agreement: Motion [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Enterprise Support Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  SMEs and self-employed individuals are being crippled by the cost of doing business in Ireland in 2026. The Government is ignoring their pleas for help and rejecting every Sinn F\u00e9in proposal to alleviate their situation from our motion to tackle insurance costs to our motion to bring energy costs. I ask the Minister to outline the concrete steps his Department is taking to support these businesses struggling with the cost of doing business. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Peter Burke)  I thank the Deputy for her question.  The Government recognises that the cost of doing business has been an issue for firms in recent years, in particular, on foot of external inflationary pressures. It should also be acknowledged that the Government has been proactive in tackling the issue of rising costs and is pleased to note that the costs for firms, as measured through the CSO's wholesale price index, are declining. The latter are down 5.3% in the 12 months to November 2025.  In addition, the Government has provided significant financial support to the SME sector through the increased cost of business, ICOB, scheme and the power up scheme. Over recent years, in excess of \u20ac400 million has been distributed nationwide. This includes the \u20ac244 million under ICOB which was provided to more than 75,000 businesses. A second round of ICOB payments was targeted specifically in retail, hospitality and beauty sectors. The successor to ICOB, the power up grant, was aimed at these same sectors at a total cost of \u20ac159 million.  My Department has taken action to address fiscal and regulatory issues, including the establishment of the Cost of Business Advisory Forum in June 2025, and the accelerated publication of the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity in September 2025. Both of these actions deliver on the programme for Government commitments to our small business, enterprise and industries and to develop Government policy which focuses on the economic areas that fall within our domestic sphere of influence.  The Cost of Business Advisory Forum's purpose is to critically examine issues that can lead to higher costs for business in Ireland and review associated regulatory and infrastructural issues that merit a changed approach. At present, there are 25 member organisations, representing a broad section of Ireland's enterprise sector, including SMEs, that regularly contribute to the work of the forum, alongside active engagement and dialogue with a variety of State agencies, regulators and Departments.  Forum members adopted a comprehensive thematic work plan in June 2025 and since then have met a considerable number of times. Areas, such as energy and security of supply, increased insurance costs, planning and infrastructural delivery and water services form part of their deliberations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  How come the business owners I speak to every day of the week are struggling so much if the Minister is saying that so much is being done for them, as measured through the CSO's wholesale price index? That is not the reality on the ground. It is certainly not the reality in the businesses that I see every day.  The SMEs are the backbone of employment in towns and villages right across this State. They keep main streets alive. They sponsor local teams, provide apprenticeships and take chances on new staff. Too many of them are telling me the very same thing, which is that they are working harder for less.  The SMEs need Government intervention that matches the scale of the problem. That could be it, that the scale of the problem is not recognised.  Over the past year, the Government has talked a lot about supports but what SMEs have experienced is delay, piecemeal measures and a refusal to tackle the big drivers of cost. The signs are there. In 2025, a total of 848 insolvencies were recorded. That is hundreds of businesses that did not make it through the year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  We are doing a number of things that will continue to bring viability into businesses. Each of them, on its own, has been opposed by Sinn F\u00e9in.  First, we have reassessed the trajectory to a living wage, which has been pointed out by firms as a huge cost for viability. Second, we have put a halt to an extension of sick day numbers. Third, we have increased viability through a host of sustainability grants. Our energy efficiency grant, which is a 75% rebate, can take \u20ac1,200 per month off the utility costs of firms. We have established a small business unit within the Department to respond to pressures on the SMEs.  All 13 sectors of the economy are growing. That is what the CSO said in its report in December. It showed that wages are at \u20ac1,000 gross per week, which is a 45% increase since 2015. All sectors are growing. Jobs are being created. Every day over 60 jobs are being created in this economy and we are working to reduce costs further through our Cost of Business Advisory Forum. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  Then how come there are 848 insolvencies? That does not add up in terms of the supports for small business.  I recognise that there are increased costs in wages but we cannot have a situation where workers are subsidising businesses. That is why the proposal for a PRSI rebate was put forward in our pre-budget submission to mitigate those costs, but the Minister did not take that up.  Behind every insolvency is a livelihood and a community hit.  On energy, Ireland is simply not competitive. Eurostat data shows that Ireland had among the highest electricity prices in the EU for non-household consumers in 2025. That is devastating for caf\u00e9s, shops, small manufacturers and tourism businesses trying to plan month to month.  On the insurance, the rip-off continues. Premiums remain stubbornly high. SMEs are being hammered by public and employer liability costs. Overall, Ireland ranks among the top countries in the world for insurance premiums per capita , which tells us something about how expensive the overall system is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I want to come back to the Deputy with evidence and factual data. For every company that goes into liquidation in the economy now, ten more are created. We are at an all-time low in terms of insolvency levels. The CSO data, which is the gold standard of collecting evidence in this economy, backs that up.  The Deputy should have a look at the December outturn and the summary of our economic position. All 13 sectors of the economy are growing. We are at a record level of employment. Some 2.82 million people are going to work this week in the economy.  The Deputy has seen the increase in wages, which is not driving essentially a low-cost economy. We have good well-paid jobs in the economy. As I said, there has been a 45% increase in the weekly wage since 2015.  We want to bring more high-value jobs into the economy. Look at the data \u2013 Irish-born firms have had a record year of \u20ac36 billion of exports. It never happened before. It broke all records for Enterprise Ireland. The economy is performing strongly. There are challenges and costs are high, but we are doing our very best to address those on foot of the cost of business advisory forum and our small business unit. We are working night and day to try to bring in further sustainability grants to help them over the long term. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Enterprise Support Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Tourism Promotion","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  What factors have been identified by the Department as driving the year-on-year decline of \u20ac1 billion in tourism revenue, as recently calculated? What immediate actions does the Minister intend to take to stabilise the sector and prevent further losses? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Lawlor for this important question. While I acknowledge his observations on revenue, the CSO statistics indicate a more optimistic picture for 2025. Overall tourism revenue in 2025 remained strong, albeit at a slightly lower level than the exceptional high levels reached in 2024 but on par with 2023. Encouragingly, the latest CSO data show a return to growth in overseas visitor numbers and expenditure towards the end of the year. The CSO reports that in November 2025, overseas visitors spent \u20ac347 million on trips excluding fares. This represents a 10% increase when compared with November 2024 and a rise of 4% compared with November 2023. Some 460,300 foreign visitors completed a trip to Ireland in November 2025, an increase of 13% compared with the same month in 2024 and up 3% compared with November 2023. This is the fourth consecutive month of 2025 to show growth in visitor numbers compared with 2024, which is very encouraging after a slow start.  I recognise that the tourism sector continues to face challenges including competitiveness pressures, macroeconomic uncertainty and the need to strengthen connectivity. As Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment, I am focused on ensuring that recent momentum is sustained. Addressing these challenges while supporting long-term resilience and productivity is a key priority for my Department and sits firmly within the wider enterprise and employment agenda. In November 2025, the Department and me published our national tourism policy statement, A New Era for Irish Tourism. This five-year strategy provides a clear framework to 2031 to grow our revenue and visitor numbers and, critically, career pathways within the sector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  I thank the Minister for his response. Someone\u2019s figures are not adding up. There has been a clash \u2013 I think the CSO was saying one figure and the industry was saying another. The indications are that foreign spending slumped by almost \u20ac1 billion and total international visitors are down year on year by some 13%. As one can imagine in an industry worth \u20ac8.9 billion to the economy with, I think, around 200,000 people employed directly and indirectly, that is a shocking statistic. I appreciate what the Minister said about there appearing to be some pickup. While North America showed some growth, markets like Britain, France and Germany, surprisingly, appear to have declined. One could suggest geopolitical activity may have had some influence on some of the markets but for North America to show growth while the others decline is quite surprising and requires some investigation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  The Deputy is quite right in relation to the CSO earlier in the year. I was making the point that it has recovered significantly over the past four months. We took immediate action. We brought forward a plan that will grow the sector significantly over the next five years. I will work on extending the season because 50% of visitors come from June to September. We are trying to bring it from St. Brigid's Day out to Halloween which will be a significant asset. We are also looking at an all-Ireland culinary strategy which will assist growth of the food and beverage sector. Critically, we will have 12% more seats coming into Ireland through our air carriers this winter. If one looks at the markets the Deputy mentioned, we will have 13% more in Germany, 8% more in France and 7% more in the UK. The previous winter, we had 9% fewer seats in total. That has been a big challenge for the sector. There are 46,000 SMEs which deliver our authentic tourism product. They are now in the heart of my Department. That is why policy has changed. I have made a complete gear change, with my two Ministers of State, in tourism policy. We are working to support SMEs, extend the season and work on accommodation providers. We have 11,500 beds now in construction, 8,600 of which are in Dublin, and moving away from State contracts with private hotel accommodation which will be important for the sector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  I welcome some of the initiatives the Minister has announced. There are markets we can work on. I gave the example of Savannah in Georgia before. A number of Ministers have visited Savannah as part of the St. Patrick\u2019s Day connections. Savannah has huge Irish connections. The city has a population of 170,000. Last year, it had 17 million visitors. If one considers that Australia had about 10 million in total, this is a vast market we should tap into. There is no direct flight to Savannah. I flew there a number of times to celebrate with the local people because of the strong Wexford connections. It took me 24 hours to get there despite the massive connections we have with that part of North America in south-east Georgia. We really need to tap into it and work with it. We will reap the rewards and the dividends will come back to Ireland Inc. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  It is a very important destination for us. We have 21 gateway hubs with the US now. We are keen on expanding them. I was in Savannah and Atlanta for a St. Patrick\u2019s Day mission a couple of years ago. Delta raised with me that it wanted to put new routes into Ireland but the cap at that point precluded it from doing so. We need to resolve the airport cap this year - that will be critically important - and grow those routes. I have specifically raised the strategic air activation scheme with Tourism Ireland which could work for Savannah. It would be important to try to get direct flights in. I am aware of the tertiary education link with Wexford and strong links there with the great work taking place on the ground in Wexford and in Savannah. The enthusiasm is incredible. So many business leaders on both sides of the Atlantic are working hand in glove. I would be very happy to work with Deputy on that to try to get that connectivity. It is an important marketplace for Ireland. Two-way bilateral relations benefit both sides, as we can see from tertiary education and other areas. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tourism Promotion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Employment Data","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  What does the Minister plan to introduce to correct the imbalance in unemployment rates between the regional areas, particularly the north and western regional area, and the urban centres? Despite the song and dance the Department and the Taoiseach made today over the strong overall employment statistics for the State as a whole last year, recent figures have revealed a growing imbalance between the unemployment levels in the urban centres and unemployment in regional areas. Will he outline the measures his Department will take to address this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Alan Dillon)  As the Deputy is aware, the programme for Government sets out a strong enterprise and fiscal framework that prioritises economic and employment growth and competitiveness, with a target to support the creation of 300,000 extra jobs by 2030. I am pleased to report that, one year on, the Irish labour market continues to record sustained employment growth, rising labour force participation and record job numbers last year, indicative of a resilient performance. In total, over 2.8 million people are now employed in Ireland with employment up 61,500 on average in the first nine months of last year. While this is a record level of employment, it is the case that the pace of job creation slowed as the year progressed. The overall robust employment performance reflects both the inherent dynamism within the economy and the success of Government policies aimed at supporting job creation, fostering innovation and providing opportunities for all sectors. Ireland\u2019s labour market performance also compares very favourably with our European counterparts. In respect of the regions, this is something we have watched very closely. It is important to stress that the labour market here is very open and dynamic, with strong increases in labour supply. Furthermore, the prevalence of remote working and commuting patterns complicate comparisons across regions.  Nonetheless, over the past year we have seen some increases in regional unemployment rates, notably in the mid-west and Border areas, where the unemployment rates averaged 5.2% and 4.8%, respectively, over the first three quarters of 2025. Furthermore, the increases over the year in these areas were above the national average. At the same time, some areas saw a decline in unemployment, with the south-west region\u2019s unemployment rate averaging 3.8%, well ahead of the national average, and the employment rate in the west averaging 5% over the first three quarters of 2025. Balanced regional development is a Government priority under my Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  Let us look at the figures. They are not mine, obviously; they those of the CSO, backed up by reports produced by the Northern and Western Regional Assembly, whose work in this regard I acknowledge. It is very important for us to know the picture. On regional unemployment, the CSO states that the State's overall figure for unemployment at the end of quarter 3 of 2025 was 5.3%. The northern and western region, which incorporates the five counties of Connacht, including that in which the Minister of State and I live, as well as Donegal, Monaghan and Cavan, had the highest regional unemployment rate in the country, at 6.1%. This region has been categorised by the EU as a lagging region, well behind Ireland's other two regions, which have a GDP per capita that is almost three times higher. Most worryingly, if we drill down further, just looking at the unemployment rate for the west, which includes our county, Mayo, we see the rate was as high as 6.7%. That is over 25% higher than the figure for the State as a whole. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I acknowledge the significant buoyancy within our labour market. On the Deputy\u2019s earlier point, it is not a matter of a song and dance; it is actual fact that we are very much creating balanced regional growth. That is evident from the high employment and rising participation rates right across the country. With 2.82 million people at work, a record level, we continue to implement good, sound Government policy.  With regard to our regions, we have an open and highly mobile workforce. Remote working has certainly enhanced the attractiveness of working within the regions, with the activity in this regard very much related to urban companies. We will have the next iterations of the nine regional enterprise plans. These are bottom up and will be led by local stakeholders, focusing on key sectors. We will also ensure labour market resilience. The Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, which will complement the successor to Pathways to Work, contains targeted activation measures to ensure that we will have the necessary skills and participation, and that we will remove any barriers that exist for those within our regions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  In that case, why are so many people moving to Canada, Australia and Great Britain? It just does not add up. If they had jobs and a place to live, they would be staying at home. The Government\u2019s enterprise support structure and investment and skills programmes remain disproportionately concentrated in already prosperous areas, while towns and rural regions struggle to attract sustainable employment. We need concrete action from the Government to attract and retain employers in regions with persistently high unemployment. We need to ensure the IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland strategies have a genuine regional impact. We need to align education and training programmes with the local labour market needs and to support SMEs, which are the backbone of regional economies. Warm words and strategies are no longer enough. Regional unemployment requires targeted, measurable and time-bound interventions. We cannot ignore the figures that are in front of us. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  We are doubling down on skills development. Very much part of that is the fact that we are working with the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science on apprenticeships and training courses, expanding many of the skills within Springboard and Skillnet and working on digital and green skills.  The results of IDA Ireland\u2019s most recent report show there were over 183 investments, 57% of which were regionally based. That demonstrates how important it is to ensure we have the jobs outside our main cities. The facts do not lie. This comes on the back of our upskilling of many people, including students, right across the country. We have a commitment concerning over 33,000 employees, with a focus on the retention of skills. Also, we are investing in regions, and that is through IDA Ireland\u2019s Adapt Intelligently programme. We even see that a new advanced manufacturing facility is being progressed in County Mayo, in Castlebar, and the securing of a new land bank is being considered. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Employment Data"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Employment Data","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  The CSO's labour force survey before Christmas found that we have significant increases in youth and long-term unemployment. The youth unemployment rate is nearly three times the average unemployment rate and it is clearly becoming much harder for young people to find work. What is the Department doing to address this increasing gap in our labour market? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Niamh Smyth)  I thank the Deputy very much for her important question. The programme for Government sets out a strong enterprise and fiscal framework that prioritises economic and employment growth and competitiveness. I am pleased to report that the Irish labour market saw sustained employment growth, rising labour force participation and record job numbers last year, indicative of a resilient performance.  In total, over 2.8 million people are now employed in Ireland, with employment up 61,500 on average in the first nine months of the year and with the pace of job creation slowing as the year progressed. Ireland\u2019s labour market performance compares very favourably with the performances of our European counterparts. Ireland\u2019s youth unemployment rate, at 14% as of December, is well below the rates of our European peers, namely 15.2% in the EU and 14.8% in the euro area. That said, we are continuing to monitor the unemployment rate. Several of the Government\u2019s initiatives will be central in this regard, not least our ambitious investment plans and, of course, the Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, published last year by the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. The Government remains fully committed to improving our competitive position to add more jobs in the future. The action plan has a range of measures to address and build a more resilient economy.  Another important document will be the successor strategy to Pathways to Work 2021-2025, which is overseen by the Department of Social Protection. In fact, the Department has concluded public consultation on this as we look to develop a new strategy. The programme for Government was clear on our ambition here, which is to create 300,000 additional jobs by 2030. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I find it frustrating that when we highlight issues or concerns about rising youth unemployment and long-term unemployment rates, they seem to be batted away with lines like those that the Taoiseach used earlier and that we are hearing now to the effect that we have got so many people in work, that the rate is record breaking and that this is the most important thing. Essentially, the point made is that we should all be grateful that people have jobs at all. N\u00edl s\u00e9 seo maith go leor. We have seen a distinct rise in youth unemployment that is incredibly out of step with the national average. The Minister of State compared us with Europe, but we need to compare our domestic youth unemployment rate with our general population unemployment rate. When we do so, we see the difficulty. In an uncertain labour market, where quality jobs and secure employment are being eroded, we must not have a Government deciding it is not an issue or focusing instead on the broader picture and not isolating this as the canary in the coalmine we know it to be in labour economics. Fifty thousand young people are without work. We are seeing companies row back on entry-level and graduate recruitment. If we do not act now to ensure a balanced labour market, we will have people on the back foot for their entire lives. How is this specifically being addressed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I thank the Deputy. As she will hear in my response, I acknowledge the fact, laid out in the CSO data, that there is a clear rise in youth unemployment, with the unemployment rate pertaining to young people between the ages of 15 and 24 having risen to 14% in quarter 3 of 2025 from 11.5% a year previously. This compares to a more modest rise in unemployment among our older cohort, from 3.4% to 3.9% among those aged 25 to 74. I acknowledge that. However, there is a strong underlying demographic effect within the labour force survey numbers, reflecting high inflows into the labour force from those born in 2007.  The employment rate of those aged 15 to 24 years is more volatile and subject to seasonal fluctuations. The CSO has told us that the 15- to 24-year-old age group accounts for 15% of employment, a ratio that is unchanged in a decade, although that is not to say it is acceptable. However, the same cohort now accounts for nearly one third of unemployment, up a quarter from a decade ago. With regard to graduates or educational attainment, for those aged 15 to 24, unemployment has increased by 9,500 persons but the vast majority of this was accounted for by those with levels of education at secondary level or below. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I encourage the Minister of State to go beyond the numbers and talk to young people herself. The young people I speak to tell me about the difficulties they have in finding employment. Beyond the statistics that the Minister of State is setting out, we have to simply acknowledge this.  As I mentioned, and as we know from history repeating itself, it is a canary in the coal mine. We know it is an indicator of a broader concern across unemployment. We know there has been an erosion in the quality of the work that is offered, particularly to younger people and other cohorts within our population. When I raise workers\u2019 rights, the approach of this Government has been that job creation is enough, and we should be grateful that people have jobs in the first place. In a time of economic prosperity, where we are talking about the strength of our economy, our balance sheet and our enterprises, it is depressing not to see that translate to workers. Is c\u00fais mh\u00f3r imn\u00ed anseo. A booming economy is cold comfort to people who cannot participate in that economy. Record corporation profits do not continue on to our society if companies are not employing people, if they treat their workers as disposable and if they do not provide quality jobs. What is the Government doing to tackle those issues head-on? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  Pathways to Work, as a national employment strategy, addresses the key targets, as the Deputy has laid out. The key target strategy includes: supporting 75,000 long-term unemployed into employment by May and reducing long-term unemployment by 2.5% of the labour force by 2025; reducing youth unemployment to below its 2019 average of 12.5%; ensuring better labour market outcomes for those most at risk of poverty, including lone parents and people with disabilities; and improving labour market transitions by reducing the rate at which the newly employed progress into longer-term employment.  I acknowledge there is a challenge and a difficulty. However, it is fair to say that the strategies are in place and are a key target for us. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Employment Data"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Tourism Policy","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  We are all aware that the Good Friday Agreement established tourism on the island of Ireland as a key North-South co-operation area, and it markets the island as a single destination for visitors. Will the Minister outline initiatives in the Government\u2019s new tourism strategy that aim to grow sustainable, all-island tourism on a North-South basis? My concern is that the plan will leave parts of our island behind, particularly the Six Counties, and that we are not maximising the potential there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Enhancing cross-Border co-operation and connections is a key ambition of this Government, and the tourism plan is an important asset towards achieving this goal. Tourism Ireland is responsible for marketing the island of Ireland overseas as a leading holiday destination, and it works closely with colleagues in F\u00e1ilte Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland. In addition to a commitment to work with F\u00e1ilte Ireland to develop a balanced regional spread of tourism throughout the country, further advancing the experience brands, the programme for government also includes a commitment to support Tourism Ireland to further integrate tourism offerings on an all-island basis.  In line with the programme for government, my Department published the new tourism strategy, A New Era for Irish Tourism, on 1 December 2025. This policy provides an overview of the Government\u2019s long-term approach to tourism development to 2031 and sets out a clear framework to support a competitive, sustainable and regionally balanced tourism sector. The policy provides for the delivery of all-island product development and promotion through the tourism agencies and shared island funding, and for the development of new tourism opportunities, building on the Wild Atlantic Way and Causeway Coastal Route brand collaboration project and the implementation of the Cuilcagh lakelands, Carlingford Lough and Sliabh Beagh shared destinations projects.  The commitments outlined in the new policy on North-South tourism include the Government\u2019s commitment to ongoing co-operation in the overseas marketing of the island of Ireland as a holiday destination. In this regard, the Government will work with counterparts in Northern Ireland to ensure that Tourism Ireland continues to be adequately resourced to successfully carry out its remit and help achieve the policy objectives. My Department, in consultation with the tourism agencies, will continue to support shared island bids for joint initiatives, which will enhance regional connectivity and create more cohesive visitor experiences across the island. Under the All-Island Strategic Tourism Group, which was established by the North South Ministerial Council, my Department and tourism agencies will work with counterparts in Northern Ireland to identify key areas of North-South co-ordination and co-operation to harness the tourism potential of the whole island, offering rewarding experiences for visitors while supporting communities across the island. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  While I am happy to finally see a regional focus on the Government's latest tourism policy document, which aims to grow sustainable tourism in historically overlooked regions, I fear that we have missed an opportunity to integrate successful tourism campaigns from both jurisdictions. Ireland's Hidden Heartlands, for example, only recently expanded to include a fraction of County Fermanagh. While I welcome that, it could be further expanded into mid-Ulster to offer visitors a unique experience across both sides of the Border and bring much-needed footfall and spending to rural towns and villages there.  Another missed opportunity was the potential to join the Wild Atlantic Way to the Causeway Coastal Route. Marketing co-operation alone is not enough. We need a Government-led vision that links infrastructure, transport, heritage and regional development to a coherent North-South tourism strategy. We want our visitors to experience the best of what the island of Ireland has to offer, all in one trip. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  We are doing exactly that. We are harnessing the close co-operation with Northern Ireland. I am working very closely with the Minister, Dr. Archibald, whom I have met on a number of occasions, and we are promoting the country as an island internationally while abroad at trade missions.  Fermanagh has been included in Ireland's Hidden Heartlands. As for the Causeway Coastal Route, collaboration is taking place as we speak to have a joint project that attracts visitors across the island. As I pointed out, we are harnessing the ambition and opportunity through our all-island culinary strategy, which we will be developing over the coming year. It will be an exciting opportunity to really penetrate markets, particularly from a European perspective. We have a bit of work to do in that regard because people may have a different impression of Ireland before they come here. However, when they experience our authentic produce, particularly artisan foods and brewery products, they are very impressed. We have the North-South distillery trail, which is another prime example of the work that F\u00e1ilte Ireland, Tourism Ireland and Tourism Northern Ireland are doing in close collaboration. I want to see that continue because, as an island, our success is shared, and I am very keen on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I welcome the work that has been done in that area, but I want to encourage more of it, and I want to encourage it to go beyond the marketing. In particular, tourists travelling North and South still face poor public transport options. If I tried to get public transport from Mayo to Belfast, it would take me hours upon hours, and I would nearly be in New York by the time I would be in Belfast. There is much to do there. Other issues are the disjointed visitor information and the lack of integrated ticketing for travel passes. There are some basic things that we can get right. The continued neglect of rail links, greenways and co-ordinated transport planning undermines the potential of the natural pairings of the campaigns that I mentioned earlier, such as the Wild Atlantic Way and the Causeway Coast Route. There is a lot more to be done in this area. Structures such as the North South Ministerial Council are underused when it comes to tourism co-operation with real economic impact. I believe that is where the future growth of our island will be. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I assure the Deputy that any time I am marketing Ireland as a tourism product, it is the island of Ireland. We can see this in the infrastructural projects that reach into other sectors outside my Department. Through the shared island economic brand, it is very important to tackle the key infrastructural deficits we have on the island. We are being honest that they are there and very visible. We have a huge amount of work to do. From my perspective, I want to develop the brand and work on the infrastructural projects in the tourism sector. We will be taking some \u20ac7.5 million from the shared island fund to really penetrate into some of those key projects that need development in Northern Ireland, in particular the Causeway Coastal Route, the expansion of the Hidden Heartlands and the other projects I mentioned in view of the UNESCO status that Sliabh Beagh and other areas will get.  We are working very closely with Dr. Archibald, my ministerial counterpart in the North, on marketing Ireland as a brand. We are resourcing Tourism Ireland very strongly this year. As I said, boots are back on the ground internationally. We are going after new markets in the Asia-Pacific region and North America. That will yield significant results in the coming months and years. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tourism Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Tourism Funding","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Anocht, ba mhaith liom ceist a chur ar an Aire regarding a heritage centre for north Dublin bay. This would be a single focal point for cultural heritage and would increase the number of year-round visitors to the area. Huge numbers of people already visit north Dublin. We have two castles there. People do not know that with the Guinness family, Bram Stoker and Daniel O\u2019Connell all connected to the area, there is a huge amount of history there. We have loads of sites. Having a heritage centre would be brilliant for tourism and the economy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank the Deputy for his very important question. In December, I launched the Government's new national tourism policy statement, A New Era for Irish Tourism. This sets out our clear vision to 2031 to have balanced product development. Since the move of tourism into my Department, I have reflected that SMEs are at the heart of the Department of enterprise. There are over 46,000 of them. We published the Department\u2019s sectoral plan last week. We have \u20ac4.7 billion over the next five years, and \u20ac400 million is earmarked for tourism. I also want to enhance the quality and sustainability of our tourism offering, ensuring that Ireland remains a compelling destination for international visitors while supporting local communities and businesses.  I should clarify that regional tourism promotion is an operational matter for F\u00e1ilte Ireland, in collaboration with local authorities and other tourism stakeholders. F\u00e1ilte Ireland recognises the importance of ongoing capital investment in tourism infrastructure and attractions across the country and remains committed to supporting the sustainable development of tourism potential in all areas.  I understand that the project being proposed would be a heritage centre that could also be used as a shared community facility. At present, F\u00e1ilte Ireland does not operate a capital grant scheme to support such a project. However, when suitable capital schemes are launched, they are open to eligible project promoters nationwide, subject to meeting all scheme criteria being met, including strategic alignment and value for money. I encourage the Deputy to liaise with F\u00e1ilte Ireland in relation to schemes that will come forward over the coming year. My colleague the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage has responsibility for the heritage sector. I have been informed that the Heritage Council, which comes under the remit of his Department, operates funding schemes that may be relevant to this project.  Separately, F\u00e1ilte Ireland has commenced work on the Dublin coast destination and experience development plan. The plan is being developed in close collaboration with local authorities in the region and key agencies, tourism businesses and community stakeholders. F\u00e1ilte Ireland is actively promoting and developing marine and coastal tourism in Dublin Bay North through a range of strategic initiatives. A key element of this work is the Dublin coastal trail, launched in 2022, which provides a flagship framework to showcase Dublin's coastline from Skerries to Killiney. The original trail features 11 stops, including Howth, Raheny and Bull Island, with five additional stops planned at Clontarf-Dollymount, Dublin Port, Balbriggan, Donabate and Blackrock. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I welcome the fact that the Minister thinks this is a good idea. It would be brilliant for the economy, local tourism and jobs. I will mention a few things that north Dublin has going for it, namely the Battle of Clontarf, Brian Boru, the two Norman castles, Lord Charlemont and Casino Marino and Daniel O\u2019Connell and the monster meeting that took place in Clontarf in 1843 from which the Irish revolution and the foundation of the State began. I did not know about the latter until I went and met the men and women behind the great organisation involved to discuss giving them a base and a place that would not only be used in the context of heritage but also in respect of arts and anything that would help the local community. St. Anne\u2019s Park is the former home of the Guinness family. We have the main avenue and the Red Stables there. It would be brilliant to bring the community together. From the city out to Howth Head, the area has an extraordinary concentration of heritage. This is something I was not fully aware of until I was educated by Dennis McIntyre, who I commend on his hard work. A heritage centre would support schools, local groups, researchers and visitors alike. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  Again, I acknowledge the work F\u00e1ilte Ireland is doing on the coastal path, the 11 stops I mentioned and the others that are planned. F\u00e1ilte Ireland is a named partner in the Dublin Bay UNESCO Biosphere, the purpose of which is to ensure that tourism growth is aligned with sustainability and environmental stewardship. F\u00e1ilte Ireland continues to invest in seasonal events, such as the New Year's Festival, which is held in Howth, and the Home of Hallowe'en hub in Fingal, which drive off-season tourism and provide direct support to local businesses. Those are the key areas we are trying to work on in order to lengthen the season.  F\u00e1ilte Ireland offers tailored brand toolkits, marketing resources and business-to-business promotional content designed to empower local tour operators and small enterprises to create and showcase memorable visitor experiences that drive regional tourism growth. These initiatives represent a comprehensive programme to grow marine and coastal tourism in Dublin Bay North. This is along with other potential funding streams I mentioned that are overseen by the Department of Housing, Heritage and Local Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  It is great that the Minister thinks this is a good idea. Think of what would be in place in another country if Bram Stoker had lived there. He lived in the Fairview area. You can still see his house. I know the person who lives in it. They voted for me. Actually, I do not know if they did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  They gave you their number two. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Yes. It is great to see Deputy \u00d3 Muir\u00ed\u2019s enthusiasm, but, sadly, you cannot ask a supplementary on a priority question.  A heritage centre would act as a home for Bram Stoker's story . It would be a base for tourism and a shared space for the community. It would drive footfall in the area. When I work as a barman, I spoke to Americans who came to the area. When I told them about Bram Stoker and the Battle of Clontarf, they did not know about either because not enough is done to publicise them. If any other country was the birthplace of the person who wrote Dracula and brought it to the world stage, that would be a centre point and it would be used to bring people in. We had the Bram Stoker museum. Sadly, it closed. Those involved with the heritage centre have the memorabilia ready; they just need a site. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I am happy to work with Deputies Heneghan and \u00d3 Muir\u00ed in their constituency, particularly as this is a very important project. We will be working on a number of projects in the context of our destination and experience development plan, which will chart the development of the area, over the coming months and years. It is important that this work links with that of our State agencies and local authorities. There are exciting opportunities in the tourism sector, and I relish the opportunity of working on them in the coming months. We have significant capital schemes that we will bring forward this year. We will also focus developing the brand. SMEs are critical - I keep coming back to this - because they deliver the authentic brand on our behalf. In that context, we have to up our digital game. There will be a lot of grants available to help businesses make sure that the information provided on their platforms is what is needed to ensure that what we have to offer is highlighted on the search engines people use to book tours, etc. About 30% of all people who come here use the Internet to assess the areas they are thinking about visiting. They use generative AI to set out their itineraries for the time they are here. We need to ensure that businesses here can advertise what they have to offer in an effective way online. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tourism Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Industrial Development","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sean Fleming","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sean Fleming","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sean Fleming  Will the Minister comment on the number of IDA Ireland jobs in County Laois? The most recent figures I received show 145 IDA Ireland-supported jobs in County Laois. In the midland region, which includes four counties, there are over 8,000. Laois has 30% of the population of the midlands region and less than 2% of IDA Ireland jobs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Fleming for his very important question on the midlands. Regional development is a key focus of our programme for Government and is central to the work the Department and our enterprise agencies. The region, comprising counties Laois, Offaly, Longford and Westmeath, is home to 51 IDA Ireland companies that employ 7,501 people. Foreign direct investment performance has been consistent over the six years requested by the Deputy, 2020 to 2025, with IDA Ireland-supported jobs increasing by 1,027, or 16%, over this period.  Employment in Westmeath, Longford and Offaly increased by 626, 336 and 67 respectively, while employment in Laois decreased by two. In 2020, there were 158 IDA Ireland-supported jobs in Laois. This decreased to 156 in 2025. In Longford, the employment figures went from 1,236 in 2020 to 1,572 in 2025, an increase of 336. In Offaly, the 2020 employment figure was 1,232. This increased by 67 to 1,299 in 2025.  In Westmeath, the number of IDA Ireland-supported jobs increased by 626 over the period, going from 3,848 to 4,474. Over the period of its previous strategy, 2021 to 2024, IDA Ireland supported the delivery of 973 investments and the creation of 76,790 jobs. Some 54% of those investments were won in regional locations. In the midlands, 31 investments were won against a target of 25.  Under its current strategy, IDA Ireland is targeting 550 of a total 1,000 investments to regional locations, including 40 in the midlands. The first year of this strategy, 2025, saw IDA Ireland achieving the highest ever number of investments, 323, a 38% increase on 2024, which are expected to create over 15,300 jobs in the coming years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sean Fleming","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sean Fleming  I thank the Minister for that information. It has confirmed the issue I raised. I want to highlight the following situation. There are 52 IDA-supported jobs per 1,000 people in Westmeath. The figure in Longford is 35 per 1,000 and in Offaly 16 per 1,000. The figure for County Laois is two per 1,000. The IDA does not exist in Laois; I wonder does Laois exist in the minds of the IDA. It has a big regional office in Westmeath, and more power to it, but because that office is in Westmeath, people who come to the midlands are shown Westmeath first. We might be an extra 40 minutes down the road but it is well worth a visit. There is something strategically wrong with the IDA when it can have only two jobs per 1,000 people. The figure for Enterprise Ireland is not much better; it has about 2,000 jobs in the county, which is the third lowest in the whole country. I am asking for a positive response and for the Minister to ask the IDA to do more for County Laois because it has not done much to date. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I acknowledge the concern raised by Deputy Fleming in connection with Laois. I was on the ground there with Deputies Fleming and Aird recently and looked at where we have an advanced planning permit in Portlaoise and lands surrounding it, as well as being there on the occasion when Midland Steel announced 70 jobs, which are very important for the area. We have seen 11% growth in Enterprise Ireland from 2020 to 2024, which equals about 260 jobs supported by the agency. We have to do better and I fully acknowledge that. We drive regional growth as best we can and I have asked the IDA to up its targets for regional areas. I will do all I can, working with Deputies Fleming and Aird, to bring additional investment into Laois. Critically, the Leprino Foods site is another high-quality, high-spec building and we really need to find a replacement employer. It is one we are marketing aggressively as part of the IDA portfolio. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sean Fleming","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sean Fleming  I appreciate the comment on Leprino, which closed in Portlaoise and was originally Glanbia, an Enterprise Ireland project. Because it was sold to an American company, it now comes under the remit of the IDA. That it just a book transfer but we need to get a facility reopened in that location as quickly as possible. I ask that when the Minister is arranging the visits for Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, Laois be put high on the list.  IDA has a 45-acre facility in Portlaoise and planning permission was granted on that in 2024 to lay roads, paths and lighting to facilitate development. We want to see follow-through from the IDA. It is totally out of kilter with the rest of the country. How can the IDA only have two jobs per 1,000 people in County Laois? It is off the scale completely, compared with other counties. There is an injustice happening to County Laois and I want the IDA and Enterprise Ireland to change that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I take on board Deputy Fleming's comments. I will work with the IDA on attracting foreign direct investment into the region. We have increased our regional target, which is very important, to get as many jobs as we can. We are working through our capital programme, in which we have about \u20ac500 million for regional buildings, to put the infrastructure in place around them and ensure they are in the best position to attract investment.  Visitor numbers are up in the midlands but I will add a note of caution. We are operating in an uncertain political environment. We know the pressures on the global stage regarding attracting investment, which will be acute in 2026. Notwithstanding that, with our indigenous agencies, Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, we will do our best to reflect the Deputy's concerns and will try to do better in 2026. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 115 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)  I understand Deputy McGreehan is taking the next question on behalf of Deputy Dempsey. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Industrial Development"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Job Creation","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  How many jobs in each county in the mid-east region did the IDA support in 2025? How did this compare with each county in that region in 2020? Will the Minister of State make a statement on the matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  Regional development is a key focus of our programme for Government and is central to the work of my Department and our enterprise development agencies. The mid-east region, comprising Kildare, Louth, Meath and Wicklow, is home to 126 IDA client companies employing 20,284 people. The mid-east has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across technology, life sciences, international financial services, and engineering and industrial technologies. The region has also won significant investment in the food and the film subsectors.  FDI performance has been consistent over the six years requested by the Deputy, 2020 to 2025, with IDA-supported employment increasing by 973 people, or 5%, over that period. Employment in Kildare and Meath increased by 490 and 1,259, respectively, while employment in Louth and Wicklow decreased by 710 and 66, respectively.  Over the period of its last strategy, 2021 to 2024, IDA Ireland supported the delivery of 973 investments and the creation of 76,790 jobs. Some 54% of these investments were won to regional locations. In the mid-east, 51 investments were won against a target of 40. Under the current strategy, the IDA is targeting 550 of a total 1,000 investments to regional locations, including 60 in the mid-east. The first year of this strategy, 2025, saw IDA Ireland achieving the highest ever number of investments, 323, a 38% increase on 2024, which are expected to create over 15,300 additional jobs in the coming years.  We know that investments by IDA Ireland client companies consistently generate high-quality, skilled jobs nationwide. It is significant that 183 investments, representing 57% of all investments in 2025, were in regional locations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I thank the Minister of State for that overview. As he knows, jobs matter. Our previous speaker, Deputy Fleming, spoke about jobs in Laois. Jobs matter to families, communities and to the long-term viability of each region. I am particularly talking about Louth. Distribution of IDA-supported employment across Louth, Meath, etc., is not just a statistical exercise; it is a test of whether regional development policy is working. It was mentioned previously that IDA companies employed over 4,000 people in Louth. That is a lot of people.  It would be great to get an update on the plans the IDA have in Drogheda, County Louth. It has been granted planning permission for construction of offices and industrial spaces. This will be of huge significance to the area and county. Louth sits at the heart of the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta. I acknowledge her question and her commitment to the people of Louth in regard to high-quality, skilled jobs. The Minister and I recently published the new national development plan and part of that capital plan is an emphasis on regional enterprise and supporting the regional ecosystem. That is around helping SMEs start, grow and scale, while supporting the IDA on next-generation FDI sites and on its regional property portfolio. That will strengthen innovation and capacity within the regions.  With regard to County Louth, the IDA will commence the advanced building solution in Drogheda.  It is also partnering with Meath County Council for the delivery of an advance planning permit for an ATB in Navan. That is the first step in activating the site, building on it and ensuring it is marketed correctly for the right sectors to ensure that jobs can go into the area. We are putting the public capital in place and ensuring that regional enterprise funding is allocated to each of the regions. We are supporting the IDA in that regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aisling Dempsey  I thank the Minister of State. As I have said, Louth is at the centre of the Dublin-Belfast corridor. It offers scale, connectivity, a strong industrial base and a pipeline of skills. Dundalk is home to the newest university in the country and it will be a major asset to attract and embed high-value research-driven employment. The IDA sites in Drogheda and Dundalk provide a huge opportunity to grow the economy not only in the north-east but nationally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  We are very much focused on working with key State agencies, through Enterprise Ireland and the IDA, to ensure that we can continue investment across regions, including Louth. The most recently published report outlined that over 57% of all IDA investments, that is, 323 investments last year, were in the regions. That delivered huge positivity in the regions to ensure that people can work in their areas close to home.  We have also committed a significant amount of research and development grants, totalling over \u20ac2.5 billion, to support 33,000 employees in terms of upskilling. We want to continue regional dispersion to address the imbalance in projects in urban areas while ensuring that the likes of Louth is also supported. There have been real success stories in retaining FDI investment in the area and bringing new investments to Louth. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Job Creation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Enterprise Support Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  My question relates to the future of a very important scheme that supports indigenous businesses around the country, namely, the seed and venture capital scheme. Will the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment provide an update on the uptake of the scheme, when commitments will be made by Enterprise Ireland, and will he make a statement on the matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  As set out in our Department's sectoral capital plan, I and my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Burke, published last week, ensuring a vibrant seed and venture capital market that supports high growth and market disruptive businesses at all stages of development from seed to follow-on is a key priority for this Government. The seed and venture capital scheme was established in 1994 and since then has invested \u20ac700 million to support and sustain national and regional innovation which, in turn, has leveraged \u20ac3.3 billion in private investment.  The scheme's key purpose is to increase the supply of risk capital to Irish SME start-ups and scale-ups, to support their growth, leverage private sector investment and establish a robust, commercially viable and sustainable venture capital sector in Ireland. By providing access to finance at the critical start-up phase, the scheme has also played a very important role in developing the pipeline of talent, innovation and high-growth Irish-owned companies. It is funded through our Department and administered by Enterprise Ireland.  The scheme operates by making commitments to selected venture capital funds which, in turn, make investments into high potential, innovative companies, according to their investment strategies. The funds are selected to align with national objectives and Enterprise Ireland's strategy. The fund managers participating in the scheme look for the best of Irish innovation, namely, companies that can compete on the global stage and which typically require significant equity investment to develop their products and services.  The scheme operates in five-year cycles. The Minister, Deputy Burke, launched the latest cycle of the scheme in August 2024 which will run for the period 2025 to 2029. The Government agreed to an increase of \u20ac75 million on the previous cycle. That brings the total available to invest under the 2025 scheme to a record allocation of \u20ac250 million.  The first open call for the current scheme closed in February 2025 and received a record number of applications, demonstrating that there is a high level of demand for finance to invest in Irish start-ups. Enterprise Ireland made its first commitments to the fund in quarter 4 of 2025. This will be followed by a period of further fundraising by the funds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  I thank the Minister of State. I welcome the commitment of \u20ac250 million. In effect, it is venture capital provided by the State. From dealing with private venture capital funds, I know they extract their pound's worth. They look for an annual return of anything from 30% to 35% and try to get out of the business after two or three years, which does not provide the sort of space, investment and continuity required for fledgling businesses to succeed, as well as what they need in terms of building up markets, products, etc.  Typically, the jobs are pretty high value. In fairness to Enterprise Ireland, it has a good track record in identifying and nurturing those companies and putting the right agreements in place to be able to invest in them. It also gives those companies the space to make their own mistakes and develop and learn as they go. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for his question and interest in this area. We know how important it is. Recently, the Minister, Deputy Burke, launched the start-up Ireland programme, along with the seed and venture capital scheme. These two pillars are critical to the strategy to make Ireland one of the best places in Europe to start and scale a business. We have allocated over \u20ac28 million to start-up Ireland in 2026 to strengthen the start-up ecosystem.  The seed and venture capital scheme has gone from strength to strength. The most recent review shows that we are making huge headway with regard to the number of additional jobs that have been created - over 4,300 since it was established in 1994. The review of the scheme from 2013 to 2022 provided up to \u20ac2.5 billion in gross value added. There are significant gains in research and development and valuations. Many Irish companies have scaled onto the international and global markets as a result. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  Regarding a sectoral approach to those investments, does the Department make those decisions or is it left to Enterprise Ireland to decide how to allocate the funding? Who has that expertise, because an element of expertise is required?  Reference was made earlier to the geographical distribution of investment. I know it is difficult because we are reliant on small businesses looking for these funds. Can anything be done to make sure that there is some level of geographical distribution of that investment? I do not know the correct way to do that, but it would be interesting to know whether anything can be done in that regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for his question. Enterprise Ireland manages the fund. The fund reflects geography and Enterprise Ireland has a target of up to 60%. Funding is very much targeted at manufacturing, internationally traded services and high-growth potential areas in life sciences, healthcare, pharma, fintech, technology, digitalisation and the green and environmental sectors and is very much focused on areas which can ensure quality and inclusivity. In 2024, 22% of all seed venture capital supported companies were women-led. Enterprise Ireland is very much to the fore in that regard. We want to ensure that funding does not go solely to tech companies in Dublin. Our ambition is that many founders will come from many different backgrounds right across the country. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Enterprise Support Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Tourism Policy","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  The need for short-term lets for visitors to our shores cannot be underestimated in the make-up of the ideal mix of accommodation types to ensure that everybody has a full choice and range to decide from.  We need long-term and short-term lets. There is no doubt about that. We need all sorts of accommodation. Restricting any type, such as short-term lets, is a detrimental move. We should encourage more of all types. Kerry is the premier tourist county in Ireland. Killarney is the best tourist town in the country. Local business owners should be consulted before any legislative changes are introduced. A wide range of accommodation types, including hotels, guest houses, bed and breakfasts and Airbnbs, is a primary reason visitors choose the area and choose Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Cahill for his very important question. In line with the programme for Government, I was pleased to launch the Government's new national - I have the wrong one there. My apologies. I think I have the wrong question, if you could just give me a second. I do not see it here. Anyway, I will manage.  In relation to our short-term lets, there is obviously a commitment in the programme for Government about managing our short-term lets. We know the sector has grown by about 10% per annum over the last number of years. Critically, my responsibility is through F\u00e1ilte Ireland as it will be designated as a competent authority. This will essentially require a process where short-term lets will have to register on a portal and be provided with a unique number to ensure they comply with planning law. That is the critical component for which I am responsible. The second, working with the Minister, Deputy Browne, is to come forward with a planning statement which will essentially designate the criteria for short-term lets. It is based on a population basis.  We went forward to the Oireachtas joint committee and we are now awaiting its pre-legislative scrutiny report. That will be key for guiding the Minister, Deputy Browne, and I on the criteria that will be set out. I know the Deputy has raised very significant concerns about Killarney and other towns in relation to short-term lets. We will take on board all of those concerns. My critical concern is that we have to ensure we are bringing housing stock back into the long-term market, particularly in our large cities. As a tourism Minister, I also have to balance not only our indigenous tourism sector, which is very important, but also the societal need for housing. The challenge is getting the correct balance here.  I absolutely commit that we will work the Deputy and others to try to get the right policy. We will consider the pre-legislative scrutiny report from the committee, which we are due to have very shortly. I want to see the sectors grow. In areas that do not have very significant hotel accommodation, I acknowledge you need short-term lets. I am absolutely aware of that. In many locations, it is not viable to build hotels at the moment. That is something we will be looking at in our accommodation strategy, which I also hope to bring forward this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  Without the mix in accommodation and flexibility, many people would stay away, despite our fabulous food and stunning scenery offering from Kerry to Donegal. We need to be very careful that we do not kill the golden goose by legislating tourism accommodation providers out of the market. To fill the shortage of all types of lets, we need more premises. This is being addressed with the vacant and derelict property grants. I believe this will grow and can be sped up with more supports, such as with the expected investment in constructed wetlands in our towns and villages across the country, something I have been consistently calling for as a councillor and subsequently, as a TD for Kerry. I believe this would solve the housing shortage in the medium term. This is a quick, efficient and relatively cheap and easy to install system for treating wastewater without years of planning and construction.  The new short-term letting register, managed by F\u00e1ilte Ireland, lacks the support of the tourism sector. The fact this register is to focus on just one type of letting has brought it into disrepute. Many believe it is discriminatory towards short-term letting and they are being held responsible for the shortage in long-term lets and the housing crisis. I believe the Airbnb sector has no intention of moving into long-term letting. The hosts have found their niche, pay their taxes and feel they should not be forced out of business. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  It is not our intention to put anyone out of existence. I want to be clear that I am very keen on trying to develop our tourism sector. We now have a very robust plan, based on evidence, that will put key KPIs into our State agencies to ensure we are seeing 7% growth per annum in our sector. That will be very important. Obviously, County Kerry will be key in delivering that growth.  My primary role is to devise the legislation coming forward to designate F\u00e1ilte Ireland as the competent authority. Obviously, the Minister, Deputy Browne, is in a trickier position in terms of deciding what the planning piece will be and what designation should be attached to the numbers of where you will be required to have planning permission and where it will be approved. That will be the key response.  Across Government, we are working together to try to achieve a balance on that. I want to reinforce this point that I am very understanding there are areas right across our country where accommodation is under pressure and it is not viable to have hotels. We will be looking at that as well and looking at the product there is in County Kerry, which we want to support and want to continue, which we will under this current tourism policy. Over the past four consecutive months, we have seen very strong growth again and I want that to continue into 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I thank the Minister. Legitimate businesses should be allowed to carry on. Other tactics need to be employed to encourage and attract people into offering long-term letting. I again call for a planning waiver. The Minister has touched on it there. Many of those with whom I deal in Killarney, Dingle, Kenmare and all of the towns in Kerry such as Killorglin, Tralee, Castleisland, Listowel and Cahersiveen, believe if they apply for planning permission, be it short-term or long-term, it could actually be refused. That is a very real concern.  There is no point in me re-emphasising the importance of tourism to my county. We pride ourselves on tourism. We believe we are the premier tourist county. It is a great boast to have. We have the scenery. The people involved in the business of tourism in Kerry do it very well. Short-term letting is a big part of the business in Kerry. It is important to our visitors from all parts of the globe for that opportunity to be there. People invested in short-term letting and in their properties to put their kids through school, etc. They should not be dictated to in regards to what area they should be in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I again thank the Deputy for his comments. I do not want to see any unintended consequences coming from this action. The core point is that when you have a sector that is growing at 10% per annum in terms of numbers, without any Government intervention, we need to ensure there is regulation here in some regard. It is about getting the correct policy to ensure we are getting the data from the people who are staying in these short-term lets as we do not know anything about many of them so we cannot craft tourism policy. That data will be very valuable for our tourism product.  You also have to ensure that you have competing interests in an economy. We know we have a very acute housing crisis. Our cities are of particular concern. When you look at some of the Eurostat data about the utilisation of bed nights, some of these short-term lets in our cities are only rented out two or three nights a month. When you look at the Revenue that is coming in from those two or three nights and the property being vacant for the rest of the time, is that acceptable when society is under significant pressure for housing? Those are the types of trade-offs we have to consider in policy. We work closely with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on trying to get the balance right and taking into account what the Oireachtas joint committee did in pre-legislative scrutiny. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tourism Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Enterprise Policy","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)  Deputy Erin McGreehan is taking Question No. 119 for Deputy Brendan Smith. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I ask if a new north-east regional enterprise plan is forthcoming and if the Minister will make a statement on the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  Balanced regional development is a Government priority and a central component of the White Paper on Enterprise 2022-2030 is to support balanced regional enterprise development. My Department and its agencies contribute to this agenda in several ways, including through the nine regional enterprise plans, REPs. These are bottom-up plans developed and led by regional stakeholders that focus on collaborative initiatives to strengthen the enterprise ecosystem in each region.  The north-east regional enterprise plan covers the counties of Cavan, Monaghan and Louth and its steering committee includes stakeholders from the enterprise agencies, local enterprise offices, local authorities, regional skills, higher and further education, F\u00e1ilte Ireland and companies in the private sector and others. The north-east regional enterprise plan has 12 actions under five strategic objectives, which focus on areas including decarbonisation, digitalisation and place-making. The last north-east regional enterprise steering committee meeting was held in June 2025.  The regional enterprise plans were extended for one year to the end of 2025 with agreement from the regional enterprise plans national oversight group at its meeting on 25 April 2024.  This extension provided an additional year for continued implementation of the existing plans and time to review the regional enterprise plan initiative and consider the best approach to the future of the regional enterprise plans. In this context, my Department commissioned an independent review of the regional enterprise plan initiative in 2025. A steering group made up of the regional enterprise stakeholders and Department officials oversaw the review, which included significant engagement with regional enterprise stakeholders, in-depth analysis of the plans and their implementation progress reports and consideration of international approaches to regional enterprise development. This review also included recommendations and options for the future of the regional enterprise plans. I will be considering the complete review, along with the final progress reports for the regional enterprise plans from 2022 to 2025, over the coming months as we plan for the future approach to these matters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I thank the Minister of State. It is very encouraging to hear all the work that is going into the new plan. The previous plan for County Louth and the rest of the region demonstrated a real commitment to multi-agency co-operation between Government enterprise agencies, local authorities, higher education institutions and the private sector. We see that when they work collaboratively, we get results. I will repeat that Louth, in particular, has unique strategic opportunities that need to be reflected in the new plan. As I said previously, the newest university in the country - an all-Ireland university - will be situated in Dundalk. It is central to the Belfast-Dublin economic corridor. Louth is a most important county. It is in the mid-east and north-east plans, which shows us how integral Louth is. It has strong transport connectivity, a deep manufacturing and agrifood base and a growing innovation ecosystem anchored in Dundalk. Its higher education and research capacity, the Advanced Manufacturing Training Centre of Excellence in Dundalk and the connected health and well-being centre in Dundalk Institute of Technology, DkIT, have positioned Louth as a leader in digitalisation, advanced manufacturing and health innovation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I acknowledge the Deputy's advocacy for Louth and the north east. That is really significant and important. We want to get the regional enterprise plans back up and running in 2026. As part of that, we have looked at ensuring there are programme managers based in each of the local authorities. That is really important to drive implementation, but also to give the accountability piece. We will be focusing on 12 actions under the five strategic objectives, as I stated earlier, one being around decarbonisation and climate action, to ensure that many companies and SMEs have digitalisation and the capability within their own organisations and also around leveraging growth sectors. We have seen real positivity within Louth, as the Deputy said earlier. Back in January 2025, MSD Ireland announced it was expanding its Irish operations with its acquisition of WuXi vaccines in Dundalk and the creation of up to 1,000 new jobs across Ireland, including 150 roles in Dundalk. We want the enterprise plans to be a core part of each of the regions and very much part of that is the key agencies working in tandem with private and Government agencies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I absolutely agree with the Minister of State. It is really important that we look at that inter-county connectivity between the counties in each region but also at how, in this new plan, we can utilise what we have in each area. I refer to our higher and further education institutions and investment in driving innovation and research, not only in the bigger companies and IDA companies but also in our small SMEs to see how we can make them more efficient and support them to scale up. If we are talking about a regional plan, particularly in the Border region that has been economically disadvantaged over the last century, we need to be a little bit more innovative, potentially with a cross-Border focus to see how we can co-operate cross-Border in relation to those 11 counties across the Border region to make sure we are really benefiting from the capacity and what we have on the Border region, particularly in counties Louth, Cavan and Monaghan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  Again, as I said earlier, this Government is very much committed to ensuring we have the skills and talent within each of our regions. We have had a real focus on apprenticeships and upskilling. We very much want that to be a core part of the regional skill set forums, driving investments into areas where it has the talent. Indeed, regional enterprise plans will be a key driver in that regard, working with further and higher education institutes. We know how important that is in terms of workforce planning. We have seen successes then within the pharmaceutical and hi-tech sectors where we have graduates with engineering or life science skills to take up employment in these areas. That is a core part and component. Part of that is ensuring that local authorities and regional stakeholders are part of the discussions in terms of what is the right fit or what are the right sectors within each of our regions across the nine sectors that are under the regional enterprise plans. We very much want to push this out into 2026 and ensure they are up and running and are measurable and accountable to the oversight group. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Enterprise Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Regional Development","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  Following the Minister's recent visit to south Tipperary, what is the current status of the IDA-owned lands at Ballingarrane in Clonmel? Can he confirm the extent to which IDA Ireland is actively marketing the site, state whether any expressions of interest have been received for the site and outline the timeline for the delivery of an advance building solution that was recently granted planning permission on the site? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Murphy for his important question. IDA's strategy to drive balanced regional development is a priority, as set out in the programme for Government, and is a key focus of the work of my Department and its agencies. IDA Ireland is continuing its strong commitment to regional development as one of our four key strategic objectives in the 2025-29 strategy, Adapt Intelligently. This ambitious strategy aims to secure 550 foreign direct investment, FDI, projects outside of Dublin, accounting for 55% of the total investment target. There has been consistent FDI performance in the mid-west region, comprising counties Limerick, Clare and Tipperary, with employment in IDA clients increasing by 15% over the past five years. IDA now has 158 client companies in the mid-west region, employing 28,125 people. Within that, there are 16 IDA Ireland client companies in County Tipperary, employing 5,630 people. The mid-west region has a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across technology, life sciences, international financial services, and the engineering and industrial technologies sectors. The availability of suitable property and strategic sites is a critical component of the regional value proposition and can be the key differentiator in investment decisions in the regions from both new and existing clients as well as clients of Enterprise Ireland and our local enterprise offices, LEOs. As part of the property strategy, IDA, in partnership with Tipperary County Council, has secured planning permission for a proposed 10,000 sq. m advance factory solution building on a site of approximately 3.4 ha at Ballingarrane science and technology park in Clonmel, County Tipperary. The advance planning permission allows the maximum flexibility to a potential client whereby it can avail of the permission or amend it to suit its requirements. I was delighted to visit Tipperary with Deputy Murphy in recent weeks and receive a presentation from the local authority and, indeed, IDA Ireland. IDA Ireland continues to market aggressively the site, and the planning permission it has in existence, to new and existing IDA global clients and through its regional offices. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  I thank the Minister for his reply. In particular, I thank him for visiting south Tipperary in December, when he got an opportunity to see the strengths of south Tipperary and of our key towns, particularly Clonmel. He also got an opportunity to see our strengths in terms of our strong employment and the really strong presence of medical device and pharmaceutical manufacturing industries. All of this is backed up by a strong set of skills, proper infrastructure and, as I said, an established industrial base. As the Minister said, the recent granting of planning permission for a 100,000 sq. m advance building solution is an important step forward. The concern at local level is that IDA has owned over 50 acres at Ballingarrane for more than 20 years. There is a sense locally that it is now time for delivery, so any support the Minister can give us in that regard would be appreciated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  I thank Deputy Murphy again for his proactive approach when we were on site in Clonmel. The ecosystem that exists there will put us in a very strong position together with the partnerships the Deputy has worked with, including Tipperary County Council, to really ensure that we have the development of water and the development of grid capacity on site.  Having a utility-rich site like that puts us in a strong position. We will ensure the IDA gives its full attention to try to get a strong client into it.  On the Deputy\u2019s trip I was impressed with the Bulmers visitor centre at Dowd\u2019s Lane. It is an exciting project that we can deliver through our capital grants and F\u00e1ilte Ireland. I know the Deputy is committed to it. It is one I would like to see developing over the next year. Hopefully, the local authority can be proactive in this regard and we can work with the IDA to try to ensure that, first, we deliver high-quality jobs and, now that we have a new exciting tourism strategy, we breathe life into areas and ensure that the 46,000 SMEs and 228,000 people employed in that sector are getting a strong dividend back into their community. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  I agree with everything the Minister said. Crucially, balanced regional development must be reflected in outcomes on the ground. South Tipperary, Clonmel and all the other key towns offer everything the IDA is looking for, such as a proven industrial ecosystem that the Minister mentioned. A town like Clonmel has so much potential. The crucial step in this regard was securing planning permission, which was a critical barrier for inward investment. That should translate into momentum. I press upon the Minister to push this was the IDA. The authority needs to set clear milestones for delivering this project and delivering industry. I welcome any intervention by the Minister and I particularly welcome his comments about the Bulmers visitor centre, which has so much potential and is located in the heart of the town. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Peter-Burke.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Burke  As the Deputy rightly outlined, the location is hugely attractive, particularly in relation to utilities, which are at a premium. The local authority has been proactive in this regard in looking ahead in developing connectivity, which is critical for the key infrastructural components that deliver high-quality jobs. We will work closely with the Deputy and the IDA to ensure we get a good client in this location and build on the existing clients. It is a very exciting ecosystem, particularly for life sciences. We will hopefully publish a life science strategy by August in time for our Presidency of the EU which will chart more investment in that area. We have approximately 100,000 jobs nationally in that sector and a total of \u20ac100 billion investment in exports every year. It is an area in which Tipperary and Clonmel can be an attractive proposition for investment. That is something we are working closely on. I look forward to working with Deputy Murphy to develop more projects in Tipperary, for which he is a huge advocate. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Regional Development"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Residency Permits","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  My question relates to first-time Irish resident permits and registration appointments. There are considerable delays and there is considerable anxiety for those who wish to avail of an appointment to seek employment, particularly critical employment. Those positions of employment are often in the medical care sector. I am anxious to understand exactly how that process can be expedited to ensure it does not go on for months. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  The Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, has complete ownership of matters relating to the granting of visa and immigration permissions and is solely responsible for the administration of its registration appointment service. Queries relating to immigration status or any initiatives or temporary flexibilities in accessing its services during periods of high demand should be addressed to that Department.  My Department has responsibility for the employment permits legislation which provides permission to take up employment in the State subject to the granting of immigration permission to enter for that purpose by the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration. It is my understanding that all employment permit holders can commence the employment stated on the permit while awaiting confirmation of their immigration permission to remain. A period is provided to facilitate registration with immigration service delivery. However, it is the responsibility of the non-EEA worker to ensure his or her permission is appropriate and up to date.  Significant work has been carried out by my Department to ensure that the national economic migration system supports all sectors of our economy. The new employment permit system has made the application process easier, more secure and more intuitive, resulting in a more streamlined processing experience. These timelines have been steadily decreasing and I am confident that this positive trend will continue. Processing timelines currently stand at seven business days for a critical skills employment permit and 25 business days for a general employment permit.  In particular, I have engaged closely with representatives of the health and social care sector to support that sector. This includes ensuring speedy delivery of permits for non-consultant hospital doctor rotations, ensuring access to a nursing workforce and recent engagement on the topic of healthcare assistants and home carers. My Department does not engage with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration regarding its processing times for individual visas. However, I am working closely with the Minister of State, Deputy Colm Brophy, in regard to a single permit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I appreciate the Minister of State\u2019s response but I am in receipt of an email that I received for what is described as a critical skills employment permit. The position the individual applied for was a critical nurse manager in Portiuncula Hospital, Ballinasloe. The employment was to start in early January but the earliest date they got for any appointment was 10 March 2026. That worries me. A position remains unfilled and the skilled person who wishes to take up that role still has not had an appointment. Therein lies the problem and that is why I bring this matter to the attention of the Minister of State. There is a delay and while there is a delay, there is anomaly. While that exists, there is always a vacant job post. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for bringing this important matter to our attention. Certainly, a healthcare professional should not lose their job or employment on the basis of a backlog. As I said earlier, employment permits allow for the commencement of work while the registration is pending. That is important to factor in. Our immediate priority, as a Government, is to keep hospital staff and ensure patients are cared for. Permit holders can start work on that basis. We are all working together and working with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to accelerate any systemic issues that may present. We want to ensure our permit system is fast and flexible and it delivers the critical skills employment permits that we require to have a functional economy. Healthcare is a critical component of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I have raised my concern. Maybe there is a need for better and more collaboration. One thing that is sure and certain is that, when we require skilled people to take up critical posts in critical positions, there is an urgent need to expedite that process. I certainly have plenty of email evidence to suggest that there are considerable delays. Whether it be the Department of justice or otherwise, when it comes to the employment permits unit, maybe, as the Minister of State said, it can work collaboratively and more efficiently to ensure the situation remains that we can get people sorted sooner rather than later. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  We have made significant strides with regard to our efficiency by transitioning to an online employment permit system. Since its launch, we have processed over 22,000 employment permits and we have issued over 15,000. That has been successful with regard to processing times. We see now critical skills employment permits, including healthcare roles, are being processed within 14 days. That by any yardstick is important to recognise. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration to ensure that we have a seamless application process and work is under way in that regard. We hope that the next phase will deliver a faster, more integrated experience not just for the applicant but also to ensure that employees have that certainty and good user experience. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Residency Permits"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan - To discuss the need for a lift upgrade and roof repairs at a school in Cork.  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss the plan for schools to be included in the DEIS plus scheme.  Deputy Colm Burke - To discuss funding for a community-based outreach dental centre in Cork city.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss the shortfall of SEN primary school places in Shankill, County Dublin.  Deputy Sean Fleming - To discuss the need for women's refuge accommodation in Portlaoise.  Deputy Erin McGreehan - To discuss accommodation and infrastructure deficits at Monksland National School in County Louth.  Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin - To discuss the decision to delay the completion of the DART+ South West extension.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the development of equine therapy facilities at the Toghermore Campus in Tuam, County Galway.  Deputy Darren O'Rourke - To discuss the shortage of transport services to adult disability day services in County Meath.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss the north Kerry CAMHS review.  Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh - To discuss funding for a \"nurture room\" at Saint Brendan's College, Belmullet.  Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss temporary accommodation and a school building project for Saint Farnan's school in Kildare.  Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss the ongoing use and misuse of e-scooter vehicles in urban areas.  Deputy Eoghan Kenny - To discuss the introduction of the new CI\u00c9 pension scheme.  Deputy Claire Kerrane - To discuss restoration of the rapid response vehicle on a 24-7 basis in County Roscommon.  Deputy Gary Gannon - To discuss drug-related intimidation and associated violence.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the tender for the building of Cork Educate Together Secondary School.  The matters raised by Deputies Erin McGreehan, Aidan Farrelly, Colm Burke, Eoin \u00d3 Broin and Eoghan Kenny have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"School Accommodation","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I thank the Minister, Deputy Hildegarde Naughton, for taking this matter. It is great to have her here this evening. I congratulate the Minister on her new position and I wish her the very best of luck in the term ahead.  I raise this Topical Issue matter on behalf of Monksland National School in County Louth, a local school to me and just down the road from where I live. I raise this because the same queries could be replicated in many schools across County Louth and across the country that are struggling for space for facilities and for permanent solutions. Monksland National School is an example of how temporary solutions quietly become permanent through the delay and what often feels like a lack of accountability. Like many schools in County Louth, it is a growing school. Enrolment has doubled over the past decade. That growth should be a success story but instead the school is operating under pressure in conditions that most not definitely need to be improved. A few years ago the school had approval for additional accommodation. Due to delays, however, modular units were installed as temporary accommodation for much-needed and much-welcomed autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes. These were never meant to be a permanent solution to the overall accommodation solutions that are needed for the accommodation shortfall of the school. I fear the Department seems to be treating the school as if its accommodation needs have now been met. They certainly have not.  Every room in the original school building is now used for a classroom. There is no staffroom to accommodate 12 teachers and ancillary staff. There is no space for teachers to sit to have their break. I believe that staff are often sitting in their cars. Again, growth should be seen as a success story but it has led to hardship. It is not just about the minor inconvenience of this. It is a basic failure to provide acceptable working conditions. The school has no general purpose area. It has no PE hall. That deficit has existed since the building was constructed in the early 1960s. As a result, pupils cannot fully access PE or well-being curriculum requirements, particularly during the winter months when outdoor activity is most unsafe.  The crux of it is that we need permanent classrooms, we need a staffroom, and we need a PE and general purpose hall. This applies particularly for those isolated schools that cannot link up with a sports club. It is either inappropriate or it does not make sense for them to match up with a sports club to build a hall and to access grants under the sports capital grant. They need the Department of Education and Youth to support them to help them create those facilities. They really want a school that feels like one school and one community as opposed to one building and modular buildings alongside it. It is a fantastic school. I know many of the teachers and indeed I went to school with many of the teachers. The children in there are thriving but I think they can do better under better conditions and additional accommodation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Education and Youth (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton)  I thank Deputy McGreehan for her question. It gives me pleasure to have the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the current position in relation to accommodation at Monksland National School in County Louth. The school is a co-educational Catholic school under the patronage of the Archbishop of Armagh. It has an enrolment in 2025-2026 of 139 pupils, which includes pupils in the two special education classes that were established at the school in 2022. In line with the national decline in primary demographics, the enrolment at the school had decreased from 151 in 2023. At a national level, primary school enrolments are projected to decline by about 100,000 over a ten-year period.  In 2022, the school submitted an application for additional accommodation at Monksland National School. On foot of this application, modular accommodation comprising two special educational needs classrooms and one special educational tuition classroom was delivered in April of 2024. That is currently in place and operational. Modular accommodation provides a high-quality, modern learning environment that is both functional and adaptable, and it offers a well-designed comfortable space that effectively meets the school's current needs while allowing flexibility for future requirements. In July of last year, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs.  In relation to project roll-out for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs. The sectoral plan for the education and youth sector will be published shortly. The first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published at that time. This NDP implementation plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs. All existing school building projects and applications for accommodation will be considered in this context, with a particular focus on ensuring existing capacity is maximised. My Department has recently engaged with the Deputy's school, I understand, and will continue to work with the school to ensure that the current and the future school place needs are addressed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I thank the Minister of State for her response. The modular buildings, I have to attest, are high-quality buildings, but they are separate to the school. They are not part of the school. I would appreciate it if the Minister of State could get one of her officials to visit the Monksland school to see the incapacity in the school when trying to fit the students into where they are working. The principal's office has to double up as an ICT room. They have no staffroom. It really is unacceptable in this day and age that teachers would have no staffroom because it was taken up. What was the staffroom is now a classroom. They are working under huge constraints.  The Minister of State referred to the reduced student numbers but these have doubled over the past decade. There are still 139 students there and 12 teachers - I believe - who are working in conditions that are not suitable. I think there has been a miscommunication or a misunderstanding between the Department and the school in relation to previous applications for works to be done. Maybe we could work on that ourselves and get the officials to reach out to the school and meet those there to make sure that we can iron out where they are on the building work scheme and on previous applications that they feel were approved but then let lapse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Hildegarde Naughton  I thank the Deputy again for raising this issue with me. Deputy Paula Butterly had also raised the issue of this school. I will ask the Department about those previous applications. As I said, we have to look at the existing capacity within schools across the country when we are looking at providing spaces. The priority is for special educational places across the country. We are committed to ensuring that there is appropriate accommodation available for all pupils in the wider context and to ensure that each school project on the schools building programme is subject to due diligence required under the Government's infrastructure guidelines.  It is a challenging construction environment we are working in right across the education, transport and housing sectors so the Department also has to manage the timing, scope and cost of individual projects to ensure they remain within budgetary parameters for the overall programme. That involves constant reviewing throughout a project's life cycle. As I said, as part of the NDP implementation project roll-out for large-scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be on a tightly prioritised basis to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate and to provide additional capacity through that targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030. I will follow up, maybe with the Department as well, in relation to those specific issues. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Accommodation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I have raised many Topical Issue matters and very rarely is the line Minister here for them so I thank her for that. St. Farnan's Post Primary School in Prosperous is the only post-primary school in that community. The work undertaken at this school under the stewardship of Mr. Andrew Purcell is nothing short of exemplary but the conditions in which people have to work, learn and develop are simply substandard.  The people of Prosperous and north-west Kildare have been led down the garden path about a proposed new school for over ten years. In 2025, news was released that the school had gone to tender stage. In 2023, the Department had officially approved the plans and designs for stage 2A of a 1,000-pupil school but it was as far back as 2015 when the then Minister Jan O\u2019Sullivan made an announcement that St. Farnan\u2019s was on a list for extensions. This school and this community have been promised this for an awfully long time. Nearly two generations of students have been told that by the time they finish, the new school will be here. Now the population in Prosperous and the communities this school serves, which goes far beyond into Allenwood, Coill Dubh and other places, have nearly given up hope on this. They hope that one day they will see this new school, but we are talking about the really young siblings. It is coming to the point where it will be the next generation before we will see the turning of the sod on this.  I am reluctant to get too much into the details of the temporary piece. There has been significant investment by the Department in temporary accommodation at this site and that is to be welcomed, but back in August, four classrooms were allocated and none of those have yet been handed over to the school. That is the kind of delay this school has experienced, yet it took in all the students who were enrolled on the basis it would have those four classrooms. Issues like that show the problems with the short-term fix to what is a much more long-term need for a sustainable capital project.  This is, as the Minister knows, one of 290 projects on the list. Of those, 20 are in Kildare. We are having this conversation in a context where County Kildare\u2019s population has doubled since the early 1990s to nearly 250,000 people. When we see housing coming without the development of services and infrastructure, issues like this will arise. I could be talking about school issues in Clane, Brannockstown, Naas, Maynooth or Celbridge. I am not just listing off towns as these are legitimate concerns schools such as Scoil Mochua and Gaelchol\u00e1iste Mhaigh Nuad have. Capital is what we need. Investment is what we need. There have been six Ministers since Jan O\u2019Sullivan made that announcement about St. Farnan\u2019s back in 2015. We are really hoping the Minister, Deputy Naughton, can be the one who makes the project happen. What we need are the services and the investment. I am putting it to the Minister that we are just about there now and that the last push is needed for St. Farnan\u2019s and Prosperous. I hope this Government will be the one that gets it over the line. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Hildegarde Naughton  I thank Deputy Farrelly for raising this matter and giving me the opportunity to provide an update to the House on the school building project at St. Farnan's Post Primary School in Prosperous, County Kildare.  The project brief is to provide a new-build replacement school for a long-term projected enrolment of 1,000 pupils, including a four-classroom special educational needs base. The delivery of this project has been devolved to Kildare Wicklow Education and Training Board, KWETB. The project is in the final stages of stage 2B, which is the post-planning process, of the architectural design. This stage allows for detailed design and planning, obtaining necessary statutory permissions and preparation of tender documents. Planning has been granted and KWETB has been advised the stage 2B report is expected to be submitted in 2026. Once received it will undergo a detailed technical and cost review in line with the public spending code. All projects are subject to the due diligence requirements of the public infrastructure guidelines. Managing the time, scope and cost is crucial to staying within budgetary limits for the overall programme. Regarding additional accommodation requirements, the Department has provided temporary accommodation that includes four general classrooms, an office, a construction studies room and a multimedia room, which the Deputy referred to. KWETB and the design team have worked with the modular supplier to expedite delivery and reconfiguration of this accommodation to meet the school\u2019s needs. At this early stage it is not possible to provide a timeline for completion of the project. KWETB will continue to engage directly with the school authorities to keep them fully informed of progress.  In July 2025, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. In relation to project roll-out for large scale projects and additional school accommodation scheme projects, the approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs. Government Departments are in the process of publishing their sectoral NDP implementation plans and the sectoral plan for my Department will be published shortly. The first tranche of projects to progress to construction will be published this month. This NDP implementation plan will optimise outputs from the NDP allocations with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient and ensuring the delivery is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I thank the Minister for that comprehensive reply. I am trying to read between the lines as to what that will mean for St. Farnan's specifically where the implementation plan is concerned. We need this. The community needs this. I accept Deputies throughout the House will be saying the exact same thing to her about various projects in their community but we are ten years on with St. Farnan's and this project will have a monumental impact on the communities this school serves in areas of deprivation and poverty. The Minister mentioned the special education services provided but she would have to see it to believe what this school is doing with such limited resources. I appeal to her that if and when this comes to her for decision, she will ensure St. Farnan's is on the list. She will be in Kildare tomorrow visiting schools. She could extend that visit by 20 minutes. She will be very close to St. Farnan's. If she could come by tomorrow and take a look around, she would very quickly believe this school deserves the investment we are talking about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Hildegarde Naughton  I thank the Deputy. I can certainly hear his passion for this project. As I have said, the Department is committed to ensuring appropriate accommodation is available to all school pupils and will in the wider context outlined ensure each school project on the school building programme is subject to the due diligence required under the public infrastructure guidelines. It is a challenging construction environment, as I said, and we are also required to ensure we are managing the timing, scope and cost of all these projects within the budgetary parameters that are set. The length of time projects take depends on a number of factors, including scale and complexity.  It is also subject to the time it takes to progress to the various project stages and the statutory approval processes. However, my Department remains committed to providing ongoing guidance and practical support in the delivery of this project. As I outlined previously, Kildare and Wicklow Education and Training Board is the delivery body for this large-scale, major project and will continue to engage with the school authorities on this matter. I thank the Deputy for raising it this evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Dental Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  I am back again to talk about the dental issue. This time it is about Cork dental hospital which made a submission to the HSE and Department of Health more than three years ago. It wants to open an outreach hub that would have ten dental chairs. The idea is that it would provide care for a large number of people and at the same time provide training for students. The building has been identified. It may have to go through a further process before it is finalised, but a clear plan of action has been set out to improve the dental training the hospital is providing to its students.  It has worked closely with the Department and the HSE and a lot of progress has been made in dental care in recent years but for instance, in the dental hospital in Cork, there are 91 chairs and that number of people are working at any one time, learning the skills required to practice as dentists. Our problem with dental services is that we have 44 dentists per 100,000 people. Germany and Italy have double that number per 100,000. More than 104,000 children are on waiting lists for school screening and there has been a 31% reduction in the number of dentists in the HSE. We have a major challenge because we have not increased the number of dental training places. The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, RCSI, opened a new training facility in September 2025, but that is the first major change that has been made in more than 30 years. The other two dental colleges, Trinity College Dublin and University College Cork, UCC, also need to increase their numbers.  This is about a dental outreach clinic that would provide training. Detailed costings have been submitted and it is unfortunate that it has now been three years since the submission was made and no progress has happened on it. The new dental college that opened in the RCSI in September has a community outreach clinic up and running. I do not understand why funding has not been provided for the centre in Cork. We have a team of professionals who are committed to developing and delivering this and what is needed - we have identified the building - is the funding so we can progress this project. When the funding is allocated, the project can be up and running in seven to 12 months. It depends on what work has to be done. However, if the funding is granted, there would be a really fast delivery and I ask that the Department give consideration to providing the funding in 2026 so UCC and Cork dental hospital can get on with this project. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy Marian Harkin)  I sincerely thank Deputy Burke for raising this important matter concerning the Cork dental hospital and the availability of dental training places. As the Deputy said, he has raised this issue on a number of occasions and I have responded to him.  The Government is firmly committed to ensuring our healthcare system is supported by a steady and sustainable pipeline of highly skilled graduates. My Department, in collaboration with the Department of Health, the Higher Education Authority, HEA, and the higher education institutions, plays a central role in delivering the education and training infrastructure needed to meet the evolving demands of the healthcare workforce, including in critical areas such as oral healthcare and dentistry. Ensuring adequate capacity to train future dentists is part of our broader commitment to workforce planning that supports the health and well-being of our population.  With regard to the Deputy's specific question, the Department of Health has received a strong proposal from UCC requesting \u20ac4.7 million in capital funding to establish a dental outreach centre. This would enable training of an additional ten undergraduate dental students annually, particularly benefiting Irish and EU students. Currently, UCC admits 50 dentistry students annually, comprising 25 EU and 25 non-EU students. This initiative aligns with the national oral health policy by adopting a community-based model of dental education, which offers students earlier clinical exposure in real world primary care settings and that enhances their skills and readiness on graduation.  While the proposal is promising, it currently delivers limited increases in domestic student places. There is a clear opportunity for both Departments to collaborate further to maximise investment and expand domestic training capacity to meet Ireland\u2019s dental workforce needs. Discussions are currently ongoing between the Department of Health and my Department to try to progress this proposal with a view to maximising Irish and EU places to obtain value for money for this proposal. UCC is refurbishing its dental school and hospital at a cost of \u20ac15 million in total, co-funded by the Department of Health and UCC.  We have established, as the Deputy said, new dentistry programmes, including one in the RCSI, which commenced in 2025 that will provide at least 20 new dentistry places. I re-affirm my Department's commitment to working with all relevant stakeholders to ensure any future expansion of dental education is grounded in evidence, responds to national needs and is delivered in a sustainable manner. However, I can assure the Deputy that his project is progressing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  I thank the Minister of State. I am frustrated by this. The population has increased by over 40% in the past 25 years. September last year was the first time we increased the number of Irish students training for dentistry, but it is not a 40% increase. We need to increase the number of places in UCC and in Trinity College Dublin. How is it that the RCSl was able to open an outreach clinic for which it got funding and UCC, which applied earlier, is still in the negotiation stage? I do not understand why it is being put on the back foot at this stage when UCC has given a clear commitment to expand the number of places available to Irish students. It has to take in people from outside the EU because it can charge full fees and that is how it is able to keep the dental college going. It is important.  I have parents on to me every week now because their children cannot get access to dental care because they are on long waiting lists. In Cork there is a waiting list of over 12 months for anyone who is a medical card patient. We have a situation where a huge number of private dentists who were providing care for medical card patients have now opted out. We have gone from 1,452 down to around 600 dentists who are now providing care for medical card patients. The public service waiting list is increasing because of the additional demand now that the private practices are not offering a service. I do not understand where the Department is getting its figures. We will attend the health committee tomorrow and I have seen the presentation that will be made to us by the representatives of the Department of Health. As far as I am concerned, it is a basket case of a reply we will be getting tomorrow because it does not represent what is happening on the ground. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I am sure at the committee meeting tomorrow the Deputy will have the opportunity to question the Department representatives. I am not here to defend its figures but I can quote them and I can say that we have increased by 33% the number of students commencing dentistry studies in 2025. That is factually correct. The Department of Health also tells me that we have had a steady increase in the number of registered dentists since 2016, from 2,949 to 3.945 today. The number of registered dentists per 1,000 of population has risen from 61 in 2019 to nearly 72 today. I understand we have to make more progress but those are the figures that have been supplied to me. I assure the Deputy we are committed to responding proactively to future workforce requirements. I made a special point today of speaking to officials in my Department because I recognise that this is an issue the Deputy has raised on many occasions and an issue to which he wants answers. I fully understand this. The officials from my Department have told me that the Higher Education Authority and University College Cork are meeting in the coming weeks to discuss the next stages of progressing the proposal in regard to the outreach centre. There are a number of issues they have to work out. Student training and student supervision were some of the issues mentioned to me. However, the Deputy should have an update in the near future. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Dental Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Rail Network","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  One of the great mistakes of the Government during the Celtic tiger era was the failure to ensure that when new homes were being delivered, adequate infrastructure services and public amenities were provided. This was an issue that affected every county in the State. While today there is no doubt that not enough homes are being delivered and particularly not enough social and affordable homes, unfortunately in many constituencies including my own when new homes are being built the Government is repeating the mistakes of the Celtic tiger period. I represent Dublin Mid-West. We have two very large strategic development zones in Adamstown and Clonburris. As those residential developments are being built out, a number of Government Departments simply are not ensuring the adequate provision of facilities such as school places, doctors, dentists and, particularly, public transport. One of the lessons we thought had been learned, particularly in the context of strategic development zones that have clear, legally binding phasing agreements for the delivery of homes, is that infrastructure, amenities and, crucially, public transport, should be delivered in parallel with the homes. Unfortunately, that is not happening today. Somebody who has recently decided to rent or buy in Adamstown, or in Seven Mills in Clonburris and is looking to get a train into Dublin city or home during peak time simply cannot do so because by the time it reaches Dublin from the commuter belt it will be full and there will not even be standing room.  Likewise, BusConnects, an important project for the redesign of bus networks in Dublin, was blind to and continues to play catch up with the strategic development zones. When Eamon Ryan was Minister for Transport, he gave a commitment that the crucial DART+ South West project to electrify the line through my constituency - from Clondalkin, Kishoge and Adamstown to Hazelhatch - would commence in 2025 and be completed in 2030. The Minister of State can imagine the shock of people living in those communities when they heard from the new Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, in November of last year when the detail of the national development plan, NDP, expenditure programme was released that in fact work now will not commence until 2030 and will not necessarily be complete until as late as 2036. It is a very clear breach of what had been committed to by the Government previously. It is a breach, in my opinion, of the legally binding phasing agreements of the strategic development zones in those two locations. Also and crucially, it is simply no good for people who need to get to and from work and young people who need to get to and from school or college daily. Since the news was announced in November I have written repeatedly to the Minister by way of parliamentary questions urging him not just to provide an update but to reverse that decision and ensure that commencement of this vital public transport project starts as a matter of urgency and is completed on time.  To give a sense of the scale of this, currently the train line through this portion of my constituency carries about 5,000 passengers per hour. The proposition of DART+ South West is to increase that to 20,000 passengers per hour in both directions so the scale of the need can be seen. I look forward to the Minister of State's response. I also hope he can relay the concerns, not just of myself and my constituents in Dublin Mid-West but of people in Dublin and Kildare as well, that the decision to delay the funding and delivery of this project needs to be reversed and brought back on track, if the Minister of State will excuse the pun, to be delivered on time by 2030. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment (Deputy Alan Dillon)  On behalf of the Minister for Transport I thank the Deputy for the opportunity to address the House on this issue tonight. The DART+ programme comprises five different projects in and around the greater Dublin area. It will extend the existing network from the city centre to Maynooth, M3 Parkway, Hazelhatch and Celbridge, and Drogheda, and will improve current DART services from the city centre to Greystones. The programme will triple the length of the electrified network and will double city centre capacity from 26,000 passengers per hour per direction to 52,000 during peak hours. DART+ South West will extend DART services from the city centre to Hazelhatch and Celbridge, including four-tracking from Park West to Heuston Station. An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la approved a railway order for DART+ South West in November 2024. In addition, procurement for DART+ South West and DART+ West is progressing with pre-qualification questionnaire notices for design and build works advertised in May 2025.  The NDP transport sectoral investment plan provides an investment of \u20ac22.3 billion of Exchequer funding to the transport sector from 2026 to 2030, along with an additional allocation of \u20ac2 billion from the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund to support the development of MetroLink. Of this total allocation, funding in the region of \u20ac10 billion is being provided for public transport infrastructure plus \u20ac2 billion for MetroLink over the period from 2026 to 2030. The funding under the NDP transport sectoral investment plan will see significant advancements made in a number of public transport projects, including various elements of the DART+ programme including DART+ West. This funding will also allow compulsory purchase orders to progress DART+ South West and will provide the procurement process for the project with some of framework contracts being established in common with DART+ West and DART+ South West. It is important to state that, following on from the initial investment in the DART+ fleet, DART+ West was always recognised as the critical step for the DART+ programme which will help to enable DART+ South West and indeed the other infrastructure projects of the programme to develop for a number of reasons. These include the new depot in the Maynooth-Kilcock area to be delivered as part of the DART+ West project, providing essential stabling and maintenance facilities for the expanded fleet for the entire DART+ programme which is a prerequisite for supporting a service pattern across the entire DART+ network, including DART+ South West.  DART+ West will deliver the critical electrification of the city centre rail network and the necessary city centre capacity upgrades. This is a prerequisite for future trains coming from the DART+ South West to enter the city centre network at Glasnevin junction for the Phoenix Park tunnel on the electrified and capacity upgraded rail system. Also, upgrades delivered under DART+ West, such as re-signalling and electrification, are vital for accommodating increased frequency envisaged on the DART+ South West.  Finally, the new station for Spencer Dock, included as part of DART+ West, is a key node for future service integration supporting the operational flexibility required for DART+ South West, as several services will be terminated in the new station helping to address capacity issues around Connolly Station. The Department of Transport will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union's Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, to complement national Exchequer funding, which may allow some projects to proceed to construction earlier than currently anticipated, including DART+ South West. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  Virtually nothing that the Minister of State said has not already been communicated to me and other Deputies in the constituency by way of parliamentary questions. It does not address the central question. Right now, people who live in Adamstown, Lucan and Clondalkin desperately need the high-frequency DART service into and out of the city centre to be delivered, as was originally promised, by 2030.  Nobody understands why, when the NDP expenditure plan was published in November, no funding was allocated for DART+ South West until after 2030. It makes no sense whatsoever. What the hardworking tax-paying people of Dublin Mid-West and the surrounding areas deserve is for Deputy Darragh O'Brien to honour the commitment that was made to them and to others by his predecessor, Eamon Ryan, and revisit the funding allocation, ensure the funding is provided immediately once the procurement issues are agreed and get the work done. That is what is required. There is no explanation as to why the change and no explanation as to why there is now a potential five-year delay.  I note that the Minister of State has given some glimmer of hope at the end that some funding decisions may be reversed. I urge the Minister of State to ensure that he communicate back to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, the need for him to make a clear public statement as a matter of urgency that the funding will be released and work will start once procurement is finished in order that the working public, the school and college-going public, and people who want to go in and out of Dublin city centre for leisure or recreation activities will be able to get a DART every 12 minutes from Adamstown, Kishoge and Clondalkin train stations by 2030, which they were promised by the previous Government and should be guaranteed by this Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  Again, I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue this evening. I will relay the key important points that the Deputy raised to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien.  As I stated earlier, to recap some of the recent developments within the DART+ South West project, the NDP sectorial investment plan for transport was published in November last. It enables advancements of various elements of the DART+ programme, including DART+ West. The roll-out of the new DART+ fleet, which is currently undergoing safety testing, will progress from 2027 onwards and will allow the cascade of the existing train fleet to service new areas on the national rail network. We will also see the redeployment of this fleet in a manner for Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann and the National Transport Authority to decide on the basis of a range of factors and this has the potential for some of that fleet to be deployed to DART+ South West lines. That, indeed, will add additional capacity in advance in the infrastructure upgrades.  To the Deputy's point that this is about funding, the Department will continue to explore opportunities for additional funding, including through funding streams such as the European Union Connecting Europe Facility, CEF, to complement national Exchequer funding. The NDP will again be reviewed around 2028 and updated at that point. This will also provide an additional opportunity to examine the potential to provide additional funding to additional projects, as the Deputy stated earlier, through the DART+ South West programme. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Rail Network"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Pension Provisions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2026-01-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I wish to address the ongoing failure to implement the CI\u00c9 pension proposals that were accepted by the CI\u00c9 staff on 15 August 2025.  Before addressing the delay itself, it is important to acknowledge how this agreement came about, because it did not happen by accident and it did not happen easily. This deal was secured through Trojan work by CI\u00c9 employees and former workers, that is, pensioners who refused to be brushed aside, who organised, who engaged constructively and who stayed at the table when it mattered. They approached this process in good faith with patience, persistence and a clear commitment to resolution. At every stage, these workers acted responsibly. They did not grandstand. They did not walk away. Instead, they engaged, negotiated and, ultimately, accepted proposals that they believe represented a fair and hard-won outcome.  That acceptance, on 15 August 2025, was the culmination of years of effort by people who had already given decades of service to public transport in this State. That is why what has happened since is so deeply disappointing. Months after acceptance, the agreed proposals remain unimplemented. Pensioners who did everything asked of them are left waiting, not because of any failure on their part but because the State has failed to move with the urgency that this agreement deserved.  I will focus in on one particularly important aspect of the proposal. The agreement states that pensioners will, on acceptance of the proposal, receive increases on all CI\u00c9 pensions up to a maximum pension of \u20ac30,000. The words \"on acceptance\" carry meaning. They reflect the understanding reached after difficult negotiations and sustained engagement by workers and pensioners who fought to ensure that their concerns were finally recognised yet today, those pensioners have seen no increase. The delay in introducing the necessary statutory instrument has effectively frozen the benefit of an agreement that was secured with extraordinary effort and good will on the part of workers.  This raises a fundamental question of fairness also. When an agreement is accepted and when pensioners have fulfilled their side of the agreement, why should they bear the financial cost of administrative delay?  Many of these pensioners are living on modest fixed incomes. They are not asking for special treatment. They are asking for the delivery of what was agreed and for recognition of the contribution they made in achieving that agreement in the first instance.  This situation also risks undermining trust in the industrial relations process. If workers engage constructively, refuse to be sidelined and, ultimately, reach agreement only to see implementation drift endlessly, confidence in future engagement is weakened.  I am asking the Minister of State to act with the same seriousness and good faith that CI\u00c9 workers and pensioners showed throughout this entire process. That means providing a clear timeframe for the statutory instrument. It means confirming that pensioners will not be disadvantaged by the delay itself and it would mean recognising that agreement secured through Trojan effort must be honoured in full and without further drift. CI\u00c9 workers and pensioners did their part. It is now time for the State to do theirs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien.  From the outset, I would like to clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for both policy and overall funding in relation to public transport.  As a commercial semi-State body, however, CI\u00c9 is responsible for the provision of pension schemes for their employees - this is consistent with the pension arrangements of all other semi-State bodies. Issues in relation to CI\u00c9's pension schemes are primarily a matter for the trustees of the pension schemes, the CI\u00c9 group and its employees. Decisions relating to the administration of CI\u00c9 pension schemes, including pension increases, are a matter for the CI\u00c9 board, guided by the relevant statutory instruments and actuarial advice.  The 1951 superannuation scheme is one of two defined benefit pension schemes operated by the CI\u00c9 Group, the other being the regular wages staff scheme. Between the years of 2008 and 2022, neither scheme met the statutory minimum funding standard set by the Pensions Authority, which meant no pension increases could be granted during that period. While both schemes met the minimum funding standard at the end of 2023, they have grown increasingly costly, posing a serious financial risk to CI\u00c9. As of December 2024, the combined pension liability stood at \u20ac361 million, the largest of its kind in the State, rendering CI\u00c9 technically insolvent. This situation is unsustainable and out of line with practice in other commercial semi-States where new employees are no longer admitted to defined benefit schemes. Furthermore, no pension increases have been provided for the past 18 years due to the fragile funding position. Given the scale of the liability, CI\u00c9\u2019s primary objective has been to close both defined benefit schemes to new entrants to protect the benefits of existing members and the solvency of the CI\u00c9 Group and to establish a new defined contribution scheme. To this end, the Minister for Transport welcomed and commended the constructive and collaborative approach taken by the trade union group and CI\u00c9 management in reaching agreement on a pathway forward to resolve this matter. The Minister has also acknowledged the positive outcome from the ballot held from 11 July to 15 August 2025 on the CI\u00c9 pension proposal for both CI\u00c9 pensions schemes.  Following on from this constructive and collaborative agreement, the Department of Transport is engaging with CI\u00c9 as well as financial advisers at NewERA and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Services, Reform and Digitalisation on the next steps in progressing the agreement and bringing CI\u00c9 pensions onto a more stable footing for the benefit of active and retired scheme members. In line with procedures laid out in the annex on remuneration and superannuation to the code of practice for the governance of State bodies 2016, as amended in Circular 16\/2021, CI\u00c9 must provide the Minister for Transport with a formal consent request in respect of any changes to the schemes. The Department of Transport must then submit that ministerial consent request to the Minister for public expenditure, infrastructure and public service reform for consideration. Following on from the dual ministerial review, under the Transport Act 1950, a statutory public consultation process is required regarding amendments to CI\u00c9 pension schemes where any representations from interested parties will be considered. The Minister for Transport may therefore confirm, modify or reject an amending scheme in accordance with the process set out under the Transport Act. Under section 44 of the Transport Act 1950, CI\u00c9 is required to publish notification of any proposed change to its superannuation schemes in Iris Oifigi\u00fail and at its head office for a period of not less than 28 days. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I appreciate the reply from the Department. I want to give some context to the significant issue I raised. Yesterday, in my office, I met a former CI\u00c9 worker, a pensioner. This is the fundamental issue he is facing right now, as it is for those he meets for the monthly cup of tea or coffee - the conversation they once had in their staffroom. On the new defined contribution scheme, the Minister acknowledged the positive outcome of the ballot held on 15 August 2025. Following on from this constructive and collaborative agreement, the Department of Transport is engaging with C\u00cd\u00c9. It brings us back to fundamental fact \u2013 the proposals were accepted on 15 August 2025. The agreement states that pensioners will receive increases on acceptance. That is not ambiguous language, yet today, pensioners have received nothing because the Government has failed to act in a timely manner. References to process and statutory instruments do not change that reality. Administrative delay by the State cannot become a justification for the financial loss of pensioners. The question remains and deserves a clear answer \u2013 when the statutory instrument is eventually introduced, will the pension increases be backdated to 15 August 2025? I think it is the case in a lot of similar situations to that of the man I met yesterday, who I know very well, and of all the pensioners in CI\u00c9, that it is often the case that the money itself is not the actual issue. It is that they signed up to this agreement under a pretence on 15 August 2025 - understandably it would have taken a period of time to get the agreement in place - but their fundamental question now is whether, if it happens in one year, two years or three years, it will be backdated to 15 August 2025, when that agreement was reached? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  The Minister for Transport acknowledges the long-standing tradition within the CI\u00c9 Group of ensuring the terms and conditions of employees, which include pension provisions, are negotiated collectively with the recognised trade unions. As I said, the Minister is responsible for policy and operational matters within transport. Pension schemes and provisions are the responsibility of CI\u00c9 and its trusteed. However, the Minister is engaging proactively with all of the relevant stakeholders to progress this matter. I assure the Deputy that he is raising this important matter and securing the dual ministerial consent for the statutory instrument. We have to follow due process in regard to the responsibility of both the Minister for Transport and the Minister for public expenditure and reform following that period of consultation, which will be launched prior to the implementation of the new CI\u00c9 pension scheme. It is a key focus of the Department to ensure all stakeholders endeavour to achieve this at the earliest possible opportunity while keeping in line with the appropriate processes and ensuring it is in compliance with the relevant regulations and statutory instruments to ensure all necessary approvals are given effect and all agreements are honoured.  I thank the Deputy for bringing up this important matter. We all know people who have given enormous service to CI\u00c9 over many decades and we want them to be supported in regard to their pension entitlements. It is important to bring these concerns to the floor of the D\u00e1il. I will convey all of the Deputy\u2019s points to the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Brien. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 10.47 p.m. go dt\u00ed 9 a.m., D\u00e9 C\u00e9adaoin, an 14 Ean\u00e1ir 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 10.47 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 14 January 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Pension Provisions"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2026-01-13"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-06T02:09:34+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-12-18","counts":{"contributorCount":139,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":52,"questionCount":40,"billCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Childcare Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I raise again the regulations put in place for some time now for childminders and the many issues they are facing. We know about 150 childminders out of 14,000 or 15,000 have registered with Tusla, which is a small amount. Will the review of the regulations take place early in the new year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Norma Foley)  As the Deputy is aware, the phase 1 report of the early years action plan, Shaping the Future, was published yesterday. It makes clear that childminding remains central to the Government's vision for the future of early learning and care and school-age childcare. The national action plan for childminding 2021-2028 sets out a pathway for the extension of regulation and supports to childminders. Implementation of that plan will continue under Shaping the Future, as I said at yesterday\u2019s launch. The regulation of childminding services is critical to the safeguarding of children. I believe we all agree on that.  The childminding-specific regulations, which came into effect in September 2024, are designed to be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work. The route to registration under the new regulations requires childminders to undertake a short pre-registration training course as well as meet certain regulatory requirements, including Garda vetting, proof of insurance, first aid certification and child safeguarding training. We are now in a three-year transition period to September 2027, during which childminders are being encouraged and supported to register but registration is not yet mandatory. This phased approach aims to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector and sphere of quality assurance and access Government subsidies, while also recognising the time and supports required for childminders to learn about and prepare for registration.  The Department has committed to undertake a review of the initial implementation of the childminding-specific regulations during the transition period. The review will include consultation with childminders and other stakeholders.  It will provide an important opportunity to learn lessons from initial experiences with the regulations.  As I have said previously, the review will commence in 2026. The timing of the review is crucial. In addition to hearing from childminders who have not yet registered, it is important that the review adequately captures and benefits from the experiences of those who have registered, been through the registration process and operated within the new regulations.  September 2025 marked the end of the first full year since the introduction of the regulations. Those childminders who have registered need time to thoroughly test the regulations in practice. The number of childminders who have registered will impact upon the thoroughness of this testing also. We are in a three-year process from the introduction of the regulations to the end of the transition period. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I am sure the Minister will agree that the fact that just 150 childminders to date have registered with Tusla should be causing concern. It is a tiny number compared with the overall number of childminders out there. Childminding Ireland has been excellent in its engagement on issues with the regulations. One such issue I have mentioned to the Minister before is the regulation regarding having a close contact, that is, a person who will be available at all times. That is next to near impossible. Some of the regulations are unworkable, like that one. I have met childminders and been in their homes and the big issue I am coming across relates to the inspections. They are being asked to register with Tusla but they have no idea what those inspections will look like. These are their family homes and, at the very least, they deserve clarity in that regard. Many of us would not like a person coming in and going around our homes. They need clarity as to what the inspection regime will look like. They should get that clarity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I wish to be clear: childminders are an incredible resource in the entire system. I know the value of them and they are particularly important in rural areas, like my area. We want childminders to be fully engaged but we also need them to be registered because we need regulation. I think the House is unanimous on that. We are within the three-year timeframe now and I have committed to carrying out a review, which will take place in 2026. It will take place as early as I possibly can and as close to quarter 1 as possible. I know that was in the Deputy\u2019s original question. It will be as close to that as possible. It is to give the maximum benefit to those who have registered and those who will register within that period or timeframe. I hear many of the queries the Deputy has raised. I hear them too. There will be inspections, however. While not comparing like for like, anyone who has a family property and runs a bed and breakfast is subject to inspection in order to be registered with F\u00e1ilte Ireland. Childminders will have to be subject to inspections, but I hear what the Deputy is saying when it comes to how that is managed and what form the inspection will take. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  We have to be clear; I have not met a childminder who has an issue with regulations. Most of them have first aid training, insurance and Garda vetting. They have much of it in place for so many years already. That is not the issue. Rather, the issue lies with the inspections. Inspections will form part of the regulations \u2013 we all know that \u2013 but it is about what those inspections will look like and the rooms in the family home the inspector will go into. These are details that childminders should have before and while they are registering with Tusla. Clarification like that would probably increase the numbers registering with Tusla because they are being asked to register without knowing the ins and outs of what they are signing up to. That is a mistake and it is probably why we only have 150 registered out of tens of thousands of childminders in this State. That should cause concern. I welcome that the Minister said the review will be as close as possible to quarter 1 of 2026. I welcome that because I am not making it up - I hope the Minister takes me at my word - that childminders are leaving the sector. We cannot afford to lose them. We need that review as quickly as possible in the new year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I absolutely understand the anxiety that is out there. Change is never comfortable and I absolutely accept that. I hear it myself when I engage on the ground. I absolutely accept the Deputy's bona fides in this regard too. She has raised this issue on a number of occasions. I am happy to engage further. I said I would engage prior to the review and I will do that. I will hold the review as close to quarter 1 of 2026 as I can, but I will not give a firm date because things and timeframes can change. It is my intention to do it as early as we possibly can. I want childminders to remain within the system. They are an incredibly valuable resource. Many issues have been raised. For example, the Deputy raised the issue in respect of properties and all of that. I am conscious of that, but it does not fall within my gift. Rather, it falls to the Department of housing but I am also engaging in that regard. I am conscious of the issues that are there. We will begin the review as quickly as possible. We have until 2027 for the complete registration. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Childcare Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Family Resource Centres","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  Will the Minister and her Department provide additional and multi-annual funding for therapeutic and counselling supports, such as play therapy? Will the Minister make a statement on it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  Tusla, the Child and Family Agency, administers funding for therapeutic and counselling supports. In 2024, Tusla\u2019s total funding for family support service counselling was \u20ac8.375 million. A total of 90 family resource centres received \u20ac1.664 million. With regard to additional funding, in 2025 the Department secured the mainstreaming of an additional \u20ac1.5 million for counselling, psychotherapy and therapeutic services to children and young people to reduce waiting lists for community-based counselling services. This was previously funded as a pilot under the Dormant Accounts Fund in 2023 and 2024 and it is in addition to the yearly funding for family support services counselling I have already spoken about.  In 2025, \u20ac292,500 of this additional \u20ac1.5 million funding was allocated to 30 family resource centres to allow them to continue their important work of providing counselling and wider therapeutic services, such as play therapy and creative arts therapy, in the community. The additional funding helps to address unmet need and reduce waiting lists for community-based counselling services.  Funding for counselling services reflects the Government\u2019s recognition of the critical work being done every day by local community-based services. I am proud to support their work and delighted that this additional investment of \u20ac1.5 million is now part of the mainstream funding provision through Tusla. This funding enables family resource centres and other family support service counselling services to provide counselling and therapeutic services at no cost or low cost for the communities they serve.  In 2024, clinical and therapeutic lead posts were established in eight family resource centres around the country to ensure there is a clinical and therapeutic lead in all six Tusla regions. I understand that this initiative is working well. The focus of the role includes providing clinical leadership, ensuring that quality services are developed and adapted to meet emerging and presenting needs in the region, and monitoring clinical practice and governance standards. Funding for the clinical and therapeutic lead posts continued in 2025 and I have also secured funding for 2026.  As the Deputy will be aware, the family resource centre programme has expanded from 121 to 126 members. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister for her reply. We can all agree, as we have done previously, that great work is being done by all the family resource centres. The Minister has, in fairness, expanded and created a number of new centres. The problem I am hearing is that the references and referrals coming from many organisations, such as Tusla, the HSE, CAMHS and local authorities, are overloading family resource centres and they are having great difficulty in meeting the demand that is there. We all know the benefits of play therapy and other counselling services. Is the Minister aware of all the referrals that are coming from the various organisations? Are they included in the figures she has just given the D\u00e1il? Will she give multi-annual funding to our family resource centres to ensure they can cope with the additional demand they are facing at the moment? It is quite traumatic for them to have to turn people away from the doors when they are getting referrals. That is the unfortunate consequence of not having the multi-annual funding that should be available for them. That is the basis of my question, that is, the number of referrals they are getting from Government and non-Government organisations. Maybe the Minister can comment on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I wish to conclude on the point about the family resource centres first. The Deputy is correct; we are unanimous about the importance of those family resource centres and the whole myriad of services, including those the Deputy outlined, they provide. The programme has expanded from 121 to 126 members this year. The Deputy will be aware that a further ten centres will be added in 2026. I am pleased that I secured the funding for those additional ten centres in budget 2026. Mental health services are within the gift of another Department. This is just an additional support we are providing through the family resource centres. It is important that we recognise that and there is clarity around that. Mental health services fall within the remit of my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler. The total allocation for mental health services for 2026 will be almost \u20ac1.6 billion. It is quite a considerable level. It is record funding, in fact. It is an increase in funding for the sixth year in a row. I wish to acknowledge the work of the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, in that regard. There are other avenues to support as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I appreciate that.  I am highlighting this today because I have been speaking to a number of family resource centres. The number of referrals they are getting is causing complications for the services they are offering. I am highlighting this today to make the Minister, Deputy Foley, and the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, aware of the need for additional resources in our family resource centres. They have now come to a situation where there is an overload on what they can provide.  The other point is the multiannual funding. They need to know what counsellors and therapists they can actually provide for the communities they work in. This is the issue that many of them have raised with me. Again I wish to put on the record that every euro spent is a very welcome euro for the communities they serve. So many of the family resource centres are up against it and on the coalface of so many community and social issues at the moment. I highlight the need for multiannual funding to ensure that our family resource services can survive and grow. That is the whole issue we are trying to highlight today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I appreciate the Deputy highlighting it. It is highlighted to me also as I visit the family resource centres. It is a testament to the vision of the family resource centres that they are happy to step in when there is a need within a community. They do it expertly, they do it professionally and they do it without any difficulty really. That is to their credit. They always step up. I have never made any secret of the fact that I am an enormous fan of the family resource centres.  The entire budget for Tusla counselling services is over \u20ac8.3 million. The additional \u20ac1.5 million that has been mainstreamed from the Dormant Accounts Fund in 2023 and 2024 has been a great addition to us. Being able to mainstream that is an additional resource. I will continue to consult the Minister of State, Deputy Butler. She has successfully increased the budget for the entirety of mental health services for six years in a row - to over \u20ac1.6 billion now - and great credit is due to her for that. There is an opportunity for us to engage further on it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Family Resource Centres"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Homeless Persons Supports","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Will the Minister give a commitment to intervene to prevent the closure in mid-January of a homeless prevention service in Cork, and to ensure the service does not cease to provide vital community support to homeless young people through social care work? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I appreciate the Deputy raising this question. I have been informed, and it is my understanding, that the services managed by Tusla's Liberty Street House are not being curtailed. This is the information that has been given to me. Tusla is undertaking a reform programme that will continue to meet the needs of service users of Liberty Street House. The integration of services will mean that the services provided within Liberty Street House will align under the proposed structures of the front door teams. Front door teams are a feature of the new Tusla referral and service user management process that will ensure each referral is assessed and addressed by the appropriate experts. Staff will work as part of multidisciplinary teams to ensure a range of professionals with different skill sets in the area of social work and therapeutic services are available to respond to the needs of children, young people and families in the right way at the right time.  The preventive aspect of work undertaken in the Liberty Street House services will align with family support and safety and welfare structures. All relevant cases in Liberty Street House services will continue to be worked on with the newly aligned networks in 2026. Liberty Street House services provide a domestic violence and abuse support service. Under the reform programme the focus will move towards the impact of domestic violence, particularly on children, bringing in expertise developed in Liberty Street House to the front door teams across networks. Equally, Liberty Street House staff who have a developed skill set in working with teenagers will continue to utilise these skills in their alignment within the front door teams.  Tusla's structural reform will bring opportunities to young people and families that Liberty Street House services work with. It will also deliver an integrative response of early intervention, family support and child welfare. Liberty Street House has responded to these needs in myriad ways since it opened. I appreciate the work done by the team in Liberty Street House on behalf of the State and local government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I thank the Minister for the update but the information I have is that Liberty Street House will be out of staff by mid-January and is currently not recruiting. I understand it has not replaced the staff who have left, been redeployed or have retired. I want the Minister to be right, and I hope she is right, in what she has just said here. Liberty Street House has been operating very successfully for the last two decades in providing really vital services for young people who are at risk of homelessness. It is said now that it is being amalgamated with Tusla's front door teams. At one stage Liberty Street House was helping over 200 young people. Maybe the Minister's information is more correct but I am telling her, from the people who work on the ground, that the staff will be gone by mid-January. If the Minister is saying that is not the case, we need clarity on the matter. This is a vital service for young people at risk of homelessness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I appreciate the Deputy raising this. My information is that the services provided by Liberty Street House are not being curtailed. Indeed, the cases will continue right throughout 2026. The new model of practice is to ensure that all services are available through multidisciplinary teams at the time when they are needed, in the one place at the right time. I am very happy for the Deputy to bring to me any specific information that he might not be in a position to share on the floor of the House. I am very happy to look at that and revert to the Deputy. It is my understanding, as I have said, that the services are not being curtailed. The new vision of service, which I think is a good vision of service, means that when a person presents themselves there is a single opportunity for all of the different supports they might need to be made available at that time from the front door teams. The front door teams approach emphasises the notion that there is no wrong door, that there is a single point of access, and that whatever supports the person requires are presented and available to him or her at that given time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I have two worries on foot of the Minister's comments. She is saying that the services are being integrated. Is Liberty Street House being closed down? Liberty Street House provides a service to young people who are at risk of homelessness and who enter homelessness. I am looking for a commitment now that this will not be closed down. The information I have is from people who are in the know. They have told me that no additional staff have been taken on to replace those who have left through retirements and redeployments, and that the few who remain will be gone by the middle or end of January. The Minister talks about integrating services, which sounds great, but I am worried about the children who are not as severely at risk, such as a young person who is at risk of homelessness. A young person who is sleeping on the streets needs intervention, 100%, but there is no point in a young person who is at risk of becoming homeless ending up on the streets too. We need both types of children to be looked after. I am worried, in light of what is being proposed now, that Tusla is going down a different road. We need to save Liberty Street House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  The information that has been given to me is that all the services the Deputy has outlined, which are really important intervention services, are not being curtailed and that all cases will continue into 2026. It is a very valuable service that is being provided. It is important that whatever supports are required within the family structure for individuals, for young people or for older people are available at a given time, at the right time and in the right place. My information is that nothing is being curtailed and that everything is continuing in terms of services in 2026. If there is something different that the Deputy wants to bring to me, I will be more than happy - sincerely - to engage further with him on the matter. I will happily do that with the Deputy at the beginning of the year if that is what he wishes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Go raibh maith agat. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Homeless Persons Supports"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Residential Institutions","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  Has the Minister undertaken an equality and human rights impact assessment of the Department's practice of locating people with intellectual and similar disabilities in excess of 100 km from their home in residential services for prolonged periods of time? Will she comment on her Department's failure to maintain even broad-brush statistics on these distances given their clear breach of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, UNCRPD, which enshrines the right of community living for people with a disability? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I thank the Deputy for raising this question and providing me with an opportunity to speak on this matter. The Government is committed to supporting people with disabilities through the implementation of the UNCRPD.  To further the work in this area the Department of Children, Disability and Equality has recently published the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. This includes commitments to promote independent living and active participation and supports our obligations under Article 19 of the UNCRPD. Demand for residential placements is very high for a number of reasons, including demographic challenges associated with the increase in the number of people living with a disability, changing needs and the increase in age profile of those in existing placements.  The HSE advises that while every effort is made by the referring agency to ensure the provision of residential services is close to family and natural supports, taking will and preference into account, there are multiple important factors to be considered simultaneously in order to achieve a residential placement that will best meet the unique and assessed needs and requirements of each individual. Prior to placement, consultation with the individual and their family is undertaken and consent is documented as part of the decision-making process. A comprehensive needs assessment is undertaken by the multidisciplinary team to determine suitability and impact on the individual and their family. Funded placement reviews focus on areas such as the individual\u2019s well-being and continuity of supports, in accordance with the national standards and Health Act regulations.  The HSE advises that each case is reviewed regularly where a transition closer to home is the will and preference of the individual. These actions are aligned with the principles of the UNCRPD and the HSE\u2019s commitment to equality and human rights. In recognition of the impact that distance can have on people and their loved ones, HSE south west has recently engaged with a private provider to purchase houses in Cork to create capacity in order for people to be repatriated to their home county and create additional new placements. HSE mid-west also confirms it is endeavouring to offer individuals the option of living in residential services closer to their communities through capacity building. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I thank the Minister of State for her response. It is very concerning to hear of the rapidly increasing investment by her Department in privately outsourced residential services for people with disabilities. In many cases a person will move into such a service in the context of a crisis. The HSE will be under pressure to find any place for the person. The residential service they are offered will quite likely be located extremely far from home and sometimes in quite an isolated setting that is not joined up to community or other supports that would allow a person to grow towards increasing independence, connection and integration. We have a scenario where very wealthy private companies are amassing large sums of money with which they are building up significant property portfolios while section 38 and 39 services are struggling to keep the lights on and sometimes paying rent on properties. This is a disjointed, costly and reactive way to provide these services. When will the Government devise a national disability service plan that is implemented through multiannual funding and when will it move away from private outsourcing, which comes with such a human cost to the person with a disability as well as such a financial cost to the State? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy. While the chief inspector of social services within HIQA does not have the remit to look at the specific issue of an individual\u2019s distance from their original home, where inspectors see that residents are away from their support network or having to travel extended distances to their family, work or school, it is addressed in inspection reports under regulation 9 on residents\u2019 rights and regulation 13 on general welfare and development.  On private and not-for-profit providers, the proportion of residential placements for people with disabilities provided by for-profit providers has increased in recent years. This has been in response to demand for new residential places. We have 1,402 residential placements being provided by private providers. This constitutes 15% of the total of all placements and represents an increase of 3% since December 2023, so while it is rising it is rising at 3% over two years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I thank the Minister of State. The Minister said in a recent budget Estimate session that she wants to move away from private outsourcing but the proportion of money the Department is spending on these services has nearly doubled over the past four years. While the Minister is saying one thing, her Department's actions are the opposite. I can understand the ongoing reliance on these providers but this will not change as long as the Department is devoid of a plan for residential, vocational and community support services that are integrated with each other in each community. We need a service plan for disability akin to A Vision for Change. That document had key staffing targets per mental health service and per head of population. We have a very haphazard pattern of disability services in different areas based, essentially, on a tradition of the service being in that territory. When is the Department going to provide data - even general data - on the distance between a disabled person's house and their community of origin? This is a human rights issue and data on it should be recorded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  On data, I wish to be clear that the cost of care is completely dependent on the level of complexity and the support required. It is imperative to note that as a result, cost is not a reflection of performance and rather is indicative of individualised care needs. What is most important here is the person with the care need at the heart of this. The Deputy has the data on the average cost of residential places. That data is published and publicly available. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality's spending review 2025 contains this information, which is publicly available on our website. It should be noted these average costs are derived from a relatively small sample of placements from 2024 because there is a relatively small sample of placements in existence. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 5 and 6 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Residential Institutions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Childcare Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Cooney  Roughly 22,000 children will need childcare in County Clare by 2027. Only five services have registered and only 26 individual childminders have done the mandatory pre-registration training so far. With less than two years before these new regulations take effect, what is being done to ensure the number of childminders will be sufficient to meet the future demand in Clare by 2027? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I thank the Deputy. Childminders are a hugely important part of early learning and care and school-age childcare provision and they continue to be the option of choice for many families. The National Action Plan for Childminding 2021-2028 set out a pathway for the extension of regulation to childminders. A singular objective of the national action plan is to enable parents who use childminders to benefit from State subsidies through the national childcare scheme. The Childcare Support Act 2018, which provides a statutory basis for the national childcare scheme, specifies that only Tusla-registered childminders are eligible to participate in the scheme. The limitation of public funding schemes to Tusla-registered providers helps to ensure public funding is provided where there is assurance of the quality of provision.  It must be noted that childminding regulations only came into effect in September 2024, with a statutory transition period of three years ending in September 2027. Registration is therefore not mandatory until the end of this transition period. This phased approach aims to facilitate the largest possible number of childminders to enter the regulated sector, the sphere of quality assurance, and access to Government subsidies, while recognising the time and supports required for childminders to learn about and prepare for registration. The childminding-specific regulations are designed to be proportionate and appropriate to the home and family setting in which childminders work. The regulations differ substantially from regulations for centre-based childcare. While the Department has successfully completed phase 1 of the national action plan, considerable work lies ahead during phase 2 in supporting the large number of unregistered childminders to register with Tusla and take part in the national childcare scheme before the end of the transition period, in County Clare and right around the country.  I fully understand the sense of uncertainty and anxiety childminders may be experiencing in this period of transition. Communication is essential to overcoming this. A national communications strategy is a key element in phase 2 of the national action plan during the transition period we are now in. Work on this communications strategy has begun with the aim of informing childminders and parents about the changes, the supports available and what to expect. The Department has committed to a review of the initial implementation of the childminding-specific regulations in phase 2 also. I aim to meet Childminding Ireland on a one-to-one basis before the review of the regulations commences. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Cooney  I thank the Minister. In Clare we will need roughly 170 childminders to accommodate the number of children who use individual childminders' services. My experience on the ground in Clare is that existing services are already under huge pressures, with long waiting lists, very limited availability in many areas and, unfortunately, increasing numbers of childminders shutting up shop. I acknowledge the need for registration but am very concerned about how this will play out if there is not a well-thought-out strategy put in place to retain existing childminders and encourage new entrants to the sector, which is vital and important for our young generation in these very demanding times. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I thank the Deputy. I acknowledge that the issue of childminders and registration and the challenges they might face has been consistently raised in this Chamber.  I do not wish to be repetitive but I will say again that I absolutely acknowledge that childminders are an incredibly important and valuable resource in the whole sphere of the childcare sector and I want them to continue in the business. I have to ensure they are regulated and, as has been said, I do not think any childminders are opposed to that. However, it is an important element of child safeguarding.  There will be a review - I spoke about it earlier - as early as possible in 2026. That will be important for engagement. I have also given a commitment that I will meet Childminding Ireland before that review commences. Yesterday, I published Shaping the Future: Early Years Action Plan. The action plan commits to restructuring the core funding pilot for registered childminders in 2026 - in other words, a number of childminders in the pilot are part of the core funding process. That will also be restructured going forward to bring more and more into it. That is my ambition anyway. I am committed to continuing to work with childminders to make it as easy and accessible as possible for them to come within the regulations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Cooney  My main concern is that there will only be a trickle of applications for the training and a then a flood at the last minute. We can be smart and avoid that last-minute surge by putting in place a planned, targeted information campaign for next year, possibly using the childcare committees. This would ensure that any misinformation about the process is countered and that anyone who might be interested hears about this well before the deadline, which is important. We could take this campaign directly to parents by going to schools. This would drive a huge awareness campaign at local level, especially in more rural areas where the impact will be mostly felt. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I appreciate that the Deputy has come with many positive suggestions for how we can collaboratively support childminders going forward. Already the Department provides funding to each of the county and city childcare committees so that there is a specific individual who is a childminding development officer in place in each of the committees to work directly with childminders. That is an important access point for childminders and it will be drawn upon more and more. I have already outlined a stronger communication campaign which we are in the process of undertaking. We will do all we can - and I appreciate the many examples the Deputy gave - to ensure the maximum number of people are engaging on a consistent basis before 2027. It is a feature of life that there is always a rush towards the end and I absolutely accept that it would be better if there were a consistent registration so we will continue to work on that. I appreciate the Deputy's input. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 8 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Childcare Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  More than 18,000 children are currently waiting for an assessment of need and this figure is expected to increase to between 22,000 and 25,000 by the end of the year. These are children whose lives are suspended. They are waiting for assessments so they can receive the medical and educational supports necessary for their continued development. As the Minister of State will be aware, early intervention is crucial and that intervention is being denied to many children. The long waiting lists affect development as they cannot access the supports they need. How will the changes the Minister proposed last week assist in rectifying this breach of the law? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for giving me the opportunity to address this on the floor of the House. The delivery of an effective, efficient assessment of need system is a priority for the Government. There has been intensive work by the Department of Health and the HSE. Demand for assessments of need has increased significantly in recent years. Applications may be in excess of 11,000 this year compared with 4,700 in 2020. That represents a doubling in five years. This reflects both the increase in population and the number of families exploring all options to access services for their child. The impact of this increased demand has contributed to more than 18,000 applications being overdue for completion nationwide at the end of September. We will have figures for the end of this year shortly. In September, there was a 42% increase on this time last year.  More positively, there has been continual improvement in the number of completed assessment of need reports. Over 4,500 reports were completed in the first nine months of this year, a 57% increase compared with the same period last year. This improvement has been bolstered by significant investment by the Department in the targeted waitlist initiative, which focuses on the families waiting longest for assessments of need. More than 6,300 clinical assessments have been commissioned from private providers under the initiative since it started in June 2024. Budget 2026 provides for the continuation of this initiative next year, with \u20ac20 million provided for the delivery of some 6,000 clinical assessments.  Last week, the Government announced a series of reforms to the assessment of need process that will make the process more effective and efficient for children and their families. Over time, this should lead to a reduction in the waiting time to receive an assessment. This reform includes changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005, which provides for assessments of need. I will elaborate further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  My concern about the changes announced last week are that they risk deepening the chaos already prevalent in special education and that we are placing an additional administration burden on educators. In Limerick, for instance, 259 children are waiting for an assessment of need and none of them was met within the statutory timeline so the Government is failing those children with zero of 259 children having been met. The fact remains that the Government is in daily breach of the law by not honouring the requirement to provide an assessment of need within six months.  I urge the Minister to initiate a new campaign to recruit people to services, to advertise it properly - unfortunately, that was not done the last time - and, if sufficient applications are not received, to expand the drive internationally if we need to do so. The removal of the need for a formal diagnosis to access a special class or special school placement and its replacement raises concerns, not only with me, but with the teachers' unions which said they were not consulted in advance of last week's announcement, which is disappointing to say the least. It is not acceptable for this responsibility to be pushed onto educators without them even being consulted. Decisions on the necessary supports should remain the responsibility of qualified educational and disability professionals. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It goes without saying that the issue of assessments of need has been a disaster for a considerable time. There is much unease about the proposals that were put forward. One of the issues with the proposals is that they are only an indication of a proposal. We had an engagement earlier in the week and if we are talking about removing the need for assessments of need in schools, it is a fact that we are talking about something that is a few months away from being completed. Will the Minister of State give an indication of how she and the Department of education will come up with a process and by which means children will be assessed for the appropriate class, special class or mainstream education with supports? That is vital.  The Minister of State has said previously that there is not always a need for an assessment of need to access the child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS, or primary care but we all know the issues. Children get bounced back and there is a real need to deal with that. The problem with primary care is that the service that was once there is not there at the moment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank both Deputies. I was delighted to engage with the cross-party group on autism about this issue the day before yesterday. The direct question about the education plans was how the process will be formulated, and the answer is through consultation. The Department of Education and Youth has indicated to us that it is willing to explore how to get to a point where it can remove an assessment of need as a requirement for entry to special schools and special classes. It will now consult on how best to do that with relevant stakeholders and officials and will come back to the Taoiseach through the Cabinet committee on disability in the first quarter of next year with a proposal for how and by when it can make it happen.  On people being bounced from list to list, one of the things announced this week was the single point of access, which is the HSE's new system to ensure there is no wrong door and that when children get to the top of a list, they are not pushed to the bottom of another list. This is a service-based and needs-based approach the HSE is implementing in collaboration with our Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  Last week's announcement was an attempt to shift responsibility to schools and mask the failure overseen by this and previous Governments.  However, I do note that each team will include a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administrator. Where will they come from? Is it not a better approach to have a proper recruitment campaign and try to access the resources that exist that we have not been able to harness so far? The change will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an assessment of need for their children nor will it alter their statutory six month-timeframe in the Disability Act. It does not explain how the Government will achieve this legal obligation of accessing an assessment of need within a six-month period. Will the Minister of State advise how this change will assist these children who are waiting for 27 months or more for an assessment? These children need their assessments and they need to have them completed within the six-month period. What we and the children need to see is an urgent workforce plan to recruit and, more importantly, to retain the staff we have already to deliver this important service without breaching the rights of these children. Every month and every single day that an assessment is delayed impacts children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We all support the idea of a single point of access. My understanding is there will be 11 teams delivered in 2026 and then nine teams in 2027. That all sounds grand but I would follow up on what Deputy Quinlivan said. At this point I imagine, because we cannot always get the updated figures, we are looking at 300 or so positions unfilled in the CDNTs. I would like if that figure was lower but how do we recruit the OTs, SLTs and psychologists to those teams? How do we recruit to these new teams? How will these new teams work? We are all supportive of therapies within schools and involving the schools, the parents and everyone involved in the child's life. Assistive technology is absolutely important at that point. How do we get that recruitment process done while we are recruiting to all these bodies at the same time because many advocates have said there are difficulties in relation to this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  On the same line of questioning, if we reduce the waiting list so quickly then the next waiting list is for the therapy, so there will still be a huge number of children waiting for therapies, particularly speech and language. I referenced in the D\u00e1il this week the children with Down's syndrome who are waiting. What happens when all of those children are added to the list? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputies. Can I be really clear? Last week's announcement was about children with disabilities who require therapies and that is exactly what we are setting out to achieve - the delivery of therapies regardless of children's disability. There is a six-pronged approach here. The heads of Bill have now been published. They will go through pre-legislative scrutiny at the Joint Committee on Disability Matters. We have committed to informing parents earlier about when a decision is arrived at as to whether or not their child has a disability. We have the HSE's new model of having a single point of access which we have discussed and which will be supported by additional recruitment. Between that and the autism assessment process and protocol, which is also a huge part of this, they will be supported by 11 inreach teams next year and 20 inreach teams by the end of the following year. We are also recruiting within our own teams - the CDNTs. We have had a 27% increase in staffing in the 18 months up to April of this year. We have 45,000 children now receiving therapies through our CDNTs and I would like to thank our staff and our clinicians who are delivering those. We are also supplementing our assessment of need process by outsourcing. We will outsource 6,000 of those next year. That frees up therapists to work with children to deliver the therapies they need. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 10 and 11 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  As Minister for State with special responsibility for disabilities, I am committed to delivering a step-change in supports and services for people with disabilities and their families, ensuring they are enabled to live full lives of their own choosing and on an equitable basis with everyone else in society. The Department has been working closely with the HSE to deliver on this ambition and improve disability services for all who use them.  The Deputy will be aware that services are provided on the basis of need and funding is provided now through the regional health areas, RHAs. The Deputy has asked about the improvements being made to disability services in Kerry, which falls within the HSE South West RHA. As part of a broader programme of work, the HSE, with the support of the Department, has progressed a range of service improvements in the Kerry area. As previously stated, the programme for Government includes a commitment to the continued expansion of all types of respite services, building on additional investment and progress over the past few years. The HSE South West disability service operates separate children and adult regional respite forums. Each forum manages the referral and respite service provision for the population of the region to ensure equitable access to respite services, consistent with each person's assessed need and preference. Service provider representatives and HSE South West disability service personnel comprise the membership of the regional respite forum. The HSE South West disability services provide a range of respite models for children and adults and these include: residential overnight respite centres, after-school clubs for children and young people, in-home support, outreach support and holiday breaks for adults. These options ensure that respite is provided in the manner which best meets the needs of the people and their families and carers.  RHA HSE South West, which extends to the Cork and Kerry areas, provided 17,181 respite overnights in 2024, 2,833 day-only respite sessions and supported 760 people with a disability. Kerry residential respite services for children aged between 6 and 18 years of age are delivered by St. John of God Services. There are two residential respite houses, one in north Kerry and one in south Kerry. Each house has four respite beds and operates seven days per week, with planned closures this equates to approximately 2,800 respite beds for children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I thank the Minister of State for her reply. I remember attending a meeting in Listowel last year when the services in north Kerry were closed. It turned out that they were reopened but there were such levels of stress and anxiety among the families and the service users who were used to attending the service, which was just outside Listowel, the north Kerry service the Minister of State mentioned. Will the Minister of State guarantee to expand those services because it is a county where, for example, we have only have two early school intervention classes in the whole of the county whereas County Cork has 22 of them and there are three in the town of Mallow alone? The early services are not there and they need to be expanded. I will come back to it in a few minutes but the NCSE letters that have been sent out are a matter of grave concern also. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  Just to advise the Deputy that our Department and the HSE are currently auditing respite services to have better visibility and to be able to plan better and make decisions based on the need. It is our intention to increase both overnight and day respite next year throughout the country. That will be part if the HSE's national services statement and national services plan and we will be making the decisions on that based on the level of current provision and the level of identified need in an area. I hope that is of benefit to the Deputy in terms of his own county. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  The NCSE recently said it is saying it is no longer in a position to issue letters of eligibility for ASD classes in schools and special schools because it issued a deadline on 1 October and it is using that as an excuse to tell parents they are not getting places and to contact the school for any additional supports. Clearly, it is not appropriate to issue a final deadline like that. There is huge stress and anxiety among the parents. We heard earlier about the judicial review and there are legal challenges available to some of those parents where they are not getting the services they require. Will the Department give more flexibility so that people can access the proper services in a timely manner? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  Just to clarify, the NCSE is under the remit of the Department of education rather than our Department. I know this is something the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and the Minister for education are looking at.  Together with the NCSE, they had set a date of 1 October for applications. That was to be able to give the parents better clarity, better security and early decision-making ahead of the coming academic year. I appreciate that there are parents who may have been in a position to provide information after this date. That is something I have raised directly with the Minister of State with responsibility for special education. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 13 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Minister of State may be aware that until last year, Monaghan had no respite facilities for children at all. The services it has currently are incredibly stretched. I ask the Minister of State to outline the proposals to provide additional respite capacity for both adults and children with disabilities in County Monaghan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  HSE Capital and Estates Dublin and North East and the disability services in the Cavan-Monaghan IHA service area have identified a premises for sale that is suitable for the purposes of renovation to develop a HSE respite centre for children. The purchase transaction has been approved and completed. The keys of the premises have been transferred to HSE Capital and Estates Dublin and North East. The premises are located at Drumbear, Ballybay Road, County Monaghan.  Following the conclusion of the preliminary design stage with disability services in quarter 3 of 2025, the HSE Capital and Estates Dublin and North East office, through the appointed design team, has progressed with preparing a planning application for the proposed development, to be lodged no later than the end of January 2026. Subject to statutory approval of the planning application, it will be the HSE Capital and Estates Dublin and North East office\u2019s intention to commence the preparation of tender documentation for the project. The HSE will then complete a capital project to prepare the property to deliver a five-bedroom residential respite facility.  HSE Capital and Estates Dublin and North East has advised that, if all of those steps go according to the timeframe set out, this project should be completed in quarter 4 of 2026. The number of children who will avail of respite in this new centre will be dependent on the assessed individual needs of each child and his or her family. In order to legally operate as a registered residential respite centre, a facility will need to meet the required standards for a designated respite centre, which is assessed and determined by the Health Information and Quality Authority, HIQA.  Cavan-Monaghan disability services secured a commitment for funding for an interim, two-year residential respite service for children in County Monaghan pending the development of the new HSE facility. The location of the interim children\u2019s respite centre for Monaghan is at Urbalkirk, approximately 8 km from Monaghan town. The Talbot Group operates the service under a service arrangement with the HSE. The interim children\u2019s respite centre, called Rainbow Lodge, became operational on 1 October 2024. Retention of this respite centre\u2019s services will be contingent on future funding considerations. Cavan-Monaghan disability services helped prepare capital submission documents for the national HSE capital and property steering committee to seek approval and funding to provide a stand-alone respite centre for adults with an intellectual disability in County Cavan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I welcome that progress is being made on a permanent respite centre for children in Monaghan. However, I am deeply concerned by what the Minister of State referenced in relation to Rainbow Lodge, which is an interim measure. The Minister of State indicated that its future is contingent on funding. It would be completely unacceptable if Rainbow Lodge were closed before the permanent centre opened. I appeal to the Minister of State to take a hands-on approach to this. Even the new centre with five bedrooms is going to be at or above capacity on day one. I suggest it would make eminent sense for the HSE and the Department to ensure that Rainbow Lodge is maintained as a respite centre, even beyond the construction and completion of the new centre.  There is huge demand for respite services. Rainbow Lodge is operating well. It is incredibly popular with users and a huge relief to the families who have benefited from it. It would make sense to maintain both respite centres into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  As the Deputy is aware, Rainbow Lodge is an interim children's respite centre. It came into operation on 1 October 2024. Retention of this respite centre service is contingent on future funding considerations. I take on board what the Deputy has said in relation to the new centre coming on board at the end of next year, and that there may perhaps be a gap. I take that feedback on board and will bring it back to my officials.  Regarding respite services for adults and children in County Monaghan, I draw the Deputy's attention to the fact that there is also Annalee View Respite Centre. The HSE disability service in IHA Cavan Monaghan operates one respite centre directly in County Cavan, which is in the Deputy\u2019s area. Steadfast House is an overnight respite centre in County Monaghan. It is a HSE-funded, section 39 provider, which is funded under a service agreement with the HSE to provide 1,500 respite nights per year. Following the submission and approval of additional funding in 2024, the number of respite nights increased from 840 per annum to the current level of 1,500. Mountain View Respite Centre, in County Cavan, provides services for adults with physical and sensory disabilities from both Monaghan and Cavan. It opened in November 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Minister of State said Rainbow Lodge is contingent on funding. She is the one who provides the funding. Has she allocated sufficient funding for Rainbow Lodge to operate throughout 2026?  Second, Annalee View is a respite centre that operates one week for adults and one week for children. The truth of the matter is that there is a deficiency in respite places. As the Minister of State outlined, it can be a lengthy process to provide new respite services. If we have a respite centre that is up and running, and operating well, which the users love and the families think is a great service, it would be illogical to close it down. I contend that if it is closed down, at some point in the future, another Minister will have to start the process all over again.  Will the Minister of State confirm that the funding is in place for 2026? Will she confirm that she will actively pursue keeping Rainbow Lodge open, even post the second and permanent respite centre being in place? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  The Deputy described a deficiency in respite care in Monaghan. I assure him that the Department and the HSE are currently auditing respite services to give us better visibility of the full picture regarding the provision but also, more importantly, the need. We have additional funding next year that we sought through budget negotiations. That will be part of the HSE's national services plan that is to be published. To clarify, we will be making the decisions as to where the funding goes based on the current level of provision locally but also based on need. The Deputy has clearly outlined a case for why Monaghan needs further investment. If the HSE figures add up on that, we will absolutely be looking at it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disability Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Child and Family Agency","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I want to give the Minister the opportunity to respond to the HIQA report that has been published recently in relation to Tusla services in Dublin north city. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  The HIQA inspection was carried out between 24 June and 30 June 2025. The inspection was a monitoring inspection of the Dublin north child protection and welfare service to assess the progress made on the actions identified to address non-compliance during the previous inspection in May 2024. The inspection identified that significant system risks previously escalated to the Tusla regional chief officer following the April 2024 inspection had not been addressed, and required escalation to the Tusla national office following this inspection. In this inspection, HIQA found that of the five standards assessed for compliance with the national standards for protection and welfare of children, all five standards were deemed to be non-compliant.  The HIQA findings from its inspection of Tusla\u2019s Dublin north city service area have been escalated within the Department. Tusla has submitted an action plan to address all areas outlined for improvement as a matter of urgency. This plan was accepted by HIQA. Since the inspection, Tusla has made significant improvements and rectified almost all areas highlighted by HIQA, with any remaining actions being addressed as a matter of priority. To oversee the implementation of this compliance plan, Tusla has established a child protection and welfare governance implementation group, which meets weekly.  Following the inspection in June 2025, Tusla\u2019s practice assurance and service monitoring team completed a 12-month, full audit of child-in-care referrals categorised as abuse. This was to ensure that screening, assessment and notifications were completed as required.  Tusla has increased the number of social workers at the front door of the service from three to eight and 94% of child protection and welfare referrals in Dublin north city are now screened within two working days. In relation to staffing shortages noted in the inspection report, Tusla is currently reviewing administrative capacity in the service area to ensure staff are being utilised effectively and to identify areas for improvement. The agency continues to move to a more multidisciplinary way of working to address challenges in recruiting a sufficient number of social workers from a very competitive and limited market. Since the inspection, Tusla has also undertaken a review of the governance structure and oversight processes in the service area relating to the receipt and management of referrals and case allocation in accordance with relevant policy, procedures and guidance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I am glad to hear, and obviously the Minister has had it confirmed, that progress has been made in relation to the very serious findings not only in the initial inspection in April 2024 but also when HIQA went in well over a year later in June 2025 and things were not much improved at all. One example HIQA gave was a child with a disability who was non-verbal awaiting completion of a preliminary inquiry and safety planning for over two months. It reminded me, I have to say, of the Grace case - a non-verbal child with a disability waiting two months. Many other examples were given. There was an allegation of physical abuse by a parent against a child and they waited over four weeks. It was found the service was not safe, adequate or timely and where the screening for Tusla is supposed to be 24 hours, it was taking six months. I welcome if it is now two days. The likes of these cases really need to be checked on. We know the service also said things were done that were not done which was found when the inspection follow-up took place. I ask that a really close eye is kept on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I accept that there is and was incredible urgency to ensure matters were rectified as a matter of priority. I acknowledge the work of Tusla in that respect. It has increased the number of social workers and 94% of all cases are now seen within two days. There is very strong oversight of the operation. The Dublin north city area team, with support from Tusla\u2019s regional and national teams, has worked diligently in an incredibly challenging environment to make significant improvements and rectify almost all areas highlighted by HIQA. Plans are in place to address any outstanding items and Tusla has been in close communication with HIQA during the implementation of the compliance plan. It is really important that HIQA is kept in the loop. Concerning Tusla more generally, budget 2026 saw Tusla receive increased funding of \u20ac165 million to continue providing vital child welfare and family support services, bringing its funding up by 14% to \u20ac1.37 billion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  When the word \"allocated\" is used, the figures look like a child is allocated to a social worker and therefore getting support but we also know from the HIQA report that some children were allocated to staff on extended statutory leave and had received no contact. We need to be careful in relation to what \"allocated\" actually means and that it is not just that a case is allocated but the case and the child concerned in that case is actually being seen and getting the support needed. There is also a need for consistent oversight. The HIQA report stated, \"It was a significant concern, given that the significant risk\u2019s identified in the April 2024 inspection, that the Self-Assessment Questionnaire (SAQ) returned by the provider in advance of the [June 2025] inspection had deemed the service area to be substantially compliant ...\" Of course, it was not. HIQA was misled. I would like to take the opportunity to acknowledge the very many good social workers but where they do not have the resources, their hands are tied. This should be a lesson to all of us in terms of what can go on in some of these services. Consistent oversight is needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  The HIQA report on Dublin referred to by the Deputy sets out specifics. The questions raised by parents all over the country are similar to the questions raised in the context of the HIQA report and Tusla. What is the process in Tusla to respond to individual complaints of a serious nature? Is it expected to respond to and deal with issues or is it the case that parents have to go further? I referred to the Jones case recently in the Chamber and I refer to it again now. I referred to a child being cared for in a hotel setting which is unacceptable. All of these things are in breach of proper procedure and standards. Given the reports I have read, Tusla needs a complete reform and overhaul in order to deal with this. I ask the Minister to insist that the CEO of Tusla respond to queries and not make false promises. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  To go back to the case highlighted, in the intervening time, it has to be an absolute priority. I welcome the HIQA report because where things are not right, it must be highlighted and rectified. Tusla submitted the action plan which was accepted by HIQA. Since the time of inspection, Tusla has made significant improvements and rectified almost all of the issues, for example, 94% of all cases are now screened within two days. That is really important. I do not take from the challenges and I appreciate that Deputy Kerrane has acknowledged the very strong work ethic of really good people on the ground dealing with very changed, different and challenging circumstances. I acknowledge that work as well. New oversight has been put in place. Resources were referenced by Deputy McGuinness. Resources for Tusla have increased significantly to \u20ac1.37 billion, a significant uplift which Tusla itself has acknowledged. In terms of attracting staff, there are new schemes such as earn and learn for social workers and recruitment from abroad. More will be done in this area going forward. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 16 and 17 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child and Family Agency"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Child Protection","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I want to ask the Minister about the awaited annual reports from the special rapporteur on child protection and when they will be published. The special rapporteur was appointed in February 2023; it is now almost 2026. It is actually coming to the end of her term and we have not seen any report whatsoever unless the Minister has. I would appreciate an update on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  The special rapporteur on child protection plays an important role in examining and reporting to Government on legal, legislative and litigation-related matters in respect of child protection. The annual reports of the special rapporteur provide important input to the development and review of child protection policy and legislation as well as an objective and independent expert view of the child protection system in Ireland. The reports have been influential in informing policy responses across government to improve the lives of children and young people. The Department has not yet received any annual report or part of any report in respect of the current term of the special rapporteur on child protection. Department officials are engaging on an ongoing basis with the special rapporteur on the matter of the submission of the annual reports prior to the completion of the rapporteur's term of office on 31 January 2026. The special rapporteur has indicated that she expects to submit a report in respect of the period 1 February 2023 to 31 December 2024 imminently. She has indicated that this report will also include her observations and important developments from July 2022 to January 2023, before her term of office commenced. The special rapporteur has also indicated that an annual report in respect of 2025 will be delivered by the end of March 2026. The annual reports of previous special rapporteurs have tended to cover a wide range of policy areas and certain commentary and recommendations relating to several Departments and agencies.  Once submitted, a copy of the report will be provided to all relevant Departments for appropriate review. On completion of this review process, I will submit the report to Cabinet for approval to publish. Once approved, the report will be laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas and published on the Department's website. With the end of the current term of the special rapporteur approaching, I recently secured Cabinet approval to fill the position of the next special rapporteur on child protection for a two-year term. It is my intention to progress the selection of the nominee for the position by way of an open competition run in conjunction with publicjobs.ie as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  Unless I am missing something, the Minister should have received by now an annual report from somebody who was appointed in February 2023 and who is almost at the end of her three-year term. I would have expected the reports to have been annual.  I take the Minister\u2019s point entirely that the role is extremely important. It is about our child protection system in Ireland. There are few things more important, particularly in the Minister\u2019s Department. Was there an expectation or a timeline concerning annual reports when the position was filled in February 2023? Has she raised the issue of having no annual report as we come to the end of the three-year term? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I thank the Deputy. I want to be clear. I acknowledge the work of the special rapporteur. I have engaged with her and she has made herself available. I acknowledge that there has been considerable engagement between the Department and the special rapporteur on making the reports available in a timely manner. The special rapporteur has indicated that she expects to submit her report for the period February 2023 to December 2024 imminently. She has indicated that the report will include observations on a period in which she was not in office, namely the period from July 2022 to January 2023. She has also indicated that an annual report in respect of 2025 will be delivered by the end of March 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I thank the Minister. I appreciate that the special rapporteur is considering the year before she took up her role. It would be great to see the reports from her term in the first instance, but I welcome that the reports are imminent, if that is the case. I find it bizarre that, despite someone being appointed to the role in February 2023, we are now almost at the end of her term and still have not had an annual report. I hope that with the next appointment, we will have annual reports. As the Minister said, this is a really important body of work. I cannot fathom how, despite somebody\u2019s having been appointed in February 2023 in the expectation that they would publish three annual reports, we have not had a single annual report at the end the person\u2019s three-year term. I ask that for the next term, which the Minister has said will be two years, a time frame be put in place so an annual report can be expected annually. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  Again, I appreciate the Deputy raising of the question. I accept the word of the special rapporteur that she will present the report for February 2023 to December 2024 imminently and that she will furnish the report for the period July 2022 to January 2023 before the end of her term of office. The annual report for 2025 will be delivered in March 2026. I expect that will be done with priority. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 19 to 24, inclusive, taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Child Protection","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  What engagement has there been with relevant Departments and agencies, including Tusla? I am talking about the recommendations following the national review panel, NRP, report on Kyran Durnin. We have had a large number of child protection issues, including in respect of Vadym Davydenko and Daniel Aruebose, and the shocking events surrounding the brutal assault on a ten-year-old girl who had been in care. What I am looking for is information specifically on the NRP report and assurance that the recommendations will be acted upon. Beyond that, I seek the timeline for the rest of the reports and assurance that we have the proper framework in play. I am aware that the Minister has legislation and other measures planned. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I appreciate the Deputy raising this matter. Any case of a missing child is of enormous concern to the Government, everybody in this House and others across wider society. I know he agrees with me on that. We are always conscious that at the heart of this case is a young child. All of us, including the general public, are devastated that a young child could go missing for such a long time.  The NRP delivered its report on the review of the Kyran Durnin case to the Department on 29 October last. I have been clear in my wish to publish the report in full on its completion. However, I was also clear at the outset that I would seek the advice and expert legal opinion of the Attorney General. I have done that. The Attorney General has determined that it would not be possible to publish the report at this time given the potential to prejudice any potential prosecutions. It may be possible to publish the report in the future, depending on the advice of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions.  What was agreed on foot of the advice of the Attorney General was that the recommendations in the report would be published in full, and that was done on 3 December. Implementation of these recommendations falls to a number of Departments and agencies. They cover several areas, for example, tracking pupil movement between primary schools, including cross-border movement; a review of GDPR and network checking; guidance to social workers; the development of procedures for waiting list management; the development of a framework for quality assurance monitoring and review; outcome measurement for family support provider agencies; and a review of the Tusla\u2013An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na protocol.  The Attorney General recommended that the full NRP report be shared with the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Naughton. It has been shared with her. The Department is engaging with the relevant Departments and agencies, including Tusla, on the implementation of the recommendations relevant to them. Tusla has already commenced the process of implementing the recommendations under its remit. I am clear that the implementation of the recommendations should be completed as soon as possible.  I have recently introduced a Bill updating and modernising the Child Care Act, which provides the foundation for child protection and welfare services in the State. This will strengthen the child protection legal framework and the powers available to Tusla. Key child protection features include the introduction of a duty to co-operate among bodies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  The Minister will have an opportunity to follow on regarding what she envisages changing legislatively. Her comments recognise the need to update legislation and ensure a framework for child protection. Our thoughts are on Kyran Durnin and the other tragic cases I have mentioned. We need to put whatever protections we can in place.  I ask that the Minister engage with Tusla and other agencies to ensure the recommendations will be acted on. Could she give a timeline on the other reports and recommendations arising from them regarding the cases of Vadym Davydenko, Daniel Aruebose and the ten-year-old girl who was assaulted while in the care of the State? It is vital that we do all and sundry, that due diligence be done and that we have a framework that works. Tusla is not sufficiently resourced in respect of staffing and other areas. There are attempts to rectify this. How are they going? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  The Deputy alluded to some of the new measures we will be introducing under amendments to the Child Care Act. A duty to co-operate will be introduced. This is important and it will mean there will be a compelling duty on all relevant bodies dealing with children, including Tusla and Departments, to co-operate proactively in performing their existing functions relevant to the development, welfare and protection of children.  With the new duty to co-operate, there will be a clear basis for the sharing of information between agencies and organisations when working together on child protection and child welfare matters. I am referring to the sharing of information around the table in the best interest of children so as to protect them.  I will also be introducing amendments to the Child Care Act to place the NRP on a statutory footing. The Deputy and so many others were keen for us to do this. This measure will further enhance the work of the NRP in addition to strengthening its independence and ability to compel information and witnesses in respect of all reviews it undertakes. I acknowledge the work of the NRP. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  What the Minister referred to is vital whether we are talking about putting the NRP on a statutory footing or following through on all the recommendations. Could I have a notion of what the general timeline is? I understand that due diligence had to be done on the legislative process.  The issues around the tracking of pupils, particularly whatever cross-border directive is needed, should be addressed straight away. We should be overcoming whatever issues there are with GDPR. I would also like an update on the Tusla-Garda protocol.  Kate Duggan and others spoke about the increase in complex cases, the new model of care Tusla is looking to bring in and the need for it to increase its staff. We frequently hear from those in the community and voluntary sector who get referrals from Tusla. They also speak about their need for increased resourcing to ensure we have something that is more fit for purpose for looking after children and particularly the most vulnerable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  I acknowledge that those in Tusla, the Department and all the agencies who work with children are absolutely central to protecting vulnerable children and are doing excellent work individually. However, the purpose of the duty to co-operate is that collectively there will be the sharing of information the Deputy referenced, everybody will be around the one table as it were and there will be a strong sense of partnership across State agencies to ensure that everyone is fully engaged with and aware of the role they play in protecting children from harm.  The Deputy specifically referenced North-South co-operation. Although it is a matter for the Department of Education and Youth, I am aware of very extensive North-South engagement on that. It is an issue I have discussed with the North's Minister for Education, Paul Givan, on a number of occasions and the work there is very advanced. All the recommendations that have been outlined have been shared with each of the Departments and agencies concerned. It is a matter of priority for them to be put in place. As I said, the work with Tusla is under way. A considerable uplift in the funding of \u20ac1.37 billion has been provided for Tusla in the budget this year, and significant work is under way on recruitment of staff. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I ask the Minister to come back to me on a timeline for the report. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 26 to 31, inclusive, taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Child Protection","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I ask the Minister for a timeframe for the implementation of the recent recommendations that have been published by the national review panel. Given the Kyran Durnin case, which the NRPl examined, it is really important that we have a very clear timeframe for when each of these recommendations must be implemented. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  This is very similar to the issue raised by the Deputy's colleague. I reiterate that any case relating to a missing child is of enormous concern to all of us and is a priority for all of us because we know that at the heart of it is a child and child welfare. All of us share in the sense of devastation and loss that a child could be missing for such a long time.  The national review panel delivered its report on the review of the Kyran Durnin case on 29 October. I was always clear that it was my personal wish that the details would only be published if it were not to the detriment of an ongoing Garda investigation and that I would seek the advice and wisdom of the expert legal authority, the Attorney General. On seeking that advice, the Attorney General recommended or determined that it would not be possible at this particular time, given the ongoing Garda investigation, to publish the report in full because it had the potential to prejudice any future potential prosecutions. He has also said that it may be possible to publish the report at a future date but that would obviously be on the advice of the Attorney General and the DPP.  What has been agreed on foot of the Attorney General's advice is that the recommendations in the report would be published. As I have said, they were published on 3 December. The recommendations fall to a number of different Departments and agencies to implement. As Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa outlined, they involve: the tracking of pupil movements North and South; review of GDPR; guidance to social workers; development of procedures for wait-list management; development of a framework for quality assurance, monitoring and review, and outcome measurement for family support provider agencies; and review of the Tusla and Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na protocol.  The Department is engaging with all the relevant Departments and Government agencies, including Tusla, on the implementation of the recommendations relevant to them. I can confirm to the House that Tusla has already commenced the process to implement the recommendations that come under its remit. I am clear that the implementation of the recommendations should be completed as soon as possible and that has been advised to all the Departments and agencies involved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  With a number of Departments and agencies involved, it is really important that one person has oversight for ensuring that each of the recommendations is implemented as quickly as possible. I imagine that recommendations such as guidance, reviewing the protocol between the Garda and Tusla, and reviews of GDPR should all be initiated very quickly and some of them will be able to be implemented very quickly. Given the nature of the review panel's work, it is really important that we have a clear timeline for each of the Departments and the agencies involved so they are working to a specific timeframe to complete the work that needs to be done. That would be really important given we are going to see further recommendations from further reviews of the NRP. That makes it really important that the ones we have in front of us now are implemented as quickly as possible. It goes without saying that is exactly what the Minister wants. When a number of agencies and Departments are involved, a timeframe would be helpful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  The recommendations were issued on 3 December. There has been a genuine willingness from all the Departments and agencies to move with haste and priority, but also to do it right. I chaired a cross-departmental meeting on moving forward with the sharing of information and ensuring that this duty to co-operate can very much come into being. Outside of the work under way in the Department, that interdepartmental group is seeking opportunities for the sharing of information that one Department has and where there might be gaps in another Department.  I have brought forward the Bill to update and modernise the Child Care Act. Some of the key provisions will include the introduction of the duty to co-operate with all the relevant bodies. It will also include a clear basis for the sharing of information between agencies and organisations where they work together on child protection and child welfare matters. I will also bring forward the amendment, which is important from the NRP point of view, to put it on a statutory footing. All of that is being done as a matter of priority. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I appreciate all of that and I thank the Minister for those updates. It would be really helpful for her to provide to the Departments and agencies involved a time frame to ensure that each of the recommendations made by the national review panel is met. As I said, we will get further recommendations and more work is needed in these areas. That is why it is so important to have a clear and specific timeframe that the Department and agencies, particularly Tusla, are working towards. These recommendations need to be implemented as quickly as possible; nobody disagrees with that. As the Minister in this Department, she should provide them with a time frame for this really important work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Norma Foley  These recommendations were published on 3 December. From a legislative point of view, it is being given priority through my Department's work on the child care (amendment) Bill, which we move very rapidly through the House. I know that there will be very strong co-operation forthcoming from the Deputy and right across the House. We will continue to engage with all the Government agencies and Departments involved. Implementation of some of the recommendations is well advanced. In particular I am conscious of the Department of Education and Youth's North-South initiative because I have engaged in that myself. We will continue to ensure that these will be delivered as a matter of priority. It is important to recognise that some of the recommendations may be more complex than others but they will all be given priority. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 33 to 95, inclusive, taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Child Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Disabilities Assessments","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  What engagement has there been with the Department of Education and Youth? There are proposals around the autism protocol. We spoke earlier about the very specific proposal to remove the requirement for an assessment of need in order for a child to find an appropriate school place, whether that is in a special class, in a mainstream setting with supports or in a special school. There has been huge unease among the teaching unions and others in relation to who will make this assessment. It is very important that we bring clarity to this particular case. We all want to see streamlining of the assessment of need process. I have always said I have no particular issue with that, but clarity is needed at this time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  The Government absolutely recognises there are unacceptable delays in accessing assessments of need. My Department and the HSE are committed to addressing these delays. Under the Disability Act, an assessment of need is an assessment process carried out by the HSE where a person is of the opinion that he or she may have a disability for anyone born after 1 June 2002. It first establishes whether the person has a disability as defined within the Act and then identifies the health and education needs of the person with the disability and the service required to meet those needs.  As the Deputy said, last week the Government announced a series of reforms to the assessment of need process which will make the process more effective and efficient for children and families, and will move towards more assessments being delivered within the six-month statutory timeframe. These reforms include changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act, which provides for assessments of need. The general scheme of the disability (amendment) Bill 2025 was approved by the Government on 9 December and will be published on the Department\u2019s website shortly. It is important to say these changes will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an assessment of need for their child, nor will they alter the statutory six-month timeline set out in the Disability Act.  Turning to access to treatment and therapies, I must emphasise that children do not require an assessment of need to access health services including primary care, children\u2019s disability network teams, CDNTs, or mental health services. However, it is recognised that there can be delays for children and families in getting access to the treatments and therapies they need.  Children can be on a number of different waiting lists which can cause confusion for families. In 2026 the HSE will introduce a single point of access system, which will make it easier for families to be referred to the right service whether that is a CDNT, primary care, or a child and adolescent mental health team.  The recruitment of staff across the disability sector continues to be a key priority in ensuring children can access therapies in a timely manner. An intensive focus of my Department has been on increasing the staffing of CDNTs that deliver supports and services to children with complex needs. My Department has been in discussions with the Department of education on the need to phase out the requirement for an assessment of need to access special education class or school. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Will the Minister of State give some detail on what that engagement has been? I get that it is the early stages but unfortunately it has led to some unease. We all accept there are huge issues in relation to those who have been on the assessment of need waiting list. None of it has been great for the families and children. People are looking for adequate and correct therapies and supports. I have heard many times that the Department does not require an assessment of need to deliver supports and therapies, but unfortunately parents operate in a slightly different world and at this time the schools require assessments of need. While that is being dealt with, we need clarity. As I said, I have no particular issue if we are accepting that 45% of those who go through assessments of need have autism and if we can find the means whereby people can get a proper assessment in relation to autism and then can get the therapies. However, I ask again about recruitment as we try to recruit to the CDNTs and directly to schools and these new teams. Can the Minister of State go into the detail of how things will change in these things given the huge amount of work and the huge cohort they have to deal with? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  That statistic that 45% of children who go through the assessment of need process receive a diagnosis of autism is absolutely correct. For that reason the HSE is standing up a new autism assessment and protocol process in order to be able to respond to emerging need in this area. We hope that from January, but definitely from the first quarter of next year, children who are displaying autistic traits will be referred into the new HSE autism protocol and assessment process. That will absolutely help. It will provide them with specific interventions that will be most appropriate to them. That is a really welcome development. I thank the HSE for its hard work and its engagement with my Department on this.  Part of what was announced last week was a six-pronged approach. We have the heads of the Bill. Decisions are being communicated earlier to parents. There is a single point of access. There is the autism protocol and assessment. We also have recruitment in our own CDNTs. We are recruiting at the moment and will be recruiting another 150 staff next year. Throughout the disability service we will recruit 1,000 people next year and we are also outsourcing assessments of need. Education is the other element of that. The Minister for education will come back to the Cabinet committee on disability in the first quarter of next year with formulated proposals on that issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  If we are talking about the first quarter for the education piece, it could be as far away as March before we have clarity on it. It needs to happen as soon as possible.  When will we see delivery on the single point of access? I think Bernard Gloster said that those who have the best things to say about the CDNTs are those who have a contact person they can engage with because then they know the ins and outs. That is where some of this falls apart. Sometimes there needs to be a straight conversation about supports and about the future trajectory for children and parents. When that is lacking, obviously it does not work.  The Minister of State is saying that in January or at least some point in the first quarter of next year, the autism protocol will operate. As that waiting list becomes populated, will we have capacity to deliver on it?  Will the new teams ensure there is a greater level of communication? As I have said before, I am worried about recruiting to all the bodies need to recruit to. Will they be able to deal with the huge cohort that are on the waiting list now and the parents who have suffered because they did not have the supports they should have? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  A short response from the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  Taking cognisance of the Chair I will give a short response. Our in-reach teams will support the HSE's new model and will work to ensure there is more joined-up thinking between primary care, CAMHS and our CDNTs. Each team will consist of a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administration person. Part of the reason we have an administration person is because some of the feedback we have received from parents is around communication. This person will assist with that from a caseload management perspective. We will be standing up 11 teams in 2026 and a further nine teams in 2027. That will be 20 teams, which will be one team per regional health organisation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Minister of State. That concludes questions to the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Norma Foley)  Happy Christmas from all of us. Thank you for everything. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I wish the Minister and the Minister of State and their officials a happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Disabilities Assessments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Prices","counts":{"speechCount":14,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  Before we start, it is no disrespect to the Ministers of State but is the senior Minister ever going to turn up? I presume there is a good reason for his absence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  My understanding is that he has been away all week in Strasbourg. He has been involved in issues relating to the Irish Presidency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  T\u00e1 s\u00e9 tuirseach traochta. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  He feels he is well covered by the presence of two Ministers of State to represent him. I hope the Deputy will understand and appreciate this. We will bring back the Deputy's good wishes and concern for him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  There seems to be a pattern but anyway.  Irish households are being ripped off in their energy bills. Even the Taoiseach has acknowledged it. Last week at the joint committee, we were told that price gouging cannot be ruled out.  The ESRI called for a fresh inquiry into our sky-high energy prices. We introduced legislation a few years ago to stop this, but we were ignored, and since then there are record numbers in arrears, price hikes across the board and vital supports such as energy credits withdrawn and ripped away. If even the Government is admitting that price gouging is taking place, why not do something about it, and stop the profiteering before taking away all the energy credits? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I propose to take Questions Nos. 100 and 101 together.  I know Deputy Daly is interested in this matter. He has raised it in the House on a few occasions, so he has a good track record on it. As he is aware, the electricity and gas retail markets in Ireland operate within an EU regulatory regime wherein these markets are commercial and liberalised. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, ended its regulation of retail prices in the electricity market in 2011, and in the gas market in 2014. Price setting by electricity suppliers is, therefore, a commercial matter for the companies concerned. Obviously the CRU remains vigilant and observant of how the market works. Retail prices are influenced by several factors, including wholesale energy prices, system operation costs and supplier hedging. The latest data from Eurostat show that, in nominal terms, Ireland ranked fifth for electricity prices and eighth for household gas prices among European countries in the first half of 2025. When adjusting for purchasing power parity, Ireland is mid-table in terms of energy affordability, with the 12th highest electricity and gas prices among European countries.  Regarding hedging, suppliers in Ireland were shown to have taken a prudent approach to hedging, which had the benefit of protecting final customers from the worst effects of the wholesale price crisis. Conversely, hedging limits the ability of suppliers to reduce prices immediately in line with wholesale price shifts. We saw at the time of the Putin invasion of Ukraine that the gas markets had very significant spikes in wholesale prices, yet our energy users here did not see those spikes in cost because of hedging. Of course, when prices on the markets come down, we do not see the consequential reduction as quickly. The International Energy Agency, IEA, has observed that Irish retail prices have not adjusted at a comparable pace to the decline in wholesale prices, with the energy component of retail prices remaining up to three times that of the wholesale price. Again, that can be factored, to some extent, by the hedging position of the companies concerned.  While the CRU has found no evidence of market failure or windfall profits in the retail sector in its market monitoring role, the IEA findings underline the importance of progressing the programme for Government commitment to \"commission an independent review into the speed and level of passthrough from wholesale prices to retail prices\". The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is on public record about this but, if not, we will put it on the record now. He has written to the CRU to request that it commences this independent review, building on the work of previous CRU investigations by reviewing the competitiveness of Irish retail energy markets, examining supplier costs, including hedging and pricing practices, and providing comparative price analysis with other EU member states. That body of work was identified as part of the programme for Government and the CRU has now been tasked by the Minister to carry out the work. From an Irish perspective, that will give some level of insight into whether there are practices that could be defined as the Deputy mentioned. It will also assess whether measures are warranted to enhance market responsiveness to wholesale price changes, and make recommendations to ensure that the benefits of lower wholesale prices are felt by consumers. This report will inform the work of the national energy affordability task force.  In addition, the Department is transposing the new electricity market design directive 2024. This directive requires regulators to ensure that suppliers implement appropriate hedging strategies to reduce the risk of supply failure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I agree to some extent with him that it is a commercial issue. Obviously all the energy companies have a responsibility to their shareholders not only to have the same amount of profit but to have an increased amount the following year and the year after that.  I agree with the Minister of State that hedging is an issue. The Government can see that prices do not come down as quickly as they go up. He said that energy costs in Ireland are the 12th highest in Europe, but when other factors are stripped away we have some of the highest prices in Europe. As the Minister of State knows, household bills have doubled over the last five years. Nearly \u20ac2,000 extra is now paid by households compared to five years ago. These prices are not inevitable. They are not normal. Ireland is an outlier in this. The latest report from the International Energy Agency highlighted the gap between Ireland's wholesale prices and retail prices as being the largest in the world. We are paying a price for energy that is three times what it costs to produce. What is the Minister of State going to do to address it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  As we said, it is of very serious concern to the Government that the energy component of retail prices in Ireland is significantly above the wholesale cost. The IEA renewables report notes that the gap is widening across the countries studied since the start of the energy crisis. Of course that is concerning. The gap is particularly large in Ireland with the energy component of retail prices up to three times that of the wholesale cost. The CRU has carried out extensive monitoring of the Irish retail energy market in recent years and has found no evidence of market failure. Market failure is one thing, yet there is obviously something that is distorting that. That is why the Minister has asked the CRU to carry out that investigation which was identified and factored into the programme for Government. I am hopeful that when that piece of work is done it will shine a light on the issue. It may not be a case of market failure but perhaps there is a lack of competition; I do not know. It is worrying that the gap is widening and it clearly requires a thorough analysis of the facts to establish what exactly is happening. Then it is a matter of an appropriate Government response within the confines of the free market that exists and how the Government might be able to act to ensure domestic and business consumers are able to purchase energy at rates that are comparable. At the end of the day, it puts pressure on every aspect of society if the energy market is not functioning to the extent that we want. It hits us from a competitiveness point of view. If the Deputy has had an opportunity to read the Draghi report, he will know it is about competitiveness in terms of where we are at both a European and a domestic level. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  It certainly is not market failure for the energy companies because they are making huge profits. We have called since 2023 for a dedicated hedging monitoring unit so that the regulator can oversee and regulate hedging because the energy companies need to be held to account and to justify the increase in prices. The regulator must also treat energy as a public good. In the coming months, we are going to see an extra \u20ac1 tacked onto bills to invest in the grid. Price review 6 also has worrying price increases coming down the tracks. There will be more price increases for the renewable heat obligation, as well as the carbon tax, which the Minister of State's colleagues and supporters in government, the Healy-Rae brothers, opposed vehemently while in opposition, and now are flag bearers for the carbon tax since the last budget. What is the Minister of State going to do to protect households from the rising costs and to address the unfairness in how the costs are structured and levied? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  The old adage of all politics being local is alive and well for the Christmas season in Kerry. The Government understands the importance of a functioning energy market. It is the role of the CRU to manage that. The Minister has sought that piece of work to be done and it will inform any decisions that have to be taken thereafter.  It is easy to say - although I am not accusing Deputy Daly alone of this - that we are heaping on additional charges for no reason. The carbon tax or carbon charge, from the time it was introduced, was a very clear indication by Government of the direction of travel for fossil fuels. It was about encouraging societies to move away the harmful impacts of fossil fuels. It gave certainty to the market place that if energy users continued to use fossil fuels as they were, the charges would increase over time. What I was clear on, from the perspective of the Opposition at the time, was that the Government would put in place a methodology to ensure that the taxes or charges collected would be ringfenced and used for what was referred to as a hypothecation fund. The funds would be used to assist those in greatest need and those who were challenged by the tax. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  That is not what happened. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I know some Deputies will have a different view but that is very much what has happened with that funding. It was not about raising a tax or an additional charge for the sake of it. It was about attempting to change behaviour and then utilising the moneys collected to assist those facing challenges in moving away from fossil fuels. That is working, of that there is no doubt. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  No, it is not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Deputy Daly talked about the additional charge under PR6 that will go into upgrading the grid. That is really important. That work has to be done. We have significant constraints on our electricity grid at the moment that need to be addressed. Unfortunately, that has to be paid for and that is why the CRU monitors all of these charges. Companies do not have a free-for-all in terms of what they charge. It is monitored by the CRU and is provided for in PR6. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Energy Prices"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Policy","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  Ireland is wasting over \u20ac400 million every year on surplus energy. The programme for Government says that legislation could be enacted to divert surplus renewable energy to homes that are in fuel poverty. The amount being wasted has jumped from over \u20ac250 million in 2023. I ask the Minister of State to outline a timeline for the delivery of the diversion of wasted energy to the households that need it the most. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  As the Deputy knows, imperfections and dispatch down are a major challenge facing the electricity system. Obviously, dispatch down is brought about by constraints on the grid and the challenges of getting the electricity from the point of generation to where there is a demand and a need. If the grid is not capable of carrying the electricity at a particular time, energy generators are required to effectively stop generating so that there is not more complexity on the grid. This complex issue can only be addressed by taking a systematic and multifaceted approach, requiring investment in grid, storage and demand flexibility. We are already taking steps to invest in this critical energy infrastructure and, for example, PR6 will enable the delivery of over 500 capital network projects supporting the integration of increasing volumes of renewable energy and helping to reduce the amount of wasted energy in the first instance.  In July the Government committed to investing \u20ac3.5 billion of national development plan, NDP, funding in EirGrid and ESB Networks in order to ensure that the PR6 infrastructure programme can be delivered. That level of investment by the State in ESB Networks and EirGrid provides those companies with capacity to leverage against significant further borrowing that will ensure we will see a very significant upgrade of our networks. Legislation providing the legal mechanism necessary for the investment of \u20ac1.5 billion of this funding into ESB Networks has now passed all Stages and was signed into law by the President last month. Further legislation in relation to the investment in EirGrid will be progressed next year.  Last year the Department published the electricity storage policy framework for Ireland which supported the procurement of 500 MW of demand flexibility products by ESB Networks and 500 MW of long-duration electricity storage by EirGrid to meet specific network needs. Work is already under way to ensure the timely delivery of those projects. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I thank the Minister of State for the reply. As I said earlier, the figure for wasted energy was \u20ac250 million in 2023 but it is now almost half a billion euro. At the same time, hundreds of thousands of households are in debt and energy poverty has reached record levels. Approximately \u20ac1.3 million worth of energy has gone down the drain today. This would have heated 390 million water tanks but that 1.2 GW of power was lost forever. EnergyCloud has a model to divert this waste into a public good. It has a concept and case studies show that it would make a real difference to people's lives. The Government is making a political choice not to pursue this model. The Minister, nuair a thagainn s\u00e9 ar ais, should at least acknowledge that the Government supports EnergyCloud. Then the necessary data can be prepared over the next six months in order to make progress and hit the ground running. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  As the Deputy knows, the generation of electricity is one thing but the transmission of it is another. Oftentimes electricity is generated at locations where there is not demand for it and it has to be transmitted through the various different networks that exist. It is not as simple as taking it from one location to another because of the constraints that I talked about earlier. Of course, officials in the Department and the SEAI have met with representatives of EnergyCloud on a number of occasions. As I understand it, the approach taken to date by EnergyCloud has been to focus on approved housing body, AHB, and local authority homes. This has had the benefit of facilitating an aggregated and area-based approach. This is not something that can just be done in isolation.  The national energy affordability task force, following the publication of its first report, is now entering a new phase in its work. The task force is examining a range of matters, including the programme for Government commitment to explore whether legislation could be enacted to divert surplus renewable energy, that would otherwise be wasted, to homes in fuel poverty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  The reality is that there are difficulties with our grid, which is very constrained. Investment in the grid must take place, which the Minister of State mentioned in response to the previous question. However, the cost of that should not be borne by ordinary householders but by the State and by larger energy consumers. A big part of the problem is that data centres are taking up almost one third of Ireland's energy. The surge in energy demand from data centres has already led to housing not being delivered. One such example was in Portlaoise, where multiple families were told they could not move into their homes because an energy connection simply was not available. Similarly, investments that were intended for housing have, instead, been diverted to data centres because there is a first-come, first-served approach. That has to change. The energy regulator must be given the power to deal with that and to prioritise major grid infrastructure for major housing developments as opposed to giving all of our extra renewable energy directly to data centres. Will the Government commit today to moving away from the first-come, first-served model for grid connections and ensure that they are prioritised on a need basis? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I will be answering a question from Deputy Paul Murphy shortly on data centres but suffice to say that in the view of the Government data centres are a really important component of our growing economy and of the future in relation to the technological investment that we get here. Ireland has always been attractive to foreign direct investment which has been a bedrock of our industrial, economic and employment policy. There is little doubt that in recent years the focus has shifted from the pharmaceutical and medtech sectors, although both are still really fundamental drivers of our economy, and a new wave of investment is coming in data storage and the high-tech sector. Behind that, data centres are required. Efforts are often made by some in this House to suggest that this is some kind of folly but data centres today are what the advance factories were in the 1970s and 1980s.  They drive the economy, our education system, our hospitals and our banking system. Effectively, they are a repository for the information that sits behind the way we live our lives now. This is not just something we can just cast aside, bury our heads in the sand and say we should ignore it. We need to be mindful of that. If data centres do not end up in Ireland, they will end up somewhere else and we will lose out in the long term. However, I accept that we have to manage this matter. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Energy Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Data Centres","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It seems we would be losing out on our country becoming a toxic waste ground. The new CRU large user policy enables further exponential expansion of data centres. It allows them to generate their own electricity using fossil fuels. The CRU is also allowing data centres to connect directly to the gas network in South Dublin County Council's area. How can the Government possibly say any of this is in line with our legal obligations to reduce both final energy consumption and carbon emissions? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I appreciate the Deputy's interest in this matter. It does not align with mine, but his is a well-held view and he has aired it on more than one occasion.  Ireland has attracted the best data centre and tech companies in the world. This is a really important relationship and the Government continues to work with the sector towards a secure and decarbonised energy future. Data centres are central to Ireland\u2019s economic and digital future. However, data centres, like all large energy users, have to exist within the boundaries of our climate legislation and targets. Climate Action Plan 2025 includes measures to increase the proportion of renewable electricity to up to 80% by 2030. Data centres can be at the heart of our renewable future - using renewable electricity to power data, create jobs and to generate tax revenue for the State. In that context, the CRU\u2019s LEU connection policy will support the Government's renewable energy targets because data centres above a certain threshold will be required to meet at least 80% of their annual demand with new additional renewable electricity generated in the Republic of Ireland.  The energy efficiency directive, EED, contains many new measures aimed at further enhancing energy efficiency across society, including requirements under Article 12 to enhance the energy efficiency of data centres across all EU member states. Ongoing mandatory data centre energy and sustainability performance reporting across the EU under the EED will enhance data centre sustainability and drive energy efficiency by requiring data collection to report on their energy performance. The EU Commission is using this data to establish an EU-wide rating scheme and further legislation to address energy usage.  The programme for Government contains a commitment to enhance data centres' use of renewable energy resources, energy-efficient technologies and effective solutions, such as waste heat capture, to reduce their carbon footprint. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Will the Minister of State expand on how it is possible to have a policy of exponential growth of data centres that are using fossil fuels? How does that coincide with what he says to the effect that this has to exist within the bounds of our climate targets. We are signed up to the EED, which has a legally binding target to reduce energy consumption by 11.7% by 2030. Ireland's target reduction is 16%. Yet, we have a decision paper from the CRU which states that medium-term electricity demand from data centres could reach 5.8 GW. That is equal to the peak energy demand for the entire country. It is also more than the entire 5 GW target for offshore wind energy by 2030, which the Government is sure to meet.  It has been stated that Ireland's total electricity demand has grown by 30% over the past ten years, with the demand from data centres having greatly contributed to this level of growth. This level of growth is projected to continue over the next ten years, with data centres representing a larger share of total energy demand. How does that tally with a commitment and a legal obligation to reduce energy demand when it is being state that this is going to continue to go up fast and that data centres are a driving factor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  The Deputy has to look at it from a Government perspective. We have to ensure the economy remains robust and that we have a strategy in place to ensure - based on the sector trends - that we are able to attract investment in order to continue to provide employment for what is a growing population. Sometimes, others bury their heads in the sand - I am not suggesting Deputy Murphy does - and say that data centres are bad and that we cannot facilitate them any more. The Government does not agree with that position. The direction of travel in relation to the tech sector and the way we live our lives means that so much more is done in a cloud-based environment. You cannot, on the one hand, be of the view that we should have a strong economy and, on the other, ignore the fundamental building blocks of what that future economy will look like and operate. There is a requirement, and we have to live within the terms of the EU directive. As already stated, data centres, like all large energy users, have to exist within the boundaries of our climate legislation and targets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  That is my question. The Minister of State is in the Department of the environment. He cannot just say something and then move on. It is completely illogical to say, on the one hand, that we are committed to this legally binding target of reducing energy consumption but, on the other, that we agree with a decision paper which states that our level of electricity usage will continue to grow and that this is going to be driven by the data centres. You have to pick one or the other. We will either reduce energy consumption or we are going to allow it to increase. Increasing energy consumption is going to lead to a significant increase in greenhouse gas emissions. The latter is because data centres are now directly connected to fossil fuel usage. Originally, it used to be the case that we should not worry and that it would all be renewables. In South Dublin County Council's area, the CRU has made a decision to grant permission for Gas Networks Ireland to connect a gas pipeline to the massive Vantage data centre in Profile Park. That decision states that the emissions will result in 3 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent. Some 32% of the emissions in that area already come from data centres. Emissions are going to go up even further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  The Deputy has to accept that the long-term strategy of the Government is to generate much more electricity from renewables. We have a target of 20 GW of offshore renewable energy by 2040. The Deputy is right in the sense that gas is a transition fuel, as we move away from fossil fuels. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I did not say that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  It is. Deputy Murphy made the point that gas is the basis of his argument. We have to accept that as we work towards bringing more renewables onto the grid, we just cannot stand still, bury our heads in the sand and watch data centres and tech companies and the investment associated with them go elsewhere. If that happened, our society would be left behind, our economy would be in trouble and we would not be able to invest in services, hospitals or whatever else.  We have to have a balanced approach, while also keeping to our trajectory in the context of eliminating fossil fuels. We have a very clear plan for bringing renewables onto the grid by 2040. We are now moving ahead with a plan-led approach. We recently held the auction for 900 MW of offshore renewable energy at the Tonn Nua site. We intend to continue with that at pace. However, gas has to be a transition fuel as we work our way through the process. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Data Centres"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Wind Energy Generation","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  My question is about the provision of offshore wind energy and initiatives his Department might have put in place to fast-track that, particularly in the context of dealing with the frustrations of people who recognise that, as I understand it, there is currently no operating offshore wind capacity in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  The Deputy is right in what he said. The lack of capacity is due to the phasing out of the facility on the Arklow Bank. The Deputy will be familiar with the announcement recently about the Tonn Nua site, which is just off the south-east coast. That announcement was very positive in the sense that an auction system was deployed. We had four bidders and we got a very good price at less than \u20ac100 per MW hour. There have been a number of auctions in other countries that have effectively failed because there were no bidders. We are on the right path  The plan-led development through the use of the designated marine area plan, DMAP, is a critical part of the Government's strategic plan for our maritime area. This is reflected by the commitment stated in the programme for Government to fast-track offshore wind development by prioritising the publication of the DMAPs. There is a plan in place, which I am shepherding through at the minute. It is a national DMAP. We hope to have it concluded by the end of 2027.  Three additional sites have been identified in the south-east coast DMAP. Tonn Nua has gone to auction. It has been announced that there are three other opportunities there, and they will be advanced in a timely way. There are some real issues to be resolved in terms of how that might pan out. Then, by 2027, we hope to have a national DMAP that will identify enough sites to get us to our 2040 target of an additional 15 GW of electricity. That is progressing with pace. In addition to that, we want to identify at least one but potentially two sites suitable for floating offshore wind, which really has great potential from an Irish perspective in the sense that it would give us the capacity to generate enormous amounts of electricity that might potentially be used for export, through interconnection or with some of the imaginative projects which the ESB and others are involved in, looking at converting to hydrogen or ammonia as a methodology of storing the energy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I do recognise that some progress has been made but I know from speaking to people around the country that there is a real frustration at the lack of speed of decision-making. If a decision is made today to start a process to establish a wind farm offshore, whether that is implanted into the seabed or floating, we are many years away from the realisation of that plan. Honestly, people do not understand why that should be the case. It should not take that long. I recognise what the Government has put forward in terms of an infrastructure plan that it is going to shorten those times but in terms of what the Minister's Department is doing, what specifically are we doing to make sure that these things can happen faster? In particular, the Minister State said there have been no bidders. Has the Department examined why that is the case and identified why it is that the many international companies that are operating in this field feel it is not worth their while bidding for projects off the coast of Ireland? If it does not have bidders, what are we doing about that? Is there some other State instrument that can step in to fill that place or is there something we need to change in the terms of that auction? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  To the Deputy's last point, we are fortunate that due to the way in which our auctions are designed, we have attracted significant bidders. Four is particularly good. There were instances in the UK, Denmark and Germany where there were no bidders because they had moved away from the contract for difference component of the auction. We are, therefore, in a very healthy position. What we have done in recent years is move towards the plan-led approach. Prior to that, it was basically that developers identified sites and came forward. The planning process was somewhat slower at that time and they ran into some complications. There are a number of them out there - about five - that we want to progress and are progressing through the planning phases. They will be very significant contributors to our generation. However, the plan-led approach that is there now is working. The example I have given the Deputy of the Tonn Nua site off the south-east coast in terms of the design of the auction has worked really well, and there is interest. We are regularly in contact with potential bidders to ensure they understand what the Government strategy is. What they want is certainty. They want to know that the country is committed to offshore, which we are, and that there is a pipeline of projects. We have set a plan in place now for that timeline. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I welcome the fact the Minister is reiterating the State's commitment to offshore because as an offshore island, essentially, this has huge potential for us. I think of the projects even in my own constituency or off the coast of my constituency in the case of the Codling Wind Park and Dublin Array projects. They are hugely important projects but the level of investment from RWE or the contracting companies there is enormous before they ever get off the ground. That has to be a disincentive in real terms for companies that actually want to invest in our infrastructure, provide us with clean energy and help us to get to a point where we are actually a net energy exporter. That is really important.  I appreciate what the Minister said but I ask him to redouble his efforts in terms of specifically addressing the delays issues. I recognise what the plan is in terms of judicial reviews and establishing a local standard for judicial reviews; a person cannot be living in County Donegal and object to one off Rosses Point or something like that. That is really important. Let us make it easy for people to do it, and the easiest way to do it is to make it quicker. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I fully support what the Deputy is saying. The projects he referred to are projects that have been there. They are referred to as the phase 1 projects. They were in existence prior to the State intervening to resolve the issue by having a plan-led approach and setting out a clearer pathway for companies to progress their ambitions. Of course, we are working with those companies also to ensure that those projects, which, as I said, are phase 1 and somewhat legacy to the system that is there now, are progressed and progressed quickly.  There is work under way too with the Maritime Area Regulatory Authority, MARA, to ensure the appropriate permissions are progressed. There is the potential for some changes there that will expedite those projects. However, the plan-led approach is giving a very clear direction of travel in terms of the commitment to offshore energy generation and a commitment to ensure there is a pipeline into the future towards 2040, with real targets and a recognition by the State that it will have to stand behind those projects through the contract for difference approach that has been successful and is attractive to bring that investment to the country. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Wind Energy Generation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Renewable Energy Generation","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  Can the Minister provide us with an update on the capital investment allocations for electricity grid upgrades under the national development plan, and the way in which these decisions support Ireland's renewable energy targets and, most importantly, our security of supply? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Alan Dillon)  I thank the Deputy for her question. In July, the Government approved a \u20ac3.5 billion investment in Ireland's electricity infrastructure across 2026 to 2030 as part of the revised national development plan. This represents the largest single investment in the country's electricity network in its history. Some \u20ac1.5 billion was transferred this week from ESB Networks to support investment in the onshore electricity grid. The Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill, which was enacted in November, provides the mechanism for making the investment in ESB. As part of the oversight measures in place, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will receive quarterly monitoring reports as to the expenditure of the investment and progress on delivery of the overall price review, PR, 6 investment programme. A further \u20ac2 billion will also be allocated to EirGrid over the next five years to support the financing of its offshore electricity grid investment plan. The mechanism for making this payment will be agreed and legislated for separately next year.  The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, also published its final determination on price review 6 this week, which paves the way for a historic investment of over \u20ac18.9 billion in Ireland's energy infrastructure. This represents approximately two and a half times the spend under the previous price review period, PR 5. The equity investment in both ESB Networks and EirGrid will support the financing of this unprecedented investment over the next five years. The Government equity investment will also support the integration of renewables and help to reinforce vital energy infrastructure across the effects of extreme weather events, thus enhancing the country's energy security. Extending and reinforcing the grid will ensure that every home and business has a reliable and secure source of electricity, including the 300,000 new homes the Government has committed to build by 2030. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  I welcome all these updates, in particular the largest investment. I also welcome the fact that this is going to be monitored and that the Minister will receive quarterly reports because without a robust energy delivery, we are going to find ourselves in great difficulty going into the future. For example, the Minister, Deputy Burke, launched in May 2025 the Silicon Island project. This is a very ambitious project. This is something that will take us into the realms of new jobs and new prospects for our economy. We need to have the nuts and bolts, however, and I believe this Department has the nuts and bolts for every other Department to work efficiently. If we do not have that Department working not just efficiently but delivering efficiently, then we are not in a position to progress new jobs, such as in semiconductors. We will not be able to deliver new houses like, for example, phases 3 and 4 of the port access northern cross route, PANCR, in Drogheda, which suggests 700,000 homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter.  My dual roles as Minister of State in the Departments of enterprise and climate and energy are very much aligned in the context of policy. From an enterprise perspective, we have the policy of propelling prosperity. Within that is the provision of unprecedented investment through ESB Networks and Eirgrid. This will provide over 500 projects under price review 6, more than 181 km of new overhead lines, 319 km of underground cables, nearly 70 substations and the replacement of over 50,000 poles. As the Deputy stated, it will be the accelerant for us to deliver with regard to new homes, supporting enterprise and industry, reducing our curtailment and strengthening the security supply. We all know - even in Louth - that there is major industry which requires a strong energy supply. The private wires legislation we will be enacting next year will be an important benefit for many of these sectors. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  The M1 corridor is uniquely positioned to attract new FDI. We have the lands and talent, as well as the proximity not just to two large cities but also the airports. This is an area in which I welcomed, during engagement throughout the summer with ESB Networks, its announcement of a commitment to invest \u20ac90 million. That will take us into the next five years but not the next ten years, however. It is about continued investment. It is great to have a plan for the next ten years, but we must think longer term than that. We must continually invest. Those quarterly reports will be essential to delivery, and it will all be about delivery. A total of 7,000 homes are ready to be built in Drogheda around the port access northern cross route, PANCR, and IDA Ireland is ready to develop the lands and attract FDI. None of that will happen without a secure supply of electricity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I could not agree more. This certainly is the most ambitious energy infrastructure programme we have seen in decades. It is akin to the rural electrification scheme. It will certainly put Ireland in a strong position in terms of our competitiveness. It is also required because industry leaders are looking for certainty and security of supply.  We also need to build resilience into our network. I am delighted to see that the private wires Bill has been approved for drafting this week. That will unlock much needed private investment and speed up the clean power connections. A lot of work is being done by the Departments of enterprise and Climate, Energy and the Environment. A core element of that work is to ensure that we have connections for the 50,000 new homes that we will be building every year up to 2030 because we know how important good connections are for many areas right across the country to try to boost that supply. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Renewable Energy Generation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Recycling Policy","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I have raised on a number of occasions issues relating to rPET plastic recycling in this State. With the introduction of the return scheme, which imposes a deposit charge on consumers every time they buy a plastic bottle that they then need to recoup, we need to ensure there is full transparency when it comes to all plastic that is collected under the scheme. Will the Minister of State detail the statistics relating to the number of rPET pellets that are recycled and produced in this State? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for his question and interest in this area. As matters stand, there are no official statistics confirming the number of rPET pellets produced or utilised in the State or the amount exported from the State. While statistics for the recycling of plastic packaging waste are reported to Eurostat by the EPA on an annual basis, the EU\u2019s list of waste codes does not isolate individual polymers and, therefore, it is not possible to establish how much of this PET material is in existence. This is a shortcoming in the system and Department officials have engaged with the European Commission in relation to expanding the list of waste codes to provide greater granularity for plastic polymers.  Ireland does not have some facilities which convert PET waste into rPET flakes or pellets, but we do not currently have a facility producing pellets of a food-grade quality. Due to strict EU food safety standards, rPET to be used in food or drink packaging must meet the highest recycling standard to be of food grade.  Prior to the introduction of the deposit return scheme, PET plastic waste collected through our waste collection system was mostly recycled abroad. Since the introduction of Re-Turn, the deposit return scheme, DRS, operator can confirm that in 2024, it collected a total of 12,057 tonnes of PET plastics, which were sold on the open market. A total of 4,037 tonnes of material, which equates to 34%, was bought by companies in Ireland.  For the first time, a separate and high-quality stream of PET is now available for recycling. Together with the requirement under the single use plastics directive to incorporate 25% of recycled plastic into PET beverage bottles from 2025, rising to 30% from 2030, the opportunity to invest in Ireland's circular economy has been boosted significantly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The deposit return scheme means that ordinary people are charged an additional cost every time they buy a plastic bottle and then they have to go to what is often a huge inconvenience of gathering the bottles to retrieve their deposit. There have been a lot of unforeseen consequences. For example, people's household waste charges have increased because domestic collectors are not, as was previously the case, receiving plastic bottles when collecting waste. With schemes such as this, we need to be careful that consumers and the general population do not see this as a burden rather than a mechanism to increase recycling and improve the circular economy. This is not helped by the fact that almost 70% of the plastic that is collected is exported to third countries, despite the fact that we have companies in Ireland, such as Shabra Plastics and Packaging Limited in my constituency, that have the capacity to recycle this product. Will the Minister of State take a hands-on approach to ensure that we increase significantly and substantially the amount of plastic that is recycled in this State under this scheme? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I reassure the Deputy that Re-Turn has collected over 12,000 tonnes of this PET plastic, 34% of which, as I said earlier, is purchased by Irish companies. Separately, we have Repak, which funds the recycling of over 8,300 tonnes of plastic, 42% of which is reprocessed in Ireland. Is it enough? We need to do more and that is widely acknowledged. Certainly, with the introduction of the DRS, we have made a significant step forward with regard to fully recognising the stream of product that we have as a result of having a dedicated collection system for PET recycling.  We also recognise that we need to continue to invest in recycling infrastructure. That must grow and that is why, through the extended producer responsibility, EPR, schemes, Re-Turn and Repak are now investing in their domestic capacity. We are engaging with Re-Turn with regard to a bottle-to-bottle PET plant. Certainly, we want to have more domestic capacity for recycling. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The lack of information and movement coming from the Department in this respect are completely unacceptable. The Government was quick to impose this charge on consumers but it has refused point blank to impose a charge on the use of virgin plastic, for example, something that would put a burden on the companies that are using virgin plastic, which is non-recyclable plastic. There are companies in this country that have the ability to recycle this product but Re-Turn sells the plastic to the highest bidder, regardless of the purpose or country. It means that people who are thinking they are doing the right thing recycling their plastic bottles can see their product going half way across the world in a way that no one could describe as being environmentally responsible. I will ask the question again.  Will the Minister of State take a hands-on approach? Rather than just taking the word of Re-Turn or Repak, will he ensure his Department is fully across every single detail and is not allowing something that is penalising Irish consumers or potentially putting Irish companies at risk by the actions that Re-Turn might be taking? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  To be clear, the plastic that is recycled is traded on the open market by Re-Turn. The State is constrained in intervening by EU state aid rules. That is why we comply through the EU waste framework, ensuring there is a regulatory environment to support Irish recyclers. All operators in Ireland can play a role in that . It is a complex challenge and we want to continue to provide support. With the supply chain we now have through PET plastic, we can continue to work with the industry on how we can support companies here and reduce our reliance on the export market. This is why Re-Turn is actively planning a multimillion euro facility to bring bottle-to-bottle PET recycling to Ireland. That would be a game-changer for many reasons would present a real circular economy initiative, to the Deputy's point, avoiding the exposure to the export market. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Government also needs to protect those Irish companies that are already recycling. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Recycling Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Conservation","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  As the Minister of State will know, the better energy warmer homes scheme is an incredibly popular scheme. Now that the Government has expanded eligibility to fuel supplement recipients more and more people are availing of it. The Taoiseach said that 26% of homes are eligible for the fuel supplement. The changes earlier in the year to the European Commission's rulings on state funding of replacement of fossil fuel devices is having an impact on the better energy warmer homes scheme. It is time for the scheme to be reviewed to reflect that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for the question and for his interest in this important area. The warmer homes scheme aims to improve the energy efficiency and warmth of homes owned by people at risk of energy poverty by providing fully-funded retrofits. The scheme is operated through the SEAI on behalf of the Department and is funded through the carbon tax receipts and the European Regional Development Fund. The scheme seeks to reduce the volume of energy a household needs by reducing heat loss through the installation of insulation and ventilation in the first instance, before moving to replacing heating systems where required under building regulations. This is in line with the fabric first and energy efficiency first principle and best practice.  There are a number of home energy improvements offered as part of the scheme. The upgrades recommended for a particular property depend on many factors including age, size, type and the condition of the property. For each eligible home, the SEAI\u2019s technical surveyor determines which upgrades can be installed and funded. The SEAI is currently piloting the installation of renewable technologies, including heat pumps, where major renovations are taking place under the scheme. These pilots are helping to assess the suitability of such technologies in the context of energy poverty and long-term value for money. The scope of upgrades under the scheme is kept under ongoing review and my Department continues to work closely with the SEAI to ensure we maximise the impact of resources available.  The Government remains committed to ensuring that low-income households benefit from Ireland's renewable energy transition and we will continue to work with Deputies to explore how best to integrate other technologies into our energy poverty programmes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  I appreciate the response. The most important point the Minister of State made is that this is a fully funded scheme. Unlike the other grant schemes available to local authorities under which the responsibility falls on the individual owner to decide how they will replace their boiler, this is a fully funded scheme and it is up to the SEAI to provide the solution. There is difficulty, however, for a number of people I have been dealing with who previously would have been eligible for the full scheme with the wraparound and all the rest of it. Because of this issue with the boilers I am aware that in one case the household ended up getting four LED bulbs and a bit of attic insulation. The SEAI needs to get better at having a solution in place. The example I gave was a gentleman called Bill in Elm Mount. He spent a year waiting for that decision and he was incredibly disappointed. Another lady called Monica is 88 years of age. She was offered a heat pump under the pilot scheme but she really was not sure what a heat pump was and there was no real explanation of how she could be helped. The SEAI needs to get better at putting in place a solution and explaining it to people when it is offered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I completely agree. The first principle of the SEAI warmer homes retrofit scheme is all about reducing bills, improving comfort for householders and ensuring that the vulnerable are part of and very much protected within Ireland's renewable energy transition. We have made significant progress on budgets. We increased the latest budget to record levels with over \u20ac230 million now under the warmer homes scheme. That has delivered 7,743 free upgrades. If we look at where we have come from, the average cost per household back in 2015 was \u20ac2,600 but it is over \u20ac29,000 today because we are tackling the worst performing homes first.  To the Deputy's point, we are piloting the schemes in the ongoing review. More exploration is needed on how we integrate alternative technology for older homes to ensure those are protected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  The Minister of State is right that this scheme has transformed the scheme but because of that decision not to replace a gas boiler, a very expensive heat pump system is being put in place. That is fantastic for those who avail of this but that transforms the scheme itself and the cost of the scheme. It will mean that fewer people will have access to the scheme if those resources are used. There is a question to be asked: where the boiler is not replaced by SEAI, why they cannot just put in the insulation and leave the boiler as it is? People will be in a better and warmer home with the insulation going into their home and leaving the boiler as it is, or leave them to apply for it through a council grant or replacement parts. They are being excluded from the whole scheme because of the single issue of the boiler.  I had a public meeting on this. SEAI provided us with their mentor, a fantastic guy who came out. There is a lot of interest in this scheme, in the solar grants and in all that is available. Given the changes to the European regulations around carbon fuels and the changes to the scheme, it just needs to be tweaked to make sure that a really positive scheme continues to be positive. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I appreciate the points raised by the Deputy and I will take them back to the Minister and the SEAI. The replacement of oil and gas boilers has been a challenge in that EU laws prohibit us to incentivise fossil fuel boilers from 2025. New boilers cannot be installed or supported through grant schemes. Replacement parts can be supported through local authorities for sure but the scheme itself is constricted on the basis of the fabric first principle, which relates to insulation, ventilation and then more complex technology. We will take the points back that the Deputy has raised today and try to fine tune them to meet the concerns of his constituents and the wider public. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  I appreciate that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Energy Conservation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Just Transition","counts":{"speechCount":22,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We are moving on to a grouping of Questions Nos. 108, 112 and 119. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I understood it was Questions Nos. 98, 102 and 109. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Can I clarify that with the clerk that it is the grouping of Questions Nos. 108, 112 and 119? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  I am taking Question No. 108 on behalf of Deputy Louise O'Reilly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Yes. The questions are in the names of Deputies O'Reilly, S\u00e9amus McGrath and Deputy Neville. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  We wish to ask the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment if he intends to implement a socially just phase-out action plan for the replacement of fossil fuels by sustainable energy sources, and if he would make a statement on the matter please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will give me guidance as to which of the three have an opportunity now or what way does he want it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I could not give the Minister of State guidance, for God's sake. You would not take it anyway. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  That disappoints me greatly as you have been a mentor of mine for many years here and I depend on your guidance in many other fora as well.  I propose to take Questions Nos. 108, 112 and 119.  The programme for Government commits to ramping up the achievement of retrofit targets through continued delivery of the Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland's residential and community energy upgrade schemes. This includes revising and improving the provision of grants and financing models for homeowners who wish to retrofit to enhance energy efficiency and reduce costs, supporting group retrofitting projects and area-based approaches to retrofitting, targeting older homes still using oil to switch to renewable heating systems and considering the use of sustainable bioliquids to reduce emissions from existing home boilers where deep retrofits are not possible in the short term. These commitments are framing the work under way by my Department on continued delivery and development of the SEAI's residential and community energy upgrade schemes and the development of a heat policy statement and a roadmap to phase out fossil fuel heating systems. The SEAI has a number of schemes in place to support homeowners to upgrade their properties and move to renewable heating systems, thereby allowing homeowners to choose the best home upgrade option to suit their particular needs. These include a number of part-funded schemes and the fully funded warmer homes scheme.  Ensuring fairness to all and supporting a just transition are key principles underpinning the National Retrofit Plan. As an example of delivering on this, over the period 2022 to 2024, 64% of the total Government spend on residential and community retrofitting across our Department and the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage's schemes was invested in upgrading home energy performance for households at risk of energy poverty across privately owned, local authority and approved housing body homes. The Department continues to build on the progress achieved in recent years. Since 2019 there has been a record level of about \u20ac1.6 billion invested in SEAI schemes to support almost 240,000 home energy upgrades, including over 81,000 to BER B2, 18,000 heat pump installations and over 32,000 fully-funded upgrades for households at risk of energy poverty under the warmer homes scheme, which many of us are familiar with through the representations we get in our constituencies. In addition, the Department funded a further 14,300 local authority upgrades, including over 7,250 heat pumps, between 2019 to 2024.  Changes introduced to the SEAI schemes in recent years aimed at increasing the number of homes retrofitted as part of the Government's retrofitting schemes include: enhanced SEAI grant schemes, including expanded eligibility and higher grants; simplified application processes with faster approvals and a greater focus on heat pumps; an increased number of one-stop shops - there were 24 registered at the start of 2025 and a further two were added this year, bringing the overall total to 26 at the end of September 2025; a reformed warmer homes scheme for homeowners in energy poverty with expanded eligibility, increased depth of retrofit, a prioritisation of the worst performing homes and a higher number of homes supported; enhanced supports for retrofitting apartment buildings and flat complexes; new supports for area-based retrofit projects for mixed-ownership estates aimed at encouraging homeowners, regardless of requirements or means, to get a retrofit; a new pilot scheme to support the retrofitting of traditionally built homes; two pilot schemes aimed at informing approaches to increase the number of heat pumps installed; the new home energy upgrade loan scheme, launched last year with new lenders joining in 2025, is now enabling homeowners to avail of retrofit loans with interest rates as low as 2.99%; a tax incentive to encourage small-scale landlords to undertake retrofitting works while the tenant remains in situ ; a reduction in the VAT rate for heat pumps to 9% and a 0% rate for solar panels - we all see how that has expanded the amount of solar energy that is now being captured on rooftops.; expanded obligations on energy companies to support homeowners and energy poor households to reduce energy use; measures to increase the number of workers with retrofit skills; and a procurement process to establish a new \u20ac1.2 billion contractor panel for the warmer homes scheme to be in place in by quarter 2 next year. This will support continued growth with a focus on scale, quality and output under the scheme.  Budget 2026 has provided record funding of \u20ac558 million for SEAI residential and community energy upgrade schemes next year. This is an increase of almost \u20ac89 million on the budget 2025 allocation. This funding is expected to be further supplemented with additional funding, such as an allocation from the European Regional Development Fund, which will provide for an increase in the allocation for the warmer home scheme. These allocations will be published as part of the Revised Estimates Volume later. This allocation will support even more home energy upgrades to make homes warmer, healthier and more comfortable, with lower emissions and lower bills. Increasing the uptake of energy efficiency upgrades and measures among homeowners is a key priority for our Department and as such, our officials, in partnership with their counterparts in the SEAI, continue to work to deliver in line with the National Retrofit Plan and the programme for Government commitments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  It is really important we get a just transition. The Minister of State will recall how Sinn F\u00e9in tried to get a proper definition of that when we were working on the 2021 climate Act and he and I were on the climate committee. As we move away from fossil fuels and transition to a greener economy, we have to ensure we do not leave anybody behind. The SEAI grants have been made available to people for them to retrofit their homes but it has been shown that tenants and the Travelling community cannot do so. It is not working for them or for people living in older homes. Clare O'Connor from Friends of the Earth was before the climate committee last week. She said those living in the least efficient homes cannot afford to upgrade them. What specific accommodation will the Government make to ensure households such as these are not left behind as we transition to a sustainable economy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I thank the Minister of State for his response. I think we all agree reducing energy consumption at home is a critically important part of reducing our overall carbon output as a nation and of course reducing the costs for households of their energy use. Many households find the grants to be quite rigid and it is a case of perfection being the enemy of the good. For example, if a household wants to upgrade their windows and doors they have to undertake a full energy upgrade under the one-stop shop system. That can be very inaccessible for many households due to the cost involved, so I ask these grants be reformed in such a way they become more accessible and user friendly. I welcome the measures announced in the simplified process, a reduce loan cost and so on. They are all very important but especially with windows and doors, which are critical parts of reducing energy consumption in a household, the grants need to be looked at so there is not a requirement for a full-blown energy upgrade to avail of them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Both Deputies show regular interest in this and have spoken on it in the past. The point about not leaving anybody behind is really important and it has been the focus. Deputy Cronin and I, and her party, are aligned on lots of issues. I sat with Deputy Stanley, a former member of her party, on that committee for years and certainly Sinn F\u00e9in was very committed to the transition, but we disagreed ultimately on how to pay for it. We sided with the idea of the carbon tax, the hypothecation of that fund and using that to assist people in moving forward. Sinn F\u00e9in had a different view but nonetheless recognised the importance of ensuring nobody was left behind. I felt at the time, and still do, that the carbon charge was a way of discouraging the long-term use of fossil fuels and taking that as a methodology to assist exactly the people the Deputy spoke about. What I outlined to her indicates, particularly with the warmer homes scheme, what we have done for people with low incomes, namely, classifying them as in the energy poverty category and targeting that.  The issue Deputy McGrath described has been raised with me, the Minister and the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, on a very regular basis. Deputy McGrath and others have mentioned it in the House. The Minister is very cognisant of that and my understanding is he is working towards bringing some reforms in this area.  We would all like to do a deep retrofit that would get us in line. Most of us cannot afford it. We are paying our mortgages or are working our way through that. Windows and doors and a little bit of insulation can have a massive impact on emissions from homes, on reducing the cost of energy and on reducing the burden on society generally from the emissions and the generation of electricity and the difficulties around that. I will certainly take that point back to the Minister but he has already begun a process there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  The European Commission's 2025 country specific report stated that energy poverty has increased in Ireland and we now have the third highest household or consumer electricity prices in the EU when the add-ons are included. Much of that is down to our reliance on fossil fuels, which makes us susceptible to global price shocks beyond our control. Some 300,000 people are in energy arrears at the moment, with price hikes coming down the road with the PR6. The Minister of State mentioned carbon taxes. It was shown at the Committee of Public Accounts that carbon taxes are not being ring-fenced as was promised. We are meant to be climate neutral by 2050. The Climate Change Advisory Council said that by 2039 we should not be reliant on fossil fuels. How does the Government envision a complete phase-out of fossil fuels in Ireland? We are not getting there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I thank the Deputy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  No, the Minister of State should hold on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  There he goes again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I am eager. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  He is very anxious. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  I am very anxious. I am nervous. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle.  I thank the Minister of State for his response. As I said earlier, the importance of reducing energy consumption for domestic households is critical, for carbon achievements and to reduce costs for households and our dependence on international energy importation. That is also an important part. Therefore, I welcome the reforms the Minister of State announced that are in the pipeline for these home energy grants. They need to be less rigid and become more accessible and the requirement for full-blown upgrades needs to be changed. It is critical that any improvement to home energy efficiency should be welcomed. We should not be putting unnecessary requirements, conditions and criteria in place, which can prevent people from accessing these grants. I welcome that and I urge the Minister of State to redouble his efforts to bring about these reforms as soon as possible so the grants are accessible to households and so we subsidise and welcome any improvement to the energy efficiency of homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Timmy Dooley  Deputy Cronin highlighted the significant cost of energy and the impact it is having on households. We have certainly seen that. The Government has taken action, as the Deputy will be aware, by increasing the fuel allowance from the beginning of the year. We reduced the VAT, which is a help in addressing the burden, but we have to get to the core cost.  I answered a question earlier about the efforts that have to be made in terms of the wholesale energy markets and the price of gas. The Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, on the direction of the Minister, is carrying out an investigation to establish whether there are issues with the market and whether there is potential for failures in the market. The International Energy Agency, IEA, indicated that the difference between the wholesale and retail cost is considerable and widening, particularly in the gas market and that sets energy prices generally. We are therefore looking at it from that perspective. However, the long-term approach is to try to ensure we move away from fossil fuels altogether and reduce the amount of energy needed in homes. I have already outlined the kind of approach we are taking to ensure people who are not in a position to do that upgrade get the State's support.  I thank Deputy McGrath for his comments. It is twofold. It is about having people in healthier, warmer homes that are less dependent on fossil fuels or even on renewable energy. If we can make the homes lose less energy, they will use less electricity and there will be less cost regardless of whether the energy is clean or otherwise. That is why the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, takes the view that this can be done incrementally and we can make progress. It cannot be that people have to do everything at once, because that is a turn-off for people financially. When they get to other side, having paid their mortgage, they often do not want to take on more debt so we will continue with that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 109 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Just Transition"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Infrastructure","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Farrell will take Question No. 110 on behalf of Deputy Pa Daly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  The Government has taken steps with immediate and medium-term impact to improve the resilience of critical energy networks. In February 2025, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, asked ESB Networks to prepare a winter resilience plan to enhance the grid in the most vulnerable locations following Storm \u00c9owyn. That plan was updated in October.  Core work undertaken includes remedial work to the network; work with Coillte and the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine to identify segments of the network that are at the highest future risk; replenishing emergency stock, spare parts and materials; increasing staffing levels and available contractor resources; and establishing formal mutual aid arrangements for extreme weather events. ESB Networks is also increasing the number of access officers who engage with landowners on forestry works. We are preparing legislation to enhance ESB Networks' powers to manage vegetation and the Government approved heads of a Bill in July. Work on advancing that legislation continues as a matter of priority.  While those measures will have crucial short-term impacts, for the long term, significant investment in the electricity grid will support overall resilience. On Tuesday, 16 December 2025, the CRU published price review 6, PR6, which sanctions investment in the grid up to 2030. The CRU has proposed approval of an investment of up to \u20ac18.9 billion, with a \u20ac13.8 billion baseline investment guaranteed. Under the 2024 national adaptation framework, a new suite of sectoral adaptation plans across 13 key sectors, including electricity and gas networks, were recently approved and published by the Government. The national electricity and gas sectoral plans align with the aim of the critical entities resilience directive, to enhance the future resilience of the energy grid to the long-term impacts of climate change. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  Last night, thousands of households across Connemara were without power again. There was a storm and lightning. No one is going to blame the Government for lightening or a storm by any stretch of the imagination. However, we have a situation where every two weeks I get a text from someone who lives in Connemara to tell me the electricity has gone out again. Over the summer months, it is every month. Therefore, we clearly have an issue specific to the Connemara area.  The Minister of State mentioned Storm \u00c9owyn and it was horrific, but equally Storms Bert and Darragh had serious implications for electricity and telecommunications in the Connemara area. We need a clear action plan from the Government now to deal with these crises as they are happening. Unfortunately, it does not seem like the work was done since last December and January to alleviate these pressures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  I thank the Deputy for raising her concerns on behalf of her constituents in Connemara. That is why we published PR6 this week, which is one of the largest investments in the history of the State. More than 500 capital projects will be delivered as part of the programme and, as I said earlier, we are placing resilience at the centre of this policy to ensure we can deal with energy emergencies and severe weather events. That is why we established the national emergency co-ordination group, chaired by the Department of housing and a co-ordinated with a national response. That certainly aligns with energy actions.  As I said earlier, we have introduced a number of operational measures and we need to continue to work with ESB Networks and EirGrid to build resilience into our network. We also approved heads of a Bill in July for the ESB Networks' statutory corridor powers because we have had difficulties in the past accessing major works.  That is certainly something we will prioritise into 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  To be very clear here, I welcome any investment that helps this situation. However, we need to be clear that there is a need for long-term investment because of so many decades of underinvestment in the basic infrastructure in Connemara. That is why we have poles that are pushed over on their sides and cables still on the ground. We also need to look at what can be done immediately to alleviate this situation. It does not make sense for areas to have power outages every two weeks. When there is a power outage or a bad storm, it impacts them for weeks. That does not make sense. The Minister of State cannot control the weather - I am not saying he can - but he can control how we respond to this. It is a year on from Storm \u00c9owyn. I said very clearly at that time that while the Government could not have predicted it to be the way it was, urgent action was needed to ensure we do not leave ourselves as vulnerable again. I urge the Minister of State to take immediate action now, as well as having a long-term plan to alleviate these concerns. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  We hear the Deputy loud and clear on this side of the House. I acknowledge the tremendous work of all the operators and workers within ESB Networks who have gone above and beyond. We saw that during Storm \u00c9owyn when they reassured us that they were working day and night to get supply back to many households. That is why the Government has responded. We have allocated over \u20ac1.5 billion to ESB Networks. That was approved through the national development plan and legislated for last month. That will, in one sense, lower finance costs for ESB Networks. It will support the delivery at pace. We want to see that in west Galway, Mayo and all across the country. We want to ensure we have limited impact across the network when we have severe weather events. We will continue that investment over the next number of years. As I said earlier, unprecedented investment in our energy grid will support resilience and ensure we can get connections to those 300,000 homes we want delivered by 2030. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 111 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 112 taken with Question No. 108. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Energy Infrastructure"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Prices","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  Has the Minister of State conducted an analysis of the impact of the introduction of the carbon border adjustment mechanism, CBAM, on the price of energy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  CBAM is an instrument implemented by the European Union to address the risk of carbon leakage. The EU's ambition is to become climate neutral by 2050. CBAM will aim to ensure that imported goods are subject to a carbon price equivalent to the carbon price of domestic production in the EU. CBAM affects the electricity sector by putting a price on emissions associated with electricity produced in countries outside the EU and imported into the EU. It aims to encourage sustainable practices and reduce carbon footprint. For electricity importers, compliance with CBAM initially involves reporting direct emissions associated with electricity production as an imported good from third countries on a quarterly basis, relying on supplier information.  The simplification package that was published in February and adopted in October permits the European Commission to more accurately reflect the carbon price paid, including for imports from Britain, which Ireland welcomes. CBAM is currently evolving at a rapid pace. The week ending 12 December saw voting taking place on some of the implementing regulations and acts, and other votes are to follow in the days and weeks ahead. At this time, until the exact details are clear, any estimation regarding the cost of CBAM in relation to electricity imports is likely to be inaccurate. Overall, CBAM provides an opportunity for the electricity sector to embrace sustainability and contribute to environmental protection by positioning businesses as socially responsible and environmentally conscious players in the market. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  I thank the Minister of State for his reply. It is really important that this analysis is conducted. We import 70% of our energy. The EU average is 58%, so we are importing a lot more than normal countries. We are also importing more energy from Britain. The introduction of the CBAM will affect the prices that households, consumers and families are paying. The Government said that energy emissions will fall by up to 68% between 2026 and 2030 when compared with 2018, but that figure is misleading because we are relying more and more on imported energy. We do not know where that energy is produced so we cannot pretend the emissions have disappeared. It is a bit of a distortion. For the families who might be listening in, this is not about climate targets; it is about energy bills. Will the Minister of State tell us clearly whether CBAM will push up energy prices? If he cannot answer that question for me today, will he commit to doing an analysis on how CBAM will affect prices for struggling households? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Brennan has a question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  I am just coming in on sustainability. I really feel the key to this is the warmer homes scheme. It is an excellent scheme that is being operated at the moment by the SEAI. Will the Minister of State update me on efforts being made to reduce waiting times for people who have applied for the warmer homes scheme because this will be a key part of reducing the amount of energy consumed and meeting our targets? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  They are two different topics but I will answer the first one. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thought Deputy Brennan was coming in on this question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  He has chanced his arm. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  Yes. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  He has cleverly used his time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  On the first question, it is not accurate at this time to talk about increased energy prices. CBAM is still in a transitional phase. We are working very closely with the European Commission on adopting a simplification package - this arose in October - to clarify how we will be reporting and how carbon prices will be aligned. Until the Act is implemented or finalised early next year, any cost estimates would be speculative and misleading. We have a number of engagements with the European Commission. It is working very closely with the UK on how we carry carbon costs and how they are aligned to the EU emissions trading system price. We are very much focused on encouraging cleaner generation globally.  Deputy Brennan mentioned the excellent warmer homes scheme, which is supporting those who are finding it difficult to maintain rising energy bills. The scheme has one of the largest budgets into 2026, of over \u20ac230 million. It has been successful in that it has delivered over 7,700 grants to date. We are ramping up the number of contractors who can support the delivery of these warmer homes. We know how important it is to those who are waiting and who need these upgrades as quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  I want to talk about price review 6. Households in Ireland are paying much higher prices - some of the highest prices in Europe - and more and more families are falling into energy poverty and falling behind on their bills. Under price review 6, households and small businesses will be asked to pay even more while the large data centres will be paying less. Household charges could rise by 28% while data centres, which use the most energy, will see their energy prices reduced by 20%. It is just not fair. It is actually egregious. At the same time that energy credits have been taken away from people who are struggling, energy companies that are making huge profits are getting a reduction. One way to ease this pressure would be to change the PSO levy and the network charges so that data centres pay their fair share. Will the Minister of State commit to a restructure of the PSO levy? Will he show that he is full of the Christmas spirit, as I was when I shared my question? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  With regard to the Government's commitment, in recent weeks we have seen huge announcements about investment in our electricity and energy system. It is unprecedented and akin to rural electrification. Over \u20ac18.6 billion is being invested to reinforce our grid through a number of capital projects. Over 500 capital projects will be delivered right across the country.  We are very much focused on ensuring we can connect the over 300,000 new homes that we have committed to out to 2030, and on continuing to support enterprise and industry. We have heads of Bill for the private wires legislation coming before the House. That will go through committee and both Houses in 2026. It will certainly act as a catalyst for private investors to invest in electricity generation that can support many industries right across the country. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Energy Prices"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":53,"speakerCount":10},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Before we commence Leaders\u2019 Questions, I ask colleagues to join me in extending a warm welcome to H.E. Ms Kara Owen, the British ambassador to Ireland, who has joined us in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery. Ambassador Owen, who has recently commenced her role, is accompanied in the Chamber today by officials from the British embassy in Dublin. You are very welcome to Leinster House. We wish the ambassador every success for the future in her term. Happy Christmas to you all.  Deputy Timmins has asked me to welcome the sixth year history class from Blessington Community College. I understand that 23 students are attending today, with their teacher, Kevin Murphy, who is Deputy Timmins's nephew, the deputy principals, Kevin Kelly and Ian Swan, and the SNAs. They are attending the Houses of the Oireachtas history workshop under Dr. Conor Reale, the parliamentary education officer. You are all very welcome today. I hope you enjoy your time in Leinster House and that your continued study of the history of this House will give you great interest in politics for the future.  On Leaders' Questions, I call Deputy Doherty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Cuirim f\u00e1ilte roimh an ambasad\u00f3ir chuig Tithe an Oireachtais. Cuirim f\u00e1ilte roimh na p\u00e1ist\u00ed chuig Tithe an Oireachtais fosta.  As we approach the last Leaders' Questions, I want to wish you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and all the staff of the House a happy Christmas. Nollaig shona daoibh agus athbhliain faoi mhaise. Hopefully, everyone will have a peaceful new year, and we will see each other back here in the new year again.  Nuair a th\u00e1inig an T\u00e1naiste chun ceannaireachta ar Fhine Gael, d\u00fairt s\u00e9 go nd\u00e9anfadh s\u00e9 a sheacht m\u00edle d\u00edcheall chun na p\u00e1ist\u00ed a fh\u00e1il amach as an seomra bosca agus isteach i dtithe d\u00e1 gcuid f\u00e9in. D\u00fairt s\u00e9 le daoine go soil\u00e9ir go gcaithfear teacht ar r\u00e9iteach ar thith\u00edocht faoi dheireadh thiar thall, ach a mhalairt at\u00e1 i gceist agus at\u00e1 f\u00edor. Mar gheall ar a bhuis\u00e9ad, d'fh\u00e1g s\u00e9 teaghlaigh n\u00edos boichte. An teip is m\u00f3 a fheicimid n\u00e1 i gc\u00farsa\u00ed tith\u00edochta. T\u00e1 m\u00e9ad\u00fa de \u20ac31,000 tagtha ar phraghsanna tithe le bliain anuas.  This is the final Leaders' Questions of 2025. It brings us to a moment of reckoning. When the T\u00e1naiste became the leader of Fine Gael, he spoke directly to parents and families across the State. He said he would move mountains to get children out of the box room and into a home of their own. He told people plainly that we have to fix housing once and for all. That is what he promised. He raised real expectations among families who are struggling and desperate for change. Yet, as this year closes, the evidence tells us a very different story.  Yesterday, the ESRI confirmed that decisions taken in the budget will result in a significant fall in disposable income for all households. Workers were hit with frozen tax credits and bands while the temporary cost-of-living supports were withdrawn. In other words, after the budget, families are poorer, not better off. Those are the facts. That matters because the cost-of-living crisis did not end on budget night. Families are still struggling with food prices, energy bills, childcare, transport and rents. People are working just as hard - indeed, often harder - yet falling further behind. The budget has locked in hardship. All of this is happening while prices continue to spiral. Prices have surged, wages have not caught up and supports were pulled away by the T\u00e1naiste and his Government. Families are now being told that they have to absorb the difference.  Nowhere is this failure more brutal than in the area of housing. The CSO tells us that house prices have risen by 7.3% in the past year alone. What does that mean to the average person out there? It means that the average price of a home has increased by around \u20ac31,000 in the past 12 months. Get that. To keep pace with that single-year increase, a worker would need an equivalent pay increase of over \u20ac1,000 per week. No worker, even in their wildest dreams, would expect that. While disposable incomes are falling as a result of the budget decisions, the price of buying a home is racing away at a pace that makes a mockery of the talk of affordability and opportunity.  This is not abstract economics. This is young adults sleeping in their family box rooms. It is parents watching their children's future shrink. It is couples seeing the goalposts moved further away every single month. It is the quiet despair of people realising that no matter how hard they work, home ownership is being priced beyond their reach in real time. The T\u00e1naiste promised to fix housing once and for all.  I ask him this question directly as the D\u00e1il concludes Leaders\u2019 Questions for 2025. Does the T\u00e1naiste accept that his budget left people poorer, that the cost-of-living crisis is still crushing households, and that house prices rising by \u20ac31,000 in a single year proves that the promise he made to parents and young people, to get them out of their box rooms and into a home of their own, has been an abject failure? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I begin by welcoming the British ambassador, H.E. Ms Kara Owens, to Leinster House. I wish her and all at the British embassy a very happy Christmas. I look forward to working with them, as our nearest and closest neighbours, in the time ahead. I join with my colleague, Deputy Timmins, in welcoming the sixth year history class students from Blessington Community College, County Wicklow, who are in the Visitors Gallery today. We look forward to progress on their much-awaited major school capital project in the time ahead.  In the spirit of Christmas, I join with Deputy Doherty in wishing you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, and every Member of the House, their families and everybody who works in the House a very happy Christmas. I particularly thank all of the people who are behind the scenes but who work so hard, the staff who keep the place running, day in, day out - the ushers, the clerks, the secretaries, the chefs, the garda\u00ed, the cleaners and so many people who think their work goes unseen. I want them to know that we see it, and we appreciate it as well.  Christmas is a time of great excitement for children and a time of great celebration and joy for many. It is also a time when those experiencing grief and trauma can find it particularly lonely and painful. This Christmas, I think of all of those who find the Christmas period difficult. I wish everybody a happy break. Nollaig shona daoibh go l\u00e9ir. I thank Deputy Doherty. I wish him a good break too, and I look forward to normal back-and-forth commencing in January.  In relation to the ESRI report today, first, I welcome the report. We should take its advice very seriously. Of course, it does not just say what Deputy Doherty says it says, because it says quite a few things. It is very much ad idem with the Government on the need for a massive capital injection and acceleration of housing supply. It talks about the importance of delivering and implementing our infrastructure reforms as key enablers to deliver the housing. It also talks about the Irish economy continuing to perform robustly, and the fact that there will be more jobs in Ireland in 2026 than there were in 2025.  It absolutely does highlight the need to do more in relation to housing. I should say, in case Deputy Doherty did not hear it, that the author of the report was on \u201cMorning Ireland\u201d this morning. In relation to the disposable incomes question, he made the very clear point, which I would echo, that when we look at the fact that wages are growing in Ireland, and, thankfully, on average, wages are finally growing ahead of prices, that will have a positive impact on people's spending power and ability in 2026. That is not just my view. It is the view of my Department. It is the view of the ESRI. Yes, we have had to disentangle one-off measures. Yes, we have had to get back to a normal budget period. Yes, we cannot have a situation where we are running two budgets every year. One budget each year and to make progress over five budgets is what we have to do.  Wages are now rising faster than prices for the first time in quite a while. That will help consumers. It will help families. It is one of the reasons that, in the ESRI report today, it is expecting consumer spending to grow further in 2026, even though it has already grown in 2025.  Housing remains the biggest challenge this country faces, of that there is no doubt. We are working to fix housing once and for all.  We actually have to do it rather than just make barbs. That is perhaps the difference between us and you. It is why we have already taken a number of steps, extended the lifetime of planning permissions and brought in measures to make developments viable again which Sinn F\u00e9in opposes at each and every opportunity. It is why even today the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, has signed an order to continue planning exemptions for the conversion of vacant commercial properties into homes, extending it to 2028 before making it ultimately a permanent exemption. We have seen some encouraging figures. Yes, there are too many people in box bedrooms, of that there is no doubt, but completions are up. The latest CSO figures released only on 23 October showed 9,235 new dwellings completed in July, August and September, a rise of 4%. We saw 24,325 new dwellings completed in the first three quarters of the year, up 13% on the same period last year. More apartments have been completed this year than last year. Figures from the CSO last week show a very significant increase in planning permissions. There is a lot of work to do but there are more first-time buyers - talking about people living in box bedrooms - drawing down mortgages now than at any time in recent years, up 22% year on year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  You hoodwinked the electorate by claiming bogusly and falsely that you were building 40,000 houses last year. You did not do it. The ESRI says you will not even it this year. It also says in its report today you are not even going to do it next year. That is why so many people are losing hope. The ESRI made it very clear that your budget has left families worse off. That is fact. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Is there in black and in white. I can read it to you if you want. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  You can shake your head all you want. It is the lived experience of people. They know it, Simon. They know what you have done. You are the man who stood up a year and a half ago and said he would fix housing for once and for all. Do you know what has happened in the past year? There has been a \u20ac31,000 price increase on a standard house across this State. Never since Fianna F\u00e1il crashed the economy have we seen house prices rise by that amount. This is out of control. It is being pushed out of reach of ordinary families. That is why so many people are losing hope of home ownership. What are you going to do about it? You keep trotting out the same thing but every single year house prices continue to be pushed further and further away. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Those are the facts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  You went into last year's election promising people an average \u20ac300,000 home in Dublin, but you could not tell us how you were going to pay for it or make it happen. We are all working to try to improve the housing situation. Here are some facts: planning permissions are up this year and last year; there have been more first-time buyers this year than last year; and there have been more home completions so far this year than last year. These are positive signs that the investment this State is making, coupled with the reforms in infrastructure delivery, are delivering more homes for our people. Yes, there is much more to do. That is why James Browne and I are working to have an equity finance scheme working with ISIF and Irish banks to make more loans available for small builders; it is why we are changing how water treatment facilities can be delivered by allowing developers to deliver them for small schemes in rural Ireland; it is why we have a new national planning framework; and it is why we brought forward an accelerating infrastructure task force with radical recommendations to deliver infrastructure in a faster way. Yes, there is a lot more work to do on housing but as we end 2025, it is a statement of fact that planning permissions are up, completions are up and the number of first-time buyers is up this year on last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  House prices are through the roof. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is positive news. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Will the T\u00e1naiste acknowledge house prices are through the roof? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  House prices are still too high. While we have seen some signs of moderation----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  Homelessness, record rents and a record health crisis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, T\u00e1naiste. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----the way we need to drive them down and see further progress is with more supply which is priority number one for this Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  After 15 years, all those records are being set on a monthly basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I would like to say f\u00e1ilte to the British ambassador agus roimh na dalta\u00ed freisin. I want to begin by wishing the T\u00e1naiste, his family, all Deputies, people watching at home and all the staff in the Oireachtas, who do very important work, a very happy and peaceful Christmas. I also want to take this opportunity to highlight the plight of Oireachtas broadcast workers who will now be laid off for the Christmas period without pay. This is completely unacceptable treatment of a group of workers who carry out a vital role in our democracy. The broadcast workers should be employed directly by the Oireachtas for performing a key role in our public service.  The end of the year is a good time to take stock, celebrate achievements and identify areas for improvement. Regrettably, for this Government, successes are thin on the ground. Its report card looks especially bleak. This Government is awash with cash and addicted to wasting it. Despite budget surpluses, it still managed to make nearly everyone worse off. The ESRI published a new report which confirms what people can already feel in their pockets - they are paying more for everything with less take-home pay. Disposable incomes of most workers will fall because of this Government's budgetary measures. Please do not tell us the budget helped those who needed it most. That simply is not true. The poorest 10% of workers have seen the biggest decrease in their incomes. The poverty rate among older people has soared to almost 20%. You have made choices to hit people hardest who do not have a single cent to spare. This is a Government that thinks nothing of breaking its promises like its pre-election pledge that 40,000 homes would be delivered last year, which evaporated into thin air as soon as the polling stations closed. Today's ESRI report lays bare your continued abject failure on housing. Just 35,000 homes have been delivered this year and 36,000 next year. This is far short of the 50,000 to 60,000 new homes needed each year. This Government's handling of the housing crisis has been an unmitigated disaster. This failure means that the dreams of home ownership of tens of thousands of people have been crushed. It has resulted in thousands more families and children becoming homeless. This has a devastating impact on children. It means toddlers in cramped hotel rooms are delayed in being able to learn how to crawl. It limits the lives and ambitions of countless people all over the country who feel trapped, anxious and hopeless. That is your record on housing.  The Government's list of broken promises does not end there. You promised to deliver a roadmap to reduce childcare fees to \u20ac200 a month in your first 100 days of office. Nearly a year in, we got a half-baked plan from the Minister yesterday that gives no indication about when fees will come down to \u20ac200 - another broken promise. Despite promises to prioritise disability, you deliberately made disabled people poorer and slashed their incomes by up to \u20ac1,400 - yet another broken promise. Do you regret making all of these promises to the public and breaking them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  What do you say to the record number of children and their families who will spend Christmas in emergency homeless accommodation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy O'Callaghan. I wish him, his family, his Social Democrats colleagues and everybody a happy Christmas. I think the broadcasting issue he mentioned is a matter for the Oireachtas rather than directly a matter for the Government. As the leader of a political party in the Oireachtas, I am happy to engage with other parties in relation to the issue of the Oireachtas broadcast workers. It is hard to disagree with the Deputy's analysis of the situation. I would be happy to have follow-up conversations with him on that.  When you started doing the report card and you said you were going to do achievements and critiques, I thought you would give us a few on the plus side. Considering you did not, I will mention one or two. We have delivered in less than a year of the Government being in office a record national development plan of \u20ac275.4 billion that can be invested in projects across the country that will protect our country now and into the future, planning reform, rent protection nationwide, expansion of vacant property grants, free schoolbooks, hot school meals, funding for DEIS plus to help our most vulnerable children, the national broadband plan rolled out ahead of time and on budget, surgical hubs, free HRT and the national education therapy service now established. I wanted to reference some of them to balance the ledger.  The Deputy is also right to highlight this Christmas that there are still far too many people who are homeless in this country, and particularly far too many children. We had a meeting of the Cabinet committee on housing this week. At it, we heard directly from the CCMA, the representative group with responsibility for representing chief executives of local authorities. I specifically referenced to them at that meeting action 5.7 of the Government's housing plan, which talks about social housing allocations needing to prioritise children in long-term homelessness. It is due back through the Department of housing early in 2026. I urge all of us - I make this as a non-partisan point - with our network of councillors across the country to look at how social allocation schemes for local authorities prioritise children in relation to homeless. I accept that we need to build more social homes, and we will do so, but we are also now providing more social homes than at any time since the 1970s. However, I do not believe we are seeing enough of those homes allocated to children and families in long-term homelessness. Some local authorities have tried some innovative things in this area. There is a lot more work that needs to be done. I say to everybody requiring a home and wanting to see progress on the housing emergency this Christmas and as we go into 2026 that this Government is putting an extraordinary level of public funding behind the delivery of housing. Our new national housing plan and the national development plan show just that.  We must ensure that we have zero tolerance for the bureaucracy and red tape that delay the delivery of much-needed homes and the infrastructure to provide them. The national development plan, read alongside the material on the new reforms around infrastructure delivery and the housing plan, will make a real and meaningful difference.  We are seeing some encouraging signs in relation to housing supply, completions, planning permissions and first-time buyers. There are positive indicators regarding all of these metrics. However, I certainly do not stand here this Christmas suggesting that we are anywhere near where we need to be on homelessness, particularly in relation to children. The social housing allocation model should be revised in accordance with action 5.7 of the housing plan. That is something I genuinely want to see prioritised in the weeks and months ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  There will be more children spending Christmas in homeless emergency accommodation this year than ever before in the history of the State. When Fine Gael entered office, there were 641 children in homeless emergency accommodation. That was too high. There are now 5,247 children who will spend this Christmas without a home. This has a detrimental impact on each and every child involved. It can often mean missing key developmental milestones. Yet, the T\u00e1naiste did not even acknowledge the damage homelessness does to children. I ask him to acknowledge the damage being done by his Government to children in homelessness. Does he not see that damage? Next year, will the number of children in homeless emergency accommodation grow even further, to record levels again, or will the Government reverse the trend? Can the T\u00e1naiste tell us that the Government is going to reverse this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  My apologies if the Deputy thought I had not acknowledged the damaging effect of homelessness on a child. Of course I acknowledge it. It is a statement of fact. The Government works constructively with local authorities and others night and day to try to remove children from homelessness.  I wish to make a statistical point, but I do not make it to take away from the seriousness of the issue, because all children must be protected and all people in homelessness need to be supported. The point is that the growth of our population has also had a direct impact on the numbers. That can be seen in the published monthly data. We have to have a serious debate about this. The population of this country has grown by around seven times the EU average at a time when we have an acute supply issue in relation to housing. We have to consider all of these issues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Child homelessness has increased tenfold since Fine Gael entered government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We have to consider all these issues in the round. Yes, we have seen far too many children in homelessness and emergency accommodation. That is a statement of fact. We are not where we need to be. That is why I have outlined how we intend to take specific actions under the new national housing plan. It is why the Minister, Deputy Browne, has taken measures to provide ring-fenced funding to local authorities in order that they can specifically buy homes, but only on the understanding that those homes will be allocated to families experiencing homelessness. We are trying innovative things. While the numbers are still too high, we have seen more children exit homelessness this year than in previous years. We are working to get more people out of homelessness. This is a major issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I welcome the British ambassador and wish everybody, including our guests, a happy Christmas. I wish to use this opportunity to pass a message to the British Government through the ambassador, namely that something urgently needs to be done about the Palestine Action hunger strikers whose lives are in danger because they protested against the genocide in Gaza and are being treated in an absolutely brutal fashion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I corroborate the call to act on behalf of the Oireachtas TV workers. This issue has been raised with the Government on several occasions. It is shameful that the workers are laid off during the summer and at Christmas, particularly when they are responsible for broadcasting the proceedings in these Chambers.  Christmas should be a happy time. For many, it will be a happy and joyful time. As has been said, however, it is a time of very serious challenges, hardship or sadness for many. I include in that the 16,766 people living in emergency accommodation, those who are threatened with homelessness or people who find themselves in crisis housing circumstances. In particular, I refer here to the 5,274 children living in emergency accommodation, 50% of whom are spending their second Christmas in a row in such accommodation. A further 25% are spending their third or fourth Christmas in a row in such accommodation.  I want to put a human face on this. Saoirse and her children are spending their second Christmas in emergency accommodation. Her son is refusing to stay with her in the accommodation because it is not a home or a proper place to live. Now mother and son are increasingly separated. She has tried to take her life twice because, as she explained to me while bawling crying in front of me, she blames herself for her homelessness plight, which, of course, she is not to blame for.  Julianne and her two children, aged 15 and ten, are spending their second Christmas sharing one bedroom. She is sharing a bed with her ten-year-old son and her daughter is refusing to go to school. Julianne is also trying to hold down a job.  Caoimhe and her three children, agreed nine, four and one, are in their second period of homelessness. Her nine-year-old, her daughter, who is becoming increasingly isolated from her friends because she cannot have people over, has asked on her Christmas list for a place called home.  I could add cases of women who are experiencing domestic violence and who are terrified of their partners but who have nowhere to go because there are no three-bedroom houses available. What is the Government going to do about these people? Some 32% of those who are homeless are homeless because they were evicted from the private rental sector because the Government lifted the eviction ban. Many of the people I have mentioned could have their cases resolved if there were enough three-bedroom houses available. Developers and Government have prioritised one- and two-bedroom units instead of building family homes or buying them, if necessary, to keep children out of homelessness. Policy change could address the misery and hardship many people, particularly children, are suffering. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  On the Oireachtas TV unit, we should work together on this issue. To be clear, however, it is one for the Oireachtas Commission, on which all political groupings are represented. It is not an issue of Government----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  We are not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  My apologies. Many groupings are represented, and I am sure the voices of the Deputies opposite will be heard. That is the forum at which this needs to be resolved. The Government may have corresponded previously on this with the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission. We should engage on this and we are happy to do so.  I thank the Deputy for putting a human face on the issue of homelessness. He was right to do so because we can lose sight of the human faces during the debate or in statistics. Mentioning the stories of Saoirse, Julianne and Caoimhe makes this matter very real to us. All of us, as TDs living in a country going through a housing emergency, could name people we know in our constituencies who are experiencing the scourge or stain of homelessness, including family homelessness. It is a stain on our society owing to the need to do much more.  The issue of people experiencing domestic violence was raised in this House not that long ago, perhaps by Deputies Farrell and O'Reilly. Reference was made to people fleeing domestic violence who seek to move from one local authority area to another. The Deputies were right that it is bizarre that someone could not take their place on the list with them. That has now been fixed, or is certainly in the process of being fixed, by way of a letter from the Minister to the local authorities. This is an example of a constructive measure we can take together. I thank the Deputies for that.  What I want people to know is that we are taking a number of measures to try to assist people in the here and now. The Deputy's point on one- and two-bedroom houses has some validity. From memory, it is a statement of fact that the huge need was in relation to one-bedroom units. It is also a statement of fact, however, that a family in homelessness requires more than one bedroom. In fairness, that is why the Minister, Deputy Browne, has put in place the ring-fenced fund to allow local authorities to acquire, at least in the first instance and here and now, larger properties. Figures I have to hand indicate we are beginning to see the benefit of this already. Fifty million euro has been allocated to eight city and county councils with the highest numbers of homeless families \u2013 people who have been in emergency accommodation for 24 months or longer, as said by the Deputy. In addition, a further \u20ac100 million will be allocated in this regard in 2026. There are some signs that the initiative is having a positive impact in that families in long-term homelessness are now being provided with homes by their local authorities. As we develop social housing, local authorities need to ensure that the mix, in terms of the number of bedrooms, is correct too.  We have provided the largest ever housing budget in the history of the State for next year. The housing plan refers to the provision of 72,000 social homes and 90,000 affordable housing supports, along with the overall figure of 300,000 homes.  When it comes to capital, to trying to remove blockages and to instructing, demanding, working and collaborating with local authorities in terms of zoning and providing more land, we are engaging. We are providing substantial financial support.  The amounts we have invested in homelessness prevention have prevented very many families from entering homelessness. We need to continue to do all we can on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  One third of those who are homeless were evicted from the private rental sector.  Quite simply, they would not be in emergency accommodation and the children to whom I refer would not be suffering this hardship if the Government had not lifted the no-fault eviction ban. We have an emergency. We have the highest level of child homelessness ever. If that is not an emergency, I honestly do not know what is. The Government should reinstate the ban.  I am glad there is an acknowledgement regarding three-bedroom units. We warned the Government about this. The demand for social housing was not taking account of people who are on transfer lists, HAP and RAS. It previously understated the extent of family homelessness or the number of people in danger of it. We need to address that. The \u20ac100 million to which the T\u00e1naiste referred represents 200 houses in Dublin. That number would only house a fraction of the number of families who are homeless and who need to get out of homeless accommodation. The amount being provided is not enough. It is in contrast with in excess of \u20ac1 billion the Government gave away in the form of \u20ac600 million for military expenditure, research and development tax credits of \u20ac305 million, \u20ac681 million for the VAT reduction in the hospitality sector and the reduction in respect of apartments that will amount to \u20ac390 million in one year. Big giveaways for developers, big business and the military are in contrast to the amount allocated to deal with family homelessness,. More needs to be done. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I find myself conflicted. I agree with the Deputy on some points but some of the others are not of a fair reflection. We have taken a number of measures to try to protect people in their tenancies. When this Government, albeit a different version, came to office in January, I do not think many people on the Opposition benches predicted that we were going to extend the rent-pressure zones, make them permanent and make them nationwide. We did that. We also brought in a very comprehensive suite of protections----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  It will do nothing for existing tenants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----for tenants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Not for existing tenants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  A whole series of new measures will be coming into place for 2026, as the Deputy knows.  On the 9% VAT rate for apartments, we debated these financial resolutions here. That measure does not just benefit developers - although I am pleased it is benefiting people who are building more private apartments because we need more private supply and private investment - it also benefits AHBs. It will benefit people in the Deputy's constituency and mine who want to build apartments which will be made available to approved housing bodies and which will take people off the housing lists. I accept we have lots more to do, but it is not question of whether we should spend money on our national security or spend money on housing. This is a wealthy country which has an ability and obligation to do both.  I will finish on a note of harmony. The issue relating to three-and four-bedroom homes is a legitimate one. The local authorities and the Government recognise that. The release valve for that is the \u20ac100 million in 2026 and \u20ac50 million in 2025. The Deputy's argument that we should do more is one we can keep under review. The bigger issue, though, is that should we build more in order to make sure there is a better composition and mix of the number of bedrooms in each home built. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  On behalf of Independent Ireland, I wish a very happy Christmas and a prosperous new year to the Ceann Comhairle, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Members and the staff, without whom our job would be fairly tough. I also want to thank the people on the gate in Agriculture House. That are some who might not associate the latter with the D\u00e1il, but they are there every morning at 7 o'clock and work late into the night. We should thank each and every one of them for the way they facilitate us.  It was disturbing, to say the least, to see water canon being used in Brussels this morning on farmers from different countries who are there to protest about the Mercosur agreement. We know the ins and outs of this. It has been going on for a long time. Yesterday, amendments put forward by many MEPs from Ireland and other European countries have been basically thrown aside. Ursula is on a mission to jump on a plane, go over and sign on the dotted line because she believes that Mercs, etc., so more important that she is prepared to sacrifice the farmers of Europe.  We are not going to go over and back debating the fact that we are looking through this or whatever. We know what is there. The people of Ireland are wondering what is going on within Government circles. I am going to be very straight and blunt. There are hints coming out, and I want the T\u00e1naiste to categorically state whether or not they are true. We are basically being told to shut our mouths when it comes to Mercosur and about the fact that we have been shafted on fish stocks. We are being told, \"If you get the derogation, guys, that's it. Go with us after that or we'll put manners on ye.\" Is there any truth whatsoever in that?  The most important thing I want know - I am not going to be here all day talking about it because it is yes-no answer - is whether the Government will make a statement on behalf of the Irish people in opposition to the Mercosur deal and state very clearly that it will join Italy, France, Poland and the other countries in order to get a sufficient minority or majority, whatever way you want to put it, that will block this deal. That is all I am asking. I want a \"Yes\" or a \"No\". If I do not get a clear answer, I will take it as a \"No\" and that the Government will not do it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I will take the Deputy's money on that one. He is not going to get a clear answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Let me try. I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice for raising the issue. It is highly unlikely that there will be a vote before the end of the year. That is indicative of the fact that I do not believe that the blocking minority has disappeared.  The programme for Government sets out two things. It states that Government will oppose the Mercosur deal in its current form and, I am paraphrasing here, that we will work with like-minded countries in relation to that. The Government has significant concerns regarding the Mercosur deal in its current form. In Brussels this morning, the Taoiseach made it clear that while there have been some safeguards produced, we need to see more. I believe he used the word \"additionality\" in that regard. The work continues. That is the first point. The idea that there could be a vote today or tomorrow does not seem to be the case.  The Deputy asked - I do not doubt that he did so in all sincerity - asked if we will stick with this, that and the other country. The God's honest truth is, and I have said this to farmers in Galway, Clare and elsewhere - I would say it to farmers anywhere - whether the blocking majority still exists is the key question. Unlike others in this House, the Deputy never engages in performative politics. Is there a blocking minority? The Deputy picks up on newspaper reports that this country is thinking of changing its position. I have read in international media that maybe Italy or France are going to vote a particular way. Neither country has indicated that it is changing its position.  Ireland is working with like-minded countries, which currently have a blocking minority on the Mercosur deal. We have significant concerns about the deal in its current form. We do not intend to do anything that ends the blocking minority. However, I am obliged to ask whether everybody in that group of like-minded countries remains resolute in their opposition. It is absolutely appropriate that the Taoiseach, the Minister for trade, the Minister for agriculture, myself and everybody else in the Government should continue to work with those like-minded countries to ascertain when a vote actually comes what way we, Italy, France and other countries will vote. While I do not mean this rudely, the Deputy is saying with great certainty that we should join with Italy, join with France and join with others. Will that be their position when it ultimately comes to a vote in Europe?  The programme for Government states that we should oppose it in its current form and work with like-minded countries, and that is what we are going to continue to do. We are working on a variety of issues for farmers and for the fishery sector at European level. We had a disastrously negative outcome on fisheries in Europe last week. The Government is going to have to respond as to how we can support that sector too. Our position on the Mercosur deal remains as per the programme for Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  Every Wednesday night, we press a button here and decide whether are for or against something. We lose some and we win some, but that is what we do; we make a decision. Poland has made a clear-cut decision. France has asked that the matter to be kicked out to the new year. The least Ireland could do would be to issue a statement and join France in that regard. Whether we are on the winning side or the losing side, we need to be on the side of our farmers. Our farmers are very clear in stating that they do not want that deal. I am a believer that we should put our heads on the block. The Government should never be afraid to be on the wrong side of something, if only for the simple reason that it can state that it made a decision. At the moment, we are like a seesaw; we are neither one way nor the other. We have to step up and make a decision in order to provide clarity for farmers.  In fairness, Poland has led on this.  Our committee has had meetings with Poland and France. We will be meeting Austria on Zoom. We are talking to their agriculture committees. The least Ireland should do is make a statement that it will be in line with France. If Ireland showed leadership and said we will stand with Poland and we are opposed to this----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank Deputy Fitzmaurice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  Whether it is right or wrong, and whether you are on the winning side or the losing side at the end, at least we did not sit on the fence and abstain. We had the guts to stand by our farmers right around the country. I am asking the T\u00e1naiste ----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Put the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  ----- in the spirit of Christmas for his Government to do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  First, if we have not let me join with France in saying I do not believe the vote should take place in the calendar year 2025. I also do not believe it will because unless everybody is saying very different things in different countries, I believe there is currently a blocking minority in relation to Mercosur. I share the French position that there should not be a vote on Mercosur this side of Christmas. I do not see the issue as one of sides but in terms of what is the outcome. Is the outcome that there is enough of a qualified majority vote to stop the agreement being passed or not? Ireland certainly will not be the one to dissolve that blocking minority - far from it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  Do not forget. Human health should matter as well. It is serious. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Sure. We have very serious concerns about the Mercosur agreement. Some of what we have seen in the Irish Farmers\u2019 Journal heightens that concern. The Deputy is right. However, to be honest to farmers, we have always said that Ireland on its own cannot stop Mercosur. It is about like-minded countries and whether there is critical mass. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  But every block builds the house. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That work is ongoing. The Deputy has a job to do and he does it well, I do not say that critically. However, the Irish Government has to work behind the scenes diplomatically and engage with those like-minded countries. I can absolutely assure the Deputy that work is under way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The Taoiseach would want to tell his MEP. She was cheering it on television recently. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  Will new consideration be given to the upgrading of the N61 road to a national primary route in view of its strategic importance for Athlone, Roscommon and Boyle and the role such an upgrade would play in supporting balanced regional development, inward investment and improved road safety? Will the T\u00e1naiste outline what steps have been taken by the Government and the Department of Transport to advance this designation?  The N61 is a strategic road which links Athlone from the M6 to Boyle and onwards to Sligo. Athlone and Sligo are two designated growth centres and Athlone is the industrial base of County Roscommon.  There is a range of issues. One is road safety and increased traffic. A number of intersections happen between the other primary routes of the N4, N5 and N6 which are the east-west connections and the secondary routes of N60 and N63. The volume of traffic between Athlone and Roscommon, in particular, and then onwards to Boyle is a source of significant concern.  In addition to that, there is concern around connectivity. We have a dearth of public transport in County Roscommon and east Galway. We also have a massive deficit in infrastructural development. That is recognised at European Commission level in terms of the north-north west and the rest of the country. We rank very low in the European Commission\u2019s index in relation to that infrastructural development.  This is a piece of infrastructure that is vital for road safety, the national target of interconnectivity guaranteeing an average speed of 90 km\/h between major growth centres, for economic activity and balanced strategic development for the west and north west. Roscommon County Council has included it in its county plans for the past 24 years. It made a submission to the Government in 2024. It was rebutted. I am not sure the reasons given at that time are legitimate. This is a hugely important and vital piece of infrastructure not only for County Roscommon but also for interconnectivity in the west and north west between the designated growth centres of Athlone and Sligo, which are also industrial centres for the west, and for the connectivity between the east-west national primary routes and secondary routes that cross the N61. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Daly for raising this important matter. I assure him, as he knows, that this Government is absolutely committed to ensuring high-quality regional connectivity in the west. We have demonstrated that by the progression of a number of projects, including the project on the N5 in recent years.  The recently published sectoral investment plan for transport reaffirms the NDP commitment to deliver many new roads across the State. The era of not building roads is over and the national development plan shows that. Even electric vehicles need roads to go on as do buses. There are road safety issues. The mothballing of road projects is ending and the building of new road projects is commencing alongside a very significant and important investment in public transport which also matters. It should not be a case of either-or.  Projects listed in the sectoral investment plan include the N4 Carrick-on-Shannon bypass and traffic management project and the N17 Knock to Collooney project as well.  Specifically, on the issue of the N61 classification, I am informed the Department of Transport and TII have previously discussed the N61 Athlone to Boyle road passing through Roscommon town. It was agreed that the N61 from Athlone to Boyle performs the function of a national secondary road and does not warrant reclassification. I am happy to tease through that with the Deputy and engage with the Minister on that. For context, a national primary road is categorised as being a long-distance through route providing connection with principal cities and large towns or providing access to category 1 commercial sea ports and State airports. The national secondary route is categorised as being of medium length, serving as a connecting road between the principal towns and linking the national primary routes together to form a homogenous network.  The N61 route is of technical medium length and functions such as the connection between the principal towns in the regions and links to an existing network of national primary routes, including the N6 in Athlone, the N5 at Tulsk, which I am pleased to say is currently undergoing significant upgrade works, and the N4 at Boyle. The N61 performs the role of a national secondary route. I am informed by the authorities they believe it is correctly classified as such.  I do, however, recognise the importance of the N61 for people in Roscommon. The Deputy has made that point very clear to us today. This year funding was allocated for a number of road safety improvement schemes on the N61, including in Boyle, Castlerea and Strokestown. In addition, funding was allocated for junction improvement works at a number of other locations. I also welcome and acknowledge the continued progress that is being made on the N5 project, which intersects with the N61. Construction of this project is now progressing at pace and is currently on track for completion in 2027.  While we have published the national development plan and sectoral investment plans that is not the final word in terms of investment in transport or, indeed, any area. Sectoral plans highlight some of the major plans from a funding point of view. For example, each year TII publishes an annual investment plan as well. There are more opportunities to look at how we can make more investment in the road network in Roscommon and, indeed, the west. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I thank the T\u00e1naiste for his considered response. I reiterate the importance of this N61 route in County Roscommon, which also serves parts of east Galway and south-east Mayo, to make connectivity to the motorway at Athlone as well as the interconnection with a number of other national routes east-west along its route. I would also point out the very significant heavy volume of traffic especially between Athlone and Roscommon through the villages of Knockcroghery and Kiltoom, which represent a safety issue. There are traffic-calming measures at very many points on this national secondary route, which bring down the speed limits to 50 km\/h which affects ease of access for traffic between Athlone and Sligo. We now have traffic congestion in Roscommon, which is something we could not have conceived of as a county town, at pinch points at rush hour. That is something I never thought I would hear myself say about Roscommon town and Boyle but there are tailbacks going into both towns. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Daly. He has outlined to us quite correctly a number of the challenges being faced in terms of the road infrastructure in Roscommon, Boyle and the region, whether the heavy volume of traffic or the safety issues, which are really important. I am struck by how every morning, including today, we wake up, look at our newspapers and news bulletins and see more fatalities and tragedies on Irish roads.  We think today of all of those people, in particular the families at Christmas as well. Investing in roads should always be seen as a safety issue, as well as the congestion issues that arise, as outlined by the Deputy, in towns, including the pinch points in Roscommon town and Boyle. On foot of the Deputy raising this today, I will ask the Minister, Darragh O'Brien, and TII to engage with him and other Oireachtas Members from Roscommon, and also perhaps to engage with Roscommon County Council, on what more can be done in the time ahead to build on a number of projects that we have, thankfully, already funded and some that are under construction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I take this opportunity to join with the party leaders and the Ceann Comhairle in wishing everyone associated with this House and their families a very happy Christmas. I thank them for their co-operation during the year. In spite of going over time and into the red zone, we managed to keep the tone right. I thank them very much for their help in the job that I do. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Seanad \u00c9ireann has passed the Appropriation Bill 2025, without amendment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":49,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The outcome of the recent EU Fisheries Council has landed a devastating blow on Irish fishing families in coastal communities. It is an affront to Ireland's sovereignty over its national resources. Irish fishermen now face catastrophic losses. Jobs are at risk in my own county and elsewhere. Local economies are going to be stripped of hundreds of millions of euro and families who have worked the sea for generations are being told that their livelihoods may no longer survive. This is all happening at a time vast wealth continues to be extracted from Irish waters for the benefit of powerful interests based elsewhere. Safeguards such as the Hague preferences, designed to recognise Ireland's preferable position and underdeveloped fleet, were blocked and stripped away, leaving Irish fishermen exposed in their own waters. Serious questions have been raised about the influence of large EU-based corporate actors in shaping these outcomes. It is not just a policy failure; it is a failure of political will. Unlike other EU leaders, the Taoiseach failed to show up on this issue, as did the T\u00e1naiste. Does the Government have a battle plan for Ireland's seafood industry? \"Yes\" or \"No\". Will it include immediate action, including legal action to defend Irish fishing livelihoods, which have been devastated as a result of this deal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It has been, but it is important we are honest with fishermen. I would like to know which fishing representative body does not feel that I showed up or that the Taoiseach showed up, considering I met them, and I was in touch directly with the European Commission. The Taoiseach met them, as did the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, a dedicated Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries, and the senior Minister, Deputy Heydon. Deputy Doherty is right that this is a devastating blow for fisheries but it is also a devastating blow we should try and work collaboratively on.  The Deputy represents a constituency that is very significantly impacted by this, as are other constituencies, but I do acknowledge the particular impact in Donegal. We must and we will examine all options available. We are establishing a Food Vision seafood group for a whole-of-government mechanism to assess what sustainable supports for the sector look like. The Department of Finance will engage constructively with the work as it progresses. We need to look at short-term resilience and long-term sustainability measures in coastal communities. There is also a broader issue involving looking at the European fisheries policy as well.  We were talking about qualified majority and minority voting. The Irish text on the Hague preferences did not even make the final compromise text because of a blocking minority led by France, supported by the Netherlands, Germany, Poland and Belgium. We will work very closely on this. I am happy to work on a cross-party basis too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  As we close out the year, I thank those who keep the Houses running every day, including the ushers, administrative, catering and maintenance staff, and I express solidarity with the Oireachtas broadcast staff in particular. We appreciate all of their great professionalism and patience.  I want to end the year by raising an issue I have raised throughout 2025, which is housing \u2013 the civil rights issue of this generation. I want to raise it at an EU level. This week the first EU housing plan was published, which I welcome. It puts housing firmly on the European agenda, giving the EU real proposals to act to deliver affordable homes. I commend the immense contribution of my colleague, our MEP, Aodh\u00e1n \u00d3 R\u00edord\u00e1in and his S and D Group colleagues who delivered the first ever EU Commissioner for housing. Without them, this report would not exist. We all acknowledge that housing is not just a serious and vital national issue; it is a European one.  When food security was threatened, the EU responded with the Common Agricultural Policy. Now the EU must act to guarantee housing security for all. There are welcome proposals in the report but we need more ambition from the Commission, governments,and the entire EU.  As Ireland will host the European Presidency next year, will the T\u00e1naiste commit to hosting an EU housing summit in Ireland? Will he make housing a central theme of the Presidency and action on this report a central purpose and goal of our Presidency? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I wish a happy Christmas to the Deputy, her family and her Labour Party colleagues. I too welcome the developments at an EU level this week. I acknowledge the contribution of her party colleague Aodh\u00e1n \u00d3 R\u00edord\u00e1in. She will also understand why I acknowledge the contribution of Regina Doherty, who is on that committee in the European Parliament. We now have a housing Commissioner and a committee of the Parliament on housing. We do have plans to host an EU housing summit. The jury is still slightly out on whether that will fall to the Cypriot Presidency or the Irish Presidency, but the main thing is that it be held. I would like it to be held during the Irish Presidency if at all possible. The Government would like that as well. We will work on that, and we should work across this D\u00e1il to see how we can use the opportunity of having the EU Presidency to really put a focus on housing.  Housing is an emergency in Ireland. That is absolutely the case but it is also very interesting when we all engage at a European level to see that it is also an emergency in many European countries. There is a role for the European Union to play in dealing with the emergency and it is also a very sensible suggestion that we learn from each other as member states. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  A record 5,274 children are homeless along with their families. It is equivalent to a shocking 222 primary school classes of children. These children will spend Christmas in homelessness without a Christmas tree and without a dinner table that they can sit around with their families on Christmas Day. They will wonder if Santa will even find them. Each week we come in here, we put forward solutions and we feel the Government is ignoring them. Why will the Government not implement a temporary eviction ban to stop thousands more children and families being made homeless?  Does the T\u00e1naiste really consider what life is like for the 5,274 children living in emergency accommodation and how damaging and traumatising it is to them? I have a piece of art for the T\u00e1naiste today made by the artist, Asbestos, which sets out that 5,274 children are homeless. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Hearne----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  The lettering is from the Proclamation, in which the State committed to cherish all children equally. We are not doing that. I call on the T\u00e1naiste to take emergency action on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Hearne is out of order. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The rules of the House are one thing but Deputy Hearne is rightly highlighting a very important issue. As a constituency TD, I absolutely do consider this. I also consider it as the T\u00e1naiste. Everybody in this House considers what more we can and must do in relation to child and family homelessness. We have different policy perspectives that we debate in this House. It is not a question of people ignoring each other. I hope it is not. We all need to be better than that. When we had the eviction ban in place, we did still see homelessness rise. As a policy measure, without getting into the legality of the politics, we continue to see homeless numbers rise and that is why we are taking a different approach now in terms of child and family homelessness, social housing allocation and in relation to the scheme the Minister, Deputy Browne, has put in place to acquire larger homes from local authorities and a ring-fenced fund. We will continue to do this work every day and in the days, weeks and months ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  There are rules in the House and while Deputy Hearne is making a very valid point - I do not dispute his right to do that - he should reflect on waving flags during the course of making that point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  It is not a flag. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  It is a prop. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  By the time we come back in January, unless there is a change of approach by the British State, hunger strikers will again have died in British prisons. They will have been killed by an injustice system that arms, supports and funds genocide. Eight young people are currently on hunger strike in Britain. They are people who have been held without trial or bail for more than a year for protesting against British support for genocide. Qesser Zuhrah is on day 47 of her hunger strike. In 1981, Martin Hurson died after 46 days, another victim of the British injustice system. Yesterday, she was hospitalised only after significant protests by Zarah Sultana and others demanding that the prison allow in an ambulance. Their demands are extremely reasonable. They include an end to the censorship of their communications, their right to a fair trial and the granting of immediate bail. There appears to be a conspiracy of silence on this matter in the British media. I appeal to the T\u00e1naiste to contact his British counterpart to express our concern about what is happening and to demand that basic civil liberties are upheld. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Nobody wants to see anybody on hunger strike or to see anybody get ill arising from that. I note he took the opportunity of the presence of the British ambassador in the House today to raise his concerns in relation to this. I will also relay those concerns to the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I would like to thank all of the staff in the Oireachtas for their outstanding work throughout the year. I also wish the T\u00e1naiste, the Leas Ceann Comhairle and all of our colleagues a very happy Christmas and peaceful, prosperous new year.  This Christmas some people will be lucky enough to get visits from relatives flying in but many will not and will just have to make do with video calls from Australia, Dubai, Canada and so on. Given staff shortages in Dublin hospitals, Garda stations and schools, why do we not have a Dublin allowance for key workers? Nurses, teachers and garda\u00ed are struggling under the weight of rent and living costs that are far higher here than elsewhere in the country. That is why they go abroad and stay abroad. London has recognised this reality with a weighting allowance and it has been shown to work. We could have a modest enough Dublin allowance, with discounted rent schemes and an expanded, specific affordable housing scheme for essential workers. Why has this not been done yet? When will the Government act to keep some of our best and brightest at home, not just for Christmas but throughout the year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for making the effort today with his Christmas jumper and for injecting a degree of Christmas cheer into this place. I wish him, his family, colleagues and staff a very happy Christmas too.  The factual answer in relation to a Dublin allowance is that all of these issues are matters for pay agreements. It is for the unions and the Government side to bring proposals to the table. While I tend not to comment on public pay policy outside of those agreements, I would just say, as a Wicklow TD, that one of the reasons that I often hear pushback is that if one lives on the border of where an allowance is in place, it all of a sudden becomes a lot more attractive to be a teacher in Dublin than in Kildare, for example, represented by the Minister, Deputy James Lawless, or Wicklow. That is just a detail in terms of how we grapple with these things but what we are considering, and what we are committing to, is helping to provide housing for key staff, starting in Dublin. Some work has been done on that. For example, hospitals have land banks and partnering with the likes of the LDA could provide opportunities to assist with housing pressures for key workers, starting with our capital city. Any allowances are a matter for public sector pay talks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  I join previous speakers in thanking everybody associated with the House for their hard and diligent work throughout 2025 and I wish everyone a happy Christmas and a prosperous new year.  The issue I want to raise relates to An Post. Management and the trustees of the An Post pension scheme have agreed an increase for An Post pensioners and those pensioners are very anxious that the Minister and the Department would sign off on this increase. They are waiting for him do so. An Post pensioners in my own constituency of Dublin Bay North have been in touch with me to ask that this agreement be approved as soon as possible. Can the House be updated on when this agreement will be approved? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge that this is something that has been going on for quite a significant period and it is understandable that people want to a resolution to this as quickly as possible. When I leave the Chamber I will ask the Minister for communications for a direct update on the timeline in relation to that and he will make contact with the Deputy on that later today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  I join others in wishing Christmas cheer to everyone here and while we are on the topic of Christmas, I want to raise the issue of e-scooters and e-bikes. There is a lot of talk about them being bought as Christmas presents for people but there is a great need for the regulation of these vehicles on our roads. In the past few months we have seen stories of scooters come and go. We have read about the accidents and the damage being done to people. I witnessed the unfortunate aftermath of such an accident when a young child was badly injured outside Leixlip GAA club one evening when I was coaching there. I understand the impact of these vehicles.  I raised this issue with the Taoiseach back in July and he said that he would refer it to the Minister for justice and ask that it be discussed by the Oireachtas committee. How has that progressed? What can we do to bring in proper regulation across the country on this important issue? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I wish the Deputy a happy Christmas too and thank him for raising this very serious issue. It is very timely because when we turn on our radios at the moment, we all hear the very chilling advertisements from emergency department consultants and ICU consultants in children's hospitals reminding us of the law in relation to e-scooters but also, on a purely human level, of the absolute devastation that children and others can experience as a result of accidents involving e-scooters. A report by the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland published earlier this month found that e-scooters are now the leading cause of traumatic brain injuries to children at Temple Street hospital. That needs to be a stark and worrying reminder for all of us this Christmas. I am particularly conscious of that, as we approach Christmas.  The Road Traffic Act 1994 (Detention of Powered Personal Transporters) Regulations 2024\u00a0came into operation on 20 May 2024. These regulations give garda\u00ed the power to detain, remove and store powered personal transporters such as e-scooters that are in contravention of road traffic laws. E-scooters can be legally used on public roads only if they meet the technical and usage requirements. The requirements for an e-scooter to be used on public roads include that it has a maximum design speed of 20 km\/h, a maximum contentious rated power output of 400W or less and a maximum weight of 25 kg. Since the introduction of the regulations 1,002 fixed-charge notices have been issued for e-scooter-related offences, as of 13 November this year. Garda\u00ed had seized, as of the same date, 744 e-scooters this year as compared to 326 last year. The Garda authorities have confirmed that there were 52 instances in 2024 and 67 instances to date in 2025 where the detention or seizure of an e-scooter was linked to a crime incident other than a road traffic offence. We have the regulations. We need to see enforcement. We also need commonsense here. People need to stop purchasing these for minors. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  I am speaking today on behalf of St. John Bosco's junior and senior boy's schools and Mary, Help of Christians girl's school on the Navan Road in Dublin 7. I received a letter, which states: \"Our community school has been waiting years for progress and despite repeated assurances from the Department, including a clear commitment that a stage 2a review would be completed in the quarter 1 of 2025, we have been informed of yet another delay.\" I sent that letter to the Department of Education, which responded to the effect that in early June 2025 a further meeting was held with the wider design team, the school authorities and the Department. I have since discovered that although that meeting happened in June, the documentation that should have been submitted subsequently was not submitted until four months late. The Department claims that it received the documentation on 31 October 2025. There was a delay of at least four months, despite the fact that this had been promised. Is the Minister for Education and Youth aware that the Department has had little meaningful communication with the schools and has not responded to the design team's proposals? It stated that a Department official will carry out a review addendum report but says it is not possible at present to provide a timeframe for the completion of that review. The schools were told that this would be done in the first quarter of 2025, which is nearly a year ago at this stage. We discovered that there was another delay in October and a four-month gap where nothing was done, effectively. Surely there is something amiss in the planning section of the Department. The T\u00e1naiste spoke earlier about planning for housing but there is a big job to be done in terms of planning for schools. We get these issues raised with us constantly with regard to the planning section of the Department of education. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to raise this with the Minister to see if we can get a resolution so that the school can be built. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue relating the Navan Road schools. I can hear the frustration in his voice on behalf of those schools. I will certainly speak with the Minister, Deputy Naughton about timelines and next steps and ask her to revert to him directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  Drogheda has experienced deep and persistent challenges linked to intergenerational addiction, domestic abuse and violence, particularly in communities that have faced long-term social and economic disadvantage. The Drogheda Implementation Board was a welcome and necessary intervention. It brought additional resources and enhanced policing. However, as that implementation phase has concluded, there is serious concern locally about what happens next, especially for the children and families living with the long-term consequences of trauma, addiction and violence. Intergenerational harm does not end when a plan ends. What specific steps is the Department taking to address intergenerational addiction, abuse and violence in Drogheda following the conclusion of the Drogheda Implementation Board? How is the Department ensuring that Tusla family support services, youth services, addiction services such as the Red Door, and domestic violence support services continue to work in an integrated and properly resourced way in the town? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Butterly for raising this issue. I have seen at first hand the benefit of the work that was done by the Drogheda Implementation Board, which formally came to an end on 31 December 2024, having had its term extended. The board produced a very good report, Drogheda: Creating a Bridge to a Better Future, which had 74 recommendations.  They were really under two headings: the need for improved interagency co-operation and the need to resource additional services. I am pleased that over the lifetime of the board, 70 posts were created to drive forward implementation. Twenty three of these are permanent posts while others are funded on a long-term basis by a variety of Departments. In addition to this, \u20ac31 million of direct funding was committed to support the posts or capital projects. I recall during my time in the Department of higher education, I visited the Drogheda Institute of Further Education, DIFE. There are big plans for expansion there with the apprenticeship centre so lots of good work is happening.  The direct answer to the Deputy's question, in terms of driving it forward and continuing to bring the agencies together, is that will now fall to the auspices of the new Louth local community partnership to make sure it builds on that progress. Perhaps in the new year, we could engage and meet with the partnership or relevant State agencies on how to take that forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I join with others in extending every good wish for Christmas and the new year to all staff and Members of the Oireachtas. In the context of the proposed Mercosur deal, I again raise the detailed report from the IFA and the Irish Farmers' Journal on their recent fact-finding mission to Brazil. That report again outlined very clearly how much inferior food production is in Brazil and elsewhere in South America in comparison to the standards in this country and throughout the European Union. We should continually highlight that for decades, this State has invested very heavily, as has the farming community, in building successfully a world-class agrifood industry. Day in, day out, our farmers and processors work extremely hard on maintaining our food production systems to exceptionally high standards. There is a cost on the farming community in maintaining those standards, including high welfare and biosecurity standards and traceability.  Our beef and poultry sectors are extremely concerned about the potential for totally unfair competition if inferior product is allowed into the European Union. The proposed safeguarding regulations need to be substantially strengthened. Our agrifood sector's concerns about this proposed trade deal must be robustly and vigorously outlined and advanced in all discussions by Government at EU level. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy and Nollaig shona d\u00f3. On the points he made about the Mercosur deal, they are points made by the Taoiseach, myself, the Minister for agriculture and the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. Farmers in Ireland have expressed very serious views. The Irish Farmers' Journal has revealed concerning information, as the Deputy said, following its trip to Brazil as well. As the Taoiseach said this morning, we now see safeguards have been published. We need to have a greater understanding of them but also of any additionality or further work that can be done about that.  There should not be a rush into a quick vote on this. We are continuing to work with like-minded countries that share our significant concerns. We continue to ascertain if a blocking minority exists as well. Our programme for Government commitment remains. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  The proposed Mercosur trade agreement is a bad deal for Irish farmers and consumers. I held a public meeting in Athenry earlier this week and there is serious concern about this deal and the impact it would have on our beef industry and family farms. The Government should be doing everything in its power to stop this deal but it is not. For weeks, the T\u00e1naiste and his colleagues have dodged answering the simple question of whether they will vote against this deal. The Taoiseach is in Brussels today. He was unable to answer what way the Government would vote. It is unacceptable that at such a critical moment for Irish agriculture, the Government is unable to set out its position.  I have one simple question for the T\u00e1naiste: will the Government vote yes or no to Mercosur? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Very respectfully, on three or four occasions in the House today, I have outlined the Government's position as the Taoiseach did this morning as well. The programme for Government is clear. We have significant concerns about the agreement in its current form. We will work with like-minded countries to oppose it in its current form. Those two pieces of work are ongoing. It is not prudent or sensible to have a vote on this in advance of Christmas. I share the position of French on that.  I was in the Deputy's constituency very recently and I visited Kylemore Farmhouse. I met a number of farmers, including the chair of Galway IFA, and discussed this with them. I know the concerns of farmers are real and serious about this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  I have a query. Has there been a change to the rental accommodation scheme, RAS? I have been contacted by a few people who bought a house and they wanted to sell it. They went through all the procedures 100% correctly, gave proper notice and everything. It appears to be happening with Galway City Council a lot. The council went through all the procedures and there is a timeline of eight or ten months. It has gone on for a year and now the council will not answer emails. The owner of the house does not know what is happening because they wanted to sell their house and the council will not respond to them, which is an usual situation. We have heard this a few times and I am wondering is there some change in thinking or legislation that would have affected RAS? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Truthfully, there has not been a change I am aware of but obviously, the Deputy is seeing a reality in the system in terms of the cases he has outlined. I will send a transcript of what Deputy said to the Minister for housing and ask that he looks at it and comes back to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  I can send on details. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  If the Deputy could send on those details as well, that would be great. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I wish everybody here and throughout the House a very happy Christmas and thank them for what has been my first year and how welcoming they have been. I have been very delighted to see the Taoiseach has given clearance for Santa Claus to come.  I wish to raise an issue on the South Circular Road in my constituency, where a number of people are housed in a homeless hostel. Unfortunately, there seems to be an issue with overcrowding there which is spilling out onto the streets and causing antisocial behaviour. That is not welcoming for anybody.  My concern and the concern of the people living on that road is because there are so many people living there, it is a fire hazard. A total of 75% of the people who live there are working. They are trying to get back on their feet but they are living in a situation where they are so crammed together, they of course have to go outside. Can anything be done to ensure that when buildings are being repurposed, we are protecting people's privacy and a right to dignity to not live in an absolutely overcrowded situation in bunk beds? When people are trying to get back on their feet, it is very difficult. That has a knock-on effect, not only for them but also for the people who work in that hostel and the people who live in that area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy is one of the over 60 TDs who are here for their first Christmas and through their first calendar year as well. I wish her a happy Christmas. Politics aside, I know everybody works very hard in the Oireachtas and it has been a busy first year.  I thank the Deputy for bringing the facility on the South Circular Road to my attention. I will raise that directly with the Minister for housing and the Minister of State with responsibility for planning, Deputy John Cummins. The Deputy's point is valid. People are trying to get back on their feet and we have to make sure standards and designs reflect that as well. I will ask either the Minister or the Minister of State to come back to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  Today, around 270 workers at Caredoc, the GP out-of-hours service in Wexford - I think it covers part of the T\u00e1naiste's own constituency or----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It does. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  -----county - have gone on strike. The INMO and SIPTU have said they are seeking implementation of a 2023 Workplace Relations Commission pay agreement that was agreed for section 39 organisations. They are specifically seeking the 8% increase that is due to their members working in Caredoc. This is the first of a number of planned strikes that will have a significant impact on GP's out-of-hours services. Last week, 14 ambulances were stacked up at Wexford hospital. It was chaotic and this will only add to that.  Can I ask if there can be any intervention? I appreciate there are industrial relations mechanisms but these workers are asking for something that was agreed in 2023, which was an 8% increase. Can I ask we do our utmost to ensure this series of strikes, which will have a chaotic impact in the likes of my county of Wexford, is averted as best we can? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for raising this. As he said, this is an issue I know affects his constituency and my own, the Minister of State's, Deputy Butler, and a lot of the south east. This is an issue that everybody wants to see resolved. I know it is an evolving situation but it is my understanding that further mediation is scheduled to take place today and it is possibly even happening now. It was scheduled to take place this morning. I am pleased that both Caredoc and the HSE have confirmed their attendance. It is important that everybody puts their shoulder to the wheel to find a resolution here.  Everybody, including those on the Government and HSE side, needs to show a bit of common sense in trying to find a way forward. I urge every party to the dispute to work really hard in the hours ahead through mediation to try to resolve this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  Given the clear State obligation to provide an appropriate school place for every child with additional needs, can the T\u00e1naiste explain why parents who applied after the NCSE's 1 October deadline are being excluded from the process of securing a school place for next September? There is silence from the line Ministers and a standard response from the NCSE telling parents who applied after the 1 October deadline: \"The NCSE is no longer in a position to issue letters of eligibility.\" This is simply unacceptable. Every child with additional needs has a right to an appropriate school place.  Nothing less will do. Will the T\u00e1naiste instruct the NCSE to reopen the portal and start issuing letters of eligibility again? Will he ensure that every child has an appropriate school place for next September? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy O'Rourke for raising this serious and important issue. I think we would acknowledge on all sides of the House that this is something that was done for a good reason, which is the idea of trying to get sight of the number of children who would require a special educational needs place earlier because it is not fair, and it is far too stressful to leave it too late. It was the germ of a good idea, and, in fact, it needs to come earlier every year. I have spoken to some of these parents, and I am aware that sometimes there can be a delay for a good reason. People might not be able to get access to certain reports they need or whatever. Life can happen, and there are a number of parents who will require places for their children. The NCSE is giving consideration to it. I am not in a position to comment. It is not for me to make an announcement here, but I certainly think it is inevitable that it will have to be reopened so that a resolution can be found. I will pass on the Deputy's views to the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  This week, Offaly County Council unanimously supported new hospice care for Offaly, clearly demonstrating an appetite for further healthcare provision in the county and in the region. Meanwhile, we need the same ambition now in elective surgery. We see people sitting in congestion on trains and in cars, while too many are also on waiting lists. We really need ambition now to ensure we increase that capacity. Midlands Regional Hospital Portlaoise has a proven track record in emergency care, but it is at the expense of elective surgery. We really need to see this delivered. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to make sure the Government prioritises additional capacity for elective surgery in the midlands. It should bring the care to the midlands rather than patients going all over the country for it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  As is often the case, Deputy Clendennen has made a valid, logical point that would make a real difference to patients, patient care, congestion and life. It works on a lot of levels. I join with him in saying it is a very significant week for the midlands and for Offaly in relation to the news of Offaly County Council's decision regarding the new hospice facility. We often highlight rightly here the challenges we have as a country. One of the areas in which we have had a lot of success over the last number of years is the provision of hospice facilities through partnership, collaboration and working with communities. This is really good news for the midlands. The Deputy is always rightly on to the next project as well, and there is merit in looking at how we can work in the midlands in terms of elective care. The hospitals in the midlands are noted for the work they are doing. There is a very good hospital in Tullamore. There is little doubt that a bit of work needs to be done in terms of preparing for the future. I am pleased to say the HSE CEO has now confirmed that the Dublin and midlands region of the HSE will conduct an analysis and an action plan to include expressions of interest to see what possibilities there are for newer additional capacity to be provided. This will specifically include the Deputy's suggestion of consideration around elective care. This will advance in quarter 1 of next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  I join my fellow colleagues in wishing everyone a very happy Christmas. I thank everyone for their collegiality, co-operation and friendship over the year. I also thank our staff of Leinster House who keep the show rolling all year.  Tomorrow marks 50 years since the Dundalk bombing that claimed the lives of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters. Many more were injured. Half a century later, their families still wait not just for justice but for basic answers. Investigations remain but let us be honest: as the T\u00e1naiste knows, this has led nowhere, no one has been charged and we are no further on. The Denton report has highlighted that investigations were not adequate. Garda files were disorganised, chaotic and incomplete. What will the Government do under the joint legacy framework with the Irish and UK Governments to improve the situation? We rightly call on the Government to release all files and be honest about its role in the perpetuating the Troubles. I want guarantees that this State will do everything to ensure justice for the victims of the Dundalk bombing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy McGreehan very much for highlighting this issue as we approach the 50th anniversary. We think of Jack Rooney and Hugh Watters and their families and all those injured and all the families impacted. This is an issue that both the Minister for justice and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade are working on raising at every opportunity, including with the British Government. Indeed, I remember it in my previous posting. We now have the legacy framework, and that has to work in all directions. There is no hierarchy when it comes to victims. There is no hierarchy when it comes to terror. Everybody needs to have answers, truth and justice. Both the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, will continue to raise this. I will ask them to update the Deputy accordingly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  This is the last question of 2025 under Questions on Policy or Legislation. I call Deputy Farrell. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I hope it is a good one. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  Forty-five years ago today, my aunt was on her 17th day of hunger strike in Armagh Gaol. We know what followed the following year when ten men died on hunger strike in Long Kesh. I understand that today in Britain, six people held in pre-trial detention are presently on hunger strike following their arrests for trying to stop the genocide. It should not be a crime to stop war crimes. Qesser Zuhrah is on her 47th day on this strike and has been transferred to hospital. Urgent action is clearly needed. Will the T\u00e1naiste use his influence with the British Government to see this hunger strike come to an end before this ends in tragedy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Farrell for raising this important issue, which was rightly raised in this House today. The British ambassador was present here today, as Deputy Farrell and others have raised this issue. I know the ambassador will convey the depth of feelings and concerns of Members of this House to the British Government. I will also raise the issue with the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and Government colleagues and, indeed, with our embassy in London on foot of the Deputy raising it today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  I thank the T\u00e1naiste. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.26 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.06 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.26 p.m. and resumed at 2.06 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Insurance Industry","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_34.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I raise with the Minister the profits that insurance companies are making in Ireland. When we talk of profit margins, we are talking specifically about operating profits, which, as we all know, have a specific meaning that is well understood internationally. It is always before tax and interest deductions. Will the Minister set out the operating profits of motor insurance companies and in the public and employer liability insurance market using this standard definition? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Finance (Deputy Simon Harris)  At the outset, I pass my sympathies, and those of everyone, to the Minister of State, Deputy Robert Troy, whose father, Paddy, has passed away. Robert is, obviously, a Minister of State in the Department of Finance and we think of him and his family at this time of loss.  I thank Deputy Doherty for his question. The programme for Government, Securing Ireland\u2019s Future, sets out a range of commitments to build upon the reforms delivered to date in the insurance sector. On 24 July, the Government launched its Action Plan for Insurance Reform, which includes a comprehensive set of targeted actions aimed at improving affordability, availability and transparency across the insurance sector. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for his work on this. It will build on its predecessor which was the catalyst for many changes, including the implementation of the personal injuries guidelines to replace the book of quantum, the commencement of legislation to enhance and reform the role of the Injuries Resolution Board in order to reduce the number of claims proceeding to costlier and time-consuming litigation, and the establishment of the Office to Promote Competition in the Insurance Market within the Department of Finance.  As part of the development of the new plan, the Department of Finance undertook a wide-ranging public consultation that received over 70 detailed submissions. There are ten priority actions, focused on the areas of greatest impact. I will come back to some of that information in a moment.  With regard to the operating profits for motor insurance companies before interest and tax deduction, the position shows that operating profit displays annual variability and has fallen from 13% in 2020 to 5% in 2024. To break this data out, operating profit was 13% for 2020; 16% for 2021; 13% for 2022; 9% for 2023; and 5% for 2024. I can provide those figures in writing. The data published in the latest national claims information database, NCID, private motor report 7 shows, on page 29, that operating profits for motor insurance companies, taking account of tax, interest costs and other expenses deducted, have also displayed variability over the years. The relevant figure was 12% for 2020; 14% for 2021; 12% for 2022; 8% for 2023; and 4% for 2024. I will have to come back in on the operating profits for the liability insurance market in my next response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The Minister knows I am raising this because of the invaluable reportage we get from the Central Bank every year that is reported upon and understood by us. It has its own definition of operating profits. When we talk about the operating profits of any company, that means operating profits before tax or interest is deducted. That is the standard definition.  The Central Bank uses its own definition which has under-reported the profits of the insurance industry by not using the standard definition. In the past five years the Central Bank has under-reported operating profits just in the motor sector by \u20ac114 million. This is money that is extracted from people to keep their cars on the road. Will the Minister for Finance engage? The Central Bank is transparent. It has its own definition and all the rest. It is not doing anything different there. However, when people see operating profits they think it is the way that it is reported right throughout the world but the Central Bank has used a different definition. Will the Minister engage for the sake of transparency and a common understanding of what profit this industry is making? These profits, which we all thought were very high, are now even higher than what we understood before. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I will speak to the Central Bank as part of my regular engagement, raising the points the Deputy has raised. I am very happy to do that. The establishment of the National Claims Information Database, NCID, has greatly improved oversight of claims' costs and trends in the insurance market. Indeed, it is one of the most comprehensive and respected insurance data sources internationally. The Central Bank of Ireland, which was tasked with developing and operating the NCID, has advised my Department that operating profit comprises total income with tax, interest costs, and any other expenses deducted. This is fully consistent with previous NCID reports and ensures alignment with other reporting requirements for insurance undertakings issued by the Central Bank. However, my officials have contacted the Central Bank of Ireland and sought the additional information so as to assist with the Deputy's question, some of which I will put on the record. I can provide the Deputy with the operating profits for the liability insurance market. The broader point is that regardless of whether you look at the data supplied----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Will the Minister provide those? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I can provide them. I am very happy to do that now if the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach  will bear with me for one second.  In terms of the operating profits for the liability insurance market before interest and tax is deducted, it should be noted that in 2020 a loss of 15% was recorded, a profit of 11% in 2021, a profit of 15% in 2022, a profit of 16% in 2023 and an operating profit before interest and tax of 12% for 2024, the latest year for which the information is available. The data that is published in the most recent NCID, EL, PL and Commercial Property Report 5, published last week, shows on page 30 the operating profits for the liability insurance market with those taxes and expenses deducted. I will set is out in a letter, which might be easier. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I appreciate that. I have engaged with the Central Bank in relation to this and it has provided me with the operating profits as commonly understood for motor insurance. It did not have them for the public liability. This is why I welcome this. This shows us two things. The insurance companies are making bumper profits. We know from the National Claims Information Database, NCID, reports that they are making three times what they told us they were targeting. However, it is worse than that because the Central Bank is using a definition of operating profit that nobody else uses. It makes that clear in the report but that is in the subtext. We need to be using standard definitions here. If we were using the standard definitions, these companies are making bigger profits. Instead of making 14% in one year, they are making 16%. This is the same in motor and in public liability. This is millions and millions of additional euro in profits. In motor insurance alone, it is a \u20ac114 million difference between using the Central Bank definition or the definition that everybody else uses. It is really important that this industry is called out for the price gouging that is going on and the bumper profits that are being made. The Central Bank does great work but it should not be using its own definition of operating profits. These figures get reported faithfully by the media and people understand it as something that it is not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I am conscious that I put a lot of information very quickly on the record of the D\u00e1il in the interests of the finance spokespeople here and Deputy Doherty. I will perhaps put it in a letter to the finance committee. I did not get a chance to go through all of the data in the brief time available in these back and forth exchanges. I would just make a couple of points to the Deputy. First, I will engage with the Central Bank, as he has done, in relation to the points he has made. Second, what is of particular interest is that there is some variation over the years, even as opposed to which definition one uses. This is important when we look at the sector over a longer period. Of interest is that if we look at the sector from 2010 to 2024, which is a longer period of time, there is an average operating profit of 5% across all firms for private motor insurance and a 2.1% profit for the liability insurance market. That is across a much longer period, 2010 out to 2024. I am also advised that insurers have released capital reserves, positively impacting profitability in recent years. Profitability trends may not be reflected in future years as a result of reserve releases. That is worth monitoring. It is also important to note that wider cyclical and long-term trends provide a more accurate reflection of market profitability. I also point out we are trying to attract more players into this market for obvious reasons. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Insurance Industry"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Economic Policy","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_35.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  It is a year since the new D\u00e1il met and almost 11 months since the new Government was formed, yet we still do not have the medium-term economic plan that this Government is obliged to submit to Brussels. The media were briefed earlier this week that the Cabinet would approve the plan on Tuesday. Is that the case? Has the plan been approved and when will it be published? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Yes, it has been approved and it will be published tomorrow. I am very happy, of course, to provide any advices or technical briefings that are required by Opposition spokespeople early in the new year, whenever required and in the appropriate forum. The medium-term fiscal structural plan will be published tomorrow. In line with all relevant European regulations and procedures, the plan will be submitted to the European Commission shortly thereafter. Although each member state has discretion over the content of its medium-term fiscal structural plan, MTP, information is required on three core elements: the fiscal strategy; investment plans; and structural reforms. Of these, the fiscal strategy is clearly the key component. As Deputy Nash is aware, the medium-term plan is a highly consequential document. It required considerable thought and analysis. The plan will reflect current macro-economic conditions as well as Government decisions and priorities.  The merit of medium-term fiscal planning is clear for a number of reasons, and I do not need to convince anyone of that. It provides clarity, it prevents in-year drift, and medium-term plans can help mitigate the vulnerability of Ireland's tax revenue base. Likewise, medium-term planning can also assist in preparing the public finances for fiscal challenges facing the Irish economy, such as the impact of population ageing, as we see in the Future Forty report we published last month, and crucially a credible medium-term strategy provides certainty on the domestic budgetary policy stance that can help boost private sector spending on capital investment.  This plan will set out the Government's economic and budgetary strategy for the remainder of this decade, with a clear objective to support further sustainable gains in living standards for all in the years ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  There is simply no valid reason this plan has been delayed for several months. We were told to expect this plan in the summer. We expected to see it before the budget. We did not see it before the budget. I think at this point, politics and media management is getting in the way of the publication of the plan. It will be published tomorrow. That is an interesting and important point. It should have been published this week so the D\u00e1il would have been able to scrutinise and interrogate the plan and have a full debate on it. It is not an abstract plan. It will affect every person, every business and every citizen of this country over the next four to five years. There is, unfortunately, a pattern here when it comes to fiscal management and the production of data. We in the Opposition all expressed concerns, for example, about the reliability of the information received on existing levels of service before the budget. There were no spending review papers this year. We have a range of different concerns. It is not acceptable to me that on the day of the recess, we are being told that a publication of this importance is being published when the D\u00e1il rises. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I take the point. It would have been optimum to have an opportunity to debate it before the recess. We did make an intentional decision not to publish this earlier in the year. I was not the Minister of Finance but I was involved in the decision as a party leader. The rationale behind it, which I think was correct, was to wait and see what the international environment looked like from a tariff point of view. There was different debate and different commentary on this and we decided to publish a summer economic statement that had a one-year horizon. This was different from previous years. We decided to publish the budget. When there was a degree of trade certainty - insofar as there ever is in this world - or certainly more than there was earlier in the year, it gave us more confidence to publish a fiscal strategy that is a binding document. There will be plenty of time for the Oireachtas to interrogate it. I am very happy for Opposition spokespeople on finance to be provided with any briefings they require. It did need to go to the Cabinet this week. It went to Cabinet and it will be published this week too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  The Minister has laid out the principles of what we can expect to see tomorrow. We knew that already. We understood that. Those of us who are members of the Oireachtas Committee on Budgetary Oversight met with the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, this week. I know the T\u00e1naiste met with them when he was appointed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  They were, rightly, scathing about this Government's approach to budgeting. They said that the Government was budgeting like there was no tomorrow. The T\u00e1naiste acknowledged there are no forecasts or horizons beyond next year. That is no way to budget. Our view in Labour is that key to this plan is that we should be prepared to reflect on the plan. Perhaps the T\u00e1naiste can confirm to the House this afternoon whether the plan will include the commitment to the introduction of a net spending rule, net of tax changes. That would be really important. The T\u00e1naiste will recall that the previous Government introduced collectively a spending rule of 5%.  That rule was more honoured in the breach. It was not based on any evidence at all or anchored in any plan. We should move to multi-annual budgeting in order to give those who are planning public service provision more certainty. Will the Minister commit to multi-annual budgeting in the plan tomorrow and to the introduction of a net spending rule? In other words, net of tax changes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Without being smart, it depends on how you define multi-annual budgeting. What this will enable us to do is set out a horizon for spending levels out to the end of the decade. That provides greater certainty for the Department of public expenditure and others to engage multi-annual funding, which interestingly is something IFAC is very supportive of. It made a very positive difference when we introduced it in health for a two-year period. I met representatives from IFAC. I do not wish to speak for the council, but its main requirement is that the Government should set out a medium-term plan and stick to it. I think I am correctly paraphrasing what was said. Governments can decide what the level of spending should be, but IFAC's concern - and, certainly, what I took from it - is that it is important that when the Government publishes a medium-term plan, it sticks to it. There is a requirement for a net expenditure growth path. Net primary spending is a technical definition of public expenditure defined as general government spending adjusted for interest expenditure, discretionary revenue measures, expenditure on programmes matched or co-financed by the European Union, cyclical elements of unemployment benefit and one-off temporary expenditure items outside the control of government. There will be a commitment to that in the plan tomorrow. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Economic Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Inflation Rate","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_36.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Last week, the CSO published inflation figures of 3.2%. That is the highest rate we have seen in almost two years and way above what the Department of Finance projected on budget day. At that time, it was projected that we would be looking at an inflation rate for this year of 1.8%, which is starting to look like wishful thinking. How were the Department's projections so far off? Has the T\u00e1naiste asked the Deputy to update them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I engaged with my Department as recently as yesterday on this because we had previous engagements in certain forums in respect of it. The Department's clear view is that an uptick in inflation was anticipated in its forecasts. In that context, it points to the issue of base effects. It has provided a graph that I can send to the Deputy. These effects need to be factored in. While the headline figure for November was slightly higher than anticipated, we stress that monthly figures are volatile and the Department's assessment of inflation for next year has not materially changed. At the time of the budget, my Department forecast an annual HICP inflation rate of 1.9% for 2026.  We debated the ESRI report only an hour ago. The ESRI\u2019s forecasts were published just morning. It has revised down its forecast for CPI for next year. It is important to stress that wages are growing faster than prices and that the average worker is seeing their wages outstrip price rises for the first time in a while.  As the Deputy well knows, the Department undertakes two macroeconomic forecasting rounds each year in spring and autumn. Both of these are aligned with the European Union\u2019s budgetary cycle. The autumn forecasts published in September alongside the budget were endorsed by IFAC. The inflation rate for this year was projected to average 1.8% in the autumn forecasting round. In the year to date, namely January to November, inflation has averaged 2%. This forecast was calibrated on the assumption of an acceleration in the inflation rate in the second half of the year due, in part, to base effects. In other words, annual price changes are being influenced by the very low reading recorded a year ago.  In publishing its data, the Central Statistics Office outlined the role of the base effects in pushing up the annual rate of inflation since September. Taking these base effects into account, it is important to note that the price level in November was lower than in August. As a result, annual inflation is likely to moderate somewhat over the coming months. For next year, my Department is projecting an average inflation rate of 1.9% and the range of other forecasts extend from 1.4% in the case of the Central bank to 1.9% in the case of the European Commission. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  People are being crucified as a result of the cost-of-living crisis. I have raised this with the T\u00e1naiste time and again. Inflation is going back up and is eating away at workers' wages. It is leaving households struggling to make ends meet. Real wages declined in 2022 and 2023. They only increased by 0.1% in 2024. We are in danger of seeing the same again in 2025. The T\u00e1naiste has made the point repeatedly about wages outpacing inflation. Over the past three months, however, we have again seen inflation outpacing wages. Inflation is going up higher than wages. This year, the Government brought forward a budget based on certain inflation projections. It appears those projections are no longer credible. The Government delivered a budget in 2025 where it thought inflation was going to be 1.8% this year and the CSO is telling us it is nearly double that. It is estimating it at 3.2%. Surely there is a need to revise what the Government has done. People are being fleeced, and the Government expected something very different from what is actually happening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I accept that cost-of-living pressures are real for people. This House regularly debates what the different policy proposals to address that should be. In my Department's projections, which are obviously provided independent of the political system, inflation was estimated to average 1.8% in the autumn forecasting round. Between January and November, it has averaged 2%. On the forecasting provided by my Department in respect of budget 2026, which was delivered in October, the forecast is actually at the outer end of the forecasts of a number of other agencies and organisations. The Central Bank was predicting 1.4%. The European Commission was projecting 1.9%. I read the ESRI report, but I also listened carefully to the ESRI's commentary on the radio this morning. Wages are outpacing prices, although I accept that this is happening from a very challenging position in light of the level of inflation we have experienced and the level of real impact people have experienced with the cost of goods and services over a sustained period. That is why we can debate the budget package, as we often do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I will go back over that again. I have not disputed that is the case in 2025; I am saying we may end up with it not being the case before the end of the year, because for the past three months, inflation has been outpacing wages. There are warning bells going off all around the place. Inflation stands at 3.2%. It was projected to be 1.8%. The Government delivered a budget. The T\u00e1naiste is the guy who signed off on that and who brought the Finance Bill through this House. The ESRI has been very clear that everybody is worse off. Let me qualify that - developers, bankers and speculators are not worse off. People with extreme wealth are not worse off. The ESRI, looking at its models, said the Government has left families and workers worse off. It is there in black and white. How the Government was able to pull that trick off in a \u20ac9.4 billion budget goes beyond me. That budget was based on inflation rates but they are higher in reality than was projected on budget day. I am probably hitting my head against a brick wall here, but the Government really needs to revise this because there are people who are really struggling and it has left them high and dry this Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  The Deputy needs to return to the technical but not unimportant point that it is still the view not just of the Department of Finance but also the CSO that what we are seeing in the inflation rate since September has been the impact of base effects in pushing up the annual rate of inflation. As recently as my engagement yesterday with the Department, as distinct from my political views, the forecasting for the year remains largely in line with what it expects to see at the end of the year and the forecasting for next year remains as it was on budget day. Deputy Doherty will have heard the person who wrote today's ESRI report say of the 1.6% in relation to disposable income that there were protections for lower-income workers. The report specifically talks about the 1.6% relating to medium- and higher-income workers. It also notes that this was without the benefit of wage growth, which is now, on average, outstripping price inflation. In other words, wage growth is now rising faster than prices. The ESRI made the point that this was not factored into the 1.6%. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Inflation Rate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Mortgage Interest Rates","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_37.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  There is a significant problem with Irish banks charging very high interest rates to mortgage holders, especially in comparison with UK banks and the spreads in the UK, while at the same garnering record profits. What is the T\u00e1naiste doing about this? Cad at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  The European Central Bank, as we know, is responsible for monetary policy in the euro area. Having declined in stages over the past 18 months, its main lending rate is now 2.15%. While changes in the level of official interest rates will feed through to the wider economy it does not have a uniform impact on the level of retail interest rates. In a market economy, the determination of retail and business lending rates is a commercial matter for individual creditors. The most recent Central Bank data shows the weighted average interest rate on new mortgages was 3.56% in October. While this is above the euro area average of 3.33%, the percentage is almost 0.5% lower than the same time last year. It is factually correct that we are above the euro but we are not the highest in the EU.  In the most recent budget, the Government maintained the mortgage interest tax credit at the current level for a further year and at a reduced level of relief for the following year. This will assist borrowers who have seen large interest rate increases to offset the impact of the rising cost of living. It introduced mortgage interest relief for homeowners with an outstanding mortgage balance on their primary dwelling house of between \u20ac80,000 and \u20ac500,000 as of 31 December 2022. This relief was extended in budget 2025 and again in the most recent budget for 2026.  The Central Bank, through its regulatory framework, offers protection for consumers and requires that all regulated entities, including banks, retail credit firms and credit servicing firms, are transparent and fair in all their dealings with borrowers. The revised and strengthened consumer protection code will come into effect next March and will set out requirements for enhanced disclosure on mortgage switching options and the impact of incentives on the overall cost of credit of a mortgage. The banking industry has adopted an aligned industry-wide set of initial eligibility criteria to facilitate the switching of mortgages from non-banks to banks and has introduced a website, bpfi.ie\/in-your-interest , to assist the mortgage switching process. Domestic banks currently maintain healthy balance sheets, which are also important to ensure they are well positioned in case of adverse shocks. While the profitability of the domestic banking sector is high, it is noted that it has moderated from recent highs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Irish banks are making huge profits from charging high interest rates on mortgages. Research by RBC Capital Markets shows that Irish banks are making more than three times as much on mortgages as UK banks by charging higher interest rates. It is the last thing people who are struggling to buy a home need. At the same time, profit levels in Irish banks are at a record high. AIB and Bank of Ireland last year made a combined profit of almost \u20ac5 billion and these same banks paid virtually no taxes on these profits. Does the T\u00e1naiste think it is acceptable that Irish banks are making huge profits off the backs of mortgage holders? Does he see that there is a serious problem? Will he do anything to end this rip-off? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I have raised this issue with the T\u00e1naiste over and over again. It is clear that people are being ripped off. I wonder whether that is the assessment of the T\u00e1naiste, as Minister for Finance, or does he think it is okay that banks make \u20ac5 billion in profits and charge higher interest rates than the average in the EU. That is where they are making their money. It is not due to huge innovations. It is because of the European Central Bank, ECB, interest rate in the main that these banks are making the profits they are making. This means a lot to families. Percentages relating to large mortgages - and I spoke earlier about the runaway house prices and people being forced into huge mortgages - mean thousands of euro each year. We cannot have a Minister who is simply impotent in this regard. On the one hand, the Government is getting rid of the pay caps for the CEO and selling off the stakes while, on the other hand, customers are basically abandoned. Is there anything the Minister plans to do to ensure banks pass on reduced interest rates to their customers instead of gouging them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  The more competition in the banking sector and the ability to have competition across the EU is how we can help in a sustained and policy proactive way. A number of discussions that are taking place at a European level about completing the single market in relation to that is good. Making sure this is an attractive location in which to operate banks and financial services is also important and important to consumers, including the people the Deputies mentioned. It is important, though, when we have this conversation to recognise that we are having it at a time when the weighted average interest rate on new mortgages is falling. It is 0.5 % lower than it was at the same time last year. The Deputies are right that these are real figures and have real impacts on people. The latest data from the Central Bank, which publishes quarterly data on interest rates on outstanding mortgages, is from September of this year and indicates that the average interest rate on outstanding mortgages held by banks was 3.44%, down from 3.6% a year earlier. For the overall non-bank sector the weighted average was 3.78%, down from 4.39% a year earlier and for those entities in the non-bank sector, which do not engage in new lending, the weighted average was 3.91%, down almost 1.5% from 5.32% a year earlier. The Central Bank has indicated that Irish banks operate at a healthy profit level, but that gap with the EU average has narrowed more recently.  Domestic banks currently maintain healthy balance sheets. We need them to do so in order that they are well positioned to absorb potential credit losses in case of adverse shocks. We know what it was like when the banking sector collapsed in the past and the pain that caused. As announced in the recent budget, the revised form of a bank levy was further extended. Extending the bank levy in increments of one year at a time ensures the form, scope and revenue target of the levy can be assessed and calibrated on an annual basis in a manner that accounts for various factors, including the level of profitability of the sector from year to year and the performance of the liable institutions relative to one another and that is also a tool at our disposal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Of course interest rates have fallen in the past year. The European interest rates have fallen. Why on earth would they not? The issue is that we have record bank profits and Irish mortgage holders are being over-charged in interest rates compared with other countries. I gave the example of the UK. The spreads in Ireland are more than three times higher than those in the UK. Does the T\u00e1naiste find that acceptable? Is he going to do anything about it? He is simply talking about more banking competition. That has been said by Ministers for Finance in this Chamber over many years, but we are in the situation that people are being ripped off now. Is the T\u00e1naiste going to do something about it or does he find it acceptable? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Deputy O'Callaghan made the point. To tell us that interests have dropped 0.2% in a year on weighted average, when the ECB has reduced interest rates seven or eight times in the past 16 months, is a nonsense argument. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  It is not. They reduced. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  It is a nonsense argument. The banks should be reducing their interest rates beyond the rate they are offering at this time. The ECB has given them the flexibility to do that by reducing the rate. I am not expecting them to be passed on percentage by percentage, but there is no doubt that Irish banks are creaming it off the backs of mortgage holders and the T\u00e1naiste is doing nothing about it. His predecessor did nothing about it, and the T\u00e1naiste's response here is that he will not do anything about it. All he is saying to the public is that he is looking for competition, that we have to get another bank. What will he actually do about AIB and Bank of Ireland making a \u20ac5 billion profit when everyone in this Chamber knows it is being made as a result of high interest rates that should not be charged to Irish consumers. Consumers and families are being forced to take out mortgages at huge rates because of Government policies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  If the Deputies want to have a direct link between every loan facility and the ECB interest rate, they have to be willing to say they want it for deposits as well. That will not be good either for many Irish businesses or families. There has to be a context to this conversation because people are watching at home and it is presented to them as though interest rates are way out of kilter with the European average. The point I am making with the evidence I put on the record of the House, which is available for all to read from the ECB and the Central Bank of Ireland, is that the gap is now narrowing.  I have heard it said for years that Irish mortgage holders pay the highest mortgage interest rates in the European Union. That is not true. We pay a little above the European average. That has real impacts on people in their bills, that is absolutely right. However, it was 3.56% in October and the European average was 3.3%. It is, therefore, absolutely prudent and sensible to say we should continue to look at what we can do at a European level.  I was at meetings as recently as last week about what we can do at a European level to complete the single market and make sure there are more opportunities for Ireland, which is a small country from the point of view of population, to be able to avail of banking services across the European Union and to attract banks in. It is not just talk. We saw yesterday the benefit of a new banking organisation entering the Irish economy. We have kept the banking levy, which is a tool at our disposal and it is reviewed each year in advance of the budget. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Mortgage Interest Rates"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"National Asset Management Agency","counts":{"speechCount":25,"speakerCount":6},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_38.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  My question is about the wind-up of NAMA, which will happen in the next ten days. Who will assume responsibility for ongoing issues, irregularities and other issues, such as court proceedings when NAMA has been wound up? It will happen by 31 December. That is only ten days away. Will the T\u00e1naiste make a statement on the matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  As the Deputy noted, NAMA is on track to substantively conclude its operational wind-down by the end of this year. NAMA completed its final surplus payment of \u20ac450 million to the Exchequer as recently as yesterday, 17 December 2025. In total, NAMA has now contributed \u20ac5.6 billion to the State. This contribution has included cash transfers, corporation tax payments as well as significant assets transferred to the Land Development Agency, LDA, earlier this year, comprising social housing and strategic lands with the potential to deliver up to 4,500 homes.  The conclusion of IBRC special liquidation and dissolution of NAMA Bill, when enacted, will finalise the phased and orderly wind-down of the agency. Priority drafting of the Bill was approved on 2 July 2024 and is currently at an advanced stage.  The experience of other workout vehicles internationally has shown that some residual activity, including litigation, would remain after NAMA's core work had concluded. The need to ensure that such residual activity is properly managed has been a priority of the Government and officials throughout the drafting of the Bill. Therefore the Bill will provide for a new unit to be established within the NTMA following NAMA's dissolution, to manage any remaining residual activity, including litigation, until ultimate completion.  This resolution unit will report to NTMA senior management and will operate within the agency's governance framework. The vesting of this residual activity in the NTMA will ensure that any active proceedings to which NAMA was a party before its dissolution will continue to be managed effectively.  As the Deputy will be aware, by virtue of sections 99 and 202 of the NAMA Act 2009, NAMA is legally precluded from disclosing confidential debtor information, including specific details relating to debtors, secured assets or related transactions. I remind the Deputy that NAMA was established as an independent commercial body and I have no role in its operations or decisions.  In relation to the matters raised by the Deputy, I am informed by NAMA that it is satisfied it has at all times acted appropriately and in accordance with its statutory remit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  I am worried that when there is alleged fraud taking place with the handling of money who will be responsible for the ongoing investigations into that fraud and irregularities and current cases; including two matters I have raised previously in this House, namely, the ongoing NAMA investigation into circumstances relating to Nemo Rangers lands in Cork, and the unlawful use by NAMA of the personal tax number of Mr. John Fraher, a businessman in Clonmel? He had gone out of business, was living in England and his tax number was used for a number of years, with the knowledge of NAMA and by people involved in NAMA. It was an abject crime.  What becomes of the cases when NAMA ceases operations? Who will take responsibility for these investigations? Who will be held to account for any irregularities or wrongdoing? Will the Minister make a statement on that? He said he is not responsible but somebody has to be accountable for what went on here. It was an awful vista. We had Project Eagle in Belfast and Project Jackdaw in Clonmel, on the Clonmel Arms site. We have the cases of Mr. John Fraher and Nolan Transport and other ongoing cases in Wexford and issues there as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  There will be a supplementary question from Deputy Neville. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  NAMA has been one of those interesting bodies in my lifetime. It came in during a significant economic crash and was seen almost a set-up of last resort. I wondered about the impact it would have. As we look back now we can see it has had a positive legacy. It has turned out positively for the Government, notwithstanding what has happened over the past few years and that is worth reflecting on. How do we take the learnings, and not just from NAMA itself? If something like this happens again, how do we ensure the knowledge we built up and the success, ultimately, of NAMA is replicated? It was one of the great benefits of the last 15 years considering the crash we had, to be able to put together a body like NAMA. The Opposition probably ultimately considered it would have been the worst thing in the world but it has worked out successfully. So much money has been repaid to the Exchequer, even though we took such a risk. How do we take the learnings from that and how does the T\u00e1naiste see we will be able to put that in place for future generations? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I thank Deputy McGrath for his follow-up question. It is not a question of responsibility. I am precluded, as is NAMA, under sections 99 and 202 of the NAMA Act from disclosing confidential debtor information. Indeed, NAMA is legally precluded from disclosing that information, including specific details relating to debtors, secured assets or related transactions. The agency remains an independent commercial body. These queries the Deputy raised have been raised with NAMA and it has informed me it is satisfied it has at all times acted appropriately and in accordance with its statutory remit. If the Deputy has any further information to the contrary or concerns, I encourage him to make them available to NAMA or any other agency he feels is appropriate.  Deputy Neville asked an interesting question about learnings. One hopes we will never find ourselves as a country in this position ever again and that is why we have to continue to budget in such a manner. NAMA's lifetime contribution to the Exchequer has been \u20ac5.6 billion and that includes cash, corporation tax and significant assets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  Thank you, T\u00e1naiste. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I will come back on the rest in a moment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  There are serious concerns about fraud in recent High Court proceedings about unusual ownership structures such as a case involving two identically named companies, Dildar Limited, one of which is registered offshore, which may indicate attempts to circumvent liabilities to NAMA, and the T\u00e1naiste is saying that he does not have responsibility. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I never said \"responsibility\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  Somebody has to have responsibility when NAMA is wound up. We cannot just fold it up and put it on a shelf and say, \"Great job done\". NAMA did some good work but there was obvious wrongdoing and fraud in the cases I mentioned including the Nemo Rangers lands in Cork and worse in Clomnel town with the Clonmel Arms Hotel, which I have raised here, and now the Clonmel Park Hotel and Mr. John Fraher. The T\u00e1naiste said NAMA is satisfied it acted appropriately. How could it have acted appropriately when he went out of business, ceased trading in Ireland, went bankrupt, was trading in England and his tax number was continually used to put funds through here by other directors of the company, with the knowledge of NAMA? I have named these cases in the D\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  Deputy, your time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  The T\u00e1naiste said that NAMA is satisfied. Well I am not satisfied and I will not stop at this. I have gone to the Garda. They do not seem to be interested either so it is a funny situation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I say this respectfully and I do not want to be overly argumentative on the final day of the D\u00e1il before Christmas, but it is unfair to say the Garda is not interested. The Garda in this country take very seriously any issues brought to its attention and if the Deputy has an issue with the Garda, there is a structure there. I just do not like those blanket statements, \"The Garda is not interested\" and \"NAMA is not interested\". It is a very serious thing to come to the floor of the D\u00e1il, reference individual citizens of our State's tax details and numbers - I am not sure that is in order - and then basically accuse people of fraud, including State agencies. Everyone has an entitlement to his or her good name. There are very robust procedures in place. If the Deputy believes any illegality has been committed, he should go to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. The Garda is always interested in all matters related to that. I am satisfied, as Minister for Finance, that based on the information the Deputy has provided to the Department of Finance and to NAMA, that NAMA has acted at all times appropriately and in accordance with its statutory remit. That is what I am telling the Deputy here on the floor of the D\u00e1il. I have also said, and reiterate, that in regard to any residual activity, including court cases - the Deputy referenced cases and I do not know whether they are live or not - responsibility for that will transfer to the NTMA. Perhaps that is another route through which the Deputy can raise his query. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Can I raise a point of order? I would like clarification because I was not aware of this. Are we allowed to ask supplementary questions on priority questions? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I was wondering about that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  It was provided for there in the last question. Priority questions are protected, as far as I know today, from other Members interfering in them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  We are not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  We are not. Please forgive me. It is my first time doing this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  That is okay. I was not sure if it had changed or not, genuinely. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  Apologies for that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  The spirit of Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  The spirit of Christmas and forgiveness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Exactly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  Deputy Boland's supplementary question will be allowed. Not Deputy Neville's, that is enough. He has gotten me into trouble once already. We will move to Question No. 174 which will be grouped with Question No. 184. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Asset Management Agency"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Reports","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_40.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I propose to take Questions Nos. 174 and 184 together.  I thank Deputy Clendennen and I know Deputy Byrne has a similar question. Both Future Forty reports, Ireland's Demographic Outlook and A Fiscal and Economic Outlook to 2065, explore the key drivers of Ireland\u2019s economy and public finances over the next 40 years, on a no-policy change basis. We are often accused of short termism in this place. In fairness to the officials in the Department of Finance who worked on this, this is the antidote to short termism, talking about what Ireland might look like, and not predicting it but actually putting a whole variety of different scenarios - about 2,000 of them - out there. It is really the antidote to short termism, saying, here is what Ireland could look like in 2016 on a no-policy change basis.  Developing realistic projections of Ireland\u2019s future population size and demographic profile is a fundamental step in the broader assessment of the long- term drivers of economic growth. The analysis demonstrates how alternative scenarios for future net migration and fertility rates can affect population and demographic projections.  In Future Forty\u2019s central scenario, the old-age dependency ratio is expected to increase - as the Deputy rightly said - from 23% in 2022 to 55% in 2065. These headwinds are unavoidable. However, even in a high migration, high fertility situation, Future Forty finds that the old age dependency rate may increase to 50% by 2065.  While people are thankfully living longer - this is a good thing, by the way - and living more active lives, the ageing population will have significant fiscal impacts for Ireland as age-related spending, including on healthcare and long-term care, increases in line with this change. It will also put downward pressure on our labour force and therefore could suppress economic growth.  The exact path of our future is uncertain; the risks are tilted to the downside.  However, steps can be taken to mitigate these risks and prepare for the challenges ahead. In fact, in the reading of Future Forty, it looks out for 40 years but its basic, simple message is that we have a decade to take the policy decisions that we need to take collectively to future-proof our country.  The Government has already introduced several policies to respond to these challenges. First, the programme of capital investment under the updated national development plan will support productivity growth, including by crowding in private investment. In addition, continued capitalisation of the Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund will help to offset some of these future pressures. Finally, the rollout of the pension auto-enrolment scheme, which is a very important, transformational measure, will ensure that all eligible workers, for the first time, have supplementary private pension provision, thereby alleviating pressure on the public finances and helping to improve quality of life in retirement.  The key finding from the analysis is that policy development in the coming decade will have a critical bearing on Ireland's long-term living standards. We will all have different views on what those policies could be but Future Forty provides us with an important evidence base and data that will be useful to all of us in our work. This window of opportunity must be used to improve efficiencies, boost our resilience and implement key structural reforms in order to raise productivity. It is only by implementing policy action on all of these fronts that we can ensure long-term economic, fiscal and environmental sustainability.  My Department, alongside the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and the Department of the Taoiseach, is committed to developing potential enhancements to better integrate long-term strategic planning more systematically into policymaking. Future Forty will be central to this process.  The report is on a \u201cno policy change\u201d basis. Of course, there will always be policy changes. The question for all of us is whether it is informed, intelligent and evidence-based policy. Crucially, the report looks at the advancement of technology, whether it be AI or other developments, and what that will do to productivity. What will it do in terms of being able to improve our access to healthcare as we age, hopefully with dignity, in our country? Future Forty is a very important piece of work that provides, in a way that I have not seen before in these Houses, a treasure trove of information, data and various scenarios that can help all of us - Government and Opposition - in planning for the future of our economy and society. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  I agree with the T\u00e1naiste that long-term forecasting models are very welcome. When we look at some of the measures we have introduced already, like the Future Ireland Fund and saving for days of pressing future financial demands, the question is whether we are doing it at a fast enough pace. Regularly, in this Chamber, we hear negative connotations and associations concerning migration. This report is very clear regarding our dependence on growing our labour force and economy, and who is going to play a vital role in ensuring that materialises. When we see a forecasted increase of 2.5 times in the old-age dependency rate in the next 40 years, it is startling to think of what we will have to do in this space in the coming years. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to commit to publishing a clear, multi-annual demographic and fiscal strategy so we can continue to monitor this on an ongoing annual basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  This is an incredibly important report, as the T\u00e1naiste said. I welcome the fact that he acknowledges the role of AI and technology, and how it may change our lives. It is worthy of a full debate in the House. Given the statistics we are looking at, by 2041, on current projections, there will be 1.4 million people aged 65 and older, and by 2065, there will be 2 million people aged 65 and older, triple the number at present.  This is of particular interest to the T\u00e1naiste, given he is probably the youngest in the Chamber, so he will have to keep working to fund all of our pensions. The pension issue is certainly something we will need to address. We need to look at how we are designing our communities and societies. It is critical that we engage with older people\u2019s representatives around that. I have asked the T\u00e1naiste before about keeping people healthier as they get older, and the commitments within the programme for Government for tax relief for gym membership, which is critical. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I agree with the Minister on the need to look long-term in the projections. When looking so far ahead, there are huge variances but we need to look beyond one year.  I recall that in his first speech as leader of Fine Gael, the Minister promised that a five-year tax strategy would be published by the end of last year. I cannot find that anywhere. Is it on the Fine Gael website, the Department of Finance website or the Department of the Taoiseach website? Will the Minister outline where that five-year tax strategy is? For the life of me, I cannot find it anywhere. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I thank Deputy Doherty for reminding me. Once we publish the medium-term fiscal framework, which will set out the expenditure trajectory to the end of the decade, it will enable me, in my new role, to look at that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  That is not a tax strategy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  What I can tell the Deputy is that the trajectory of the tax bands for the coming years is what is outlined in the programme for Government. I look forward to debating that with the Deputy in the months and, God willing, years ahead.  I thank Deputy Doherty for acknowledging this. The Future Forty document is not my document or the Deputy\u2019s document. It is genuinely something that we should all embrace. It is produced by very able and informed officials and economic experts in the Department of Finance. It is as much for the Opposition as the Government; it is as much for the Oireachtas as the Executive. It will, no doubt, provide us with a useful debating tool, and hopefully inject, from everybody's perspective, a degree of evidence into all of the things that all of us say in these Houses, which the public rightly expect.  Are we doing it at a fast enough pace? That is a very fair question from Deputy Clendennen. An objective answer is probably \u201cNo\u201d. More broadly, there are very significant megatrends, as they call them in the document, coming at us. There are huge opportunities within that, and there are also huge challenges. We have taken a number of important steps, such as the establishment of what could effectively be sovereign wealth funds. The Future Ireland Fund and the Infrastructure, Climate and Nature Fund are important steps, and running budgetary surpluses is helpful. The NDP provides clarity and \u20ac275.4 billion of funding out to 2035, and that it runs for longer than the lifetime of this Government is good.  I will come back to the issue of gyms. Deputy Byrne is right regarding what we can do to positively age. We are not powerless when we look at this document. We are all going to get older but we can get older and stay healthy. What can we do from a policy, health service and technology point of view to help make that more of a reality? On the issue of taxes for gyms, we look at all matters in the context of the budget. I would also point out that there are lots of ways you can keep fit out in the fresh air too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  One point in relation to funds is that the strength of deposits in Ireland on a domestic and international basis must be noted. The registration of auto-enrolment on 1 January is a big step forward. It is certainly welcome. Given the objective that it is set to achieve, it is going in the right direction. I have one ask. There is an element of apprehension, particularly among small businesses, about affordability and viability in this space. It is something we will have to monitor very closely in order to protect small businesses. I made the point at committee yesterday that there is now a situation where small businesses on high streets and in small villages are competing with multinational corporations. We need to get the balance right with regard to the demands. Nonetheless, it is definitely a worthwhile initiative. We also need to ensure that people who want to work later in life can do that and be rewarded for it, from a financial need or social well-being perspective. Those are initiatives that we need to look at as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I agree with Deputy Clendennen on auto-enrolment. It is essential, but it is important that we take on board the concerns of SMEs.  It is very welcome that we now have life expectancy of 83 in this country. It is a huge success that we are at that point. One of the challenges is that we age healthily. In Singapore, as part of the old age package, admission to community gyms and swimming pools is free for those over 65. There is a commitment in the programme for Government to tax relief for gym membership in order to promote strength training. What is critical is that we ensure that those who are in their 40s and 50s, and then in their 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, can remain healthy.  It is critical to engage with organisations like the National Older People's Council, and I know Kevin Molloy in my own area is regularly raising issues around this. We need to involve older people in the discussions on these issues as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I was certainly not being flippant about the programme for Government commitments. I do not want anyone holding off on staying healthy until future budgets. These are issues that we will, of course, consider in the round, as we always do in advance of the budget.  I was in Millstreet in west Cork recently to visit a community gym that is part-funded through Government grants. It was great to see. I was on the same rowing machine that now-President Connolly had been on when she was campaigning. It is the most famous rowing machine in Ireland because the President was on it, and they are very proud of that fact. It is a great community gym. It is an example of communities working together to create healthy communities and help themselves age in a good way.  Deputies Clendennen and Byrne referred to auto-enrolment. I was talking to the Swedish minister in Brussels the other day.  I think this is something they did in Sweden many decades ago. It is a transformational decision. I accept that it is going to be a little difficult for people. We are asking people and employers to put a little aside at a challenging time, knowing it will create provision for them as they age above and beyond the State pension. The communications campaign is important, making sure everybody knows how it works and the obligations on everybody. I have heard good media engagement on that recently. It is important we keep that up. I am conscious of the pressures on small and medium businesses as I know the Deputy is. There will be different views in this House on this. We have taken a number of measures to try to assist with that, including the 9% VAT rate, the new timeline for the living wage and the decision not to expand the statutory sick scheme further beyond five days. I accept there are different views on those decisions in the House, but they were taken in recognition of the reality that when we have a bright idea in here, we do not always have to pay for it; it is the business that does. Auto-enrolment really needs to happen. As it rolls out, we will continue to engage and listen. We will look back long after we are all gone and say this was a really important moment to protect low-income workers in particular as they age. Future Forty suggests there will be many more low-income workers ageing and living longer, healthier lives in the future. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Reports"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Film Industry","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_41.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  There is \u20ac125 million a year, I think, or probably higher, in section 481 film tax support for the film producers of this country. You can add in another \u20ac20 million or \u20ac30 million from Screen Ireland. It is a lot of money; billions over several decades. Is the Minister enforcing - I believe he is not - the quality employment and training condition? It is about guaranteeing decent quality employment and training for the people who work in the industry. In truth, actors are not being looked after in terms of their royalties and are being forced to sign buyout contracts, and crew are not having their rights vindicated. The Minister needs to monitor and police this properly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I thank Deputy Boyd Barrett for raising this issue. I know it is an issue in which he has taken a keen interest since long before I was in this role. The Deputy and I, along with Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh, had some engagement on this matter during the Report Stage debate on the Finance Bill. Section 481 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 provides a 32% payable credit for eligible expenditure on film production in Ireland. The scheme is intended to act as a stimulus to indigenous film industry in the State, to create quality employment opportunities and to support the expression of Irish culture.  The provision of quality employment forms part of the application process for the relief, as the Deputy said. Applicant companies are required to sign an undertaking of compliance with all relevant employment legislation. Adjudication of adherence to employment legislation is not within my direct remit as Minister for Finance. Monitoring of compliance with employment rights legislation is primarily a matter for the Department of enterprise through the Workplace Relations Commission. If there are any issues to be raised with regard to the application of employment law, they should be brought to that Department.  In relation to copyright, which is also within the remit of the Department of enterprise, my officials have directly engaged with relevant representative bodies to better understand issues relevant to the audiovisual sector. There are complex legal issues involved but processes are under way to address them. The Deputy will be aware that an independent facilitator was retained by Screen Ireland in 2023 to meet key stakeholders wherein copyright concerns were discussed and identified directly with industry. As a result of this process, stakeholders have agreed interim best practice industry guidelines while pursuing a path towards a collective bargaining agreement. This is a positive step. Several collective bargaining agreements have been reached in the industry in recent years including construction crew and shooting crew agreements. These agreements provide for improved rates of pay, for standardised work practices and for an industry pension scheme. This demonstrates the scope for positive engagement in the industry and the genuine willingness to reach compromises beneficial for both parties.  Regarding terms and conditions for film workers, it is not my place as Minister to dictate to creative professionals what their stance on pay and conditions should be. Rather, this is a decision for the workers themselves and for their unions to seek agreement in negotiations with employer representatives. It is not appropriate for legal rights to be linked only to one set of circumstances regarding tax credits. I want everybody's legal rights to be enforced regardless of the tax credit. It is important to recognise that the laws that underpin both copyright and employment rights apply regardless of whether a company applies for section 48. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The Minister's Department gives out section 481. The idea that he is not responsible for policing the quality employment and training condition is ridiculous. We need joined-up thinking. Everybody is playing pass the parcel - the Department of arts, the Department of finance and the Department of enterprise - and nobody is responsible. Therefore, workers are blacklisted, overworked, stressed and not treated properly. Their rights are not vindicated. Actors, screenwriters and so on are forced to sign buyout contracts which essentially force them to sign away their residuals. If anybody kicks up, they are kicked out of the industry. That is the actuality of the industry. Is the Minister or the Department aware that Screen Guilds of Ireland, which is funded by Screen Ireland, did a survey of people in the film industry in the summer but never published the outcome? Initially, very few people knew about it but when they found out, 800 film workers painted a very unflattering picture of conditions in the film industry. I have it in front of me. I will read excerpts if I get a chance. It was never published or given to the union. Stagehands recently won cases in the High Court. Equity will tell the Minister, despite what he is being told, that their fight against buyout contracts is ongoing because producers are not responding seriously. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I accept the Deputy's point that there are some examples in the sector but it is important to remember there are up to 16,000 people directly or indirectly employed in film, television and animation production in this country, including in the T\u00e1naiste's constituency and in mine. For every \u20ac1 invested under section 481, the return to the State is estimated at nearly \u20ac4. It is a significant part of our economy. Deputy Boyd Barrett is correct that we need to be concerned about some of the residuals particularly with regard to the impact of artificial intelligence. The joint Oireachtas committee will look at the issue of the impact of AI on the creative industries and the long-term future for actors. This is a vibrant sector. While there are problems, I do not want it to be painted as a widespread phenomenon. There are a lot of really good employers creating incredible work that showcases Ireland nationally and internationally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Deputy Byrne captured the point I would make. This tax credit has been extraordinarily successful. Deputy Boyd Barrett is not suggesting that it has not. It has created lots of employment and investment and an ecosystem. I happen to live in and represent a county, as does Deputy Byrne, which has benefited significantly from that, as have lots of parts of Ireland. We have seen progress in workers' rights and the enforcement of employment law in relation to this. I referenced a number of collective bargaining agreements. We want to see more. My job is to put in place a tax credit. People sign up and commit to adhering to certain things under the tax credit. I am making the point that those are policed or enforced by the Workplace Relations Commission primarily. There are a number of issues, of which I imagine Deputy Boyd Barrett is aware, before the High Court regarding substantive issues that arose from the Labour Court. I am often asked why we will not mandate PACT-Equity contracts, as used in the UK. They have been offered to Irish workers on a number of productions and they turned it down because the Irish contracts offered better terms. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  The Minister is getting his information from producers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  It is from my Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  On the work of crew, this survey was responded to by 800 workers. Has the Minister or Deputy Byrne seen it? No, because Screen Ireland has seen it but they have not published it because it paints a very unflattering picture. The words used by the film workers include, \"Producers' reluctance to give the crew their full needs\", \"night shoots and rest days that aren't paid properly\", \"tight schedules\", \"long hours\", \"being hired as a trainee when there are no leads or assistants\", \"overly long work day\", \"budget constraints\", \"ageism\", \"professional development and progression not happening\", \"grade progression\", \"stress and hours\", \"continuity of employment\", \"pay\", \"stress\" - it goes on. It was suppressed, effectively, because the people who did this survey do not want the Minister or anybody else to know about the outcome. Stagehands are in the High Court which found in their favour that their rights under the fixed-term workers Act are not being vindicated because of the DAC structure being abused by film producers in a way that means workers in the industry can never accumulate rights under fixed-term workers legislation. On buyout contracts, Equity made absolutely clear it wants PACT-Equity agreement. It is compliant with EU legislation. It has said this repeatedly. Whoever is telling the Minister they do not want it is not telling the truth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I would welcome seeing that and I am sure the Deputy will give me what he has about the survey. I will also raise it through my Department with the Department of culture and Screen Ireland. If there is useful information that provides us with an insight into the industry, I would like to see that. It is important to see it and it should not be suppressed. I share that view. On whoever is giving me the information, the information is from my Department, to be clear. I am told there have been times when an Irish production has used PACT-Equity terms but there have also been cases where actors have been offered terms equivalent to UK PACT-Equity terms and have refused them on the basis of previous Irish contracts offering better terms, in particular on lower budget productions.  I am sharing that with the Deputy for the benefit of the discussion. Ultimately, as the Deputy knows, it is a matter for workers' and employers' representatives to reach agreement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  It is blacklisting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Ultimately, that is what we should all be trying to foster here. However, I take the issue seriously. I know this sector through my own constituency and I know many people who work in it. I am aware that the ecosystem has benefited. It is a really positive part of the Irish economy and the Irish offering. Many countries would love to have what we have. If there are areas in need of improvement, I will be very happy to consider them and engage further on them. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Film Industry"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Defective Building Materials","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_42.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Since taking office, what engagement has the Minister had with his Cabinet colleagues and the Central Bank to ensure all victims of the defective blocks scandal are treated as equal citizens and can access financial products and services on the same basis as everyone else? I ask this because the State's response to this crisis continues to be characterised by unfairness. If you live in Donegal, where I acknowledge the Minister has visited, you will know that families have been failed by the Government in such an unbelievable way. What the families face again this Christmas is horrible. What engagement has Deputy Harris, as Minister for Finance, had with his colleagues or the Central Bank? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I thank the Deputy. On an addendum, he raised with me on Report Stage of the Finance Bill a specific issue in relation to rental properties and their availability in Donegal. I undertook to engage with the Minister for housing on that. I sent him the information from our discussion and I will be engaging with him in January. I am happy to talk to the Deputy further about this.  I am aware that this is a very difficult situation for homeowners. I do not need to tell the Deputy, of all people, about the many homes affected. The current and previous Governments have tried to step up and provide support to many households affected by defective concrete blocks, and this is reflected in the increased funding for the scheme in recent years. As the Deputy is aware, the overall Government response to problems associated with defective concrete blocks is led by my colleague, the Minister for housing. His Department is engaging with impacted households and relevant stakeholders and administering financial supports to help affected homeowners. The Department of housing has engaged with Banking and Payments Federation Ireland, BPFI, to emphasise the need for a fair and consistent approach by the banking sector in supporting customers with distressed mortgage payments caused by defective concrete blocks in their homes. I am due to meet BPFI early in the new year and I too will raise this issue with it.  On the issue of access to financial products and services, the existing consumer protection regulatory framework fully applies to all consumers, including those whose homes are affected by defective concrete blocks. Lenders are strongly encouraged to engage constructively with homeowners affected by defective concrete blocks and assist them where possible in accessing the State redress scheme and remediating their homes. In particular, the Central Bank's consumer protection code requires all regulated entities to act with due skill, care and diligence in the best interests of its customers and without prejudice to the pursuit of their legitimate commercial aims. It does not, through its policies, procedures or work practices, prevent access to basic financial services. I will raise this issue at my next monthly engagement with the Governor of the Central Bank. If the Deputy wants to send me on any specific information in advance of that, I will be happy to consider it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The banking and insurance focus group is doing tremendous work. In fairness to BPFI, it has really engaged with it and included other organisations such as Insurance Ireland, valuers and so on. The Department of housing has refused to engage with them, which is ridiculous, to tell the truth. They should be part of the working group, as should other Departments. These are very serious people who are working through issues like the mortgageability of houses. Houses remediated through the existing scheme are not mortgageable because the authorities will not sign off on them. The group made up of the parties I have referred to has made a submission on the new standards for defective concrete blocks, raising serious concerns. There are other issues also and they are major.  I welcome what the Minister for Finance said about the Minister for housing, but what is really at the core of this is whether the Minister for Finance actually believes there are people in my constituency and elsewhere who, even with whatever support the State has given, have to find up to \u20ac80,000 to build the exact same house that has to be demolished because of defective blocks. If so, how does he feel it is fair? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I believe people. I believe them when I meet them. I believed them when I sat in their kitchens in the Deputy\u2019s constituency and county. They have told me about some of the issues they are still experiencing regarding shortfalls, anomalies or issues with banks. They raised some of those issues with me quite truthfully when I was in Donegal, which I believe, from memory, was during the month of August.  We are trying as a Government to continue to respond and evolve the scheme. We are seeing an increased uptake. That is also factually true. I do not like to hear from the Deputy that a Department is not engaging, because we need to continue to engage on this. The distress, worry and fear are real. There are other issues I have been trying to address through a variety of roles, including in respect of preschool facilities in the Deputy's constituency. There is one in Raphoe, as he will know. It is trying and there has to be a way forward in respect of this. I accept that we need to continue to work and engage on this further. I am pleased to hear that BPFI engagement has been good. I will still list this as an agenda item for my meeting with it in January. I am also happy to discuss the role of Central Bank of Ireland when I meet in January. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  BPFI has been engaging for nearly two years now and it has done a huge amount. These are very serious people.  The Minister mentioned the childcare facilities that I have raised with him. There are three childcare facilities that are community run. The Minister has been talking about State-run childcare facilities and all the rest but the three community childcare facilities in question \u2013 in Letterkenny, Raphoe and Ardara \u2013 are in buildings that are falling down. The one in Raphoe is already gone because the children are not safe in the building. With regard to the other two cases, it is just ticking away. There is no scheme to replace those facilities. Kids and parents depend on them. There are 12 schools in Donegal with buildings that are going to fall down. There are cracks and you can put your hand through some of them. There is no scheme at present, although the Department is going to inspect the buildings.  Over 80 council houses in Donegal that should have families in them this Christmas are lying empty because they have defective blocks. There is no scheme to fix them. There are people going through the scheme but these are the people who have had to find \u20ac80,000, \u20ac90,000 or \u20ac100,000, and in some cases more. There are so many others who simply cannot do this. What does the Minister think is going to happen to them? He might know them. People of pension age have only their pensions. They do not have \u20ac70,000 or \u20ac80,000 to make up the shortfall. No matter what grant the Government provides, they cannot rebuild their homes under this scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Grace Boland  The Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, confirmed for me recently that Fingal County Council will be admitted to the defective concrete block scheme, which is very welcome. However, I need to highlight that a small number of very good, prudent homeowners in Skerries, Lusk and The Naul have already remediated their homes and consequently will not now be eligible to be supported under the scheme. I would very much appreciate it if the Minister for Finance worked with the Minister for housing to ensure those people, who were prudent and put themselves through financial hardship to ensure their homes would be safe and remediated, are not unfairly treated and disadvantaged because Fingal County Council is only now being admitted to the scheme? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Let me reflect on what Deputy Doherty said. While some of this is not within my direct remit, I am a leader in government and am not recused from responsibility. My sense from engaging with people in Donegal and other parts of the country is that the scheme is now working for more people than it was but that there are still some who have significant concerns that they cannot access the scheme, and that there are other areas, beyond privately owned homes, where people are still asking how they will resolve the issue. Up until now, the approach has been for the line Department to work its way through this, but we are going to need to give a more considered response as to how we proceed. Let me reflect on it. I will be happy to engage online or offline on this.  I am pleased to hear that Fingal County Council will now be included in the scheme. That is a source of welcome relief for people in Deputy Boland's county and constituency. I will engage with the Minister, Deputy Browne, on those homeowners in Skerries, Lusk and The Naul who have already remediated their homes. I do not want to make any commitments because I am not across the detail but I will certainly talk to the Minister, Deputy Browne, and revert to Deputy Boland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  I welcome the women from Graiguenamanagh Women's Shed to the Visitors Gallery. I hope they have a lovely visit. I had better crack on now before I get cancelled. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Are they the Chair's people? Hello to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  Mine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  I will never be asked to chair again. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Defective Building Materials"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Tax Reliefs","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_43.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  Now we have two grouped questions again \u2013 my favourite. Deputy Cian O'Callaghan has two different questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I thank the Chair. I have never been grouped with myself before.  M\u00e1 chaitheann muid \u00e1r s\u00fail siar, we will recall that huge economic damage was done by property tax reliefs that were not well designed or indeed well researched.  In relation to recently introduced property tax relief measures, what research and analysis was done in advance? Will the Minister publish that research and analysis and share it with us? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I propose to take Questions Nos. 177 and 364 together.  The Deputy was determined to ask this question because it came in as a priority, regular oral and a written question. I am glad it got tabled because it is an important issue in relation to the expenditure of public money and the impact of that on the delivery of housing. A well-functioning housing market, we can all agree, is crucial to supporting labour mobility, improving competitiveness and ensuring that Ireland remains an attractive location for both domestic and foreign investment into the future. It is key for our people first and foremost.  The newly released national housing plan targets the delivery of 300,000 new homes from 2025 to 2030. High-density housing, such as apartments, will form a significant portion of these, in line with changing demographics and in order to achieve national policies on compact growth aimed at creating more sustainable communities.  The direct answer to the Deputy's question is that a number of reports have been published by my Department, most recently one in June 2024 that looked at the availability, composition and flow of finance for residential development. This report found that there is reasonable access to finance for viable residential developments. However, there are certain segments where viability is challenged and there is constrained access to finance, including funding apartment development for the private market. That was the 2024 anchor. I think that report was published.  The Deputy is also familiar with the recently published Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland report \"The Real Costs of New Apartment Delivery 2025\", which came out post the budget. It found that State interventions are playing a critical role in closing the financial viability gap while also noting that affordability remains the key challenge. There is also a Department of housing total development cost survey. The direct straight answer to the Deputy's question is that the two principal reports from an official Department point of view are the Department of Finance report in June 2024 on availability, composition and flow of finance for residential development and the Department of housing total development cost survey.  The Society of Chartered Surveyors Ireland report reveals through detailed case studies that State interventions are helping to bridge the financial viability gap. The analysis shows that, without Government initiatives, just two out of six apartment types are viable, whereas with State interventions five out of six become viable.  Even with record levels of State spending allocated for housing, private capital will also be required to meet our housing needs. As such, it is important to create an environment where we can continue to attract private investment, both domestic and international.  For this reason, budget 2026 contained a number of measures to support the housing sector, and in particular the construction of apartment developments. These include the reduction in VAT on apartments, the enhanced corporation tax deduction for certain apartment construction costs and enhancements to the living city initiative, which encourages people to regenerate and live in historic buildings in the centre of Irish cities and now in five large towns under the national planning framework.  Apartment development at scale will play an important role in meeting our housing targets. However, in recent years we have seen a retrenchment of private capital from the funding and development of apartments because these developments are costly, capital intensive and higher risk. Investment in the private rental sector in Dublin is estimated to have fallen from \u20ac2 billion in 2019 to \u20ac166 million in 2024.  The measures introduced in budget 2026, in tandem with more structural measures related to areas such as planning, apartment design and infrastructure, are all elements of a whole-of-government approach aiming to improve viability, increase supply and help to create a long-term sustainable housing system that reflects our country's needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I am aware that there have been reports on housing, viability, financing and so forth and that there has been research in the area; that was not my question. My question was on the tax measures that were introduced by Government and by the Minister's predecessor as Minister for Finance in the budget on property. What research or analysis was done before those tax measures were decided on? The Parliamentary Budget Office, which is independent, has been highly critical of the Government for introducing measures like that and not producing any evidence, analysis or research to back them up, especially given the damage that has been done in the past with similar measures.  In other countries when there are such massive public subsidies put into different types of housing, it is linked specifically to affordability - it makes housing more affordable. The Government decided not to do that. One of the main reports the Minister cited was something that was published post budget. Did the Government carry out research about these tax measures and if so, will the Minister publish it and share it with us? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I am not aware of any research or information that is not already in the public domain but let me double check. I bring the Deputy back to the political decision we made - and it was a political decision - in relation to recognising that viability is a major issue when it comes to apartment construction. Only a month or two after the budget, and I do not want to reach too much into the data, the initial data is somewhat encouraging. The Society Chartered Surveyors in Ireland which has expertise and certainly independence in this pointed out that there are six categories of apartments and only two of them were viable before Government made a number of interventions and it now believes that five out of six are viable which is a good thing.  It is not just a measure that is going to benefit developers in the private sense - by the way there is nothing wrong with private development and we need a lot more of it - but it will also benefit AHBs. It will reduce the cost of apartments for approved housing bodies which is also a good thing. It will also benefit, for example, people building student accommodation which is also a good thing. I am out of time but I agree with the Deputy on the broader point about the importance of measures being targeted and carefully monitored and I hope I will have a chance to come back in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  As the T\u00e1naiste has said, a political decision was made. We know that there was intense lobbying from the sector for that decision to be made. It appears that there was not any actual research or analysis done in advance on these tax measures by the Department. The T\u00e1naiste is not aware of any and none has been published. The SCSI report that he referenced shows only the top 20% of earners can actually afford to rent an apartment. Not doing that analysis, not doing that research and not tying these measures in with affordability is an absolute flaw. We are surrounded by countries where when they make these kinds of investments and measures, they make housing more affordable. The Government is pursuing policies that increase supply but do not increase affordability. That is a major flaw in what it is doing. Not having researched or analysed it in advance is a major flaw and the Parliamentary Budget Office has called it out on that. Why did the Government not do that? When making these kinds of decisions in future, will the Government commit to do the proper analysis in advance and tie the measures in with affordability which is best practice in other European countries? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  All the large building companies and AHBs appeared before the housing committee. They all welcomed the changes and improvements made on the viability of apartment building. Is there any timeline on the legal challenge being brought on the changes to apartment sizes which will affect the delivery of tens of thousands of apartments? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I have heard Deputy O'Callaghan make this point before and he holds a legitimate policy viewpoint on linking this to affordability. My predecessor was clear and I am clear too: this is a viability measure. While I do not have it in front of me, we have seen a very small example of where this measure has led to people building apartments to say that it has reduced the costs. However, it has not been introduced primarily as an affordability measures; it has been introduced primarily as a viability measure. There are other things we try to do on the viability side, such as cost rental, renter's tax credits, etc. That is a broader debate. I do not want to say, nor did I say, that no evidence-based research has been done. We have listened to the market, listened to industry and listened to the people who build apartments. That is an important thing to do in recognising there is a viability issue. There was also the June 2024 Department of Finance report which recognised challenges in this area and the Department of housing total development cost report.  I thank Deputy Carrigy for his question on apartments. I also followed that meeting and it was encouraging to hear many people, including the AHBs, saying this measure would help them. The Deputy is right in saying this is just one of a number of measures; there are also the apartment standards. I do not have a timeline on that but I will see if I can get it and revert to him. The apartment standard changes, the viability measures around the VAT and the clarity around rent protections are three key issues in trying to really stimulate apartment construction. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tax Reliefs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_44","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cost of Living Issues","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_44.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I am asking this question on behalf of my colleague Deputy Pete Roche who has done an awful lot of work in this area for families in his constituency of Galway East. The question is about what assessment the Department of Finance has carried out of the cumulative increase in costs in things like energy, childcare and housing, and the effect that has on hard-pressed working families. Will that assessment result in any particular policy change, for example, more targeted supports in next year's budget or future budgets? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I thank Deputy Ward for taking this question on behalf of our colleague, Deputy Pete Roche. As part of the budget process, my Department annually conducts distributional analysis to examine the impact of proposed tax and welfare measures on a range of households. Given the variety of ways in which means tests are applied it would not be possible to do such analysis specifically on households that do not qualify for means tested supports.  As in previous budgets, distributional analysis was conducted through the decision-making process for budget 2026 and ex post distributional analysis of the final budget measures was then published on budget day. The analysis finds that all households receive an average boost in their net disposable income of 1.1% as a result of budget 2026.  The budget is also progressive, with low-income households gaining more. The bottom two income cohorts gain 4.9% and 3.8%, respectively. The analysis indicates that budget 2026 reduces the at-risk-of-poverty rate for all households by 1.7% on average. That is not something you hear in this House very often.  As the Deputy will appreciate, in the budget the Government had to make difficult choices to get back to an annual rhythm of budgeting and move beyond one-off measures to being able to deliver permanent, sustainable and targeted measures to assist people. The budget was designed to boost our economic resilience and support workers and growth in their income by investing in jobs and the future. However, with the substantial personal income tax packages implemented over the past four years, the previous Government made significant progress in the context of increasing the entry point to income tax for all income earners and increasing the point at which the higher rate of income tax takes effect. These income tax measures are broadly expected to be in line with wage growth.  Budget 2025 has provided a range of support to individuals, families and businesses. In particular, the rent tax credit has proven to be a very meaningful support for renters. The credit is being extended for a further three years. The ceiling of the second USC rate band is being increased. This will ensure that a full-time worker on the minimum wage who benefits from the increase in the hourly minimum wage will remain outside the highest rates of USC. The 9% VAT on gas and electricity bills, which most opposition parties only budgeted to go to the end of the year or April, will now be in place for several years until the 31 December 2030. There is also a variety of other measures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I acknowledge what has been done in the budget in respect of this area. I acknowledge particularly the difficulty in balancing the importance of supports without creating inflationary pressure in other areas. I recognise that this has been done in the budget to a large extent. However, in certain schemes where supports are being provided, there are different pressures on families depending on where they live. The supports that are provided are across the board. There is no recognition of the fact that, for example, housing is much more expensive in cities. There is no recognition of the fact that if you are running a childcare facility in my constituency of D\u00fan Laoghaire, your rent will be higher as will the rent paid by your staff. I raised with the Minister for children previously the idea that we might have varied rates according to where they are in the country, but I do not know if that is possible. Has the Department of Finance looked at the possibility of having staggered rates around the country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  It is a very interesting point. This week, the Minister, Deputy Foley, took a very important step forward in publishing the first instalment of the action plan on childcare. That has a number of areas on which she is endeavouring to move including on the issue of staffing and pay but also in trying to provide maximum fee caps starting with lower income families. Next year has to be about publishing a comprehensive plan that gets us from here to the destination envisaged in the programme for Government of \u20ac200 per month per child. We know how to do that. What we need to know is how we do it. In addition, we need to make sure the system has enough places and staff. The Deputy made the point that one size does not fit all. There is not a one-size-fits-all model in relation to childcare. The parent has to have choice \u2013 that is really important \u2013 but even in a country as geographically small as Ireland there can be regional and local differences and providing a system that is flexible enough to understand that will be part of the challenge. Good measures have been taken this year, including the funding in capital for state interventions in some of these and 2026 will see the substantive plan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  I wish the Ceann Comhairle a happy Christmas. I want to raise targeted tax credit adjustments. The budget was significant, with an extra \u20ac9.4 billion spent. We got a lot of criticism and many questions were asked. It was suggested that, potentially, we had spent too much. There was a real focus on the part of this Government on supporting the most vulnerable, which is exactly what we did. We put a lot of extra spending in social welfare to really look after people in need, and correctly so. There was also significant capital investment. Is there any way we can look at the next part, namely - and as a previous speaker mentioned - the people who get up early in the morning and how to deal with them? How can the budget benefit families? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  Sometimes it is like Goldilocks \u2013 too hot, too cold or just right. In every debate I do on finance, whether it is here or the media, the first half is spent saying we spent too much money and the second half is a list of things we on which we should have spent more. The job of the Minister for Finance, the Government and the Oireachtas is to try and get the balance right. The first of five budgets had to be about getting back to a regular pattern of budgeting and being very clear to everybody in this country and everybody who looks at investing here that we intend to continue to run budget surpluses and continue to set money aside into the funds and invest at scale in infrastructure and in respect of the infrastructural pinch points that are holding us back. It was the budget of 9% in many ways - 9% for energy, which was reduced until the end of 2030, for jobs in the hospitality sector and also for stimulating apartment building because that is key to our housing challenge. However, I want to assure Deputies, their constituents and the people of Ireland that I want to get back to a regular budgetary rhythm whereby we can advance the tax measures for middle Ireland outlined in the programme for Government. Subject to being able to run the economy well and keeping things on the straight and narrow, that is exactly the path we will take over the next four budgets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I agree about having a standard measure that is predictable from year to year, particularly in relation to the tax brackets. However, tax credits is one area in respect of which we could potentially address issues relating to working families. These are the families caught between qualifying for certain grants and not earning enough to be okay on their own. Tax credits, reform of tax credits or giving them advantages in terms of what tax they pay is one area.  Means tests are not keeping up with inflation, and that affects families in the middle ground. They might earn more money, fall outside something that is means tested but not have more purchasing power on foot of inflation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  That is absolutely right. We have to keep the means test under review so they do not become mean. That is why we took a number of steps in the budget, particularly around carers, to make sure more people qualify because, ultimately, we want to phase out the means test. The Department of Social Protection, certainly in the previous D\u00e1il, was working on reviewing the means test. I will seek an update for the Deputy on that.  We live in a country where wage growth is outstripping price growth on average. For the first time in a while, we are seeing wages rising faster than prices. That is much-needed potential relief for families in the months and year ahead after what has been a very constrained and pressurised time in relation to the cost of living.  Regarding tax credits, I am learning in this job not to speculate on every potential measure. Lots of good ideas come up in this House. Tax measures are considered in the context of the annual budget. We have the work of the tax strategy group. I will be asking it to look at a range of issues in advance of the next budget. I will be happy to have feedback from Deputy Ward and other Members on that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 179 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cost of Living Issues"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_45","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cost of Living Issues","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_45.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The T\u00e1naiste's predecessor, Paschal Donohoe, said that there was no need for cost-of-living payments in the budget because \u201cinflation has now returned to normal rates\u201d. He said that inflation would be around 2% this year. That is clearly not the case. We have over 4% food price inflation and 3.3% energy price inflation. It is going to be a cold hard Christmas for many people. At this very late stage, I am asking the T\u00e1naiste to bring forward emergency cost-of-living payments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  As stated earlier in relation to my Department\u2019s forecast on inflation, an uptick was anticipated. That was down to what it describes as the base effects. The CSO outlined that the increase in inflation since September is largely accounted for by base effects. As a result, the assessment relating to inflation for next year has not materially changed. That is important to say because I understand that the cost-of-living pressures faced by people are real. They see individual items of inflation and individual reports and they wonder what that means for the year ahead. It is not only my Department and the European Commission. The ESRI has downgraded its inflation forecast for next year as recently as in its report this morning. We are now seeing wages growing faster than prices which should now mean the average worker experiencing real wage gains next year. I know that is much needed.  The Deputy and I will have a different perspective on this, but I would argue that we have endeavoured to provide significant support to households and businesses over the past number of years to help them absorb the worst impact of higher prices. These supports were temporary in nature. They balanced the need to provide assistance to the most vulnerable while avoiding a scenario whereby fiscal policy added to inflationary pressures. I say this for people at home: if the Government decides to spend lots more, it can have an inflationary effect and actually offset the benefit of what we are trying to achieve. As a result, we always have to achieve a balance between increasing investment and moderating the growth in day-to-day spending while avoiding doing anything that involves such a cost that it could create other difficulties for us in the time ahead.  We have taken a number of measures in the budget to try to assist people. The issue of the cost of energy is real and specific for people this winter. More people than ever will qualify for fuel allowance. The rate of the allowance will increase.  For the first time, people on the working family payment will get the fuel allowance as well. We also have a disconnection moratorium in place for the winter period, so nobody should feel the cold in their home this winter. We have supports in place to help those experiencing energy poverty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The truth is we are going to have the highest inflation rates in two years. They are not back to the extremely high rates we saw before that, but they are high. The whole premise upon which the Government justified not continuing with the cost-of-living payments was that inflation had returned to normal rates. There was a logic set out that has been confounded by reality, yet the Government is sticking with its position of no return of one-off payments.  The Minister knows that the impact of the withdrawal of one-off payments was very hard for the poorer sections of society. As a result of getting rid of the one-off payments, the bottom 10% lost 4.4% of their income. The next 10% lost 3.9%, so there were huge cuts in income and then particularly cruel, savage cuts reserved for disabled people of about \u20ac1,400 per year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Simon Harris  I very respectfully make the point that we put in place an extraordinary level of support for people over the past four years. Thank God this country was in a position to do that. We did it at a time of very high inflation. Those measures always had to be temporary. It is always difficult to unwind such measures, but I am crystal clear that if we did not get back to a situation of being able to deliver one regular budget each year, the position would not be fiscally sustainable into the future. It also would not necessarily be a good use of public resources.  Deputy Murphy probably does not need an energy credit this year. I do not mean that personally to him, I mean people in the Oireachtas do not need an energy credit this year. There are people who need assistance with their energy bills this year. We are constantly trying to get that balance right. We did say we are going to move to permanent targeted measures at a time when wages are thankfully growing above prices for the first time in a while.  We did of course keep the Christmas bonus measure in place, which is a one-off double payment that is paid to all those on long-term social welfare payments, including pensioners. Objectively, the budget was a progressive one. The permanent measures introduced in budget 2026 benefited those on lower incomes above and beyond those on higher incomes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I am sorry to inform Deputy Murphy that we are actually out of time. I thank everyone very much for their co-operation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cost of Living Issues"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_46","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/82","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/82\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":13},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move: \"That the Bill be read a Second Time.\"  I am very pleased to introduce the Bill to the House. I look forward to hearing the contributions of colleagues.  As Deputies will be aware, back in 2023 the Houses enacted the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) Act. The Bill I am introducing today is an amendment to that legislation. The legislation the Houses enacted in 2023 constituted an important contribution to updating An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na's technological capabilities by providing it with a statutory basis for the operation of recording devices. The type of recording devices that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na can use pursuant to the 2023 legislation are body-worn cameras, which have been of great assistance in public policing and automatic number plate recognition, ANPR. The 2023 legislation also sets out how CCTV footage is to be utilised by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na.  The Bill will build on that body of work by providing garda\u00ed with the ability to utilise biometric analysis, a tool that will allow An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to further upgrade its investigative tools for the digital age. This is generally referred to as facial recognition technology, FRT, but there is of course much more to biometric analysis than merely facial recognition. Biometric analysis covers an assessment of the physical, behavioural or physiological characteristics of an individual. In terms of the legislation that I am seeking to introduce for the benefit of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, it will however predominantly centre on face, gait or other elements such as the build of an individual for the purpose of analysing persons who are on video footage.  This area is relatively complex scientifically. When we talk about biometric analysis, it is important to note that there are four types of biometric analysis or facial recognition that can be used. The first is that we can have retrospective biometric analysis. That is what this Bill seeks to introduce. I will come back to consider that presently. We can also have retrospective biometric identification. I hope to be back in the House in due course for the purpose of legislation in respect of that. Both of them are retrospective. The analysis of footage is for the purpose of retrospectively identifying somebody through a database of facial identities we already have. On top of that, there are also two other types of biometric analysis, which are referred to as \"live\" - live biometric analysis and live biometric identification. I also hope to come back to the House in respect of them.  In respect of what we are talking about today, it is important to be aware, as many colleagues are, that huge quantities of images and footage are examined as part of investigations. We are all familiar with the request from An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to the public to share dashcam or mobile phone images of an incident, the lead up to an incident, or its aftermath. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na make such requests on the basis that it recognises that such footage often holds key information and evidence. Manual processing of such vast tracts of data can lead to long delays or even missed evidence. Safe and reliable tools now exist to assist law enforcement authorities with their investigations. This Bill provides An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na with the ability to sort, filter and categorise images and footage gathered in the course of a Garda investigation. That work is termed \"biometric analysis\", as defined in the Bill.  The Garda has the power to utilise automated recognition in the context of objects. For example, it can search CCTV for the blue jacket or the red car. Biometric analysis consists of the automated recognition of human features through the processing of images and footage obtained by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in the course of an investigation. It is undertaken to find each instance of an individual in the images or footage captured.  At the heart of the reform proposed in this Bill is the objective of providing the Garda with a tool that will be a crucial aid in investigations that involve the processing of a large volume of data. Officials from my Department have worked very closely with their colleagues from An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to understand what technological advancements are most needed in investigations involving huge amounts of images and footage. The Garda has made it clear that biometric analysis will be particularly helpful in such investigations. It gives the example of investigations into child sexual abuse material and investigations involving public disorder. Biometric analysis will considerably speed up such investigations, thereby assisting victims and bringing criminals to justice more quickly.  I am also aware that Deputies across the House recognise the right to privacy and the importance of data protection in modern society. These are not hollow aspirations but rather are legal requirements in domestic and international law that must be respected. However, these legal requirements do not mean that law enforcement authorities and security services are hamstrung in keeping communities safe and protecting national security when they are faced with a suspect's right to privacy. As we know, no right is absolute; rather, these are rights that can and must be compromised in the pursuit of serious criminals and those who wish to visit violence and disorder upon the community. Privacy cannot be a shield behind which criminals or terrorists may find refuge and evade investigation, arrest or prosecution. I strongly believe that this legislation achieves the delicate balance between respecting personal rights and ensuring the garda\u00ed have the tools they need to do their jobs effectively.  Garda\u00ed should not have their hands tied behind their back when it comes to fighting crime and upholding justice, law and order. We are committed to ensuring that the most advanced technology is made available to them which, subject to safeguards, they are free to utilise.  It is important to recognise that what is termed \"biometric analysis\" in this Bill is a tool that is being widely used by police services across the EU and UK. There are multiple international databases dedicated to assisting law enforcement agencies in investigations into child sexual abuse that already rely on this technology.  What is being proposed here is not extraordinary in international policing terms. I would argue it is more akin to standard practice policing in the EU. With that assurance, I would like to further reassure Deputies of the safeguards designed to ensure against any form of abuse of this technology. Biometric analysis will only be utilised where it is necessary and proportionate to do so. I have full trust in garda\u00ed in their work to form an opinion as to when this technology will be needed. That opinion will be formed subject to the code of practice that will underpin this legislation. Any use of biometric analysis will be subject to scrutiny by the court which eventually hears any prosecution arising out of the investigation that utilised that technology to gather evidence. The code of practice will be made publicly available and will set out procedures surrounding the use of biometric analysis. It will be drafted by the Garda Commissioner and laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. Approval for the code is dependent on positive resolutions being passed in these Houses. Human rights and data protection impact assessments will be required as part of the procedure for drafting the code of practice.  The Bill also includes provision for offences around misuse or abuse of biometric analysis. For example, a member of Garda personnel who goes outside of the procedures set out in the code of practice and conceals the results of the use of biometric analysis will be committing an offence. Biometric analysis will only be utilised by garda\u00ed in the context of the investigation of arrestable offences, the protection of the security of the State and for missing persons. It will not be used in the context of more minor offences. I also emphasise to Deputies that there will be no automated decision making on foot of the results of biometric analysis. This technology is only designed to assist trained garda\u00ed who are responsible for coming to a decision on how to utilise the data that has been processed. The Bill will ensure that the oversight provided by a High Court judge for Parts 3 and 6 of the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) Act 2023 is extended to include the provisions of this Bill. A High Court judge will, therefore, report to the Taoiseach on the operation of this Bill on an annual basis. Finally, and most crucially, it should be acknowledged that this Bill is subject to EU law in this area, including the AI Act and the Pr\u00fcm II Regulation. It is incumbent on the State to transpose all aspects of these laws in the near future. The Bill was drafted with these law to the fore of its considerations and any future work in this area will likewise have to ensure that there is no conflict with EU law.  I will now outline the stated aims of this Government as outlined in the programme for Government because this legislation is being brought forward in the context of commitments therein. The programme for Government states that the Government intends to support the garda\u00ed to use artificial intelligence in criminal investigations subject to clear guidelines and oversight and to deploy facial recognition technology for serious crimes and missing persons, with strict safeguards. This Bill moves to further that stated intention but the Government's work will not end there. This amending Bill makes the first of two planned amendments to the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) Act 2023. This Bill, providing for retrospective biometric analysis, will be followed by another Bill which will provide for retrospective and live biometric identification. Biometric identification is defined in section 6 of this Bill. It consists of the automated recognition of human features in order to identify that person by comparing biometric data of the individual to biometric data stored in a database of individuals. The General Scheme of that Bill is still in development and it would not be appropriate to go into detail here on what it will contain. My intention is to introduce that Bill in the Houses next year.  I want to address the issue of the Garda need for this technology. I do not need to remind Deputies of the vitally important role garda\u00ed play. They are rightly proud of being closely integrated with the communities they serve and of the model of policing by which they keep those communities safe. This Bill seeks to continue down the path of providing garda\u00ed with modern tools to complement that long-established policing model rather than in any way seeking to replace it. This legislation will provide technology that can save Garda personnel from the harrowing task of trawling through child sexual abuse material. I must look out for the welfare of garda\u00ed and Garda staff. Equally, it will finally ensure that garda\u00ed have the tools to examine hundreds of hours of CCTV footage relevant to a murder or public order investigation in minutes rather than individual garda\u00ed, as part of a team, spending weeks poring over that footage. It is my strong view that the powers being afforded to garda\u00ed here are proportionate to the significant challenges they face. I have full confidence that they will make a material difference in assisting garda\u00ed in their vital work and am equally confident that the use of this technology will be necessary and proportionate.  The Bill is divided into nine sections which I will now briefly outline. Sections 1 and 2 contain standard provisions to set out the Title of the Bill, commencement orders and coming into force once enacted, as well as defining key words and phrases. Section 3 amends section 2 of the principal Act. It amends the definition of a code of practice to take into account the new sections being inserted in that Act by this Bill and it also inserts the definition of an arrestable offence. Section 4 amends section 3 of the 2023 Act which relates to orders and regulations made under that Act. Section 6 really is the meat of this legislative provision. It will insert a new Part 6A which contains five sections into the Recording Devices Act, namely sections 43A to 43E. I will go through them now. Section 43A will set out the definitions specific to the new Part, including the definition of biometric analysis. This definition is divided into three parts. The first part would allow for searches of general biometric characteristics, for example, if a description of a suspect from a witness mentioned their hair colour, height, or a distinguishing feature. The second would allow for the automated recognition and categorising of features of unknown individuals. In other words, where an image that is gathered in the course of an investigation can be searched against other images or footage gathered in the course of that same investigation. The third part would also include the automated recognition and categorising of features of an individual in documents obtained by garda\u00ed but this is where the individual\u2019s identity is already known. For example, garda\u00ed may have arrested a person for possession of child sexual abuse material. They may then wish to search that material for instances of the arrested person in order to understand the full extent of their offending. Missing person cases may also involve biometric analysis being used to find instances of that missing person whose identity is known to garda\u00ed. The definition of biometric analysis excludes biometric identification which is the comparison of an image against a database of images for the purpose of ascertaining, or attempting to ascertain, a person\u2019s identity.  Section 43B sets out that the Bill will not apply to certain enactments. This is to ensure that any cooperation internationally where garda\u00ed may have access to databases which utilise facial recognition, is not impacted by the provisions of this Bill. Section 43C provides for the carrying out of biometric analysis on a retrospective basis only. The purposes for which it can be carried out are in the context of an arrestable offence, in the search for missing persons and also for the protection of the security of the State. That is not to say that in every investigation in these areas, garda\u00ed will resort to biometric analysis. Section 43C also provides that it must be necessary and proportionate and will be presumed to be so if in line with this Bill and a code of practice.  The data subjects that can be searched for are included in this section. It is important that we have clarity on who garda\u00ed will be looking for using these tools. These are victims of arrestable offences, missing persons, individuals who are suspected of the commission of an arrestable offence and those who are suspected of being a threat to our national security. Human review of any results is required to ensure the reliability of those results. The Garda Commissioner will also be required to keep a list of how and when biometric analysis has been utilised. Section 43D is a standard processing provision to ensure garda\u00ed can further process the results of any analysis. Section 43E provides for a range of offences specific to the Part.  Section 7 of the Bill amends section 47, which relates to the code of practice provisions in the principal Act. The main purpose of this section is to include provisions which will allow for minor amendments to the code of practice to be made without necessitating a full consultation process under that section. Section 8 will insert Part 8A into the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) Act and sets out that the Garda Commissioner will have to draft a code of practice for Part 6A. The code of practice will be important in setting the procedures under which Garda personnel may carry out biometric analysis. The code will outline requirements in relation to storage, access, retention, deletion of data obtained as a result of the carrying out of biometric analysis. Finally, section 9 ensures that the carrying out of biometric analysis will be overseen by a designated High Court judge.  Before I conclude, I will speak briefly about the amendments I intend to bring on Committee Stage. First, I am reviewing the transitional arrangements in respect of CCTV schemes under section 7 of the 2023 Act. Under that section, only applications authorised can continue in force and applications in-train will have to be resubmitted under the new regime. To ensure applications that are already submitted to the Garda Commissioner under section 38 of the 2005 Act which are not authorised at the time of commencement of Part V of the recording devices Act 2023 will not be required to be resubmitted to the Garda Commissioner once that Part is commenced. I am also reviewing the CCTV and the automated number plate recognition, ANPR, provisions, with a view to determining if certain aspects of CCTV where there is crossover with other parts, such as ANPR, requires amendment.  This is an important piece of legislation in terms of giving greater technological advancement to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. I saw the need for this legislation a number of months ago when I was in Store Street. This was a period over a year after the Dublin riots, which took place in November 2023. There were a number of members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and retired members who had been brought back to slowly go through footage from the Dublin riots for the purpose of trying to figure out whether an individual in one section of video footage was the same as an individual who was subsequently spotted in other footage from a different camera. We need to ensure we are not wasting valuable Garda resources by having them spending hours, days and weeks searching through video data when it can be done much more efficiently through advanced technology.  That is the real benefit of this. We will see more Garda time available. I am also aware that individuals in the House may be concerned about the instance of the use of this facial recognition technology, FRT, or biometric analysis, as it is more scientifically and accurately referred to. It is important to point out nobody will be convicted solely on foot of evidence that is produced from biometric analysis. This is an aid to investigation. It will facilitate the garda\u00ed in identifying victims of crime first of all, whether they are missing persons or children who are victims of sexual abuse, but when it comes to individuals who have perpetrated serious crime, it will enable garda\u00ed to identify whether the person identified in the footage on one street is the individual who is now also identified in footage on another street.  We have to absorb technology. Many years ago in this House, people questioned the reliability of DNA evidence and the potential dangers of relying on DNA evidence. Technology has shown that is not unfounded. Similarly, this will be a valuable tool for the garda\u00ed into the future and I look forward to hearing colleagues speak in respect of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I take this opportunity to wish the Ceann Comhairle and all of the staff in the Houses of the Oireachtas, and even the Minister and his staff, a very happy Christmas and all the best for the new year.  Cuirim f\u00e1ilte roimh an deis labhairt faoin Bhille. T\u00e1 bunt\u00e1ist\u00ed agus riosca\u00ed ag baint leis an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 f\u00f3gartha. N\u00ed m\u00f3r d\u00fainn an Bille seo a scr\u00fad\u00fa go c\u00faramach. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has a challenging job to do. That job has been made much more difficult in recent years by the failure to tackle the recruitment and retention crisis. There are simply not enough community garda\u00ed. There are not enough roads policing garda\u00ed. There has been a growing reliance on overtime for the carrying out of routine police work.  This crisis has to be tackled and, as the Minister knows, Sinn F\u00e9in has set out proposals on what we believe needs to be done. The Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill, which we are dealing with today, seeks to allow for the use of biometric recognition technologies as a tool to process evidence in serious criminal investigations, matters relating to State security, and for missing persons cases. It differs in a number of aspects from the general scheme, or heads of Bill, which were previously subject to pre-legislative scrutiny. I note that many of the concerns raised during pre-legislative scrutiny do not appear to have been addressed in this Bill.  The short timeframe between publication and the Second Stage debate is not ideal, nor is it ideal to be discussing a Bill with potentially far-reaching repercussions on the last day of the D\u00e1il. It feels like this Bill has been rushed in order to get it to the D\u00e1il before the end of the year.  Already, questions have been raised. One of those is why the Bill refers to \"biometric analysis\" when what is referred to is essentially what is termed \"biometric categorisation\" in the AI Act. The lack of any reference to the AI Act also raises concerns.  The Bill is seeking to give garda\u00ed powers to apply an algorithm to any imagery or video footage obtained during investigations in order to find people and categorise them by their biometric data. It will allow garda\u00ed to recognise and categorise the general public based on their biometric data; locate and track unidentified individuals across images or pieces of footage, based again on their biometric data in order to reconstruct their movements; and search for and locate a known person, across multiple images or pieces of footage, based on their biometric data, to determine their whereabouts.  I want to be clear. Sinn F\u00e9in believes that biometric recognition technologies have a place in enabling the garda\u00ed to do their jobs, particularly in the investigation of serious crimes but we also believe its introduction has to be approached with real caution. We recognise the potential role that it can play in terms of the increased amount of evidence, including CCTV, which garda\u00ed must go through in the investigation of crimes and the fact that some of this is physically not possible to do manually in the way in which it can be done through this technology.  However, the use of this technology in no way replaces the need to tackle issues with garda numbers I have mentioned and to ensure we have enough garda\u00ed in our communities to keep them safe, build relationships with communities, police our roads and prevent and investigate crime. There needs to be a recognition of the benefits and the risks of enabling the Garda to use biometric recognition technologies. The D\u00e1il must be satisfied in terms of the limitations and safeguards that are put in place regarding how this technology is used. It is right that it is only used where it is necessary and proportionate. It is important that this is done in a manner that does not lead to excessive surveillance and undermining the right to privacy. We just do not want to drift into a surveillance society.  Reviews have to examine the deployment and the accuracy of the technology. Roll out across the State should only follow a pilot phase that examines issues in relation to accuracy, which is very important, but also the impact on the right to privacy. There are risks inherent in giving garda\u00ed additional powers in relation to these kinds of technologies.  In June 2024, as the Minister will know, a subgroup of the Artificial Intelligence Advisory Council, AIAC, on biometrics in the public service in Ireland issued an advice paper to Government on FRT use by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. The AIAC noted that when used in a law enforcement context, facial recognition technology is a high-risk technology given the potential consequences of its use for individuals. It recommended that \u201cgiven the limitations of current evaluations, the AIAC advises against procuring or deploying FRT until satisfactory independent evaluations are conducted under real-world conditions relevant to Irish law enforcement.\"  It is not clear to me reading this Bill that the Minister has taken on board those important points made the by AI Advisory Council in relation to the use of these technologies by the garda\u00ed, particularly in cases where it is to be used and the safeguards around approval for deployment. While the Bill sets out the broad parameters for the introduction of a code of practice, it would be much more preferable if the specifics parameters, in terms of the use of the technology, were contained within the Bill. That would allow us the opportunity to scrutinise them to ensure they are sufficiently robust to protect the rights to privacy and to protect against misuse.  I do not know if the Minister will have an opportunity to answer at the end but I will put a number of questions to him. What is the reason for referring to this process as \u201cbiometric analysis\u201d instead of what is called \u201cbiometric categorisation\u201d in the AI Act? Why is there no reference to the AI Act? What are the specific circumstances when this categorisation will take place and when the individual will be tracked? How will An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na mitigate the risks of discrimination, profiling or rights violations that has been shown to arise in other states from the use of these technologies? Of course, the public will also need assurances around any companies providing services in respect of these technologies and the protection of data when using private companies. There needs to be an absolute guarantee that the State will not be using the services of Israeli-based companies for the provision of these services. I would go as far as to say any existing contracts that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na has with Israeli companies providing surveillance technology should be terminated.  We also know that a significant number - albeit a minority - of garda\u00ed faced disciplinary procedures for the misuse of the PULSE system in the past, including the horrendous case in which a former garda was jailed in July for inciting strangers to rape a colleague. That individual pleaded guilty to the unauthorised disclosure of Garda PULSE personal data on 14 individuals. While it is important to say that these misuses related to a very small minority within An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, the experience of that misuse of PULSE reinforces the need to ensure proper protections are in place to ensure these technologies are only used where appropriate, properly authorised and necessary for the investigation of serious crimes.  With regard to the provisions in the Bill on the carrying out of biometric analysis by Garda personnel, there needs to be a strengthening of the provisions that authorise the use of the result of biometric analysis. Section 6 of Part 2 currently states that: \"The results of biometric analysis shall not be used by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na for a principal purpose unless...results have been reviewed by a member of Garda personnel and have been ascertained by him or her to be of sufficient reliability to be so used.\" I argue that provisions as to who authorises the use of the technology should be strengthened to reflect the reality of its use. We will be engaging with this process through further Stages of its passage. We look forward to its passage, if its passage comes anytime in the short term. While this Bill was published by the Minister just a week ago, it is the fourth Bill he has published since he has taken office. A lot of people would be surprised by that because virtually every time the Minister gets out of bed it seems he is announcing new legislation. Quite a number of people would be surprised to learn that, in the course of 2025, not a single piece of justice legislation has passed through the Houses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  That is wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Which legislation is the Minister referring to? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  The Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Okay. The one that is closest to passage at the moment is the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024, which the Minister does not agree with. There are over 30 justice and migration Bills on the legislative schedule. Announcements of Bills, as I said, are being made every other week but we have not got beyond the announcements, soundbites and press conferences to see real action in terms of legislative changes.  In this final day before we break for the Christmas recess, I wish to say to the Minister that we are up for working with him to bring forward the type of changes that are required to ensure we have a policing system that works and serves our communities and a migration system that works and serves our society. We need to stop the play-acting and press conferences and move towards real action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  T\u00e1 s\u00e9 go maith go bhfuil an deis againn labhairt faoin Bhille ar an gC\u00e9im seo. Ar an Dara C\u00e9im, b\u00edonn s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach cloiste\u00e1il go d\u00edreach cad at\u00e1 an tAire ag iarraidh a dh\u00e9anamh leis an reachta\u00edocht. Cheana f\u00e9in, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 tar \u00e9is a r\u00e1 go mbeidh leasuithe ag teacht chun cinn. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 go maith go bhfuil s\u00e9 sin mar chuid den phr\u00f3iseas, ach t\u00e1 s\u00e9 ait go bhfuil s\u00e9 ag f\u00f3gairt leasuithe agus muid d\u00edreach ar an gC\u00e9im seo. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 go maith go bhfuil s\u00e9 f\u00f3s ag pl\u00e9 leis an gcoincheap i gcoitinne agus leis na fadhbanna at\u00e1 aitheanta ag An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, acu si\u00fad at\u00e1 gafa le cearta daonna agus ag na daoine sa Seomra seo a bheidh ag ard\u00fa ceisteanna ina leith seo.  T\u00e1 s\u00fail agam, nuair a shroicheann muid C\u00e9im an Choiste, go mbeidh n\u00edos m\u00f3 leasuithe ag teacht uainn agus \u00f3 dhaoine eile le go nd\u00e9anfaidh muid cinnte m\u00e1 t\u00e1 muid ag dul sa treo seo - t\u00e1 an cuma air go bhfuil - go mbeidh p\u00e9 reachta\u00edocht a bheidh againn foirfe, go mbeidh cosaint\u00ed \u00f3 thaobh cearta daonna de ann, agus nach mbeidh creimeadh a dh\u00e9anamh ar na cearta at\u00e1 ann cheana f\u00e9in. T\u00e1 muid i ndomhan ioml\u00e1n difri\u00fail ag an stad seo n\u00e1 mar a bh\u00ed 20 n\u00f3 50 bliain \u00f3 sh\u00edn. N\u00ed raibh daoine ag smaoineamh ar a leith\u00e9id seo, ach amh\u00e1in na daoine a bh\u00ed i roinnt de na t\u00edortha a bh\u00ed faoi dheacht\u00f3ireacht timpeall an domhain. Is ceart go n-\u00fas\u00e1ideann muid na huirlis\u00ed at\u00e1 ar f\u00e1il sa domhan inniu le d\u00e9anamh cinnte de go mbeidh siad si\u00fad, at\u00e1 gafa le coiri\u00falacht n\u00f3 tar \u00e9is ionsaithe a dh\u00e9anamh ar an bpobal, gafa agus t\u00f3gtha os comhair na c\u00fairte.  Sa ch\u00e1s sin, caithfear a chinnti\u00fa nach mbeimid ag dul sa treo is at\u00e1 roinnt t\u00edortha timpeall an domhain at\u00e1 ag \u00fas\u00e1id mass surveillance n\u00f3 global surveillance of the society, \u00e1iteanna ina bhfuil an t-eolas sin ar fad \u00e1 choigilt agus \u00e1 \u00fas\u00e1id de sh\u00edor. Feicim go bhfuil for\u00e1lacha anseo a dh\u00e9anann iarracht cosaint a dh\u00e9anamh air sin. Imp\u00edm ar an Aire a chinnti\u00fa leis an code of practice at\u00e1 luaite nach n-\u00fas\u00e1idfear ar an d\u00f3igh seo \u00e9 agus, m\u00e1 t\u00e1 aon tochailt d\u00e9anta ar na data sets at\u00e1 ag An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, n\u00f3 a bhfuil teacht aige orthu, go scriosfar iad chomh luath agus is f\u00e9idir ina dhiaidh sin, go h\u00e1irithe nuair nach mb\u00edonn aon toradh ar an tochailt sin.  Luaigh an Teachta Carthy roinnt de na ceisteanna a raibh m\u00e9 chun labhairt f\u00fathu, ach t\u00e1 ceisteanna eile ann. Cad iad na data sets? Dar nd\u00f3igh, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 \u00e9asca ceann de na cinn m\u00f3ra a aithint a bheidh An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na ag \u00fas\u00e1id, is \u00e9 sin, na ceamara\u00ed CCTV at\u00e1 timpeall na cathrach seo. N\u00edl siad i ngach uile \u00e1it, rud at\u00e1 go maith i sl\u00ed amh\u00e1in ionas nach bhfuil muid ag dul s\u00edos an bhealaigh sin. Chomh maith leis sin, is iad na bodycams sampla eile den trealamh a bheidh \u00e1 \u00fas\u00e1id. T\u00e1 siad \u00e1 dtriail timpeall na cathrach faoi l\u00e1thair. Is gn\u00e1thn\u00f3s iad sa ph\u00f3il\u00edneacht sa 21\u00fa haois.  T\u00e1 cinn eile nach bhfuil ann, \u00e1fach. D\u2019ardaigh m\u00e9 an cheist seo c\u00fapla uair leis an Aire reatha agus leis an Aire roimhe. C\u00e9n f\u00e1th nach bhfuil dashcams i ngluaiste\u00e1in de chuid An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na? Cloistear go rialta go mb\u00edonn An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na ag lorg dashcam footage \u00f3n phobal, ach n\u00edl ceamara\u00ed sna gluaiste\u00e1in at\u00e1 ag an bhf\u00f3rsa. Go minic, b\u00edonn garda\u00ed ag dul go dt\u00ed \u00e1iteanna ina bhfuil coireanna ag tarl\u00fa n\u00f3 b\u00edonn siad sa t\u00f3ir ar dhaoine. Sa chomhth\u00e9acs sin, bheadh na ceamara\u00ed sin ina gcosaint do gharda\u00ed agus don phobal i gcoitinne. Ar\u00eds, deirim sin i comhth\u00e9acs ina bhfuiltear ag clo\u00ed leis na rialacha \u00f3 thaobh an eolais seo a choigilt i gceart le d\u00e9anamh cinnte nach bhfuil aon seans ann go dtarl\u00f3dh data breach, cos\u00fail le hOifig an Ombudsman inn\u00e9 ag r\u00e1 go raibh an cuma air go raibh data breach ann. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin ar cheann de na ruda\u00ed a mb\u00edonn eagla ar dhaoine faoi, is \u00e9 sin, go bhfuil an seans ann, m\u00e1 t\u00e1 aon eagras St\u00e1it n\u00f3 aon eagras in aon chor ag coigilt na sonra\u00ed pearsanta n\u00f3 \u00edomh\u00e1nna at\u00e1 acu, go nd\u00e9anfaidh dreamanna, nach bhfuil aon bhaint acu leis an \u00e1bhar, iarracht an t-eolas sin a bhaili\u00fa agus a \u00fas\u00e1id go m\u00ed-ionraic. D\u00e1 r\u00e9ir, ba ch\u00f3ir d\u00fainn a bheith cinnte nach bhfuil teacht ag an bpobal n\u00f3 aon duine eile ar a leith\u00e9id.  Tuigim an f\u00e1th a bhfuil muid ag dul sa treo seo agus t\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go mbeidh seans againn leasuithe a chur le linn Ch\u00e9im an Choiste. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I also take this opportunity to thank the Ceann Comhairle, her staff and the entire staff of the Houses of the Oireachtas. At this time, I usually apologise sometimes for the nuisance that I cause. Deputy Carthy has requested that I do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  He is apologising in advance for next year as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  That is it. I am getting it out of the way early. Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go l\u00e9ir. I hope it is an incredibly peaceful and safe time for everyone because we have seen far too much tragedy in the last while.  Deputy Carthy dealt with a significant amount of the issues relating to this Bill. Some of those issues were brought up during pre-legislative scrutiny. Obviously, this is about that period where we question when it is biometric recognition and biometric categorisation. In the world we now live in, there are particular issues with regard to artificial intelligence. Even the bodies the State has put forward have spoken on the particular issues they see. We all want to see the garda\u00ed given the tools, resources and numbers they require, which is an issue due to the abject failure of the Government in that regard. We want to ensure we can deal with all the new-found difficulties that exist in this world. It was put very well in the sense that we need to make sure that we do not drift into a surveillance society and that we protect, where we can, people's information and data. It is absolutely necessary to have an element of trialling of such technologies.  There is a particular worry when we are dealing with technology and particularly if we are talking about the use of third-party companies. It is about value for money, but it is also about ensuring data is secure and that we do not have people profiting above and beyond what is acceptable. I do not think that is any way acceptable. The point has been made in relation to surveillance technology and the huge number of companies that would be engaged in what we can only have called, because that is what it was, a genocide in Gaza. We need to ensure we have no truck and no connection whatsoever with companies such as that. That would be particularly unacceptable for the Garda. It would not be okay to use the resources and tools of those who are involved in absolutely heinous crimes as we try to deal with criminal issues here.  I rarely do not bring up that wider issue when I am dealing with justice. I have had the conversation with the Minister before that we are in a very different world and that there are huge risks. It does not matter what committee I am on, whether it is the Joint Committee on Children and Equality dealing directly with the Garda, the Joint Committee on Disability Matters or the Joint Committee on Drugs Use, which Deputy Gannon chairs. The fact is that the only thing people talk about when they are talking about best practice are resources and funding, but they particularly talk about inter-agency action.  I did welcome some of the idea behind the community safety partnerships. We need to see them up and running. I do not think there is anyone who is particularly happy that TDs are not involved in relation to it, but I get the idea that it is above and beyond policing and it is about involving all the agencies. It is about involving the entire State apparatus. It is about involving the community voluntary sector and youth justice projects. It is about ensuring that there is a holistic, comprehensive means of dealing with the issues that are out there. I have said before that we have to look at the powers the Garda and local authorities have and the resources and powers Tusla and others have. We are talking about the early interventions that are needed within families to give that support.  We know that for an awful lot of the issues we are dealing with, whether we are talking about drugs, crime, organised crime and even sometimes disorganised crime, obviously inequality and poverty is at the root. We need to find a way and means of dealing with that, but we also need to find a way and means of dealing with those who have their foot on the neck of our communities, whether we are talking about drug debt intimidation or those who are running teenagers as drug mules and other such things. We have to have a real conversation on the resources and what is required. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  In the spirit of this being the last sitting day before Christmas, I want to say happy Christmas and thank you to the Ceann Comhairle and my colleagues in opposition and in government. It is a privilege to have served my first year as a TD for Dublin South-West and to work with Deputies on all sides of the House in trying to bring about a better Ireland. I know everyone here is doing it in good faith. It is a privilege to be a part of it. Happy Christmas to everyone.  We in the Labour Party have a proud record of supporting An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to do the vital job of keeping our communities safe. Each and every day, front-line garda\u00ed put themselves at risk carrying out the difficult job of patrolling our streets, protecting our public and regularly facing scenes of the most traumatic and difficult nature. Supporting our garda\u00ed in the difficult work of policing cannot just take the shape of nice words, however. It needs to mean giving them the resources, training and support they need to do the job effectively and safely. That means equipping them with the technology and powers they need. However, we must always be conscious of the risks inherent in any expansion of police powers and must work to carefully mitigate, balance and safeguard these against the risks.  The Labour Party does not oppose new, useful technologies where they can play an important role. It is important, after all, that our policing moves with the times and is equipped to respond to new threats and do so in an efficient manner. We supported the introduction of Garda bodycams through the previous recording devices Bill in 2023 on that basis. Where proper safeguards are in place, when biases are mitigated and clear guidance is given, new technologies can, of course, help An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, which is all too often under-resourced and neglected, to do its vital work.  However, the Labour Party has also been clear about where we must draw the line. We were elected at the last general election on a manifesto that was against the widespread use of facial recognition technology due to serious concerns about the privacy, trust and data protection issues arising from mass surveillance. From the off, we should be clear about what this Bill does and does not do. It would allow An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to carry out biometric analysis, subject to a code of practice to be drawn up by the Garda Commissioner and laid before the Houses of the Oireachtas. This would involve the automated retrospective searching of documents, footage and images that the Garda has obtained in the course of an investigation to categorise or sort the material based on recognisable human characteristics. We are told this will only be permitted in cases of an arrestable offence punishable by five years or more imprisonment, missing persons cases or for the protection of national security. This legislation does not allow for live facial recognition or for identification by comparison to a database of biometric data.  On the face of it, therefore, the proposals made in this Bill are reasonably limited in scope. If they are treated with the care the risks here deserve and if they are accompanied by full and proper safeguards and wide consultation on the code of practice, they should not in and of themselves be a huge cause for concern. However, the Government and the Minister have made it clear that they intend this to be just the start. In July of this year, the Minister stated that this first Bill would be followed by \"a second piece of legislation that will provide for retrospective and potentially live biometric identification and analysis beyond what is contained in the original Bill.\" The Minister confirmed his intention to do this earlier today. I was listening to the debate. This raises several issues.  First and most importantly, the Government needs to come clean and spell out exactly why the measures in this Bill will not be sufficient. Why does it need to go further with measures that have been shown in other jurisdictions to be deeply flawed and risky? What is the use-case for live facial recognition technology, FRT? Does the Minister intend to develop a national database of faces? Live FRT has serious implications for the right to privacy and the right to protest, and there is also the fact that it is discriminatory in who it targets and isolates. Furthermore, why is the Government taking a piecemeal approach here? Muddying the waters like this risks confusing the debate and hampering scrutiny of this Bill. It is very difficult to have a fulsome discussion of this Bill and its relatively limited provisions with the spectre of far more sweeping changes looming. There is a real risk of function creep inherent in any expansion of police powers and that risk was raised during pre-legislative scrutiny of this Bill. A pattern can often be observed whereby a system is introduced for one purpose but over time, it extends to additional purposes beyond the original intent. The Minister's stated intention to bring forward greater powers in later legislation is in and of itself a brazen attempt at scope creep and it makes it very hard to assess this Bill on its own merits.  The many issues with live FRT for policing are well-documented. Some jurisdictions in the US, including Boston and San Francisco, have banned the use of live FRT technology by their police forces. In both of those cases, the city councils moved pre-emptively to put a ban in place before the technology was used by the police in their cities. They took that action because they were aware of the risks inherent in the technology, particularly the risks of making high-stakes errors along racial lines. They knew that using Al systems that have been trained on predominantly white faces makes the risks of misidentification for ethnic minorities unacceptably high. The Boston ban followed a 2018 Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT, study that found an error rate of 35% for darker skinned women. Of course, technology has advanced significantly since 2018, but the experience of facial recognition in the UK shows that the same issues have persisted. Police forces in the UK have used facial recognition since 2017. They have used it for varied purposes including finding suspects of serious crimes, locating missing persons and event monitoring. They have made much use of both live facial recognition and database-driven retrospective scanning where officers run images of suspects through police, passport or immigration databases to match an identity. In the UK, the police themselves have pushed for the use of these technologies saying they are essential for effective crime fighting and to protect national security. The largest UK police force, the Metropolitan Police, has reportedly made 1,300 arrests using the technology since 2023. The widespread use of live FRT has been criticised by the UK\u2019s Equality and Human Rights Commission, which said that the way the technology is being deployed by the Met is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights protections for the right to privacy, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly and association.  Just this month, a review of the use of facial recognition technology by the UK's Association of Police and Crime Commissioners found a significant \"in-built bias\". Its review found that \"in some circumstances, it is more likely to incorrectly match black and Asian people than their white counterparts\" and concluded that the technology had been deployed \"without adequate safeguards\".  Black subjects were significantly more likely to be falsely identified by the technology, with a rate of 5.5% false positives, versus just 0.04% false positives for white subjects. Significantly, that study referred to retrospective rather than live facial recognition. That shows that the high-risk nature of this tech is not limited to live FRT. The system that was examined was based within the UK\u2019s national police database.  It is welcome that the Bill reflects the recommendation of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration pre-legislative report that greater clarity was needed on the use of databases. The general scheme of the Bill had been drafted in a way that would allow for comparison to databases, but the joint committee was told by the Garda Commissioner that it was not the intention of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to run images against a database. The Bill now before us is clearer in making a distinction between biometric analysis, allowed under the Bill, and biometric identification based on databases, which is not allowed. That is welcome. However, he EU\u2019s Pr\u00fcm II Regulation on police co-operation has been in force since March 2024. That regulation requires member states to establish a national database of the facial images of suspects, convicted persons and, potentially, victims. It also requires the automated searching of facial images between member states. While this legislation does not contain any provision for the establishment of a national database of facial images, it seems clear that this may be coming down the tracks. I would ask the Minister to clarify the Government's intentions on this. Will the Minister be bringing forward proposals for a national database of facial images at some point? If that is the case how will such a database interact with the provisions of this Bill? How will the Minister guard against scope creep if the very limited uses permitted here come up against the temptations of a national database? It is worth noting the words of the Al advisory council in June 2024. It acknowledged that FRT software could significantly speed up investigations and allow for analyses that were previously impossible but it also urged caution, stating:  When used in law enforcement, potential efficiency gains must be balanced against the impact on rights. A complex range of harms may potentially occur in deploying FRT including misidentifying crime suspects. Therefore, as recognised in the AI Act, used in a law enforcement context, FRT is a high-risk technology given the potential consequences of its use for individuals.  \"High-risk\" is precisely the term here. Even if error rates in a technology are low, the consequences of an incorrect decision in the criminal justice system are potentially dire. The Government risks playing with fire if it pushes ahead with any plans for a more expansive use of FRT than provided for in the Bill.  By August next year, the EU Al Act is scheduled to come fully into force. Article 5 of that Act prohibits the use of live FRT, or real-time remote biometric identification, RBI, except if used by law enforcement for the targeted search for victims of specific crimes or missing persons, the prevention of a threat to life or a terrorist attack or the identification of a person suspected of having committed a criminal offence. This might be a welcome recognition from the EU of the risks in this area, but it still leaves fairly wide scope for the use of live FRT by police forces. It will fall to this House then to guard against any overreach. The Minister, therefore, needs to give us clarity on what exactly his intentions are in this area, beyond this Bill.  In any public-facing technology it is essential that public trust is maintained through transparency, accountability and clarity. The Government has recognised this through the seven core principles in the Guidelines for the Responsible Use of Al in the Public Service. Those principles must be at the heart of the code of practice to follow this Bill. Moreover, in the same spirit of transparency and clarity, the Minister must be straight with us on what the Government's future intentions are in this area. A gradual creep of functions and uses will serve only to undermine trust in this technology and even in the institution of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na.  Perhaps this is a good moment to appeal to the Government to finally address the plethora of other long-standing issues with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Recruitment and retention in the service has become a crisis. Morale remains at an all-time low. We need a sustainable police force to serve communities around this country. Garda leadership have made clear they want the measures contained in this Bill, and an argument can certainly be made that they will help to solve serious crime or to locate missing persons but they will do nothing to put more garda\u00ed on the streets in our communities or to give hard working garda\u00ed on the front line the conditions or pay they deserve. The Government can claim to be on the side of law and order, by expanding policing powers but it is beyond time that the Government finally took the crises facing our Garda seriously and addressed them. Limited retrospective facial recognition, based on existing records not databases, is one thing but live facial recognition or retrospective analysis based on large-scale databases is quite another. The Government must tread very carefully, it must pay heed to the many international examples where this has gone wrong, and it must be honest with the public about its intentions. Our front-line garda\u00ed rely on public trust, and they deserve the support of the Government in maintaining that trust. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I am in favour of this Bill. I was in favour of the previous legislation as well in the debates that we had in the Seanad when I was a Senator. This is a move forward and an opportunity for the Garda. I want to set a few things straight in the debate.  I am conscious that we have CCTV in public places. We have, essentially, surveillance of the populace at large in many places. I actually do not like that. I am not in favour of us becoming like London, for example, which is the most surveilled city in the world and where someone literally cannot cross a street or turn a corner without being monitored by CCTV. That is not a good thing. People might be familiar with the postcard that has the blue plaque on the house where George Orwell lived in London. There is a massive CCTV camera next to it, which is ironic. There is a certain irony to the way the authorities behave with CCTV in London. It is undoubtedly a tool that is used by law enforcement for crime detection and prevention but it is also an unwarranted interference with the privacy of individuals and the right for them to move around. I am not in favour of CCTV everywhere and the notion that citizens should be monitored wherever they go within Dublin or any other city or metropolitan area around Dublin. That does not mean that there is not a place for facial recognition technology and for the technology that is being advocated by this Bill.  I have listened to the contributions made by a number of speakers. I am also aware of the commentary from bodies of which I am a member, such as the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL, and for which I have great respect. They have quite rightly identified lots of the problems that exist with this technology. There is undoubtedly an ethnic and gender bias that comes with this technology. We know that it is more likely to misidentify a person of colour or somebody who is ethnically different to the white population, not even the Irish population. As I understand it most of the these data are based on databases of people who are predominantly white Caucasian individuals from around the world. That is a problem in and of itself. Similarly, it is more likely to misidentify a woman than a man. These are problems absolutely. They should not be glossed over in any way but they are not an argument for not having it and this is where we need to look at how this technology will actually be used. Suffice it to say that once this legislation is passed and if it is to be used, the policy and the parameters put in place by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na for its usage will be absolutely vital for whether it is used correctly, properly and without infringing on the rights of individuals.  Let us be clear exactly what it does. This, essentially, is a way in which we can cut down on the sifting through of information by an investigation team. For example, a crime is alleged by an individual or by a group or whatever it is. The investigative arm of the State is An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. They will send out their detectives or their garda\u00ed to carry out investigations, which will include taking witness' statements, looking at CCTV, examining the scene, and gathering any other evidence that might help them in arriving at who they feel is a reasonable suspect. Then the DPP will make the decision on who gets charged, or whatever it is. FRT is a tool to help the Garda in that process. I acknowledge that this technology will, in the course of being used, make mistakes because it is artificial intelligence and it does not have the experience or the intelligence of a person. It cannot be the be all and end all. It cannot be the sole decider of what happens but it can be a tool to help garda\u00ed reduce the time spent sifting through it. When we were debating the previous legislation, the topic de jour was the riots in Dublin in November 2023. There was some amount of video footage gathered by garda\u00ed from individual mobile phones, CCTV within shops, Garda CCTV on the street and CCTV on buses and the Luas, etc.  An enormous volume of material was gathered. The way the system worked at the time individual detectives, who are highly trained and highly prized in terms of the time they have available to do their policing work, were sitting down for hundreds of hours watching CCTV footage. Some of this bore no results whatsoever and some of it showed them what they wanted to see. In that circumstance FRT could have been used to search through that footage and save them the time they arguably wasted, though obviously it was part of their investigation and of their duties, looking through all that footage. Would the FRT come back with the result that this is Jim O'Callaghan sitting on the Luas when in fact it is not him at all? Yes, of course. Is it more likely to pick a person of colour and misidentify them? Yes, that is going to happen. However, the important thing is the FRT that does that analysis does not make the final decision on who gets charged or prosecuted. The DPP does but a garda makes the recommendation through the investigation file that goes to the DPP. As such, a human being must be satisfied the result that has been thrown up by the FRT is correct before advancing from that point.  The correct highlighting of the fact this technology is fallible and the correct querying of whether it is going to create incorrect results does not mean that cannot be mitigated and we cannot have a situation where a human being is making that analysis for himself or herself, and that is really important. In the debate on the original legislation I likened it to opening a PDF with a thousand pages in it to look for the words \"Barry Ward\". You press Ctrl and F and search for Barry Ward. From experience, if you search for \u201cWard\u201d you will get \u201ctoward\u201d, \u201cforward\u201d and all the words that include \u201cward\u201d, so the technology is flawed as it does not get me the right results. However, when I look at that search result I am not looking for \u201cforward\u201d or \u201ctoward\u201d but \u201cBarry Ward\u201d and I have the capacity as a human being to distinguish between those incorrect results and the results I am looking for. It is the same for a detective who instead of sitting down to watch 100 hours or 1,000 hours of CCTV can go through and search for the facial characteristics of a person who is being sought, or the other biometric factors that can be programmed into the software. It may well turn up results that garda knows are not correct or, more importantly, that the garda sees are insufficiently accurate or clear. The FRT might throw back an image it says is a given person, but which the garda thinks is not an image of a given person, knows it is not or does not know if it is or not.  Leaving to one side that a garda can make that analysis for himself or herself, another two layers of certification go with this. Let us say the garda decides the person the FRT has identified is the suspect and puts it into the investigation file that gets sent to the DPP, which is staffed with highly professional individuals whose job it is to critically analyse the investigation files produced by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and decide what the result or the actions on that should be, to decide who should be prosecuted, where that person should be prosecuted, for which offences, etc. That person critically analyses what the garda has come up with, so even if the garda has taken for granted the result of the FRT, it is still up to the directing officer in the DPP's office to be happy the garda is correct, or perhaps more importantly, there is an objective basis for saying that is a reasonable result for the FRT, so there is second layer of sifting being done by dispassionate officers who have no skin in the game in terms of the Garda investigation but who have an independent function, jealously guarded by that office, to separate themselves from political pressure, Garda pressure, public pressure or anything like that. DPP officials also have to go through that information. They also have to examine the manner in which the garda arrived at his or her conclusion and decide whether the FRT was correct or was reasonably likely to have been correct. Once that is done and the DPP decides a given person is going to be prosecuted, the evidence then has to be presented before a court, and in almost all these cases, before a jury.  There are obviously exceptional cases involving non-jury courts like the Special Criminal Court but they are very much the exception rather than the rule. The vast majority of cases involving this kind of thing will end up before a jury, so 12 ordinary Irish citizens will also have to look at this. They will have to look at the manner in which the Garda made the decision, by which I mean they will look at the CCTV or at the piece of evidence assessed by the facial recognition technology and they will, in accordance with the oath or affirmation they make when they become jurors, satisfy themselves beyond a reasonable doubt the evidence as presented supports the conclusion they are being asked to draw from it.  As such, there are three levels of certitude after the FRT makes its analysis and oe would have to expect that is a reasonable basis on which the errors the FRT undoubtedly will make, statistically, can be undone. We are talking about a 5% chance it is going to make mistake, particularly to a person of colour or a woman. However after that, assuming it makes that mistake, the process has to go through three more layers before a person is convicted. I agree with Deputy Ahern, who said an inaccuracy in this regard or mistake in the criminal justice system can lead to serious consequences. I have been practising as a criminal barrister for over 17 years, primarily in defence. I have prosecuted. I do not prosecute now but I still do defence. The primacy of a jury trial and of the principle of innocent until proven guilty is hugely important to me. It is perhaps the most valuable part of our criminal justice system, which ensures that unlike our nearest neighbour we do not have regular certificates of miscarriage of justice. Our criminal justice system take that principle of innocent until proven guilty really seriously, as I do. It is part of my commitment to the job I do in that regard. Of course inaccuracy can lead to serious problems. Anybody incorrectly convicted of any crime in this State is a travesty of justice as well as a miscarriage of justice, but the effect it has on that individual, their friends, their family and their community is enormous. Whatever we do, we need to make sure that cannot happen and that is why we have such a robust criminal justice system. It is why, even in the Special Criminal Court, which is a non-jury court, judges have found there was insufficient evidence to convict a person who in the popular mind is absolutely guilty. The whole point of having that court process is to sift through that evidence and separate the public opinion from the evidence and the evidential basis for arriving at a conclusion. I have faith that system can deal with systems like this, whether with juries or without.  As important as it is to have a system that works, it is also important that we do not unnecessarily waste Garda time performing a function that could be done by this technology. The biometric data that can be processed by this algorithm, flawed or otherwise, will always be checked by a human being and second-guessed by a person whose reputation is on the line. I am not saying garda\u00ed do not make mistakes, because of course they do. I am not saying the DPP's office does not make mistakes because of course it does. However, in order for this miscarriage to occur the FRT has to be wrong, the garda has to be wrong, the DPP has to be wrong and then the court, the jury and the citizens have to be wrong. It is a lot to expect all those things to come together and be wrong in one instance. We can get around that. The protocols and procedures are important but the technology is important for improving law enforcement and the work of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I have a Topical Issue matter later so I am not being the Grinch if I do not say happy Christmas to everyone. It would feel a bit silly to do it twice.  I absolutely agree with the Minister who has said many times that garda\u00ed need to be properly equipped and need adequate resources. We need them to be adequately equipped and resourced so they can do the very important work we need them to do. As was outlined, we are not opposed to the use of this technology per se or to the use of bodycams but it has to be in the right context and it has to be with an eye at all times to the potential human rights concerns the Minister is more than well aware of. They cause concerns and cause them in some communities more than others. We know this. Deputy Ward has outlined some of those concerns. When I spoke on this matter in the House previously I drew the Minister's attention to the Irish Network Against Racism study that had been published at the time. It found: \"...survey participants described traumatic experiences while being stopped by members of the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, including strip searches, property damage, and wrongful arrests, some of which had long-lasting psychological impacts.\"  Rural and Dublin-based groups spoke of concerns about racial profiling and disproportionate stopping of young black men by police. Both groups shared examples. The Minister will know the report, which shared a lot of examples. Every single word of this report is echoed by the experience and evidence from my constituency. I put on record, as I did at that time, my commendation of those members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na who are putting their hearts and souls into community policing and really trying to get this right.  There are some members, plenty of them, who go above and beyond, but the report tells us there is a problem. There are already concerns about racial profiling right here right now and those concerns have been outlined, but this could potentially be made much worse, as suggested by international evidence, by the use of recording devices by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. There is a real need to be cautious and to listen to evidence because the Minister's direction of travel is clear. Whether he says it outright or not, it can be seen what way he intends to bring this. Therefore, I urge him to be very cautious and listen carefully to the concerns of such organisations as the Irish Network Against Racism, INAR, and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, ICCL. They have seen and know, from international examples, the potential pitfalls and we need to be careful and aware of those.  I have spoken to constituents about this, because people have questions and will ask about the body cameras and what it means. I will tell the Minister straight. There are concerns. People have approached me and expressed concerns about the international experience. It does not mean, because people got it wrong internationally, that we necessarily have to get it wrong nationally, but people are very concerned. They also worry that this is intended by the Government as some sort of distraction, that people should look over there and forget that out of the most recent recruitment to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, north County Dublin got one additional garda. They worry I am being told to look at the body cameras and not at the fact that my area is about 40 garda\u00ed down from the number it had in 2020, while the population has increased.  I have written to the Minister about this in the past and I will write to him again. I will take Rush as an example. The Garda station there was closed. Since then, the population has risen by 20%. The Garda station is now open for two hours per week. It is not adequate and no amount of technology will make up for the front-line policing that is necessary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Before I begin, I wish the Ceann Comhairle and her team a happy Christmas and a wonderful 2026 and the same to the Minister and the staff across the Oireachtas, who do such a brilliant job.  I was not a member of the justice committee during the pre-legislative scrutiny that took place last year on the An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill, but I have taken the time to examine it carefully, to read the report and compare it directly with what is now before the House. On the basis of that research, one thing is absolutely clear. The new and - let us be clear - intrusive elements of this Bill have not been subjected to proper scrutiny at all. That is what this is about.  In the Minister's opening statement, he gave a very reasonable analysis of supporting garda\u00ed and giving them additional powers to do their work and it is hard to argue against that. However, we are asking that the Minister give us the power to do our work, proper pre-legislative scrutiny, time for reflection, proper consideration across committees. That has not been done to this point. The pre-legislative scrutiny that took place in 2024 focused on facial recognition technology, specifically the identification of individuals by matching images of people against databases of known individuals. That is what the committee examined, what stakeholders were invited to comment on and what TDs were asked at that point to grapple with. It did not examine, because they had not been included, the new biometric analysis powers that are contained in this Bill. Those new elements are not minor, technical changes. They are a very significant expansion of State surveillance powers.  Some of the items included in the Bill are the automated categorisation of people based on biometric data, the tracking of individuals across multiple images or video feeds, the ability to reconstruct people's movements based solely on how they look or move using algorithmic analysis and the use of AI systems to single people out in footage, even when their identity is unknown. Those are not cosmetic additions or the tidying up of drafting; they are new powers and they were never examined at pre-legislative scrutiny stage. Yet, here we are on Second Stage being asked to debate the principle of this Bill as though that scrutiny had taken place when it simply did not.  That is not even close to good enough, nor is it an isolated incident in the area of justice over the past year. It has very much become a pattern. We saw it with the international protection Bill where legislation with profound implications for people's rights, legal safeguards and access to justice was pushed through at a pace, only for serious concerns to be raised repeatedly about its alignment with European law and fundamental rights standards. We were told then, as we are being told now, that urgency justified the shortcuts, that operational necessity outweighed the need for careful scrutiny, that safeguards could be dealt with later. Now with this Bill, we are seeing the very same approach again. Once more, we are being asked to legislate first and interrogate later and told that this will all be sorted out in codes of practice we have not seen. Once more, the detail, the safeguards, the limits and definitions are being deferred. This is not how good law is made.  We have to be honest about how this Bill sits in the European context. The EU artificial intelligence, AI, Act is clear about biometric categorisation. It distinguishes between uses that are outright prohibited and uses that are permitted but classified as high risk, requiring stringent safeguards. It explicitly prohibits the use of biometric systems to infer sensitive personal characteristics. It warns about discrimination, profiling and disproportionate impacts on marginalised communities. That has been well interrogated by previous speakers. However, this Bill avoids the language of biometric categorisation altogether. It introduces the concept of biometric analysis without clearly defining its scope and fails to set out how these powers will be aligned with the EU AI Act's protections and obligations. This is eerily familiar to anyone who followed the international protection Bill pre-legislative scrutiny. That legislation had to be repeatedly defended by the Minister against claims that it did not properly align with European safeguards. We are once again legislating at the edge of compliance and trusting problems can be resolved later.  People in this country absolutely want safer communities. We want to protect our garda\u00ed and give them the powers they need. We want to see crime addressed and we all absolutely understand that. We empathise with it and share it. Communities living with antisocial behaviour, organised crime, intimidation and violence deserve action, not just rhetoric. We deserve more than bad law and bad scrutiny. Doing this properly should not be seen as optional. It is not an obstacle to safety. It is a prerequisite of it. Rushed legislation, weak safeguards and poorly scrutinised powers do not make communities safer in the long run. They undermine trust, expose the State to legal challenge and disproportionately impact people who already experience over-policing and under-protection. We have seen this before and we know how it plays out.  I do not accept the idea that it is somehow inevitable that protecting human rights must come at the expense of public safety. That is a false choice. We can have strong Garda powers, meaningful accountability, clear legal thresholds, alignment with European law and public confidence, but we can only get there if we do the work. Frankly, it is not that hard to get this right. It requires a proper pre-legislative scrutiny of the new powers, clarity about what technologies are being authorised, transparency about how decisions are made and real safeguards against discrimination and misuse.  What concerns me most is not just what is in the Bill, but how we arrived here. If justice legislation is repeatedly rushed, term after term, without full scrutiny, we will look back in years to come and ask ourselves how glaring gaps were allowed to pass unnoticed. We will ask how powers affecting rights were normalised without debate and how trust was eroded so quietly. No one in this House wants to see victims of crime let down, nor do we want to slow down legislation for the sake of it, but the way to honour victims is not through legislation that creates new risks while we do the minimum to address the structural causes of harm. I do not believe that surveillance powers introduced without scrutiny will deliver the safety people are crying out for or that legislation which risks discrimination, profiling and legal challenge will stand the test of time.  These are not just risks. They have been documented already in other jurisdictions. Clearly, we can do better. We can legislate in ways that protects communities, supports garda\u00ed, respects rights and aligns with European safeguards, but only if we stop treating scrutiny as an inconvenience and democracy as something to be rushed passed. For those reasons, I have very serious concerns about this Bill, not just in substance, but in process. I urge the Government to pause and reflect and allow this House to do its job properly before yet another justice Bill is passed with holes we will later regret.  The Minister said we have to absorb technology. Nobody is disputing that. The process, however, requires time, engagement and the respect of parliamentarians to do our job on Committee Stage to scrutinise the legislation, make suggestions and see where there might be holes in it and to engage with stakeholders on the type of Bills that are coming before us now. That has not happened and we are engaged on what the contents are of the Bill that the Minister is asking us to speak on today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I would also like to take this opportunity to wish everybody in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann a Happy Christmas and I would like to single out two people in particular, Karen Hinkson-Deeney and M\u00edde Nic Fhionnlaoich, who are my team and without whom I could not have had this first year as a TD. I want to build on Deputy Gannon's points around this particular technology, which I have huge concerns with. Some of the key points I want to make are around the high-risk use of AI and the fact the appropriate safeguards are not yet in place; and around the civil liberties that are at risk when essentially, we are seeking convenience for law and order while potentially weakening our justice system. I have concerns about this legislation being introduced in advance of the EU AI Act coming into effect and, finally, as many others have done, I want to touch on the point that this technology is not infallible and we are not yet ready to deal with those errors.  First, this is a high-risk use of AI and those appropriate safeguards are not in place to address that risk. The AI advisory council subgroup on facial recognition technology has cited that this technology is high risk and therefore carries massive potential consequences for the individuals it is used on. This Bill, in practice, interferes with the privacy rights of individuals using technology that we do not yet understand without the person affected having necessarily done anything wrong. There is a real and obvious lack of independence to this, which shows that safeguards are, at best, ill-conceived and at worst, I would say, deliberately weak. We have a code of practice that potentially can be amended without consultation based on what the Garda Commissioner and the Minister think count as minor changes. I am afraid you cannot run with the hare and hunt with the hounds; we need real, independent oversight of this technology. When we erode civil rights and liberties for convenience, we create a weaker justice system. Our rights as individuals need to be protected in the context of a criminal investigation, not trampled on the minute one goes from being a citizen to being a suspect. This is another example of pushing for adoption of technology first and dealing with the consequences later. The legal and criminal justice systems cannot become the testing ground where we move fast and break things. People's lives, justice for victims, and the assurances of those investigating crimes that they are indeed upholding the law, are all threatened by adopting risky tactics that threaten people's access to justice. The administration of justice is a balance of the rights, not a practice of finding what is most convenient for the State while leaving us vulnerable to unsafe convictions and miscarriages of justice.  Caithfidh muid cearta an ghn\u00e1thdhuine a chosaint. Faoin dl\u00ed, go dt\u00ed go bhfuil duine ciontaithe, is ghn\u00e1thdhuine \u00e9 n\u00f3 \u00ed. M\u00e1 fhaigheann muid r\u00e9idh leis sin agus m\u00e1 chaitheann muid cearta daonna sna f\u00e1ta\u00ed lofa ar mhaithe leis an rud is \u00e9asca a dh\u00e9anamh, n\u00ed fi\u00fa tada na cearta sin d\u2019aon duine.  I strongly believe this legislation should not be introduced in advance of the EU AI Act coming into effect and this is an area I have done a lot of work on. Something which concerns me in the context of this legislation is that facial recognition and biometric analysis technology is a high-risk use of AI under the EU AI Act and this Act has not yet been fully implemented. Indeed we have a digital omnibus being proposed which will change it before it even comes into effect. Despite this, we have the Government, which is so keen to delay Private Members' Bills, wants to fire ahead with a law that may be rendered unworkable in the space of a year. We cannot say this Bill will uphold human rights and governance when it comes to AI when the bodies responsible for monitoring that are still being set up and designated. It is irresponsible to implement a measure like this in criminal investigations when we do not have the structures to ensure we are protecting people and the integrity of criminal investigations.  This tech is not infallible, as we have heard from so any others today, and we are not yet ready to deal with the biases within these systems. A litany of experts on tech, bias, human rights and on AI have all said time and again that this type of technology is rife with bias, which is hard to identify and even harder to eradicate. A false positive on grainy footage that is then signed off by a person whose analysis will be naturally biased by the machine's result and the fact he or she had already identified them as a potential suspect, is what we are facing here. Dr. Abeba Birhane from the AI advisory council wrote in The Irish Times :  In seeking legislation to allow the use of facial recognition technology in policing, Ireland risks introducing a technology that scientific evidence has demonstrated is ineffective, inherently flawed, opaque and discriminatory.  Ethnic minorities face the sharp end of this bias. They are more likely to be considered a suspect by the Garda anyway, something which under this Bill would strip them of their right to privacy. Research has shown time and again that these machines are less accurate on the faces of ethnic minorities. The risk of racial profiling already exists in our police and FRT will only deepen those biases.  To summarise, I genuinely support the use of technology for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and I realise that cutting-edge technology needs to be made available for our police service to continue to serve our communities as they do with community policing and with peacekeeping. It cannot be done unless we uphold the appropriate oversight and the human rights and equality standards which we require. I commend the work of the Policing Authority and Fiosr\u00fa. I know the Policing Authority has merged with the Garda Inspectorate. They do an incredible job, I believe, of observing these and I hope they will be heavily involved in any continued oversight of the deployment of these new technologies because that is what it required. In my previous role and in my human rights and equality work I learned to understand why this is so important because while I, as an individual - a white, settled, southside Dublin woman - have had only positive interactions with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na over the course of my life when I have had cause to do so, I have learned from direct consultation with people from the Travelling community and people from the black community that their experience with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is not always the same, sadly. They at times can feel very over-policed and underserved by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. The difficulty I have with this type of technology is that this will only be amplified by the introduction of things like facial recognition technology, until we have the appropriate safeguards and oversight built into place to allow it to be deployed fairly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. I commend the work of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. In my district in Dublin West they do incredible work on a daily basis. We saw the difficulties they faced during the disgraceful riots in Dublin and sometimes during those incidents we really see how effective they can be in protecting society. While we welcome the move to introduce the use of body-worn cameras, which is seen as a necessary tool to protect the Garda and the public, we do have concerns around this Bill and particularly around facial recognition technology. There are deep concerns citing potential issues with racial profiling and its problematic implementation in other jurisdictions. We have seen time and again where concerns have been raised where this technology is actually in place. There are huge gaps in the Bill around protection and the use of AI. This is newish technology and the people need to be protected from abuse of this. We know from history that pretty much every police force pushes the boundaries of what is right and what it sees as being in its interests. It is our responsibility to ensure that when facial recognition technology - which is used in conjunction with AI - is used, it is used in an appropriate way and not abused by any sections of the State.  There is a strong need for rigid safeguards to ensure sensitive data is stored securely and not inappropriately shared, referencing past incidents where Garda data handling was an issue. I am deeply concerned about who holds this information and where it is held. We have seen that a lot of these companies are American companies and Israeli companies. The Israelis are embedded in a lot of this AI facial recognition technology. We know what they do with that; they kill Palestinians. They kill them on a daily basis using facial recognition. We know this technology is out there. We know it is being abused by police forces. I am certainly not saying that is what will happen but with the technology and the information they have, what companies will be subcontracted to hold this information? I have huge concerns around that.  Technology can only bring us so far. In my constituency, and I have referenced this before, we recently benefited from a number of new garda\u00ed in our area.  Five garda\u00ed were recently attested and sent to Dublin 15, but we lost four due to promotions. Fair play to them. They got promotions and moved on, but it left us with one garda to cover an area that includes Finglas, Blanchardstown and Cabra. Many years ago, I would say to garda\u00ed that we needed a new Garda station and they would say that we just needed more garda\u00ed. Now they are telling us that not alone do we need more garda\u00ed, we also need a new Garda station because of the size of Dublin West.  In the context of technology, for the past four years I have been asking about drones for the Garda. I have been getting ridiculous answers and contradictory information from both the Department and the Garda. We have that technology, but it is not being used. I will give a simple example. There are huge estates in Dublin 15, and garda\u00ed are still cycling around them on pushbikes. It is ridiculous. Young people are flying along on electric bikes and scooters at 40 km\/h and 50 km\/h, and garda\u00ed are on pushbikes. The technology is there, but it is not being used.  There is merit in some of the legislation, but Sinn F\u00e9in and I have massive concerns about the speed of the roll-out of the Bill. It needs to be slowed down because much more scrutiny is needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I am opposed to this legislation on the basis of the potential for it to be used to convict people mistakenly, particularly people of colour, working-class young people and minorities. We have a lot of grounds to say that. The Bill is part of an increasingly repressive turn in policing and follows a pattern that already exists here, in Europe, in the US and in other countries worldwide. We have seen examples of that in relation to the Palestine solidarity movement, with of the use of pepper spray and the way activists have been arrested. The key reason is that there is absolutely no accountability on the part of the Garda. If the Minister is going to tell me that Fiosr\u00fa holds garda\u00ed accountable, my answer is that it does not. The potential for this technology to be used against minorities is immense.  I will speak first on the technology and then on the racial aspect. This technology involves the use of AI to scan images or videos of a person. These are then matched with details on a database that can be used to find suspects of a crime or a missing person. The Metropolitan Police has used this technology. According to its statistics, 63.6% of identity checks using the technology were incorrect. In 2023, 65% of all identity checks were incorrect when the technology was used. In some studies, women with coloured skin were 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white males. In the US, Asian and black Americans were 100 times more likely to be misidentified than white Americans. Those are real statistics. They are a cause for concern. There have been seven wrongful arrests in the US as a result of the use of facial recognition technology. That is something fundamental to the system. As we have seen, AI is trained with images of people from the global north, the majority of whom are white. The bias is impossible to take out of the system. We have seen many other examples where AI is male dominated. It follows the cultural practices of the people who control it and those who create it.  The Irish State does not have a good track record with this technology. For example, similar technology is used to scan and verify biometric data on people's public services cards. According to the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, one third of applications need to be checked by a human in order to ensure everything is correct.  A key point is that garda\u00ed are systemically biased against minorities. All of the studies carried out have shown this, even those that the Garda has compiled. The Irish Network Against Racism, INAR, report found that 83% of non-white people believed they had been racially profiled. In a 2022 survey,59% of Travellers indicated that they believed they were stopped because of their ethnicity. An internal survey by the Garda found that 100% of the garda\u00ed surveyed had negative views of Travellers and 30% had negative views of black Africans. Is the Minister at all concerned about those figures? Has he ever discussed them with garda\u00ed? He is bringing in this technology knowing that these biases exist. As garda\u00ed are the ones who will be reviewing the results the technology will produce, surely these racist views can come into play.  Beyond anything else, it is debatable whether this technology is even useful for what it is intended to do. It does not dissuade criminality, for example, nor does it put people off carrying out criminal attacks or anything like that. It is a move towards more surveillance by the State.  I want to refer further to the racial aspect of policing and the tools that garda\u00ed already have. We are coming up to the fifth anniversary of the killing of George Nkencho, a constituent of mine, by garda\u00ed. George was a young man who lived in the Clonee-Littlepace area, which is very close to where I live. He went to the shops in Hartstown. Something happened there, and there was an altercation with a member of staff. Allegedly, an assault took place, which was terrible and which should not have happened. What should have happened was that George should have been questioned and charged if there was a crime to answer for. He should still be alive today. Instead, he was dead within about 20 minutes. George was the first person of colour killed by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in Ireland, which is extremely significant. He was also a person with known mental health issues. Garda\u00ed had been to the house in relation to George. There were garda\u00ed present who were well aware of the issues that he had. Fundamentally, what happened was the result of a nervous breakdown, ironically arising from the killing of one of his best friends by racists in Tyrrelstown. Two people from the same football team ended up dead. It is quite unbelievable. If this were fiction, it would be seen to be unbelievable.  Whatever happened that day - and, obviously, somebody has to face up to a crime - those who died should be alive. There is no question about that. The penalty for an assault cannot be death. Garda\u00ed followed George in their car, adding to the distress involved. When they got to his house, the armed unit arrived very quickly. I do not know why the armed unit would be need to arrest a young man on his own doorstep. Why was it necessary to inflame the situation? It was not the local garda\u00ed who were at the forefront.  We keep being told that garda\u00ed are well capable of dealing with mental health issues, but their abilities were certainly not brought into play that day. We are talking now about giving garda\u00ed biometric analysis tools, body cameras, tasers and more rights to use pepper spray, which is in related legislation that will accompany this Bill. What about the actions of garda\u00ed on that particular day? It is alleged in the media that a taser was used on George, yet he was still able to rise up and attack those garda\u00ed.  The key issue is this. Five years on, that family, who lost their son, had to endure a horrific torrent of abuse generated by the far right, which kicked into overdrive when it happened. The abuse happened around Covid, when everybody was online. Within minutes, as is scientifically proven, those involved spread all sorts of lies about George being a criminal, stabbing somebody and attacking them with a machete. The Garda subsequently stated that none of this was true. Not only that, GSOC, as it then was, and the DPP refused to reveal what happened that day. As a result, the family have been left with no answers. They still do not know why George was killed.  The Minister stated previously that garda\u00ed should not operate with their arms tied behind their backs. We also need safeguards for situations where garda\u00ed shoot people.  All of the rules were breached that day on 30 December 2020; of that there is absolutely no question. It is indefensible how the family have been treated. I want to raise police accountability. Of course we need policing. We need a police force that is accountable, democratic and answerable to the communities it serves, including minorities. My party colleague from Dublin West said the Garda is doing a great job in Blanchardstown. Blanchardstown is a very diverse community. I would not have the same confidence at all because there is no democratic forum minorities can feed into. That is something the Nkencho family have called for but is not operating in the area at all. Of course we need a Garda that will respond to calls on gender-based violence, antisocial behaviour and when people are victims of a crime but when garda\u00ed end up killing somebody or carrying out any miscarriage of justice, who holds them to account? If a gang member, a well-known criminal, was killed by anybody else, there would be an investigation and a trial. It seems when a garda kills someone, there is no investigation that everybody can see and ask questions about, is held in full public view and there is no trial. There should be a trial of the garda\u00ed who carried out that killing that day. Why is there a difference applied to garda\u00ed? They should not be beyond any questioning. We still need questions answered about why George Nkencho was killed five years ago. His family deserve that and they should not face the full rigours of the State closing ranks and not being accountable. That garda stayed working for those five years. He was not put on leave - nothing whatsoever - when clearly George should not have been shot twice in the back as he was reaching for his door. Two of the shots were into his back. Was there racism at play that day? We will never know, it seems, unless we have a full, open and independent inquiry. There will be an inquest in the new year. I hope it will lead to the calling of an independent inquiry because it is completely unfair that a family who lost their son get no answers when for anybody else who ends up being killed, there is a trial. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  I had not planned on speaking but I was listening to the debate. I would like to be associated with all the wishes of goodwill in relation to this time of year to staff and all our colleagues in the Houses. It has already been iterated that Sinn F\u00e9in's position is we are not opposing this Bill but the Minister has already indicated amendments will come. We are discussing a Bill tonight but I presume that Bill will change. I would like to think the Minister will take on board many of the concerns shared by the Opposition and people on the Government benches about this technology. We are opening a door regarding the use of this technology. The concern I have is that once we open this door, it will be very hard to close it. The big question we are asking tonight is where this technology is going to lead us. What will the end result be? The Minister said that the technology the Government intends to provide for this legislation will allow the Garda to process a vast amount of footage and imagery much more efficiently than is currently the case. I do not think any of us have a difficulty with that. The current situation is that if there is a serious crime, people are asked if they have dashcam footage and so on. A point made by Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh was that it seems strange Joe public is asked. It is a regular thing. If there is a crime on Grafton Street, they will go to the shops there and look at the bank and all places where there is footage. It seems odd that Garda vehicles do not have technology currently. It seems out of sorts. Perhaps that needs to be looked at. Many of my colleagues expressed concerns relating to where the technology has gone wrong. We only have to look across the water to see many of those cases, for example the Jean Charles de Menezes case, a Brazilian who was mistakenly profiled and ended up losing his life. There was talk at that stage of a complete review of the situation, but the man was dead. There was no real recourse for his family in relation to an apology. He was in the wrong place at the wrong time and fitted the profile. At the moment, in my constituency, we have CCTV run by the Garda. I have seen the operation. We also have council CCTV. I understand there are challenges in using that under, I think, the planning laws at that time were introduced and it can only be used for certain things. The question a lot of people who attend public meetings have is why that cannot be used or why that camera is broken. There is support in the community to try to track criminality but there are also concerns, as others said, about where this will end up being used. It has also been pointed out about community forums. People are reluctantly supporting this Bill but how it actually unfolds will be important. Amendments will either make or break this Bill in how we go forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  This is the last time I will speak before Christmas. I wish the Ceann Comhairle, all Members and the staff who work here tirelessly throughout the year a happy Christmas. I thank them on my behalf and on behalf, I would say, of all Members of the Oireachtas for their outstanding work. I also want to thank my officials in the Department of justice for their tireless commitment to providing assistance and help to me as Minister. I will deal with a couple of issues raised by Deputies. I would like to respond to everything Deputies said and I will try. Since Deputy Carthy is here, I will reply to what he said. He at one stage criticised me for not bringing in enough legislation and then criticised me for rushing legislation. I do not intend to rush legislation. I have announced a series of important justice legislative provisions I want to see enacted. This is an important one. There have been a number of contributions from Deputies in respect of the reliability of what is referred to as biometric analysis. We need to be clear there is no investigative tool used by the Garda or any of us in life that is infallible. A garda can be looking for an individual and misidentify another individual as that person. Mistakes can be made consistently. However, we cannot ignore the fact there are technological advancements happening of huge benefit to police services for the purpose of investigating crimes. We have looked very much in this debate at the issue from the point of view of a person sought by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na as having been alleged to have committed an offence. We also need to think of it from the point of view of people who are missing. There are people who are missing and it is a terrible trauma for the families involved. This technology will be of huge assistance in enabling the Garda to check for the purpose of identifying where that person is.  Similarly, a terrible thing happening in the modern world is the misuse of children for child sexual exploitation. It is going to be extremely beneficial for us to use this technology to identify children who are victims of that heinous crime.  I am conscious that much of my work as Minister for justice is devoted to combating domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. If a woman, as it predominantly is, has been raped or seriously sexually assaulted by an individual who is known, there has to be a benefit in having this technology for the purpose of trying to identify where that person is.  A garda standing at the top of Grafton Street who is looking for a suspect could be in the difficult position of trying to deal with everyone walking up and down that street. The garda might have been told to keep an eye out for a suspect and arrest them if they see them. That garda can make a mistake but there is a huge benefit in having this type of technology in that we can use the vast amount of footage available to try to analyse biometrically a lot of data to subsequently identify individuals.  Deputy Carthy asked the reason for using the term \"biometric analysis\" and not \"biometric categorisation\". In fairness, biometric categorisation is a subgroup of biometric analysis. Biometric analysis covers elements of a number of key concepts within the AI Act, including biometric categorisation, but should not be limited to that term.  Deputy Carthy and several other colleagues, including Deputy O'Reilly, referred to their concern about racial profiling. Of course, that type of profiling should not be permitted. I assure colleagues that under section 89(3) of the Data Protection Act, profiling is prohibited. That section says that profiling that results in discrimination against an individual on the basis of a special category of personal data shall be prohibited.  Deputy Carthy also referred to the fact that a significant number of members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na would face disciplinary action for the abuse of PULSE. I do not know if it is correct to say a significant number, but the reason for this in legislation, and the reason there will be codes of practice, is to ensure this technology will be used only for what is lawfully permitted under a code of practice. I suspect most of us in this House use this type of facial recognition technology when we accessing our phones or various services. The fact that we are prepared to rely upon it for these purposes should indicate that it is a technology that is improving in its ability.  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta \u00d3 Snodaigh freisin. T\u00e1 an ceart aige. D\u00fairt s\u00e9 go bhfuil a l\u00e1n ceamara\u00ed CCTV timpeall na cathrach seo agus is f\u00e9idir leis na garda\u00ed na ceamara\u00ed sin a \u00fas\u00e1id agus iad ag d\u00e9anamh a gcuid oibre. Caitheann na garda\u00ed a l\u00e1n ama ag scr\u00fad\u00fa an footage. T\u00e1 an Bille ag freagairt an fhadhb sin. Beidh na garda\u00ed \u00e1balta an footage a scr\u00fad\u00fa go tapa nuair a bh\u00edonn siad ag lorg duine amh\u00e1in sa CCTV. I thank Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh for his contribution.  Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern referred to the fact that he was concerned about the further extension of this legislation. I have been fairly clear \u2013 I am not going to be evasive with colleagues \u2013 that it is my intention to introduce further legislation next year for the purpose of trying to put on the Statute Book legislation that will permit retrospective biometric identification and also live biometric analysis and identification. It is of benefit to investigations and will assist the public. The reason I am introducing this is not that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is saying it wants to use it for itself; it is because it is of benefit in ensuring the best policing service is available to individuals.  Deputy Ward made good points. Of course, the technology is not infallible but it is not going to be used as a determinative tool and as determinative evidence meaning a person is going to be convicted of an offence. The worst that could happen is that an individual who is incorrectly identified will be questioned by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Every day of the week, people who are completely innocent are questioned by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in respect of investigations because garda\u00ed may regard them as suspects.  Garda\u00ed are lawfully entitled to question people where they have a reasonable suspicion that they have been involved in an offence. In many cases, it turns out that an individual has no involvement whatsoever and is completely innocent, but that does not undermine what the garda\u00ed are doing.  Deputy O'Reilly also raised human rights concerns. I have concerns about these also but we also have to consider the human rights of victims of crime and the individuals who are entitled to a thorough investigation. It is not a distraction.  The numbers coming into An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na are improving. As I said in November, 194 garda\u00ed passed out from Templemore and 200 went in the following Monday. Numbers are looking up. The benefit is more garda\u00ed in every community. An advantage to this legislation is that garda\u00ed will not have to spend days or weeks looking through footage. They will be assisted technologically.  Deputy Gannon spoke about state surveillance powers and expressed concerns about the legislation. With regard to state surveillance, this is not a Big Brother state and it does not have a Big Brother government. Nobody in this House is advocating enormous state surveillance. However, we cannot get away from the fact that, around the place, there is a huge number of CCTV cameras and a large amount of footage available. The latter has become enormously advantageous in investigating criminal offences. Part of the reason certain types of crime are declining is that people who commit criminal acts know they will be apprehended owing to there being very significant CCTV surveillance.  Deputy Gibney also raised concerns in respect of the technology. She said it is not infallible. I agree. Of course it is not. There is no investigative tool used by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na that is infallible.  I listened to Deputies Donnelly and Coppinger. Many Members spoke about studies conducted that indicate the technology is unreliable. Many of these date from 2018 and 2019. The technology has improved immeasurably since then. I believe that any bias that may have existed in terms of race or gender will ultimately be eliminated, but there will always be human verification and human assessment.  I wish the Ceann Comhairle a happy Christmas and thank her for all her work. She was not here when I wished people a happy Christmas at the outset. It has been a very busy year for all of us. I wish all my colleagues, particularly the Ceann Comhairle, a happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Minister. I will be here for the rest of the evening. I will wish all a happy Christmas before adjourning. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_47","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/82","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/82\/dail\/motion\/referral","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I move:  That the Bill be referred to the Select Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration pursuant to Standing Orders 103(2)( b ) and 188(1). "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_48","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Pat Buckley - To discuss ongoing water outages affecting the community of Knockane, Castlemartyr, County Cork.  Deputy Brian Stanley - To discuss school places for special needs pupils at second level in Portlaoise.  Deputy Gary Gannon - To discuss drug-related intimidation and associated violence.  Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney - To discuss an additional autism class in Goatstown ETNS.  Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss the backlog in assessment of need applications in Dublin Fingal West.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.  Deputy Rory Hearne - To discuss ongoing issues with the tenant in situ scheme in Dublin North-West.  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss community spaces in Dublin 8.  Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh - To discuss the imminent closure of The Complex in Dublin.  Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett and Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the detention, without bail, of an Irish citizen by German authorities.  The matters raised by Deputies Louise O'Reilly, Rory Hearne and Brian Stanley have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_49","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_50","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Psychological Assessments","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_49","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Before I raise my issue, I wish the Ceann Comhaire and her team, including Jill Gray, and every person who works in the Oireachtas a happy Christmas. We are incredibly well looked after. Sometimes it is a bit lost on us how well served we are. This is a very decent place to work because of the men and women who keep it going. I hope everybody gets a chance to spend a bit of quality time with their family, because they have all more than earned it. I hope the Ceann Comhairle gets a rest. It has indeed been a very busy year.  I thank the Minister of State for being here to take my topical issue, which relates to the length of time children in my constituency, in particular, must wait for an assessment of need, AON. It would be remiss of me not to raise the volume of representations I have received, even in the past two or three hours, on what is being referred to as the Government's decision, quietly embedded in a press release, on the AON process.  They come from teachers, people working in the area of special education and, crucially, parents. They say diagnosis matters. It is not a bureaucratic hurdle. It provides children with an understanding of their own identity, strengths and challenges and it equips teachers to provide informed and effective supports. They want to know who will conduct these educational assessments. Will teachers be expected to take this on? What training, what capacity and what safeguards will exist? How can educational assessment conducted without diagnostic expertise determine appropriate placement in complex cases? There are real concerns. I received a deluge of lobbying before I came down here. They have a simple request. They want the Minister to publish in full the proposed criteria and decision-making process. They want clarity on the future status of special education designations. They want this paused to facilitate the discussions, which I feel are important.  This Topical Issue specifically relates to my area, but my area is part of the wider picture. I represent one of the youngest and most rapidly expanding areas of Dublin, but the children in my area who require an assessment of need appear to be left waiting. I think they are the longest waiters in the State - 3% of children in Fingal received an assessment of need within the legal minimum timeframe compared with a national average of 10%. A national average of 10% is an absolute disgrace but 3% is even worse. I represent the youngest town in Ireland. If ever there was a need for additional resources to be targeted, it would be in my area.  Parents watch their kids wait and wait for assessments of need. If the Minister of State wants an estimation of just how bad things are, it was reported in The Times Ireland weekend edition that there is now a buy-now-pay-later service being offered for therapies. I have spoken to parents who are so desperate to get the assessments of need for their kids that they will actually go private when they do not have the money. It is grand for those who are loaded, but most people are not. They might borrow from a family member, get a credit union loan or do a few shifts of overtime if there are any going, but very often, there are not. Then they find themselves in debt but they still have to keep paying for therapies. The Minister of State might acquaint herself with this buy-now-pay-later, BNPL, service because I fully intend to raise this every single time. It is disgusting that people would be forced to get into debt for what their children have a legal entitlement to. These companies have the neck to advertise this stuff because they know how desperate parents are. They know that parents desperately need these assessments for their kids. This BNPL service is evidence of a failure on the part of the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  Before I deal with the Topical Issue, I wish a merry Christmas to Deputy O'Reilly and her family, as well as to the Ceann Comhairle, her team and everybody who keeps this place running day in and day out. I hope they all enjoy the break.  I thank Deputy O\u2019Reilly for raising this issue and for offering me the opportunity to speak about it on the floor of the House. The Government recognises that there are unacceptable delays in accessing assessments of need, not just in the Deputy's constituency, but at a national level also. The Department and the HSE are committed to addressing these delays and ensuring that the assessment of need system is more efficient and effective.  There has been a continued growth in demand for assessments of need in the north Dublin local health office, which spans a significant area within Dublin Fingal West. In the first nine months of this year, 808 applications were received compared with 655 in the same period last year. This marks a 23% year-on-year increase in demand for assessments of need in the north Dublin local health office area.  Nationally, demand for assessments of need has doubled in five years. Significant efforts have been made to increase the completion rates of assessments of need throughout the country, including the north Dublin local health office area. This is reflected in the Deputy's constituency in the completion of 770 assessment reports in the first nine months of this year, a 58% year-on-year increase when compared with the same period last year. These efforts have had a positive effect in reducing the number of applications that were overdue for completion in north Dublin by almost 3% in the last year but obviously there is a long way to go on this.  At the end of September, there were 1,841 applications overdue for completion in north Dublin compared with 1,893 at the same time last year. While there is a positive trend evident, I entirely accept that we need to do a lot more, not just in the Deputy's constituency, but at a national level, to ensure that assessments of need are completed as soon as possible. This is why the Government announced on 9 December a series of reforms to the assessment of need process that will make the process more effective and efficient for children and families. These reforms include changes to Part 2 of the Disability Act 2005, which provides for assessments of need. These changes will not remove any rights for parents to apply for an assessment of need for their child, nor will they alter the statutory six-month timeline set out in the Disability Act.  In addition to these legislative reforms, there are a series of operational actions that are being progressed as a matter of priority. These include the development of statutory guidelines to ensure that assessments of need focus on identifying a child\u2019s needs, engaging in more intensive assessments only where required to identify need. This should help reduce delays and allow therapists to spend more time delivering services.  The HSE will establish 11 new in-reach teams, initially, to support HSE assessment processes, including assessments of need and also the HSE's new specific autism protocol and assessment process. Each team will include a psychologist, a speech and language therapist, an occupational therapist and an administrator, providing clinical guidance throughout the process. The administrator is being provided for that team on foot of feedback we are receiving from families that they feel they need and deserve better communication from our teams.  The Government recognises the need for urgency in addressing delays in the assessment of need system and that is why we announced these reforms last week to be brought in in the coming months. We are absolutely committed to addressing these for the benefit of children and their families. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I suppose the Minister of State's recognition of the scale of the problem is welcome. I know she was not making a massive deal out of it, but going from 1,893 to 1,841 is nothing to be proud of really. She should probably be a bit mortified. That figure of 1,841 children in my area represents families that are just left waiting. They feel very much abandoned. On the establishment of 11 new teams, the Minister of State might indicate in her second reply how many additional staff that will provide. Will they be joined up with the children's disability network teams, CDNTs? Will they be joined up with community healthcare organisations, CHOs, local health offices, LHOs, and the network? Will they be a stand-alone network of their own? She might explain to me how that will work. She might address the use of BNPL offers. It is debt built up by people who cannot afford to pay out of their own pocket for a service that the State is legally mandated to provide for their kids. They are getting themselves into debt for a service that they have a lawful entitlement to. That is a fairly damning indictment.  I appreciate the Minister of State is not long in the job but her party has been more than 14 years in government. The evidence of kids being failed, specifically the 1,841 in north Dublin, is all around us. I have already outlined teachers' serious concerns over what was in the Government's press statement. Teachers in this area, with the interests of the kids at heart, do not trust that what the Government is saying will work. There is no clarity there and I hope the Minister of State will be able to put some clarity on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I will. The reforms announced last week are basically a six-pronged approach. First is the statutory element and we published the heads of the Bill, which will go to the disability matters committee for pre-legislative scrutiny and for further consultation. That is aimed at standardising and streamlining the assessment of need process to make sure that every child, no matter where they are in the State, gets the same approach. The second thing we have done is made the decision - this will be part of the statutory guidelines - that decisions will be communicated earlier to parents.  When a decision is arrived at as to whether or not a child has a disability that decision should and must be communicated to parents at the point at which it is made. That does not currently seem to be the case. We are now providing that for parents. Single point of access is coming in through the HSE. That is the process by which there will be no wrong door. The Deputy spoke about primary care and the different elements of the health service. Unfortunately some people\u2019s experience is that they wait on the waiting list, they get to the top and they are told they are in the wrong queue and have to go to the bottom of another waiting list. This will be the end of that approach. This is a single point of access to make sure we are supporting parents and families through the right channel for them.  On top of that the HSE is initiating a new autism protocol and assessment process specifically for children who are displaying autistic traits. At the moment 45% of children who go through our AON process get a diagnosis of autism. This is responding to that need which is developing and evolving.  On the in-reach teams, there will be 11 in-reach teams next year and a further nine the following year, bringing it to 20 and there are 20 REO areas. That is the rationale for how they are being recruited and where they will be based. There will be 44 people hired next year for those in-reach teams of four per team. They will be there to support both single point of access and also the autism protocol and assessment process. We are also hiring more into our CDNTs. We are outsourcing more assessments of need. We will outsource 6,000 assessments of need next year and there is also the education element which the Deputy raised. The Minister for education has confirmed she is committed to putting together a proposal that will phase out the requirement of an assessment of need for a special class or special school and to formulate that proposal in consultation with key stakeholders including unions in quarter 1 and bring that proposal to the Taoiseach and the Cabinet committee on disability. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Minister of State and Deputy O\u2019Reilly. I wish them both happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Psychological Assessments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_51","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_49","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_51","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I also wish happy Christmas to all the staff, the Ceann Comhairle and the Ministers. Nollaig Shona. I look forward to continuing our engagement in the new year.  I will refer to one case in particular in my constituency but I wish to raise the broader issue affecting people which we are being inundated about. It is the issue of people facing eviction. They are being evicted from the private rental sector. These are families and individuals. A policy brought in after the temporary Covid eviction ban was lifted was the tenant in situ scheme. Everyone acknowledges the tenant in situ scheme has been a very effective homeless prevention measure. The housing committee had very important presentations, which I hope the Minister of State will look at, from Focus Ireland and the Dublin Region Homeless Executive this week. It showed the tenant in situ scheme was a really key measure in preventing homelessness in 2024. I will talk about one case which shows the necessity of this scheme.  This is the case of a family which was facing eviction. My office has been dealing with the mother. They have had to leave their rental home and are living in the husband\u2019s parents\u2019 house. It is extremely overcrowded with seven people in the house. The eldest daughter sleeps on the couch in the living room. The two sons share a room with their grandmother. The other daughter shares a room with her grandfather. The woman, her husband and their baby sleep in another room. They have been looking for a home for quite a few years and had not found anything suitable before they received their notice to quit. They had contacted the council in April when they received the eviction letter to see if the tenant in situ scheme could support them but at that time the council said the scheme was effectively paused until there was clarity on it. As a result, they had to leave their home.  The mother was in touch with us. She told us she cries every night. She has started taking antidepressants a week ago and she and her husband break up multiple times a day over arguments blaming one another about who is at fault that they got into this situation. She said she knows many people in the same situation and that they are all living this. She said she is grateful there is a roof over their heads but she will go to any length so her kids do not end up in a hotel with herself and her husband in the same room for an unknown amount of time where they are even more crowded than they are now.  This is an example of the tenant in situ scheme failing to support those families as a result of it being paused. I have been in touch with the council since then. It says the scheme is being operated but there are eligibility requirements, so it is being restricted in terms of who is eligible for funding for it. Will the Minister of State address that and clarify the eligibility changes to the tenant in situ scheme? I am very concerned it is limiting its potential to prevent families like this from being made homeless.  When the head of housing at Dublin City Council was at the housing committee this week where we discussed homelessness I asked him how the scheme was functioning. He said that while it was back functioning there are issues of eligibility and issues where repairs are required to a home that is currently rented privately and that is not up to standard because there is not funding there to do up those homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  Like everyone else, I wish the Ceann Comhairle, the staff and our colleagues, Deputy Hearne and my colleague here, the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, all the best and a good Christmas. Everyone needs a break. I wish everyone a peaceful, productive and robust new year.  I wish to thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter and for the opportunity to update the D\u00e1il on tenant in situ acquisitions. I am taking this matter on behalf of James Browne, Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. Acquisitions with tenants in situ are a category of purchase under the second-hand acquisitions programme which help prevent social housing supported households in the private rental sector, such as HAP, from becoming homeless. In this regard, tenant in situ acquisitions are a policy tool available to local authorities once all other options and measures to prevent a household becoming homeless have been examined.  Along with the clear focus of Government on increasing the supply of new build social and affordable homes, a targeted social housing acquisition programme has been, and will continue to be, an important policy response to priority needs. The Minister for housing has this year secured funding to a total of \u20ac325 million to fund acquisitions under his Department's social housing second-hand acquisitions programme, an increase from \u20ac60 million per year committed to under Housing for All. Dublin City Council has been allocated \u20ac95 million of this funding. This allocation funds acquisitions under four categories, including: exits from homeless services; tenancy sustainment, namely tenant in situ; persons with disabilities and older persons requiring urgent housing responses; and buy and renew actions tackling vacancy and dereliction.  More recently, the Minister has secured an additional \u20ac50 million which has been ring-fenced for acquisitions supporting households, particularly those larger families with children and Housing First clients, to exit long-term homeless accommodation. Of that, Dublin City Council were allocated \u20ac22 million.  To date this year, nationally, 163 acquisitions have been completed to support exits from homelessness and into housing. A further 482 tenant in situ acquisitions have been completed, ultimately preventing those households from becoming homeless. Dublin City Council has completed 59 acquisitions to support households exiting homelessness into housing and 134 tenant in situ acquisitions preventing these households from becoming homeless.  The Department does not have to hand the number of these that were in the Dublin North-West constituency but the officials in Dublin City Council can provide this information. With more than 16,600 persons in this State without a home, including some 2,450 families and more than 5,200 children, our focus has to be to maximise the impact of the funding available to us for those households facing the most precarious housing situations. Where Dublin City Council acquires a property with a tenant in situ and where refurbishments are required the property will be put into their planned maintenance programme for future consideration.  I do not know the particular circumstances of the family whose case the Deputy raised but I have no doubt it is very difficult. If the Deputy would like to bring the particular circumstances to the Minister for housing and the Department, it is something we can follow up.  I do not know the particular circumstances but there are obviously issues of confidentiality as well. The tenant in situ scheme is part of the overall acquisition scheme itself in terms of a local authority's purchase programme. The refurbishment fund is to allow local authorities to acquire properties under HAP, where there is a tenant. Properties must be maintained to a standard and conform to the regulations for rental properties. Any refurbishment should be provided by the local authority under its planned maintenance programme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I want to highlight the issue and to really push the Minister of State on it. Could he take it back to the Minister as well? There needs to be a step-change in how this Government approaches the tenant in situ scheme. When we look at the funding that has been allocated, it is \u20ac22 million to enable the purchase of homes for those who are in long-term homelessness, but at \u20ac400,000 per home, that is only 55 homes. There are 422 families in Dublin in emergency accommodation for longer than two years. The funding is simply not adequate. For the allocation of \u20ac95 million, we are talking about maybe 250 homes. The figures might sound like a lot, but it is not sufficient or adequate when we look at it in terms of the number of homes that can be purchased. My concern is that thousands of households currently in receipt of the housing assistance payment are facing no-fault evictions, and that will continue even when the changes begin in March. We have a ticking time bomb that is actually exploding now in terms of the mass scale of evictions going on of HAP households that cannot afford the market rent. If they are evicted, there is nowhere they can afford to go. That is ongoing now. It is why we see so many presentations into homelessness but it is going to get even worse in the coming years. There must be more focus on the tenant in situ scheme to prevent households who are in receipt of HAP from going into homelessness. A lot more funding needs to go into it because landlords say they are willing to sell the property, but the councils are too slow in responding and the issues around eligibility and lack of clarity on funding have added to this problem. I call on the Government to take action, in particular on the issue of maintenance. Councils need to be given a green light so that if a family or an individual is facing eviction from their home, where they are in receipt of HAP, the council can buy the property regardless of what it costs ultimately. It is cheaper to keep people in their homes than for them to go into emergency accommodation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  Once again, I thank Deputy Hearne for raising this matter, which I am taking behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne. I urge the Deputy to provide those details on behalf of his constituents to the Minister and the Department.  Supporting households at risk of experiencing homelessness remains a priority for the Government. The tenant in situ scheme is a key measure in this regard. There was scope available within the original \u20ac325 million to support all acquisitions that could be completed. Local authorities that indicated they would expend their full allocation but could progress and complete additional acquisitions by drawing down the relevant funding this year were approved to do so. Dublin City Council was approved to progress additional acquisitions on this basis. That is important to note. Local authorities have also been authorised to enter into commitments for 2026 to a value of up to 30% of their original 2025 acquisitions budget. This has allowed them to commit some \u20ac95 million extra in 2025 for acquisitions that will complete and draw down next year. This effectively provides for a multi-annual approach to programme delivery, facilitating local authorities to plan and progress acquisitions from one year to the next with a higher level of certainty vis-\u00e0-vis future funding availability. This provides Dublin City Council with the ability to commit \u20ac28.5 million for acquisitions that will complete and draw down in 2026. This includes acquisitions to support exits from homelessness and tenancy sustainment via the tenant in situ scheme. The Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, is committed to supporting and funding the acquisition of properties with tenants in situ, where all other options and measures to prevent households becoming homeless have been examined. Ultimately, it is all about increasing housing supply. That remains the key focus, but it is also a priority in terms of dealing with homelessness. Part of that is the tenant in situ scheme, which is there to contribute in terms of preventing people from going into homelessness. I wish everybody a happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  That concludes Topical Issues. I wish both the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and Deputy Hearne a very peaceful, happy Christmas. They will probably not still be here for the next debate. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Housing Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_52","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Report of the Joint Committee on Health: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_52","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann shall take note of the Report of the Joint Committee on Health entitled \"Report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill\", copies of which were laid before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 9th October, 2025.  Tonight we are debating a report published by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health. This was a report we worked on last summer across the committee as a pre-legislative scrutiny report on the forthcoming Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill. I thank everybody who worked on the report, and who contributed to it, in particular my fellow members of the committee. I chaired the committee and Deputy Colm Burke is the Leas-Chathaoirleach. The members of the committee include Deputies Michael Cahill, Sorca Clarke, David Cullinane, Martin Daly, P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan, Peter Roche, Marie Sherlock, and a number of Senators, including Senators Manus Boyle, Maria Byrne, Tom Clonan, Teresa Costello and Nicole Ryan. This was the first report we published. It is a really important topic, one that has real impacts on the lives of many people, some of whom have joined us in the Gallery this evening, who are directly affected by the issue and whose lives and families are impacted by the delay in the legislation and in the failure of the State to legislate on this issue over a long period of time.  I intend to talk through our report. I will outline the foreword for the record. I will read that out and I will talk through the recommendations, of which we have 18 in total. The foreword states:  The journey towards robust legislation to regulate and support donor assisted human reproduction (DAHR) and surrogacy has been a long and winding one spanning over a quarter of a century. This has included the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction (2000), a special Joint Oireachtas Committee on International Surrogacy (2022) and a series of cases through our courts.  At times over the last 25 years progress has felt slow, at others sudden. What has developed during that time is a fragmented landscape, with significant gaps and barriers.  The Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act 2024 (the 2024 Act) was a landmark and long-awaited piece of legislation. Unfortunately, the legislation, which remains uncommenced, contains several gaps and leaves too many families behind. The proposed supplementary legislation that was the subject of our consideration must close these gaps and finally provide a workable framework for assisted human reproduction.  It\u2019s crucially important that supplementary legislation is as inclusive as possible \u2013 with a central focus on the rights of the child. In particular, the proposed legislation must facilitate ethical international DAHR and protect the rights of our citizens abroad. It\u2019s also important that it recognises and vindicates the right to procreate and the right to private and family life.  Any interference with these rights by the State must be proportional and minimally invasive.  Legislating in this area is complex, but not impossible. It\u2019s important to acknowledge that this pre-legislative scrutiny report is based on a policy paper provided by the Department of Health rather than a published general scheme or draft Bill. This policy paper was supplemented by a series of written questions to the Department.  While not best practice, this approach was undertaken to ensure there would be no unnecessary delays and that the legislation can progress as it is a matter of real and pressing importance for the families affected.  Our committee was really keen that we would do this work as quickly as possible. We did not wait for the Department to provide us with the full scheme, because we want to see this legislation passed and enacted as quickly as possible.  I thank the key stakeholders for their extensive engagement and constructive proposals, in particular, the LGBTQ+ Parenting Alliance, made up of LGBT Ireland, Equality for Children and Irish Gay Dads, and Irish Families Through Surrogacy. Both groups have carried out extensive and detailed analyses which have informed and shaped the recommendations of this report. I also thank the officials from the Department of Health for their engagement on the issue and the committee secretariat for its ongoing support.  As I mentioned, this report has 18 recommendations which we hope will help to shape the draft Bill to ensure that it meets the needs of everybody concerned. The recommendations also include a list of legislative actions for the Department of Health to consider as well as recommendations on surrogacy leave, which is a matter for the Department of Social Protection. I hope that the Bill, once passed and enacted, will be the final step in what has been a very long journey towards the creation of an inclusive assisted human reproduction framework for Ireland.  As I said, this has been a very long journey and I commend the families and the advocates on all of their work on this. Prior to my election, I worked with LGBT Ireland, one of the organisations that advocated in this area and I saw first-hand how hard these families have worked to advocate for their rights. These are people who, after they put their kids to bed at night, get on Zoom calls with other parents who have been left behind and who lack family rights. They have been campaigning now for over 25 years to have their families recognised, to have equal parental rights and to be treated equally by the State. They have campaigned outside the D\u00e1il, held protests and written so many submissions to Government Departments. I do not know how they have the energy to keep doing it and it has gone on for far too long at this stage.  I will talk through some of the recommendations from the report. As I already said, there are 18 recommendations and I would be really keen to hear from the Minister of State on each of the recommendations and the Department's position on them. If the Department is not accepting the committee's recommendations, I would really like to know why not. If the Minister of State is not in a position to tell us today, I ask that she would write to the committee to set out, in detail, the Department's position on each of our 18 recommendations. The committee worked on this report last summer and we would really like to see a robust response from the Department. We have not heard from the Department yet on it and it is important that we do.  Our first recommendation is that the Bill must address all of the gaps in the 2024 Act. That is a simple, fairly straightforward call that we get this right now. We had the Act in 2024 and, as we have identified, there are serious gaps in that legislation. The next piece, the second Bill, has to close all of those gaps. We cannot be back here again in 12 or 18 months with a third or fourth Bill. Once and for all, we must close the gaps. We have identified them and we need to do it for the families affected.  Our second recommendation is that the Bill must have a child's rights-based framework. Provision should be made to enshrine the paramountcy principle of the child's best interests in the granting of parental orders or in the declaration of parental orders under the 2015 Children and Family Relationships Act and the 2024 Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act. This is one of the key requests of families and advocates, that we enshrine the best interests of the child in the legislation. It is really important that when judges are adjudicating on these matters, they are asking what is in the best interests of the child before them. That is fundamental and really crucial.  Linked to that is our third recommendation, that in decisions on parentage in relation to surrogacy or donor-assisted human reproduction, the courts and decision-making bodies should be provided with some level of judicial discretion. Each case is different and discretion is a key feature of family law. If we look at other pieces of family law like the Adoption Act 2010, the Child Care Act 1991, the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964, the Mental Health Act 2001, the Children First Act 2015 and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013, we see that they all enshrine the use of the paramountcy principle. I do not understand why this has not been done here. We do it in lots of other areas of family law where there is discretion and the best interests of the child are enshrined in the legislation. It should be happening here. This is not just the recommendation of the Oireachtas joint committee. It is also the recommendation of the Ombudsman for Children and the special rapporteur for child protection. They have both recommended that the paramountcy principle be inserted into the 2024 Act and that is a key request. It is top of the list here, which is important, as is the piece on judicial discretion.  We believe that the Bill must be equality proofed. Recommendation No. 5 is that in cases of international donor-assisted human production, the Bill must provide a mechanism for second parents to have their parentage recognised. This is really crucial. People have created families together. They have decided that they are going to have children, but at the moment we have so many families where only one parent is recognised and the other parent is left as a legal stranger. This has huge impacts on children and their families. Not having a pathway to parentage means that the person who is raising them is not even recognised as their parent. It has impacts in terms of going to school and to the doctor and at passport control. It can give rise to longer term issues around acquiring citizenship rights and, in the event that one of the parents dies, there are issues around inheritance. It is fundamentally important that children have the protection of both of their parents and that the people who are raising them are not legal strangers. These are their parents and they have always been their parents. They have been their parents from before they were born and the State should recognise that. We need to close the gaps in the law to allow these people to be parents and not let criteria like where children were conceived or where they were born exclude them from having two legal parents like any other family.  In cases of Irish citizens born abroad, the Bill must include a process to recognise the parentage of those children born through surrogacy or donor-assisted reproduction. We have to provide protections for our citizens abroad. It cannot just be the case that we have a pathway to parentage for those born in the Republic. We have Irish citizens living all around the world. So many people from my generation were forced to emigrate and they have children born abroad. Those children deserve Irish citizenship and deserve to be recognised. We need to fix the gaps in the law to allow that to happen.  Our seventh recommendation is that provision should be made for a path to parentage for Irish citizens returning home who are in same-sex couples and whose children were born or conceived abroad in countries that do not recognise both parents. We know that, right across the world, there are countries that fail to recognise same-sex couples and their families. If Irish citizens are living in these countries, like Poland or Hungary, for example, and they have children there, when they return home, there should be a pathway to get recognised as parents. This only affects a small group of people but it is an important issue.  Our eighth recommendation is that children of citizens born abroad through surrogacy or donor-assisted reproduction should have the right to become Irish citizens.  Our ninth recommendation is that all unnecessary barriers to recognition must be removed. Non-court administrative processes should be considered as part of the Adoption Act. The requirement for the High Court should be reconsidered and applications for past surrogacy agreements should be allowed to be made through the Circuit Court. We have to make it as easy as possible for parents to get through these processes. Expecting people to go to the High Court, at huge cost, is not necessary is not provided for in other Acts and should be reduced.  Our tenth recommendation is that a legal value should be put on the female genetic link in donor-assisted human reproduction and surrogacy.  Recommendation No. 11 is that the 2015 Act should be amended to allow joint parental rights for same-sex couples in cases of non-clinical conception. This is really important. We should not be forcing people to go to a clinic to conceive a child when they can conceive at home in comfort and with reduced costs. Ultimately, there is a key question here about reproductive freedom. There are ways to protect the rights of the child, genetic information and so on. They have been set out in Private Member's Bills put before this House and the Government should accept those and work through them. People's right to reproductive freedom should be respected in this House.  The 2024 Act contains no provision for parental leave or benefits for surrogacy families and this must be rectified as a matter of urgency. I ask that the Department of Health would write to the Department of Social Protection to get provisions in place as soon as possible so that these families can avail of legal benefits and surrogacy benefits. There cannot be a gap there.  The 13th recommendation is that the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority, AHRRA, should be provided with the power to establish ethics committees to consider individual circumstances in cases where surrogacy agreements go beyond the prescribed framework. We cannot have a rigid checklist. There is room for dealing with this on a case-by-case basis and for ethics committees to examine these cases so that people are not criminalised for stepping one inch beyond the law and facing criminal prosecution because of that. There should be a framework here for an ethical way to deal with these issues.  Recommendation No. 14 is that every effort must be made to ensure consistency between the 2015 Children and Family Relationships Act and the 2024 Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act, particularly, for example, in relation to habitual residency requirements.  Recommendation No. 15 is that adequate funding and support should be provided to the AHRRA to ensure that it can fulfil its various functions efficiently. I would be interested to hear if any money has been provided in the budget for the new agency. When we set up these new State bodies, agencies and regulatory frameworks, we have to fund and resource them properly. From what I can see, we have not heard how much money has been allocated. If we want the AHRRA to carry out this function and to manage this whole area, we need to resource it properly.  Recommendation No. 16 is that the provisions of the 2024 Act should be reviewed to ensure they are trans inclusive, especially the provisions relating to gametes. We often talk here about trans rights and we need to do that in law as well. We must make sure that our law is inclusive and not excluding people. We can do that by making the language more gender neutral in certain areas. It is a simple change but an important one.  Recommendation No. 17 is that the Department of Health should run an awareness campaign in advance of the commencement of the 2024 Act. The aim of the awareness campaign is to provide clarity for intending parents on the new law and the transitional provisions. Clear guidance should be given on the required documents and procedures.  It is really important as these are big changes to the law. This is a new framework and a new, big Act. The Department has a role in providing clarity, creating awareness and informing people of what the procedures are under the new law so if they are intending to become parents, they know what is involved and what rules they have to follow. The Department has to spend some money on that and run that awareness campaign.  Finally, our 18th recommendation is that clarity must be provided on when the Act will be commenced in full. I would love to hear from the Minister of State about when the Minister intends to commence the 2024 Act and when she intends to bring forward the supplementary Bill that will hopefully, once and for all, close all of these gaps. These recommendations from the Oireachtas joint committee are not radical but they will fix the gaps. They will provide families right across the country with the protections they need and, in particular, children so they have the right to both of their parents. For the parents across the country, I really hope we do this without delay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)  I am delighted to be here this evening to note the publication of the pre-legislative scrutiny report in respect of the Bill. This is the last item of business for 2025 and I believe it is an extremely important one to discuss. I thank the Cathaoirleach of the Joint Committee on Health, Deputy Rice, and commend him on his commitment and passion on this issue. I compliment committee members and committee staff for the highly collaborative and practical way they have worked with my ministerial colleagues and Department officials. I particularly acknowledge the co-operation of the committee for their commitment to producing the report in such a timely fashion. As Deputy Rice said, the committee worked last summer to do that.  The PLS report includes a total of 18 recommendations, which the Deputy has gone through. I assure him and the committee that the issues raised have been and are being considered as part of the formal drafting process. At this juncture and point in the deliberative process on the amending Bill, I cannot be specific on some of the issues raised. However, I can say that, without prejudice to the outcome of any future Oireachtas debates and decisions, it is anticipated at this point that many of the recommendations will be reflected in the legislation when it is published.  There are many moving parts in legislating for the myriad of very complex issues associated with assisted human reproduction in Ireland. The PLS report was a key piece in the jigsaw, so its publication is welcomed. I also assure the House that work is continuing on other elements in this area and I am happy to report that much progress has been made and intensive work is continuing. As the House will be aware, the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act was signed into law by the President in July last year, having passed all stages in both Houses of the Oireachtas. The primary purpose of this complex and far-reaching legislation is to regulate fertility clinics providing assisted human reproduction. The AHR Bill, as initially published, also included provisions in respect of domestic altruistic surrogacy. However, the final 2024 Act also includes substantive new provisions in respect of the regulation of future surrogacy arrangements undertaken by Irish residents in other jurisdictions and the recognition of parentage arising from certain past domestic and international surrogacy arrangements.  While the 2024 Act was progressing through the Houses of the Oireachtas, issues were identified that required further consideration and consultation with the Office of the Attorney General. Formal drafting of the AHR amendment Bill, which is largely concerned with outstanding issues of parentage and citizenship but also seeks to make other refinements and improvements to various sections of the AHR Act 2024 itself, is at an advanced stage, led by the Office of Parliamentary Counsel, in conjunction with officials from the Departments of Health, Justice, Home Affairs and Migration, and Children, Disability and Equality. Drafting work on the amending Bill is continuing.  Some administrative sections of the 2024 Act have been commenced, specifically to allow the Assisted Human Reproduction Regulatory Authority, AHRRA, to be formally established. In addition, the Minister expects to commence section 232 of the 2024 Act, which would result in the parentage of some donor-conceived children not covered by the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 being officially recognised. The board of the regulatory authority, chaired by Professor Deirdre Madden, has met on a number of occasions. It is expected that a CEO will be appointed very soon. These developments represent very significant milestones on our path to providing the necessary oversight and regulation in this area of health.  It is worth emphasising two crucial principles that have underpinned all legislative measures in this sphere. First, the many safeguards and requirements within the legislation are there to protect the rights and welfare of intending parents, surrogate mothers and, most of all, all the children born as a result of assisted human reproduction. Of course, as a Government, we are committed to doing our best to achieve the best outcomes for all involved. As I am sure the Deputy will agree, this whole area needs to be looked at forensically through a human rights lens, with an absolute focus on the care and protection of the surrogate mother. We need to carry out every human rights appraisal and evaluation possible to prevent possible exploitation of individuals. The Minister is obliged to protect the women we do not hear from - the women who do not have a voice. We must also consider and give due regard to EU and international developments in this space and learn the valuable lessons that experience and practice show us.  As an Oireachtas, we must use the opportunity the PLS report presents to reflect and to make sure that we get this right. We need to actively to listen to all of the viewpoints and be confident that advancing rights for some is not at the cost of the rights of others. I understand that the Department of justice is working closely with the Department of Health to ensure that the health (assisted human reproduction) (amendment) Bill has sufficient safeguards to protect the rights of surrogate mothers, including from the threat of human trafficking, and continues to engage with the Department of Health on the matter as drafting continues. Through the regulation of both international and domestic surrogacy, the 2024 Act guards against the trafficking of women for the purpose of exploitation through surrogacy.  This will be ensured, in the first place, by the criteria used by the AHRRA to approve surrogacy jurisdictions. This will include consideration of the laws regarding surrogacy in the jurisdiction, the regulation and oversight of those involved in the provision of services related to surrogacy, and the rights of surrogate mothers, including the extent to which they are enforced. Consideration will also be given to the ability of the authority to monitor compliance with the provisions of the AHR Act in that jurisdiction. This goal will also be achieved by the ban on commercial surrogacy, which will reduce any financial incentive to trafficking for the purpose of exploitation through surrogacy.  Similarly, there are controls in place as regards the payments to intermediaries. Separately, it will be necessary for the surrogate mother to receive appropriate information and independent legal advice prior to entering a surrogacy agreement. Finally, there will be a residency requirement of two years in the surrogacy jurisdiction before a woman can act as a surrogate mother. Combined, these measures provide robust protections and safeguards against the possible exploitation of surrogate mothers. Second, all provisions in the 2015 Act, the 2024 Act and the forthcoming Bill in respect of donor-assisted human reproduction and surrogacy apply equally, irrespective of whether the intending parents are a same-sex couple or an opposite-sex couple, or if there is a single intending parent.  Finally, on behalf of the Minister and myself, I again commend the health committee on the report and recommendations. The Minister looks forward to continuing to progress the AHR legislation and develop the regulatory framework in the spirit of co-operation demonstrated to date by the committee and the Oireachtas as a whole. I apologise on behalf of the Minister who was not in a position to be here herself this evening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I thank the Minister of State for her comments and for being here tonight to address this important matter. I recognise the work that Deputy Rice and the committee have done in bringing forward this report. It is irregular to be discussing a PLS report on legislation that does not yet exist. I recognise having tonight's debate allows us to hone in on a number of issues of key concern.  It is far more difficult to do that when one does not see a list of heads of Bill, which is what pre-legislative scrutiny is about. It is to give the TDs and Senators on the committee, outside interest groups and, indeed, the Minister and the civil servants involved with its drafting the opportunity to go into some detail on the heads of Bill and discuss what is there, what is missing and how it can be improved. When we do not have those heads, that absence is certainly noted. We are, therefore, speaking in theory on quite a lot of the points we are making tonight.  It is important to briefly recall how we have got to the particular situation now. I want to recognise the work the previous Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, did in advancing the first Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) Act. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, worked closely when she was in the Department of justice. I had some involvement in terms of the Department of children and equality. A call was made in mid-2024 to get that Act passed because, although it was recognised there were some gaps or new issues had come up that did need to be addressed, nevertheless that Act could provide legal protection for large numbers of families and parents. I note two things. It was the right call to make at the time, but it is disappointing that significant sections of that Act still have not been commenced. There are parts of that existing Act that could be commenced that do not require this new Bill. I am glad the Minister referenced section 232. That is something I have been asking the Minister for Health about for a considerable period of time. I know it is not just sitting within the Department of Health. There are issues to do with the rules of the District Court and Circuit Court and issues to do with the Department as well. However, addressing that could provide relief for a body of people who need its provisions. I ask that in the new year, the Minister of State maybe urges her officials and her colleague, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan in the Department of justice, to move rapidly ahead with that because it can be done, and it will help people.  In terms of the report, there were just one or two points I want to focus on in a little bit of detail. That question of judicial discretion to always apply what is in the best interests of the child in a particular case before the judge should be reconsidered by the Department of Health. I absolutely understand that the rules on surrogacy need to be strict. There is a very important reason. These are fundamental decisions about the parentage of children. It is important that the rules are strict and the legislation, or what we are told the legislation will look like, does set out detailed rules for that. However, there are circumstances where a mistake or an error that is outside the control of the intended parents may take place and for the recognition of parents' rights to be refused in absolutely every situation due to a fault that was outside of the parents' control and which then has the impact that the child they have conceived or the child they now have will not have his or her relationship with those parents recognised in law. That is a huge punishment, not for the wrongdoer in those cases but for the parents or, indeed, for that child.  A right to allow the judge, even in situations where maybe not every provision of the Act has been made, but where a judge can recognise that it is in the best interests of the child in this particular case to allow parentage and grant a parentage order should be provided for in this legislation. It can be circumscribed, but we as a country back in 2013 passed the referendum to put the best interests of the child in our Constitution. That same principle should be recognised in this legislation, not as an opportunity to allow people to wilfully ignore the important rules and importance safeguards around surrogacy but to allow for those occasional situations where something went wrong, or one provision maybe could not be reached but it was not the parents' fault. We should mot penalise that child. I ask the Department to look at that closely.  I refer to the issue of excluding people with blood conditions from being able to use surrogacy. One might on the face of it think there is a health issue for the child, but where those conditions can be addressed through various treatments it risks enhancing the discriminations and worries and stigmas that are out there against certain conditions. If an intending parent has HIV, for example, as the legislation is currently drafted, from my reading, both parents are punished in terms of not being able to use this legislation, particularly where there are medical approaches that can address that and ensure that a child conceived there will not have that medical condition or, indeed, other medical conditions. Again, I ask the Department whether that is necessary at this stage. Is it an appropriate provision to have in legislation in 2025-2026?  I had the opportunity as a Minister in the previous Government and now as a backbencher to meet with many of the organisations and parents - current parents and intending parents - who will benefit from this legislation and whose children will benefit from this legislation in terms of the relationship between parent and child. The de facto relationship will become a legal relationship as well. They are those children's parents, undoubtedly, but that law does not recognise it. It is really important that the Minister of State's Department and the Department of justice continue to engage with them.  I attended a number of meetings in the previous Oireachtas with the then Minister, Deputy Donnelly, and the Minister, Deputy McEntee. I recall that former Senator Seery Kearney was very involved as well. It is important that open dialogue continues. It is a dialogue, and I understand that the answer cannot always be \"Yes\", but at least that engagement is really important. There is maybe a concern that the engagement has not been as frequent. As this legislation advances, it would be useful to help tease out and maybe help officials in the Minister of State\u2019s Department understand the real-world implications of some of the decisions that are being made on paper without a full understanding.  I thank the Minister of State for her contribution. I recognise the very significant piece of work Deputy Rice and his committee have done. I really urge that this legislation needs to move quickly. We do not really even have proper heads of Bill. We are a year into the term of Government. I ask the Minister of State to urge the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, who I know is interested in this area, and the officials to move rapidly on this because there are a lot of parents and a lot of children whose right to have their legal relationship with their parents recognised is entirely dependent on this work being done. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I am very glad we are having this debate this evening. I pay tribute to Deputy Rice and, indeed, all our fellow members of the health committee in quite an unorthodox way of keeping the heat and light on this issue. There are ultimately a very small number of families affected by this but the impact of the lack of a comprehensive legislative framework has a profound impact on their lives. They are facing into yet another year of ambiguity and uncertainty in their families' lives. I am painfully conscious that there are many types of families watching this evening. Many types of families end up having to go down the donor assisted route, obviously, both in terms of gay and lesbian couples and also couples who cannot get pregnant due to either illness or infertility. There is a very diverse group of people out there. I know a group of campaigners who have come together, and I want to pay tribute to their tenacity and perseverance. Theirs has been a very long journey in terms of fighting and battling for what should be a legal right for every child born in this country to have both their parents recognised.  The year 2024 was obviously a major milestone in terms of the passing of the legislation. I want to single out in particular my then fellow Senator, Mary Seery Kearney, whom Deputy O'Gorman also mentioned and who worked so hard in this area.  Politics can obviously be a cruel business and she is not in the House this term but she did a huge amount of work in that area.  We have major gaps in the 2024 legislation that need to be resolved. In response to the gaps in the Child and Family Relationships Act 2015, my colleague and party leader, Deputy Ivana Bacik, brought forward legislation in 2023, effectively attempting to address a lot of the gaps we are talking about today and to try to make right the legal inequality for the families we are talking about. It is not just about a child\u2019s right to citizenship or inheritance; it is also about his or her right to travel and, of course, his or her rights in the event of parental separation or death. It is critical the Department gets a move on in drafting the legislation.  I hear what the Minister of State is saying and I thank her for her statement this evening. First, I acknowledge that it is good to hear that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, will commence section 232 of the 2024 Act. We would like to see that done sooner rather than later. We have yet to hear a timeline as to when this legislation is going to be brought forward, however. I was rereading this afternoon a letter that was sent to the Chair of the committee, Deputy Rice, in June 2025 in which the Minister talked about the drafting being well under way. We are now six months on and we still have yet to see it. No one is doubting the complexity of what we are talking about in this regard. We are all extremely conscious of the complexity but that is not an excuse for delay.  Certainly, in the context of some of the 18 recommendations in our report, recommendation Nos. 2 and 3 in particular, ultimately, this has to be based on a child\u2019s rights-based framework. Part and parcel of that is the paramountcy of the child's best interest. In tandem with that, there is a strong view that we have to afford discretion to AHRRA with regard to the surrogacy agreements that are out there now. I hear what the Minister of State is saying with regard to the real concerns about women who provide surrogacy services. There are real concerns about exploitation and all of that and I absolutely stand with the Minister of State in that regard. That cannot become a blockage to looking at the rights of the child, however. At the end of the day, if a child is born, then we have to put aside how the child came into being and focus on the rights of the child. That is why the discretion piece is important, notwithstanding that all sorts of safeguards have to be put in place. That is certainly one of our key asks when it comes to what should be in this Bill.  Of course, family life is not straightforward or linear. Couples or, indeed, individuals go down the donor-assisted route and then there may be a family breakdown. In that context, it is important that procedures are in place to be able to recognise that. At the end of the day, if the legal recognition is only with one parent, then we have a grossly unequal situation for the whole family, not just for the parents.  The 18 recommendations already have been discussed so I will not repeat them. There is a sense of impatience among the number of families out there who need this legislation. We need to hear the timeline. We want to be able to scrutinise that Bill. I am sure the Oireachtas Committee on Health will do everything it can to make way for that Bill through our committee. At the end of the day, we cannot allow these families to remain in legal limbo this time next year. I hope the Department is doing all in its power to ensure that, in the first quarter of next year, we will have something tangible in our hands because at the moment we are talking about the abstract. We are just talking about our recommendations as a committee but, in some ways, they are not worth the paper they are written on until we see what is going to come back from the Department of Health. I hope that, sooner rather than later, we will see something from the Department.  I pay tribute to all the families watching tonight and all those campaigners. I hope their fight and journey will be completed early next year and that they will have certainty with regard to their family life. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)  I thank all the Members for their valuable contributions this evening. The Minister, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, as Members know, is very supportive of this legislation. I acknowledge the parents who are in the Public Gallery from various advocacy groups who worked and engaged with the 2024 Act and are doing exactly the same again with this new Act that is under way.  This is extremely complex legislation, as everyone can appreciate. As Chief Whip, one of my roles relates to legislation. I had the end-of-year wrap-up with the Attorney General and the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to the Government yesterday afternoon. We discussed the Bill and it is under way. It is legally complex and technical and there is a lot of good co-operation between the Department of Health and the Department of justice on it. While the Minister was hopeful that the Bill would be ready prior to Christmas, it will get priority drafting. It certainly will get any priority supports it needs from my end as Chief Whip.  It is great to have consensus across the D\u00e1il. It does not always happen. As Deputy Sherlock said, this is really important for a small group of parents who need this vital legislation for themselves and their children. I assure Deputies that I will inform the Minister of the constructive observations made today, especially in respect of section 232, which Deputies Rice and Sherlock both spoke about.  In fairness, the Minister wrote the speech herself. She is very invested in this and I wish to acknowledge that. I also acknowledge the former Minister, Stephen Donnelly, with whom I worked closely in the Department for five years as well as former Senator, Mary Seery Kearney, who put her heart and soul into this work. While he will not be a bit happy, I also wish to acknowledge my adviser sitting in the Public Gallery, Mr. P\u00e1raic Gallagher, who worked closely on this with many of the parents in the previous D\u00e1il.  I also know that relevant officials from the Department will have been closely taking notes of all the queries, comments and issues raised tonight as they look to finalise the Bill. I believe we are at that stage. I have set out the progress being made on various fronts on the path to having a robust and operational regulatory framework for assisted human reproduction, AHR. Indeed, completion of the pre-legislative scrutiny report was an important element in the process. Once again, I compliment Deputy Rice for his commitment and passion to getting this over the line.  One of the key recommendations and issues raised by the committee relates to communication and awareness. The Government and I completely agree on the importance of clarity on any new laws that will be introduced and, if applicable, transitional arrangements. Under the terms of the legislation, the AHRRA will produce relevant information documents.  I also know that Members wish to have certainty about when exactly the Bill will be published. There is continued intensive engagement involving the lead Departments and the Office of the Attorney General on a number of complex issues. The outcome of a number of ongoing relevant legal cases will also have a direct bearing on the ability to finalise the Bill. However, I assure Deputies that all involved are fully committed to completing the work required to publish the Bill as soon as it is practical. As one example, a recommendation in the pre-legislative scrutiny report seeks the inclusion of a process to recognise the parentage of Irish citizens living abroad who have children through surrogacy or donor-assisted human reproduction, DAHR. This is being proposed to be included in the Bill, with the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration taking the lead. I know that Deputy Rice and fellow Deputies will appreciate the complexities involved and the challenge on producing appropriate, balanced and coherent legislation. EU member states have been considering the matter of basic mutual recognition of parentage at EU level for many years and agreeing a common approach has proven to be exceptionally challenging, given the complexities involved.  Nevertheless, the Government is determined to find solutions to this. The Minister is determined to find solutions to this and to many other outstanding questions. Intensive work will continue in the new year to advance the health (assisted human reproduction) (amendment) Bill, the commencement of the 2024 Act, and the operational capacity of the AHRRA.  All that remains for me to do is to wish everyone a very happy Christmas. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for all her support to me as Chief Whip over the last ten or 11 months. It has been a baptism of fire, maybe for both of us. It has been a lot of busy days and late nights. It is fitting that on the first day of the new D\u00e1il, I was not Chief Whip at the time, but when the Taoiseach was appointed after that first day both of us took to the floor first and both of us are concluding here tonight. I wish everyone a happy Christmas and especially those in the Public Gallery. I thank all the staff in the Houses who are here late on a Thursday night. It is often known as the graveyard shift but I believe this is one of the most important pieces of legislation on the most important topic that we can debate and it is fitting that it is the last debate this year. Thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I will endorse that in a minute but first I will go to the proposer of the motion for his conclusion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Minister of State. I really welcome the remark that many of the recommendations will be included and reflected in the legislation when it is finally published. That is very welcome. I will be glad to report back to the rest of the committee on that. That is great to see. What is missing, and I think the Minister of State would agree, is clarity on the timeline here. When we engaged with the Minister over the summer there was pressure for us to progress our engagement on this issue because the Minister was keen to progress the legislation. As I said, we worked on this report in August and we published it when we came back straight away. This is why I am slightly frustrated with the delay here. We wanted to see the legislation before Christmas and we wanted to see this progressed. It is frustrating that we have not got that clear timeline from the Minister of State today about when the Bill will be published, when it will be enacted, when it will be commenced, when the families directly affected will get the rights that they are arguing for and when the families will get the protections they need. Crucially this is what it is about. It is unfortunate that we go into another year with that uncertainty. This could have been resolved this side of Christmas and it is disappointing that it is not.  A number of Deputies referenced the commencement of section 232 of the 2024 Act. That relates to families who used a known donor in the past, in particular lesbian couples who used a known donor in the past, and them getting recognised and jointly protected. I know people whose kids are now 18 and they still are not protected. These are people who created a family together with a friend who might have been a donor before we had marriage equality. In some cases it was while same-sex activity was still a crime. They created families together, they did it ethically and the State has never recognised them jointly as parents. These are people who brought these kids up together in loving, stable relationships, raised beautiful children and all they are asking for is that they get recognised as their parents.  It is there in law. It is written into the law but it has not been commenced by the Minister. This is something I have asked parliamentary questions about. I know other Deputies have asked parliamentary questions about it. From these parliamentary questions we know that the courts have done their side of the work, that the District Court has updated the rules, that the Circuit Court has updated the rules, and it is now sitting on the Minister's desk waiting for the Minister to sign the Commencement Order. I would ask her to do that before Christmas. At least do that. Commence the one part. The law is already passed and the rules are in place. What she could do now is sign the Commencement Order and give these families the gift of those protections before Christmas for this small cohort of families so that they would have that joint parental right. It would be the start of the journey on this. It would be a really good act if the Minister could commence that because we do know that all the pieces are in place for this and it is just waiting on the Minister to sign the Commencement Order. Saying in her statement that she intends to do it is not enough. I want to know why the Minister has not done it and if she will do that before Christmas. I would like if the Minister of State could bring that back to her.  In her closing statement the Minister of State also referred to the legal cases, and that this may be one of the reasons why we have not seen progress in the last six months. We cannot wait while the cases go through the courts. In the absence of legislation what we will have is more cases before the courts. Families who are deeply frustrated are now taking to the courts to vindicate their rights. We are going to have more cases. The longer the Minister delays the more cases we will have, and the more delays we will have. These cases will advance through the courts. Cases that are in the High Court will be in the Supreme Court and we will wait and we will wait. What the Department and the Minister can do is resolve all of that and they can provide the certainty. We can legislate in this House and families would not be forced to go to the courts. It is at huge personal cost and huge stress for individuals to go to the High Court to try to vindicate their rights to get protections for their family, very basic protections in law, to be regarded as the parents of their own children. We should not be expecting families to do that. It is frustrating when we hear that this is the delay, that the State's failure to pass a law means that now people have had to go to the courts, which is now holding up the passing of the law. When will this end? If we pass the law we can resolve all of that. I have no doubt that if the law is passed those people who are before the courts would withdraw those cases because the legislation will resolve the issues and will provide them with the protections in place.  As I have said a number of times here, I am concerned about the legislative output. I think we have passed fewer Bills in this year than nearly any year since the foundation of the State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  That is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  I said \"nearly\". It has been quite a low output----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  It was 21 Bills this year and there are 25 going through the Houses. I just want to put that on the record as there is so much misinformation out there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  How many Bills were passed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  Twenty-one. Five more are to be signed in this week. So that is 16 with five more to be signed in. I apologise to the Ceann Comhairle for the over and back but I think clarity is important. There are 25 Bills through the Houses. I have given eight sessions between the D\u00e1il and the Seanad on the Mental Health Bill, with 650 amendments. They take time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  Absolutely, and we had an argument about that because we thought it should have been dealt with at the health committee and that it did not need the floor of the D\u00e1il to do it. All of the legislation could have been progressed. I had a look back over the historical span of the number of Bills passed. In some years in this Oireachtas we had 45, 50, or 60 Bills passed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  We had committees as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  There is a low level of legislative output and it is frustrating that we have not seen this Bill passed, and other areas. Law reform is needed in lots of other areas. We were talking yesterday about vapes and other areas. There is a need for law reform and we would like to see some of that progressed, including this Bill. As I said, it is crucially important. As Deputy Sherlock said, there is a diversity of families who are affected but there is an area of work already done around LGBT families. We passed the marriage equality referendum over ten years ago. When people went to the polls that day they were voting to provide equality for families, for families to be treated equally, and for full recognition of their families. People around the country are surprised when they meet same-sex couples who have children to see how the law has not solved the issue and that it has not provided them with the family rights other people enjoy. A decade on from marriage equality it is really frustrating that the work has not been done in these Houses and Government Departments to iron out the detail of the law to provide pathways to parentage for same sex couples. Also, as was said, there are other families who have done surrogacy abroad and there are families created in lots of ways in which both parents are not recognised and they have been waiting far too long for this to be resolved. I hope we will not be back here next Christmas still talking about this. I hope next year will be the year we get this resolved and sorted.  We as a committee have engaged constructively on this and will continue to do so. We will make time available at the committee. I would be happy to hold additional sittings if they are needed to progress this legislation and get this sorted once and for all. It is really important we do this, in particular for the children. The recommendations laid out in the report, if accepted, would solve many of the issues and address many of the concerns people have been raising over decades. I welcome that the recommendations have been considered seriously by the Department. As I said in my opening speech, I would like a letter from the Department or the Minister giving the Department\u2019s position on each of the recommendations and as soon as possible for them to give us a clear timeline on the legislation, when it will be published, when it is intended for it to be taken through the Houses and ultimately commenced. That is the key because sometimes we pass laws and never commence them, as we are seeing with the 2024 Act and the section we referenced.  I might be the final speaker before Christmas so I join others in wishing everyone who works in the Houses of Oireachtas a very happy Christmas, as well as all the Members and staff. I thank everybody for all the support over the past year and all they work they have done. I hope people get a good break over Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you very much, Deputy Rice and many happy returns. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  It is so very fitting, as pointed out by the Chief Whip, for the parents who are in the Gallery that there is such congeniality from all of us with regard to this particular debate. It is so fitting in a week when we are about to celebrate the birth of a baby. I think there is no greater gift in life, so congratulations. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Report of the Joint Committee on Health: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-18\/debate\/dbsect_53","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_53","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I conclude, I have a number of thank-yous I need to say. Believe it or not I am a year elected to this position today and it has been a huge honour. Again, I want to thank the Chief Whip who has been a great support. We have worked together on the Business Committee alongside all our colleagues. I wish to thank Peter Finnegan and his successor Elaine Gunn and the other members of the management board for their support and wise counsel throughout the year. I thank my fellow Houses of the Oireachtas Commission members across the Houses of the Seanad and the D\u00e1il.  I would like to thank all the staff in the Oireachtas for their hard work throughout the year, particularly my private secretary, Jill Gray, who just like yours, Chief Whip, will go mad. I thank Barry Ryan and all in the Superintendent's section, all our ushers and services officers, and John Walsh, Lee Muldoon and all the crew in catering who keep our bellies full and warm for which we are very thankful. To Darren and the staff in the Members' bar, the cleaners, the porters, the backroom administrative staff, our communications unit, the printing staff, facilities, the Bills Office, the OPLA, the PBO, HR, finance, salaries, IT, our OWL programme participants, a huge thank you to you all as well as to the Library and Research Service, the Questions Office, the Debates Office, Rann\u00f3g an Aistri\u00fach\u00e1in and the committee secretariat.  We have had a very busy diary of diplomatic engagements. It was an absolute honour in my first year to host a State visit. Christmas, I am sure, is a very welcome and deserved break for so many, particularly Ben and Sheila in international parliamentary engagement and protocol. I also want to extend our collective best wishes to all our constituents and in particular to those in the diplomatic corps as well as to our fellow parliamentarians throughout the world. If I have missed anyone, you should report to Jill and I will put you top of the list next year.  A very personal thank you to my family, who have been a huge support. I have not seen much of them but they know where I am and I know where they are. Thanks also to my staff, Sharon and Mary, in my New Ross and Wexford offices who have been a huge support to me for the past year and always. To all the Members of this House, I wish a very happy Christmas. I thank them very much for the honour of being their Ceann Comhairle and for the co-operation throughout the year.  Go raibh Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi sh\u00e9an is faoi mhaise agaibh agus ag bhur dteaghlach. Go raibh m\u00edle maith agaibh go l\u00e9ir. O\u00edche mhaith. Thank you very much everybody. We look forward to seeing you all next year. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 7.04 p.m. go dt\u00ed 2 p.m., D\u00e9 M\u00e1irt, an 13 Ean\u00e1ir 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 7.04 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 13 January 2026."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-12-18"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-06T02:09:18+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-12-17","counts":{"contributorCount":166,"divisionCount":3,"debateSectionCount":22,"questionCount":0,"billCount":8},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Aindrias Moynihan)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the tackling of coastal erosion and flooding in County Kerry.  Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere - To discuss the new Kilkenny Institute of Further Education and Training campus.  Deputy Pat Buckley - To discuss ongoing water outages affecting the community of Knockane, Castlemartyr, County Cork.  Deputy Joe Cooney - To discuss the employment support scheme.  Deputy Barry Heneghan - To discuss urgent issues regarding a school in Fairview.  Deputy Brian Stanley - To discuss school places for special needs pupils at second level in Portlaoise.  Deputy Michael Murphy - To discuss the number of members assigned to Garda road policing units.  Deputy Brendan Smith - To discuss rural development policy.  Deputy Gary Gannon - To discuss drug-related intimidation and associated violence.  Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney - To discuss an additional autism class in Goatstown ETNS.  Deputy Conor D. McGuinness - To discuss prevention of losses of connectivity for persons using a health monitoring or pendant alarm.  Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss the backlog in assessment of need applications in Fingal west.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss the CFRAM project at Blackrock, County Louth.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.  Deputy Rory Hearne - To discuss ongoing issues with the tenant in situ scheme in Dublin North-West.  Deputy Eamon Scanlon - To discuss the dispute involving Caredoc staff.  Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss the deferral of commencement of the Dart+ South West project to 2030.  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss community spaces in Dublin 8.  Deputy Albert Dolan - To discuss a proposal by Caltra Community Group for funding under the building blocks grant.  Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher - To discuss the omission of a school from DEIS.  Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh - To discuss the imminent closure of The Complex in Dublin.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the need for a 24-hour rapid response vehicle at Tuam ambulance base.  Deputy Conor Sheehan - To discuss the 304A bus service in Limerick city and the roll-out of the BusConnects service.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss the publication of the north Kerry lookback review.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the tender for the building of Cork Educate Together Secondary School.  Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan - To discuss the need for funding for a school in Cork due to ongoing leaks.  Deputy Darren O'Rourke - To discuss plans for investment in water and wastewater infrastructure in Dunboyne, County Meath.   The matters raised by Deputies Michael Cahill, Barry Heneghan, Joe Cooney and Louis O'Hara have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Coastal Erosion","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kevin Boxer Moran","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  The Minister of State, Deputy Moran, will know that I live by a lovely beach at Rossbeigh in south Kerry. The Minister of State did us the honour of visiting us on his second last trip to Kerry. We are plagued by coastal erosion, storms and damage to our coastline. Since the Minister of State was down with us, we have had a high tide and the public road down by the beach was closed off for a number of days. If we do not get funding fairly soon the play area, including the playground and the tennis court, will be damaged yet again. I ask that the Minister of State would assist Kerry County Council with funding to strengthen the works there and to carry out additional works. On that same day the Minister of State also visited Cromane, a five-minute drive from Rossbeigh, where he met a number of local families whose homes have been subject to flooding. As I keep saying, there is a big difference between rainwater flooding and seawater flooding. It is a different ball game when you have the Atlantic Ocean inside your home. I have witnessed a number of occasions when there has been 3 ft of salt water inside people's homes. Once a place has been flooded it is absolutely impossible to get insurance again. The people there, the residents of Cromane Lower, are living on edge every time there is a high tide. Where the problem really lies is when it coincides with a storm. Our storms are getting more frequent and urgent action is required. The residents cannot sleep in their beds when there are high tides. I plead with the Minister of State again today to come to the assistance and to the rescue of the residents of Cromane Lower. The same applies to Glosha, which is in Cromane as well. Going back the road from Glenbeigh to Cahersiveen there is Whitestrand Beach over the water from Cahersiveen.  It is subject to continuous erosion. The public toilets are in danger of being washed away. I ask that emergency funding be made available there. Back along the Ring of Kerry road towards Waterville, there is a huge problem with coastal erosion. Submissions have been made regarding Waterville as well. Again, I ask that funding be made available.  Regarding Glenbeigh, just a mile from Rossbeigh beach the Minister of State met with residents of Incheraigh. Their homes were flooded. They spent an absolute fortune over the years. They came up here to see a predecessor of the Minister of State, the current T\u00e1naiste, Simon Harris, when he was Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works. They were pleading for funding and were successful on that occasion. The embankment there was in the charge of the old Land Commission. This is a grey area. Historically, the residents would pay an annual fee to the Land Commission and in return it would carry out emergency protection works. That scheme should be reintroduced because they are in no man's land.  There are other big schemes. I thank the Minister of State for the funding he has announced. He was in Listowel, which is a massive scheme. I congratulate the Office of Public Works and, indeed, Kerry County Council for the tremendous work they did there. There are other schemes in Tralee, Killarney and Kenmare. The Minister of State is very familiar with these, and he is very much on top of his brief, to be fair. I commend him on his interest and on what he is doing. I hope the Government gives him more funding to carry out all these works. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kevin Boxer Moran","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran)  I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important matter. I am very familiar with the coastal erosion and flooding issues in County Kerry, having visited twice this year.  Coastal erosion and localised flooding issues are a matter, in the first instance, for every local authority to investigate and address. Local authorities can undertake these works with their own resources.  In 2009, the Office of Public Works, OPW, introduced the minor flood mitigation works and coastal protection scheme. The purpose of the scheme is to provide 90% funding to local authorities to undertake studies on coastal erosion and minor flood mitigation works within their administrative areas. This minor works scheme generally applies where a solution can be readily identified and achieved, and the costs do not exceed \u20ac750,000. Applications under the scheme are assessed by the OPW having regard to specific economic, technical, social and environmental criteria set out in the scheme. To be approved for funding under the scheme, these benefits from the works must exceed their associated costs.  To date, nationally, the OPW has approved over \u20ac70 million for over 900 unique local flood relief and coastal projects that are providing benefits to some 8,000 properties. Since 2009, the OPW has approved some \u20ac4.2 million in funding to Kerry County Council for some 40 projects. Some \u20ac2.9 million of this approved funding relates to coastal erosion works and studies. Under the minor works scheme, it is the responsibility of the local authority to advance the works, once approved by the OPW. This includes all environmental assessments, planning consents, health and safety requirements and landowner agreements. I recently announced revisions to this minor works scheme, including an increase in the maximum funding under the scheme to \u20ac2 million. My office is finalising the details of these revisions, and I expect to announce these details shortly. The OPW is also funding three local authority staff in Kerry County Council - a senior executive engineer, executive engineer and a senior staff member - to manage the delivery of these flood relief schemes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I was co-opted onto Kerry County Council in January 1990 following the untimely passing of my father. My very first motion was in regard to coastal erosion. That day I referenced Rossbeigh and Cromane. It is ironic that I am speaking all these years later about the same areas. I acknowledge the money that has been spent over the years, but we are talking about now. We are talking about the present and the future. It is like the old saying that a stitch in time saves nine. Again, I am pleading with the Minister of State to allocate the necessary funding to Kerry County Council. We have a proven track record in the quality of the work along with the Minister of State's colleagues in the OPW. I want to emphasise that because I have seen their projects first hand and how good the completed project is.  The businesses in Killorglin town along the River Laune are subject to tidal flooding and they are living in fear as well. It is a huge problem, not just in Kerry but nationally. There is an urgent need for funding to be made available. I ask the Government to make additional funding available to the Minister of State's Department because I know he will spend it, and it will be spent properly. I thank the Minister of State for his work. The top priority in Kerry - this is coming up at every single meeting of Kerry County Council and I have raised it here - is the residents of Cromane. They will have to relocate if they do not get help now. The damage this does is accompanied by fear and anxiety. Paschal Sheehy has covered the flooding in Cromane live on national television. I want to make sure that does not happen again and the only way that will be resolved is by funding being provided for the locations I have mentioned. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kevin Boxer Moran","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran  I fully appreciate where the Deputy is coming from. When I visited Kerry, I saw this issue at first hand and I spoke to the residents who are badly affected by it. I have set out the changes I have brought about in the minor works scheme to go from \u20ac750,000 to \u20ac2 million. It is not about the money; it is about the local authorities coming up with a scheme. I encourage the Deputy, as I encouraged other Members yesterday in the House, to go back to his local authority. We are funding staff to the local authorities. We encourage them to come up with a scheme. It has to be driven by the local authority. It is not driven by the Government or by the OPW. We fund the local authorities. If the local authority comes into my Department with a scheme and it meets the criteria, we will fund it.  I do not want to see people in Kerry or any other part of the country suffering. Since I have taken up this role we are at a maximum. We have never seen the like of it spent before. That is \u20ac102 million with regard to flooding. We have 100 schemes at various stages taking place at present. That has never happened. That is the positivity that is happening within the Government but the people that Deputy Cahill represents feel we are not getting to them or reaching out to them. I encourage the Deputy to go back to the local authority. He has seen what we have done in Listowel. We went down. There was an issue and we moved with the local authorities. We saw the results of that when we saw the finished work.  I want to work with Deputy Cahill, I want to work with the local authorities but most of all I want to work with the residents. I appeal to Deputy Cahill to go back to the local authority and sit down with the engineers to see whether a minor works or interim measures project can be done from an engineering point of view for the people the Deputy spoke about so eloquently. I will support them 100%. I do not want people to say that they need extra money but the Government is not delivering. It is not that. I have the money. I have a huge budget for flooding. The Government is very driven because we know what coastal erosion is doing now. Just out the road in Portrane, we have to try to deal with a very delicate situation over the next couple of days. I will work with Deputy Cahill going forward but I ask him to go back to the local authority and see if they can come up with a scheme. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Coastal Erosion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Employment Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Cooney  I raise a serious matter brought to me by a constituent, a disabled woman who was in receipt of the employment support scheme. This support was fundamental. It enabled her to carry out her role, be productive and build a career on an equal basis with others. On the basis that this support was in place, she made the major decision to progress her career. Like any other employee, she successfully convinced a new employer that she should take on a more senior management role. She did so in good faith with the reasonable expectation that the employment support which enabled her to perform her role would continue with her just as her skills, experience and qualifications did and indeed do for every other worker. She was shocked to discover this support would not transfer with her and would not be available to her new employer. This happened during the probation period where performance, productivity and the ability to carry out core tasks under heightened scrutiny are required. The removal of this support placed her in an impossible position. She now feels being unable to meet productivity expectations, not because of inability or incompetence but because the reasonable support that enabled her to do the job has been withdrawn. In effect, she is being penalised for ambition. Remaining in her previous role would have preserved her support. Her decision to progress her career has resulted in its removal. This places her at a significant disadvantage compared with her non-disabled peers and amounts to discrimination in practice. Article 27 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities requires prohibition of discrimination in all matters concerning employment and obliges states to ensure reasonable accommodation and adopt measures that enable disabled people to enter, remain and progress in employment. The employment support scheme is such a measure. It directly enables her to work and develop a career on an equal basis with others. Replacing it with a wage subsidy scheme does little or nothing to support career progression at middle or senior management levels where success depends on personal supports for the employee rather wage subsidies to employers. I ask that the removal of this scheme from those who currently avail of it and wish to progress their careers be reviewed in light of the principles of providing reasonable accommodation, expectations, obligations under the employment equality Act, the commitment of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities and the employment pillar of the equality and disability strategy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Social Protection (Deputy Dara Calleary)  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta Cooney as an \u00e1bhar t\u00e1bhachtach seo a ard\u00fa inniu. I thank Deputy Cooney for raising this issue. The employment support scheme was run by F\u00c1S. It offered financial support to employers to cover a disabled employee\u2019s employment. The scheme was open to the private sector only. The wage subsidy scheme came into operation as a pilot scheme in September 2005. It replaced the pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities and the employment support scheme, both of which were closed to applicants at that time. Following a review of its pilot phase, the wage subsidy scheme was placed on a permanent, non-statutory footing in October 2008. Participants in the pilot programme for the employment of people with disabilities became part of the wage subsidy scheme. Any employee in an employment subsidised under the employment support scheme in 2005 when the scheme closed to new applicants was allowed to remain on the scheme but only in that specific employment. If the employment covered by the employment support scheme terminates or changes in the way suggested by Deputy Cooney, the employee cannot transfer their employment support scheme to a new employment but can instead apply for the wage subsidy scheme.  Expenditure on the wage subsidy scheme over the past five years has been \u20ac2.95 million. The employment support scheme closed to new applicants in 2005. At that time, there were 474 employees in receipt of payments under the scheme in respect of 404 employers. Currently, there are 36 employees still in receipt of payment with 31 employers. The reduction has been due to changing jobs, retirement or switching to the wage subsidy scheme. Last year, the Department of Social Protection published a review of the wage subsidy scheme following a public consultation. The review made six recommendations. I have allocated an additional \u20ac3.7 million to implement the review\u2019s recommendations. In April 2024, the minimum hours for the scheme were reduced from 21 to 15 hours. The wage subsidy scheme now includes employers in the community, voluntary and commercial semi-State sector while the employment support scheme was open to private sector only. In budget 2026, we provided for an increase in the subsidy rates paid under the scheme and an expansion in eligibility with regard to those with acquired disabilities. I have also made changes to the supports available to employers to make it more attractive for employers to work with people with disabilities. The employment support scheme is closed to new applications but we are committed to legacy cases and continuing their payment until their employment ends. The programme for Government commits to further reviewing the minimum hours requirement under the wage subsidy scheme for disabled people and to examining further increases to the payment rate. Those commitments are also reflected in the human rights strategy for disabled people to which the Deputy referred. I am happy to discuss this specific case with him offline to see if we can support this person's employer with regard to the wage subsidy scheme and also the workplace adaptation scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Cooney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Cooney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Cooney  I thank the Minister for his update. The maximum rate under the wage subsidy scheme is 50% of the minimum wage. State policy tells employers that disabled people can only work at entry level. We should come at it from the other side and build capacity and value by creating a pathway for those with a disability to progress to the highest levels they can attain which is important for those people. The core issue is that the new wage subsidy scheme is framed in terms of compensating an employer for an employee's perceived lack of ability. That is not empowerment, it is charity. The employment support scheme supports those with a disability to do a job to the fullest and has never been about a defect but about enabling people to contribute on an equal basis with others. The resources it has provided to this woman have allowed her to perform to the highest standard.  This benefits her, her employers, her colleagues and wider society, which is very important for people with disabilities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank the Deputy. As I outlined, when the employment support scheme closed in 2005, there were 474 employees in respect of 404 employers. Today, we have 1,518 employers availing of the scheme and over 2,500 employees. We are a long way off where I want to be, however, and I will be very focused on getting people with disabilities into the workforce because they have extraordinary skill and talent to offer.  I am constantly reviewing the wage subsidy scheme. In budget 2026, we provided an increase in the base rate of the wage subsidy from \u20ac6.30 to \u20ac7.50, which is an increase of over 19%. Employers with up to six employees under this scheme will be paid the base rate from next April and employers with between seven and 16 employees are paid \u20ac8.50. Employers with 17 employees or more are paid \u20ac10 per employee. Employers that employ 25 or more active people with disability are also eligible for a grant of \u20ac30,000 towards the employment of an employment assistance officer. As such, we are very much focused on making that scheme work and making it more attractive to employers. I am also very focused on engaging with employers to encourage them to offer opportunities and in doing so highlighting the many companies that are doing that in every role, including management roles, front-facing roles and back office roles, and in using technology to support people to make the most of their talent. We have made changes to the workplace accommodation scheme to do that. I am happy to engage with the Deputy on the wage subsidy scheme, the benefits that are there for his constituent's employer and the supports that are there for them. We will certainly be in contact with him after this again. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Employment Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Ambulance Service","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ambulance Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Ambulance Service","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I have been contacted by constituents who work in the ambulance service locally who asked me to request a rapid response vehicle at Tuam ambulance base. These workers are telling me they are under pressure. They are dealing with a very high volume of calls and they need more cover. The crews in Tuam cover a vast area across north and east Galway and south Mayo. The introduction of a second ambulance on a 24-7 basis in Tuam last year demonstrates the high volume of calls in the area and the need for this vehicle. The figures I have received show Tuam ambulance base responded to 3,578 calls in 2023, 5,297 calls in 2024 and 3,735 calls between January and August of this year. The local staff have told me they are never at the ambulance base because they are constantly out on calls. This vehicle would be at the base when they are out on calls to provide additional cover around the clock. A rapid response vehicle is not like a typical ambulance. It is a smaller vehicle that can respond more quickly. It would be staffed by an advanced paramedic, which is important and they can offer enhanced care and advanced life support in emergency situations. Having that cover there would ultimately contribute towards saving lives and achieving better outcomes for patients. They could administer various medications to treat different illnesses before a patient arrived at hospital, and time is obviously crucial in a lot of emergency situations.  Tuam ambulance base is equipped to cater for a rapid response vehicle. There are advanced paramedics in the area who can operate it. This would allow them to support paramedic crews in the various ambulance bases across the region and not just Tuam, because Tuam is at the centre of a very wide region where these vehicles are not operating around the clock. It could provide cover in counties Mayo and Roscommon as well. The National Ambulance Service has informed me that provision of such a vehicle would have to be included in the HSE national service plan for it to be considered. There is a very strong case here on the basis of patients safety, ensuring better outcomes for people and ultimately saving lives. I ask the Minister of State to outline whether this is something that will be considered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  On behalf of the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, I thank Deputy O'Hara for the opportunity to respond on the topic of a 24-hour NAS rapid response vehicle at Tuam ambulance base. I assure Deputies the Government remains absolutely committed to investing in increasing capacity in our National Ambulance Service. The NAS allocation for 2025 includes \u20ac8 million for new service developments to provide up to 180 additional staff. This investment is focused on the provision of additional front-line emergency ambulance capacity, further expansion of NAS alternative care pathways and growing specialist service capacity, including critical care retrieval and aeromedical services. Continuous increases in Government investment in the NAS has raised total NAS staffing at the end of October 2025 to 2,486. This represents an overall growth in staff of 558 or 29% since 2020, of which over 85% are engaged in direct patient care roles.  In response to the specific matter raised by the Deputy, I am aware this matter has been raised by him previously several times. In fairness to the Deputy, I was looking today and he has put in several parliamentary questions on this through 2025, so I can see he is very passionate about it. I know from working with the ambulance paramedics that they excel at what they do and they do great work, so it is important we recognise them here. I am informed by the NAS that while there was no provision to consider this in 2025, the HSE will reconsider development of this service as part of the ongoing HSE national service planning process for 2026. This is what I have been told today. In the meantime, I am aware there are two existing 24-7 RRVs operating out of the Merlin Park base in Galway, as well as from Recess and County Roscommon on a dynamic deployment basis.  The HSE has also advised that it intends to increase capacity its West and North-West region with an additional NAS helicopter emergency medical service, HEMS, to be established in 2026. This will increase HEMS coverage for patients in the west and north-west of the country and improve access for rural and isolated patients to care. This is about them ultimately. I am also informed an additional 23 paramedics are scheduled to be deployed to the HSE West and North-West region, including in County Galway, this month to provide additional front-line capacity.  As Dail colleagues will be aware, patient demand for NAS services continues to rise year-on-year nationally as well as in the HSE West North-West region, including in Tuam and environs. In 2024 there were nearly 430,000 urgent and emergency calls received from the public. This represents an 8% increase nationally on the previous year and urgent and emergency calls received by the NAS have risen by a further 6% to date this year.  Despite the significant increase in patient demand, overall ambulance response performance has been largely maintained, both on a national basis and for the NAS west and north-west region. Performance in the year to September in the NAS west and north-west region for life-threatening red calls, which constitute over 95% of all emergency calls received, met the 2025 national service plan target of 45%.  I reiterate my sincere gratitude to all NAS staff and all our ambulance services across the country, including in County Galway, for their continued commitment and dedication to patient care. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I welcome the commitment to consider this as part of the service planning process for 2026. I sincerely hope it is implemented. I also want to express my gratitude to the staff of the NAS but if we want to demonstrate our gratitude, we need to consider the level of pressure these crews are under and do everything we can to alleviate that and ensure a better service and better outcomes for patients, which is what it is all about.  I urge the Minister of State and the National Ambulance Service to engage with staff in Tuam around this issue. They know better than anybody what the situation is like on the ground and what could improve it. I raise this issue on their behalf today. Ultimately, this is about better outcomes for people and saving lives. It deserves to be fully considered and I hope it is.  We have had reports carried out into ambulance bases like Loughglynn, County Roscommon, which examined in detail the situation, level of calls and so on. Specific service improvements were implemented after that. That could be considered for Tuam as well, to take an in-depth look at the situation and what improvements could make a difference.  I welcome the Minister of State's comments that this will be examined as part of the process for next year. We will wait and see what comes out of that. I hope it is a positive outcome. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor  I was looking back through the Deputy's parliamentary questions and, in fairness, he is working with ambulance paramedics on the great work they do. I know the Deputy will be committed to doing this. This will be looked at in 2026. I thank the Deputy for highlighting it. It is important we recognise the work ambulance paramedics do around the country. They do great work. The Government remains committed to investing in increasing capacity in our National Ambulance Service for patients in County Galway and across the country.  In my opening statement, I focused on NAS front-line emergency response activity and developments in the west of the country. I will now reference the NAS's ongoing programme of strategic reform. Supported by sustained Government investment, the NAS is continuing to increase its capabilities and capacity to treat increasing numbers of patients at the most appropriate level of clinical need, including in their homes and communities. The Deputy will be aware it is important we do this. The NAS reform initiatives will better place the service to meet the demands of the rapidly growing and ageing population we have. Funding for new service developments this year will support further expansion and alternative care pathways designed to reduce the number of patients presenting at hospital emergency departments where there is no clinical requirement. In the first six months of 2025, nearly 30,000 patients were treated through the NAS alternative care pathway, with 40% of those patients not subsequently requiring to go into emergency departments. I acknowledge the professionalism and dedication of our workers and the vital service they provide for everybody. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ambulance Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Message from Seanad \u00c9ireann","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Aindrias Moynihan)  Seanad \u00c9ireann has passed the Finance Bill 2025, without amendment; has passed the Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025, without amendment; and has passed the Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025, without amendment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 9.45 a.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 10 a.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 9.45 a.m. and resumed at 10 a.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Message from Seanad \u00c9ireann"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/30","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/30\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":118,"speakerCount":22},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel Grealish","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  We are here today on an historic occasion. This is the first Bill in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann to specifically outlaw fox hunting. There have been attempts to ban a range of blood sports before. The origins of fox hunting are around the 1400s, when foxes were on farmland and people rounded up a dog to get rid of them. This became a formal sport in the nineteenth century by the British, our colonial rulers, dressed in master attire and all of the trappings of hierarchy. Oscar Wilde's famous phrase, \"[T]he unspeakable in full pursuit of the uneatable\", still applies. However, the personnel have changed socially. It is ironic that in 1919 Sinn F\u00e9in, for example, the forerunner of the three big parties in the D\u00e1il today, ran a campaign of disruption of fox hunts in protest at the release of prisoners for independence precisely because fox hunting was carried out by the landed gentry. The participants may be different, but it is ironic that the three big parties in the D\u00e1il that profess to be nationalist maintain this when it has been banned in the UK for over 20 years.  There is overwhelming opposition to fox hunting in this country. Let us be very clear on that from the outset. It is not popular in any way whatsoever in all regions and among all ages. We have heard some Ministers banging a rural-urban drum all week. However, a recent poll found 73% of people are opposed to fox hunting and only 12% expressed any support for it. We will keep hearing that this is a rural versus urban issue, but the statistics say otherwise. In Connacht-Ulster, 72% of people in the poll to which I referred were opposed to fox hunting and in Dublin the figure was 76%. It is virtually the same feeling. The importance of the fox in Irish folklore and history needs to be stated because it has been demonised. It is a native species, important to our biodiversity and plays an important role as a pollinator to spread seeds in our ecosystem.  I want to start with what happens on the fox hunt because we will hear a lot of things. This is about cruelty to animals. The Irish Council Against Bloodsports provides a very good description:  The dogs are sent into an area to scent out a fox and force it to break cover ... the chase begins and can continue for an hour or more. This part of the hunt provides the \u201cfield\u201d [the riders] with the excitement they crave as they hurdle fences, ditches and walls in pursuit of the fox. The fox will go anywhere to escape the hounds. He will try to go to earth down a fox-hole, drain or badger sett, but these escapes are likely to have been blocked the night before by hunt supporters. The fox will run among sheep and other livestock, the hounds following in pursuit, resulting in the livestock being scattered and put under stress. If he cannot escape, the fox is chased to exhaustion at which point he will be caught and savaged to death by the hounds. Foxhounds are bred for stamina, not speed, otherwise the fox would be caught too soon and spoil the hunters\u2019 fun. Often a fox will succeed in finding an unblocked refuge. The hunt has several options; they can leave the fox if they are confident of finding others, they can dig him out with shovels, or they can send for the terrierman  Either way, it is a horrific ending for the fox.  I took part in a debate yesterday and the person I debated said a fox is wily and cute, as if it enjoyed this. What I will say comes from people who study animal behaviour, not a TD speaking off the top of her head. For the fox, there is heightened fear, exhaustion and loss of motor control. The Burns inquiry, carried out before fox hunting was banned in England and Wales, found that a fox had severe mental trauma. The other animals involved in this barbaric process, such as horses, also suffer. They are forced to run and jump. This is a prey animal whose first and primary instinct is flight. Hounds are also hidden victims. They can be injured and, as we know, are often dumped and shot by their owners when they are no longer of use.  Why is this barbarism maintained? The argument from one party, namely Sinn F\u00e9in, was that it would go underground and we need to regulate it. It is practically underground anyway because there is evidence of criminal adjacent behaviour. As those who attended the briefing we had last week will know, foxes are often put in a sack when caught and brought to dogfights according to wildlife rescuers who have found foxes consistent with those sorts of injuries. In a survey carried out by thejournal.ie , it was found that foxes sell for about \u20ac100 and there are about 4,500 members of illegal hunt clubs. There is money in this. As with everything, that is what is keeping it going. There is tourism in fox hunting because it has been banned in the UK. There is money in hunts for those who organise them. Again, I do not have time to go into all of that.  I want to deal very quickly with some of the issues relating to foxes and farming. As I said, they keep down the number of rodents, which is important for arable farming. Rabbits can cost arable farmers a lot of money. The fox is portrayed as a threat to sheep and livestock. The biggest threats to lambs are weather, starvation and disease. They are the leading causes of lamb mortality. Only 1% of lambs are estimated to be lost to foxes. In areas of hill farming the figure may be slightly higher. Let us have grants to help hill farmers deal with that. Good husbandry and fencing are the way around this. We keep hearing that we need to keep down fox numbers. If a cull is needed, it is up to the Department of agriculture to organise that; it will not be a wild west situation of leaving it to individual fox hunts.  We keep hearing about the equine industry. A UCD report found that less than 5% of our equine sector is reliant on hunting. There is huge potential to expand the equine sector. Loads of working class kids and ordinary people cannot access horses because it is still an elitist sector, such as trekking and so on.  Last week, there was a bill in the D\u00e1il on dog welfare. I know the names of all TDs with dogs at this point because we heard from Sinn F\u00e9in, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael about how they love their dogs. A fox is a dog - madra rua. It is a wild dog. Why is a wild dog of less importance? If Deputies vote against my Bill, why are they okay with wild dogs being hounded like this? Domestic dogs kill sheep and bite children. Some of them kill humans, yet we do not advocate that they be hunted down. The Irish Wildlife Trust and the National Society For the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals, NSPCA, have answered a lot of these arguments and fully back the Bill.  I want to mention some of the myths that rural people love fox hunting. Nothing could be further from the truth. Again, due to time I will not read out all of the correspondence I have received. Many people have contacted my office regarding this issue. They described how people arrogantly come onto their property, trespass on their lands and terrorise them. Agnes, who lives in Kildare and contacted my office, also spoke to the Irish Independent . Her sister is profoundly disabled and hounds invaded their garden. The two women were traumatised listening to hounds savage a fox. They tried to drown out the shrill cries from the fox by playing very loud music in the house. The woman could not eat for about a week afterwards. Does the Minister think that is okay? Deputies will stand up and tell us that this is a pursuit and part of tradition for rural people. Rural people do not love fox hunting. It is a minority participation, 2% according to the most recent poll.  Some people are suddenly concerned about wildlife, such as ground birds.  Of course, a fox will go after a pheasant or a ground bird; that is a natural instinct. The reason ground birds are under threat is development, habitat destruction and all of the issues of modernisation and urbanisation.  I will also mention a fact that is not stated, which is the research showing the link between cruelty to animals and cruelty to humans. If the Government allows this type of barbarism, people become inured to inflicting harm on others. For example, in school shootings in the US, some 43% of the shooters had abused animals. There are many more examples. In 2017, 89% of women who had companion animals and were in an abusive relationship reported that the abuser had abused the animals as well. It is a well known fact that if someone abuses animals he or she is inured to abusing humans.  I do not have time to talk about the Whip system now but I will when summing up. It is absolutely outrageous that this is being used to prevent the popular will. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I thank Deputy Coppinger for bringing forward this important legislation today, which I and the Green Party will be strongly supporting. Along with the Bill on dog breeding last week, it is a welcome opportunity for this House to focus on some of the more extreme and, frankly, indefensible practices which animals in this country are subject to. I want to speak very directly about this. There is simply no justifiable reason for this State to permit the hunting and killing of foxes, with dogs. It is not a reasonable method to control the fox population. It is not, as some have argued, a means of protecting biodiversity, and it is not an intrinsic part of rural life in Ireland.  In spite of the immovable political positions adopted by some of the largest parties in this House, it is absolutely not something that is supported by the majority of people in Ireland, in either rural or urban Ireland. Last week, speaking on Deputy Whitmore's Bill on puppy farming I made the same point. People in every part of our country, when they hear about how animals can be treated legally in this country, are overwhelmingly in favour of eliminating and banning these most heinous and most cruel practices. We are left wondering, why those parties that claim to have the broadest support seem to be so entrenched and so immovable, when even their own constituents are asking for change.  I have little doubt that during the course of the debate this morning, some of those opposing Deputy Coppinger's Bill will try to reduce this to another front in the culture wars. As I said last week, when anyone tries to do something on the issue of animal welfare, the battle is immense. Those of us who are advocating for change are accused of trying to destroy country life, of being out of touch and of being elite. Let me be very clear about what I say so others cannot misrepresent me. I believe it is wrong to kill animals for fun, for pleasure, and that is what fox hunting ultimately is about. It is the killing of an animal in a social setting for human enjoyment. I recognise farmers have to take measures to protect sheep and poultry. Sometimes foxes will be shot. It is not something I might like personally but I recognise it is a reality of farming in our country. However, that is not what we are discussing today. We are discussing the organised pursuit and killing, by mauling to death by dogs, of a small animal for the enjoyment of a group of people who see this as a social event. In the same way Irish law has outlawed the killing of dogs in dog fighting for fun, or the baiting of bulls, bears and badgers for fun over its history, I believe it is now important for us to take that step to ban the killing of foxes for fun.  I would like to raise one slight point of difference with Deputy Coppinger on the Bill. Her Bill seeks to outlaw drag hunting and she rightfully points out that in England, drag hunting----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It does not; it bans trail hunting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  It bans trail hunting. Okay, I will step back from that point because I think it is important there is at least one drag hunt in Ireland. It is not my thing but as long as a fox is not being killed I am not particularly concerned about that.  It is important we keep the focus here on the central issue which is using legislation to ban the killing of foxes - the killing of animals for pleasure. We have had the opportunity on three occasions in this House over the past five weeks to discuss issues of animal welfare. They were issues to do with greyhounds and dog breeding and today it is fox hunting. Deputy Coppinger has already pointed out that during the debate on the puppy farming Bill last week, there was real passion among Deputies. Deputies spoke with real meaning about what their dogs and their pets meant to them. Today, we have another opportunity to make real change. We have another opportunity to outlaw a practice that is long past the time of needing to be outlawed in this country. Ireland's laws have banned cruel practices of killing animals in the past in a range of areas and it is time we took this opportunity today. I urge Deputies to support this legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  I welcome and support this Bill. I thank Deputy Coppinger for bringing it forward. The supporters of fox hunting like to present this issue as a rural versus urban one. Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. This issue actually unites urban and rural communities. Every poll and survey shows a significant majority of the public, both urban and rural, are opposed to fox hunting and want a ban to be introduced.  I live in the countryside in a small townland called Scrothea West in the foothills of the Comeragh mountains, just on the edge of Clonmel. I was born there in a house that had no running water and no flush toilet. We had: five acres; two cows for milking; a couple of calves; two pigs; a flock of hens for eggs; a flock of turkeys for the Christmas market; a small orchard with apples, gooseberry bushes and blackcurrant bushes for apple tarts and jam; and a kitchen garden for potatoes and vegetables. It could not be much more rural than that. I trekked across the Comeragh and Knockmealdown mountains since childhood, spending many a summer's day with the local postman, the late George Conway. During that time, I learned to love and respect animals in their natural environments.  My late uncle was a small farmer. One of my siblings is a small farmer. I do not claim to be an expert on rural affairs but I do know a little bit about them. Farmers I talk to hate to see the hunt arrive because these people - wealthy elites on horseback - think they have a God given right to trespass on farmer's lands, to leave gates open, to break fences, to damage crops and to scatter livestock. By the way, there is not a single item in this Bill that prevents a farmer from protecting his or her livestock. Fox hunting is a barbaric activity and animal cruelty by wealthy, well heeled elites on horseback is a bridge too far. This Bill is a reasonable, common sense and humane one and I believe it should be supported.  Last Friday we all received a glossy brochure in our pigeon holes. They were a clear indication of the wealth and power that is behind the fox hunting lobby. By the way, the water diviner with the hazel stick on the front of this brochure is surely a colleague of the man who divined my water supply over 50 years ago. The other thing that jumps out of this glossy brochure is that, apparently, Tony Blair regrets bringing in a ban on fox hunting. I will tell the Minister that I will take no lectures from Tony Blair - a British imperialist war monger who is responsible for the deaths of thousands of Iraqi civilians, men women and children. I have not heard him regret that. I have not heard him regret the British genocide in Ireland in the 1840s and 1850s, called an Gorta M\u00f3r - the Famine. I have not heard him regret the burning to the ground of Cork city 100 years ago by the Black and Tans.  I have not heard him regret the deaths of ten hunger strikers in the Six Counties in 1981.  The public, as usual, are way ahead of the politicians on this issue. They support a ban on fox hunting and I call on all the political parties to allow a free vote for their Members this evening. It is outrageous that the Whip should be applied on this issue. I again call on all parties to allow a free vote on this issue tonight and pass this humane and reasonable piece of legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on this proposal from Deputy Coppinger. I wish to state clearly at the outset that I and my Department take the matter of animal welfare most seriously. My Department devotes considerable resources to protect the well-being of animals and deal with breaches of animal welfare legislation when they occur. The Government is fully committed to promoting good practices that respect the welfare of all animals. On behalf of the Government, I am putting forward our stance to oppose the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025, the reasons for which I will outline in my address this morning. The Government fully recognises the emotive nature of this policy area, which has been the subject of debate over many years. The Bill, as set out by Deputy Coppinger, proposes to amend section 12 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 which currently provides an exemption for the lawful hunting of an animal. Deputies will be aware that section of 12 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act was fully discussed and approved by the Oireachtas previously.  It is important to note that hunting in Ireland today is not unregulated. Rather, it operates under clear codes of conduct, licensing, welfare standards and full insurance requirements. In accordance with section 25 of the Animal Health and Welfare Act, codes of conduct have been adopted by the members of the Hunting Association of Ireland that detail the conduct to be adhered to in respect of the hunting of foxes and treatment of animals during the hunt. The codes also take into account local concerns and the concerns of landowners on whose land hunting takes place.  Foxes are not a protected species under the wildlife Acts in Ireland and it is legal to hunt foxes under the legislation. The Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, has no plans to change the legislation with regard to foxes at this time. Where a specific case of animal neglect or cruelty is identified, offences may be prosecuted under the Act. There are strict penalties that apply for offences under section 12 of this Act. On summary conviction, offences are liable to a class A fine to a maximum of \u20ac5,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding six months, or both. On conviction of indictment, offences are liable to a fine not exceeding \u20ac250,000, imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years, or both.  In addition to these existing legislative protections, it is important to frame the context of today's debate beyond that of a binary choice between being with us or against us. To do so is deeply cynical and exploitative and it allows the serious issue of animal welfare to be used as a Trojan horse for a more divisive agenda. I have heard Deputies in this House who support a ban say they have never met anyone who has been on a hunt or, indeed, seen a hunt themselves. I find it incredible that this is used as a selling point to advocate for a ban. There has been no attempt to engage with the very community and cohort of people who would be most affected by such a move or effort to understand the opposite point of view. Decisions could be made today that fundamentally change people's lives and that of their communities and those making that decision remain entirely oblivious of the consequences by virtue of the fact that the activity is invisible to them.  I recognise that this is a deeply emotive issue, one which people on both sides of the argument feel passionately about. Fox hunting represents a long-held tradition and is a part of a way of life for those involved. While it is not an activity the vast majority of people engage in, it means an awful lot to the people who do. People employed by hunting associations or who work in the kennels and care for the dogs and horses have woken up this morning not knowing whether there is a future for their job or animals when they go to bed tonight. It is entirely disproportionate to try to make criminals of these people overnight for engaging in an activity that, in many cases, stretches back generations.  Beyond those directly affected, we must also be conscious of the wider negative impacts this could have for the farriers and vets who benefit from their business, the feed suppliers who rely on their custom, the farmers who avail of the fallen animal collection service they provide, which is most important, the local hospitality in places where commerce can be quiet, especially during the winter season and, indeed, the wider Irish equine sector too as we close down pathways for young riders passionate about horses, undermine the same associations that run our point-to-point races so successfully and lose important jobs and economic activity in rural areas where there are fewer alternatives.  I also wish to reference the legislation itself. The Bill, as it is formed and worded, proposes to ban all hunting for foxes, regardless of the purpose and manner in which that hunting is carried out. It also proposes a ban on trail hunting. Deputy Roderic O'Gorman made the point that he accepts farmers need to shoot foxes on occasion as a control mechanism but, under this Bill, that activity would be illegal into the future. Deputy Healy touched on that as well. I gather from what he said that his understanding is that this normal activity could still happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  That is nonsense. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Under this Bill, however, that activity would not be permissible at all. As such, this Bill would ban the hunting of foxes with hounds, trail hunting with hounds and the shooting of foxes for pest control, which is carried out to protect livestock and forms an important source of foxes for disease surveillance purposes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It does not mention shooting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Ireland is officially free of the zoonotic tapeworm echinococcus multilocularis.  This is a severe tapeworm that causes debilitating diseases in humans. Annual surveillance in shot foxes provides evidence to prove the absence of the disease in Ireland, which allows us to require that all dogs entering the country are given preventative treatment prior to their arrival here, thus protecting public health as well as domestic pets and wildlife. This work would not be possible under the legislation as it is proposed before the House today.  In respect of the pest control point, while attempts have been made to downplay this, the reality is that foxes prey on livestock and other wildlife such as rare ground-nesting birds, which is something Deputy Coppinger admitted to in her opening address. I have not seen many accounts online seeking to play on people's emotions posting photos of dead lambs or hens that have been attacked by foxes. We all know that anyone who has backyard hens generally always has a story about the night the fox came. Research shows that red foxes are widespread across Ireland and can be found in every county. The nature of Ireland's wildly-farmed, fragmented landscape and the absence of an apex predator means it lends itself to high fox densities. Indeed, Deputy Coppinger listed many of the animals of which the fox is a predator in her opening address and acknowledged that the fox does not have a natural predator. Hunting provides one of the necessary means of controlling the fox population in Ireland. Deputy Coppinger and People Before Profit are pursuing this as a wedge issue, specifically designed to be emotive and confrontational. If they were honest, this is only a starting point for them. I have no doubt there are many other rural activities they would also like to ban. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  What is the Minister talking about? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  If they get their way today, it will not stop there. Before long, People Before Profit would have us back here debating legislation no doubt to ban fishing----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  Would the Minister stop? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  -----because of the impact it would have on the worm and mayfly.  The profile of animal welfare has never been higher and the prominence it receives in national, regional and social media reflects the seriousness with which this issue is treated by stakeholders, welfare groups, the public and this Government. On 19 November, I launched the six-week public consultation that will run to early January 2026 inviting views to inform the development of a new animal welfare strategy for the period 2026-2030. I encourage all interested stakeholders to provide feedback and comments and make recommendations around the direction, themes and thrust of the new animal health and welfare strategy. To legislate in isolation rather than on the basis of consultation and evidence risks unintended consequences and laws that do not work in practice.  I will touch on one last point, which has been raised in earlier contributions and will no doubt continue to be raised, that is, a potential urban-rural divide. I absolutely agree with the previous contributors who said this is not and should not be about an urban-rural divide. I do not believe it is, either. This Bill can be much better divided along the lines of those who believe we can achieve so much more when we work to understand each other's perspectives and those who believe having the loudest voice in the room gives them the right to dictate how everyone else should live their lives. That is an important point that I hope is reflected in this debate today. I thank the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach for the opportunity to speak on this Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Minister is defending the indefensible and he knows it.  He is defending cruel, barbaric practices. He is defending the organised killing for human entertainment of a tiny minority of foxes. Then, he tries to do it in such a way as to suggest that it should not be divided along urban and rural lines, having two minutes previously said that this is a \"wedge issue\" that is \"designed to be emotive and confrontational\", and that there are many other rural activities we would like to ban. On the one hand, the Minister said we should not be pitching it as urban and rural, and we agree, but on the other hand, he was doing precisely that.  The Minister said we are presenting this as a binary issue. He was not clear on what non-binary way he wants to present it. Some of us are opposed to fox hunting. We are opposed to this cruel, barbaric practice. We think it must go the way of dog fighting. I do not know if the Minister had a problem with the banning of dog fighting. We are opposed to badger baiting. It should be banned immediately. Others do not agree with that. The Minister thinks that this should continue. That is a binary issue. I am sorry if that offends the Minister in some way.  The Minister did not say \"rural pursuits\" and instead went for \"rural activities\" because, of course, it brings us back to the presidential election. Fox hunting played an unexpectedly outsized role in the campaign as an illustration of how incredibly out of touch Heather Humphreys was, with her continued invocation of rural pursuits and her enthusiastic support for fox hunting, not shared by the vast majority of the public. In the end, the anti-fox hunting candidate won and the pro-fox hunting candidate lost, and it was a strong illustration for people that this person was wildly out of touch. Therefore, it is deeply ironic that we are going to have a vote tonight in the D\u00e1il, where it seems the three big parties are going to continue to be out of touch, not take the lesson of that presidential election and vote to allow this cruel practice to continue.  Regarding the other arguments the Minister made, the only way he can defend the indefensible is with misinformation and a divisive approach. There was the suggestion that this is about pest control. First, to be clear, it is misinformation to say that our Bill bans the shooting of foxes. Of course, it does not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It refers to all hunting - all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It explicitly does not. It is hunting - fox hunting. If the Minister has a problem with the----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The word \u201call\u201d is there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It is about fox hunting. That is what the Bill is about. People can go and read it online. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It is not misinformation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  If the Minister had a problem, he could come back and sum up by saying, \u201cWe agree with a ban on fox hunting, but we have a problem with some of the wording and the way it is done\u201d. That is no problem. What would happen is it would be passed on Second Stage and amended on Committee Stage.  The point on the ban on trail hunting is there precisely because this has been used in Britain as a way of continuing undercover or underground fox hunting. However, no ban is specified and we support the possibility of the continuation of drag hunting.  Let us be real about the argument on pest control. Saoirse McHugh makes a very good point in the newspaper today: \u201cI don't think anybody believes that getting a pack of 50 dogs and 50 people on horseback to chase a single fox to exhaustion is a reasonable or efficient form of pest control.\u201d Foxes are no threat to anyone or anyone's livelihood. They are beautiful, intelligent animals that play a vital role in our ecosystem. Tearing them limb from limb is not a sport. It is not an ancient Irish tradition. It is not a rural pursuit. It is an alien bloodlust, imported into this country by a colonial aristocracy. The Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association was established in 1845 during the Famine, as Deputy Healy noted. While ordinary people were starving to death, there were aristocrats in red coats riding around on horseback, torturing animals to death. That is what this tradition is about.  I have to put it to those in Sinn F\u00e9in. What are they thinking? What are they thinking about supporting this colonial practice? If they do not come to their senses, if they do not change their party's position on this, I hope at the very least that they will allow a free vote. Surely they know that this is going to be done away with. In 20 years\u2019 time, we are not going to have the continuation of fox hunting in this country. Surely a majority of the Sinn F\u00e9in membership supports a ban on fox hunting. I know that those I worked with in the presidential campaign were laughing at Heather Humphreys, her support of rural pursuits and her defence of fox hunting, and they were supporting Catherine Connolly\u2019s opposition to it. Surely some of them will break with the party Whip and vote with the people, who, urban or rural, are overwhelmingly opposed to fox hunting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  I must make the point that we should not be referring to people who are not in the House and cannot defend themselves. I have been asked to pass that on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It is hard to talk in the D\u00e1il without referring to people who are not here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  I am only passing on the rules of the House. We should not be referring to people outside. I call Deputy Boyd Barrett. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I thank Deputy Coppinger for bringing the Bill forward. I am very happy to support it.  I love sport. I am passionate about sport but I find it had to hard to understand how anybody could gain entertainment from a large group of people on horseback, with a pack of dogs, pursuing a frightened animal, and then watching and celebrating as that frightened animal is torn to pieces by dogs. That is not a sport. That is just an exercise in cruelty and barbarism.  As has been said, this is not an ancient Irish rural tradition. It is a colonial pursuit that was developed by the British nobility. As for the point about the contrast between the enforced starvation of the Irish people during the Famine and the expansion of so-called rural pursuits by the British nobility, there is a connection. Of course, the genocide of the Irish people during what is known as the Famine was linked to an ambition by our colonial masters to drive the people off the land and clear the land. It was an exaggerated version of the enclosure movement, where the rich wanted to drive ordinary people off the land and clear it for their so-called pursuits.  It is ironic, in a way, that those who defend this practice, although it is interesting that the Minister does not actually defend the practice----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  He did not defend it at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  He did not. What he did was try to misrepresent the Bill. That is what he did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I defended it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  He said there were things in the Bill that are not in the Bill, and then he implied that, really, this was part of a wider agenda of opposing rural pursuits, which it absolutely is not. However, the Minister did not actually defend it. He did not defend it because he knows it is indefensible. It is utterly indefensible. Please tell me how it is a legitimate form of the sport to tear a frightened animal limb from limb with a pack of dogs and a big gang of people on horseback. It is nothing of the sort.  As for the idea that it has anything to do with pest control, seriously, it has to be the most inefficient form of pest control possibly imaginable - you get a gang of horses, dogs and all the associated things to chase one fox. The Minister is seriously putting that forward as a form of pest control. It has nothing to do with that. It was a sport of the nobility - a sadistic sport of the nobility. It is barbaric and uncivilised. How the Minister could possibly defend it is beyond me.  The irony, as has already been said, is that our colonial masters, the British, who developed this, have actually banned it themselves. For some bizarre reason, however, a small group of unrepresentative people, who do not represent the majority opinion in this country, have decided to try to defend this colonial elite practice. It is bizarre. I think the Minister should step back from this and reflect the views of the majority of the people in this country to end this barbaric practice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I thank the proposers of the Bill for bringing it before the House. It is important to debate all these issues, even the issues that separate and divide us. Every year at the Sinn F\u00e9in Ard-Fheis we have an opportunity to discuss various motions and set out our party policy. That is where our position on this comes from. For many years we have had motions before Ard-Fheiseanna where it has been discussed. What normally happens is that various cumainn around the country discuss the motions in advance and have their debates. We then debate it at the Ard-Fheis and have a vote on it, and that sets our position. That is why we have the position we have in respect of this.  When it comes to debate, of course there are different views from different people but at the same time we recognise that across the length and breadth of Ireland there are thousands of gun clubs in practically every parish in the country. The people involved in those are hunting and also involved in conservation and everything to do with the countryside, a tradition which sometimes goes back for many generations. Fox hunting on horseback is a tiny part of that. For most of them, the elite and landed gentry are a thing of the past. The people who are involved in that now are not of that vein. Certainly, that is my experience in my part of the country.  Of course, we also recognise that there has to be strict regulation. Cruelty should not happen and should be stamped out at every opportunity. In my experience those involved in these activities do not go out with cruel intent. They go out mainly because of the satisfaction they get from being involved in the hunt. Often no horses are involved and they are on foot during the hunt. In many cases people engage in this because it is something they have done for generations in some cases. We accept that people have a genuine fear that if we start at one place and ban fox hunting, it will lead to something else and something else. That fear has been expressed by many people, particularly those involved in gun clubs around the country. Whether it is real or not, it is a fear they have and we have to recognise and acknowledge that as well.  Many of us see the fox as a predator which is dangerous certainly for sheep and ground-nesting birds. Many of the people involved in the gun clubs are also involved in other conservation work. They often raise pheasants and let them out along with hen harriers and other ground-nesting birds as well. Of course, the fox is one of the serious predators in respect of that. Many of our farmers are asked not to mow their meadows to allow ground-nesting birds, particularly rare birds, to be able to evolve and develop, and to get them back into the countryside again where they are very much an endangered species. The fox is one of the key predators in respect of that, as are the pine marten and the mink, one of which is a protected species and another an invasive one. Work has to be done to get rid of them. It is the same thing with the fox.  Many foxes are killed not at hunts but actually through lamping where a light is shone on foxes when they are out in the field. They stand and look back and have no sporting chance. It is a way in which there has to be control of an animal which may be beautiful to see but has a very dangerous element to it particularly when it comes to ground-nesting birds but also farm animals such as poultry and sheep out on the mountains.  Of course, we have a decision to make on this and Sinn F\u00e9in has a position. That position comes from our Ard-Fheis where this is debated, discussed and set out. If that position changes in the future, it will change in the future. I do not see that happening because I see a groundswell of support from the vast majority of people around the country who recognise that this is something that has been there for a very long time. It is presented sometimes as being elitist, but that has not been the experience of most people. The majority of the Sinn F\u00e9in membership have voted on this and have made it very clear that they want to see this continued in a way that protects the environment, protects the animals and has at least a clear element of wildlife protection in respect of it. Hunting the fox is part of protecting other wildlife species. That is the piece that is missing for some people who do not understand fully.  I thank the proposers of the Bill. We will not be supporting it. That is our position and we have a clear logic as to why that is our position. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  Every politician has days when their personal beliefs collide with their obligations as a party member and today is one of those days for me. It is no secret that I want to change my party policy on fox hunting; that is on the record. However, as a member of a political movement, I am not a solo act. Grandstanding over an issue I feel very strongly about might feel righteous for a day, but it weakens us in the struggles that change and improve the lives of our constituents. Let us be clear: fox hunting is abhorrent, cruel, savage and barbaric with no regard for animal welfare. I genuinely do not know why it is called a sport. Calling it a sport implies that both sides have a chance, but if the fox escapes the hunt and gets back to its den, the bloodthirsty redcoats send their hounds in to invade the fox's home, its den, dig it out and tear it apart. There is nothing sporting about that. Most people, urban and rural, do not think that is sport and there are lots of rural pursuits that go on. Jesus, I do not want to hear that phrase again; it is too much for me.  Some 72% of people support a ban on fox hunting which rises to 75% in working-class areas, our base. However, today I am bound by the Whip, not because I think that banning fox hunting does not matter but because I believe in something bigger than myself. I believe in collective struggle, social justice, equality and a united Ireland. Sinn F\u00e9in is a democratic grassroots party and our policy is decided at our Ard Fheis. I have tried to change that party policy several times and I will try again. Sinn F\u00e9in does not do free votes. We believe in real solidarity and we walk the hard road together.  Before addressing the Bill, I want to speak up for our native Irish foxes. Foxes are not a significant threat to vulnerable livestock and free-range poultry. Domestic dogs - our family pets that were all named during last week's debate - and the hounds used in live hunts are a much bigger threat. Foxes play a really positive role in biodiversity and the ecosystem. The Minister talked about pest control and the fox is a natural pest controller of rats, mice and rabbit populations, and an ally to arable farming.  In urban and rural areas, they are the animal kingdom's equivalent to the Tidy Towns, eating dead and decaying birds and roadkill. Urban foxes also play a good part in cleaning up waste outside junk food outlets. However, foxes no longer have a natural predator and are a threat to ground-nesting birds, such as the curlew and the partridge. Having a humane regulated cull for the purposes of conservation is very different from blood sports.  I acknowledge the intention behind the Bill and an Teachta Coppinger's animal welfare credentials, which I share. However, the Bill is sorely lacking in practical detail. It appears to ban all fox hunting without clearly defining what kind of hunting it refers to. To be fair, section 2(c) does indicate that trapping and snaring the foxes would be prohibited but is silent on key issues. The Bill does not mention the legitimate humane killing of diseased or injured foxes, for instance. The Bill does not mention poisoning, which is a far more cruel form of killing an animal, resulting in the slow and painful death of the poor fox. There is no clarity on whether farmers could shoot a fox if they come upon it actively attacking wildlife or free-range poultry. The Bill does not even mention banning hunting on horseback with hounds by the tally-ho people who come over here from England ever since fox hunting was banned in Scotland, Wales and England, not to mention our own homegrown hooray Henrys.  Also including trail hunting complicates the Bill unnecessarily. It is completely superfluous and not central to the real issue. I accept that hounds on a trail hunt can get scent of a live fox and give chase, but so too can dogs that are out for a walk with their owners or dogs out walking the land with a farmer. The central issue with fox hunting is the cruelty of the chase and the killing of the fox using a pack of hounds. That is the core concern and everything else is political theatre. I am sure we have all seen the emails about mission creep, the slippery slope and the thin end of the wedge. Some people seem to think we will be coming for their fishing rods next. I notice that the Minister, Martin Heydon, tried to add to that scaremongering; his slip is showing.  Let me reassure people that this is not a conspiracy. My focus is on cruel bloodsports. I am not after anybody and indeed I had a friend who used to shoot rabbits and eat them because he could not live on the amount of money he receives in social welfare from the Government.  I do not have a problem with that. I am not a vegan, I am not a vegetarian, and I am not a hypocrite.  Another odd thing is that people keep sending me social media posts directed at Sinn F\u00e9in, some of which target me and other Sinn F\u00e9in TDs personally. I appreciate engagement, even spirited engagement, but this odd level of focus on Sinn F\u00e9in highlights a wider issue. If it were really about getting this Bill passed, the focus would be on where the power lies, namely with the Government, with its overwhelming majority. It is the Government that decides whether legislation is passed or blocked. I do not need other parties to be my social conscience. It is a regrettable tactic for any Opposition party on the left to direct more fire at another rather than at the conservative forces that actually block change. It speaks to something else. It reflects divisive politics about personal purity before progress. The right must love it, because that is how it keeps winning. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  Where is this going? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  It strengthens the status quo and existing power structures. Sinn F\u00e9in will continue to confront the system itself while acting collectively as a credible alternative government, but not by attacking other parties of the left.  My duty as a Sinn F\u00e9in TD is to our local communities, who need us to act as a team to provide an alternative government to Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. Yes, I disagree with my party policy on this issue. I have said it loud and clear. My party does not expect me to pretend otherwise. I did not join Sinn F\u00e9in to rid Ireland of blood sports. Yes, I would love that to be a little benefit on the side, but the principal reason I joined Sinn F\u00e9in was to play a part in uniting my country. Item one on my agenda is unity, not to split. I promise my constituents who detest fox hunting as much as I do that this is not over. I will work within my party to banish this relic of British colonialism affecting our native wildlife. To Sinn F\u00e9in members and supporters, the vast majority of whom oppose blood sports, I say that we will change things by organising. We will not win by walking away. We will act collectively because we know division is the gift that the right does not even need to ask for in a political system designed to divide us.  It is easy to have solidarity in your party name; it takes a bit more solidarity to actually have solidarity in your politics. When we succeed in changing our party policy on fox hunting, we will bring forward a carefully drafted Bill, a Bill that will protect our beautiful, intelligent native Irish fox, \u00e1r maidr\u00edn rua, \u00e1r sionnach \u00e1lainn. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I will be voting against this Bill, in line with Sinn F\u00e9in policy. I have heard the calls for a free vote but I remind people that Sinn F\u00e9in is a member-led, activist-based party. Our positions are determined democratically by our members at our Ard-Fheis. I suspect that if this were a different issue, or if Sinn F\u00e9in had a different position, those calling for a free vote now would take a very different view. As has been said, this issue has come up at successive Sinn F\u00e9in Ard-Fheiseanna and has been debated at length, often robustly. On each occasion, our members have reached the same conclusion, that rural activities involving animals should be strongly regulated rather than banned outright, and that effective regulation requires serious, constructive engagement with all stakeholders, including animal welfare organisations and those involved in these activities. That is a policy that I support. I do so without any personal or vested interest. I am not a hunter or horse owner. I have never attended a fox hunt and I have no intention of doing so.  The manner in which this debate is conducted matters. The vilification of people who engage in the activities in question or who oppose this Bill is the wrong approach. It does not encourage understanding or debate. In fact, it shuts it down and ignores the reality. It is a reality that many people, particularly in rural communities, feel increasingly alienated by the tone of this discussion. From an animal welfare perspective, I believe the approach is absolutely counterproductive. From a wider political and social perspective, it is damaging.  Those of us in this House who are serious about building a progressive-left republican alternative in this country must also be serious about unity, common citizenship, mutual respect, and shared ownership and stewardship of our land. That requires building solidarity between rural and urban working people, not driving wedges between them. We have seen internationally what happens when rural working-class communities feel dismissed or talked down to. They disengage and retreat. That does not serve animal welfare, social justice or progressive politics.  The suggestion that anyone voting against this Bill is simply pandering to a wealthy, powerful colonial lobby is fanciful. I have been lobbied on this issue by people on each side of the debate. I have engaged with many animal welfare advocates who are passionate and want Sinn F\u00e9in to support this Bill. The people I engaged with were sincere, informed and respectful, and I respect that. I am happy to and will continue to engage with them.  I was contacted by many people from my constituency, which is also that of the Chair. These were ordinary, hard-working men and women \u2013 people involved in farming, game clubs and local community organisations \u2013 and they certainly were not wealthy or powerful. In fact, and this is sometimes lost in this debate, most of them are not involved in fox hunting at all. What they have expressed is a broader concern that we cannot dismiss. If we do, we do so at our peril. Their concern is that this debate is part of a wider pattern in which rural life is increasingly viewed with suspicion or hostility. They see opposition not just to hunting but also to other rural pursuits, and in this regard they refer to farming, one-off housing and the social fabric of their communities. Whether Members agree with that assessment or not, it cannot be ignored.  Sinn F\u00e9in is a party of working people, urban and rural alike. We engage with concerns from those communities respectfully and honestly. We cannot build a fairer or united Ireland without the working people of rural communities, just as we cannot do so without the working people of urban communities. We will not earn the trust of people unless we are willing to listen and recognise the legitimacy of different lived experiences. Yes, there are people who are very passionate on both sides of this debate. There are also people asking why, in the week before Christmas, at a time of severe and unrelenting pressure from the cost-of-living crisis and a housing crisis out of control, we are dealing with such a divisive issue in this way. Putting that aside, I agree we have to be open to debate on this issue. I am open to discussion and willing to listen to those who disagree with me profoundly. I ask proponents of this Bill to do the same and to listen to people who speak about rural tradition, wildlife management and the social and economic role of hunting in their communities. This is linked to national hunt racing, and also to the wider sense of alienation felt across rural communities.  It may well be the case that it is possible to secure a ban without any of the engagement I refer to, but that would not be the best approach. That trajectory would deepen division and mistrust, which we have seen all over the world. I do not believe this is in the best interest of animal welfare, social cohesion or the working people of Ireland, rural or urban. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  I will speak today on behalf of the Labour Party to express our strong support for the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025. I want to thank our colleagues for proposing it.  This legislation is not about point-scoring, nor is it about rural Ireland versus urban Ireland. To say it is actually diminishes the points that some who oppose this legislation are seeking to make. It is fundamentally about decency, ethics and whether we are prepared to legislate in line with what we say are stated public values and with modern animal welfare standards. It is first and foremost a moral question.  Fox hunting is an anachronistic and inherently cruel practice that belongs to a past defined by hierarchy, elitism, exclusion, imperialism and the routine acceptance of animal suffering. It has, in our view, no place whatsoever in a modern republic that claims to value compassion, evidence-based policymaking and respect for animal welfare. There is nothing republican about fox hunting. Conservatism again trumps republicanism.  In recent weeks, my office, along with others, has received hundreds of emails calling for an end to fox hunting. Many of these messages come from constituents who have witnessed hunts at first hand. Their accounts strip away the romanticised language often used to defend this indefensible activity. They describe exhausted animals pursued for hours, terrified livestock, damaged land and an organised spectacle of violence presented - or misrepresented - as tradition. This is not wildlife management; it is cruelty. I see that \"rural pursuits\" now seems to be a catch-all phrase to justify anything at all that happens in rural Ireland. Again, that does rural Ireland and the people I represent in rural Ireland an absolute disservice. They are not a monolithic, homogenous group.  The public mood on this issue is clear, as was said earlier. A recent national opinion poll conducted by Ireland Thinks found that 72% of the Irish public support a ban on fox hunting. Importantly, this opposition is strong in rural Ireland itself. This is not, as I said, a rural-urban divide. I am proud to represent parts of rural County Louth and have done so for over two decades now.  Yet that consensus is not reflected in the political debate. We continue to hear claims, often repeated without any evidence whatsoever, that fox hunting is vital for farmers or essential to rural life. If fox control is required, farmers already have lawful, proportionate and humane means to address it. Organised fox hunting with packs of hounds is not, as was said earlier, an effective or humane method of wildlife management. It is the definition, in fact, of inefficiency. A chaotic chase involving dozens of dogs and riders pursuing a single animal cannot credibly be described as pest control. It is neither targeted nor evidence based and it results in extreme suffering.  The claim that fox hunting is central to farming or rural culture is also contradicted by the evidence. In fact, only around 2% of the population has ever participated in a fox hunt. As a sportsperson, I am not inclined to sanitise this pursuit by calling it a sport. Some 98% of people have no connection to it whatsoever - never have, never will - and the numbers will diminish. A practice engaged in by such a small minority cannot reasonably be described as essential to rural life. Farmers themselves have not demanded this practice be preserved. Many I know have raised serious concerns about hunts trespassing on land, damaging crops, frightening livestock and undermining biodiversity. This is not a harmonious rural tradition; it is an imposition that many rural communities actively oppose.  There is a class context to this too. Let us not forget that or pretend otherwise. There has always been something of the upstairs-downstairs about this and a nonsense we used to see in the stage Irishman depiction of fox hunting in the likes of \"The Irish R.M.\" and so on. It is absolute nonsense and far from republican. The historical context of fox hunting in Ireland cannot be ignored. The Irish Masters of Foxhounds Association was established in 1845, during the Great Famine, and the practice itself is deeply rooted in colonial power structures. This is not a neutral or ancient Irish tradition; it is an imported phenomenon and a colonial blood sport imported and maintained by privilege.  From an animal welfare perspective, the harms associated with fox hunting are simply unavoidable. Foxes endure prolonged pursuit, intense fear and physiological stress before often being violently killed. This suffering is intentional and intrinsic to the activity. I am no agricultural expert and do not claim to be but I know gratuitous cruelty when I see it. Horses used in hunts are also placed under extreme physical and psychological strain. They are pushed to gallop long distances over uneven ground, jump obstacles at speed and suppress natural fear responses in chaotic environments. This exposes them to a high risk of injury, exhaustion, chronic stress and fatal accidents. Hounds are also subjected to welfare risks. They are bred, trained and worked in ways that prioritise performance over well-being, often resulting in injury, exhaustion and premature death. Their natural behaviours are exploited and they are placed in dangerous situations over which they have no control.  I have received messages from people I know and respect in recent days asking me to think of the hounds and what they do naturally and I have one message for people listening in. If these kinds of so-called rural pursuits are ended, they will evolve and they will change. That is an intrinsic part of nature, of who we are as human beings and what mammals do.  Supporters of fox hunting often argue that banning the practice would mean horses and hounds would no longer exist. This is a false dilemma, a false dichotomy. Ending a harmful practice does not require the destruction of the animals involved or make them obsolete in any way. Nature evolves, and their value and the value of each animal endures beyond their limited, in this context, economic function to some. This applies to dogs too.  The claims that fox hunting builds confidence in horses or resilience in humans are also not supported by behavioural science. High-stress environments actually inhibit learning. What is often labelled as bravery is more accurately explained by learned helplessness, a state associated with welfare risks and increased injury. While time in nature, physical activity and social connection are absolutely beneficial to mental health, none of these outcomes depend on the pursuit and the killing of wildlife. Ethical community-building and well-being must not be achieved through harm to sentient beings that cannot consent.  Fox hunting is frequently defended as essential to rural community life, yet participation requires significant financial and social capital, placing it beyond the reach of most people, certainly the people I represent. Presenting it as representative of rural Ireland obscures issues of exclusion and inequality and actually does the argument on the opposite side a disservice. Rural social cohesion is a legitimate policy goal, one I pursue in my everyday work, but it must be addressed through inclusive public infrastructure and services and opportunities, not through exclusive, harmful traditions.  This is not the 1800s; this is supposed to be a modern, sophisticated Republic. I speak for rural Ireland - a new, changing rural Ireland - as much as others do. As I said earlier, modern rural Ireland is not a monolith. The people there are not homogenous. It is a complex community with competing and different interests and, frankly, a lot of those in here who claim to have a monopoly on speaking for those in rural Ireland do rural Ireland a disservice and do not ever reflect the diversity in modern rural Ireland that we have today and the diversity of views.  This animal health and welfare Bill reflects growing recognition that hunting wild mammals with dogs is incompatible with modern welfare standards. Comparable jurisdictions, including the United Kingdom, have already enacted bans, as we know, even though the argument could very well be made that this is some part of a tradition in the UK, albeit an aristocratic, landed gentry one, that goes back centuries. Ireland would not be acting in isolation, therefore, but in line with its stated commitments to animal welfare and EU principles recognising animals as sentient beings.  I urge my colleagues to support this Bill. This is one of those occasions when the introduction of a free vote should be considered. Not to support the Bill would be to continue defending a cruel, unnecessary and, in our view, outdated practice that the Irish public has clearly rejected and will continue to reject. Fox hunting is not about farmers. It is not about rural life. It is, in our view, about cruelty and it is a pursuit that should be consigned to the bin of history and put out of its misery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I thank Deputy Coppinger for this really important Bill. It is very timely, so I thank her for her work on it. The Social Democrats will 100% support her in the Bill and her efforts to ban fox hunting.  I will be very clear. Fox hunting is wrong, fox hunting is cruel and fox hunting has no place in the Ireland of today. I was really disappointed to hear what the Minister, Deputy Heydon, said in his speech. I expect the arguments put forward by the Government to be more rational. There was an incredible amount of misinformation provided in the Minister's speech. To be honest, it is something I would have expected from the Independent Members whom I have been debating on this issue over recent weeks. I had thought Fine Gael would provide something with a bit more humanity, a bit more compassion and a bit more rationality. Let us go through the different arguments.  The Minister said that the fact that Deputies who support this Bill have never met anyone who has been on a hunt undermines our case. I do not need to go on a hunt to know it is cruel. I do not need to go to a bullfight to know it is cruel. I do not need to go to see badger-baiting or to attend a dogfight to know they are cruel. If something is cruel, it is cruel. There is a fundamental basis for animal welfare that we should be applying in this country. It is incredible that the Minister referred to that in his speech.  I will move to the matter of rural versus urban Ireland, and this is a matter that the Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, has put forward on numerous occasions. This is not a rural versus urban debate. This is a debate on animal welfare and what we consider to be acceptable in Ireland. Interestingly, since I have been talking about this, a huge number of people from rural Ireland have contacted me, as I am sure they have other Deputies, to express their outrage at fox hunting. They want it banned. A sheep farmer in Cashel said that many farming neighbours agree that the days of having large numbers of horses galloping through farmland in the wettest months of the year are long gone and that fox hunting as a means of curtailing the population is a fallacy.  A Wicklow constituent told me that a hunt passed through their local area and the hounds entered their garden. They split apart and savaged their beloved little dog, Isabelle, killing the dog on my correspondent's property.  Someone from a farming background in Cork told me that the notion that fox hunting is a method of controlling the fox population is ludicrous. They said that fox hunters do far more destruction to farming land and the countryside.  A zoologist in Wicklow, who is also from a farming background, said that hunting with hounds is one of the least effective methods of population control. Farmers have told me that their livestock have been traumatised.  Another man told me that he lives in rural west Cork and there are a couple of practical points that sway him totally against fox hunting. He said that no insurance company will give cover. He said that damage is done to farmers' land and property by fox hunting. He also mentioned the harm to horses, cattle and sheep that no one talks about, and attacks on domestic animals, such as household pets, which have happened. Hunts, in fact, tell you to lock up your pets.  I do not know who the Minister of State listens to when he purports to represent rural Ireland. Those are the voices from rural Ireland that I am hearing. They are the voices to which I will listen.  The argument about this being a good means of controlling foxes is crazy and ridiculous. It is the most inefficient means of controlling foxes. If you have a fox on your land that is causing problems to your livestock, there are alternative methods, such as shooting, that will be a lot more efficient than calling on packs of hounds and hunters to come through your land, through your ditches, wrecking your fences and crops and disturbing all the farm animals on your property. That is no argument whatsoever.  I accept that there are a small number of people who have done this over many years and that there could be an impact on their livelihoods. However, change happens and we have to move with the change. I ask those people to find an alternative to fox hunting. Drag hunting will provide the same job opportunities, the same tourism opportunities and the same opportunities for local hoteliers to get business. It is a controlled method that means you are not wrecking farmers' lands. You would only be going onto farmers' lands if they want you on it. There is no cruelty involved. I ask them to find an alternative to fox hunting.  The Minister said that people should not only be listening to the loud voices. The reason there are loud voices is that there are so many people in this country who do not want fox hunting. Rather than dismiss those loud voices, I ask the Minister of State to listen to them. He should be led by his constituents. His constituents have been on to me asking for this practice to be banned.  I thank Deputy Coppinger. I welcome the fact that Sinn F\u00e9in has finally been placed in a situation whereby it has had to declare its position on the issue. It is disappointing. The mask has slipped for Sinn F\u00e9in in this regard. I will pass to my colleagues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  It is profoundly wrong to chase a defenceless animal to exhaustion and have it ripped apart by dogs and call that a sport. It is a barbaric and cruel practice that has no place in a modern society. It is a throwback to empire. It is a loathsome practice. Those are not my words. They are the words of backbenchers from Sinn F\u00e9in, Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il. Those words ring true and matter. They should be reflected in votes. Tonight, in an act of indifference or cruelty, it appears those backbenchers will come into this Chamber and cast their votes against restricting fox hunting and for barbarism. It is truly galling to see three parties founded against colonialism supporting a colonial practice such as this.  Fox hunting is not just inhumane savagery. It is also one of the last cultural vestiges of that colonialism. Local gentry are cosplaying as British aristocrats in an imported tradition that no Celt, Gael or Brit now engages in. The attempts to justify it as a form of pest control are ludicrous. Imagine the ridicule if Michael O'Leary and Dermot Desmond were to don loincloths and spears and go hunting for deer in the Phoenix Park and then justify it as pest control. It is so outrageous that it would be laughable if it were not the argument of the three big parties today. It is just wrong. It is wrong, wrong, wrong.  The Social Democrats know what is wrong and what is right. The barbaric torture of animals is wrong. Upholding cruel colonial practices is wrong. Blood sports for the pleasure of the wealthy are wrong. Fox hunting is wrong and the parties and Deputies who vote against this Bill are wrong, too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I thank Deputy Coppinger for bringing forward this Bill to ban fox hunting. It might seem unlikely that a city TD such as me from Dublin South-Central would have any interest in what is constantly being said affects rural areas and communities. If you bear with me for a minute, I will explain my position.  When I was a child, I split my time between suburban Dublin, in Deputy Coppinger's constituency, and rural Cavan, where my granny and her people are from. My mother lived there for the last part of her life. I spent many weekends in Cavan with my grand-uncle, driving a tractor, going to fields, feeding cattle, helping on the farm and moving cattle from field to field. As a suburban young person, I also spent my weeks going to school, youth theatre, friends' houses and hanging out on the estate. In those two parts of life, rural and suburban, we loved our animals. That was true of people on both sides. It has nothing to do with where you live. It is about loving and respecting animals.  The Minister said earlier that foxes are not a protected species. That does not mean they can be treated the way they are treated in a fox hunt. They have feelings. They are animals. They have feelings and are, therefore, capable of feeling fear and dread caused by being chased by humans, horses and hounds.  Fox hunting is banned in the UK, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. It really is time that Ireland evolved and stopped this cruel and barbaric activity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  This issue once again exposes a growing divide in the country between those who live and work in rural Ireland and those who comment on it from a distance with little understanding of what life is actually like on the ground in rural Ireland. Foxes are a real and present danger to livestock and livelihoods and, increasingly, to public safety. Only last week, there were reports of a woman in Cavan being attacked by a fox. That is not something that rural families ever expected to hear. It is, however, a warning of what happens when the wildlife population is allowed to spiral out of control. Farmers see the consequences every year. Lambs are slaughtered during the lambing season. Hens are ripped limb from limb in a single night. Years of careful breeding are wiped out without warning. This is the reality of nature when it is not properly managed.  Rural Ireland is a managed landscape and always has been. Without management, it does not magically balance itself but deteriorates. We only have to look at the deer crisis to see the consequences. Animals are roaming the roads. Cars are destroyed and families are put at risk with no accountability. Do we really want the same situation with foxes? Do we want sick and starving animals wandering roadways and no longer fit to source food? Do we want them dying slow deaths that serve no one? City-based TDs, who know nothing about this reality, are attacking rural traditions and practices that exist precisely to keep the balance and protect both animals and people.  One of the loudest anti-rural voices is that of Deputy Coppinger, who claims to speak for communities.  What does it say about her commitment when she had no difficulty in objecting to a development of over 200 apartments in her own city? This type of objection is devastating to communities where people across the country are desperate for a roof over their heads. We are told she cares about communities, yet she denigrates the Common Agricultural Policy, a policy designed to keep farm families afloat, families who have worked the same land for decades, often centuries. She dismisses it as part of what she calls a global capitalist system of agriculture. That kind of ideological thinking has a long and dark history. Wherever it has been imposed on farming communities it has driven families off their land, stripped them of ownership and handed agriculture over to the state in so-called communal systems that resulted in starvation and the deaths of millions. That is the ideology of Deputy Coppinger. That is what this so-called Bill is based on, anti-farmer, anti-rural poisonous ideology that wants to punish those who work to own land and work that land for the betterment of themselves and their communities. Rural Ireland does not take lectures from extremists. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I watched everyone standing up here with notebooks in front of them when speaking. What they were saying was rhetorical stuff. It was the same stuff coming out of their mouths. There is no urban and rural divide here. I have people from an urban area who come out hunting in our area and they have done it for decades. I am from a farming background. I live in an area where there is cover behind me. The hunt comes through the back of our land every season. I have seen the devastation a fox has caused when a cow was calving outside in the field. I have seen what it has done to lambs. I have also seen what the hunt has done in curtailing foxes in an area. In our own place, we had two sets of hens. We always kept hens. They were actually savaged so now I do not have hens. People are saying the foxes are making their way into the city and they are. People are feeding foxes in the city. If that is what they want to do, that is what they want to do. If there is overpopulation and no hunting, that will mean we cannot defend against what a fox does to our animals. A woman in Cavan got six stitches during the week defending her chickens. We are not talking about all day, every day. There is a hunting season as there is a slurry season. There is a season for everything. People stood up here today and said they are not from a veterinary background. There are vets involved in this. The veterinary service is involved in this.  The Social Democrats last year tried to ban greyhound hunting. They were on the television saying it was desperate. They were out at the front of the House saying they had a greyhound but it was not a greyhound at all, it was a lurcher. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Healy-Rae)  A lurcher. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  They did not even know what a greyhound was. The same thing is happening here today. They do not understand the process that is happening here. They did not follow the science. They are talking about a minority of people, saying 2%. What percent of us look after us in terms of the Garda? If we look at a percentage, how many people in this country are medical people? They look after a population of millions. The Deputies are talking about percentages. They should get their facts right before they start discussing things they know nothing about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  On a point of order, I am just wondering when we are discussing this, can we just ask the Deputies to state whether they have any financial involvement in hunts or the provision of services for hunting? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I have none. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I have none. I have never been to one in my life. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  That is all I am asking. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  That is a scurrilous accusation to be making. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  It is hardly scurrilous to ask for transparency, Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  It is of course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  If that is what the Minister of State is worried about, I would be concerned about that. It is transparency and it is Members' responsibility in this Chamber to be clear about any financial benefit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  It is not her speaking time. Respect the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  It is just because you did not like what he said. He hurt you in what he said, that is all that is wrong with you, because he told the truth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Please take your seats. Minister, please take your seat "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  A disgrace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  He told the truth. The truth hurts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Please, Minister. Deputy Gogarty has two and a half minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  They are very objective over there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I ask the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach to give Deputy Fitzmaurice the extra time because of this. To be clear, foxes are wild animals. They can be dangerous. They carry leptospirosis. They have tapeworm and toxoplasmosis. They will bite humans if they are hungry. They will attack domestic animals like cats and dogs if they can get away with it. I even heard a story about one robbing a spice bag off someone recently in an urban area. They will kill lambs, especially weak lambs after birth. Foxes are hunters. They are predators. Members have heard the phrase \"sly as a fox.\" That is because they are clever animals. They are not domestic pets, although some people feed them in urban areas, as Deputy O'Donoghue said.  Having said all that, they are dumb animals but not as dumb as the animals that hunt them. There is no rational argument for killing a defenceless wild animal for pleasure. It is the worst form of abuse. It is not for anything else. It is to get off on watching those hounds tear the fox apart, nothing else. It is uncivilised. It is on par with genital mutilation and the way people used to get away with whacking their partners in domestic abuse cases. It is a tradition but one that is long past its time. As others have said, there are alternatives. We have the drag hunting, the clean boot hunting. You can get on your horse, have your rural pursuits, ride on the land, chase, have all your social interactions, dress up and have hunt balls. You can have everything except tearing the fox apart. I am not against culling the fox population if it is causing danger to people but this is not about culling the fox population, it is about having pleasure at the expense of an animal.  I am particularly disappointed there is no open vote on this with Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, and especially Sinn F\u00e9in. One of my constituency colleagues talked last week about his partner's beautiful whippet called Padm\u00e9 that brings so much joy to their lives, yet he told me also that he would not be opposing greyhound racing because that is a working man's sport and he said he would take the hit. Fox hunting could not be described as a working man's sport but Sinn F\u00e9in is still going to take the hit. Instead of tiocfaidh \u00e1r l\u00e1, it is tally-ho chaps, let us keep it going and keep the vestiges of the British Empire. Let us cop on, have a free vote and get rid of this barbaric practice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  I have no financial or other interest in hunting and do not even own a gun. I cannot be accused of being lopsided because of it. A lot of people would not even know what neosporosis is. A farmer in rural Ireland whose cows are aborting will know all about it. It comes from foxes where overpopulation happens. We come from a managed landscape. We saw a few years ago, from Kerry to Donegal, throughout the country, the problem of the overpopulation of deer. People driving on the roads had to dig into their own insurance or their own pockets because of the overpopulation of deer. There were herds of deer running around the country. We have to keep things controlled. For me, as someone who would not have a gun, if your sheep is lambing and you are out at night, it is not a great sight to see - the Deputies talked about all the things that happen the fox - the head of your lamb gone or most of your lamb eaten. For people who are genuinely interested in making sure there is a viable amount of everything in a managed landscape, do they want to see an old fox waddling along the road not able to even get enough food for itself? I see Senator Brady over there. He highlighted the person in Cavan who thought the fox was going to be a nice tame animal that would be their pet and had to get five stitches. Tell that to them.  In cities at the moment, people are feeding foxes. It is trying to tame a wild animal. It does not happen. You bring them three quarters of the way there and they will snarl back at you and catch you. You need to live in the rural areas to understand them. People ask why there is hunting, gun clubs or whatever. The farmer who is affected - when they go out in the morning and see the lamb or whatever gone - they have to contact someone. You do not just run up and see the fox running up the field.  It happened hours ago. What we need is for them to come at weekends to make sure that they find the problem in the area. Overpopulation is a major problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am glad to get the opportunity to talk on this very important matter. I will not be voting for a ban on fox hunting. For fear that people think that there is an urban-rural divide, there is no such thing down the country. Maybe there is somebody inside the Pale here who do not understand rural Ireland, but in rural Ireland we have towns that depend on the farming community, including sheep farmers and cattle farmers. When we saw everything else close down during the virus, the one thing that kept the country moving forward was the farming community. Different things have been hurting the farmers continuously over the years, including foxes. I recall my grandmother's time when she used to have a few turkeys for Christmas. It was her money when she would sell them. Some of her turkeys were taken from her one Christmas. That meant some of her income that she was depending on was not there for her because a fox took away two of her turkeys that she was feeding since July or August. This is happening continuously.  A good friend of mine, Andrew in Killarney, had 13 hens. He was seeing after them, minding them, feeding them and being very careful with them. He came home one evening and 12 of the hens were gone. That is the gospel truth. For Pat up the road, it is the same story. He had ducks. He makes a few pounds from ducks at the fairs and stuff like that. His ducks are constantly being taken out by the foxes. I had someone contact me the other day who had their two lovely cats taken by the fox. I do not mind whether it is considered a financial interest or not, but it is an interest. At one stage, my son Dan had 18 lambs taken this year in the spring by the foxes. Whether it is hunters, shooters or whoever takes out the fox, I appreciate them for that. Farmers appreciate them for that. I cannot understand why these people who are so concerned about the foxes are not concerned about the hens when they are tor alive. They are not concerned about the lambs when their heads are torn off, their legs are gone and they are riddled. They are poor defenceless little lambs. I do not know what reason people have got against those who never do any harm to anyone and only make a few pounds for the farmers who are struggling.  Their sheep payment has been reduced a small bit this year. We are hoping we will get back again next year. One of the things that the Deputy who is bringing forward this Bill said was that the farmers are all right because they get grants. They do not a grant to replace the money that the lamb would have made. That is the gospel truth. When the Ministers are answering the contributions, I want them to address that issue. They do not get a grant when the lamb is taken away, riddled, half eaten, or half left there. I want the Deputy to withdraw that remark. Deputies said the cause of the foxes doing harm was development. These same Deputies do not want the development of houses. They are objecting them. They are here by the way for the good of the people; they are not. It is very wrong to throw it around that way because that is not the truth. People need houses, but we need farmers. We have not got many people on the hill sides sheep farming because sadly that is not paying. Many farmers have cut down the number of ewes that they keep because they have not got the wherewithal to traverse these massive hills and valleys, look after them, dose them and all the cost that goes with that. They have cut numbers, but they need to have what they have and not have it taken by the fox.  It is wrong to be coming in here trying to hurt someone. My late father used to say, \"If you can't help someone, please don't hurt them.\" I take that with me every road that I go on. I do not ever intend to do that. I hope that I can make something better for someone every day when I get up and before I go to bed at night again. I certainly would not be trying to stop farmers killing foxes because we know what the foxes do. It is their psyche or whatever it is. They do not need the lambs they kill because they leave some of them behind and tear them asunder. I cannot understand why the Members who intend to bring in this Bill are so vehement about this and at the same time they have no concern for the poor lambs, hens or ducks that people work hard to rear. To see them taken in a flash, they come back they are gone and dead. Lately, there were two men who went down the fields because the fox was after taking some of the hens. When they were coming up, they met the fox again with another hen in his mouth. That is the truth.  We must vote against this. I am appealing to all the Deputies from around the country who depend on farmers for their votes. Now is the time to come out to stand with the farmers and vote against this Bill. It is not fair and it is not right. To those Members on the other side who are trying to bring this forward, if they cannot help someone, why are they trying to hurt them? It is wrong to do that to people. These poor farmers down the country, up the country and in the west of the country are depending on lambs and to a lesser extent people are depending on hens to have their own eggs. They like to do that. Why are we trying to hurt them by bringing in a Bill banning fox hunting? It is totally and absolutely wrong. They should be ashamed of themselves to be even thinking about it and talking about it, never mind bringing in a Bill here. It is a sad way our country has gone.  We have a lot of important issues to debate here. We should not have to debate this. Seeing as we have to debate it, we will debate it. We will vote against it tonight. I assure people out there that I will be voting against this fox hunting Bill introduced by Deputy Coppinger and whoever else is standing with her because it is not fair on rural Ireland. When I say rural Ireland, I mean the towns and villages because those people depend on the farmers as well for their income. They all get a bit out of it. If the lamb goes down the field in the fox's mouth or is torn alive and left for dead, no one will get anything out of them. This issue of a financial interest has been mentioned. It is as if we are betting on some stock exchange or something and that we were going to gain from it. It is such a ridiculous statement for Deputy Whitmore to make saying that we have a financial interest. We have an interest in the well-being of farmers around the country. We have an interest in the people who keep poultry, depend on them and put money into them. These things do fall out of the sky. It is very sad when if you go into a field and see the ewe going around the field looking for her lamb, baaing and upset. The Deputies have no interest in that. How is that? I cannot understand that or appreciate that. I appeal to the Ministers to ensure that the Government to a man and woman votes against this fox hunting Bill, as I will be doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Healy-Rae)  To make it very clear, the Government will 100% oppose this Bill as it is proposed.  I will call it out for what it is. It is extremely misleading. I would go so far as to say it is a con job. I will tell the House why. As currently drafted, the Bill proposes to ban all hunting for foxes, regardless of the purpose of that hunting and the manner in which it is carried out. That has been ignored today several times by several speakers. They have given the impression that this is about people up on horses----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  It is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  -----with red coats shouting \"Tally-ho\". That is rubbish. That is not what this Bill proposes to ban and the people who are saying otherwise obviously have not read it in its entirety. If farmers have lambs outside in a field and want to protect them, this Bill would make them criminals tomorrow if they shot foxes tonight. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It does not say that at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  That is exactly the legal opinion regarding what is proposed here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Put down an amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  I will make that very clear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Table an amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  I was not going to talk about Deputy Gogarty at all but, seeing as he is interrupting me, I will say that he completely misled everybody here. He obviously did not read the Bill because he does not know what he is talking about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Put down a Committee Stage amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  If he did, he would not have said what he said. A lot has been said about the 73% of people who say that they do not want this type of fox hunting to continue. There is an important statistic left out of that, which is that 98% of those people said they had never seen a hunt or foxes being killed. They never saw anything. All they are doing is listening to media reports about this. These 73% are talking about something that 98% of them know absolutely nothing about in the first instance.  I take issue with a comment Deputy Coppinger made earlier with regard to hill farming. She spoke as if she knew what she was talking about but unfortunately she obviously does not because she mentioned a word that Deputy Danny Healy-Rae mentioned a minute ago, that is, \"grants\". Is she living in the real world? She seems to be suggesting that, if a farmer goes into a field tomorrow and finds dead lambs - when I say dead, their throats will have been pulled apart by the Deputy's beautiful foxes and their limbs will have been torn asunder in the same way as hens will be - it is all right because the farmers will get a grant. That is rubbish. They will lose out financially. It is not just that. The Deputy said nothing about the torture the lambs, hens and geese go through. I heard it said earlier that we should compare dogs with foxes. This is wrong, dangerous and absolutely misleading. I was shocked to hear Deputy O'Gorman speak earlier but, then again, his lack of knowledge is exemplified by the Green Party when it comes to being out of touch with rural issues. This is not the first time he has showed a lack of knowledge about issues such as this.  I do not welcome this debate but I welcome the fact that we will be able to vote the Bill down tonight. It is part of a constant attack, whether it is on the greyhound industry, horse racing or fishing. The Deputies all seem to hate the term \"rural pursuits\" all of a sudden. Why do they hate it? It means so much to so many people. It is like shooting. Maybe the Deputies think it is wrong to shoot grey crows. Do they know what a grey crow does to a defenceless lamb? If it is in any way weak or sick, the grey crow will come down from the sky and pull out its two eyes. The Deputies do not want to hear that. They think the person who goes out to shoot grey crows is wrong. Along with others, they want to continue attacking rural Ireland. Let us take the deer for example. People are now realising that we have an overpopulation of deer in this country. We have to reduce the figure by 75%. This is management of rural Ireland. You cannot just leave everything go as it is. If the Deputies had their way, they would do away with live exports, pig farming and the whole idea of people rearing chickens and all of that. They are against any type of farming, including intensive dairy farming.  I heard Deputy Paul Murphy talking about this cruel and barbaric affair. He does not seem to care at all about what the foxes do and the cruelty they inflict on other animals. Members spoke about badgers earlier on. Do they realise that our senior Minister is engaged on the most important issue of protecting our herd from TB at the moment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The badgers have nothing to do with it. It is a waste of money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  The badgers are absolutely a leading contributor to the spread of TB. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  That is nonsense. There are loads of papers on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  Again, this is something the Deputy knows nothing about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Government is wasting our money----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  It is scientific fact. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  -----on killing badgers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel Grealish","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Noel Grealish  Silence. Listen to the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  It is a scientific fact but, of course, the other side do not want to hear that because they think the badgers are beautiful. Tell that to a farmer like the good friend of mine who yesterday saw 17 in-calf heifers having to leave his yard because they had contracted TB. Why? It was because of badgers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  That is absolute nonsense. It is not badgers. It is a waste of public money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  We have to eradicate badgers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Minister of State is going to sell them out on Mercosur. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  We have to eradicate our deer. We have to manage rural Ireland. I have heard people talking about colonial pursuits. Again, they are trying to give the public the message that this is only about people up on horses running after the poor fox. It is not. It is about the poor farmer who has to get up in the middle of the night to try to identify, follow, track and kill a fox because it is killing his or her lambs. That is what everybody over there wants to ignore. Some people's speeches have been extremely misleading.  I recognise that Deputy Cronin actually did read the Bill. Her speech was entirely her own opinion but at least she knew what she was talking about, unlike other Members who just seem to be taking the narrative put out there.  I reserve a very special word for Deputy Whitmore. I am sorry that, like a wasp, she came in, stung and ran but I will respond to her. On behalf of myself and Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, I will say one thing to her. This is the lady who is so anti-farming that, at a critical time when the Minister, Deputy Heydon, was doing everything he could to lead a campaign to maintain a nitrates derogation, she did everything she could to sabotage and undermine that. She spoke to the media and made a presentation to Commissioner Roswall in which she tried to completely undermine our hardworking farmers but she failed, just as she will fail tonight. The reason I reserve a special word for her, on behalf of myself and Deputy Danny Healy-Rae, is that she mentioned that she was contacted by some of our constituents. That same Deputy actually said on the record that she wonders who we represent. I will remind her of a small fact. Up to 30% of the electorate who went out to vote voted for a Healy-Rae. She can stick that in her pipe and smoke it. You cannot go against the electorate. They are the bosses. Could she say the same thing about herself, her political party or any of the Deputies over there? If they got 30% of the vote, they would be in orbit.  When I am on a roll, I will take them out one by one. I heard what Deputy Eoin Hayes said about the Brits. He was talking absolute rubbish, again because he did not read or understand the Bill and does not care about the farmers who want to protect their livestock.  Deputy Fitzmaurice mentioned something else in a very knowledgeable and sound way. He mentioned the diseases foxes spread. He said that cows can lose calves as the result of contracting diseases. He was right to raise that matter. I do not know if he was the only Member to raise it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  On a point of order, I raised it before him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  What has happened here over the past couple of weeks has been completely misleading. Again, what she is trying to do has been misportrayed. She is attacking rural Ireland. She is attacking our farming community. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Who is \"she\"? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  The people who are with her are misrepresenting what they are actually trying to do.  I am delighted that they will lose the vote tonight and the people who want to continue killing foxes will be entitled to do so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Thank you, Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  She will not take away their pursuit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  You are out of touch. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  That finishes the Government slot. I now ask the proposer of the Bill, Deputy Coppinger, to make her closing remarks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  We will leave aside the dripping misogyny that we have had to sit and listen to for the past few minutes from somebody who is sitting in the Department of agriculture talking about Deputy Whitmore and about myself. However, I will deal with the issues the Government and the other parties have raised. It is very clear that they are trying to make a culture war out of something that is very simple. It is about cruelty to the fox. None of the speakers who spoke against the Bill have even bothered to deal with whether or not they think it is cruel to the fox. All of the other extraneous issues have been talked about. I absolutely agree that rural life is in crisis. They may be surprised to think that. However, it is in crisis for a lot of reasons. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  You know nothing about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  How do you know what I know? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Deputy, no interruptions please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I actually do not live in a city. I live in a suburb. I spent my childhoods in the country. It is how I feel when the Deputy starts talking about women, women's rights and women's bodies. I just have to sit and listen to it. However, when I want to talk about rural areas, all of a sudden I do not have a right. Just cop on. We are here as national TDs for national issues. We can raise whatever we like. Rural life is in crisis because of the FDI economic model that this Government has encouraged from day one. I refer to centralisation. I do not agree with everything being centralised around Dublin or around Leinster. I do not agree with Dublin Airport's passenger cap being just lifted, for example. We should be decentralising. I do not agree with the lack of infrastructure and I do not agree with the housing crisis, which is making it very difficult for people to have homes----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  That is why you object to houses, is it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  -----in rural Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Minister, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I also do not agree with pubs, post offices and all of those things being lost in rural areas but those are the policies that are led by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael with whom the Minister of State is in government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  And that is why you are an objector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Minister, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I want to raise some of the alternatives to fox hunting because I did not get a chance to mention them. To be clear, drag hunting is something with which I have absolutely no issue. It allows people to go out on horses or with their dogs. They follow an artificial scent across agreed routes. Clean boot hunting is another one that is being done in the UK. What this Bill does not deal with is a number of things. It does not deal with shooting. Somebody can shoot a fox. The Bill does not mention it. When you are drafting a Bill, if something does not get mentioned, it means it is not in it. We heard issues from Sinn F\u00e9in and that it was its members' position at its Ard-Fheis, that they have had a debate. Gun clubs were mentioned continually. This is nothing to do with gun clubs; this is about fox hunting. It was also said that people do not go out with a cruel intent. It does not matter about their intent. If the end object is that a fox will be caught and killed in a prolonged way, it is cruel.  Drag hunting is an alternative Sinn F\u00e9in might argue for at its Ard-Fheis. I do not agree with this thin end of the wedge argument. We are dealing with one issue. We are dealing with fox hunting. Members vote on that and on that alone and they should leave the deliberate misrepresentation out of it.  Deputy Kenny said he has had a groundswell of support. The groundswell of support has come from people in favour of the Bill. Let us be clear about that. There has been massive social media support and from the number of people who have got behind this in the seven months since I raised this on First Stage. Deputy Cronin talked about her personal beliefs colliding with her party, about how she has to go in and vote for this because united Ireland is her priority and she is involved in a collective struggle. First, there was a suggestion that I am splitting the left by raising stuff. I am going to come in and raise issues to do with anyone who is oppressed or animals that are being brutally treated. I cannot wait around for Sinn F\u00e9in to change its policy; I am sorry. If I had waited for that, we would not have had repeal. I was bringing repeal Bills in here. Sinn F\u00e9in was sitting socially conservatively on issues. I cannot wait for it to catch up. That is not why I was elected. I was elected to push things forward, not sit and wait for the rest to catch up. The only people who are splitting the left is people who do not agree that animal rights is a priority issue for the left. People who are serious about a progressive left would want to question why they cannot convince their party conference to get rid of fox hunting. They really should be able to push how important that is.  Deputy Carthy talked about regulation. The problem is it is regulated and as we can see it is a free for all in reality because there is so much of it happening. I will finish that point by saying that TDs were mentioned because a number of TDs have told people when they were going to vote last year that they were against blood sports and fox hunting. People are absolutely entitled to contact those TDs and ask them to vote with us tonight. To say we are somehow targeting TDs, people should get a grip here. It included people in Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael but it just so happens that a lot of TDs in Sinn F\u00e9in gave people the impression that the party was against fox hunting and against blood sports. Sinn F\u00e9in did not have its Ard-Fheis in the autumn. I understand it had to postpone it. That was a good reason to allow a free vote tonight as the party did not have time to change its position. However, everybody who voted last year - most people, certainly - would have expected that Sinn F\u00e9in was in line with this Bill.  Regarding the hostility to rural life that is being talked about, there is a sell-out coming up on Mercosur and other EU issues. This Government is going to sell out the people it drums up in rural areas. To talk about fox hunting is a nice distraction for the Government, making it out that it is the big bad people from Dublin coming here taking all of their livelihoods away. I recognise that people do have livelihoods involved in this. I am absolutely open to discussion but I think there are alternatives. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  They can get a grant. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I explained about the grant. The Minister of State obviously misunderstood what I said. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  No, I understood----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  What I said----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  You do not understand your own Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  No interruptions please, Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  It is my time to speak now. I know the Minister of State finds that hard.  The other issue is why we are talking about this now. The reason is that I get Private Members' time one and half times a year. That is why we are talking about it now. It is not a plot to make anyone look bad. It was either now or some time later. The reason it was put forward now was that it became a big issue in the Presidential election and I really thought a number of people would have caught up. On the thing about a grant, we had a briefing here last week. People from rural areas were there. We had a number of people here, such as Frankie Ward who has produced booklets talking about how this can be integrated into farming life. He has done surveys among sheep farmers and has talked about ways to protect livestock. One of the issues I raised on the grant was in the context of allowing hill farmers, who may be more open, obviously, to their sheep being taken, to have grants to help protect their sheep. The Minister of State is in government now, so that would have been something he could have helped with.  There is a whole load of people who are going to come to the House tonight and press a button against this Bill. Some 80% of people are opposed to blood sports. Some 80% of people are opposed to fox hunting if you exclude the do-not-knows. It they are included, 73% were opposed to it in the last poll. They are from all around the country, rural and urban Ireland.  We have a problem in this House. Three of the big parties are going to come in here and vote the exact opposite of what most of the population wants. They can make up any excuse they like, that they are representing rural Ireland or whatever else but the reality is there. That was why I called for a free vote, to at least allow TDs, who have given the general public the impression that they will uphold what they said they stood for, to express that. This is not a rural-urban issue.  In conclusion, these are some of the comments from rural people who have contacted me. I mentioned Frankie Ward. Randal Plunkett is also here. I welcome the people who have attended - we have a packed Gallery - because we can see what an issue this is. Randal Plunkett, who runs the Dunsany nature reserve, has talked about the battle he has had getting these fox hunters to agree to keep off his land. They completely ignored him, he has gone to the police and nothing happens. That is the experience of loads of people throughout rural Ireland. I have testimony from a farmer in County Waterford as well about how they arrived unannounced on horseback or on foot.  There are complaints about the Comeragh harriers. I could go on but I only have 15 seconds left. There is similar testimony from rural Galway.  People in rural Ireland do not support fox hunting. The Minister of State has interests in tourism and maybe he is gaining financially from this, but there are very few people doing so in rural Ireland. There are other pursuits that could be encouraged to replace it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  That is fairly pathetic now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  We need to support what 80% of the population wants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  That is fairly pathetic but I would expect nothing better. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time this evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":55,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before calling Deputy McDonald, I welcome to the Gallery the following guests of Deputy Richard O'Donoghue: Marianne, Pat, Clare, Daniel and Jack Tierney from Mountrath, County Laois; Rachel and Ciara Coughlan from Cloyne, County Cork; and Mary Angela Downes and Brigid O'Sullivan from Knockaderry, County Limerick. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  As this is the last time I will take to my feet this year, I extend to everyone a very happy and peaceful Christmas. Nollaig shona daoibh go l\u00e9ir.  At the start of this year, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael formed the Government on the back of a grubby deal with Michael Lowry and his group of so-called Independents - a grubby deal that was all about keeping power, not about what is good for ordinary people. It was a deal that saw the Government appoint a record number of super-junior Ministers to Cabinet. Of course, the courts will have their say on that matter on Friday. Eleven months on, at the end of the year, we have a do-nothing Government. It is a Government whose first year has been defined by failure, scandal and broken promises. Its failure in housing persists, with devastating consequences for people desperate to put an affordable roof over their head. When it comes to passing legislation, the Government is at nothing. It has passed the fewest number of laws in the first year of any government this century. In 25 years, over six governments, this Government is the worst. It is a go-slow coalition that cannot even get the basics of governance done.  Then there is the cost of living. People are hammered with price increases and rip-off bills but the Government refuses to help. It refused to bring forward a cost-of-living package. It delivered a budget of \u20ac9.4 billion that, astonishingly, left working people worse off. It hiked up the price of petrol, diesel, home heating oil, road tolls and the local property tax. The Government allows big energy companies and large supermarket chains to price-gouge and fleece people. It does nothing to stop it. Worse than that, over the past week, we have seen the most mean-spirited, lousy approach in respect of blister packages, which is putting pressure on low-income people, including the elderly. Again, this was done without costing the Government a thought.  Then there is the Government's waste of public money. Millions of euro have been wasted on bike sheds, security huts and empty offices. There is also, of course, a raft of broken election promises, of which there are many. The Government promised to cut student fees but hiked them up. It promised action to get bills and prices down; they go up and up. It promised to give workers a break on their income tax but instead gave those tax breaks to developers, landlords and banks. As soon as the Government got back into power, its promises disappeared like snow off a ditch.  The most damning failure of this do-nothing Government is its failure of the children who are denied assessments of needs and school places, children living in poverty and children living with scoliosis and spina bifida. This will be Gillian and Stephen Morrison Sherratt's first Christmas without Harvey. The unimaginable pain of losing Harvey has been compounded by the fact he was deliberately removed from a waiting list by Children's Health Ireland. That was done without the knowledge or consent of Harvey's parents. Children with scoliosis and spina bifida were promised they would wait no longer than four months for their surgeries. Does the Taoiseach remember that promise? Harvey was just one of the children for whom that promise was broken time and again. Today, 233 children wait for their operations. Every day they wait, the Government fails them, just as it failed Harvey.  T\u00e1 faic d\u00e9anta ag an Rialtas. Le linn na ch\u00e9ad bhliana in oifig, bh\u00ed s\u00e9 gafa i scannal, teipeanna agus gealltanais bhriste. There we have it - the Taoiseach's do-nothing Government's year of failure laid bare. Those failures have big consequences for so many people. Does the Taoiseach accept his Government is the worst-performing government this century? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  N\u00ed aonta\u00edm in aon chor leis an Teachta. Before I start, I express my gratitude to the Ceann Comhairle and her team and all the staff in the Oireachtas who help us elected representatives to do our job, day in and day out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I refer to the clerks, security staff, cleaners, catering staff and all who quietly go about their business and create what is essentially the community that underpins our nation's democracy. I also thank all the TDs in the House. We may differ on matters - we do not agree on everything - but I believe we are all here for the right reason, which is to advance the interests of the people of this country. I wish everybody a well-earned break with their family and loved ones. I thank my own team and the officials in my Department and wish them a happy and peaceful Christmas. Nollaig shona agus athbhliain faoi mhaise daoibh go l\u00e9ir. I wish a happy Christmas to Deputy McDonald as well. I hope she has a very good rest and break.  In relation to the first year of the Government, I would take an opposite view to Deputy McDonald. I generally think she takes the soundbite approach as opposed to dealing with the issues of real substance. The Government came into office at a time of huge geopolitical turbulence, with tariffs, etc. We have navigated the tariff situation skilfully, effectively and with impact. We have reduced the threats to this country significantly as a result of our work within Europe and bilaterally with the US and by influencing the European approach to the discussions with America. That was a significant threat, if the Deputy recalls, at the beginning of the Government's term. We worked with industry, including the medical devices, pharmaceutical, biopharmaceutical and life sciences sectors, to make sure we were on the ball in terms of dealing with the core issues in a very difficult situation.  It was likewise in terms of the security situation facing Europe, with a war in Europe for the first time since the Second World War. We have navigated that. We have worked with principle in terms of dealing with those issues. We also took a principled stance in relation to the shocking genocide in Gaza.  Economically, we are heading to be the fastest growing among the world's most advanced economies this year. We will have 2.8 million people at work. That is 550,000 additional people at work in the Irish economy between 2020 and 2025. We have 2.825 million people at work. It is a record in the labour market. That creates its own challenges but it is a positive. I can remember other decades when people in this country could not get work. We should never take that for granted. I know the Deputy does take it for granted, dismisses it all and keeps coming up with ideas and proposals that would undermine the enterprise economy that is critical.  One of the core Government deliveries this year was infrastructure and proper investment in the productive capacity of our economy and society into the future. Investments in water infrastructure, the energy grid and housing have all been announced in the context of the national development plan. Big projects like MetroLink have been green-lighted and are on their way. The planning has come through. Projects like the Shannon eastern and midlands water plan are big projects. No doubt Deputy McDonald will come at us objecting to some of them but these are very big projects for the future of this country.  In research investment, we have the INSPIRE programme. I have never heard Deputy McDonald mention the word \"research\" in five or six years. She has never raised it with me, yet research is critical to the future of this country in terms of the jobs of the future, products of the future and ideas for the future.  That is what matters ultimately in terms of a measurement of a government, not the quantum of legislation passed. We passed 32 Bills in 2020. Why? Eleven of them were to do with the emergency arising from the pandemic. I do not accept the analysis Deputy McDonald has put forward. We have a lot of law and regulation in this country. Some would argue we have too much regulation, which has stopped us getting the roads, bridges and railways built.  Let us have balance and perspective here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As for judging any government, there is a whole range of issues and I will get back to some in the supplementary response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We are doing more for children now in terms of our investments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy McDonald. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy McDonald did not want us to do targeted measures for child poverty in the budget, but we did it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Taoiseach should please forgive me, as I did omit the issue of infrastructural failures from my list. I thank him for jogging my memory. In fact, the mythical metro of which he speaks has gone on for decades. It is a bit like the children's hospital. It is one of these things that is spoken of in hushed tones, billions are allocated and maybe one day we will wake up and it will be a reality, or maybe not - certainly not on the Taoiseach's watch. I would not have any great hope.  It is the Taoiseach who engages in spin and soundbites when he is called out about the reality of people's lives on the ground and the fact that people are struggling with their bills. He refuses to help. In fact, he takes action to make matters worse. The fact is that he has spectacularly failed our children, in particular those I have listed who are awaiting assessments of need, looking for school places or living with scoliosis and spina bifida. He has no answer to that because his is a government of failure, legislatively and----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank Deputy McDonald. I call on the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  ----- on a day-to-day basis in very practical ways, in making people's lives easier. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call on the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  In fact, it seems to me that his ambition is to make people's lives more difficult. How is that for a Christmas bonus for people? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is a bit silly. The bottom line is that we are prioritising children and we want to do that. It is accepted that there are issues facing children in this country, but we provided for a major 20% increase in investment in disability services. As the Deputy knows, we are now developing a new education therapy service, which will be transformative. It will start in special schools early in the new year. It will be expanded into all special schools in the school year beginning in September of next year. Then we will expand it into the mainstream classes. That will have multidisciplinary teams in schools for children with disabilities.  In parallel with that, we are investing in disability services. We are amending the assessment of need to make sure we prioritise the provision of therapists to children, as opposed to them being behind desks doing all sorts of assessments that are not the optimum use of their time. We need therapists to work with children on the ground. We have 400 new special classes this year, and we also have 300 new special school places sanctioned for the 2025-26 school year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  A total of \u20ac3 billion has now been invested in special education, and rightly so. It will continue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Lawlor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  Again last night there was traffic chaos across Dublin after the M50 was closed due to a fire near the bridge. This rippled across the city and the counties surrounding Dublin. For those relying on public transport, there is more and more evidence of a system falling apart or not functioning: ghost buses, cancelled trains, and a Luas that shuts down due to a storm. Commuters are tearing their hair out and the roll-back of remote working arrangements is putting more workers on the road from places like my constituency of Wexford.  My colleague, Deputy Wall, has raised the need for a new Operation Freeflow, a real right to remote work and better roads policing. Every TD in this House can recount to the Taoiseach problems with public transport in their constituencies but he has abandoned the 2:1 ratio of investment in much-needed buses, trains and trams. Those travelling to work in this House every day know the chaos that driving or commuting to Dublin now involves. With increased congestion, we are also seeing driver behaviour deteriorating. Those who follow the rules of the road can only sit and watch those reckless drivers breaking the rules, acting with impunity. It is a vicious cycle.  The road safety campaign group, PARC, has highlighted the decline in the number of motoring fines in recent years. This summer we saw the publication of the Crowe report on roads policing. That should have been a wake-up call on the need for stronger action. Sadly, the rise in dangerous driving and issues with roads policing is reflected in the rise in deaths on our roads. Already this year, 180 people have been killed on our roads, eight more than last year. In recent weeks, there has been a shocking number of horrific accidents. Each death is a tragedy for the families of those killed that will be deeply felt next week as they gather for the Christmas the Taoiseach has just spoken about. If current trends continue, the overall figure will surpass the 184 killed in 2023, which was the highest number in almost a decade. It is not clear what strategy the Government has to address this distressing increase. The official goal is to halve road deaths by 2030. Instead, Ireland is one of the few European countries where road deaths are increasing. The road safety strategy is failing.  We learn from The Journal today that the Government has abandoned the plan agreed last year to reform the Road Safety Authority by splitting it into two separate bodies \u2013 one that is responsible for road safety and another for operational activities like the NCT and driver testing. This was recommended following an independent external review of the Road Safety Authority. What is the Government's plan to reduce road deaths as we enter the most dangerous period of the year for road users? Why has the Government abandoned the plan to reform the Road Safety Authority? Will there be an increased level of roads policing and enforcement over the next two weeks? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy has identified a number of issues, ranging from public transport and the M50 to road safety. For me, the latter is the most significant issue. There is very significant traffic congestion on the M50. It is a vital piece of national infrastructure. Growth in our economy and in our population has added significantly to the traffic. Overall levels on the M50 have grown by 11% since 2019. There is huge investment going into public transport. I do not agree with the 2:1 ratio. It is too crude a mechanism. A lot depends on when a project comes to completion, as it draws down an awful lot more money than at the beginning. The 2:1 ratio is not a sensible framework on a year-to-year basis to judge investment in public transport versus investment in roads.  In regard to investment in roads, the Macroom bypass, for example, was huge for safety. It was better for safety, air pollution and the quality of life of the people living in all the towns \u2013 Macroom, Baile Bhuirne and others - along the way, yet people would say it is anti-climate or whatever to build a bypass like that. I have never accepted the ideological orthodoxy of some people on that side of the fence. At the same time, we need to invest hugely in public transport. That is what we are doing with BusConnects, MetroLink and DART+. We now have about 1 million public transport journeys a day. Last year alone we had over 343 million public transport journeys. That is increasing but we need more on that front.  Historically, the establishment of the Road Safety Authority was the most significant measure taken in respect of dealing substantially with road deaths. As I have previously done in the House, I pay a lot of tribute to the former Minister, Noel Dempsey, who really took on this issue with the late Gay Byrne. They transformed it. They were very unpopular in this House because they took measures that many parliamentarians opposed on drink driving and all sorts of penalties, but they did it and it is a lesson to everybody. Every now and again we need a bit of backbone in politics to do the right thing and get over the short-term opposition and knee-jerk reactions. Our roads did become much safer after that and we significantly reduced road deaths and injuries. We need to do the same now. There is a serious increase - not back to the levels of the 1970s or 1980s - that is causing untold trauma to families and young people. We have had some horrific accidents in recent times that horrify us in terms of the trauma that has been visited on so many parents and families. I favour the retention of the Road Safety Authority as the pre-eminent authority to deal with road safety. It will have the resources to do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach and call on Deputy Lawlor to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  I am glad to hear the Taoiseach's commitment to public transport. However, in the strategic rail review, the Rosslare to Waterford rail line has been abandoned yet again. There is no investment in the Rosslare Europort to Dublin line, despite the massive investment that is going to happen in Rosslare Europort. Despite the talk, there are known road safety blackspots in every constituency. In my constituency, the absolutely dreadful conditions of rural roads in particular are appalling. It is mainly due to the massive and continuing underfunding of Wexford County Council. Despite the fact that local authorities are doing their best, every TD could say the same about councils across the country. Who is responsible for identifying the structural failures on our roads and ensuring best practice is implemented? Budgets are committed to deliver safer roads and stakeholders are held accountable for failings. Overhauling the Road Safety Authority was the Government's chance to deliver an agency with the powers to make our roads safer, not just to spend on PR campaigns. What will the Government do now to reduce road deaths? What new action will the Taoiseach undertake? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will be very active over Christmas in particular. It is conducting a dedicated road traffic enforcement operation throughout the Christmas period, which began on Monday, 1 December and will continue until Monday, 5 January. The Deputy is correct. Investing in better and safer roads, continued enforcement of the law and increasing the allocation of garda\u00ed to front-line duties are all part of the measures that we are going to be taking on an ongoing basis. We are going to implement the road safety strategy 2021 to 2030. We are going to do everything possible through our enforcement. The Garda Commissioner is taking this very seriously. The Minister for justice has been speaking to the Garda Commissioner in respect of this. I accept the Deputy's fundamental point. Every road fatality that occurs on our roads is a profound tragedy for a family somewhere in our country. Collectively, if we are all agreed, I am willing to work with the Opposition in terms of any measures that people think are meritorious in terms of reducing accidents on our roads. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  On behalf of the Social Democrats, I thank all of the staff in the Houses and wish them all and Members a very happy Christmas.  The most shameful legacy of this Government is its failure to get to grips with homelessness. Every month, the homeless figures are announced and new records are set. There are now 16,766 people living in emergency accommodation - a staggering amount. Included in this figure are 5,274 children. That is 5,274 children who will spend Christmas in cramped hotel rooms or hubs, 5,274 children who will not get to sit down at their own kitchen table to eat Christmas dinner and 5,274 children whose parents are heartbroken. For many of these children, it will be their second or even third year spending Christmas in emergency accommodation. When Fianna F\u00e1il first entered Government with Fine Gael in 2020, there were 2,653 children living in emergency accommodation. Under the Taoiseach's watch, in just five years the number of children who are homeless has nearly doubled. That is this Government's record. Every month, that record gets worse and worse.  The damage this is doing to thousands of children is immense. One study found that homeless children were more likely to be bullied and twice as likely to require hospitalisation. One clinic treating children in emergency accommodation found that in nearly 30% of cases the child had developmental delays. Increasing numbers of children in emergency accommodation are also presenting with problems associated with malnutrition, including problems like rickets, anaemia, faltering growth, extreme tooth decay and skin conditions. It is even harder for children with additional needs who experience huge trauma from having to live in noisy and cramped conditions.  When the homeless crisis is discussed in this Chamber, the Government adopts the position of a kind of concerned commentator, as if it is helplessly watching this human tragedy unfold. The Government is not some kind of hapless bystander powerless to act. It has the full might of the State at its disposal, it just chooses not to do enough about it. It is the Government's housing policies that have put these children and their families in emergency accommodation and those same housing policies will ensure that more children and families join them. The figures speak for themselves - a 99% increase in homelessness in five years. The Taoiseach mentioned the need for backbone in politics at times. If this is not the time, when is? Will he introduce a temporary no-fault eviction ban to prevent more children ending up homeless over Christmas? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  From the Deputy's perspective, that is the short-term popular answer, is it not? All that would do would depress supply. The fundamental answer to homelessness is supply. The Deputy's party has never got that. All its proposals, in my view, would actually depress supply and reduce it. That is the fundamental difference between us. I am not going for the short-term popular thing, to ban this and all of that. It sounds great, but it would be damaging to getting more supply into the market. That is the bottom line. Homelessness is a huge issue facing the country. It is a complex issue, far more complex than the manner in which she has presented it. It is not all at the door of the Government. We had a good presentation at the housing Cabinet subcommittee meeting earlier this week, which illustrated the complex factors behind homelessness and different categories of people becoming homeless for different reasons, requiring a different response. It contained a whole range of issues outside of the control of some people which need attention.  I have to be careful in how I say this, but there are pressures coming from the increase in the population and migratory pressures do factor into the homeless issue. In Dublin, if you look at it, the figures are very clear. I will be talking to the Dublin regional executive about this and what we can do to help. That is why the issue is increasing. People coming out of direct provision, for example, and family reunification are creating challenges. It is the right thing to do. Our challenge is to provide housing solutions. Let us not pretend it is all just because of wanton neglect or that someone does not care.  Since this Government and the last Government came in, 50,000 social homes have been added to the social housing stock - over 50,500. That is way ahead of anything in three or four decades. You would have to go back to the 1970s to get as many social houses delivered by any Government. We are going to continue that in the new housing plan because social housing is key to dealing with the homeless issue. The level of investment is continuing to increase and will continue to increase to deal with that issue. The Minister, to be fair, is developing further approaches, particularly to child homelessness. He received in the budget a further \u20ac100 million additionally to focus exclusively on children and families with children to get them out of emergency accommodation as quickly as possible. In the last two to three years, the numbers that we are getting out in a more timely way out of emergency accommodation has increased. Obviously, the objective is to prevent people going into emergency accommodation, but once they are in there, we then must move to get people out as quickly as possible. We have said to the local authorities that they must prioritise families with children who are in emergency accommodation. You will begin to see the impacts from the initiatives that the Minister has taken, particularly because of the additional budget he has received. That is the way to try to address the issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  There was a time when homelessness reaching 10,000 people would have been considered a resigning matter for this Government - for any Government - and rightly so, but somehow this Government has succeeded in normalising it. That is extremely dangerous. There is nothing normal about it. A total of 16,766 people are homeless, including 5,274 children. These are not just figures; they are people who are suffering. The Taoiseach stands up week after week and blames the Opposition, the planning laws and EU red tape. The latest fall guy today is immigrants. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  We know that the biggest cause of families entering homelessness is eviction. We know that. It is clear that this Government does not even believe in itself when it comes to addressing the housing crisis, doubling down on failure with the same policies that we know do not work, dusting off old policy measures that have already demonstrably failed. Where is the emergency response? Where is the change in approach? Where is the acknowledgement that your approach does not work? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  They are great old slogans. Dusting down the old policies: it is all just rhetoric and jargon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  Reducing apartment standards is dusting off an old policy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry, Deputy, it is not a back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  It will not suffice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy has had her opportunity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy is saying we keep doing the same thing. We have built over 50,000 social homes, or delivered over 50,000. The new plan will deliver 72,000. That is substance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  Why is the Taoiseach not doing an emergency eviction ban? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Sorry, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is building houses. You are not leader yet, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  Stop changing the subject. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is real substance. We are building houses. We need to build more and build them as fast as we possibly can. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  Where is the emergency response to more than 5,000 homeless children? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is our approach. It is something I initiated back in 2020. We have resurrected social house building in this country through the local authorities and approved housing bodies. We have also leased and acquired housing for the social housing portfolio. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  At least acknowledge the Government's failure. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We need to develop affordable housing as well. We all know we need to get to 50,000 per annum overall in terms of house building and 60,000 if we can. That is the answer to it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  The Government can stop families from being homeless now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We are intervening and have been intervening all of the time. Local authorities are intervening all of the time----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  It is a disaster. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ----- and exiting families from emergency accommodation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  It has doubled in five years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  The N24 national primary road is a vital economic and social corridor across south Tipperary. It is also of strategic regional importance, running as it does from Limerick to south Tipperary and on to Kilkenny, Waterford and the port of Rosslare. An upgrade to motorway status is essential and urgent. Tipperary town, Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir are choked with traffic and are crying out for bypasses along this route. This road project is in two sections, consisting of a western section from Cahir to Limerick Junction-Oola and an eastern section from Cahir to Waterford.  My first meeting with the Ministers and officials on the Tipperary town bypass and the eastern route was over 20 years ago in the offices of Tipperary Urban District Council at Dan Breen House. Thankfully, this section has progressed, with design commencing eventually in 2019. Phase 3 of that development - final design and evaluation - is due for completion early next year. Tipperary County Council, the lead authority on this section, needs funding in 2026 to take this project to oral hearing and adjudication with a view to commencing construction in late 2027.  Unfortunately, the eastern section from Cahir from Waterford has not progressed. It is crucial for the two Tipperary towns of Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir. The Clonmel inner relief road, or the Frank Drohan Road as it is known, is effectively a car park for large parts of the day, forcing huge volumes of traffic to use an ad hoc southern route through the hugely built-up area of the old bridge. Carrick-on-Suir is choked with thousands of vehicles, including all HGVs and vans passing along the Clonmel Road and O'Mahony Avenue and on to the Waterford road, all of which are built-up areas. This project has been suspended twice and is currently stalled due to a lack of funding. The road is essential for road safety reasons as well. It represents about 1% of the road network but 24% of deaths. I ask that funding be continued for the N24 Cahir to Limerick Junction-Oola section in 2026 and that funding be provided in 2026 to resume the design of the N24 Cahir to Waterford project. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I know that a number of Deputies in his constituency, including Deputies Ryan O'Meara and Michael Murphy, have also been focused on this. This is a project we have been endeavouring to progress. I know the last Minister for Transport was probably not as enthusiastic about road construction as others, and the idea was possibly bypasses and so on. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien. The Deputy is correct in saying that better roads make for better road safety. That is certainly the case. There is a lot of congestion on that road. We will see what we can do. There is a huge investment programme. Only a number of weeks ago, the Minister announced a sectoral plan for transport under the national development plan. The list of projects is enormous, with huge investment. Obviously, those projects will be staggered and sequenced. The Deputy is asking for funding for the Cahir to Limerick Junction section to be continued in 2026. I would anticipate that that should not be a challenge. Has the Deputy heard to the contrary that it will not be continued? To be fair to the outgoing Minister, work on it was begun. I will go to the Minister and see whether we can see what the story is and whether we can accelerate it.  The Deputy also wants design to start with regard to the Cahir to Waterford section. Again, I will have to go back to the Minister to see where we are in terms of the prioritisation of this project. There is a whole range of projects. Construction inflation has eaten into some of the budgets and that has been a significant factor. Nonetheless, hugely increased allocations are going to road transport and public transport more generally. I would like to think that we should be in a position to spare funding for this road, which is a very important artery, to enable in particular the continuation of the work on the Cahir to Limerick Junction section. I will ask the Minister to come back to me about the Cahir to Waterford section. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  In fairness, the Minister has indicated that he hopes to be in a position to continue the funding for the Cahir to Limerick Junction-Oola section in 2026 but he was not able to give the same indication about the Cahir to Waterford section. Funding for the Cahir to Waterford section is crucial for economic, social and road safety reasons. This section is costing about three lives per year. The project has been suspended twice, costing the Exchequer about \u20ac10 million. There is significant public frustration with serious traffic congestion in Clonmel and Carrick-on-Suir, and 2,500 land holdings have been sterilised. We understand that motorways cannot be built overnight but we do need sufficient funds in 2026 for this stretch of the road to recommence design and, hopefully, commence construction by about 2030. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I again thank the Deputy for raising this important issue and confirming that the Minister is relatively positive and optimistic about the continuation of funding for the section from Cahir to Limerick Junction. The Deputy made an important point, which sometimes gets overlooked when it comes to road construction, about the road safety dimension. That is critical. My understanding is that Tipperary County Council is progressing the Cahir to Limerick Junction section in partnership with Limerick County Council. It is being managed by the mid-west national road design office. I understand the Minister has engaged with public representatives about the Cahir to Waterford section. I will talk to the Minister about that. I appreciate the reasons the Deputy raised this matter. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Willie O'Dea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","memberCode":"Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Willie O'Dea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","memberCode":"Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Willie O'Dea  I welcome the acceptance by the Government of the Minister for Health's proposals relating to hospital facilities in the mid-west. These proposals were based on the HIQA report, which stressed patient safety. It said patient safety was central to its proposals, which means time is of the essence in implementing these proposals. We are all concerned about patients. I pay tribute to the staff, who have worked with great dedication and courtesy in UHL in what continue to be very difficult and sometimes intolerable conditions.  It is now proposed that a new building be erected in the vicinity of the Dooradoyle site. Has a site been identified and acquired for that building? When the Minister was asked about this yesterday, she said she could not talk about it due to commercial considerations. Surely there are no commercial considerations in asking whether the site has been acquired, when it will be acquired and whether we will be told when it has been acquired.  It is also proposed that a project management board be established to drive this project forward, which is essential. It has been some time since the HIQA report was issued. Has that management structure been put in place and if not, when will it be put in place?  In view of the urgency of the situation and the fact the safety of patients is central to these recommendations, will the Taoiseach give the House an assurance that sufficient capital will be provided to enable this project to go ahead within the required timescale in view of the fact that the ESRI has projected that over the next 15 years, a further 600 model 4 hospital-type beds will needed in this region? This is almost double the current capacity of University Hospital Limerick.  As the services are centrally located in Limerick, there is a huge problem with the ambulance service because a very far-outlying area surrounds Limerick, from the west end of Clare up to the very top of Tipperary, etc. As a result of that, we are exposed every day to lurid tales of people waiting five or six hours, or longer, for ambulances. These are people who urgently need to get to hospital. Is it proposed to revamp the ambulance service in conjunction with these new recommendations so that people will not be waiting in those circumstances for any longer? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know he has been a long-time advocate for health services in the Limerick region, in particular in light of the huge challenges that have faced acute services in the mid-west. I join him in paying tribute to all the staff working in our hospitals in the mid-west under difficult circumstances.  The Government's decision to support the Minister's memo that was brought to Government this week in respect of the HIQA report and HIQA review into urgent and emergency care capacity in the mid-west region, which the previous Government asked for, will need additional capital. Additional capital will be provided, in the first instance to progress option A. What is interesting is we know that the impacts can be quite dramatic when we get additional capacity. The average number of people waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick has almost halved in the week since the new 96-bed block opened compared with the weeks prior. That 96-bed block that is now open has made a difference, so we want to do a second block at that scale. The sooner that can be done, the better. Enabling works are now under way for the second 96-bed block at UHL. Additional 16- and 66-bed blocks are also in planning for accelerated delivery at the hospital. That will increase capacity at UHL by a total of 306 beds since 2023.  On option B, the Minister has mandated the HSE to secure an available appropriate adjacent site. I do not have the information to hand as to whether it has that site at the moment, but it has the mandate to secure the site. The standard governance structure and the project board will have to be established, as required by the HSE, to explore additional opportunities to decant services away from the main Dooradoyle site. My understanding is the project board has not yet been established, but it will be imminently, once we get the other site. What is happening in other hospital locations is that decanting unnecessary services in an acute hospital environment - including patient records, or it could be outpatients - is working. I have seen it at the Rotunda and other hospitals, where it has had a really transformative impact and created huge space for the essence of what acute care should be all about.  To progress option C, the Minister and the Department will develop a strategic plan for the incremental reconfiguration of and investment in healthcare services in the mid-west region. I heard it said this morning, and I do not want to name people, that this is a very welcome development. I take the Deputy's point about timescale and capital. Subject to the revenues the economy is generating at the moment, we will have an expansive healthcare capital programme over the next number of years. I am confident we can accommodate substantive elements of this in the coming years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Willie O'Dea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","memberCode":"Willie-O'Dea.D.1982-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Willie O'Dea  Will the Taoiseach comment on the ambulance service in the area?  Two private hospitals were built in Limerick after the last 96-bed block was commissioned. They were built in two or two and a half years. It took six years, from start to finish, to build the 96-bed unit. It is projected it will take another six years to build the next one. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, has proposals to move on and expedite these large infrastructural projects. Does the Taoiseach envisage those will have an impact, such that that job will be done much more quickly and efficiently than has happened in the past? We wanted to know why two 96-bed units were not built together. We were told that would bring the budget to over \u20ac200 million, which would require going over a lot of other barriers and would delay the project. We are worried about that also and about how long this is all going to take. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  On the ambulances, we want to continue to improve and revamp our ambulance service. It is a national service. It causes a lot of challenges for the public and people generally in trying to understand the methodology or framework governing it. We will continue to engage with the National Ambulance Service, particularly in respect of its manifestation and how it works in the Limerick region.  The issue of critical infrastructure and the initiatives of the Minister, Deputy Chambers, will impact on this because the esprit de corps now is not why something can happen but, rather, why it should happen. There have been planning challenges on that site and, probably, there will remain planning challenges in people having different perspectives on it. The Deputy referenced what would be known as the public spending code, and that is being amended. Of course, on another day, people will come to the House and say we spent too much on this or that. All of that means others want to develop the public spending code. There is always a balance here in getting projects through and getting them done, and turning up at the public accounts committee afterwards to explain the additional expenditure, but that is the world we are in. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":58,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Two weeks ago, I asked the Taoiseach two questions. I asked him, first of all, whether the Government would vote against Mercosur when the vote comes to the European Council, and I asked him whether he would work with like-minded member states to form a blocking minority against this ruinous deal. He failed to answer either of those questions. I would now like him to make the Government's position clear because the vote is scheduled to take place in Brussels tomorrow. There is a chance of securing a blocking minority. France, Poland and Hungary have stated they will vote against the deal. Italy wants the vote postponed. I want the Taoiseach to be clear at this juncture because it is now time to be straight with people. Will the Government vote against the Mercosur deal at the European Council meeting - yes or no? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, there is huge uncertainty as to when that vote will be taken. It was meant to be taken last Friday and was not because, as the Deputy said, a number of countries were anxious that it be postponed. The Deputy referenced Italy and France. The Irish position has been that we have been working with like-minded countries in respect of Mercosur, in terms of----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  To block it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----first of all making sure there are substantial safeguards, which have happened. The situation has changed since last year. What the Commission has now brought forward is different. That has to be acknowledged. The European Parliament voted for the additional safeguards. We said we would continue to work with like-minded countries on this. We have concerns with this agreement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  To achieve what? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  To get the best outcome for Irish farming. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  To vote against it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No, we have 18 Deputies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I asked the Taoiseach whether he would vote for or against. He has not elucidated a clear response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  I wish the Ceann Comhairle, all her staff and everyone across the House a very happy Christmas.  There is a chronic shortage of pathologists to carry out post-mortem examinations in Ireland and pathologists are withdrawing from the post-mortem service as they are not contractually obliged to provide post-mortems. The Minister for justice will be aware of this due to an internal briefing paper. This Christmas in Limerick, unfortunately, we will have no pathology cover between 23 December and 29 December. Anybody who dies in that period where an autopsy is required will not be able to be buried until the autopsy is complete. This will cause unnecessary additional grief and upset for families. It could delay a funeral by up to ten or 12 days. When will the standing committee established in the Department of justice to examine this issue conclude its work? When will a new model for the service be agreed and implemented? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I acknowledge what the Deputy said. There is a challenge here. There is a shortage of pathologists all over Europe. It is a significant challenge. I know the Minister is doing everything possible to try to deal with the situation and the challenges that have arisen from this. He will continue to use every lever that can be used to ensure we can cover and provide the service that is required. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  Yesterday, the Taoiseach did not answer my party leader, Holly Cairns, on whether an emergency winter payment for people with disabilities would be provided. Instead, he said the Government wanted to embed permanent changes to payments, but it has not done that either. The Government has instead slashed the income of some of the most vulnerable people in this country by \u20ac1,400 before those permanent supports were ready.  It has also plunged more disabled people into poverty to face a grim Christmas. They are already the cohort with among the highest deprivation and poverty rates in the country and among the lowest employment rates in the developed world. It is not too late to admit this was wrong and to do something about it, so I will ask again. Will the Government introduce an emergency \u20ac400 winter payment for disabled people and commit to introducing a permanent cost-of-disability payment in the new year? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I did answer that question yesterday. There seems to be a standard line from the Deputy's party spokespeople that their first line is, \"You never answered the question I asked you.\" The bottom line, which I have been very clear about, is that the once-off payments we did during the Ukraine-Russia war----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  So, he is ruling it out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  It is not a back and forth, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Will the Deputy let me speak, please? It is not fiscally sustainable that we would have \u20ac3 billion to \u20ac4 billion every year in once-off payments across the board on needy situations. We are concentrating on embedded change in terms of domiciliary care going up by \u20ac20 per month, a 20% increase in disability services and the largest ever increase in the threshold governing the carer's allowance. That is real change that will last and sustain. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  This will be real change. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  On the cost of disability, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Dara Calleary, is working with organisations to do the due diligence and the hard work of formulating an approach for a cost of disability, which will inform next year's budget. I made all of that clear yesterday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  Children's disability network teams of health and social care professionals provide services to children and young people aged 18 with complex needs. These interdisciplinary teams include professionals like occupational therapists, psychologists, physiotherapists, speech and language therapists, dieticians and social workers. The objectives of the teams are to support a child's development, well-being and participation in family and community life on the basis of an individual family support plan. All of these are necessary and essential. However, the teams based in Clonmel are almost non-existent and the service is almost non-existent. There is no occupational therapist, no psychologist, no physiotherapist and no dietician on the team. These children are obviously being failed by the HSE and the Government. Can the Taoiseach give any indication as to when the vacancies on these teams will be filled and the service provided? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There has been a national recruitment campaign in respect of CDNTs. The vacancies have reduced significantly but there are still vacancies, and I acknowledge that. Parallel with that, we are developing the school therapy service, which will help in time when special schools in particular will have multidisciplinary teams as a result of that initiative. We have provided an additional \u20ac20 million this year in terms of people accessing private services and we have also continued to allocate for additional recruitment of therapists to the CDNTs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  Fox overpopulation devastates rural Ireland. Lambs and chickens are torn apart in a horrific fashion leaving farmers traumatised and livelihoods at risk. While the Bill frames hunting as cruel, unchecked fox population often inserts far greater cruelty to the livestock population. Hunting is often the only humane way to flush foxes from an area. If we ban this particular issue, it may push farmers into more difficult ways in terms of poisoning, snarls and so on. We need to protect farmers in rural Ireland, and I believe we should not support the Bill that will force farmers into other ways. There is a significant issue of overpopulation of foxes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  We have had a two-hour debate on the proposed Bill to ban fox hunting this morning. I have clearly outlined that the Government intends to oppose that Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aisling Dempsey  I have a really important question to ask the Taoiseach on behalf of all the parents, carers and children across Ireland, especially my two children at home in Meath, Liam and Hannah. We have had lots of special and important visitors to Ireland throughout 2025 but our most important one will arrive here on 24 December, Christmas Eve. I would like the Taoiseach's personal assurances that our airspace will be clear for Santa, Rudolph and all of his reindeer to allow them to deliver all the well-deserved presents for the boys and girls in County Meath and across Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I assure the Deputy that I have had consultations with the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien, and the Minister of State, Sean Canney, and Santa has complete clearance in Irish airspace on that critical timeline the Deputy has outlined. Liam and Hannah can rest assured that he will arrive on time and with an abundance of toys and so forth for the children of the nation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Well done, Deputy Dempsey. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  The vacant property grant was introduced quite some time ago but changes were made in September 2025 where a charge is now required to be registered by the local authority. As a result, there is now a huge number of people for whom the grant will not be paid before 31 December. In particular, I am talking about property in the Cork City Council area. A mortgage and deed of charge have to be submitted to the council, which has to lodge it for registration and a grant will not be paid out until a dealing number is issued. No process has been put in place to expedite the payment of the grant. We now have people who borrowed money to buy property and to have it renovated and brought into use and they are now not able to borrow any more money. As the grant has not been paid out, builders have not been paid and it is now causing a huge problem in the building industry and for the people who took the risk of buying the properties. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will talk to the Minister for housing in respect of that. I will also ask the city council if anything can be done about that specific issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The Taoiseach is familiar with Cork Educate Together Secondary School. It is a school, which should be in our constituency, but since 2018 it has been based in the building of Griffith College on the north side of the city. In that temporary location, it has no access to PE facilities. Its special education facilities are severely constrained and a lot of their 400 students have to get buses across the city. It has a hard deadline in terms of its current location of September 2027 and it has to be out of there by then. Planning was granted in May 2024 but still the tender has not been released. Will the Taoiseach give us an update as to when the tender will be released because the school is now working against a hard deadline, and it is hard to know what will happen at that stage? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I agree that this permanent school building for Cork Educate Together Secondary School is urgently required. It will be a new 600-pupil post-primary school building and accommodation, including classrooms for children with special educational needs at a greenfield site in Douglas in Cork. The project has planning permission, as the Deputy has said. The Department officials and external project management consultants are currently reviewing the works and site-specific requirements to ensure the tender documents are up to date. Once that is complete, it will then go to tender stage. I will speak to the Minister to make sure we can accelerate that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  The increase in capital funding for school building projects is absolutely vital and is reflected in the NDP. In Galway East and across the country it is also vital that we remember smaller secondary schools that play a crucial role in rural areas. I talk specifically about Col\u00e1iste an Chreag\u00e1in in Mountbellew. It has over 120 pupils and operates out of a historic structure. It is truly a fantastic place, and I will be visiting it this week. It has an application at the moment for an extension for two extra classrooms. I met with the GRETB, and this is a project it is keen to see progress. I ask that this Government will continue to support smaller secondary schools in rural locations that play a huge role for those hinterlands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Aonta\u00edm leis an Teachta. I agree with the Deputy. I am a former Minister for Education. There are always specific needs in rural Ireland for education, be it primary or second level schools. I am familiar with that college. I will talk to the Minister about it, particularly the additional classrooms. This gives choice. It helps in terms of commuting. Very often, even though there are sometimes limitations with a curriculum, if there is an ETB you can give resources through a variety of mechanisms, and the smaller schools can be a wonderful, successful and effective education and learning environment.  I will pursue that with the Minister on the Deputy's behalf. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  I heard the Taoiseach speaking earlier about the 180 precious lives lost on Irish roads so far this year. Motorcycle deaths are the highest in more than 20 years. As policymakers and legislators, we have to do more. I am currently working on an action plan and working closely with road victim advocacy groups. Over the next four years during the lifetime of this Government, 500 more lives will be lost. A key priority is the strengthening of our roads policing unit. Back in 2009, that unit stood close to 1,050. We have 1 million extra vehicles on Irish roads and that unit currently stands at 633.  I appeal to the Taoiseach to act decisively on this, to engage with the Minister for justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Garda Commissioner to strengthen our roads policing unit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Without question, we are numbed and shocked at the loss of life on our roads in recent weeks. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families and friends of those who have tragically passed, as well as with our first responders who do extraordinary work in very difficult and sad circumstances.  As I said earlier, the policing response is increasing, particularly with the throughput of garda\u00ed in Templemore, which is at its highest for quite some time. As garda\u00ed come through, there will be more added to that policing unit. However, the broader Garda force has also been tasked with road policing duties. It is a critical issue and the Garda Commissioner and garda\u00ed have a specific programme from 1 December to 5 January, in respect of the Christmas period, on road safety and road policing. It is a critical issue and we will be adding numbers as they come through Templemore. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  Fuel poverty is at crisis levels in the State. I see it first-hand in my own constituency in Fingal East, particularly among the elder generations who are having to choose between heating and eating. I met a woman in her 70s from Malahide the other day who has worked her entire life. She spends her days walking around shopping centres to try to get some heat. It is absolutely appalling. She has changed her diet and is living on instant Cup A Soups because she cannot afford to eat. When it comes to the choice on blister packs, she is not going to be able to afford that either.  The Taoiseach's Government patted itself on the back for having a surplus of \u20ac9 billion and that surplus has come at a terrible cost. People are literally freezing in their homes. The Government has to release the purse strings to give the disabled a once-off payment and give our elderly people the financial assistance they need to heat their homes properly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The surplus is because of corporation tax and other taxes, not because of any cutback here. We have actually increased the fuel allowance and the number of people entitled to receive the fuel allowance. It is now supporting about 417,000 households and will cost about \u20ac400 million, which is money well spent. In addition, the household benefits package for a lot of elderly people comprises, as the Deputy will know, the likes of the gas or electricity allowance, the free TV licence and so on. The retrofit programme has also been particularly impactful in terms of the number of households that have benefited from that. It is increasing significantly every year, which reduces energy costs. I acknowledge that there are challenges and pressures on people but we have focused and targeted our resources on the low-income groups, as opposed to having universal energy credits this time, which would have spread money to those on higher incomes. We wanted to focus on the elderly and those on low incomes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I wish to raise TB outbreaks in Kerry. We are being ravaged, especially in east Kerry. The issue many farmers are raising with me is an increase to the ceiling cap for compensation, which is limited to \u20ac3,000 at present. They fear for their financial future because they will not be able to buy back in cows for that, especially the number of high bred dairy cows and suckler cows that will cost much more to replace. Farmers are asking if something can be done to raise that ceiling. I am sorry the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, is gone but I know he was here all morning.  The other question is there are a number of people now----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy Healy Rae. It is only one question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  -----who come in who have not received their ACRES payment yet. I hope there will not be a repetition of what happened this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The spread of TB is a very serious issue. As the Deputy knows, the Minister recently announced a major initiative in respect of the bovine TB action plan addressing bovine TB in Ireland. There were five measures in that plan, underpinned by 30 actions on the specific issue of compensation and the rate increase. This has continued to increase every year. The cost of the TB programme in 2024 totalled \u20ac101 million, which was 34% up on 2023, and 2025 will be higher again. That is because of increased disease levels but it is an additional cost on the programme. I will talk to the Minister in respect of the specific issue of the ceiling cap for compensation but the bulk of resources have gone towards managing the disease and trying to resource the management of the disease. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I have been ringing alarm bells for several years in relation to coastal erosion in Portrane. Last week during Storm Bram, some families lost 5 m of garden in just a four-hour period. They simply cannot wait around any longer for the planning process, working groups or task forces. They are at risk of losing their homes and they need help. We are looking at potentially hundreds of families being homeless without a swift response from Government.  This D\u00e1il term, I contacted the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, who knows the issue well and Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Moran, who in the past has been a good friend to Portrane, but we have seen no action. Any permanent solution is a minimum of three years away. My colleague Councillor Corina Johnson and I are pleading with the Taoiseach to get the relevant Ministers around the table and up to Portrane and to please deliver emergency measures to protect the community. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising a critical and acute issue. The Minister of State, Deputy Moran, visited Portrane yesterday, so he is well aware of this. We will take any measures we can to help and I will talk to the Minister in respect of this. The Minister for Transport, Deputy OBrien, is also very concerned about this and is in consultations with the Minister of State.  Coastal erosion is a growing issue and I accept that adaptation needs greater focus. We asked prior to the NDP being developed that more generally adaptation in the country require very prompt and necessary comprehensive treatment into the future, and that includes coastal erosion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  The special leave with pay scheme for healthcare workers with long Covid is going to end in two weeks' time unless the Taoiseach intervenes. This scheme is in place for a small group of healthcare workers - the majority being women - many of whom got badly infected while at work at the height of the Covid pandemic, when the rest of us were at home and long before PPE and vaccines. These workers got very sick with long Covid as a result and many are physically unable to return to work. Today, the health committee I chaired agreed to write to the Minister for Health, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to ask her to extend the scheme for six months to allow the Department of Social Protection to introduce an occupational injury scheme, as other EU countries have done.  Will the Taoiseach support the committee's call or will he let these workers face a financial cliff edge on New Year's Eve, with huge consequences for them and their families, including the possibility of losing their homes? They need an intervention today and they need it from the Taoiseach to extend this scheme to give them financial certainty while this issue is resolved once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am familiar with the issue and have met with a number of the workers involved on the last occasion. The Labour Court made recommendations, and we extended it until Christmas. At some stage, some resolution of this has to happen on a sustainable basis. I will talk to the Minister for Health and other Ministers to see what is possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  A Kilkenny family adopted their son at three years of age and he is now 14. In that short time, he has been in nine different placements. He is high dependency and his behaviours are unmanageable. He has been taken back into the care of the State and Tusla have him in a hotel room where the appropriate care is not being given. I ask that some action be taken by Tusla to remedy this situation.  I raised another case - the Jones case - previously. There was no action on that and in spite of meeting the chief executive officer of Tusla, I have had absolutely no response. Foster carers and kids are in real difficulty. I understand that there could be 200 waiting for placements and nothing is happening. It just cannot go on. How can a child be put in a hotel?  Lastly, I asked that someone would arrange a meeting with Down Syndrome Kilkenny. That has not happened either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  That is two questions, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That was only last week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  I did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will make two comments. We met with Tusla officials recently at a Cabinet subcommittee. Tusla is dealing with an enormous number of cases at the moment and that continues to grow for a variety of factors. It is not fair to say that nothing is being done. Services are increasing but not at the level to match the increasing need and demand. What is worrying is the complexity of need in children who Tusla engage with. I do not have specifics of the case, so I will talk to Tusla in respect of it.  Regarding the meeting with Down Syndrome Kilkenny, I think it was last week that the Deputy asked for that. In fairness, it has been----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  Diary permitting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----very busy. We will organise it but my diary is actually full for the next two months----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  That is fine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----but I will find time. I said I would and that is it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Maxwell  I would like to ask about the rationale behind the decision on blister packs that were available through local pharmacies and whether the Taoiseach is aware of the significant impact this is having on patients in counties Cavan and Monaghan and around the country. They are used selectively for patients with dementia or cognitive impairment, intellectual disabilities, significant physical or dexterity impairment, multiple chronic conditions and polypharmacy. Blister packs are not a convenience; they are a vital safety measure that supports medication adherence, independence and reduces the risk of hospitalisations. Evidence consistently shows that the unintentional non-adherence, for example, a person forgetting their dose, etc., worsens the disease, increases hospital admissions, and leads to higher health care costs. Vulnerable groups, particularly older adults, people with dementia and those on multiple medicines are at the highest risk. Community pharmacists are uniquely placed to mitigate this risk. They will support targeted, assessed use, clear eligibility criteria, ongoing review of governance and alignment with patient safety guidelines. Will the Taoiseach outline what consultations took place? I know the decision has been deferred but will he commit to reviewing this decision as a matter of urgency to ensure that vulnerable patients are not put at risk? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Minister for Health has explained this. No formal decision was taken by Government or by the Minister in respect of blister packs. The Minister has made the point that there have been different practices in different pharmacies across the country. Some did not charge at all. It is my understanding that some charged very minor rates such as \u20ac5 or \u20ac10. However, others charged using another scheme, which, according to the HSE, was not allowable and should not have been used. The Minister is engaging with the various representative bodies to see what workable solution can be devised. It is not quite as it has been presented and the Minister has clarified that. We are conscious of the need and that some cohorts of patients are in greater need than others. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  I want to raise the issue of the neolithic passage tombs at Loughcrew, Oldcastle, County Meath. These have some of the most beautiful examples of neolithic art in Ireland but remain closed to the public. I have dealt with the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, and now the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, on this. We do not seem to be getting anywhere. Fair play to the Minister of State, Deputy Moran; he is babysitting today. Maybe he can get him a full-time job at that. I have written on three occasions to the Minister of State who has responsibility for the OPW urging prompt action to secure the necessary works at Cairn T. After no response, I submitted a parliamentary question seeking accountability and a clear timeline, yet the reply I received concerns what many already feared. Stabilisation works require ministerial consent and even then the reopening hinges on a future date that is not defined. The public will not be able to access the interior of Cairn T in 2026 and the definitive timeline remains up in the air, with the site having been closed to the public since 2018. That is coming up on eight years now. I ask the three Ministers of State who have come and gone since I first raised this to honour their responsibilities, act with urgency and give Cairn T the urgent care it deserves. We owe it to all who stood on the hill of Loughcrew over the past 5,500 years. I ask for nothing less than action and a clear plan to once again open one Meath's biggest and best attractions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Generally speaking, in terms of archaeological sites and national parks, we have put a lot of investment into Meath in recent years, and we will continue to do so. I note that the Deputy has been engaging with various Ministers and the OPW. The Minister of State, Deputy Moran, will engage and will get things done. I am confident that we can deal with the issues the Deputy has outlined. With projects of this kind there are challenges but we hear what he is saying and we will come back to him. I have confidence in the Minister of State's capacity to get things done. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  County Clare is the heartland of suckler beef, with 85% of farming in the county being suckler beef-based. I farm myself. We have Hereford, shorthorn and Dexter cattle. It does not sit well with farmers in Clare and other counties in the west that we could enter a Mercosur deal. The type of cattle we raise in the west are pasture-based for seven months or eight months of the year. Then they are housed indoors and fed silage. It a very environmentally friendly way. It goes from field to fork very quickly. The standards are so high, with genomics, Bord Bia and annual TB testing. The standard of beef from the animal, and the care of animal is so high. It does not sit well that we should have to meet these increased standards in terms of reducing our greenhouse gases, yet there could be a possibility of felling rainforest and bringing in an inferior animal from Brazil or other parts of South America as part of Mercosur. What will the Government be doing? We would like some reassurances.  Finally, I wish the Ceann Comhairle, the staff and Members of the House a very happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I agree with the Deputy about the quality of Irish beef and the quality of the Irish food production system. It is one of the highest in the world and certainly very high in the European league table. I understand fully and that is why we have concerns with certain issues in terms of the Mercosur countries and their food production systems, although there have been dramatic changes since Lula da Silva returned to power after Bolsonaro, with deforestation being halved. We have agreed to work with like-minded countries. Additional safeguards have been put in place compared to where it was a year ago, and no vote has been taken. It is very uncertain whether any will be taken this year. As we speak, about 200,000 tonnes are imported into Europe under existing arrangements. The change would be 99,000 tonnes of that 200,000 tonnes at a lower tariff entry rate. Meanwhile, Irish exports continue to increase across the board. In beef and dairy in particular, we are at record high levels. We are penetrating new markets as well and we will continue to work on that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.18 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.18 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.18 p.m. and resumed at 2.18 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/70","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/70\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":15},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I am delighted to be here to introduce the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill to this House. This is a short Bill with a single purpose. That purpose is to ban the sale of disposable electronic cigarettes or vapes. Like all public representatives, I regularly hear from parents, teachers and coaches who are concerned about the impact that vapes and nicotine use are having on children's health. The sight of discarded vapes littering our towns and villages is also a huge problem. Ireland has a long and proud history of tackling the public health issues caused by tobacco, dating back to our world-famous indoor smoking ban, and this Bill will continue that tradition. The Bill will remove these lower priced products from shops, which is important in making vapes less attractive and available to children. This measure will also address the environmental issues caused by the disposal of these products. The main health risk of vapes for our children is that the use of nicotine may become an addiction, which could lead to tobacco smoking and the many health harms that causes. For our young people, these products do nothing more than deliver nicotine, an addictive drug. In 2020 our Health Research Board found that adolescents who vape are more likely to smoke. Some 5% of our children smoke tobacco. Our goal is that that figure should be zero. This Bill is one of a whole suite of measures to address youth use of nicotine products.  The foundational law on these products is our 2016 regulations which implemented the EU tobacco products directive. Those regulations require e-cigarette packaging to contain health warnings. They also provide for mandatory safety and quality requirements for e-cigarettes and refill containers. The regulations oblige manufacturers or importers of these products to notify the Health Service Executive of all products they place on the market. They also prohibit the advertising of e-cigarettes on television, on radio, online and in print.  Today's Bill also builds on the work done in our 2023 law, the Public Health (Tobacco Products and Nicotine Inhaling Products) Act, and I commend my former colleague Stephen Donnelly on his work in this area. The 2023 Act banned the sale of vapes to under-18s and further restricted advertising rules. We want to limit our children's exposure to messages that normalise or glamorise vapes. Our 2023 Act also reduced the places where vapes can be bought, with their sale through self-service vending machines, as well as on temporary premises or at events which are aimed mainly at children, banned since September. We want to break the link between these products and events or activities our young people enjoy.  The new licensing system for the sale of vapes and tobacco products is designed to reflect the seriousness of these products and to help the enforcement of the law around them. It will do so by providing the national environmental health service of the HSE with up-to-date information on the businesses in operation. That requirement will come into effect for all retailers of these products in February next year. It will make Ireland one of the few countries in Europe to require an annual licence to sell these products. These are some of the measures already in place. The Minister for Health is also finalising comprehensive law on other aspects of nicotine-inhaling products and other tobacco products.  The public health (tobacco products and nicotine-inhaling products) (amendment) Bill is very nearly completed. On 18 November the Government added to it measures on newer products such as nicotine pouches. These measures should be finalised early next year and they will be in addition to the comprehensive measures on vapes already in that Bill. It is very important that products such as nicotine pouches are addressed by legislation now. We saw how quickly vapes increased in use among young people and we do not want the same thing to happen with other nicotine products, so it is important we address these newer products more quickly in the knowledge that they are always evolving so quickly.  That Bill will restrict the colours and imagery on the packaging of vapes and on the devices themselves to make them less attractive to our children. It will also ban devices resembling or functioning vapes as other products such as toys or games. This is to ensure that the Irish market does not see these products become multi-use devices with features that are aimed to attract our children. It will also restrict the flavours available and ban all flavour descriptors and language other than basic flavour names. This is to eliminate the marketing potential of the use of child-friendly flavour names. Finally, the Bill will ban the point-of-sale display and advertising of these products in everyday supermarkets and shops in order that our children are not exposed to these products in everyday life.  I think we can all understand how a child might be attracted to vapes, with their colourful appearance, attractive flavours and flavour names and the variety on display in our ordinary grocery shops and newsagents. The new law will ensure that the visible presence of these products is reduced and that it is made clear that these products are not the same as ordinary groceries. Some of the statistics on the use of vapes by children are stark. The 2022 Health Behaviour in School-aged Children study found that 19% of 12-to-17-year-old children have used a vape and 13% reported that they had used one in the past 30 days. These numbers are unacceptable, and one of my priorities as Minister of State with responsibility for public health is to take whatever action we can to bring those down to zero. It is important to note that these responses date from before the ban on their sale to minors, so that number is likely to fall, and I look forward to today's Bill reducing those numbers even further.  I will now take the House through the Bill to outline the content of each section. Part 1 relates to preliminary and general matters and contains sections 1 to 8. Section 1 provides for the Short Title of the Bill and for the commencement of its sections. Section 2 is the definition section and sets out the category of products that will be prohibited from sale under this Bill. It provides that a vape must be both refillable and rechargeable, or be otherwise designed and intended to be reused, to avoid the ban. Section 3 ensures that the Bill will not apply to medical devices, accessories for a medical device or medicinal products. Section 4 is a standard section providing for the residence of a body corporate or unincorporated persons. Section 5 provides power for the Minister for Health to make regulations as needed. It also provides that any regulations must be laid before both Houses of the Oireachtas. Section 6 is a standard section providing for the service of documents. Section 7 provides for a six-month transition period from the commencement of the prohibition. This gives our supermarkets, convenience stores, specialist shops and others that sell these products six months to make whatever business arrangements are necessary to comply with this prohibition. Section 8 is a standard section on expenses.  Part 2 relates to the prohibition on single-use vapes and its enforcement and contains sections 9 to 13. Section 9 sets out the prohibition on the retail sale of single-use vapes in the State. It provides that it is an offence for any person to contravene it. Section 10 provides for the appointment of authorised officers for ensuring compliance with this Act. The Act will be enforced by our national environmental health service, the body that enforces the rest of our tobacco control and related law.  Section 11 is a standard section that provides for the indemnification of authorised officers. Section 12 provides for the powers of our environmental health officers to ensure compliance with the Act. This includes powers to enter a premises if there are reasonable grounds to believe that vapes will be found there or documents or other records relating to vapes; to inspect such premises and take copies of documents or records; to remove and detain any vape, or component of a vape, or any documents or records, where the officer has reasonable cause to suspect that there has been a contravention of this Act; and to require any person to provide relevant information, including for the purposes of ascertaining the ownership of websites. Section 13 provides for a prohibition notice in the case of contravention of section 9. A prohibition notice can direct a person that the contravention should cease immediately, require a single-use vape to be withdrawn or recalled from the market, or require that a single-use vape be disposed of or destroyed. The Bill provides for an appeal against a prohibition notice to the District Court within seven days. It also provides that if a prohibition notice has been served, but the contravention continues, the national environmental health service can apply for a High Court order to prohibit that continuation.  Part 3 is on penalties and miscellaneous provisions. It covers sections 14 to 20, inclusive. Section 14 provides for penalties for first and subsequent offences under the Act. A person guilty of an offence under the Act is liable for a first offence to a fine of up to \u20ac4,000, or to imprisonment for a term of up to six months, or to both. For any subsequent offence a guilty person is liable to a fine of up to \u20ac5,000, or to imprisonment for a term of up to 12 months, or to both. Section 15 is a standard provision on defences for offences under the Act. Section 16 is a standard section that provides for the liability of officers of a corporate body in the case of an offence by that corporate body. Section 17 allows the national environmental health service of the HSE to bring proceedings for an offence under this Act. In addition, it provides that on conviction, the court can order the person convicted to pay the costs and expenses incurred in relation to the investigation, detection and prosecution of the offence. Section 18 provides that offences may be prosecuted up to 12 months after being committed. Section 19 provides for an offence of providing false or misleading information in purported compliance with this Act. Section 20 provides for a process of disclosure which includes protections against the sharing of information that is legally privileged.  It is important to say that this legislation is about prevention. By banning single-use vapes, we are taking further action to protect young people from nicotine addiction and to prevent a new generation from becoming dependent on these products. Single-use vapes are designed to be cheap, attractive and easy to use. They contribute to the normalisation of nicotine use and pose significant environmental and public health risks. This Bill prioritises the protection of children and young people from these harmful and addictive substances. I look forward to working with Deputies to progress this Bill through the Oireachtas. I know it is an issue that all public representatives are concerned about. I hope they will work with me on this issue. This is about protecting health and well-being, particularly for our children. I commend this Bill to this House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  The Bill proposes to ban single-use vapes and creates a framework to achieve this. The ban will be in effect within six months of the commencement of section 7 of the Act, as the Minister said. I support this Bill because it is simple in what it seeks to achieve, which is to ban single-use vapes. I will offer my opinion on, and a critique of, the Government's wider approach to this issue. I will first talk about single-use vapes. We are already seeing the industry attempting to get around these measures. We have seen that in Britain where vapes have become rechargeable, even though they are still single use. There are at all times attempts by industry to circumvent the Act. This is the problem. We have a Government that has never got ahead of this problem and has taken a piecemeal approach.  I was a member of the Oireachtas health committee when the original Bill on vaping came before it. We raised issues about single-use vapes, flavouring, advertising and other issues. No such measures were included in the Bill that was before us at the time. We were told that a parallel Bill was being worked on. Ever since, the legislation has not been satisfactory and we have seen the piecemeal approach. All the while, the industry is watching and trying to get ahead of the Government, which is not too difficult, given its piecemeal approach. We in the Oireachtas need to ensure we are setting regulations in a timely manner, are ahead of the industry and are not always falling behind and playing catch-up. I make that point because it is a reality from my perspective and needs to be said.  We must protect children and limit the impact that vaping has on them. I know, and everybody else in the House knows, that the industry is cleverly targeting coloured and flavoured vapes and packaging at children. This has been going on for far too long. Obviously, bans on advertising are part of the solution. We need to limit flavours. However, I think there is a rush in this House too often to ban everything and not to consider a more balanced approach. I have spoken to many vapers over the course of the past number of years, and particularly in recent months as Bills such as this have come before us. I know there are different opinions as to whether vaping is a step down from smoking and whether it is something that is a good aid to act as a replacement for smoking. I think that if somebody who was smoking long term switched to vaping, it would be a better option. I would obviously want a person to neither smoke nor use a vape. That is the ideal scenario. However, we must be grown up and accept that people smoke and use vapes. We must ensure that we take a balanced approach. I do not believe that banning every other flavour and moving to a tobacco-flavoured option is a balanced approach. It could create more problems. I know from talking to people who vape that they would see that approach as over the top and a typical reaction whereby we rush to ban everything rather than listening to people who vape.  My primary concern in relation to everything we do is protecting children and ensuring that by way of controlling sales, advertising, flavouring and packaging, we do everything possible to limit the ability of the industry to target children in the very obvious way it does. Any measures or Parts of a Bill that come before me and do that will have my full support and that of my party. I have, as I said, a concern about the lack of consistency from the Government and its lack of coherence. This is the third Bill, as I understand it, in the past three years. We are expecting at least one more Bill and possibly another. There is at least one more Bill coming. It is not the most coherent way to deal with a matter as substantial as this. I will be supporting this Bill because it is clear and simple in what it does. I would, however, caution the Government and the Minister of State by saying that we must watch out because the industry is already trying to get ahead of this. It is looking at laws such as this and finding ways around them. That is unacceptable. We must ensure that laws can be changed quickly if they need to be, by way of amendments, to ensure that we stay ahead of any attempt to circumvent the intent of this Bill and do not fall behind. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill from my perspective as Sinn F\u00e9in's spokesperson on education and youth. Sinn F\u00e9in supports a ban on single-use vapes. We have called for a ban for years. They are an environmental scourge and a public health concern. Their proliferation has been a testament to regulatory failure.  While we support this specific measure, we must criticise the Government's entire approach to this issue. The Bill in isolation is akin to using a plaster to treat a major wound. It is emblematic of a reactive, piecemeal and painfully slow strategy that is constantly years behind the curve.  My primary concern is the deliberate and cynical targeting of young people by this industry. All we have to do is to open our eyes and look at these products and how they are promoted.  We can see it clearly. This is a campaign of attraction aimed at children and teenagers. We are not talking about subtle marketing. We are talking about a full-spectrum assault on young senses. Vapes come in flavours that belong in a sweet shop like bubblegum, tutti-frutti, or ice cream sundae. They are packaged in lurid, neon colours with designs that would not look out of place on a gaming console or toy. They are small, sleek and discreet. This is not by accident, it is by design. It is the playbook of big tobacco repackaged for a new generation. They are creating a gateway, hooking young people on nicotine with a product that feels harmless, fashionable and sweet. It is working. Talk to any teacher, parent or youth worker and they will describe the alarming prevalence among young people. Young people who have never touched a cigarette are now addicted to nicotine, believing they are inhaling harmless water vapour, not a cocktail of chemicals whose long-term effects we are only beginning to understand.  This Bill bans one type of product, the single-use vape. What about the reusable vapes that come in those same child-friendly flavours and packages? What about the online advertising that still finds its way to young eyes? What about the retailers who, despite the law, continue to sell to minors? The Government's approach of addressing this issue one Bill at a time every year or so is failing our young people. We do not need another piecemeal intervention in 2026 and another in 2027 and so on. We need modern, comprehensive and dynamic legislation now. We need to fairly examine and then implement strict regulations on flavourings and packaging to break this direct marketing line to children. As Deputy Cullinane has said and as some have suggested, this does not mean restricting flavours to tobacco only. That would be excessive and counter-productive for adult smokers seeking a less harmful alternative. It does mean banning the clearly child-oriented flavours and garish toy-like packaging that serves no public health purpose.  Public policy must be balanced. It must ensure that vaping remains a route out of smoking for adults, not an attractive gateway in for non-smoking young people. It must protect our children from predatory commercial practices while supporting informed adult choice. This ban is a step but it is only a small step on a journey the Government is taking at a snail's pace. Our young people need us to run. They need a comprehensive strategy that tackles availability, marketing, flavours and packaging in one coherent, robust piece of legislation. We cannot allow another year to pass when a new generation is lured into nicotine addiction by flavours of bubblegum, rainbows, unicorns and whatever you are having yourself. Sinn F\u00e9in will support this Bill but we demand the Government follows it immediately with the comprehensive action our children deserve. Enough with this piecemeal approach. Let us protect our young people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  I am glad this Bill is being brought forward today and I welcome the ban on single-use vapes. Vapes are something that we really need to get a grip on. I also agree that unfortunately, the Government is playing catch-up. Selling to under-18s is still continuing. The HSE is not carrying out enough inspections, and convictions for the sale of vapes to children and young people are still extremely low. We only need to open our eyes as we walk around our constituencies and communities to see children and young people openly vaping on their way to school and home from school, and in places where young people hang around. It is deeply worrying. These products should not be in the hands of children. Investigations into vape shops reveal widespread non-compliance, with one Dublin probe finding illegal sales at 13 out of the 16 stores visited. The HSE found that 20% of retailers failed to meet age-restricted sales requirements, leading to thousands of vape seizures and closure orders against dozens of premises. Even the scale and number of shops where they are being sold pales into insignificance compared to the problem we are seeing with vapes. The Journal did an undercover survey and found illegal vapes that breach EU rules on warnings, nicotine and tank size were being sold at 80% of the places they went to. Those were not even within EU rules. It is just shocking. We have no idea what these people are ingesting.  There is evidence that vapes can have a real impact on reducing cigarette use and can help people to come off cigarettes. Of course that is really welcome. It is the way they are being marketed, produced, sold and targeted that is of real concern to anybody in the community. I know of people who have never smoked or touched a cigarette in their life and are now vaping to beat the band. It is just shocking that there is now this method, which is sold and marketed as described earlier, with all the different flavours and colours. It is marketed at people to get them hooked on nicotine, pure and simple. The only purpose of vapes is to get people hooked into nicotine. That is of real concern. I was just doing some research and noticed the chemicals that are in there such as formaldehyde, carcinogens, leading to lung scarring, heart disease, neurological issues and obviously addiction to nicotine. That is in the legal stuff. That is what we know in terms of the legal vapes. The illegal ones are absolutely frightening.  The last thing I will touch on is the environmental piece. It is addressed in the Bill which is really welcome. I am a volunteer with Clonsilla Tidy Towns and the Royal Canal clean-up. We have great groups in Blanchardstown and Castleknock that are helping to clean up the environment. Schools are constantly at it, making people aware of environmental impacts. The environmental impacts of what makes up the vapes are quite worrying. They are just thrown on the streets, in our parks, rivers and lakes. All of that is leaking into our environment.  I welcome the Bill. There has to be a far more comprehensive response to vapes. It needs to be quicker. This industry has positive elements in trying to help people come off cigarettes. We can separate that piece to ensure we can keep that in place and help those people. The studies show that it is more effective in helping people to reduce their cigarette use or come off cigarettes than some of the other nicotine replacement products. The downside of it is worse, however. We have to get the balance right. It is clear that those who are producing these vapes are definitely targeting young people. If we can get a grip on that, it would be a really important piece of work for our young people. We have taken major strides in stopping young people from smoking. We need to put the same effort, time and energy into ensuring that people do not just swap and that industry does not use this as an opportunity to say it recognises cigarettes are bad and dangerous. Most of society views cigarettes now as something that should be in the past. We cannot let vapes become something of the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  The Labour Party welcomes and supports this Bill to ban single-use vapes. We also want to make it clear that this is one small part of an overall jigsaw that is required in a public health and environmental response to vaping.  There has been an explosion in the number of people vaping over the past decade. There are figures reporting 7% of adults and 16% of 15- to 16-year-olds are currently vaping. The Lancet back in 2023 reported that in 2015, 10% of young people were vaping and now that is up to 30%. Any of us walking around our communities can see that with our eyes. Anybody involved in Tidy Towns can tell us what is happening on our streets. That requires a response. I accept the bona fides of vaping in terms of harm reduction and assisting people in smoking cessation. That is true for many adults, but there is also another reality and another clear picture out there that a new dependency has emerged. For us, this is one small piece of the overall public health response that needs to happen. We look forward to the Bill that will regulate advertising. The advertising for nicotine inhaling products is probably an even bigger issue. We also need to make sure that we future-proof the legislation. It might be vapes of a particular type today. We spent a lot of time during the summer talking about HSC vapes. We are now talking about the legal vapes. There will be another product into the future. The reality for us at the moment is that the nicotine industry, because that is who is driving the sale and growth of vapes, are creating a new generation of dependants to effectively generate a profit.  There is emerging evidence from within medicine that there is a high level of correlation between vaping and sleep issues, anxiety, heart and lung damage and toxin exposure. We have heard from some school principals reporting increased irritability among secondary school students. We are still very much in the infancy of vaping. It is going to be a while before we will see the long-term impacts. The critical thing is that we are not waiting around like we did many decades ago with smoking to see what the long-term impacts are. The State needs to respond. Regarding the environmental reasoning behind this Bill, there is a clear environmental purpose to this Bill. A total of 31 million vapes were sold in Ireland last year. Yet just 1.1 million vapes were recycled. Thirty-one million vapes is one third of all electronic devices sold in Ireland. I was shocked when I saw those figures. The reality is that vapes are simply not being recycled. There are clear concerns about the level of awareness out there about how to dispose of the waste. Effectively, this is an electrical good. They are a significant source of litter containing both plastic and lithium-ion batteries. We cannot tolerate the throwing away into general waste of vapes.  There are significant issues here. There is the banning of the single-use vape, but also the compliance with the waste electrical and electronic equipment, WEEE, directive of vapes that can be used repeatedly. While there are those products out there, there are key concerns with regard to the price point of those products, which would bring into question the incentive of any individual to recycle or do something with the vape when they are priced at such a low point. Enforcement is going to be very important now with regards to the ban on the single-use vapes, but also in terms of the appropriate disposal of the multiuse vapes as well.  Regarding the health issue, nicotine is highly addictive and harmful. It has an impact on adolescent brain development. Yet, significant numbers of teenagers and young people are now vaping. As Deputy Donnelly eloquently said, there are people who never smoked who are now taking up vaping. That has to be a public health concern. We cannot have a new generation - another generation - effectively addicted to nicotine products with all the issues that go by that. There is a certain irony here that there has been longstanding target of Government, which was set back in 2013, to have smoking prevalence at a rate of 5% by this year. The figures are three or four times that at the moment, but we have a target for the reduction of smoking. We do not have anything with regards to vaping. We need to look at that.  Regarding single-use versus the multiuse vapes, the price point is something that we need to look at. We in the Labour Party urge the Minister of State to give serious consideration to minimum pricing, or indeed a taxation. Again, there will be people looking at this who want to give up smoking. They are looking for an alternative and want that help. I accept that they would feel aggrieved when they heard that message, but we have to look at who is taking up vaping who has never smoked a day in their life and wonder how we can tackle some of that as well. We asked a parliamentary question in September as to the Department of Health's initiatives regarding vaping cessation. There is a well-established smoking cessation programme, which is decently funded by the Department, in place now for many years. When we asked the question about somebody who presents who wants to give up vaping, we are told that the Department has no funding in place. That is a concern. This would not require a large amount of money. If we are serious about recognising the health impacts and that significant numbers of young people are taking up vaping, we need to have a vaping cessation programme that may or may not look like the smoking cessation programme. It certainly needs to be developed.  My final message is that we welcome this Bill. We will support the passage of this Bill, but we want to see an awful lot more coming from the Department of Health with regards to vaping. To be frank about it, the Department is hugely behind the curve. We worry about industry pressure on the Department given the very slow pace of bringing initiatives to the D\u00e1il and Seanad on vaping. The crystal clear thing has to be that we recognise that vaping is a significant issue now in our society both in health and environmental terms. The Government needs to get to grip with it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I certainly welcome this legislation. Vaping is both a public health and an environmental scourge. Many Tidy Towns groups are insisting that we get rid of these disposable vapes and the litter associated with them as quickly as possible. I want to focus on the public health elements of this legislation. Enforcement is critical and that we ensure when we introduce this legislation that we can enforce it. I hope there will be learnings from the experience in the United States where the US Food and Drug Administration has tried to address this issue, but instead has been dealt a blow because of a wave of unregulated products arriving in from China. I want to know that when the legislation is introduced that there will be significant levels of enforcement.  My concern around that relates to the continued sale of nicotine inhaling products to young people. I asked a parliamentary question last month about the number of inspections that are taking place and the number of test purchases where a nicotine inhaling product was sold to a child. In 2024, there were only 223 inspections of which 40 were where a product was sold to a child. So far to the end of October this year, of 224 inspections 51 were found to be selling to children. In other words, at present 20% of vape shops investigated - remember it is only the ones that have been investigated - are already flouting the law specifically regarding sale to children. There are not enough inspections taking place. I want to hear from the Minister of State about how we are going to ensure that this legislation and the previous legislation will be enforced. The industry is already fighting back on this.  It is organising a campaign and, quite frankly, it is spreading information. The industry representative bodies need to be held to account. They need to tell us why 20% of their members are continuing to sell these products to children.  From a World Health Organization report published in October of this year, we know that Ireland has the fifth highest rate of e-cigarette use among 85 countries. It was discovered that 11.2% of the population vaped last year. Quite frighteningly, it is now the case that, on average, children are nine times more likely to vape than adults. One of the concerns I have is that many schools and youth groups have come to me and talked about young people and children who have never smoked taking up vaping. As the Minister of State will know, I raised this in the Seanad before coming in here. I really worry that this issue is not being taken sufficiently seriously.  I ask the Minister of State to consider taking amendments on Committee Stage with regard to banning flavourings and colours and restricting advertising. We have been talking about introducing this legislation for far too long. This Bill is before the House. I ask the Department to bring forward the necessary amendments on Committee Stage. I am quite certain they would get cross-party support. I cannot stress enough how serious this issue is. It is a real public health emergency. If you talk to anybody engaged in health in this space, they will tell you they want this action taken quickly and they want enforcement. I know the Minister of State is quite determined when she gets her teeth into something. I ask her to take on board the proposal for amendments on Committee Stage and to respond as to how this legislation will be enforced. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I welcome this Bill. It is necessary and it is very important that we, as the Legislature, address the environmental impacts of disposable vapes. They are everywhere. Everybody knows that. They see them, particularly in town centres. They are even seen next to bins. They somehow do not seem to find their way into the bins but are littered around them. Those horrible stickers are put onto the bins as well.  I welcome any move to ban disposable vapes. That is a good thing. However, I also think this Bill misses the point. When we are legislating in relation to vapes, why are we not legislating to deal with the fact that nicotine is being distributed widely? It is a corrosive, addictive and carcinogenic product and we are not doing anything to stop it from being distributed. That is the real missed opportunity. We should be changing the word \"tobacco\" to \"nicotine\" in the Public Health (Tobacco) Acts because any product that promotes or delivers nicotine is bad for the population. The same controls that apply to cigarettes should apply to vapes at the very minimum. Not only is this a huge growth industry, as evidenced by the proliferation of shops throughout our towns and villages around the country, but people are now starting vaping without using cigarettes first and we do not know what harm it is doing to them. As other contributors have mentioned, what is worse than that is the number of children who are vaping. Notwithstanding laws that might be in place, we know that lots and lots of children are doing this and that flavoured vapes are specifically targeted at those children. This Bill does nothing to address that either.  While I welcome the Bill, there is a real missed opportunity to address the actual public health issues that arise from the proliferation of vapes in Ireland. An opportunity has also been missed in not addressing nicotine and the targeting of these products. I do not doubt that the industry would deny children are being targeted, but that is what the flavours are for. Adults may indulge in them, but they are primarily aimed at children.  I will make some other comments about the Bill. In section 9, it creates a criminal offence of selling these products. What astonishes me about that is that nothing appears to have been learned from the many years of application of the Finance Acts in relation to, for example, the sale of tobacco products that have not had tax paid on them and do not have the tax stamp on them. The terminology used in the Finance Acts refers to selling or keeping for sale. The danger with section 9(1) is that it makes an offence of selling these products. It should be an offence to sell them, to keep them for sale or to plan to sell them, where there is evidence to support that. Why allow an out for potential defendants where they are not caught in the act of selling even though they might have a back room full of these products? That does not mean they should not be liable to prosecution under section 9.  Section 17 provides for the HSE to be able to recoup its expenses. This is something I associate much more with regulatory offences. That provision should not be there. There are provisions relating to category A and B fines built into the penalties provisions of the Bill. If the Minister of State feels greater powers are needed, the fines courts may impose should be increased. The recouping of expenses by the prosecutor, which would be the HSE in this case, is more common in regulatory or civil offences than in criminal offences. This is a criminal offence. It should be recognised as such and prosecuted as such, with appropriate penalties, fines and custodial sentences, where appropriate. The recouping of expenses is cumbersome and blunt and does not reflect the ability of the offender to pay.  Section 18 proposes to change section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851 with regard to the statute of limitations on the prosecution of offences. This is now six months but the Bill would extend that to 12. Will the Minister of State give us a justification for that provision? Surely six months is plenty of time for the HSE or any other prosecutorial authority to get its act together and bring a prosecution. It is a summary matter. Let us not make it more punitive than it needs to be or allow the authorities not to have to get their act together. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill this afternoon. It is really important. There is not a shop you can go to in the country where you will not see bins outside the door littered with these awful looking disposable vapes. There is also some kind of trend to stick the stickers peeled off the top of these disposable vapes all over the bin. They just seem to be everywhere. I will get to the health hazards in a moment but, from an environmental point of view, these horrible little glowing neon plastic modules are flung around everywhere. It is worrying that, in recent years, we have seen the rate of vaping among young people increase at the same time that the rate of smoking nicotine products seems to be decreasing. I was on the previous Committee on Health, which looked at this matter, and I believe the increase is down to the way these products are packaged and sold. They are seen as quite trendy. Young people are encouraged to take up these products. I would be very supportive of anything that curtails their use.  The public health Act of 2023 brought in licensing fees for the sale of tobacco and nicotine products. Before that legislation was passed, there was a registration fee of \u20ac50 per annum per retail premises regardless of how big or small the premises was. Now, there is a charge of \u20ac1,000 for the sale of tobacco products and \u20ac800 for the sale of nicotine products. The combined cost for a retailer is therefore \u20ac1,800 per annum. I have no issue with the cost. However, I have spoken to the Minister of State in the past and she will know I have an issue with the small retailer, a small shop in a village, paying the very same rate as Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes Stores, Tesco and so on. That is fundamentally wrong. There should be a far higher licensing fee for those huge retailers and a more minor charge for others. They are not at fault here. We need to home in on the companies that manufacture these vapes, sell them and market them to young people. I hope that can be looked at. The Minister of State and I have had several chats on the matter. I hope that, as this Bill and other legislation teed up in the Minister of State's Department progress, some amendment to the 2023 public health Act can be brought forward so that this punitive charge is not imposed on the small retailer and that a greater portion is paid by larger retailers.  I welcome to the Public Gallery students from Rice College in Ennis. These are the last few days of their school term before they wrap up for Christmas. They have come up to Leinster House and the D\u00e1il today. They are having a nice day out. I welcome all the boys and girls from third year in Rice College who are here today. They may have come in at the end of the debate. For the next while, we will be debating disposable vapes and how the Government can legislate to ensure fewer young people take up vaping. It is very harmful for your health. The Government feels that these disposable vapes - we all know the brand names - are plastic and are usually chucked away after being used. They are very hazardous to the environment as well as being hazardous to your health. I wish the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, all the staff and all Members of the House a very happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I join with Deputy Crowe in his welcome to our guests in the Public Gallery. I hope they enjoy their day here in Leinster House and the debate we are now having. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We have all seen the huge upsurge in the use of vapes. We have seen them normalised.  An awful lot of us would have probably been happy in the initial period. At this stage, we know an awful lot of people who have used vaping as a means of getting off cigarettes and that is the piece that needs to be protected. However, anybody who has walked around any town or city will have seen the place absolutely littered with single-use vapes and, as has been said previously, you do not have to put your head into the bins to see them. They are multicoloured. The attempt to sell them to a younger audience is absolutely huge and it is no shock that big tobacco is behind a huge amount of this. It needs to get a number of new clients hooked because that is the history of what it is has done. We need to protect against this. The idea of banning single-use vapes and finding a framework to do this is something we support, but it would be fair to say the way this issue of regulating vapes has been tackled by the Government has been slipshod. We have had numerous pieces of legislation and dealt with all these issues on a piecemeal basis. We should just get our act together on this.  We know the issues that exist around advertising as regard flavourings. I am not talking about an outright ban, with the only thing allowed being a tobacco flavouring, but we need to look at this. I do not think the Government deciding to jack up the taxation on vapes was particularly helpful. It has created an issue for those people I spoke about earlier who are using vapes as a means of staying off cigarettes. We can all see the benefits there from a health point of view. While it is far from perfect to be vaping, it is a lot better than to be engaging in smoking, as regards carbon monoxide and all the other poisons that are delivered by cigarettes.  If we were being serious about this, we would tackle the whole sphere. We would start with the issue that exists around this normalisation and the fact a huge number of kids and others have been impacted by HHC. We know the huge impact that has had on some and, unfortunately, as a gateway to other drugs beyond. We know the health implications in general in relation to regular vapes. I do not think there is any parent who has not done an inspection around their own house to make sure there is not a plentiful supply there, and I cannot say that has always been successful either. That is the world we are living in. We have to make it somewhat better from the point of view of these being not as readily available, particularly to children, to whom they should not be sold in any way, shape or form. We need to make sure we have sufficient leverage to deal with that. We need to make sure single-use vapes, which are an absolute disaster even from an environmental point of view, are dealt with, and we need to make sure we do everything from the point of view of looking after those who use vaping as a means of staying off cigarettes. We know a greater level of support is required for that but we need to make sure we do not allow big tobacco to sell to another cohort of people and get them addicted. It is particularly unacceptable that children would suffer as a result of this. Therefore, we have to put the supports in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  The Social Democrats welcome this long-overdue legislation to ban single-use vapes. However, I do have some outstanding concerns about the Government's plans. The first relates to the Minister's piecemeal approach to regulating vapes. We are still waiting for legislation on packaging, advertising, flavours and other products such as nicotine pouches. Second, I have real concerns about the strength of the legislation. From my reading of the Bill, it may be outdated before it even gets onto the Statute Book.  In October, the WHO published a report on global tobacco-use trends. Since 2000, the WHO found that the number of people using tobacco has dropped by 120 million, which is a 27% drop. However, vapes were found to be fuelling a new wave of nicotine addiction, particularly in Europe. Adult vape use in Europe was found to be 4.6%, more than double the global average. Most alarmingly, the WHO found that Ireland has an adult vaping rate of 11.2%, putting us fourth highest out of 85 countries. In response, the WHO general secretary said:  ... the tobacco industry is fighting back with new nicotine products, aggressively targeting young people. Governments must act faster and stronger in implementing proven tobacco control policies.  Among children and young people, vaping rates are even higher. The 2024 Healthy Ireland survey found that 17% of 15- to 24-year-olds reported using vapes either daily or occasionally. This compared with just 11% two years previously, in 2022. While a European school survey project for 15- and 16-year-olds in Ireland found that 32% had tried vapes, 16% were current users and 7% reported daily use. The most common age at which people started using a vape was 14.  These figures, while shocking, should not come as a surprise. Successive Ministers have allowed vaping rates to surge with their indecision. In failing to act decisively, the crisis has been allowed to escalate. It is not like vaping companies have been subtle about their tactics. They have continually blatantly advertised their products towards children. Flavours like cotton candy, cherry cola and bubblegum are readily available in every corner shop. They are displayed like pick-and-mix rather than highly addictive products.  Recently, I was at a good briefing organised by HSE south west for Oireachtas Members. One of the focuses was on vaping. They gave us results of a study of 700 young people from Cork city who had completed the study by the Cork children and young people's services committee on vaping. One in four of those young people in Cork said the biggest challenge facing young people was vaping. One in three said the worst thing about Cork was vaping - maybe a sign of how great Cork is - while one in ten would ban or reduce the availability vapes around Cork city. Therefore, even young people want action and want these vapes banned and restricted. The HSE briefing was also really alarming in terms of the effects around how addictive vapes are. They showed an increased risk of asthma, an increased risk of depression, risks around oral health, lower sperm count, headaches and dizziness. They were really concerning reports from the HSE about the impact on young people and also the views of young people themselves in my city of Cork about how they want this regulated.  A ban on single-use vapes is long overdue. Why the delay on the Bill on packaging, advertising and flavours as well? That is a crucial part of it. We know this is how they are marketing and how they are targeting these young people. Young people are saying they want action here. It has now been 15 months since the previous Minister for Health secured Government approval for that Bill. Since the current Minister for Health took office, it has been listed as a legislative priority but there is still now sign of it. Fifteen months on, it is still listed. We are still waiting. How much more time does the Minister need to get this done? Unlike the Bill before us, my understanding is that that second Bill will need to go through an EU notification process under the technical standards directive, further delaying that implementation. However, if it can be done more quickly, as Deputy Ward has suggested, by amending this Bill on Committee Stage, we will absolutely support that. This needs to happen and the delay has been far too long. These reforms need to happen together. It is a mistake to wait and delay because the crucial issue is how they are targeting young people with the flavours, colours and marketing.  The Minister is very concerned about productivity in the health services and she constantly refers at the health committee to productivity across the health service. Looking at her own legislative output this year, however, she should reflect on her own productivity, particularly when it comes to legislation. We are waiting too long for these Bills to come through, particularly the other Bill approved 15 months ago, on which we are still waiting.  We must also not lose sight of the fact that a considerable share of the vape market in Ireland and internationally is controlled by the tobacco industry. It recognised the trends and adapted quickly, recruiting a new generation of addicted customers to feed its profits. The companies behind Marlboro and P.J. Carroll both have vape lines, while Elf Bar and Lost Mary, the disposable vape brands that have captured the Irish market, are manufactured by ambiguous companies in China. According to the Irish Heart Foundation, reports show that the vape market in China is now overseen by that state's national tobacco corporation and the state's tobacco monopoly administration.  It does not stop at vapes, however. The tobacco industry is also behind the emerging market for nicotine pouches, which are being cynically marketed at young people.  Last August, the Irish Cancer Society highlighted that big tobacco was now front and centre at a string of festivals and concerts in Ireland heavily promoting its nicotine products and pouches. The main brands, Velo and Nordic Spirit, are owned by British American Tobacco and Japan Tobacco International, respectively. I am alarmed by the level of lobbying that has been going on, particularly by some of the vape retailers. Not long ago, one of those retailers - perhaps the leading one - was offering its customers \u20ac20 in phone credit for making submissions to the Government's consultation on vaping. It is really concerning that a company with vested interests would do that.  I fully accept that vapes have a place in the market as a smoking cessation tool. I support Deputy Sherlock's call that more be done in terms of provision of vaping cessation programmes. The move towards stricter regulation of the vaping market is not about penalising those who use vaping to stop smoking. It is about ensuring a whole new generation of people do not become addicted to nicotine. We simply can no longer bury our heads in the sand. A balance must be struck. A total of 31 million vapes were sold in Ireland last year. That should be setting off alarm bells. Aside from the obvious health implications, there are also environmental impacts from single-use vapes. Looking around any city, town or village, one will see vape packaging and stickers all around. Many vape users are not disposing of their devices properly. The only effective way to address this is to ban disposable vapes.  While I fully support the Bill's principles, I have concerns about the adequacy of its provisions. The vape manufacturers seem already to be ahead of the legislation. In most shops right now, if I were to ask for a Lost Mary disposable vape, I would be handed one that has a charging port and a removable pre-filled pod, as in the picture I have in my hand. This model is sold as a disposable vape and generally costs no more than \u20ac10. Even if it could be reused, there is little incentive to do so. The recent addition of these charging ports and removable pods was done purely as a pre-emptive measure to exploit a loophole. We must close that loophole in this Bill. Nobody is reusing these products; they are being treated as disposable. Even if somebody tried to buy a refill pod for them, it probably is not possible. I have not seen refill pods on sale alongside these vapes in any store. The charging port and removable pod are little more than props designed to circumvent the forthcoming ban. This needs to be addressed on Committee Stage.  The other issue of concern is the language used in the Bill's definition of single-use vapes. Section 2(1) defines them as follows:  \"single-use vape\" means a vape that is not designed or intended to be re-used and includes any vape that is\u2014  (a) not refillable, or  (b) not rechargeable  My concern is with the use of the word \"or\" instead of \"and\". Both the Department and the Oireachtas Library and Research Service use \"and\" in their briefing documents. The Bill digest states that \"a vape will only be considered reusable, and therefore legal to sell, if it is both rechargeable and refillable (not just one or the other)\". The use of \"or\" in the Bill is somewhat confusing and clarity is needed in this regard. A vape should only be considered reusable if it is genuinely both rechargeable and refillable. The wording in the Bill means a vape could be considered reusable if it has one of those features. This would be a major issues because there are large disposable vapes on the market that last for the equivalent of ten standard disposable vapes. While these large vapes can be recharged for a period and might last ten times longer than a standard disposable vape, they are not refillable.  For the legislation to be effective, enforcement is important. As we know, the existing laws are already being breached by some retailers. In 2024, the HSE carried out 249 vape-related inspections. Those checks found that 55 of the inspected retailers were selling vapes that breached the EU regulations. Last month, the HSE confirmed to the Irish Independent that 40 retailers in 2024 were found to be breaking the law by selling vapes to children. Following the passage of the legislation, the HSE's national environmental health service role will increase. Will the service's enforcement capacity and budget for authorised officers be expanded to ensure the ban can be enforced on a national basis? It is really important that it has the resources to enforce the ban. If we pass this law, we must resource the HSE to do effective enforcement. Is work under way to recruit to the additional posts that will be needed? I note that the Bill's regulatory impact assessment estimates funding of \u20ac3.1 million per year will be required.  My understanding is that the EU notification process can take up to six months. Has that process begun or can it not commence until the legislation is passed? I am conscious that the upcoming public health (tobacco products and nicotine inhaling products) (amendment) Bill will also require notification at EU level. Will the Minister of State outline the expected timelines for the introduction of both Bills in practice? Will the supplementary legislation and this Bill be commenced in tandem or separately?  The Social Democrats will support the Bill to progress to Committee Stage. However, there are gaps in it that need to be addressed. I sincerely hope the Minister of State will work constructively with us to strengthen the Bill. We have a shared aim in this matter. At the Working Group of Committee Cathaoirligh last week, the Taoiseach said the Government would engage with the Opposition on amendments and that he is always open to accepting amendments. That has not been my experience to date of the Department of Health, with none of the amendments put forward so far from the Opposition benches being accepted. I hope the Minister of State will take the message from the Taoiseach that amendments from the Opposition benches will be accepted. I will be proposing constructive amendments to improve the legislation, close the loopholes and ensure we have an effective ban in place. I really hope the Minister of State will work with me in good faith to ensure we have the best legislation possible. We all want to get this right, first and foremost to protect children. We are up against a tobacco industry that is not going down without a fight. It will exploit every single loophole. That is why we need to ensure the legislation is watertight. We need a Bill that will stand the test of time, not one that will be obsolete on arrival. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I welcome the Bill but it is too slow in what it proposes to implement. The tobacco industry is very quick at coming up with new and innovative ways of delivering nicotine to individuals, getting them addicted to its products and keeping its bottom line very healthy while everyone else suffers from those products. Rather than waiting years to deal with these issues, we need to be much more proactive.  While my colleague has spoken specifically about vapes, I will focus on nicotine pouches, which should be incorporated in the provisions of the Bill. As the Minister of State knows, these small pouches are placed between the gum and inner lip. They are very discreet, which is why a lot of students like them. They can use them during school time and can very easily hide them from their parents. They are being marketed really aggressively at students. They can be bought in any corner shop. They come in cool little packages with very funky designs and, similar to vapes, they are flavoured to appeal to schoolchildren. These products are incredibly strong, with a single pouch having up to 30 mg of nicotine. This compares with a single cigarette delivering 1 mg to 2 mg of nicotine into the smoker's system. One pouch could be as strong as an entire pack of cigarettes. There are students buying them and using them throughout the school day.  It is nearly two years exactly since I first raised this issue with the then Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly. He said at the time that pouches were not really an issue here and the matter was being looked at by the EU. Two years down the road, nothing has been done. There are no controls over the usage or sale of nicotine pouches. I am really concerned about the impact on young people in particular. The Minister of State mentioned during the summer that she was very keen to deal with these products. I really welcome that but I ask that it be done at speed. They have been available to students for two years now. We have a whole cohort of students who have become addicted to them over that two-year period.  We cannot afford to allow that to continue any longer. I recently had a 17-year-old tell me that they had not taken a nicotine pouch for eight days and they were so pleased with themselves. That is what we are talking about. This is something I have seen in schools in Wicklow, but I know it is an issue across the country. The principals association has repeatedly raised this as an issue. Principals have asked for guidance from the HSE to be sent to schools because they are sort of in a limbo land with this. I do not believe that guidance has been sent, but that is something very simple that should happen immediately to assist school communities deal with this scourge.  I also have major concerns about promotions by different companies. It is possible to get vapes for free by logging in online with these companies. They will send out a free sample. They can also be accessed free at concerts. These companies promote concerts. There is a lot of money going into promoting vapes because they know there is a huge market of young people that are willing to utilise their products, but those young people will pay a very high price for this. That is something we need to address urgently. I ask that the Minister deals with the issue in this Bill. It is not just a question of dealing with the age limit, because my understanding is that when she spoke about the Bill, it was primarily to ensure that tobacco pouches cannot be sold to under-18s, but similar to vapes, it is not just the question of age, it is the flavourings, accessibility and the designs on them. They are very attractive products to a young person. I ask that the Minister would examine all those issues. Pouches are very similar to vapes. As we are dealing with the vapes, I urge her to please deal with these other products.  Not only that, but will she please future-proof the legislation because, as we can see, the innovations from the tobacco industry are just being pumped out so we need to get ahead of all these things? Perhaps it could be done through a regulatory framework rather than it having to be done through legislation all the time. Any nicotine products should be able to be dealt with quickly by the Minister for Health if she deems it appropriate and if that is what the health recommendations are. I thank the Minister of State for considering that. I will follow it up. I would really like to see movement. In particular, it would be a good move if the Minister could get the guidelines out to schools. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I thank the Minister of State for coming to the Chamber to present this important legislation. I welcome this valuable Bill although, as I will speak to in a moment, the scope of it is far too narrow. I would like to put a few questions to the Minister of State on that and she might be able to address them in her wrap-up.  As a starting point, we cannot be in any doubt that when we consider the prevalence of vaping and the growth in its use, particularly among young people, greater regulation is needed from a public health perspective. To put it very simply, products containing nicotine are addictive and harmful. When we see such a huge uptake in vaping, it must be treated as a public health issue. It should not be viewed, as some might advocate, as somehow better because vapes do not contain the degree of potency of ordinary cigarettes. I am sure the Minister of State has often heard the Taoiseach describe vapes as the revenge of the tobacco industry. I fully agree with him on that particular point.  It looks like around 50 million vapes will be sold in Ireland this year with a value of about \u20ac400 million. The industry has grown from nothing in a very sudden and dramatic fashion. Almost all the disposable vapes that are consumed in Ireland come from China. Their sale is banned among teenagers in China, but they are exported here where they are freely consumed. Vape companies are making huge profits from making nicotine addicts. The products are clearly marketed at children. They have flavours like bubblegum, cotton candy and marshmallow. These are clearly designed to be attractive to children and young people, to get them consuming them and to put them at risk of addiction to these unhealthy but also costly products.  Almost every European country, including Ireland, has a form of basic regulation with respect to vapes and e-cigarettes, but the trend recently has been not only to tighten the level of restrictions and to tighten sales, but also to tighten the flavourings used in vapes. That is the case in Belgium, France and in Germany. The UK has gone even further and has introduced a ban on disposable vapes in their entirety.  While the public health element is foremost in our minds in this Bill and in the role of the Minister of State, public health is not the only issue in that there is an environmental impact as well, in particular when it comes to disposable vapes. When my former Green Party colleague Ossian Smyth was a Minister of State, he led the charge on that environmental point in the previous Government. He worked very closely with the former Minister for Health, Stephen Donnelly, to develop legislation that was comprehensive on the issue of vaping. That Bill sought to ban disposable vapes, limit vape flavours to tobacco, as other countries are now doing, and ban point-of-sale display and advertising of vape products in shops other than in vape shops. That was comprehensive legislation and Cabinet approval was sought and achieved for it in September 2024. Over a year later I am curious as to why it has taken so long for this legislation to appear, given there had been approval for the heads of the Bill and for it to come to the House for a Second Stage debate. Why has the Bill shrunk so dramatically in that time period? That is not really clear from what has been presented to us today. What is the reason for that delay and why are two Bills necessary to deal with the issues given that when the Cabinet gave approval to the measures in September last year they were very easily comprehended within a single Bill? The work was done back then. The heads of the Bill were ready to go. While I welcome this Bill, and will support it, how is it that the really valuable work on environmental health and public health measures that had already received Cabinet approval have been left on the long finger?  One or two others Deputies asked this question, which I ask the Minister of State to address in her conclusions. I refer to engagement with the EU on technical regulation information systems notifications. When a member state is looking to put a significant restriction on a product freely in circulation across member states, there has to be a notification process. Have the Government started the notification process or is it waiting for this Bill to pass before it does so? If the Minister is taking that approach, I urge her to reconsider and to start the recognition and regulation process now, because the earlier we start the better. If we do the two processes - the consideration of the Bill in this House and in the other House, and the engagement with the European authorities - at the same time, that will allow us to enjoy the important health and environmental benefits from this legislation at an earlier time.  On a broader point, in 2023 legislation was passed to prevent the sale of vapes to children and to only permit the sale of vapes through licensed retailers in the same way tobacco retailers are licensed. We all know that Bill is not being fully followed. It is clear that vapes are still being sold in unlicensed premises such as mobile phone shops, and they are being sold to children. I am curious as to why a retail licensing system under the 2023 legislation has not been set up yet. Why is it still possible that vapes are being sold to children? If legislation that has been on the books for more than two years is not being fully enforced, I wonder how the Minister of State can be confident that the valuable new rules that she is looking to bring through in this legislation will be enforced, which is a worry.  A number of Deputies have raised tobacco pouches and how they have become incredibly prevalent in terms of consumption, and how they are being advertised very widely in a wide range of social situations. The tobacco industry seems to have moved another step forward. It has almost gotten past vapes before the legislation has caught up. I urge the Minister of State and the Government to look at this point. We all recognise that we did not legislate in time for vapes.  Vapes were allowed to take hold. They were allowed be making the sales of 50 million units every year in Ireland. They were earning \u20ac400 million in income for their producers without a proper regulatory framework being put in place. We are only catching up on part of that right now in the Bill.  Let us not make that same mistake again. We have the opportunity. Tobacco pouches are about to become a major public health issue. Let us not wait like we did with vapes. Let us act quickly and bring forward legislation based on science. That requires the Department undertaking some serious research. The precautionary principle needs to apply here. We know for 40, 50 or 60 years that the tobacco industry lied about the impact of cigarettes. That is a proven statement. We know that it took us too long to understand the impact of vapes, particularly on young people. Let us not allow that delay to take place when it comes to tobacco pouches. Let us take a precautionary approach. Let us limit their sales at least away from those under 18. Adults, of course, can make choices of their own. When it comes to protecting children, we need to act now, not delay, adopt a precautionary principle approach and ensure that we can protect young people from any potential health risks and harms that come from tobacco pouches. When we even think of what they are composed of, we have to strongly suspect that there are going to be long-term health risks from them.  I thank the Minister of State for the opportunity to speak on this. I look forward to supporting this Bill, but it is important that she answers those questions about why the other important elements that Cabinet had previously given approval to - elements that would have improved environmental health and public health - have been left out. If they are not being included in this Bill, when will the Minister of State bring them forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. I have huge concerns about vaping and have had for quite some time, particularly about the issue of vaping companies targeting young people as part of their marketing strategy. This is very compelling marketing strategy and it has been a successful strategy. Vape companies are using beautiful scents and smells and so on and presenting vapes as fun, almost like a toy. If children went into a vape shop, I am sure they would think that they were some beautiful sweets or toys. They are presented like bubblegum, candy, fruit or cocktails. The colours are always so bright, colourful and so appealing to young people. It is not accidental; it is a deliberate strategy. It is therefore not surprising that the numbers of people who are vaping today have never actually smoked a cigarette. A total of 76% of young vapers have never smoked a cigarette. It is not a step-down option for people in many instances. Indeed, it is a gateway into smoking and harder drugs. In 2019, of those among 15-year-olds and 16-year-olds, just 9% of that cohort used vapes. Last year, that was 23%. It is a significant rise. It is time that this House brought in legislation to target this. The market is worth over \u20ac200 million a year.  I urge the Minister of State to ensure that we have legislation, that we bring in legislation that would limit vape flavours and that we would introduce a ban on point of sale advertising, similar to what was done with alcohol, in order that we try to protect young people in this regard. I also raised in this House a number of months ago the issue of HHC, a semi-synthetic cannabinoid, being sold in vape shops in vapes. I am glad the Government moved and prohibited this. It just shows the devastating impact that is happening to our young people. I know many young people across Mayo who bought HHC in a vape shop and suffered significantly as a result of this. We are behind the curve on this. We are behind other countries. It is time that we move to protect our young people. I would like to see a ban on the beautiful colours, the bubblegum and the smells. That marketing strategy must be counteracted. I am sure there are many people who smoke and are using vapes as a step down away from that. That is potentially a good thing and it can be positive. We must protect our young people and bring in legislation to prevent the sale and passing it out like sweets.  More research also needs to go into the chemicals and the substances in vapes. It is a new technology. There is not enough research on the long-term health implications. I ask the Minister of State to look into this and work with the HSE to ensure that we have the full information in relation to the chemicals in vape products. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I welcome the introduction of this Bill. I concur with colleagues. The willingness to accept amendments on Committee Stage will be most important. If that can be enabled, it would be a move in a strong and positive direction. This is something that parents, children, teenagers, teachers, Tidy Towns volunteers and public health professionals are strongly in favour of. I commend the Minister of State on the work that has been done to date. The devil will be in the detail. Nicotine, no matter what way it is dressed up, whether it is in a pouch, in a single-use or a continuous-product, is addictive. It is a gateway drug.  The most concerning aspect of the contents of these products is the additional items, namely, propylene glycol, formaldehyde, benzine, heavy metals such as lead, nickel and cadmium, and the ultrafine particles. This is where the devil is in the detail and where the respiratory and the carcinogenic effects are most prevalent and dangerous. I disagree completely with the points that have been made in relation to substitution and vaping being a substitute for smoking. We have nicotine replacement therapy minus these other chemicals. That is where the emphasis needs to be placed. In terms of supporting people stepping down and stepping away from these products, there will have to be a concurrent support for people to step over and to step up to the use of nicotine replacement therapy through the community pharmacy network.  I will speak particularly about Meath Comhairle na n\u00d3g, the young people's version of Meath County Council. It carried out a poster campaign and has had various surveys and a video campaign on the harm of drugs. It also included vaping in that. Young people are crying out for support. I flag the necessity for inspection of the youth support services in conjunction with nicotine replacement services that are going to be required to make sure that they are available at the same time or shortly after the banning of the product because young people are addicted to nicotine and withdrawal effects will have to be dealt with. There is a broader issue in the regard around mental health, advertising and the safeguards, which will all be best saved for in-depth discussion on Committee Stage.  Given the season and the prevalence of respiratory illnesses be they RSV or influenza----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Could the Deputy move the adjournment of the debate? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I so move. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Debate adjourned."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 3.51 p.m. until 3.55 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Fisheries: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":25,"speakerCount":24},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I appreciate the opportunity to address the House on what is an important matter. I thank the Deputies for seeking the opportunity for statements on fishing opportunities in 2026. I welcome the timely opportunity to discuss the concerns affecting the fisheries and seafood sector. I welcome the contributions of so many at the Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs and look forward to continued engagement today. I wish to reassure the D\u00e1il that as Minister of State with responsibility for fisheries and the marine, I recognise the importance of maintaining a vibrant fishing sector both for the communities that rely on it and the wider economy. Importantly, I also recognise that these same coastal communities are feeling dismay and despair at the outcome of the AGRIFISH Council negotiations in Brussels last week.  The despair is twofold. The first concerns the actualisation of the total allowable catch, TAC, being set at the headline ICES advice by the EU, particularly the resultant quotas for pelagic stocks, while the second concerns the fact that Ireland\u2019s invocation of the Hague preferences, which are a key element of our relative stability, was blocked by a group of larger member states led by France and Germany, involving the Netherlands and aided by Poland. The conclusions reached in Brussels are a culmination of bilateral and trilateral negotiations by the EU with third countries. This was followed by the internal EU matters of the Baltic, western Mediterranean and the EU main TAC and quota regulation, which covers stocks in the Atlantic, the North Sea and adjacent waters and includes the fish stocks of relevance to Ireland.  Most of the stocks covered by this regulation are shared with third countries - predominantly the UK and Norway. There are only two stocks for which Ireland has quota that are autonomous Union stocks. These are sole and plaice in a location referred to as 7bc, which is off Ireland's west coast. The TAC for these stocks have been set at 15 tonnes annually for 2024, 2025 and 2026 in line with ICES advice and, therefore, were not under consideration in this proposal, which came to a conclusion early last Saturday morning.  It is clear that the outcomes of this year\u2019s December AGRIFISH Council will result in severely reduced fishing opportunities for 2026. The scientific advice upon which the council\u2019s decisions were based reflects the impact of overfishing of the mackerel stock by certain third countries. The advised 70% reduction in the total allowable catch for mackerel is compounded by a 41% reduction in blue whiting, a 22% reduction in boarfish and further reductions in nephrops or Dublin Bay prawns as they are known. We were aware of these concerns for some time as were many in this House because we had a discussion here and at the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs about this impending scientific advice but it was effectively crystallised at the weekend and, therefore, has created significant shock in the communities that are most affected by and depend so much fishing in the first instance, the processing sector and all the supply chains that are very much part of the industry.  Ireland\u2019s fishing opportunities for 2026 amount to approximately over 120,000 tonnes with an estimated first-sale value of \u20ac205 million. This represents a decrease of one third - \u20ac100 million to \u20ac105 million - on the estimated value of the 2025 quota. These figures reflect quota outcomes for Ireland across the main pelagic, demersal and nephrops stocks for 2026. As a result, while the overall scale of opportunity remains substantial, the distribution of quota across key stocks presents ongoing challenges for fleet planning, processing throughput and coastal communities that are highly dependent on specific fisheries.  It is important that we do not focus our ire on the scientific advice here. The advice is merely reflecting years of overfishing by other countries and we, the EU and specifically Ireland are suffering the consequences. The question arises as to what we are going to do about it. Ireland has consistently called for action against those countries that over fish mackerel. Given that Ireland holds the largest share of EU quota for mackerel in the western waters area, the devastating impact of the decline in this stock will be acutely felt by both the catching and processing sectors.  On behalf of the Government, I have called for the EU to send a clear message that actions that threaten the sustainability of our shared stocks are not acceptable. At the recent AGRIFISH Council, the importance of a concerted EU response was discussed by ministers, including the option of triggering the unsustainable fishing regulation. This is something I have sought for some time and will continue to pursue. Even since the Council last week, we have seen questionable actions taken by other third countries in how we manage the mackerel stock in the north-east Atlantic. As recently as Monday evening, Norway, the UK, the Faroes and Iceland agreed, without the EU, on management arrangements for mackerel for 2026.  The ICES headline advice for 2026 is 174,357 tonnes, which would represent a 70% reduction in last year's activity. This is based on a 50% probability that the stock will recover to its biomass limit, Blim, in 2027. I will define Blim for the benefit of the record of the House. Spawning stock biomass is the weight of the sexually mature fish in a population. Blim means the level of spawning stock biomass below which recruitment, that is, reproduction, is impaired, or the stock dynamics are unknown. Despite this, however, the four parties - Norway, the UK, the Faroes and Iceland - have agreed that the 2026 TAC should be 299,000 tonnes. This is based on the alternative catch scenario given by ICES based on application of the maximum sustainable yield rule, ignoring that the stock is below Blim. The really important thing about Blim is that it is a term set that gives the best chance of the stock recovering. That is something we all want to see. We want to see conservation measures that ensure we have long-term viability for our coastal communities and fishing stocks. When you deviate from that, you risk the potential for ultimate elimination of a stock. We now have a challenge in how we address this based on what were our partners up to now have done. The higher catch is associated with a higher risk, as I said, that the stock will not recover to its Blim in 2027. It may ultimately deplete the stock, take much longer to try to save it and, therefore, impact for a much greater period.  The four-party agreement indicates that their combined share is 79.45%, which is equivalent to 238,000 tonnes, and 37% above the headline advice of 174,000 tonnes. The EU will now have to make a decision on whether it remains faithful to the ICES headline advice of 174,000 tonnes or takes its share of the higher figure of 299,000 tonnes. There are many issues to be carefully considered here. A higher TAC means more fish for our fleet but the one issue we need to be mindful of is that overfishing by some third countries has led to the collapse of the stock and a careful balance needs to be struck. This is Ireland\u2019s most important stock and we need to sustain it in the long run. The impact of the scientific advice and resulting reductions in available quota, combined with Ireland not receiving its Hague preference quotas, will have significant operational and economic feasibility impacts on the seafood sector. The 2026 quota outcomes reflect the continued balancing act between maintaining viable fishing opportunities and protecting fish stocks in line with scientific advice under the Common Fisheries Policy. For Ireland, this reinforces the importance of maximising value from available quota and maintaining high standards of quality and market positioning.  I will address the non-application of Ireland\u2019s Hague preferences in the TAC and quota regulation. The Hague preferences were created to account for Ireland\u2019s underdeveloped fleet and to counter the impact of access to Irish waters provided to vessels of other EU nations. These amounts of fish allocated to Ireland from other member states protected our fishing fleet from periods of severely depleted stocks. Deputies will be aware that, regrettably, a group of member states chose to block the invocation of Ireland\u2019s Hague preferences this year; I have outlined the countries concerned. I am extremely disappointed that these member states have chosen to block the protection of our fleet at our time of most need. I said at the Council I felt it was comparable to an act of betrayal by colleagues of the fundamental terms and conditions of an insurance policy that is being paid for in fish by Ireland since 1983. It is particularly upsetting that the charge has been led by those who benefited most from access to Irish waters every year since 1983.  I know, from discussions of the Council outcomes with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs yesterday, that Members will share the concerns I have outlined today, that they are equally appalled at the actions of those other member states and that they wish to know what actions will be taken. I acknowledge the support I have had from Irish seafood industry representatives over the past number of weeks. They have spoken as one and supported the approach I have taken in discussions and negotiations.  An intensive schedule of work has to be undertaken over the coming weeks. I intend to work with colleagues in addressing that. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, and I have made it very clear that we intend to establish a task force, under the auspices of the food vision strategy, to advance a framework of supports for the seafood sector. A key priority for the food vision-seafood group will be to ensure that a framework of economic, environmental and social sustainability supports is available to the fisheries and seafood processing sector and its coastal communities. Obviously, we want to prioritise that work and ensure we move quickly to get that up and running. The group will be chaired by an independent chair and will include representatives from the fishing organisations, aquaculture and the seafood processing organisations. The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and its agencies, and other relevant Departments and agencies, will form a very significant part of that.  As I said, the task force will have to have an intensive schedule of work in the early stages to get it up and running. I want to see an interim report delivered in the first quarter of next year. I expect the first meeting of this group to start in early January and begin its work. As I mentioned at the committee yesterday, I intend to seek some external support to augment our Department capabilities to ensure the matter gets the priority it deserves. I am conscious that additional resources will be required to carry this out. I have already had conversations, on a number of occasions, with the Minister for public expenditure, Deputy Chambers. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, and I have had his support in this regard. We intend to move quickly on it. The Minister is here. He has been a tremendous support to me in my work over the last number of weeks. He has been available to use his influence, which is very considerable at European level, to try to get the best possible outcome. We are committed to working in unison through this particular period.  We intend to appoint Michael Berkery as the independent chair. Michael is a well-known figure in the Irish agri-sector. He has made very significant contributions to Irish agriculture and the agrifood sector, notably, as CEO of the Irish Farmers' Association for 25 years, where he excelled in policy shaping and improving farmers' prospects. He was uncompromising in his pursuit of farming interests and is renowned for his exceptional political judgment and negotiating skills. These skills were harnessed through major CAP reforms and World Trade Organization negotiations, cementing his role as a pivotal figure in Irish agriculture history. Michael understands the needs of rural and coastal communities. He has been a tireless champion for rural communities. He brings enormous experience to dealing with politicians, senior civil servants, Departments, State agencies and the European Commission. He is alert to EU and national Exchequer funding, the relevant EU and national legislation and the constraints imposed by EU state aid rules by the European Commission.  I look forward, together with the Minister, to building in a number of other individuals as part of that committee. I will certainly be happy to take any thoughts or views Members have in formulating that response or task force to address the very significant crisis we know we are facing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  We obviously had the chance at the committee yesterday to go through what a disaster this outcome is and how it cannot stand.  The Common Fisheries Policy has been deeply unfair to Ireland's fishing and coastal communities throughout the years. What happened with Brexit has rightly been described as a betrayal of those communities. It was a power grab and I will deal with some of the companies at the heart of this soon. What happened at the Fisheries Council now has to be the final insult. There has to be a complete change in approach from our Government in dealing with our European partners when it comes to the Common Fisheries Policy. It is so serious.  I will start with the Hague preferences. The Hague preferences were put in place in 1976. Their origin is Annex VII of the EEC Council Resolution, 3 November 1976. They were in place for Ireland and Britain as a quid pro quo for access to our waters. Our waters have given huge wealth to fishing fleets across Europe. They are some of the richest fishing waters in the world. The Hague preferences are central to that. That was a veneer of fairness and it was deployed from time to time over the years where necessary. To suggest that the Hague preferences can just be done away with is absolutely unacceptable. The Minister of State must use every single legal instrument available to him to challenge this. The member states who united to block us invoking the Hague preferences know very well that this is not about taking fish away from them. This is about a balance for all the fish they have taken from our waters over the years. They know that very well. I believe that there has unfortunately been a meek response from Irish Governments. I do not include the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, in that, but before him there was a meek resistance to what was happening for too many years. They believe that can continue. The Minister of State needs to prove them wrong. He needs to prove that they cannot do this.  Let us talk about why it was that the Netherlands, France, Germany and Poland united to outrageously attack our fishing and coastal communities when they know what happened after Brexit. They know we took the biggest hit from Brexit. Burden sharing never happened. They know that and they would do that to us. It was said yesterday by my colleague, Deputy Conor D. McGuinness, and I agree with him, that the Minister of State needs to bring every ambassador from those four countries in to meet him urgently. He needs to make it clear what they did is seen as an attack on our people by a member state. I will tell him why I believe they did it.  I want to talk about the big five. The big five are referred to as an extremely powerful oligopoly. These are corporations that co-operate and work together, and that have a collective value of \u20ac2.4 billion. It is estimated that by buying up quota across the European Union they have one in six of the fish caught under their control. They are huge. I will name them. They are Parlevliet and van der Plas, Cornelis Vrolijk, Van der Zwan, Alda Seafood and the De Boer family. The big one is Parlevliet and van der Plas. Let us talk about them. When I talk about the big five there has been much reportage of this. This is not a secret. It is widely known. I have an absolutely damning report from earlier this year into the actions of these corporations. At the centre of it is Parlevliet and van der Plas. I also have a report from a couple of years ago from Follow the Money, which did an expos\u00e9 on the massive control this company has, which is led by Dirk Parlevliet. This company is valued at \u20ac1.5 billion. That is probably conservative because there is a lack of accountability about quota allocation across Europe. Nobody can tell us definitively who actually has it. It is estimated at \u20ac1.5 billion. This is the biggest fish company in Europe. It has huge influence. It is estimated that the big five control 230 vessels. They own the biggest super trawlers in the world. When you look up our west coast you see these super trawlers vacuuming up the fish in our waters. This has been going on for far too long. I am asking the Minister of State to take every legal action at his disposal to challenge what happened with the Hague preferences. It just cannot stand, but he must also call out the big five, particularly Parlevliet and van der Plas. There is no doubt that these five companies, but particularly P and P, as it is abbreviated, had more influence over the actions of Germany, France, Poland and their own country of the Netherlands, than Ireland did. The lack of respect for a fellow member state that suffered so egregiously after Brexit and has struggled so much with our declining allocation of fish quota, is outrageous. However, it gets worse than just what happens within the European Union.  These companies have huge interests in Iceland and the Faroe Islands. These companies have also benefited from the reckless over-fishing that has left the mackerel species on the precipice. They also benefit from the deal with Norway to get access to the cod because they have interests there. Everywhere you turn these corporations are winning through. This is corruption. This is a fundamental attack on our democracy and the European Union. Our Government cannot stand for it. Our Government must stand up and speak loudly about what is happening here. Have no doubt that what took place in the Fisheries Council was utter corruption. Corporations have united together using the weaknesses and fundamental flaws of the Common Fisheries Policy to buy out quota to recklessly over-fish through Iceland and the Faroe Islands. Then there are their interests in Britain. They have huge interests in Britain. What has happened in recent days? Iceland, the Faroe Islands, Norway and the UK have united and made an agreement about mackerel. They did not pay any heed to the science. This agreement is way below what has been agreed at the Fisheries Council. Again, I ask the Minister of State what he is going to do about that. Britain has signed up to the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. It must be aligned to the Common Fisheries Policy. How can it make a deal and enable recklessness and then benefit from a deal with the European Union? There has to be consistency here.  To summarise, we have our fishing and coastal communities decimated. They were the rule takers. They played by the rules. They followed the science. We have a small number of massive corporations based in the Netherlands that have huge influence over member states. This is not environmentally friendly policy. This is not about that. This is not about what the Common Fisheries Policy states about social and economic impacts being considered by every member state before they allocate quota. It is stitched into the Common Fisheries Policy. What has happened here is an outrageous attack on our sovereignty and our people.  In the time I have I left I again draw the Minister of State's attention to the 2016 Supreme Court decision in Barlow v Minister for Agriculture. It is clear from that decision that the Supreme Court says that Article 10 means that we do have control over our waters as well as of other natural resources. I ask the Minister of State to get legal advice about what happened with the Hague preferences, Article 10 and the Supreme Court ruling and to take legal action to defend our interests. It will not be enough to set up a task force. Of course, financial resources are needed, but when these boats in a number of years\u2019 time need to go back to fish, there needs to be fish there. I ask the Minister of State to do everything he can. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Caithfidh m\u00e9 labhairt ar dh\u00e1 cheist, is iad sin, na cu\u00f3ta\u00ed agus a dtionchar eacnama\u00edocha cois c\u00f3sta; agus ceannas, \u00fadar\u00e1s agus cumhacht na h\u00c9ireann thar \u00e1r bhfarraig\u00ed f\u00e9inig. T\u00e1 breis agus 90% d\u00e1r gcr\u00edoch mar St\u00e1t suite ar an bhfarraige ach is f\u00edorbheag an smacht at\u00e1 againn ar na h\u00e9isc a bhaintear aisti. Thar na blianta, faoi rialacha an Chomhbheartais Iascaigh, t\u00e1 an ceart sin t\u00f3gtha uainn de r\u00e9ir a ch\u00e9ile. T\u00e1 t\u00edortha eile ag baint tairbhe as uisc\u00ed na h\u00c9ireann, agus n\u00ed t\u00edortha de chuid an Aontais Eorpaigh iad uile. Is \u00ed an fh\u00edrinne lom n\u00e1 go bhf\u00e1gtar \u00e1r n-iascair\u00ed f\u00e9in ar an imeall i gc\u00f3na\u00ed. Is l\u00e9ir \u00f3n m\u00e9id at\u00e1 tarlaithe anseo gur beag me\u00e1chan at\u00e1 ag guth na h\u00c9ireann nuair a thagann br\u00fa idirn\u00e1isi\u00fanta i gceist. N\u00ed ceist theicni\u00fail amh\u00e1in \u00ed seo; is ceist pholaiti\u00fail \u00ed. Is l\u00e9ir ar\u00eds eile nach bhfuil ceannas ceart againn ar \u00e1r n-acmhainn\u00ed n\u00e1d\u00fartha f\u00e9in. Is iad pobail bheaga cois c\u00f3sta a \u00edocann an praghas.  T\u00e1 tionchar ar leith ag na cinnt\u00ed seo ar \u00e1r gceantair Ghaeltachta. I go leor de na ceantair sin, is iad na hiascair\u00ed cn\u00e1mh droma an gheilleagair \u00e1iti\u00fala. Beidh drochthionchar eacnama\u00edocha ag na cinnt\u00ed seo agus n\u00edl roghanna fosta\u00edochta eile ar f\u00e1il go h\u00e9asca in an-chuid de na ceantair seo. Nuair a laghda\u00edtear cu\u00f3ta\u00ed, n\u00ed chailltear ioncam amh\u00e1in; cailltear daoine \u00f3ga agus teaghlaigh agus laghda\u00edtear an Ghaeilge mar theanga phobail. Is ceist teanga agus chult\u00fair \u00ed seo chomh maith le ceist eacnama\u00edocha. T\u00e1 staitistic\u00ed soil\u00e9ire ann a thugann l\u00e9argas air seo. T\u00e1 cuid mh\u00f3r de na ceantair Ghaeltachta i measc na gceantar is leochail\u00ed \u00f3 thaobh d\u00edfhosta\u00edochta agus imirce de. Nuair a im\u00edonn an obair \u00f3n bhfarraige, leanann an imirce \u00ed. Is bagairt dh\u00edreach d'inbhuanaitheacht na Gaeltachta \u00ed seo. N\u00ed f\u00e9idir leis an Rialtas a r\u00e1 go bhfuil s\u00e9 ag tac\u00fa leis an nGaelainn agus \u00e9 ag glacadh le beartas a scriosann bun\u00fas eacnama\u00edochta na gceantar sin ag an am c\u00e9anna.  T\u00e1 s\u00e9 r\u00e1ite go soil\u00e9ir ag na heagra\u00edochta\u00ed iascaigh go bhfuil teip ar strucht\u00far an Chomhbeartais Iascaigh. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin r\u00e1ite againn sa choiste agus ag mo chomhghleaca\u00ed, an Teachta Mac Lochlainn, chomh maith. Aonta\u00edm leis an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 r\u00e1ite ag na heagrais iascaigh ach t\u00e9im c\u00e9im n\u00edos faide; is ceist cheannais \u00ed seo. Muna bhfuil an chumhacht againn \u00e1r n-acmhainn\u00ed a chosaint, beimid i gc\u00f3na\u00ed ag pl\u00e9 leis na hiarmhairt\u00ed c\u00e9anna, is iad sin, laghdaithe, g\u00e9arch\u00e9imeanna agus pobail \u00e1 bhf\u00e1g\u00e1il ar l\u00e1r. Caithfimid seasamh polaiti\u00fail a ghlacadh ar son na t\u00edre. Beidh muidne ar an taobh seo ag tac\u00fa leis an Aire St\u00e1it m\u00e1 dh\u00e9anann s\u00e9 amhlaidh. Caithfear a r\u00e1 go soil\u00e9ir nach f\u00e9idir leis an bpobal c\u00f3sta lean\u00faint ar aghaidh ag \u00edoc as easpa smachta agus cothromais ar leibh\u00e9al na hEorpa. T\u00e1 athr\u00fa treo ioml\u00e1n ag teast\u00e1il anois, agus t\u00e1 s\u00e9 i bhfad thar am.  The outcome of the recent Common Fisheries Policy negotiations represents one of the most severe shocks, if not the most severe shock, the Irish fishing industry has faced in its existence. It was not a sudden collapse, it was the final shove in a long process of decline that Government parties managed, excused and normalised. What was already fragile has now been pushed dangerously close to a point of no return. That is the responsibility of Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and successive administrations.  We acknowledge the scientific advice is stark, with proposed reductions around 70% for mackerel, deep cuts to blue whiting and significant reductions across other North Atlantic species and prawns in the Irish Sea. Sinn F\u00e9in accepts science must guide fisheries management, there is no dispute over that, but stock sustainability matters. Justice and fairness also matter and science does not answer the political questions at the heart of this particular crisis. Who is breaking the rules, who is overfishing shared stocks and why is it always Irish fishermen and Ireland's coastal communities who are expected to pay the price?  The Minister of State said at the committee meeting yesterday, and I agreed with him, that our waters cannot sustain the level of fishing and overfishing being undertaken for years by the EU fishing fleet. That is correct and we agree; there is no dispute there. However, it can definitely sustain the fishing effort of Irish fishing boats. That is where the priority must be and where the injustice in all this lies. Irish fishermen are complying with the rules and suffering the consequences. Meanwhile, states including the Netherlands, Germany, France and Poland coalesce to protect their own interests and, as we just heard from Deputy Mac Lochlainn, the interests of a very small number of multinational corporations that play hard and fast with the rules, our democracies and in many cases, the rule of law. They vote down safeguards for Ireland and consolidate their advantages in the interests of those few corporations. Deputy Mac Lochlainn has already used parliamentary privilege to name those Dutch corporations and the extraordinary control they exercise over Irish fishing opportunities, over the entire EU process and, if we are being honest, over negotiations between EU and third countries where they also have economic presences. This is something which cuts to the core of our democracy and European democracy.  There are not many people in the Chamber but it should send a chill down the spine of everybody who has any interest in the environment, the rule of law, democracy or fairness. This Government has allowed Irish sovereign natural resources to be effectively gifted, not even by us in Ireland and Irish people but by foreign Governments, that are there for our generation and future generations to private corporations. It is not partnership and the economy, it is an abdication of responsibility and is an affront to our sovereignty as a nation.  The scale of damage is already clear, with a projected loss of 57,000 tonnes of quota in 2026 and an economic hit of up to \u20ac200 million per year. There are various ways to quantify the monetary value of this but there are estimates that put this at a fifth of a billion. More than 2,300 jobs are on the line as we face into Christmas and that is not lost on anyone in any coastal community in Ireland. There are families now wondering - skippers and boat owners - how they are going to meet the December repayments on their boats. There are crews scared they will lose income but really, they do not know if they will be fishing or will have a berth on a boat come January. Processing plants are facing closure. There is an idea that we maybe can prevail upon some of these foreign registered trawlers and fishing operations to land their catch here. They will not because they know we have the most extreme sea fisheries protection regime and they can effectively get off scot-free in their own home ports. They are not going to be coming here. Should we really be begging for a scrap from the table?  Through all this, and it is not a criticism that lands on the lap of the Minister of State or that of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, but the absence of leadership from the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste has been glaring and staggering. In other member states, heads of Government intervened directly when national interests were threatened and that leadership was not evident here. As Chair of the Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs, I said this and the committee looked for that. I said it to the Taoiseach last Thursday and asked him to pick up a phone but I would say he did not lift his hand to do anything to support the Minister of State and to have his back in these negotiations and to support, more importantly, our coastal communities.  Ireland has been treated as a soft touch in this and effectively, this Government - Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and the Lowry Independents - have allowed it to happen. States that describe themselves as partners and say all the nice things to us about solidarity and the European Union, that we are partners and member states and need to relook at our neutrality and step together at European level, voted against us. They gutted us and the Minister of State at these negotiations. They blocked the Hague preferences and stripped away the only modest protection designed to prevent exactly this kind of shock. That is calculated insult heaped on existing injury and demands a response; not quiet disappointment, not expressions of concern and not more hand-wringing. I call for an immediate diplomatic and political response to signal Ireland's disgust on how we have been treated as a sovereign nation. That means formal diplomatic d\u00e9marche . It means calling in the ambassadors of states that have actively undermined Irish fisheries and sovereignty. It means making clear access to Irish waters cannot continue as if nothing has happened. There can be no more business as usual and there are many avenues open to the Minister of State and to this Government, should they choose to go down them, that are within the bounds of the law and which exert economic and political pressure on our so-called partner countries.  Ireland will shortly hold the Presidency of the European Union, which must be used deliberately to untangle and undo this injustice; not to manage it or kick it to touch but to reverse it. At European level, Ireland must reopen discussions with a clear demand for fair burden sharing and the restoration of protections for highly dependent member states such as Ireland. That requires political will from the current Taoiseach. Ultimately, this comes down to political choice. The CFP must be judged not just on stock levels but on fairness and solidarity and at present it is failing on all of that.  Our fishing communities have observed decades of loss. They have been patient and have played by the rules. Their anger, despair and disappointment is justified. The injury is real, the insult is undeniable and what happens next will tell us whether this Government is prepared to stand up for this country or whether it is content to let another vital sector slide towards a fatal end. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  T\u00e1 an Rialtas tar \u00e9is cliseadh ar\u00eds is ar\u00eds eile ar phobail ch\u00f3sta agus ar thionscadail iascaireachta na h\u00c9ireann. L\u00e9ir\u00edonn an g\u00e9illeadh seo go bhfuil ganntanas ioml\u00e1n suime ag Fianna F\u00e1il agus Fine Gael maidir le saolta agus sl\u00ed beatha na n-iascair\u00ed. N\u00edor sheas siad suas d\u00f3ibh riamh agus n\u00edl siad ag seasamh suas d\u00f3ibh anois. Beagnach dh\u00e1 bhliain \u00f3 sh\u00edn, d\u2019ardaigh m\u00e9 c\u00e1s Mhuireann Kavanagh d\u00edreach leis an Taoiseach sa Seomra seo. N\u00ed raibh c\u00e1s riamh chomh soil\u00e9ir idir cad at\u00e1 ceart agus m\u00edcheart. Is girseach \u00f3g \u00ed Muireann Kavanagh at\u00e1 16 bliain d\u2019aois arb as \u00c1rainn Mh\u00f3r di, oile\u00e1n amach ar ch\u00f3sta Dh\u00fan na nGall. Ba iascaire a bh\u00ed ina hathair, ina seanathair agus ina sin-seanathair, agus b\u00edonn Muireann ag iascaireacht fosta. Gabhann s\u00ed mangaigh le du\u00e1n agus dor\u00fa. Is \u00e9 seo an leagan is inbhuanaithe iascaireachta at\u00e1 ann ach d\u00fairt an Rialtas l\u00e9i go riabh a cuid iascaireachta in \u00e9adan an dl\u00ed. T\u00e1 uirthi amharc amach \u00f3n seomra leapa in oile\u00e1n \u00c1rainn Mh\u00f3r ar na longa m\u00f3ra as t\u00edortha eile agus iad ag d\u00e9anamh scrios ar an chothroma\u00edocht at\u00e1 tar \u00e9is na pobail ch\u00f3sta i dT\u00edr Chonaill agus ar fud an St\u00e1it seo a choth\u00fa ar feadh na m\u00edlte bliain. T\u00e1 an cuma ar na tr\u00e1laeir m\u00f3ra seo ar n\u00f3s gur cathracha beaga iad, i bhfad n\u00edos m\u00f3 n\u00e1 na bailte agus na sr\u00e1idbhailte ar ch\u00f3sta Dh\u00fan na nGall. Nuair nach raibh an Rialtas in ann an \u00e9ag\u00f3ir in \u00e9adan Mhuireann Kavanagh a fheice\u00e1il, ba l\u00e9ir nach mbeadh siad chun seasamh suas di agus d\u00e1 pobal cho\u00edche.  This Government has failed coastal communities and the fishing industry. The latest capitulation is symptomatic of a complete lack of interest from Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael in the way of life and the livelilhoods of fishermen and fisherwomen up and down this country. They have never stood up for them and that is the fact. Almost two years ago I stood here and directly put to the Taoiseach the case of young Muireann Kavanagh. Never has there been such a clear case of right and wrong. She is a 16-year-old girl from Arranmore island off the coast of Donegal. Her father, grandfather and great-grandfather were fishermen and Muireann also fishes. She catches pollock with hook and line, the most sustainable way of fishing, but she was told then by the Government that her fishing was illegal. She was forced to watch from her bedroom in Arranmore Island the foreign factory ships destroying the balance that has sustained that coastal community and coastal communities right across the State, in Donegal and elsewhere, for thousands of years. These monster ships look like small cities. They dwarf the towns and villages along the coast of Donegal. A Government that could not see the injustice done to Muireann Kavanagh was never going to stand up for communities like hers. She wanted a future on this island but that future had been denied her.  When I raised this with the Taoiseach at the time he accused me of dishonesty and spin. He said that it was for scientific reasons that Muireann could not fish for pollock with a hook and line. The problem is that there are always winners and losers here. Muireann was the loser and the factory ships were the winners, and in this case here it is the factory ships that are winners, and Irish fishing and coastal communities are the losers. They have again been thrown to the wolves by this Government.  This system is completely rigged, and if Muireann Kavanagh is a problem, then the Government really does not know and does not have fishing communities backs. My colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, outlined blow by blow, the corporate interests and powerful lobbies that are at the heart of Europe, and a compliant Irish Government nodding along. For anyone from a coastal community in Ireland it comes as no surprise that the Government has failed to stand up for them again but the scale of this failure cannot be overstated this time. This is not minor.  The outcome of the most recent EU fisheries Council is catastrophic. The fishing quotas agreement is a dark day for the Irish fishing communities and we are talking about jobs that are going to be lost. We are talking about livelilhoods that are on the line. We are now seeing fishing vessels that could be at sea for less than ten days a year and factories that worked for five months a year down to two to three weeks. How can the Government or any Minister not know what this means and stand up for them? This means livelilhoods destroyed. It is a hammer blow for coastal communities - communities right along Donegal, from Greencastle down to Killybegs. Jobs are going to be lost. The Common Fisheries Policy, CFP, has been undermined again and again by big businesses allowed to pursue their interests unchecked.  As Deputy McGuinness said, this is not the time to roll over. This is the time to stand up. This is the time to have fishing communities backs. This is the time to stand up for our sovereignty and our rights. This is the time for the Taoiseach to finally show up and make his voice heard on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I want to speak first on the grave concerns in the fishing industry with the announcement of the new deal from the EU on fishing opportunities for 2026. The loss of 57,000 tonnes of quota will without doubt have a hugely detrimental impact on the over 2,300 jobs in the industry. The Seafood Ireland Alliance has said that it expects somewhere between a \u20ac100 million and \u20ac200 million loss in value for 2026. Those are staggering figures and will have caused great concern and distress for those working in the sector in recent days. The knock-on effects of this deal will be far-reaching for coastal towns and communities across Ireland. Much like agricultural industries in Ireland, the fisheries sector provides a platform for other sectors beyond its own. Local businesses, suppliers and restaurants will feel the effects of these changes. Costs of produce will increase, as will the cost of transportation and procuring stock. These costs will cause serious difficulties for small businesses and invariably, these increases will be passed on to consumers, and those working in the industry will see figures rise, while their wages continue to remain stagnant.  News coming from the European Union about this deal and the proposed Mercosur does not provide much hope for communities that rely so much on the fisheries and agricultural sectors. When the ordinary worker in these industries and the consumer looks at these proposals, they can rightly wonder whether they are considered in any of the high-up decision-making processes. The Labour Party will work constructively with Government to advocate for a fair and equitable fisheries policy that prioritises the livelilhoods of Irish fishermen and fisherwomen and the sustainability of the Marine Institute.  I want to take this opportunity to again raise the issue of the Blackwater fish kill. This was an ecological disaster on a scale we had never seen before in my home town. Anglers across the Munster region and I have little faith that this issue is being taken seriously by the State bodies involved. The River Blackwater was the scene of the greatest fish kill ever seen in this country. In excess of 40,000 fish were killed by a chemical irritant. This led to investigations by Inland Fisheries Ireland, IFI, the EPA, Cork County Council and the Marine Institute. With all these State bodies and local authorities involved, not one had the optimum capacity or resources to identify the chemical. Therefore, the cause of responsibility for the kill has not been found. It is worth noting that although the source of the pollution is still unknown due to the lack of ability to identify the irritant, the North Cork Co-Operative Creamery in Kanturk came under scrutiny after the EPA published the results of a site inspection conducted on the night of the fish kill. The findings revealed that over 362,000 litres of wastewater were discharged into the river within a ten-hour window, with ammonia levels 52 times above the legal limits.  Since then, the creamery has been made to suspend production, due to this and a consistent history of failure to achieve compliance with licensed-discharge conditions. This not just a Kanturk problem or a Cork problem. Issues of pollution must be rigorously investigated and stamped out right across this country. If we are serious about protecting our environment, rivers, fish and wildlife, then enforcement powers must be increased. Never once in this country was an EPA licence taken away. They must be withdrawn if constant pollution happens. We have had no sanctions or definitive answer for this and, to be frank, it makes a mockery of the idea that we have oversight. The bottom line is that we still do not know what killed upwards of 40,000 fish.  This brings me on to Inland Fisheries Ireland. The programme for Government includes a clear commitment to carry out a full review of Inland Fisheries Ireland. This commitment must now be honoured in full and without further delay. This cannot be allowed to drift on while serious governance issues remain unresolved, complaints go unanswered and staff concerns continue to be raised internally and externally. I am sure the Minister, because he is the Minister, would have seen the meeting of the Committee of Public Accounts two weeks ago. As a member of that committee, it was deeply concerning for me to see basic governance and basic record-keeping were all found wanting. This was not a minor oversight. It was a serious, corporate governance failure. Following an answer to a parliamentary question from me last week, it emerged that seven separate investigations took place within IFI between 2021 and 2025. That is a significant number for an organisation of its size and should immediately raise alarm bells for the Minister and the Department.  The issues I raised include the use of uninsured vehicles and the provision of false documentation to a staff member, which was in turn passed on to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. These are not trivial matters. They point to a culture where rules are treated as optional and staff are placed in impossible positions because of management failures.  The facts laid before the committee two weeks ago by IFI were absolutely shocking. A staff member of IFI was involved in a car crash in Donegal in August 2021. Following that accident, IFI provided that employee with insurance documentation which it later found out, on 16 November 2021, to be completely inaccurate. Despite knowing this, it failed to inform either the member of staff or An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na that the documentation was false. It knowingly allowed a staff member to proceed with paperwork it knew to be invalid. The employee learned that the insurance documentation was invalid only when he received a solicitor's letter from the other party involved in the car crash. This is an appalling way to treat anyone and for anyone to learn that an employer has exposed them to legal and personal risk.  The bottom line is clear. IFI knowingly failed to inform the Garda or its own staff member that a vehicle it had was uninsured. This is disgraceful and completely inexcusable. Workers should never have to endure such an ordeal.  The hearing added even more troubling revelations. The acting chief executive told the committee before the meeting broke that he knew nothing of the findings of the external investigation commissioned by the former Minister, Eamon Ryan. Yet, after the break in the committee meeting, he acknowledged that he was in attendance at the February 2025 board meeting where those findings were presented. While the findings may not have been discussed in detail, he failed to disclose that he knew they had been received. It appeared he believed he could go through the entire committee meeting without acknowledging this. That is simply unacceptable.  At the end of that committee meeting, the former and acting deputy CEO and now head of finance revealed that she had carried out a review of the report that IFI had received in February 2025. I call on the Minister of State to be brave with IFI. Let this be his legacy in the Department of fisheries. He must not let IFI continue in this vein. It has lost my support, it has lost the support of anglers and it has lost the support of the general public. IFI, as an organisation, needs to be disbanded and built up from the root again because it is a failed organisation. The Minister of State must not put in senior positions of IFI people who have been involved in controversy. This will be the legacy of IFI and of fisheries in this country. This is an opportunity for the Minister of State to get the confidence of anglers back because the confidence of anglers is not there. He must give IFI that opportunity now to build back up to being an organisation that can be trusted by members of the public. As I have said from the outset, the horizon right now does not look bright for those working in the fisheries sector or anglers or those who use our water. However, the Minister of State has the opportunity now to change that. I know he will because I know he wants to. He will do this because he knows that it will have a great effect on this country and on those who use our rivers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  I want to draw the Ministers of State's attention to very serious concerns over a multiplicity of issues brought to my attention by fishers I represent at Clogherhead in County Louth. Last month, as the Ministers of State will be aware, a trawler sank off Bettystown. Two Egyptian fishers in difficulty were rescued by the Coast Guard helicopter and the Clogherhead lifeboat. This is not an isolated case; it is the sixth such incident in recent times. There is a very concerning pattern.  Exactly two years ago, an Egyptian fisher lost their life on a capsized vessel, the Ben Thomas , off Dunany Point, in Dundalk Bay. The recent Marine Casualty Investigation Board report into the fatal incident is absolutely damning. It says a number of things. Issues involved inadequate safety systems, the failure to wear personal flotation devices, the failure of the life raft to inflate, the delayed activation of the vessel's emergency position indicating radio beacon, the absence of personal locator beacons for crew and prolonged cold water immersion in temperatures of approximately 9\u00b0C. The other crew member survived but had hypothermia. A distress signal at the time of sinking was not made. This, obviously, delayed the emergency response. The MCIB report raised concerns about safety management practices, including the lack of documented handover procedures when the vessel changed operators weeks before the incident. Critically, insufficient crew induction and training were a big problem. There was expired safety equipment and the absence of vessel-specific stability awareness. I could go on.  None of this is new to me or to the experienced fishers in Clogherhead. In recent months, local fishers, with whom I have met, people who have fished these waters for generations safely, sustainably and with health and safety at the forefront of their minds, have brought a raft of associated concerns to me about how the fishery in our area is being exploited by vessels with majority non-EEA crews. The Minister of State knows that this is against the regulations. They have serious concerns about how these boats are being operated and about the safety and training of the crew boarding and operating these vessels. They showed me evidence of boats registered to people with no connection whatsoever to and no direct experience in the fishing industry, vessels registered at residential addresses that simply do not stack up. People whose known business is, for example, home refurbishment and other such work are now for some reason registered as trawler owners. The authorities need to ask more serious questions of some of the newer arrivals to the sector.  It is also alleged that on many of these boats, basic health and safety and training and regulatory statutory minimum requirements are not being met, as well as very substantive claims, in my view, of potential overfishing, routine breaches of working time at sea legislation, and other regulations that put the future of the fishery itself at risk.  I have met this year with representatives from a range of different organisations, including the WRC, the SFPA and the Revenue Commissioners, and I have shared with them some details and the concerns expressed to me by the Clogherhead fishers. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, frankly, needs to take a serious interest in what is going on too. We are assured that they are all doing their jobs individually and collectively. I know that all the agencies take a risk-based approach and a multi-agency approach to issues in relation to the regulation of the industry. I have some experience of this. One of the last things I did when I was a Minister of State was bring in the new non-EEA permit scheme for migrant fishers in the context of an international journalistic investigation that was going on at the time and that exposed some of the conditions of non-EEA share fishermen operating in the industry, so I am familiar with what happens. I have represented the Clogherhead fishermen for many years. In my view, however, the authorities need to act and need to start asking more difficult, more searching questions based on the information that has been disclosed, not just to me but to them as well. There needs to be evidence and action in terms of the agencies and their response to these issues. They cannot claim ignorance of these issues. There is a pattern of behaviour here and it needs to be properly understood and properly examined.  This very week two years ago, I was supporting members of the Egyptian community in Drogheda who were dealing with their grief when their fellow countryman was taken by the sea off Dunany Point. We need fisheries that are operated well and that favour experienced, skilled operators, many of whom have been working in that fishery for generations, who always play by the rules. We need evidence that work is ongoing such that potential rogue operators will be rooted out. We know that lives have been lost in that fishery in recent years. I refer to the case this time two years ago. Lives were almost lost off Bettystown at the end of November. Lives and honest livelihoods are being put at risk, and the next Ben Thomas or the next Graceful Morning , the vessel that sank off Bettystown, an occurrence like that, is just around the corner unless the unsafe and, in my view, at times illegal practices that appear to have been tolerated for too long are weeded out. We need to weed those practices out. Doing so is how we properly support the fishers who have been working in those fisheries for many years and who put health and safety and the regulatory environment in which they operate first at all times.  Lives are at risk and action is needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)  I acknowledge the efforts of the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley. I have worked with him over the past number of months meeting fishing sector representatives. I know how many times he has travelled back and forth to Europe to try to establish some sort of coalition and get other countries on board for, at the very least, invoking the Hague preferences. He did what he could. He used his vote in the way he should have to try to ensure that the Hague preferences came through but, as we know, there was a betrayal. That is the word he has used. I acknowledge his efforts.  This was a betrayal. The same countries that sought to block this measure, which Ireland has necessarily benefited from in previous years, gained significant access to Irish waters to the detriment of our own fleet. That is what makes this all the more galling and painful for the Irish fishing sector.  Many species were previously abundant around Irish waters. Because of the Common Fisheries Policy, Ireland has paid a significant price. It has not benefited from the quota share that should have been available to it over previous years. Ireland had a 6% share of the hake quota. Ireland's portion of the haddock quota was at times 10% or lower. The quota for monkfish, which is another species that is caught in Irish waters, was sometimes down at approximately 7%. For sole, which is available off the Irish coast, the quota was approximately 5%. There was also a cut of 40% to the total allowable catch for blue whiting, which was once abundant in Irish waters, because of scientific advice.  It is clear, and I do not think that anyone disagrees, that the CFP has not worked for the fishing sector when we consider the previously rich fishing grounds and abundance of those species in Irish waters. With those smaller quotas, we had at least the ability to invoke Hague preferences and, unfortunately, a few other countries have acted in a certain way. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, has been clear about where he stands. I admire that he has not been afraid to call out those actions. We have not been able to avail of the benefit of the Hague preferences.  I commend the response of those in the fishing sector. While they are probably disappointed, angry and frustrated, they have not once questioned, at least to my knowledge, the scientific advice. They appreciate the importance of protecting these species. They appreciate the importance of protecting the stocks. They know they have to listen to the scientists. What really galls them in this situation is the fact that third nations completely ignore and disregard the scientific advice. That is the core of the issue. EU nations have enjoyed a large quota share, especially for species that are caught in Irish waters. However, the actions of third nations that have pillaged these species and disregarded scientific advice are the real core of the issue. This is important. Of course, I am speaking today on behalf of the fishing sector in west Cork, in places such as Kinsale, Union Hall and Castletownbere, which is impacted by this. I am also speaking as the Minister of State with responsibility for biodiversity. When countries ignore scientific advice, it does not only injure what could be a thriving fishing sector in Ireland but also impacts biodiversity, cetaceans and the marine wildlife that rely on these species.  The pelagic, polyvalent, whitefish and inshore sectors are impacted. We must mention the impact this is going to have on what could be a vibrant, sustainable inshore sector in Ireland. This will be felt throughout the entire sector. When the quotas for species such as mackerel and whiting are cut to such an extent, it causes displacement.  The fishing sector is, rightly, going to have to look for alternative stock and species to catch. This will cause issues throughout the sector. I know the Minister of State is committed. I know he will be meeting the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Chambers, as will I, to ensure that adequate financial supports are put in place, as Deputy Mac Lochlainn said, to get them through this incredibly difficult period for the fishing sector.  It is tough because we know that as an island nation with a relatively small fleet, we could have a vibrant, sustainable fishing sector. It could be sustainable in terms of jobs and those participating in fishing, but also sustainable from a nature and biodiversity point of view. We must call it out: the Common Fisheries Policy is not serving us in that regard.  I again commend the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley. I know he has met not just representatives of the fishing sector but also Opposition Members. As he has said at committee and at every stage, he is listening to those in the fishing sector and working for them. He want to get results for them. He has my full support to ensure that we get the appropriate financial measures and that the task force is supported in identifying what those financial measures are and how they should be distributed. He has my full support. We need this result for coastal communities right around Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  We are in a very difficult situation for coastal communities around the whole Irish seaboard. The Fisheries Council has caused absolute devastation. That is all it can be described as. It is going to be catastrophic for the fishing industry over the next year and more. The betrayal of the fishing community has gone on for decades. That is the reality. It is what we hear when we talk to fishers around the coastline, particularly inshore fishers and the people who are struggling to make a living. They are fishing sustainably, as was said earlier, but they are the ones who will bear the brunt of much of this.  It is estimated that 2,500 coastal jobs in the fishing industry are at risk. The immediate danger is there and clear. We are looking at approximately 57,000 tonnes less in the quota, which will mean that almost \u20ac100 million will be lost to the industry. The wider economic impact could reach up to \u20ac200 million in coastal communities around the entire seaboard, from Howth to Wexford, over to Castletownbere and up to Killybegs. This is a huge impact on rural communities that are struggling the most. That point cannot be lost. It is happening because large vessels are coming in from other counties around Europe. International corporations are driving this. They are sucking up the fish. They are doing it in the most unsustainable way imaginable. The science is telling us that we are now at a stage when much of the fishing stock is depleted to a dangerous degree. Nobody is arguing that point. The problem is that the other sector that is in a catastrophic situation is that of the Irish fisherman and fisherwoman. They are going to suffer as a consequence of the greed of major corporations. That is one of the big problems that many people in Ireland and across Europe have with the European Union. It seems that the rich and powerful can make all the decisions and ordinary people are left to carry the can. It is time these people were left to carry their own bloody can. The ordinary people cannot take it any longer. The fishing communities around the coast cannot take it any longer. They will simply be devastated.  I acknowledge that efforts were made and that the Minister of State feels he was betrayed in all of this. We do not understand why the leaders of the Government, the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste, did not step up to the plate. The leaders of other countries in the European Union stood up but our leaders did not. They did not come in strongly to support rural fishing communities around Ireland.  It is simply going to be devastating if this is allowed to stand. The Minister of State has the support of everyone in the House. We need Government to make a strong stand for fishing communities. Unfortunately that has not happened to date. It has to change. I expect that we will see a change in the new year in how Government approaches this industry and that we will have the industry's back. Government will step forward and make a strong stand for the communities that have been devastated by the greed of a small number of international corporations, which seem to be more powerful than Ireland when it comes to this.  The concept of the European Union as a place where everyone would work together for the benefit of all seems to be set aside when it comes to these corporate interests. The way they are able to wield their power and the huge lobby they have in Brussels and other places is absolutely devastating for ordinary communities around the country. I also see it in the agriculture sector when it comes to Mercosur. It is the very same thing. The big corporates are driving it forward and to hell with everyone else. Governments have a responsibility to the people who elect them and who need reassurance that they can have a future too and that all cannot be stolen from their plate. I appeal to the Minister of State and the Government to step forward, make that strong stand and recognise the devastation this has for fishing communities and other communities in coastal areas. This is going to affect a serious number of jobs. Our processing industry cannot survive on three or four weeks' work a year. Those factories are simply going to close. This is an opportunity for Government to really show its grit and it must do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Irish seas have been sold and our coastal communities are paying the price. Our seas are among our most valuable natural resources, yet they are being exploited under a system that fails to protect coastal communities, marine biodiversity and the long-term sustainability of our fisheries. The presence of Norwegian, Icelandic and Faroe Islands vessels in Irish waters is a stark reminder of how weak our current controls are and how urgently they need reform. Foreign fleets now catch approximately 85% of all fish landed from Irish waters. Despite controlling about 12% of EU waters, Ireland receives less than 6% of the quotas. For decades, successive Governments have treated our fishing industry as expendable. When Ireland joined the EEC in 1973, our marine resources were traded away so that other sectors could benefit. That betrayal unfortunately continues today. Just this week, Irish fishers learned that they will forfeit even more of their already depleted quota, another blow to rural and coastal jobs caused by Government and, particularly, EU indifference and EU deals that serve everyone but us.  At the EU Agriculture and Fisheries Council meeting last week, a deal was struck that will see Ireland lose 57,000 tonnes of quota for 2026, a loss valued at around \u20ac94 million rising to \u20ac200 million in knock-on effects, threatening approximately 2,300 coastal jobs. These foreign fleets often target high-value species like blue whiting and mackerel, operating under quota arrangements negotiated at EU level. While these deals are presented as reciprocal, the reality is that Ireland gains little compared to what we give away. Our own fishers face strict quotas and shrinking margins while foreign super trawlers, some the size of football pitches, extract enormous volumes of fish from Irish waters. This is not just an economic injustice; this is an environmental and a social one. Industrial-scale fishing puts pressure on stocks, disrupts ecosystems and undermines the sustainability commitments we claim to uphold. The Hague preferences, which exist to protect our fleet when there are periods of severe quota downturn, should have been invoked for Ireland at this meeting. I acknowledge the work the Minister of State has done at Europe to try to get our neighbours to invoke them. As others have said, unfortunately he could have done with more support from more senior levels but I appreciate the work he put into it. The triggering criteria were met for the Hague preferences, yet a group of EU member states with larger fishing fleets than Ireland blocked it. This represents the first time the Hague preferences were blocked in 50 years, blocked by our neighbours.  This is an issue of sovereignty and fairness. Coastal communities in Donegal, Galway and Cork depend on fishing for livelihoods, yet they are squeezed by policies that prioritise corporate interests and international deals over local resilience. Rural Ireland is hollowing out. Clubs cannot field teams and young people are emigrating because Government after Government has sacrificed fisheries for short-term gain. Better controls do not have to equal isolationism. We need stricter monitoring of foreign vessels, real-time reporting of catches, and enforcement that ensures compliance with sustainability standards. Ireland should push for renegotiation of quota sharing arrangements so that benefits flow back to Irish communities, not just to multinational operators. Investments in our own processing capacity and small-scale fisheries would create jobs and keep value local, rather than exporting it along with the fish. At a time climate and biodiversity crises demand urgent action, continuing to allow industrial fleets unfettered access is indefensible. Ireland must stand up for its marine resources, its workers and its environment. Stronger controls are not just a policy choice; they are a matter of justice. The survival of our coastal communities relies on them. We need to see a return of the Hague preferences to Ireland and we need to see it now. We really cannot accept this from Europe and I hope the Minister of State will fight very strongly for that.  I also want to discuss what really underpins our fisheries, though. It would be remiss not to do so. Earlier this week a TD said that one of the problems is that for the first time, Europe has actually accepted the scientific advice that was given to it, which squeezed the quotas even further. For years, Europe has not accepted the scientific advice and has given out quotas that were way larger than what populations could withstand. That is one of the reasons we are in this situation. There are biological limits as to what we can fish. When Europe is estimating the overall number and quota of fish, it absolutely has to be led by science in that regard. Within that framework and the umbrella of what is available, Ireland has never received its fair share of that quota. However, I absolutely accept that there needs to be a quota system that stays within the biological limits of the populations because it just makes sense. If we overfish and there are not enough mature fish in a population, there will not be enough young fish coming along. That is a key element. What we are witnessing now is the impact of overfishing by all countries. Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland have access to those stocks as well. We are being squeezed from that perspective and it is regrettable. For years we have ignored pure population realities when it comes to fish stocks.  One of the impacts we are going to see from this, which the Minister of State mentioned, is the squeezing of our inshore fisheries. We have to be really conscious of that. I understand the Government is coming up with a package that will be available and very welcome for the larger fishers. It is really important that inshore fisheries and people who fish inshore are protected and that there is not a further reduction of what is available to them because they are already being squeezed. We are very aware of that.  It is way past time that we see the marine protected area legislation. It has been promised for a long time. I know the process has been changed and it will be pulled in under the designated maritime area plan, DMAP, legislation, which I do not agree with. We really need movement on that legislation. Only through marine protected areas will we protect our fish, fish stocks and our inshore and offshore fishers. That is the only way. If we do not have fish, there will be no fishermen. That is just the reality. It is really important that those inshore fishers are incorporated when the legislation is being developed and that it is very much a partnership with them.  Similar to when we talk about farmers, they are the ones who are the custodians of our marine resource. They are the ones who have the knowledge. When I chat to fishermen and hear their stories, they are so in tune with what happens at sea and what is happening with different stocks. They can give the reasons for the changes in the different stocks and the shifts in the dynamics. It is important that we work with them. There is a cultural element to this. For inshore fishers and the islanders, it is a core part of who we are and who we were. As a nation, we have turned our face away from the marine far too much. We need to start appreciating and valuing our marine resources and making sure they will be available not just to this generation of fishers but also to the generation after and the generation after that. There is so much of our cultural heritage tied up in those communities. We cannot allow them to be diminished any further than they are.  The Minister of State may be able to fill us in when he is responding, but we need to know when the marine protected area legislation is coming to the committee and when we can start the engagement with the different stakeholders on it. There are so many examples we can look at where it was done well and so many examples where it was not done well. It is important to learn from other countries. Interestingly, I have engaged a little with some people in the marine sector in Florida. A simple change in the size of particular fish that were eligible to be caught has resulted in such life being brought back to the coast of Florida that it is just incredible. This was driven by anglers. They pushed for this legislation. The state is now able to free up or lessen that regulation a little bit because it has brought those seas back to life. That is the thing; we need to look at MPAs in some instances as more of a short-term or emergency measure to allow those areas to get back to where they were and then, potentially, look to allowing more fishing or other activities in. We need to deal with this like it is an emergency because it is from a biodiversity and nature perspective and from a tourism perspective. We are seeing now that the way of life of fishers who rely on this for their livelihoods, as their fathers and fathers and fathers and fathers did, is at risk. It is important that we protect it. The marine protected area Bill is the way to do that.  I look forward to hearing the Minister of State's comments. I acknowledge the work he has done. I know he went over there with the absolute intention of being firm and strong and winning that debate. It appears, unfortunately, that our European neighbours were not willing to work with us on that, but there are other things we can do to push it as much as we can. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher  I recognise in the Gallery the representatives of the sector, including the Irish Fish Producers Organisation, IFPO; the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, ISEFPO; and the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, IFPEA. They are here this evening and that is significant. They are extremely concerned. They spent most of last week in Brussels. They were there when the Minister of State met with them prior to the Council and during the Council to brief them fully.  I want to clear up this one. As a result of the presentation by the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, at the Joint Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs a few weeks ago, I felt it necessary to table a question to the Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine. It would have been dealt with in the office of the Minister of State with responsibility for the marine, Deputy Dooley. I asked about the plans to review the Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 in view of the appearance of the SFPA before the joint committee. I wanted an answer to my question about the review or overhaul of the Act. The reply I received did not deal with the question. Instead, it told me everything I already knew about the SFPA. I ask the Minister of State to insist that his staff in the Department deal with the question that is asked. I will leave it at that.  This has been a very black week. It is going to be a black year for the Irish fishing sector in 2026 with the drastic reduction in the quotas of demersal and pelagic fish. Why are we in this position? Of course there is overfishing. There is no overfishing by this country. Having been involved in fisheries in the processing sector, as Minister of State and as a TD for Donegal, I can put my hand on my heart and say I have never witnessed any quantity of blackfish being landed. The industry knows that if it lands blackfish, it reduces the value of all the other fish, so it is careful enough to ensure that does not happen. As others have pointed out, those who are responsible for this now are Norway, Iceland, the Faroe Islands and the United Kingdom. We sat in this Chamber and listened attentively to Michel Barnier when he spoke about Brexit and emphasised the importance of Ireland remaining in the EU and the loss to the UK of not remaining in the EU. It may have been a loss generally to the UK, but it is a major advantage to its fishing sector that it is now outside of the EU. The result of that is fish valued at hundreds of thousands of euro. When I met the former Commissioner in the dining room here afterwards, I put it to him that I was extremely concerned for the future of this sector. He told me, in his capacity as the chief negotiator between Europe and the UK, I could be absolutely sure that fish and trade would be inextricably linked, and fish would be protected. I was naive enough, even then, to believe the man. He obviously had a French hat on rather than the European hat of someone working in the interest of all the European countries.  I listened to my Donegal colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, naming a number of companies in Europe. I took the opportunity to ring the office of Parlevliet in Holland - I have had the number for a long time - and I said I wanted to speak to them. They came back to me very quickly and gave me an email address. I will be expressing my views. They are in business, which means they are out to look after their own interests. I take the view that this is a monopoly. There should be some European commission that could look at how a company from a certain country can go into the countries at the other end of Europe - Poland and elsewhere - and have a quota that is much greater than that of many of large European states. There is a monopoly, whether it be Parlevliet, Van der Plas or Van der Zwan, all of which I knew in a former life.  There is a misconception about the Hague preferences, which were first introduced in 1976. We remember that they had to be invoked over the years, but that was only since 1988. The Hague preferences were included in the total allowed and the quotas for Ireland until 1988. After that, they had to be invoked. I recall in 2004 and 2006 having to travel to the UK in advance of Council meetings to prevail upon Ben Bradshaw, who had the fisheries portfolio at that time and with whom I had a good relationship. Things have changed so much since then.  We are having difficulties with foreign vessels coming into this country. I want to demonstrate and I want the Minister of State to demonstrate to our European colleagues that Ireland takes its fishing seriously and takes conservation seriously. The Government needs to make it clear that no common control plan will be renewed for Belgium or France in 2026.  They will have to weigh each and every fish on the piers and at the harbours in the same way our people have to. It is a Common Fisheries Policy. I ask the Minister of State to direct as policy that all factory vessels fishing in our waters will be subject to the same CCTV recording as Irish vessels. When our fish are weighed, they are largely weighed in 10 kg boxes or blocks. They should be weighed under the same regulations on those vessels but what are those fishers doing? They are putting in 22 or 23 boxes so, instead of landing of 100%, they are landing 110% or 120%. It is not good enough. They are circumventing EU rules. We must ensure there are CCTV cameras on those vessels as well and that we have access to them. It should be remembered that, as of 1 January next, all of the records in our factories have to be maintained for a period of six months.  As a matter of policy, Ireland must stop swapping our kilowatt days to other countries, especially in the whitefish segment. This allows those countries to increase their fishing efforts in our waters. A national policy needs to be put in place that provides better monitoring and oversight of Belgian beamers fishing in the Irish sea and Dutch factory ships fishing scad, horse mackerel, off the west coast. These vessels are recording zero bycatches. That is bizarre. How can they be recording that? These are the countries that are overfishing. Ireland needs to progress more conservation of areas, including the closure of nephrops grounds during spawning periods. A closure for the horse mackerel spawning period needs to be considered to preserve stocks. When it comes to issues affecting fish stocks, we are not the culprits.  As I referred to at the start, I am disappointed. Was it a question of efficiency or a deliberate decision to ignore the question I asked? I believe I speak for all of my colleagues on the fisheries committee when I say there should be a full and complete reform of the SFPA. That is urgently required. What is a minor offence in Europe is a criminal offence here. When I came back into this House again in 2016, I saw a statutory instrument affecting penalty points being laid before the House. I will not go into the detail but I pioneered the overturning of that instrument, a first in the history of this State and of this House. I got that through this House. Of course, my back was not out the door when my own party went into government in 2020. I will speak about one of the first things that was done. The file was presented to two Ministers, who were unfortunately only in place for a short time. I refer to Barry Cowen and the Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary. They did not deal with it. They wanted to find a political solution. However, the leader of my party, who was acting as Minister for fisheries in the intervening period, had the file put under his nose and signed it, overturning the earlier decision. I do not know who will be here the longest but I doubt whoever it is will ever see a statutory instrument being overturned in the way I pioneered. What was done was wrong and I cannot blame anyone but those in my party. We need to set up a new office to engage with the European Commission. I recommend that to the Minister of State.  The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, referred to the establishment of a working group. I know he worked very hard and made tremendous efforts. He met various ministers in Europe and contacted others. However, he was not successful. Those are the very same people who should be seen to help the smaller countries but they are taking advantage of the oceans off the coast of Ireland. The Minister of State is setting up a working group under the auspices of Food Vision 2030 to develop a framework of supports. As we have said all along, it is not funding we need but fish. We are now in a dire situation. All of those in the industry, whether producers, processors or those working in the factories, need to be represented. I also recommended that the Minister of State should get the banks involved, if possible. The banks must now freeze any repayments that fishermen are unable to pay. These will build up with interest and the banks have a duty to assist. They did enough damage over the years in making money available to those who possibly should not have got it in other sectors. The Minister of State should do that. I am glad to hear that he has recommended the appointment of a chairman and that all of the sectors will be involved. Those who are working in the factories should also be involved in this.  I will give the Minister of State the facts. As a result of the Brexit deal, we lost 26% of the value of our quotas overnight in December 2020. I made reference to Michel Barnier, who was largely responsible for that, but I do not blame him alone. I blame the Government of the day and the Ministers of that time, whether the Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Minister for the marine. They should never have allowed that to happen. They did it in the interests of mother Ireland but, for the second or perhaps umpteenth time, they threw the fishing sector under the bus. We entered the European Union in 1973. Of course, over the years, we have had major benefits as a result, culminating in the opening of a market of over 500 million people for the export of our goods and services, but who paid the price? The fishing industry paid the price then and it is now paying the price once more.  There is a Council meeting tomorrow. I know it is all arranged in advance but, as I have said before, even though the agenda has been set, when the Taoiseach goes to Brussels tomorrow, he should raise this issue with his counterparts from all of the European states under any other business. That would indicate the importance of the matter. I have also tabled a question to the Taoiseach to find out who he contacted prior to the decision on fisheries because he did say that he would make efforts to make contact. I know what the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, has done. I will get a reply to a parliamentary question to him but I am also awaiting a reply from the Taoiseach as to whom he contacted. Did he contact the Danes, who hold the Presidency? What other countries did he contact? If that had happened, they may have taken a different attitude.  It is very unfair that a blocking minority of a few of the larger countries can block us from getting the Hague preferences. They have been in place since 1976 and never had to be invoked because, from 1976 to 1988, they were always included in the TAC. That was also the case from 1988 onwards. As I have said, I had experience of that in the past.  Some will say that we will have the Presidency next year and that we will review the Common Fisheries Policy. We can talk about reviews but reviews will end up in the same percentage of the cake going to the various countries involved. The Minister of State mentioned something. I hope he will put it on the table. We should try it. However, I have seen reviews, including mid-term reviews, come and go without any iota of change being made.  T\u00e1 \u00e1thas orm an deis seo a fh\u00e1il chun an cheist th\u00e1bhachtach seo a phl\u00e9, c\u00e9 gur phl\u00e9igh muid \u00ed i gcoiste na n-iascach ag t\u00fas na seachtaine. Beidh muidne ag cur b\u00e9ime ar an cheist seo thar ceann thionscal na hiascaireachta, na n-iascair\u00ed, na monarchana, na ndaoine at\u00e1 ag obair sna monarchana agus na ndaoine eile at\u00e1 ag brath ar thionscal na hiascaireachta. Beimid ag coinne\u00e1il s\u00fail gh\u00e9ar ar an Aire St\u00e1it, an Teachta Timmy Dooley, agus ag tabhairt l\u00e1n-taca\u00edochta d\u00f3 agus \u00e9 ag d\u00e9anamh a dh\u00edcheall thar ceann an tionscail seo. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  What we have seen over the past few weeks is an absolute and abject failure of the Common Fisheries Policy.  Even the 1996 Hague preferences have failed. That was the very mechanism that was set up to guarantee Ireland a minimum level of fish to catch in our own waters. That is what it would have meant. However, France, Germany, Poland and the Netherlands banded together to ensure that not even a boat could be taken on it. The truth is that Ireland's fishing industry has suffered a death by a thousand cuts. I come from Mayo, a huge coastal county. I have watched it over the years. Along with the fishing families, I have watched huge trawlers behave absolutely recklessly because they were legally allowed to do it. Then, we have the criminalisation of fishermen and fishing families at the same time. What has happened here should not a surprise to us but it is an absolute shock. It is a shock to the system and it is a shock that has to be corrected. The truth is that the EU has failed Ireland's fishing industry repeatedly but so has the Government. The EU got used to successive governments allowing it to happen over and over again. As Sinn F\u00e9in's fisheries spokesperson, Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn, said earlier, the EU-based corporations were allegedly complicit in investing in fleets in third countries and benefiting from inflated quotas while fishing families and fishing communities here have to suffer. We need a radical reset of the fishing industry and of fishing across the board.  I also take the opportunity to tell the Minister of State what is happening and to ask him to come to Mayo to meet with the anglers and the draft net licence holders there. What Government is attempting to do is to put an absolute blanket ban on fishing. Even if we take the Moy complex of 60 miles of rivers, 12 fisheries, 115 rivers and 20 lakes, will the Minister of State put what he is proposing to do for the coming season on hold to have proper consultation with the fishermen and the tourism bodies and to have a proper impact assessment on what he is proposing to do there? Will he please put it on hold while this consultation takes place to hear the severe impact this would have? It cannot be allowed to happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  The Irish fishing industry and coastal communities are well-used to being the whipping boy over many years and much of this has been put on record. Taking the statement from the Seafood Ireland Alliance, it states that the EU Fisheries Council deal was \"a betrayal of Ireland's fishing industry\". One of the alliance members said that \"the failure delivers a \u20ac94 million hit and threatens the survival of many Irish vessels and seafood businesses\" and that \"the consequences will be catastrophic\". The alliance reports that the Irish fishing industry will have 57,000 tonnes less quota to fish in 2026 and is now at risk. It said over 2,300 jobs in costal communities face immediate danger and the wider impacts could reach \u20ac200 million loss next year. As another of its members stated: \"Non-EU states ignored science and inflated their catches. They created this crisis. Ireland fished responsibly, yet we now carry what are proportionately the heaviest losses.\" Another said that \"less quota means less fish and less work\" and that \"many plants may not survive this blow without raw material\u201d while another stated that \"we now have a situation when our fleet of fishing vessels are left with 28 tonnes of sole to catch in 2026 on the south coast of Ireland, when Belgium has 450 tonnes.\" The alliance statement concluded by saying: \"Once again as in Brexit, Ireland has been left carrying a burden created by others. This is unjust and shows the European Union in a very bad light in its failure to protect the interests of small Member States.\"  Deputy Conway-Walsh asked what the Minister of State is going to do. What we have here is abject failure. Whether I am talking about those who fish out of Dundalk or those in Clogherhead, we are looking at absolute disaster. This is ground zero and we need an answer. There has been abject failure by the European Union and the Government needs to stand up. At this point, these people's backs are to the wall and they need some element of support. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  I welcome representatives from the fishing industry who are here in the Gallery today, particularly John Lynch from Howth. The Fisheries Council meeting which took place in Brussels last week can be described as nothing short of a disaster for Ireland\u2019s fishing industry. It is extremely important that we put into perspective how much Irish society relies on the fishing industry. More than 15,000 people are working in the seafood sector, there are 101 seafood processors, and the industry contributes \u20ac1.3 billion to our economy annually. Critically, it provides Irish people with food security. Those who work in our seafood sector, be it on the water itself or in the processing sector on land, ensure Irish people have reliable and consistent access to food. We can not underestimate the importance of this, given the current geopolitical climate and the weaponisation of food in some corners of the globe. The outcome of the Fisheries Council places all of this at risk.  Fishing organisations estimate that the EU fishing quotas could cost up to 2,300 jobs. What are these people to do? The fishing industry is all they know. Are they expected to learn a new trade and no longer follow their family\u2019s tradition? What will this cost the State when these people have no access to income and must seek assistance from the Department of Social Protection? What destruction will this cause to coastal communities right across Ireland? The industry will have approximately 57,000 tonnes less to fish next year and is facing a quota reduction to the value of \u20ac94 million and a possible loss of \u20ac200 million when we consider processing, logistics and export. This is simply devastating. We must be honest here and call out the countries which orchestrated this attack on Ireland. Clearly, France, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Latvia and Denmark have their fingerprints all over this orchestrated attack on the Irish fishing industry. These larger countries are attempting to bully Ireland and we must not let them. Let us not forget that these are the countries that have benefited the most from Ireland paying 40% of the transfers to the UK to retain access to UK waters in the aftermath of Brexit. We must have a return as a matter of urgency to the Hague preferences and we must stand up to these countries and to Europe. The European Commission has failed to uphold its obligation to deliver an agreed and balanced outcome and has offered no support to a smaller member state such as Ireland that has been effectively overpowered by a dominant blocking minority.  I urge the Minister and the Taoiseach to consider formally writing to the Commission or the President of the Council to restate that the Hague preferences form an integral part of the Common Fisheries Policy. The Hague preferences were designed to provide Ireland with safeguards in the event of declining fish stocks in return for permitting other member states to fish within Ireland\u2019s EEZ. That understanding has now been undermined and Ireland should notify the Commission that, as a consequence, the Common Fishery Policy will cease to apply from 1 January 2026, with Irish waters closed to all states other than the UK from that date. Responsibility for the mackerel dispute rests squarely with Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Russia, all of which have unilaterally set mackerel quotas far in excess of their historical entitlements. The Commission has repeatedly failed to address this situation by not leveraging access to EU markets as an effective means of enforcement. Our permanent representation in Brussels also has to stand up and fight this.  We also have to properly equip our Defence Forces so that they have the real, practical capacity to prevent overfishing. This means ensuring our Naval Service has the vessels, technology and personnel required to patrol our waters effectively, enforce quotas and hold those who are breaking the rules to account.  If we are serious about the sustainability of the fishing industry, about protecting fish stocks for future generations, and about defending the livelihoods of our coastal communities, then enforcement cannot be an afterthought. We must consider all of our options here and not allow ourselves to be bullied by a minority group who think they can throw their weight around. The industry will be decimated otherwise. Thousands of jobs are at risk here. We owe it to those people to act and to ensure that their livelihoods are protected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I am glad to have the opportunity to contribute to this debate. At the outset, I acknowledge the huge efforts the Minister of State made personally, along with his team, in the negotiation field in the past few weeks. Every effort was made by the Minister of State and his team to try to get a good deal for Ireland. What has really happened here is a ganging up of other European countries. We often talk in this political arena about how there can be paralysis of decision-making in the United Nations and in that whole political sphere.  When it comes to fishing, there certainly was a ganging-up against Irish fishermen the other night. Neither the State, the Minister of State nor his Department can be faulted for that. What is at stake here is very serious. If we are to believe the analysis of the past few days, the fallout of this could see up to one in seven jobs in fishing being lost, with a \u20ac94 million loss and a huge shock to the industry overall.  Several things are happening in the sphere of agri-fisheries at the moment. The nitrates derogation has been extended for a three-year period. The Mercosur deal will potentially be voted on in the coming days. I am no expert whatsoever on fisheries. We need the context as to where this development fits with all the other issues that are subject to negotiation at this time. There is a real fear among the farming community that in spite of Ireland saying vociferously time and again that it has a whole set of concerns regarding Mercosur, the position still is not clear. There is even some talk that member states could vote on it by the end of the week.  To put Mercosur in context, 85% of farming in my county of Clare is based on suckler beef. It is the beef heartland of Ireland. As the Minister of State knows well, most cattle reared in County Clare are on pasture for seven or eight months of the year before being housed and fed silage concentrates or hay, although the latter is less common these days. This produces a superior quality of animal. There are Bord Bia checks, annual tuberculosis tests and genomic testing. A high-quality, healthy, environmentally produced beef animal then enters the food chain after approximately two years.  That contrasts very sharply with the type of animal being reared in the South American system, where rainforests are being felled en masse , artificially creating pasture where it never existed, and cattle are housed for month upon mouth and fed with grain and concentrate, fattening them artificially to get a higher market price. None of that sits congruently with the Irish system of a grass-fed animal making its way through the local mart as a weanling, then being fattened up and entering the beef chain after two years. It is wrong under any lens, whether the lens of quality of beef or the environmental lens, that Ireland should even consider signing up to the Mercosur deal.  Everything is of consequence here. A good deal was struck for Ireland in the past few days on the nitrates directive. Then we were sold a pup by other European states in terms of fishing quotas. In a matter of days, potentially, if it is not postponed until February, we will have a vote on Mercosur. I asked earlier at Questions on Policy or Legislation what Ireland's position is on Mercosur and, in particular, how these three different negotiated schemes fit together. People will say they are separate, as they undoubtedly are, but that is not how European politics works. Different member states will have their advisers, ministers and negotiating teams horse trading in these negotiations. Given where we had been at with the nitrates directive and where the fisheries deal ended up landing despite everyone's best efforts, I fear we will sign up to Mercosur. I strongly caution against it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  I stood with colleagues across the House two short months ago to ask the Minister of State to ensure the Government would start standing up to the EU and demanding fairness and justice for Irish fishing communities. Following the recent outcome of the EU's Agriculture and Fisheries Council, that demand is clearly being put to the test. This outcome is disastrous for our fishing industry. We need the Government to protect our fishermen and coastal communities, particularly those in the west, which is already recognised by the EU as a region that is underdeveloped and lagging behind other parts of Europe.  In real terms, we are looking at vessels that could be at sea for fewer than ten or 12 days a year and factories that once worked three to five months a year down to two or three weeks. Fish processing is a major employer in Galway, particularly in Connemara, and this would have a devastating effect on jobs in an area that is already struggling in terms of employment. Fishers in Galway are looking for the Government to expand the quota. This outcome would do just the opposite. We cannot afford to take this without a fight.  Bh\u00ed an tAire St\u00e1it at\u00e1 freagrach as an iascaireacht i Ros an Mh\u00edl le d\u00e9ana\u00ed liom f\u00e9in agus le daoine eile agus is eol d\u00f3 c\u00e9 chomh t\u00e1bhachtach at\u00e1 c\u00farsa\u00ed iascaireachta in iarthar na h\u00c9ireann, i gConamara agus ar na hoile\u00e1in amach \u00f3n gc\u00f3sta. T\u00e1 a fhios againn go mbeadh s\u00e9 uaf\u00e1sach d\u00e1 gcuirf\u00ed na hathruithe seo ar chuala muid f\u00fathu \u00f3n Aontas Eorpach i bhfeidhm. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 thar am don Rialtas seo agus don Aire St\u00e1it seasamh suas don Aontas Eorpach ar mhaithe leis na ceantair at\u00e1 ag brath ar iascaireacht agus ar mhaithe leis na hiascair\u00ed iad f\u00e9in agus a gcuid teaghlach. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 f\u00edorth\u00e1bhachtach go nd\u00e9anfadh an tAire St\u00e1it chuile sh\u00f3rt gur f\u00e9idir leis chun an bealach maireacht\u00e1la seo a chosaint chomh maith leis an eacnama\u00edocht at\u00e1 ag brath air, is \u00e9 sin, an eacnama\u00edocht ar fud iarthar na h\u00c9ireann agus ar an gc\u00f3sta. Imp\u00edm ar an Aire St\u00e1it chuile sh\u00f3rt gur f\u00e9idir leis a dh\u00e9anamh chun a chinnti\u00fa nach gcuirtear na hathruithe seo i bhfeidhm. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in  The EU has failed Ireland's fishing industry repeatedly and we are once more paying the price for the chronic overfishing of shared stocks by big boats from third countries. The recent EU fisheries deal from Brussels is a betrayal of the fishing industry and has been described as catastrophic. We are talking about 2,300 community jobs in coastal communities, including in Arklow and Courtown, being in immediate danger. The Seafood Ireland Alliance has estimated a loss of \u20ac94 million to our fishing industry, with wider economic impacts reaching up to \u20ac200 million by next year.  We need a radical reset of the meek approach of the Government. The Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste must urgently intervene to make it clear Ireland will not stand for this. We need to know whether the Government, for once, will stand up for Ireland and passionately represent the interests of Ireland in the EU, not the other way around of slavishly representing the EU's interests in Ireland. We are an island and a seafaring nation, with our people travelling as far away as Iceland for more than 1,000 years. Following last Saturday's Brussels sellout, this is the darkest hour for the Irish fishing industry.  I have often referred in this Chamber to Arklow fisherman CJ Gaffney and his family. Their situation typifies the Government's do-nothing approach. A family and their livelihood are destroyed and this has been going on for 16 years. There was repeated advice that there are funds available to compensate them but that the Government must draw them down. Seven successive Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il Governments have been repeatedly requested to do so but, it seems, they simply did not want to draw down the funds. One might ask why. It would cost the Government nothing to do so. Is it because it might highlight the lack of interest of the previous seven Governments and previous Ministers? I do not know. I will leave that for others to decide.  I am looking across at the bronze statues of people I assume we are supposed to be honouring in this Chamber. I see Cathal Brugha in front of me, P\u00e1draig Pearse trasna anseo, Tom Clarke trasna ansin agus ar an taobh eile uaimse, James Connolly. I wonder what they would think of an approach that always seems to be about selling Ireland short or selling it out. Ceapaim go mbeadh n\u00e1ire orthu. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I welcome to the Gallery representatives of the fishing sector. I see Patrick Murphy, whom I met on Sunday, and others there. They have always had the heart of the fisherman at the forefront of their efforts. Fishers are going through a dreadful situation. The previous speaker referred to a sellout but, in fact, we did not sell out; what we had was taken away from us. If we got something for it, that might be something, but we did not.  We find ourselves in a farcical situation and it has been heading that way for a long time. It has been going that way since I came into the House ten years ago. We have been turning a blind eye to small things like fuel rebates. We were calling for action and asking the Minister to look for it in Europe. No chance of that. Why bother? We are letting on to be the weak link in Europe in relation to fishing. I was very pleased when the Minister of State was appointed to his role with responsibility for fisheries. I always see huge potential in regard to fishing and I always felt fishers were thrown to the dogs but I welcomed his appointment. I know he was out there fighting his case last week but the question must be asked as to where the Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste and the Minister were. The Minister of State cannot stand on his own in these incredibly difficult times. When the power of the mighty is hanging like a rod over his head, it is impossible to do this on his own.  They were missing in action. That is basically what happened. I know the Minister of State cannot agree with me, but they are the facts. I have been saying it for long enough here. I said it during Brexit when Barnier - to be honest, he does not deserve to be called by his first name - pulled a fast stroke on us. I pleaded with the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste at the time to enter into negotiations on behalf of Ireland. It should have been the leadership of this country and not thrown over to a Frenchman to look after Irish fishing interests. We knew where that was going to go, as we all found out.  I thank the Ceann Comhairle and the Chief Whip for allowing this debate, which I immediately sought on Friday night. We sent an e-mail and in fairness, over the weekend the Chief Whip and the Ceann Comhairle worked towards making sure that there was a debate and to give people a chance. Like I said yesterday, even the dogs in the street know that Ireland has always been badly treated by Europe when it comes to its fishermen. D\u00e9j\u00e0 vu is once again upon us, whereby the Christmas present from Europe is the betrayal of our coastal communities. I was here when Michel Barnier gave us his word that Ireland would get a fair deal from the Brexit negotiations. As we know, he was the one who threw us under the bus. I think he has done it again this time.  What we seem to forget is that the Government of the day signed up to it warning that a \"No\" deal was worse, but the problem for our coastal communities is that it could not be worse. We were an island nation rich with fish. Once fish were swimming up to the rocks all around our island, supporting the thousands of fishing families. Boats were on every island and filling coastal piers. This was the picture when we joined Europe in 1973. In 1976, our so-called friends in Europe set about drafting a plan, which is now known as the Common Fisheries Policy. They told us that we must regulate the fishing fleets of Europe to - guess what - protect these valuable fish stocks. They asked each country to record the fish that every fisherman was catching, while the others were already hoovering up the fish in our waters. The result was that we the Irish, with our seas full of our fish, made it so our fishermen stayed at home. We did not need to travel very far to fill our boats, only 12 miles out from our rugged shoreline. Foreign vessels were also fishing and filling their boats and sailing home out of Irish fishing grounds with Irish fish. When the figures that were collected were analysed, Ireland had little or nothing in comparison to the visiting fleets, which had it all. They said we would have to be given the opportunity to build and grow. Was that not nice of them? They set quotas to protect our abundant seas and that changed to total allowable catch, limiting each fleet to their historic records. They promised us it would ensure we would all have plenty of fish if we followed the rules. Relative stability was created. This was introduced for the benefit of coastal communities. Figures and percentages were set. They told us that when the number of fish increased, the fishermen would get to catch more. Ireland and England were given an assurance that if the plentiful stocks decreased due to overfishing, we would not suffer the same cuts as those visiting our waters, especially when they had the bigger share to begin with. They called this the Hague preferences. All agreed that this was necessary to ensure once again the relative stability for the island nations that gave access to the other foreign fleets into their sovereign waters.  The Minister of State should stop me if I am wrong. This was the reality for 49 years until last Friday. Now Belgian beam trawlers can leave their ports, enter Irish waters and take home 400 tonnes of black sole, while our fishermen get 28 tonnes. Like I said, it is d\u00e9j\u00e0 vu : English fishermen after Brexit got 99% of Irish sea herring and we got a miserable 1%.  I have some questions for the Minister of State. Will he stand with Irish fishermen and their families that go back generations? They have lost loved ones to the sea. Will he stand with those in our coastal communities who earn their living from the fish landed by our hard-working, brave and honest fishermen? Will he challenge this wrong, once and for all, and put his own people first? Does he and this Government even want us to have a fishing fleet going forward? Given that the Hague preferences were formally invoked by Ireland, lawfully blocked by a minority number of four member states, and resulted in severe quota losses for Irish fishing communities, will the Minister of State accept the political responsibility for the outcome of those negotiations and outline what he will do differently to ensure this situation is reversed?  Will the Minister of State confirm that he and his officials formally invoked the Hague preferences? Could he tell us who blocked them, the minority of four member states and the cost that will fall on our country? What action did he take at Council level once it became clear that Ireland's legal safeguard was being denied? Is it not true that foreign countries are already benefiting to the tune of 85% of the stocks in Ireland's waters, and will this now increase? This is what I call theft: the application of the Hague preferences was to prevent a disproportionate impact on Ireland's pelagic and small-scale fishing fleets. Now we know the cuts are even greater, what will he do for our fishermen to stop them from losing their livelihoods and Ireland from losing its fish supply?  Independent Ireland calls on the Minister of State and his Department to immediately look at the socio-economic impact this will have, not just on Ireland's seafood industry but on each category of vessel, based on its size, and the individual opportunities for the coming year, 2026. Now that it is established without doubt that the Common Fisheries Policy has failed in its legal obligations to the people of Ireland, will the Minister of State seek compensation from Europe for our coastal communities that are most dependent on these stocks, and that have been decimated by the fleets pillaging our waters? Does he believe, as I do, that we have the right to retain a viable, sustainable fishing industry ,or is it the right of mainland member states to take so much that it destroys the resource itself?  My final questions relate to why some countries with so little to lose stood against us. In the Minister of State's meeting with his Polish colleague, did he give an explanation as to why for the first time in 49 years, they chose in 2026 to deny our right to invoke the Hague preferences? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I have very little time. This has to be appealed in every court in our land and in Europe. We have to stand up to them. It is up to the Minister of State. It is up to Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. It is up to this Government to now stand with Irish fishermen. If it does not, and we see that happen in the next month, it will be an abject failure and the Government will be to blame. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  This has been one of the worst deals in living memory when it comes to the Common Fisheries Policy. Irish fish are effectively being stolen by the European Union, which is what is happening. We are on the periphery of Europe. We have ceded so much ground to our counterparts across Europe. Some 57,000 tonnes of quota will be lost to Irish fishermen next year, which will affect more than 2,000 jobs.  I was very concerned when I heard the Minister of State's statement about going to the national Exchequer for a compensation scheme. Our first priority must be to go back to Europe and, if necessary, to initiate legal proceedings in the European Court of Justice to ensure the Hague preferences are guaranteed. We must protect fishers, our indigenous sector and the coastline. A compensation scheme may be necessary but I urge him as a first step to work across Europe to gain support and to issue legal proceedings in this regard. We cannot and must not accept this. Irish fishermen would be better off to register as Belgians, Dutch, Germans or French and to fly their flags over their vessels than our own, in our own waters. I spoke to a fisherman yesterday who said his vessel will be docked in the harbour while he watches the Germans and the French come in with their vessels, take our fish and load their articulated trucks and go back to Europe. That is what is happening. That is what happened last Friday night. It is unacceptable. I urge the Minister of State to fight for our coastal communities. There is a 70% reduction in mackerel, a 41% reduction in blue whiting and a 22% reduction in boarfish. What makes this so egregious is that there was a long-standing agreement and safeguard, which was discarded last Friday night. It is the same safeguard the Government will talk about when it comes to the Mercosur trade deal: \"we have a safeguard lads, there is no need to worry.\" We saw how the safeguard was disregarded last Friday. The fear I have with the Mercosur trade deal is that the safeguard and backstop is no safeguard whatsoever. In fact, beef prices could fall by almost 50% over a five-year period and no handbrake would be pulled in relation to this.  We must reject the deal. We cannot accept it. I ask the Minister of State to go back to the European Court of Justice and make sure that we get a fair deal for Irish fishermen in Irish waters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  I join colleagues in expressing my deep disappointment at the decision taken by a group of EU member states to block that deployment of the Hague preferences for higher proportional quotas. That decision has left Ireland uniquely exposed to nearly 70% loss in the allowable catch for mackerel in this country, a reduction that would have been mitigated by this long-standing and agreed protection mechanism for Ireland. Mackerel is Ireland's most valuable catch, worth \u20ac94 million in exports last year to premium European and Asian markets. This reduction in quota will slash that figure by a huge amount - \u20ac82 million plus in one year - with combined losses to the wider economy in terms of processing and other activities being considerably higher.  I know that catch limits have consistently exceeded levels recommended by conservationists and action has to be taken to replenish mackerel stocks in particular. However, it is not Irish coastal communities that have caused this devastating reduction. According to NAPA's figures recently, in one week alone in 2023, Norwegian vessels caught over 40,000 tonnes of mackerel. They caught over 40,000 tonnes of mackerel in one week alone. That single week's haul is worth more than Ireland's total allowable catch for all of 2025 and almost four times the recommended quota for 2026 under this deal. Very big numbers are being taken by other states. Ireland will undoubtedly be hit harder by these charges than these other states, yet it is Ireland that pays the price for their unsustainable fishing practices.  I know, as does the Minister of State, just how important fishing is for our coastal communities. The Minister of State visited Howth harbour, in my constituency, with me and he was welcome there. He is always welcome to come out. It demonstrates the role this sector plays in sustaining the vibrancy of small but well-defined coastal communities. Howth is one of six big fisheries, as the Minister of State knows. I thank him for his visit. He saw the thriving local economy, supported by the harbour. Everything that happens around the harbour, commercial businesses, the activity in the harbour itself, seafood restaurants and tourism, leisure and all the other activities, are supported by the harbour itself. Communities like Howth will need meaningful supports over the coming months to respond appropriately to these challenges.  I welcome the Minister of State's indication that he will bring a memo to Cabinet to start to try to address the fallout of this discussion while we continue to fight the case abroad. The significant support that we provide to farmers and to the agrifood sector must be replicated for fisheries. There is no choice. We have to do it. Fisheries are vital to the future of the country and to the communities that rely on them for their livelihood in so many different ways. Trust seems to have disintegrated between Ireland and the EU on fisheries policies. It looks like some of the larger member states have effectively prioritised their Mediterranean fleets and activities and failed to honour that protection mechanism that has been fundamental to the Atlantic-facing Irish fishing industry for so long. It is hard to avoid the conclusion that we are being pushed around by larger member states into accepting outcomes that favour larger fishing nations. The Minister of State has my full support and my colleagues' full support to continue to fight the cause on this issue for the communities that we represent. I encourage him again to bring that memo to Cabinet so we can support communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  As the Minister of State is well aware, our maritime territory is one of the largest in the EU. It is a vast resource ten times the size of our landmass. Given this scale, Ireland should be a leader in European fisheries. Our beef and dairy farmers have set the golden standard on the world stage. There is no reason our fishing industry should not be the same. Yet since the 1983 Common Fisheries Policy, our coastal communities have been relegated to second class status within the EU. We have seen preferential treatment granted to other member states. We have watched as third country vessels operate brazenly in our water, often overfishing with little to no consequences. Now, we face the latest betrayal, the threat of deeper quota cuts, combined by the blocking of the Hague preferences by our so-called EU partners. This is a mechanism designed to protect vulnerable nations like Ireland. This is not just a policy adjustment; it puts over 2,000 jobs in our coastal communities at immediate risk. The knock-on effect will cripple towns and villages already stretched to their limit by depopulation and economic neglect.  What is becoming clear is that Ireland's primary producers are under attack. We see it in the Mercosur deal - a threat to flood our markets with substandard beef, undermining our farmers and the standards of food on our shelves. We see it here in the calculated move to deny Ireland its fair share and its rightful protections. The spirit of mutual co-operation and respect upon which the EU was founded is being broken. It is time for this Government to move beyond polite requests and to take a firm stance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  We can all agree that the decision to vote against Ireland on the Hague preferences by the so-called EU member states is a statement of intent. With a stroke of a pen, they have devastated the Irish fishing industry. Off the coast of my own County Wexford, Irish vessels are left with 28 tonnes of sole, while Belgium has 450 tonnes. In fact, in one week, the Norwegian fleet caught 40,000 tonnes of mackerel, the entire quota allowed for the Irish fleet. The trend goes on. Fishers are getting a raw and unjust deal. The facts are in black and white. Number one is the devastating quota cuts - 57,000 tonnes less in 2026, an estimated loss of \u20ac200 million a year, and the threat of a loss of 2,300 direct jobs. Number two is the Hague preferences were undermined. Number three is the monopolisation of the fishing industry by the so-called big five. The influence they wield in European Union circles is not questioned, yet they hold more sway than our own Government. Has the Minister or the T\u00e1naiste questioned this or called for an investigation into these nefarious lobbying practices? Will the Minister seek legal advice and legally challenge the dismissal of the 49-year-old Hague preference agreement that protected and recognises Ireland's right to its territorial waters and the fish that is caught there as a natural resource belonging to the Irish people?  Surely there is a clear case of custom and practice here. Surely there is a case to bring this before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. The Irish fishers accept the scientific findings, but they are rightly infuriated by the inflated quotas given to countries that are not members of the EU, yet these countries benefit while our own Irish fleet are the ones paying the ultimate penalties for something they did not do. Fishers across the country, including my own maritime County Wexford, want to know what is plan B. Is there any plan B? What life supports are being put in place? What legal actions, if any, are being taken on the Hague preference agreement? Will there be an investigation on how the big five are able to influence EU policy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am glad to get the opportunity to talk about this very serious matter. When we talk about fishermen, we are talking about an awful lot of people. We are talking about coastal communities and people who depend on it so much to eke a living. It is often dangerous and contrary. People have gone through a lot to put the fleets that they have together. To think that in some room somewhere with a stroke of a pen that we can destroy up to 2,300 jobs in the fishing industry in our own country is one of the most serious things that has happened since I came to D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann in 2016. I might be a small bit away from the sea, but I am not that far. I have known all my life people like Michael Orpen and all those people who did so much to employ people from Castletownbere all the way over along and down into Cahersiveen and back to Dingle. So many people have given so much to the industry and employed so many people. This is going to finish us altogether.  People were not happy with the fishing they had. It is about three years since I have seen a mackerel. We know for a long time that something has gone wrong and now this complicates it further. I am telling the Minister and Minister of State that we cannot accept this. They will have to pull out all the stops whatever it takes. It will not do to do it here. They have go into whatever room this is decided in and threaten them with everything. We have more miles of seashore in our little country. It was one of the biggest industries we had. It was actually the English who taught us how to fish back in the 1600s. We complained about them a lot over the years but this is one of the good things they did but we have let it go and that is not satisfactory in their eyes, my eyes or anyone's eyes. To think that there will be foreign vessels fishing off our shores and fellas will be standing on the seashore looking out at them is not fair. I am asking the Minister and the Minister of State to ensure that they work together with the Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste and all the Ministers to ensure that whatever veto they can use is used or whatever they can do is done because their fate and our fate will be decided if this is going to be the end result of it.  We have had the short straw since we joined the European Union but this is cause enough for me anyway to say that we will have to withdraw from a lot of their carry-on if we are going to lose our own fishing waters. Since we joined the EU, we have not had the benefit of them totally like we should have had. We saw a demonstration when we were in the convention centre during Covid. The fishing fleet came up the river and represented themselves so correctly and so properly. Nobody had the one story. The fishermen all had their own different stories and they were very interesting to listen to. Sadly, whatever has happened now has superseded all that for the worse. It is not good enough for people.  When fishermen are affected, many coastal communities are affected. Everyone was getting a bit out of it, including the shopkeeper, the publican, the garage, fitters and the small processors. This is going to be devastating. The one thing I was very proud of was seeing lorry after lorry coming from Castletownbere going up through our village in the dark of night and maybe going down again in the middle of the night. They seem to operate at night because the road is so bad, they can see the lights and it is safer it for them to travel at night. We appreciate them for the work they have been doing diligently and without any error.  It is nothing that Ireland has done. We have not let Europe down but we are being taken to the cleaners. Christmas Day is coming. It will be here in less than a week but the Minister and the Minister of State cannot sit down during that time. They have to ensure they put a strategy in place to teach them a lesson that they cannot come into Irish waters. We own them. That is the starting point. They should only be let in if we let them in. They should be threatened with whatever bit of artillery we have because it is our property, our coastline, our jobs and our people who are being affected. It is time that we stood up and took no more of their bull because that is what they are giving us. They are giving us nothing and we are just begging for everything - begging for the derogation and begging for Mercosur. We are entitled to live as well as the Brazilians or anyone else that is interfering with our markets. They are interfering with our commodity here in fish that has been cleaned out and we just stand idly by. That cannot happen. I am asking the Minister and the Minister of State to work together to ensure that it does not happen.  I welcome the gentlemen in the Public Gallery. They are concerned and we are all concerned with them. We have to stand with them. We have to do something more drastic than what we are doing because we have not been good enough up to now. We were taken to the cleaners and I am asking the Government to put an end to it once and for all. This is more serious than any other thing that has happened in the past 15 or 20 years because we were bad enough up until then but now we have been cleaned out altogether. I am very upset about this. It is a very serious matter for people whose lives depend on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I thank Deputies for their contributions and the Minister of State for his contribution earlier in the session, for being here for the entire debate and for his ongoing stellar work in what has been a really difficult year. I also recognise also the presence of representatives of industry. I thank them for being in Brussels last week. It was good to meet with them over there. I also thank them also for their close collaboration. Their close work with the Minister of State has given us the best chance to work together as well as we can in what has been a really difficult time.  The range and the passion in the contributions speak to the importance this issue holds in our rural coastal communities. It is important to remember that Ireland has received 120,000 tonnes of quota to fish for 2026. This is a reduction from last year of valuable stocks such as mackerel and nephrops but we will ensure that this quota is managed carefully. The quota management advisory committee, which includes representatives of all sectors of the industry, the marine agencies and my Department, has already engaged on planning for 2026. While cognisant of the impact the reduction of quarter for important species will have on our fleet, we also need to be conscious of the potential impact of reduced quota on our inshore fleet. The reduction in quota from pelagic species like mackerel and blue whiting is unlikely to shift additional focus to non-quota stocks in the short term. However, it will have an impact on the price of bait. The sector reports that bait accounts for approximately 20% of inshore vessel expenses. The development of alternative sources of bait is vitally important in supporting the inshore sector's viability. BIM and ATU Galway are working on innovative solutions, including green crab-based bait blocks. Initial trials have shown promising results with further testing planned in 2026.  A common theme of the contributions has been the implication of Ireland's Hague preferences. We need to be clear as we were last week on what the Hague preferences are. To recap, the Hague preference system recognises Ireland's heavy dependency on the stocks in the waters around Ireland and the fact that we have relatively low quota entitlements to these stocks, particularly whitefish, under the Common Fisheries Policy. The system grants Ireland a larger share of certain stocks when the absolute amounts allocated via the relative stability share fall below a certain level. This was to mitigate the low residence stability share Ireland that was achieved by Ireland's underdeveloped sector based on the track record in the years immediately after accession in 1973 and considering the substantial additional waters available to the EEC-EU when Ireland expanded its exclusive economic zone from 1976 onwards. The Hague preferences are based on commitments made in annex 7 of the Council resolution on 3 November 1976 - the Hague resolution - to take account of the vital needs of communities that were especially dependent on fishing when allocating fishing quotas to each of the member states. This commitment was later quantified as specified minimum quantities of quota for certain fish stocks to be allocated to certain fisheries-dependent communities. The regions to which they applied were Ireland and northern parts of the UK. The Hague preferences are invoked during the annual TAC and quota process. They have to be agreed by member states of the December council and are often the subject of difficult negotiations.  Following the UK's withdrawal from the, EU Ireland is the only member state that benefits from these preferences. While the additional quota benefits Irish fishers, it must come from somewhere else. The countries affected by this were Belgium, Denmark, France, the Netherlands, Germany and, to a modest extent, Poland. However, other than mackerel, it has a very low impact on Germany and Netherlands. There has been strong opposition from some member states to the principle of the Hague preferences. These member states argued that they were taken into account when allocation keys were first established in 1983.  With the Common Fisheries Policy framework regulation, the Hague preferences are recognised as forming part of relative stability in the allocation of fish stocks between member states. Ireland has consistently and successfully argued that relative stability has therefore to be applied when taking due account of prior Hague agreements. However, these were the subject of a European Court of Justice judgment in 1998, which convinced some member states the application of the Hague preferences takes place at the discretion of the Council rather than being an automatic legal entitlement for Ireland.  A key question both this afternoon and at the committee yesterday was what legal action Ireland will take in respect of the exclusion of Ireland's Hague preferences from the compromise text. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, was quite clear at the committee yesterday, and I echo his view, that legal advice will be sought on any and all further actions that may be possible. We will consider that advice carefully. However, the more important message from our fishing sector is that it wants fish. Fish must be managed sustainably as when a stock is depleted, it will stay that way unless we take actions to support its regrowth. The Minister of State has outlined the most recent development in relation to the total allowable catch of mackerel in the Atlantic. We will engage closely with the EU while it considers its position in light of the recent actions by Norway, the UK, Iceland and the Faroes.  Meanwhile, we must recognise that our fishing and seafood sector must be supported through this very difficult time. Having had a number of engagements with the sector over the past two weeks, both with An Taoiseach and before the Council in Brussels, I am clear that despite the resilience shown by the sector, a whole-of-government approach is required to support it through this particular challenge. Both I and the Minister of State have committed to engaging with colleagues across Government to assess what framework of supports may be available to the seafood sector, to explore options within the constraints of the EU and national Exchequer funding and relevant EU and national legislation, in particular, taking account of the constraints that can arise from EU state aid rules for the fisheries sector.  I have discussed at Cabinet the need to establish a working group under the auspices of our Food Vision 2030 strategy to advance this commitment. A key priority for the food vision-seafood group will be to ensure that a platform of economic, environmental and social sustainability supports is available to the fisheries and seafood processing sectors and their coastal communities. The new group will be chaired by an independent chair and will include representatives from the fishing organisations, aquaculture, seafood processing organisations, my Department and its agencies, and other relevant Departments and agencies. I, along with the Minister of State, will determine the terms of reference for the food vision-seafood group. We will appoint that independent chair and will request nominations for membership from relevant Departments and agencies. It is intended to hold the first meeting of the group in January 2026.  The programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, commits to securing a sustainable future for the fisheries sector, while supporting coastal communities that rely on this activity for their livelihood. Both I and the Minister of State will lead the charge on that work drawing on the support of all Government colleagues. We will work together across Government to deliver on this commitment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Fisheries: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Message from Seanad \u00c9ireann","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Seanad \u00c9ireann has passed the National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025 without amendment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 6.23 p.m agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 7 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 6.23 p.m. and resumed at 7 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Message from Seanad \u00c9ireann"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/81","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/81\/dail\/3_sub","houseCode":"dail","stage":"3_sub","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Section 1 agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"SECTION 2"},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 have been ruled out of order as they are in conflict with the principles of the Bill. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendments Nos. 1 and 2 not moved."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question proposed: \"That section 2 stand part of the Bill.\""},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I will speak to section 2. The point needs to be made, as I have done virtually every year, that there is no secret service and yet every year there is an Estimate set down for \u20ac2 million to be issued to a secret service that supposedly does not exist but I will come back to that. The sum of \u20ac2 million is not huge. The fact is that all of the other Estimates go before a committee. This Estimate now falls under the Minister for public expenditure. It used to be the Minister for Finance. Yet, none of the Ministers have any responsibility for the Estimate. When I have put down questions over the years, what has happened is that my questions have been ruled out of order on the basis that the Minister has no official responsibility to D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann for this matter under Standing Order 44. One of them was to ask both the Ministers for Finance and public expenditure the funding allocated to Vote 15, which in the past was Vote 22. Since 2011 the money is returned to the Exchequer each year. They are simple things. Normally, under housekeeping rules, you have to account for the money spent. The last time I got any kind of substantial answer was when Brian Cowen held the position of Minister for Finance. He listed all of the amounts of funding given and the outrun. Nowadays, \u20ac2 million is spent and there is no accountability. He said in a reply to me in 2005 that the allocation for the secret service - Vote 12 - for the years in question was set out in a table and that it was not the practice to divulge information or explanations relating to expenditure on this Vote. I did a bit of digging and it has been practice in the past, just not recent practice, to divulge what this money is for.  In 2009, it was said that the purpose of the secret service Vote was to retain the information which was necessary for the security of this country and that given the sensitivity associated with a Vote of this nature, information relating to its operation is not made public. I am not looking for a breakdown but somebody has to be accountable. It is the same as An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, which has an Accounting Officer. There is no Accounting Officer here. Given that a new security committee was set up, I would have thought that this would have been one of the areas that would have fallen to it, that it would have said the \u20ac2 million was agreed, that it would take the Minister at his word and that it was happy the \u20ac2 million was spent appropriately, or not. That would have been up to the members to discuss.  Gay Mitchell, when he was foreign affairs Minister, asked that the Irish secret service should be monitored by a committee of the Oireachtas. It is going back over the years. If you go back to 1922, that is when the funding started. In 1927, it was \u00a36,700. It was not a huge sum but if you look at the figures and the account of that, Mr. Ernest Blythe stated that, \"The purposes of the Secret Service Vote are the obtaining of information which is requisite for the security of the country and which cannot be obtained openly.\" That is exactly what has been said to me in recent years. He continued that:  The amounts are paid out on the order of the Minister for Finance at the request of another Minister. The Minister who is responsible for the requisition is required, at the end of the financial year, to give a certificate in the following form: [This does not happen now so far as I know.] \"I hereby certify that the amount actually expended by me or under my direction for secret service in the year ended ----- was so much and that the balance in my hands on the 31st day of March was so much, and I further solemnly declare that the interests of the public service required that the payments should be made out of the Service Fund and that they were properly so made.\"  That is the form of certificate that used to be issued and was the exact same form issued by the British secret service since 1888 when its secret service was set up in London after the IRB attacked its offices. We still continue the British tradition. However, even in Westminster there is a security committee that MI5 and MI6 are responsible to and they are held accountable in terms of funding.  The amount in 1927 was \u00a34,000 but the amount in 1922-1923 was \u00a3220,000. That is the figure that was voted and \u00a3118,000 was spent. We can guess what that was because that was the year in which the State was executing republicans as part of the Civil War. In 1923, the amount dropped to \u00a350,000 and it continued to drop. In recent years, it has increased and in more recent years it has stayed at \u20ac2 million without going up or down in any shape or form.  The question is: when will this Vote be before the D\u00e1il or a committee so that somebody has to give even a vague account and say what it is for rather than what is happening now where it is even more secretive than before? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Jack Chambers)  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know it is something he has raised on many other occasions in relation to the Appropriation Bill. In terms of the wider practice, it is a Vote listed under my Department and it is also a Vote that can be used by other Government Departments in the context of the fund during the particular year. It is the only Vote operated in which the Oireachtas has waived its right to know precisely what the money has been spent on. It has always been the custom and practice not to disclose what Departments sought funds from this particular Vote. The appropriation account for the secret service, as has been said in previous years, is also audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General. The Oireachtas votes a specific sum annually for this Vote and the Comptroller and Auditor General plays an important role with the Secretary General in terms of the overall financial control of it. There is obviously practice around why that is the case.  If an Oireachtas committee wants to have an informed debate about the Vote in terms of future practice or tradition, that is obviously something the Department can have engagement on as part of the overall Appropriation Bill. We are simply seeking to continue what has been advanced in previous years. The fact that the C and AG plays an auditing role is also important in that context. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I would welcome the debate because it is the only Vote that is specific and set apart. It does not fall under the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na Vote, the Defence Forces Vote, as you would presume, or even the Minister for justice's Vote. It falls specifically under finance or, of late, public expenditure, which begs the question as to who stands over this expenditure. It has not increased in recent years. It is \u20ac2 million. As I said, in the bigger scheme of things, it is not a huge amount of money.  If the Minister came in here next year and increased it fivefold, there would still be no accountability for that other than at the Cabinet. Somebody would have to go to the Cabinet and explain or just say, \"Sorry, hard luck, it is common not to ask questions about this\", and that would be it. That is what is being asked of us here.  In the past, we did not have a security committee. When the committee was being set up in this D\u00e1il term, the idea most people had was it would look at issues such as internal and external threats to the State, as security committees elsewhere do. In the past, it was also said this allocation was money for informers. If that was the case, it would sit with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, which would have to account for and manage it. It was said it was money to obtain information, but it does not define it beyond that. I am not going to labour this point much longer, but debates in the past looked at whether it was appropriate to have a fund in times when there was no longer an emergency. There might be some logic to having one in the middle of the Civil War, from the Free State and Cumann na nGaedheal point of view, but there did not seem to be a logic to it in the years thereafter. However, those who gave out about this fund in the early 1920s embraced it thereafter, even though questions have been asked by Members on different sides of the House.  I am not opposed to this Vote. The issue I have is with the accountability end of it. If the Minister is willing, he should schedule a debate on it in committee and I will do the same. I will ask my party's representative on the Committee of Public Accounts or the public expenditure committee about this. The Minister said the Comptroller and Auditor General audits this Vote, but it does not jump out in any of the C and AG's reports. He might audit it but it is not ever accounted for and his reports go through every other detail with a fine-tooth comb. However, the Comptroller and Auditor General is unable to print any information regarding this expenditure. We have had issues before the public accounts committee involving hundreds of thousands of euro, whereas this Vote amounts to \u20ac2 million every year. There is no outrun, which used to be the case in the past, there is no return of funding and there is no demand for a Revised Estimate in the middle of the year. How come, very conveniently every year, \u20ac2 million is asked for and spent? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh. My understanding is that when auditing the secret service Vote, the Comptroller and Auditor General does not examine it in detail or comment on it for the Oireachtas. Instead, his office departs from the usual certification regarding the correctness of accounts and simply certifies that the amount shown in the account is supported by respective certification by the responsible Ministers. That is accepted as part of the wider discharging of responsibilities. The statement of internal financial control is signed by the Secretary General in my Department, who is the Accounting Officer for this particular Vote. That reflects the process and practice that have existed for a long time.  As I said, my Department has a very confined role in relation to the expenditure of the Vote. It extends only as far as agreeing to the annual Estimate and then the respective spending authorities certify and ensure it is processed in line with established procedures. That is the backdrop. There is obviously wider custom of practice as regards why this is the case. It is for any Oireachtas committee to question or probe that, and I respect that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Usually, committees do not deal with Votes unless they are specifically in the remit----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  The wider structure of the Vote is still a matter----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  When committees are formed, they are specifically informed of what Vote they are responsible for. This Vote does not appear in any of the committees' remits. That is the problem. The Minister or whoever else can say the Minister has no responsibility to the D\u00e1il on this matter, and that is correct, but Ministers also have no responsibility to any committee on this matter and, technically, no committee can take on this issue because it is one of those strange ones. In some ways, it has to go to Cabinet or somebody else has to raise the flag about it. It is a minor issue if we need to have a fund, slush fund or whatever else to assist. The security of the State is not dependent on \u20ac2 million, so it is in some ways meaningless if that is what it is. I will leave it at that but I hope I will not be arguing with the Minister in the last days before Christmas next year. However, I will continue to do this until, at some stage, some oversight is had beyond a Minister nodding to the Comptroller and Auditor General saying, \"Everything is fine, don't worry about it. I have no receipts but that is the way it is.\" "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Sections 3 and 4 agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"SECTION 5"},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I move amendment No. 3:  In page 4, line 26, after \u201ccitied\u201d to insert \u201cas Acht Leithghabh\u00e1la 2025 or, in the English language,\u201d.  Only this week, we had President Catherine Connolly launch a multilingual dictionary. It was a fantastic day. We now have a groundbreaking new dictionary that is accessible online. When the Minister was the Minister with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, he part-funded the research into this through Foras na Gaeilge. I do not think anybody is critical of that but when you look up the meaning of \"leithreas\" in the dictionary online, through focl\u00f3ir.ie , it states:  1. Babhla m\u00f3r a bhfuil su\u00edoch\u00e1n air a bhfuil poll ann, a bh\u00edonn nasctha le c\u00f3ras uisce. \u00das\u00e1ideann t\u00fa an leithreas nuair a bh\u00edonn do mh\u00fan n\u00f3 do chac le d\u00e9anamh agat.  2. Seomra ar leith i dteach n\u00f3 i bhfoirgneamh, n\u00f3 both beag ar leith i su\u00edomh oscailte, ar f\u00e9idir le daoine dul chuig an leithreas ann  Sin na m\u00ednithe ar leithreas. M\u00e1 lorga\u00edonn t\u00fa an focal \"leithreasa\", n\u00ed ann d\u00f3, ach t\u00e1 leithreas\u00fa, leithghabh\u00e1il agus leithreas - \"funds set aside\" n\u00f3 \"leithreasa\u00ed buis\u00e9id\". The point I made before was that, in some ways, people say it is a piss-take but it is not. It is not in common parlance. Part of producing a dictionary is trying to ensure the words being used are being used correctly. That is why I have said, not just in this amendment but in the past, that it should be the \"Acht Leithghabh\u00e1la 2025\". In the past, when I raised this, it has been said that this is the tradition and we will keep using the words, but words go out of fashion. We have done it with other words that were common at one stage, such as the Aliens Act. We do not call people aliens anymore. If it has been pointed out that this is not a word in common parlance or is no longer used, we should change it. To do so would not take away from the Bill. We need to change the Title to something that is more accessible and also does not give a double meaning. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I am informed \"Acht Leithghabh\u00e1la\" is not the correct citation in Irish for the Bill. What has been used since 1923, which is the Short Title of the Bill, is the correct one.  More generally, I defer to the Deputy's interest and knowledge of the language. When I was Minister for the Gaeltacht, he showed a interest in and passion for it, and I respect that. We obviously have a thread here, whereby this has been in consistent use for 100 years. I am told the Deputy proposed a similar amendment in 2023 and the Department engaged at the time with the Department with responsibility for the Gaeltacht on what was deemed to be the correct Title.  The position I have been told, as of today is what we have said is the correct translation. I am not against having a broader engagement with the Deputy or others outside of here and with the Department of the Gaeltacht as well. If it is correct that it should be updated for the future I would be very open to that. Language evolves, as do Titles to legislation. For today, that is the position I have been given but it is something I would be happy to engage on in the context of future legislation. I respect the fact that the Deputy is more knowledgeable about it than I am. This has been checked in the past and is something that we are respectfully continuing this year. In the context of what the Deputy has said and given the ongoing work with Foras na Gaeilge, the new Uachtar\u00e1n and within the language community, the Government should always be open to that engagement and taking an informed view with further inputs and I would be open to that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  That would be a useful engagement in terms of parliamentary language. There has been a campaign over the years called plain English. We should have the same for Irish, where we make our legislation as accessible to the public as possible. Where there are words that have double meanings we should put in a different word. That has implications obviously in law. We have to make sure that the word can stand up and that we specify in legislation what it was previously known as and so on. In the future especially, we will be able to address issues like that because everything will be available on computer. The line between this year's and next year's legislation will be a lot easier than pulling down different bits off the shelf. Maybe in the future that can be looked at but it not just this legislation as there is a load of legislation where words, which are not in common practice - they might be correct - make it difficult for people to understand our legislation in Irish or in English. The legislation is sometimes gobbledygook and it is even more gobbledygook if a Title is put on it that can be totally misconstrued. In this case, I believe that is one of those. The vast majority of Irish speakers would not have a clue what it meant other than presuming that it is a toilet Bill. It is not and we know that. We know what we are discussing. It would be good if that can be taken on board when people are looking at miscellaneous provisions Bills and stuff like that. Often that is where we can correct mistakes that have been there over years or where people have identified problems.  If we started using the Title 100 years ago, that does not mean that it was necessarily correct. One hundred years ago, there was a big debate about whether the Free State would be termed \"Saorst\u00e1t\" or whether a republic was a saorst\u00e1t. There was a big debate about the Titles because they were not common parlance. The words used for our parliamentary procedures all came from Westminster or a coiste t\u00e9arma\u00edochta was set up to identify words that may have been used in the past, a couple of hundred years before that, and which might relate to those. They might not necessarily ever have been used in the form they are now being used in, but they were appropriated at the time. This is no different than most people using \"carr\", rather than \"gluaiste\u00e1n\" in Irish, for car. The word the coiste t\u00e9arma\u00edochta came up with was gluaiste\u00e1n but most people do not use that. The question is how should we reflect that in law.  I will not delay any further on this. I will withdraw the amendment, based on the fact that we will try to have a discussion about this in terms of terminology and legislation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment, by leave, withdrawn."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Section 5 agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  Amendment No. 4 in the name of Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh has been ruled out of order as it is in conflict with the principles of the Bill. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment No. 4 not moved."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Schedule 1 agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Schedule 2 agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Title agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Bill reported without amendment, received for final consideration and passed."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  The Bill, which is certified to be a Money Bill in accordance with Article 22.2.1\u00b0 of the Constitution, will be sent to the Seanad. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Appropriation Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"billReport","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/76","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/76\/dail\/4_sub","houseCode":"dail","stage":"4_sub","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Credit Review Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Credit Review Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  As there are no amendments tabled for Report Stage we now proceed to Fifth Stage. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Bill received for final consideration."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question proposed: \"That the Bill do now pass.\""},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Sinn F\u00e9in is not opposing this legislation. I know the Minister is stepping in for Deputy Troy. I want to express my condolences to Deputy Troy and his family on the passing of his father. Our thoughts are with him at this difficult time.  I want to say two things in relation to this legislation. We facilitated the quick passage of this legislation. We support the Credit Review Office. We have signposted many of our constituents to go to the office. I have tabled amendments to have a wider discussion in relation to its functions and to the fact that many businesses are not able to get credit now. They are relying on non-bank lenders. There are serious questions in relation to people having to turn to the shadow bank sector.  However, the reason we were asked to bring this legislation in quickly is that this was set up through the NAMA legislation, and we were told NAMA had to be dissolved by the end of the year. As the Minister of State knows, NAMA was supposed to be dissolved under an agreement with the European Union in 2021. There was a review carried out prior to that. An extension was given very explicitly on the following basis:  NAMA commits to disposing [of] its residual residential loans before the end of December 2025 and it is intended that NAMA will be dissolved by that date subject to outstanding litigation.  We had the heads of Bill in the finance committee a year and a half ago. This has been on the priority list of every Government since - in every session - but we have not heard a dicky bird about this legislation, so I really question what is happening here. We have a CEO of an organisation that does not even exist, a CEO who was supposed to go to a makey-up job for the \u20ac430,000 he was on, but that had to be withdrawn when the public focused on it. There are serious questions about this. The legislation was being fast-tracked and accommodated. We were happy to accommodate it, and I made the argument that this had to be done before the end of the year, but it now appears it did not have to be done before the end of the year. Is there an agreement with the Commission to extend the NAMA legislation? If so, until when? The Minister of State may not hold the relevant note at this point. I know he is stepping in for the Minister, but I would appreciate if a note could be sent to me if the relevant information is not available to him.  I am happy to support the legislation as drafted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I appreciate the Deputy's understanding of the situation in relation to the Minister of State, Deputy Troy. My understanding is that the Commission is aware that the Government intends to move ahead with the dissolution of NAMA in 2026 and that there has been a discussion in that regard. I will ask the officials to prepare a more comprehensive response that addresses Deputy Doherty's question. I thank him for facilitating the early passage of this legislation. He and I are well aware through our work in our constituencies of the importance of such an office and the benefit that accrues from it to our constituents.  I thank all the Deputies for their contributions to the debates on the Bill as it has proceeded through the House. The work that the Credit Review office has done since it was established in 2010 has given valuable assistance to viable SMEs and farm businesses in obtaining bank credit. Placing the office on a firm statutory basis recognises that value and endorses the Credit Review service as a permanent feature of the SME credit landscape in Ireland. We all know that from time to time there are different fluctuations in markets and different issues that arise. We have seen that Covid, the war in Ukraine and other national and international events that take place can have short- and medium-term impacts on small and medium-sized enterprises and can affect their potential credit rating. Therefore, it is important that this office would have a solid footing.  The credit reviewers' recommendations have resulted, so far, in banks agreeing to make \u20ac86 million in credit available to SMEs and farm businesses. Between the actual reviews conducted and the advice given directly via its helpline, or more generally through its useful publications or advocacy work, Credit Review has provided a valuable service to thousands of Irish SMEs. More importantly, it has contributed to an improved culture in the banking sector in the period since the financial crash, where there is an expectation that banks will treat their customers better and with due regard to the best interests of those customers, including SME customers. Borrowers can apply to Credit Review not only if they are refused a new loan but also if an existing loan facility is withdrawn or reduced. I am conscious, as I said, of some of the national and international issues that can arise. Earlier, Deputy Doherty and I were here discussing the impact on the fishing community and some of the small to medium-sized enterprises involved and talking about their need for credit to get them through a difficult time, so yet again we see the importance of such an office.  While the Bill is, in one sense, merely a technical exercise in providing a legal basis for the continuance of the status quo , it is also a declaration of the Government's expectation that borrowers be treated fairly and with high standards of professionalism.  The Bill provides for an expanded role for Credit Review in the future should the evolution of the SME credit market justify that. This underlines the Government's ongoing commitment to support the growth and development of the SME sector.  Section 2 provides the Minister with the power to extend the scope of the Credit Review service to other classes of regulated non-bank lenders, should that be required in the future. Before exercising that power, the Minister would need to be satisfied that such a change was justified in light of developments in the SME credit market. In that context, the Minister will continually monitor developments in the SME credit market in order to assess whether the exercise of that power would be appropriate. In deciding to extend the scope of the service, the Minister must have regard to the extent to which demand by borrowers for credit is being met by regulated financial service providers, the importance to borrowers and the economy of the State of particular types of credit provided by the class of lenders concerned, and the amount of credit provided by that class of lenders.  For a variety of reasons, increasing numbers of SME borrowers are availing of credit facilities provided by various non-bank lenders. Some SMEs choose to borrow from non-bank lenders because those lenders are offering specialist products that more closely match the particular needs of a given business. For example, a significant amount of non-bank lending to SMEs is provided by specialist property lenders and asset finance providers. Other non-bank lenders specialise in leasing and invoice discounting. In some cases, non-bank lenders may provide faster decision-making and better customer service but this service may be priced differently. They may also have a higher risk appetite than the banks and may, as a result, be willing to lend to SMEs that might otherwise struggle to obtain credit.  The overall effect of the presence of non-bank lenders in the market is to provide greater competition in the market for SME credit, and more options for SME borrowers to access more diverse sources of financing apart from traditional bank-provided credit. This will help businesses to grow and thrive, driving increased investment, innovation and productivity without excessive dependence on the banking sector for finance. The Department of Finance will continue to monitor developments in this area and, should further change be necessary, appropriate legislative provision can be considered in the future.  While there has been a decline in net bank lending to SMEs in recent years, the evidence, including the Department of Finance's annual credit demand survey, indicates that this is due to muted demand rather than a lack of supply. In other words, viable SMEs that are seeking bank credit are, in the great majority of cases, successful. If there are SMEs whose applications for bank credit are refused, or whose existing credit facilities are withdrawn or reduced, I strongly urge those SMEs to approach the Credit Review service for assistance, which I have no doubt they will find helpful.  The Central Bank's SME regulations also provide protections for SMEs when they are either applying for or have credit facilities from regulated financial service providers, giving SME borrowers transparency around the application process. Under the SME regulations, lenders must offer borrowers the option of a meeting, which includes a credit review, at least once a year. Lenders must also provide borrowers with specific written reasons for refusing or withdrawing credit. The SME regulations also include various protections for SME customers who are in arrears or may be at risk of going into arrears. Under the regulations lenders must have an internal appeals procedure in order that borrowers can appeal a decision in relation to a credit decision. Furthermore, the general principles of the consumer protection code apply in respect of all customers, and the definition of consumer includes small businesses with annual turnover of less than \u20ac3 million, rising to \u20ac5 million from next March. The Financial Services and Pensions Ombudsman is also available to assist borrowers who believe they have been mistreated by a regulated financial service provider.  The existing Credit Review office has been operating quite effectively on its current legal basis. It is timely to bring this Bill forward now due to the fact that the NAMA legislation is due to be repealed. The work of the Credit Review office has not been inhibited in any way by the fact that the Bill is being enacted now rather than earlier. This has allowed other work to be undertaken that is more time sensitive.  I thank the officials and TDs in this House for their co-operation this evening. The Bill places the Credit Review service on a firm statutory footing in order that it can continue to provide a valuable service to SMEs across Ireland. I commend it to the House. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  The Bill will now be sent to the Seanad. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Credit Review Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"billReport","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/44","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/44\/dail\/4_sub","houseCode":"dail","stage":"4_sub","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","counts":{"speechCount":18,"speakerCount":8},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I move amendment No. 1:  In page 13, between lines 29 and 30, to insert the following:  \u201c(c) the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (5):  \u201c(5A) In carrying out the powers conferred by subsection (5), the Minister shall\u2014  (a) ensure that a review of the financial supports to disadvantaged communities, identified in the Pobal HP Deprivation Index, that are affected by crime, is conducted in public consultation with individuals and stakeholders,  (b) ensure that such a review is undertaken every 24 months at a minimum, or more frequently, at the discretion of the Minister, and a report on the review is laid before each House of the Oireachtas,  (c) ensure that the report laid before each House of the Oireachtas identifies any additional financial supports, other than that provided in the annual budget, that may be provided to disadvantaged communities as in paragraph (a) affected by crime in order to alleviate the impact of crime and prevent future criminal behaviour, including the funding of targeted youth educational and development initiatives where appropriate,  (d) give due consideration to the recommendations of any review carried out under this subsection and prioritise, where possible, the use of monies realised in the making of disposal orders under this section for the purposes identified in the review, and (e) ensure that a report on the use of monies realised in the making of disposal orders under this Act is laid before each House of the Oireachtas on an annual basis.\u201d,\u201d.  Sinn F\u00e9in supports the overall aims of this Bill. Anything that reduces the amount of time it takes for the Criminal Assets Bureau, CAB, to take money and assets from organised criminals is welcome. It is something that should probably have been done long ago.  For this amendment, I went back to recommendation 15 of the report of the justice committee on the issue, which stated: \"The Committee recommends further examination of the use of funds recovered from proceeds of crime and how such funds could be invested ... through the provision of preventative supports within communities.\" It is those preventative supports that I am aiming at.  Sinn F\u00e9in has long advocated that the money taken by CAB should be reinvested in the communities that are most hit and affected by crime. In fact, my colleague, Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh, first raised this matter in the D\u00e1il 15 years ago. I and Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa had a Bill in 2021, the contents of which were the same as this amendment. That Bill passed Second Stage. We are looking to see that the money taken by CAB is put into the most disadvantaged communities.  It has been long proven that disadvantaged communities are more vulnerable to crime and drug use. There is a direct link between poverty, crime and addiction. One of the ways that we can determine a disadvantaged area or an extremely disadvantaged area is through the Pobal deprivation index. The latest deprivation index was published in 2023 and stated that despite nationwide improvements in deprivation measures, the gaps between Ireland's most disadvantaged areas and the national average have increased. There are almost 200,000 people now living in areas that are classed as very or extremely disadvantaged. I would like to see the money recovered by CAB redirected into those communities.  As I said, the most recent Pobal deprivation index was published in 2023. The previous one was published in 2016. In those seven years, there were notable changes for the worse in some of the areas that I represent. North Clondalkin, for example, is an area of disadvantage. I do not need the Pobal index to tell me that because it is the area in which I grew up. It is a great place, and it was a great place to grow up, but it was also a tough place to grow up. We have had great community spirit over the years despite the problems we experience on a daily basis. There was a lack of amenities and infrastructure. There was a lack of employment opportunities. When I would go for a job as a young person, I would have to give the address of a relative who did not live in the area so I might have a chance of an interview, such was the stigma of living in the area. There is a history of early school leaving, youth crime and organised crime in our area. Addiction is rife throughout.  In 2016, when the deprivation index was published - I have the map in my hand and can give it to the Minister - only one estate in north Clondalkin was designated \"extremely disadvantaged\". Fast forward from 2016 to 2023 and six more housing estates were added to that designation. Things have got worse over the years. In fact, things are regressing. The whole area, bar one estate, is either very or extremely disadvantaged. It is areas such as those that need to be targeted by the community safety fund.  We welcome the community safety fund, as I said. We have advocated for it for a long time. We want to ensure that it goes to the areas that need it the most. For the very first roll-out of the community safety fund, six front-line organisations in my area, which are dedicated to tackling crime, drug use and poverty, applied to the fund but not one of them was successful. I looked at the 42 successful applications in the most recent round of applications to the community safety fund and I must say there are some really worthy organisations included. I will not stand up here and say that the organisations that got funding did not deserve it. However, I will give one example of an organisation that got funding. I noticed that \u20ac142,000 from the community safety fund went to the FAI. I have been involved in soccer clubs in my area for years. In all my years working and organising in a disadvantaged area, and volunteering as a soccer coach and manager, I have never seen the FAI give us any support whatsoever. In clubs such as Collinstown Football Club, girls and boys are getting changed on the side of the pitch because they have no dressing rooms. There is not one Astroturf pitch in the whole of north Clondalkin. This week, we have heard that the FAI is cutting its measly contribution of \u20ac10,000 per player development programme with the education and training board, ETB. That funding is being cut, which will have an impact right across disadvantaged areas. A little known fact is that Roy Keane was one of the first people to go through the ETB in Collinstown school in Dublin, believe it or not, even through he is from Cork. Other players who went through that programme include Abbie Larkin from Ringsend and Pico Lopes, who is going over to represent his country,----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Cape Verde. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  -----Cape Verde, in the World Cup. This is where I have a problem.  The other problem I have with the likes of the FAI getting that funding is that it has a lot more capacity and manpower to be able to fill out the form to enable it to get the funding. I am on the boards of a number of front-line community organisations and we just do not have the capacity to fill out cumbersome forms.  I expect that the Minister will not accept this amendment. I will ask him, if possible, to consider how we can help front-line community organisations to apply for this fund more easily. Perhaps we can give them some resources or direction in that regard and make the process less cumbersome. We want the money that is being taken by CAB going back into the areas that need it the most. There is some poetic justice involved. A mother might have to go out to the credit union to get a loan so she can pay off a drug debt run up by one of her children who is caught up in addiction. When the money that mother paid is taken back from the criminal, and it will be taken from that criminal at some stage, we must ensure that it goes back into the areas that need it the most. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  Like my colleague, I am fully supporting this amendment to the Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill. The amendment will make it more likely that the proceeds of crime are repurposed in the communities that are most impacted by crime. When I spoke on this Bill in July, I noted that any efforts that would deny criminals their gain from criminality are to be welcomed and that remains my firm position. It must be made obvious to anybody engaging in criminal activity that for those who profit, any gains will be fleeting and will be confiscated and returned, we hope, to the communities that have suffered and been damaged by criminality. There are many such communities in my home city of Limerick.  The aim of Deputy Ward's amendment is positive as it seeks to ensure that the seized proceeds of crime are reintroduced into the communities that have been most impacted by these criminals. CAB has done a good job in identifying and recouping some of the proceeds of crime. The community safety fund, which I have spoken about previously, is extremely positive and does redirect money to the communities. However, I would say that, to date, not enough of that money has been redirected to those communities most impacted. That must change.  In my home city of Limerick, we have some of the most deprived areas of the State. It is in conditions of deprivation that organised crime flourishes. It is in places where some people feel despondent that drug addiction becomes most prevalent. Vicious and heartless criminals take advantage and peddle their drugs to some of the most vulnerable in our communities. I understand why they do: the profits are huge.  In Limerick, we have several criminal feuds bubbling in the background. Some relate to old family arguments but most pertain to the division of territory and the maximising of illegal profits from drugs, including crack cocaine. Those feuds have led to several violent attacks on property and persons. As I have said many times previously, it is a miracle that nobody has as yet lost their lives in these attacks.  The communities most impacted by crime are great communities. I come from one myself. Some of the most wonderful and caring people reside in those areas. Criminal elements and those who seek to illegally gain profit do great damage to these communities. In an effort to exercise control, these criminals seek to destroy all that is good. A children's playground has become a no-go area for kids because one criminal  gang has destroyed it and intimidates anybody else who tries to use it. Kids who want to do well in school, play sports and live normal lives are being taunted by the wealth of these often young criminals. These criminals drive around in nice cars, expensive trainers and top-brand clothes. They are often from families who do not work and never have. That sends the message that crime pays.  That is a message we must always fight back against. The seizure of illegally gained assets, the seizure of properties purchased through criminal profits, is the most visible way of showing that this so-called success is only fleeting. This is a welcome amendment and I hope the Minister will accept it. It should ensure that assets such as houses can be returned to the communities that have been impacted by crime.  On the Bill more generally, I am particularly hopeful that the provision to restrict and freeze the financial accounts and immovable assets in a timelier manner will limit the ability of suspected criminals to use these assets. It is satisfying to see the wealth returned to the communities through the community safety fund, and this amendment should assist in returning the wealth to the communities that the criminals originally took it from.  Limerick and other areas face a significant challenge with crime, yet at the same time we have fantastic local community projects across the city that do some great work with limited resources. The Bedford Row Family Project does incredible work trying to break the cycle of imprisonment and crime. It could do with much more funding and increased resources through the community safety fund. I am not a member of the justice committee but I was with its members on Monday when we were able to visit Limerick Prison. The governor and other officials in the prison told us of the massive work the Bedford Row project did in making sure people did not reoffend. It is money well spent.  The community safety fund for 2025 was positive for a number of organisations in Limerick, including the Moyross community centre, which got \u20ac150,000; and Our Lady of Lourdes Community Service Group, which got \u20ac135,877. These are two areas in what was called the Limerick regeneration area, which has come to a shuddering end and left many communities vulnerable without funding, as I have raised here before. Bizarrely, applications from the King's Island area were refused. It includes the St. Mary's Park area in the core of the city centre, the most disadvantaged small area in the whole State according to the Pobal deprivation index. As my colleague Deputy Mark Ward said earlier, some of our communities that we are doing our best to represent do not have the capacity to fill in the forms like other people do. Even if he is not accepting the amendment, I urge the Minister to look at the Pobal deprivation index and to consider measures whereby areas like St. Mary's Park are encouraged and helped to do the application, not to put in an application that often is not accepted.  I very much welcome today's debate and the aims of the legislation. This cannot happen in isolation. We must reinvest in these communities. The State must engage with them so that we can limit the allure of a criminal lifestyle that, unfortunately, prevails in some of them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I support Deputy Mark Ward's amendment. He has already spoken about the legislation we proposed earlier. It is about ensuring that, for those communities that pay the greatest price for organised crime and all the chaos that comes with it, there is some sort of payback. We know none of that is going to be enough. What is needed is something far more comprehensive. I have spoken to the Minister about this. We constantly talk about early interventions, whole-of-government responses and interagency work. We really need to bring those about. We know those areas that are most disadvantaged. It is very simple to get the information from the Pobal index. All of this information is freely to hand in respect of those who suffer from the greatest levels of poverty and disadvantage. We have all known for a considerable time that they are the areas that suffer from what has been a scourge, particularly in relation to drugs and drug gangs. We have all seen the bad examples in estates that have remained for far too long. Like many others, I have said it is not just about a policing solution. I get that does not work. There is a need for it but we have seen the war on drugs fail in America and here. We need something better holistically. We have to look after those who are suffering under addiction. We have insufficient addiction services and do not have the supports that are necessary when we want to bring people away from that life.  There has been a failure to have a conversation not only about how we deal with organised crime and the deprivation that feeds it, but also the chaos that has been caused and how we give supports to families and communities. Beyond that, we must build a better society and a community that facilitate everyone. We can literally make this a better place. I was in the drugs committee lately. The experts know what to do and have always known the supports and projects that work and the pilots that failed to be expanded, but we have not done that. A massive increase in those elements of support could see us needing a lot less down the road.  I think that is it. This is almost the single transferable speech that everybody has. At the children's committee, the drugs committee and even the disability committee to some degree, it is all about early intervention and putting in those supports. At the children's committee recently, we had the area-based childhood, ABC, programme, Archways, The House in Cox's Demesne from my own constituency, Northside Partnership and even the ISPCC. They all spoke about the number of referrals seeking supports that were coming directly from Tusla. We had Ms Kate Duggan from Tusla before the committee on a different occasion. We all know there are issues around child protection. There are many issues we want to see resolved as well as a framework for protecting the most vulnerable. We also know that, given the need that is out there, the bodies in question and the community voluntary sector they deal with do not have the resources to address this. It involves interagency work. That is all that Tusla, the local authorities and the Garda will talk about. I will welcome it on some level when the community safety partnerships are eventually up and running. I am not sure they are the entire answer or that we have the suite of resources required.  We need to be able to deal with the outright criminality and bad examples that kids see. We have to have a conversation about identifying what supports and early interventions are needed. We have seen it work with the likes of the Greentown Project. People who have worked in those sorts of project are aware that they are sometimes dealing with the fourth generation in families, so there is an element of failure. That is not to take away from the good work they have done or the harm reduction. How bad would it be if those projects did not exist?  We have not got real about the issues. Included in that is drug debt intimidation, where the mother, father, granny or granddad gets the call and somebody has to cash in a pension, if they are lucky enough to have one, or go to the credit union. Once that tap is open, the drug dealer will be back to it again. We need to be able to shut these people down. The communities generally welcome it when they see action taken. I have welcomed the change of rules about being able to go after criminals for smaller amounts but it is not enough. We need to deal with that. We need to make sure the supports are there and that we do what we can for those who are being groomed by criminal gangs. The legislation we see in this House must be put out in the world and enforced in respect of those who bring young people into criminal gangs and force them to do things, bringing them into a world that only brings negativity. We must put in place whatever supports are necessary to prevent that. We have all seen youth diversion projects that do spectacular work. I have seen it in my own constituency. They have worked a hell of a lot better since the interventions have been happening at an earlier stage. We need to see more of that. That is a more comprehensive conversation. It is about us getting down to the issues in respect of criminality and supports. The local authorities, Tusla and the Garda will put their hands up and say they do not have the tools or powers to deal with the issues that exist at this point.  What Deputy Ward has proposed is a means of ensuring we can take back what has been taken by criminals who have put their foot on the neck of our communities for far too long. We must put the money and resources back into those communities and provide resilience. We are talking about very good, very strong communities.  It can be a lot better, and we would all benefit from that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  We are coming to the end of the debate and have less than ten minutes left as per the schedule of business. Is it agreed to bring in the Minister to respond? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I would like to contribute on the amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  We are time limited. Is it agreed that I bring in the Minister to respond? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  How many Members are looking to speak? We could divide it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I will reply quickly. They can come in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  I will give two minutes each and we will get it done. Is that agreed? Agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  The Minister knows my area and knows the need. We also have to address ridiculous situations such as that of the drug ship berthed in Cork which has cost us \u20ac12 million to date. That is \u20ac12 million that could be spent on those areas as well as CAB money and other investments. It is stupid that we are spending money where we do not need to spend it. The answer from the Revenue chair to the Public Accounts Committee was that he would do it all over again if they were in the same boat. We have to find ways to ensure that where there are ships caught in this way that we offload and get them out of our hands quickly in whatever way in order that it is not a drain on our funding and the money goes into the areas that it is needed. It is not needed in berthing fees, staffing fees and maintenance of a ship that we do not even own. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I support this amendment. Deputy Ward has tabled an important amendment. I ask the Minister to take it on board. If he does not take it on board now, I ask him to incorporate it when he is looking at this legislation and other legislation. What we have now is that the money made on the back of some of the communities that are most affected by drug dealing and criminality is not going back into those communities. That is just not right. We and the Minister know from the Pobal index where these communities are, where the communities who need the help are and where this money should go. I would love to see the Minister encourage CAB and give it the resources to go after more of these drug gangs, suppliers, dealers and criminals. They are destroying communities, families and individuals. CAB might get to them in the end, but we should be getting to them a lot sooner. There are drug dealing families in Cork who have been dealing drugs for nearly 40 years. How can a family be dealing drugs for 40 years and allowed to get away with it? CAB has tackled some of them but there should be a no-nonsense approach to these criminals because of the damage they are doing.  There are people in my community who have died by suicide because of the pressure that was put on them and their families as a result of drug debts. That is as good as murder. They drove them to suicide. They need to be tackled head-on. This amendment goes to supporting communities that need it the most. I will give the Minister examples. Golden Gloves Boxing Club has all-Ireland champions and European champions. It is renting a unit at the moment. That will be gone this year. There are 70, 80 or 100 children in the hall of Mayfield Boxing Club. It has no facilities of its own. Elite Boxing Club has no facilities of its own. It is renting again. That money should be going to them. Councillor Michelle Gould put in a motion relating to Knocknaheeny. Why is there no playground in Knocknaheeny? It is one of the most disadvantaged areas. Does the Minister know why? Cork City Council would not replace it because it kept getting damaged. Does the Minister think that it is right that people in Knocknaheeny have no playground because criminals are getting away with it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I was following the debate in my office. I see this as a good amendment. I do not know if it is going to be accepted tonight or whether it can be factored in at a later stage. I join with what other speakers have said. There was a time when we were a more innocent country. People would set off on holidays and put the VCR under the pillowcase, pull the curtains and hope that no one would break into their house. How murky things have become since then, with drug dealing and the crime that goes hand-in-hand with it now having permeated everywhere. I have listened to a lot of the urban Deputies. There are urban parts of my county, but the problem has gone to every rural village as well.  I recently asked some parliamentary questions about the Criminal Assets Bureau. It is doing fantastic work. There was a term I heard some years ago at a joint policing committee. People were pushing for what is called \"mini CAB\". In every single village and housing estate, there is some boyo with a fancy car in the driveway. He will have two or three holidays and watches like we have never seen before on his wrists. He is living a life over and beyond what anyone around him could afford. It is two fingers to the law; it is two fingers to his neighbours. People call to his house night after night, and they are not buying popcorn. We all know what is going on. It is happening in every single village. Our garda\u00ed do a fine job, but they are not resourced enough to do all of this. In response, I got an interesting answer. It was a positive one. The Minister told me that there are now 620 garda\u00ed trained up as divisional asset profilers. Beyond doing day-to-day policing and driving through communities, they are spotting these people living way beyond their means and report it to the Criminal Assets Bureau. The budget for CAB has gone up. The number of garda\u00ed doing this has gone up. We need to move beyond the Kinahan-Hutch level crime we see on the front page of the Sunday World . In every community, there is an absolute scumbag tearing the heart of that community apart. As other Deputies have said, they are driving people to the point that they have to take their lives rather than having their life taken from them by somebody else. We need to add an additional layer of taking down these crime families who are in every single community. I do not know whether it will be accepted tonight, but what we are all speaking about here needs to become embodied in justice policy. I congratulate the Minister on his work to date. He has made a real stamp on the Department. I wish him continued success. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I thank colleagues for their contributions. I thank Deputy Ward for tabling this amendment. Deputy Ward would be aware that we had a good conversation and discussion about his amendment on Committee Stage. We all share the same objective here. Obviously, CAB does an excellent job in seizing assets that are the proceeds of crime. In recent years, we have managed to develop a situation where we can get some of those assets and reinvest them back into the community. I want to see that sum of money growing each year. It is in the region of \u20ac4 million to \u20ac4.6 million this year. I want to see it continue to grow in order that more proceeds from crime will be put back directly into the communities affected by crime. Regarding what Deputies have said, everyone generally recognises that the entities that have been given funding under the community safety fund this year are deserving. I heard what Deputy Ward said in respect of the FAI, but it is a project that is called a game of two halves. When we look at the broad group of people and entities who have received money under the community safety fund, they are worthwhile.  The purpose of the amendment is to try to set out a statutory test that I will have to target money at areas that are indicated as being areas of high disadvantage under the Pobal scheme. As Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa said, we all know the areas of most disadvantage. The reason I did not accept the amendment on Committee Stage and cannot accept it here is that it is going to put in place a legal statutory process that would require me or another Minister to get a review every year and then ensure that I comply with the provisions set out in this amendment. It is a much better scenario for a Minister, whoever he or she may be, to be able to have an informal scheme whereby moneys can be given directly to all these worthwhile projects. I would love to have more time to respond, but I gave it to colleagues. There is a lot of great work being done by these projects around the country. I want to ensure that we get more money from the proceeds of crime and send it directly back into the community. For the reasons I have given now and on Committee Stage, I cannot accept the amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  The Minister did not reference what I asked. If he cannot accept the amendment, will he have a look at the forms----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I will. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  -----in order to allow front-line community organisation to compete with the likes of the FAI? They cannot compete with the manpower and expertise of organisations like the FAI when it comes to applying for funding. I am on a couple of boards in my area, including the Clondalkin addiction support programme and the Clondalkin Equine Club. The Clondalkin Equine Club is one example of a group that keeps young people off the streets. It is an urban horse programme. It has one part-time manager and there is a voluntary board of which I am a member. For that organisation to even apply for CAB funding takes a hell of a lot of manpower. If I can get one commitment from the Minister today, it would be for him to have a look at those forms and to put something in place that will help disadvantaged communities and organisations and make it easier for them to apply for the funding. Organised criminals offer absolutely nothing to our communities. All they do is rip the hearts out of them. They cause devastation and hardship in our areas.  I accept that this Bill will go some way towards making this a lot easier but I would still like to see this money redirected into the communities affected most. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put and declared lost."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Bill received for final consideration."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question, \"That the Bill do now pass\", put and declared carried."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Planning and Development Regulations: Motions","counts":{"speechCount":29,"speakerCount":13},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy)  Before I call on the Minister to open the debate, I remind the Members that two separate motions are being debated in this slot: the motion regarding the proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025 and the motion regarding the proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025. The motions will be moved separately but debated together. They will be decided by separate questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann approves the following Regulations in draft:  Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025,  a copy of which was laid in draft form before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 27th November, 2025.  I welcome the opportunity to discuss the draft regulations and to set out the rationale and reasoning behind their development. The draft Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025 have regard to the existing planning exemption for the change of use of vacant commercial properties to residential use. The draft regulations propose to amend the Planning and Development Regulations 2001, as amended, by extending until 31 December 2028 the provision for change of use from commercial to residential in vacant properties under Article 10(6) of the 2001 regulations. This ensures that individuals can avail of the exemption without fear of enforcement as the current provision expires on 31 December 2025. No other elements of the exemption for change of use from vacant commercial to residential are being amended.  This is a very important extension. The exemption allowing for the conversion of vacant commercial properties for residential purposes has played a really important role in our villages, towns and cities. It has been quite positive and successful. Up to the end of 2024, the exemption had resulted in 1,457 notifications from developers intending to avail of the exemptions. If fully enacted, this would result in 3,429 new homes across the country. Planning authorities are required to report on the 2025 figures early next year. This information will be published on the Department of housing website.  It should be noted that the draft regulation is being prepared under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. This is due to the current provision expiry on 31 December 2025 and the relevant provisions of the Planning and Development Act 2024 not being commenced until 2026. When new exempted development regulations are made under the Act of 2024, the provisions regarding change of use from commercial to residential will be maintained.  The draft Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 provide for really important exemptions in relation to agricultural structures. They amend Schedule 2 of the 2001 regulations by increasing the provision of animal housing under class 6 of Part 3 of Schedule 2 by 50%, from 200 sq. m to 300 sq. m, increasing the total from 300 sq. m to 450 sq. m;, and providing an exemption for a new class 6A of Part 3 of Schedule 2 comprising stand-alone slurry, effluent and soiled water storage up to 1,000 cu. m subject to a farm limit of 1,500 cu. m.  These proposals are being introduced to support increased space per animal and to assist farmers in the better management of farm slurry, effluent and soiled water to assist in protecting water courses and water bodies. While capacity for storage is increased, this is to accommodate existing levels of slurry, effluent and soiled water generated on farms, allowing for better slurry management, including optimal nutrient spreading on land. It is not to allow for increased animal stock density. These changes to increase the provision of animal housing under class 6 by 50% and to provide exemptions for stand-alone slurry, effluent and soiled water are particularly important for small and medium-sized farms. I engage regularly with farmers in my own county of Wexford and across the south east. These are very practical and important measures. The increase in the exemption under class 6 will assist small to medium farms with a 300 sq. m shed housing 38 dairy cows or 100 beef cows. The average dairy herd in the country is 90 cows.  It is important to note that these exemptions include limitations and conditions, including safeguards for the environment. For example, it is not possible to use these exemptions in a designated flood zone. Use of the exemptions requires that structures shall be constructed in accordance with Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine and Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage requirements and shall have regard to the need to avoid water pollution. An additional safeguard is that the use of class 6 or 6A agricultural exemptions requires the prospective developer to obtain a declaration from the relevant planning authority under section 5 of the Act of 2000 declaring the exemption is applicable prior to commencement of construction. This provides surety that the proposed locations comply with the requirements of the exemptions. The requirement for a section 5 declaration is not an added burden to farmers as farmers are already required to obtain this declaration as part of any TAMS grant application.  Planning legislation provides general safeguards whereby planning exemptions are removed where works would materially affect a protected structure in accordance with section 57 of the Act of 2000 or where an environmental impact assessment or appropriate assessment is required in accordance with section 4(4) of the Act of 2000. Where planning exemptions are removed, planning permission is required. Where individuals are unsure whether they can avail of any exemption in planning, they may seek a declaration from a planning authority under section 5 of the Act of 2000 as to whether the proposed works are development and if such development is or is not exempted development. Similar to the change of use regulation, the draft regulation for agricultural exemptions is being prepared under the Planning and Development Act 2000, as amended. This is due to the exemptions being a priority of Government. The proposed exemptions will be maintained in any exempted development regulations made under the Act of 2024  The purpose of the proposed regulations is to facilitate continued use of the change of vacant commercial to residential exemption until 2028, providing certainty on its availability. The agricultural exemptions provide support to the farming community to assist them in managing slurry, effluent and soiled water though increased storage capacity. If both sets of proposed regulations are approved by positive resolution of both Houses of the Oireachtas as required under section 262(4) of the Act of 2000, it is intended to have the regulations signed into law at the earliest opportunity. Therefore, it is important that both sets of regulations are supported to provide certainty to those wishing to avail of their use into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  Sinn F\u00e9in will be supporting both sets of exempted development regulations. They are modest and reasonable and, in our view, they are sensible. We have no issue with them proceeding. However, I will put on the record of the D\u00e1il my deep dissatisfaction at the manner in which the Minister has processed these regulations. As Members will know, this is the second time these regulations have been brought before the committee and the House in the space of a few short weeks. They were originally presented as a single regulation. When the Minister of State responsible came before the committee, he explained that, because the environmental assessment had not been completed, he might have to bring the regulations back in a revised form. We were then informed by way of a letter from the Minister of State that there was going to be a need for significant amendments to the agricultural exempted development regulations. In a move completely unprecedented in my decade in the D\u00e1il, the Minister requested our committee to do something that, on foot of legal advice, we deemed not to be in line with Standing Orders and effectively illegal. He requested that we overturn a decision of the Oireachtas. The consequence of all of this is that the Minister and the Government may not meet their deadline of the end of this year for the over-the-shop exempted development regulations, which would have been an absolute disaster.  The reason I am saying this here is because there is going to be a series of other exempted development regulations coming before our committee. I have no doubt that there was a level of enthusiasm, shall I say, by the Minister of State to get these through but as a consequence of that, and, ultimately, the Minister is responsible for the actions of his junior Ministers, things took place that should not have. That meant that additional committee and Oireachtas time was required, and unnecessary delay could have been caused by his Department. I appeal to the Minister to ensure nothing like this happens again with any of the other modules of exempted development regulations. If something requires environmental assessment, the Department should wait for the environmental assessment to be complete and it should give us the regulation in completed form. Will he please make sure the enthusiasm of the Minister of State, who I know, has good intentions on this issue, is curbed a bit so our committee is not asked to do anything in future, in official communications from the Minister or his juniors, that is outside of Standing Orders? I do not think anybody in this House would see any of those requests as unreasonable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  As my colleague said, we are supporting both these motions. At committee, the Minister said these exempted developments have been hugely successful. While I believe commercial units being returned as homes is a good thing, it has not reached the potential it could. We look at villages and areas that I represent like Blackpool in Cork city, one of the oldest, most historic villages and parts of Cork city. Then we have Shandon with the renowned Shandon steeple, the church and the bells. We see these communities with shops, offices and pubs boarded up and closed for decades, not years. If these exempted developments were working, we would see the return of those properties as homes. As there are still businesses in the heart of these communities, were more people brought in to live in the communities, they would safeguard the existing business and bring more people in. That is what we want to see. We want to see communities flourish. We do not want to see communities blighted by dereliction, vacancy and boarded-up properties. Therefore, turning commercial businesses into homes in places like Blackpool and Shandon Street can be a really positive thing for the community. This is not just in Cork. We have areas like this in Drogheda, Tipperary and all across Dublin. It is in every town, village and city where we need to see more homes being delivered. If we are going to hit our 2030 targets, the best homes to deliver are homes that already exist. They might be shops, offices or pubs but if they are lying empty, turning them into homes is a win for communities, for the environment and, most importantly, for families out there who are crying out for homes.  This week, the Minister announced additional funding for vacant above-the-shop units to turn them into homes. We have been raising for years the issue of above-the-shop units that have been lying empty when they should have been turned into homes. That is what we want to see. This is all about delivery and the quickest, easiest way to deliver is to deliver homes and buildings that already exist. What we do not want to see - and what I certainly do not want to see - is speculators, investors and vulture funds coming in and getting the money that has now been earmarked, namely, a maximum of \u20ac140,000 per multi-unit or multi-apartment building. We want to see them delivered as affordable and cost-rental properties. If the Government is making this type of investment, speculators should not be coming in then and charging huge rents when they turn these buildings around. That may be something the Minister needs to look at as well in order that they are not just taking all the money from the State and then making huge profits. If they are going to supported by the State, they should be supporting communities and ensuring the rents they charge are reasonable. We have so much dereliction and vacancy and so many units above the shops that could really make a difference. That is why we are saying the only way for this to happen and the only way to deliver secure affordable homes for people is to use the units that already exist. It is not the only way but it is the quickest way. We support these motions. In the areas I represent, were the Minister to walk around Blackpool, Shandon Street or North Main Street, he could see these areas are crying out for investment and would be great communities for people to live in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire. In the spirit of Christmas, I too have no particular issue with what is being proposed here. Broadly speaking, I support anything, within reason, that helps somebody to turn a vacant commercial property into a permanent home. I also support measures that would make it easier for people to increase the provision of animal housing and exemptions for stand-alone slurry storage, within reason. I caution this by saying we have had a number of issues in Limerick in recent times in relation to Georgian buildings, the owners of which have benefited from the exempted development guidelines. In some cases, they have been fantastic. In other cases, they have been less than fantastic. We have had issues whereby people have bastardised buildings in Limerick without facing anything really in the realm of consequences from the local authority. We really need to resource our planning departments around enforcement. Otherwise, we will end up with more poor quality housing, which is definitely not what we need. We need to conserve our architectural heritage because we have lost many shopfronts and features in our Georgian cores, particularly in Limerick, due to people having benefited from this and having not done what they were supposed to do with the building.  Regarding the exemptions for animal housing and stand-alone slurry storage, I have a number of environmental concerns. Anything we do must remain strictly consistent with Ireland's obligations under EU and national environmental law, including the habitats, birds, water framework and nature restoration directives. Flexibility is important but it must also not undermine our environmental obligations. We need to make sure that what we are doing here is sustainable and that it does not increase intensification, and that slurry storage is subject to strict citing and separation standards. I am glad that an SEA and appropriate assessment of the proposal for the amended exemptions was conducted because I do not, as other speakers have outlined, think it was appropriate to have tried to do this without having done that. We cannot afford to address our housing and infrastructure needs at the expense of public safety, environmental resilience or compliance with EU and national law.  This brings me on to a brief point before I conclude about the upcoming exempted development guidelines for residential development. I have a slight concern there about the potential unintended consequences of the proposed changes around, essentially, substandard sheds being rented out on the private rental market without appropriate inspections and protections. I know that is not the intention but I am worried that this could become the unintended consequence without a proper regulatory framework to protect tenants and to protect the quality of our housing stock.  While the intention of this measure might not be to grow the private rental market, many of these units will invariably end up rented out without proper planning and a safety framework with tenant protections. I would like that noted. Broadly, however, I have no issue with these measures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  We will not be opposing these measures. I want to make some general points, particularly on the issue of tackling vacancy and dereliction. The grants the Minister announced this week are quite frustrating in many ways because there is no guarantee the public funding that is given out will actually go to ensuring the delivery of affordable homes. It is very frustrating because we are now seeing up to \u20ac140,000 per commercial property renovated being given to a potential investor, landlord or property owner, yet local authorities get just \u20ac11,000 per home they are trying to renovate, which in many cases are voids. There is a real problem in that we are not investing in our public housing stock and bringing affordable property back into use, while giving property investors up to \u20ac140,000 to do up a vacant property and bring it into residential use with no guarantee whatsoever that there will be affordability requirements.  The other figure to note is that 28% of all vacant property grants are going to landlords to rent out properties, again with no affordability requirements, yet the Department of housing is declaring, defining and counting the giving of those vacant property grants as affordable housing. It is not affordable housing; it is going to landlords.  If we really want to tackle vacancy and dereliction, local authorities need to be compulsorily purchasing properties on a significant scale. In my constituency, the Drake Inn in the heart of Finglas village has been sitting vacant for many years. Trees are growing out of the building and the city council, while it is levying fines on the owner, has not collected all the fines. How is it possible that a huge property in the heart of Finglas village is left vacant for many years to fall into ruin and damage the fabric of the community while the council just sits back and allows it? Councils should be compulsorily purchasing buildings like that but they do not have the funding and they do not have all the mechanisms to do so. When we talk about a commitment to tackling vacancy and dereliction, these issues must be addressed as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  I wish the Ceann Comhairle and everyone here a happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  I do not object to the Minister's plans but I have a few queries, including on the agricultural side. I welcome the exemptions. There are new regulations requiring farmers to collect soiled water. The exemption that they can put down a tank to gather that soiled water is a help. It is to be hoped they will get a targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, grant for it. That will help water quality right around the country, which is the bottom line.  The one part of it I am trying to fathom is that a lot of the councils, when they are giving exemptions, look at whether there is a special area of conservation, SAC, or natural heritage area, NHA, within 15 km of a property. If they start with that craic when it comes to the exemption, there will not be many parts of the country that will get it. I ask the Minister or his Department to give a direction to councils that common sense must prevail here. A person putting down a tank is saving soiled water from going into a field or somewhere it should not go. This is a good provision but it needs to be used in a common-sense way by planners when they are looking at the exemptions. Farmers have no problem going for the exemption but in the west of Ireland, there is a huge number of designated areas, whether SACs or NHAs. If people have to go screening out and undertaking environmental impact assessments, EIAs, and appropriate assessments, when the whole basis of what they are doing is to protect against soiled water by having a tank, then it is contradicting the whole purpose of the regulation. Will the Minister work with his Department to give a direction to the councils in this regard? I welcome the provision regarding sizes. This is a good thing for the country. While the exemption is for the agricultural sector, it will help with water quality, as the Minister outlined in his speech.  The other measure concerns the changeover of buildings to allow a pub or whatever to be made into a residential property. Anything that will help with housing supply is a good thing. Anything that will give a roof over somebody's head is a good thing. We should welcome that people can do that without going through eight or ten weeks of rigorous planning requirements. I would love to see the cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe scheme simplified a small bit to speed it up but it is a good grant. We need to praise things when they are good and be good enough to say something is good.  Something I ask the Minister to look at is an issue that is very frustrating. In a document I sent in to the Minister's Department, I pointed out that seven years is the time within which people must have compliance with planning or if there is a non-compliance order. There are chimneys in old houses that cracked, were taken down and then slates were put up. That is a normal thing people did, using cop on as I would call it. They will not get an exemption because that is not in compliance with the house that was built 150 years ago. I ask the Minister to look at things like that. I welcome the regulations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I welcome any changes to amend planning legislation. Something I would like the Minister to look at in the new year is listed buildings and building over listed buildings. In Limerick, we have a lot of listed buildings and many buildings which are stopping young people from living over them. I have no problem with the fire regulations but the problem is that conservation rules mean the inside of these buildings cannot be altered to allow people to live over them, as was done for decades and centuries. We want to get people back into those living areas.  We also need to look at the issue of buildings within the curtilage of a listed building. A property could be 30 m or 40 m away from a listed building but because it is within the curtilage, they say work must be sensitive to that. We need to make this work for people in the 21st century. People lived in these buildings from the 1400s, 1500s, 1600s and all the way up along the line and there was no such thing as curtilage. Now the front facade and the front roof structure must be protected. If there are buildings that can be brought back into use for young people or anybody who wants to live in them, we must allow them to modernise the inside. I am talking about houses, not iconic buildings. I know of a case where a young couple was allowed to extend onto the back of their house but the front part was listed. This was a street house. They were made keep the timber.  They said they could take down the timber, slab it and put the timber back up again. The costs would be massive. If we keep the front facade, the sash windows and the roofscape, we could make it look like the old street, but we should allow people to modernise the inside of houses. I am not talking about iconic buildings. They must be protected. I am talking about buildings on the streets that people can live in. We must streamline the system.  I have one building at the moment that is in the curtilage of a listed building, which is in the care of the OPW. Planning permission was granted to renovate the house, which we have done. Planning permission was also granted to extend the property, but we are still waiting to do that because when the planning permission was given, they never saw that there was a building at the back of it. The building looks lovely architecturally but it is actually dangerous and it will fall into a neighbour's property. They now say they want to have this assessed. The cost of the assessment and the necessary works is \u20ac1 million and they do not have a penny to throw at it. I want to make the building safe and they are saying \"No\". I need the Minister's help in the new year to make sure we can get people back into towns and villages and into buildings that we can modernise while respecting the streetscape and iconic buildings. We must get people back into the upstairs of listed buildings. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  First of all, I wish you, a Cheann Comhairle, all the elected Members, all the staff, everyone involved in this great House and the people who are running it all the very best for Christmas and the new year.  I welcome the exemption for the change of use from vacant commercial properties to residential use. I thought that was in place, but if it is being regularised, that is all the better. I also welcome the increase in the provision of animal housing under class 6 of Part 3 of Schedule 2 by 50% from 200 sq. m to 300 sq. m and the increase in the total from 300 sq. m to 450 sq. m.  Everything at home is now measured by my grandson on the basis of how many sleeps there are until Christmas Day when Santa Claus comes. How many more sleeps will we have to endure before we do something about the strict urban generated pressure clause that is discriminating against many people in rural parts of Kerry and preventing them from obtaining planning permission, or even applying for it? I have asked for this so many times. Where or what is the hold-up? I thought that it was the Government's intention to sort this out. Is it the staff in the housing Department? Where is the blockage or what is happening? All these people are looking for is permission to build a house for themselves. They do not want one penny from any one of us inside here. All they want is to get permission to build a house. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  Then there is----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy's time is up. Deputy McGrath is next. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I thought I had seven and a half minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No, we have other Members. Deputy Healy-Rae is only one of the \"other Members\". He has used up two and a half minutes of his time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  Could you give me another minute, a Cheann Comhairle? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  That is not the way it works. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I understood that I had seven and a half minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Mattie McGrath, but I will give Deputy Healy-Rae 30 seconds to finalise his points, seeing as he was caught off-guard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  The same blockage is caused on the national roads. People cannot get in or out on the national roads. What is the story with the granny flats? It is nine months now since the Minister mentioned that. Is there some hold-up on that? Can it be sorted out once and for all and put before us here? We do not have any affordable housing scheme in Kerry? What is going to happen with the new idea we have for treatment plants on unserviced land? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  Will they be exempt from being zoned? Can it be decided by a planning application? Thank you very much, a Cheann Comhairle. I am sorry, I misunderstood the times. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  I too welcome many aspects of this legislation. It is very important that the Minister is making efforts in many areas, but we have a lot of strange things happening as well. Like Deputy Healy-Rae, I want to ask about the granny flats and modular units in the back garden. I will again mention Se\u00e1n Meehan who is being prosecuted. He is being dragged through the courts for having his own little mobile home, which is encased in a lovely timber structure and doing no harm to anybody. There are no complaints from his neighbours along the whole road on which he lives.  I also want to ask the Minister about Ballypadeen in County Tipperary. I handed him a file on it some weeks ago. They are 52 of the finest houses ever constructed in this country and they had full planning permission. For some reason, the county council took issue with them in 2005 and 2006 and the case has been in the courts ever since. Some kind of clandestine deal has now been done behind closed doors. Obviously the council did not win, and it is going to demolish these houses. They are 52 of the finest houses, constructed with mass concrete, insulation, perfect roofs, perfect walls, perfect timber ceilings and timber ceilings upstairs. Now the council is going to knock them at a cost of between \u20ac7 million and \u20ac8.5 million. It will render the site back to a brownfield site and hand it back to the owner. What is going on? Will the Minister please contact Tipperary County Council and intervene? These 52 houses should be allocated to families on the housing list. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  There are some really good solid proposals here. I hope they can pass without any kerfuffle tonight. A few things were an eye-opener for me. I listened to the early part of the debate and then returned to my office, but I came back here. Some political parties and politicians are totally divorced from what is involved in farming and rural life. They expressed concern that a farmer should be given an exemption for slurry storage or for building winter housing. In the name of God, where do they hope things will go? Do they want slurry running down fields and into streams? Is that what we want? Do we want cattle to be foddered outside all year round and farmers poaching fields with tractors? I will explain the term \"poaching\" for some of the urban TDs if they like. It does not mean going hunting; it means destroying the ground that they need to be in good condition to grow crops or to have hay or silage growing. This is just farcical stuff. The regulations are good solid stuff.  The other eye-opener was that if it is as simple as passing some of this with a motion, we must table more motions on various Wednesday nights in the springtime for granny flats and log cabins in back gardens to free up accommodation. We must ensure more of this can happen. I did not realise it is as simple as having a motion. It is very impressive that two major planning issues could be dealt with here so adeptly and swiftly tonight. Hopefully, in the springtime, more motions will be brought forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy William Aird  I wish everybody a happy Christmas. I do not have the time to elaborate on it. It is not often I stand here and thank the Minister but I thank him for the work he has done. This is a great thing for farmers. It will be backed 100%. I am delighted with it.  Could the Minister please work on permissions for log cabins and modular homes to allow people to put a log cabin on a site in cases where they cannot afford a house, and also modular homes on a site or behind a house? This is a great plan. It will be a great help to people. It is not about wanting to live at home or in the backyard. It is about trying to save money in order to build a house.  I spoke to a young boy yesterday. He is 31 years of age and he got a mortgage yesterday for 35 years at \u20ac1,778 per month. He will be 66 when he has the mortgage paid. That is the reality we are living in at the moment. We will back the Minister 100% in this House on anything he can do to help these young people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)  I thank Deputies for their support for both of the exemption regulations I have moved this evening. The first is an exemption to allow commercial properties to be converted for residential purposes and to allow that exemption to last for another three years. We will be looking to make that a permanent change because it is absolutely crucial that we revitalise our rural communities, and urban areas as well. This is a really important element of doing that, along with all the other changes we are making, such as getting Government approval this week for over-the-shop funding, the vacant refurbishment grants we already have in place and, of course, the rural and urban regeneration funds. This is a really important exemption for rural Ireland but also for urban areas.  The second exemption is really important for the farming community. It increases the exemption for animal housing by 50%, from 200 sq. m to 300 sq. m, and brings in an exemption for stand-alone slurry, effluent and soiled water to allow run-off.  This is a very practical change and important measure, in particular for our small and medium farmers. I regularly deal with small and medium farmers and this will help them an awful lot. I am glad to see some of our Wexford farmers up in the Public Gallery.  I wish the Ceann Comhairle and her family, the Leas-Cheann Comhairle, Deputy John McGuinness, and his family, a happy Christmas. I wish all their staff, the ushers and everybody working in the Oireachtas a happy Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  It has been a positive debate. I also welcome the extended Doran family, whom I was not expecting to see in the Gallery, particularly with the Minister, Deputy Burke. They are more than welcome. I hope they are having a good evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Browne  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann approves the following Regulations in draft:  Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025,  a copy of which was laid in draft form before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 9th December, 2025. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Planning and Development Regulations: Motions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Presentation and Circulation of Revised Estimates 2026: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)  I move:  That Revised Estimates for the Public Services for the year ending 31st December, 2026, be presented to the D\u00e1il and circulated to members, pursuant to Standing Orders 103(1)( a ) and 222. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Presentation and Circulation of Revised Estimates 2026: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/30","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/30\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I must now deal with a postponed division relating to Second Stage of the Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024, taken on Thursday, 11 December 2025. On the question, \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time\", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Restoration to Order Paper (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Debate resumed on the following motion:"},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"That, pursuant to Standing Order 205, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023, which lapsed on the dissolution of the 33rd D\u00e1il, shall be restored at Order for Committee Stage and notice shall be published pursuant to Standing Order 37."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"- (Deputy Paul Murphy)"},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I must now deal with a postponed division relating to the motion regarding restoration of Private Members\u2019 Bill to the Order Paper. On Tuesday, 16 December 2025, on the question, \"That the motion be agreed to\", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il divided by electronic means."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  As the gap between the votes is less than ten, given the importance of this matter, that this is about women's health and is about simply restoring a Bill to the Order Paper that already had passed Second Stage in the last D\u00e1il, I am asking that we vote by means other than electronically. I ask people to look at their consciences and even shift from a \"No\". "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Under Standing Order 88(3)( b ), I propose that the vote be taken by other than electronic means. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Restoration to Order Paper (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-17\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/30","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/30\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy An Ceann Comhairle  I must now deal with a postponed division relating to Second Stage of the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025, taken on Wednesday, 17 December 2025. On the question, \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time\", a division was claimed and in accordance with Standing Order 85(2), that division must be taken now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 9.43 p.m. go dt\u00ed 8.47 a.m., D\u00e9ardaoin, an 18 Nollaig 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 9.43 p.m. until 8.47 a.m. on Thursday, 18 December 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-12-17"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-07-01T02:13:05+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-12-16","counts":{"contributorCount":153,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":34,"questionCount":39,"billCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Deaths of Mary Holt and Tadhg Farrell: Expressions of Sympathy","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before proceeding to Leaders' Questions we will have a minute's silence in memory of the late little Tadhg Farrell and the late Mary Holt, who died in Edenderry on 6 December. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Members rose. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Deaths of Mary Holt and Tadhg Farrell: Expressions of Sympathy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":61,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I welcome those from Mercy College, Woodford, County Galway, who are in the Public Gallery.  I want to express my condolences to the families of those whose lives were so brutally taken during the horrific gun attack on Bondi Beach on Sunday. Our thoughts are with those families, the injured, the wider Jewish community and, of course, with the people of Australia and Sydney. Ar dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a n-anamnacha.  Households hammered by relentless hikes in energy and electricity prices are in disbelief today. They have awoken to the news that their bills are set to increase even further. Electricity network charges are being hiked, forcing hard-pressed households to carry the can for upgrading the grid. Customers here, as the Taoiseach knows, are squeezed to breaking point just to light and heat their homes. They pay among the highest electricity prices in Europe. Hundreds of thousands of working households cannot pay their energy bills because of these non-stop hikes. Price-gouging energy companies are making bumper profits to the tune of millions of euro, if not billions.  In the past couple of months, we have seen energy companies, one after the other, jack up their prices so that a million households now face higher bills this Christmas. They fleece people at every turn and the Government has not laid a glove on them. Worse than that, it has actually enabled this behaviour.  At the same time, the Government cancelled energy credits in a budget of \u20ac9.4 billion, in which, astonishingly, it managed to leave working people worse off. It has also increased the price of petrol, diesel and home heating oil. Now people face another increase to their already unaffordable electricity bills.  The upgrading and modernisation of our national grid is incredibly important. It has to be a priority. God knows real progress is badly needed after decades of terrible planning and chronic underinvestment by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. It simply beggars belief, however, that ordinary households will be hit with another increase to improve the grid while energy companies laugh all the way to the bank. Energy companies are making millions of euro, eye-watering profits. It is incredible, therefore, that struggling customers will be asked to fork out again.  If the Government really cared about fairness, if the Taoiseach's Government cared at all, it would put the onus for funding this upgrade where it belongs: on the mega-rich energy companies and other large energy consumers. It would not go to ordinary people again. The Government should not be adding a single red cent to these rip-off bills, especially during such tough times. It should be about getting costs down, reducing electricity prices and making life affordable.  T\u00e1 an Rialtas ag roghn\u00fa bill\u00ed leictreachais daoine a mh\u00e9ad\u00fa ag an am is measa, nuair at\u00e1 teaghlaigh faoi bhr\u00fa uaf\u00e1sach cheana f\u00e9in le bill\u00ed ollmh\u00f3ra le h\u00edoc acu. N\u00ed f\u00e9idir leis seo dul ar aghaidh. The Government's failure to tackle the energy rip-off leaves people in desperate situations. Not alone is the Government not doing anything to help working people; it also stands by as these bills will be increased again. Does the Taoiseach think this is a fair way to treat people already fleeced by non-stop electricity price hikes? What is his response to today's news? Will he intervene as Head of Government to put a stop to this increase? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. Before I begin to respond, I want to take a moment as well to express my sympathy to and solidarity with the Australian people and with our Jewish community here in Ireland as they come to terms with the horror and the grief of the mass shooting event at Bondi Beach on Sunday. Fifteen people, including a ten-year-old child and a Holocaust survivor, were cruelly murdered and more than 40 others injured for no other reason than their Jewish faith and identity as they gathered to celebrate Hanukkah. I am acutely conscious of the feelings of vulnerability and isolation that an event like this can cause among our own small Jewish community. I take this opportunity to send a very clear message from the D\u00e1il, and as Head of Government, that our Jewish neighbours are an important and very valued part of our society and that there can be no place for antisemitism or antisemitic rhetoric in our State.  In respect of the issues Deputy McDonald raised, first, price review 6, which will facilitate investment of up to \u20ac18 billion in our energy grid, is essential and will copper-fasten and benefit every job and every potential future job in the country and will underpin the building of 300,000 houses and their connection to the grid and the electrification of the public transport system. It is a major decision by the Government. The Government has allocated \u20ac3.5 billion in equity to help to leverage and underpin the enormous investment that will occur from this. In many respects, this is a decisive moment in respect of the energy grid.  I acknowledge fully and understand the pressure people are under in respect of energy bills. Part of this announcement is the work of the national energy affordability task force, which was established by the Minister and which has already published its first report. Its task is to identify measures that will reduce electricity prices in the short term and permanently. Some of its measures were delivered under budget 2026. These include the decision to extend the reduction in VAT on electricity from 13% to 9% and significant work on the fuel allowance.  We included those on the working family payment. An extra 50,000 people will be paid the fuel allowance in March and that will be backdated to January. Of course, we increased the fuel allowance. An extra \u20ac140 will now be available for over 450,000 recipients between September and April. The \u20ac400 income tax disregard for households involved in energy microgeneration has been extended. There are also the budget measures more generally.  Retrofitting has grown significantly over the past number of years and is making a real difference to many houses. A deep retrofit can save over \u20ac1,100. Approximately 228,000 upgrades have happened now in terms of homeowners. Some \u20ac1.5 billion has been allocated for that. This year alone, another 64,500 home energy upgrades will happen, in addition to 14,300 local authority upgrades. We are progressing significant change in energy consumption within our households, more generally.  The affordability task force has to look at the more fundamental issue of the regulatory framework that governs energy prices in this country. That is a key objective of it, allied with European initiatives that will be required in terms of how energy is priced in the European market. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  We have had price hike after price hike. As I said earlier, not a glove has been placed on any of these gouging companies. Some 1 million households will face higher bills this Christmas. Over 300,000 households are in energy arrears. A so-called affordability task force has done absolutely bugger all to achieve affordability for those households and struggling families. We have a Government that is prepared to sit back and let households suffer. That is what I hear. Nobody is contesting the need for investment in the grid but the Government needs to accept the reality of what is happening in households right across the land as we approach Christmas. The reality is that working households, and let me emphasise that I am talking about working households, cannot meet their bills. Today, they wake to the news that in fact those bills will be increased again. I ask the Taoiseach not to offload this to some task force. What will he do to ensure that those bills can be met, that they are reduced and that families can have an affordable life again? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  After Russia's invasion of Ukraine----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Oh Jesus, do not start. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----we did allocate up to \u20ac3.3 billion in energy credits. The bottom line is that universal energy credits on an ongoing basis are simply not fiscally sustainable. The resources we have must be targeted, particularly to low-income families, which is what we have done. The Deputy wants everybody, irrespective of income----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  No, I want working people to be able to pay their bills. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----forever and ever to be getting energy credits. She wants the wealthiest in society----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  No, I do not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----to benefit from energy credits. She does. That is what she asked for. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  One voice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  This is disgraceful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Whereas I believe that what we did with the fuel allowance and what we have done----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  You are a disgrace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----with the working family payments and so on is the proper way to proceed. We also have to change the regulatory framework. That is not simple work. It is under way, though, and will ultimately help us to deal with the issue. The bottom line is that \u20ac18 billion is an enormous sum of money. The Deputy has not given any rational explanation as to how she thinks it should be------ "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Can you make the energy companies----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  You are giving it to the energy companies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Jesus, the indifference is stunning. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Sympathies from this side of the House also to those affected by the terrorist attack in Sydney.  There was an outstanding piece of journalism, which I keep referring to, in the Limerick Leader two weeks ago. I have in my hand the front page of the newspaper, which shows the faces of four young women who lost their lives because of the health issues in acute care in the mid-west and University Hospital Limerick. They were Aoife Johnston, 16; Niamh McNally, 16; Eve Cleary, 21; and Leona Cusack, 33. It was an outstanding piece of journalism by Sandra Quinn.  The issues in relation to acute care in the mid-west is the topic I have spoken about the most in my political career. It is probably the reason I got into politics. I have had to tell personal stories in the Chamber in relation to my dad, my mother, even my wife and my neighbours. I have spoken about how care is thought of in the mid-west and the discrimination that has happened to all of us in Tipperary, Clare and Limerick over the past 20 years since the Government made the decisions on downgrading hospitals without the infrastructure being put in place.  In the south east, they have four model 3 or model 4 hospitals, in south Tipperary, Wexford, Waterford and Kilkenny. We have one. We have one accident and emergency department for 450,000 people. It is shocking. It is discriminatory.  Along with my colleague, Deputy Sheehan, and all our representatives, I very much welcome what the Minister has announced today. It is very rare that somebody in opposition will stand up in Leaders' Questions and say that but it needs to be said. In principle, what has been announced today is very welcome, and the engagement the Minister has had with us, particularly in the last two weeks, is also something different and very welcome. There always is a \"however\", and the \"however\" here is the detail. We will support the Minister on this decision. The reality is that we need close on 600 beds in the mid-west by 2040. However, the capital envelope for this is too small. It is \u20ac9.2 billion up to 2030. Our capacity as a country to deliver on this is not there. My question to the Taoiseach, the Minister for Health and the Minister for public expenditure, if he is going to be still there, is this: will the Government give the financial capacity to deliver on this plan? Without that financial capacity, this plan, with all the goodwill of the Minister and everyone else, cannot be delivered on. It is impossible. It just does not add up. Will changes be made to the capital plan of the HSE in order to deliver this for the mid-west and end the discrimination that has been happening to us? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is very serious. The Deputy rightly referred to the shocking deaths of Niamh McNally, Leona Cusack, Aoife Johnston, and Eve Cleary. From that, there is no question that the mid-west needs additional investment but also reform. The reform dimension started two years or more ago now and has had impact, but the investment also has had impact. The level of increase in investment over the last five years in the mid-west is quite substantial, which gives prospects for significant investment in the next five years and even beyond that. Investment in the hospitals in the region went from about \u20ac370 million to \u20ac689 million. The UHL budget has gone from \u20ac265 million to \u20ac507 million, and then on the current side there are additional doctors, nurses, allied healthcare professionals and so forth. In that period, about 420 additional beds will be delivered across the mid-west region, including 48 additional beds. The Deputy has the details of that in Ennis, St. John's and so on, and for Nenagh.  There are additional needs. In the context of options A, B and C in the HIQA report, the Minister brought to the Government this morning a proposal to progress all three, first in terms of additional capacity in the existing site. It is interesting that the average number of people waiting on trolleys at University Hospital Limerick has almost halved in the weeks since the new 96-bed block opened compared to the weeks prior to it. Enabling works are under way, as the Deputy knows, for a second 96-bed block at UHL. The Minister is mandating the HSE to acquire a site as close as possible to the existing site. In terms of option C, which is model 3 reconfiguration across the mid-west, the Government has agreed to develop a model 3 hospital in the HSE mid-west that will provide a second emergency department for the region. All three options will be pursued by the Minister.  The Deputy has experience as a former Minister and he knows the important decision is the one that has been taken. A lot does depend on implementation and progression.  The acquisition of a site will be very important. The speed of consideration in terms of option C will also be very important. The Minister will develop a strategic plan for option C for the commencement of reconfiguration. I do think it is possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  I thank the Taoiseach for that, but he has to answer the question. Will the capital allocation for the Department of Health - HSE capital spending - be increased dramatically to deliver the project? It cannot be delivered at the moment. This decision cannot be executed. It is impossible. There is not enough money there, particularly if we look at the existing commitments relating to elective hospitals and everything else.  In reality, option B should become option C. That is the quickest and best solution for the people of the mid-west. I respect that the Minister will never want to discuss sites, and rightly so. What we should do is acquire a site and deliver option B and then wrap option C around it in stages in future years. That is what the mid-west really needs. I encourage the Government to provide a capital plan to deliver that, along with the upgrades to Nenagh and Ennis, including pathway changes, diagnostics being moved and everything else. Ultimately, unless there is an increase from the Department of public expenditure in relation to the capital provision for the HSE, with the best will in the world, the Minister cannot deliver this without the money being given by the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The amount of capital being allocated for projects across health and education is enormous. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  This is new. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Unprecedented levels of capital investment are being allocated. The Deputy knows that very often there is a parallel between the speed of acquisition of sites, speed of delivery, design and planning. There are a load of variables before we get to the drawdown of substantial capital in relation to a number of projects. The enabling works are happening in terms of the second site. There is an acknowledgement that there are capacity limits to the existing site in UHL. The acquisition of a site is extremely important. At that point, it will be necessary to incrementally build up and then free up and decant services from the main hospital site. Equally, there is no reason, given population growth and everything else, why we should not be incrementally reconfiguring and moving to a model 3 in the wider mid-west region. If we took the view at the start of every capital programme that we just do not have enough capital, very little would have been built in the country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  At the outset, I join others in expressing my utter revulsion at the horrific antisemitic attack in Sydney on Sunday. My thoughts are with the victims, their families, friends and the wider Jewish community.  During last year's election campaign, the Taoiseach said his party's guiding principle on disability issues is \"nothing about us, without us.\" I happen to agree with him about the importance of that principle. Put simply, it means listening to disabled people, ensuring people with disabilities have a seat at the table when policy is being formed and listening to their feedback about how policy is working. This matters because disabled people unfortunately have a long history of being spoken for rather than listened to. This is, of course, particularly important when it comes decisions that specifically impact their lives.  My question is very simple. Why is the Government not listening to disabled people? Their voices are loud and clear. They are angry about and upset by this Government's decision to slash their incomes by up to \u20ac1,400 in the budget. The Disability Federation of Ireland has called this a \"devastating setback\" which \"leaves disabled people poorer, unsupported and excluded.\" It warned that \"without urgent change \u2026 disabled people will remain trapped in poverty and exclusion in one of Europe's wealthiest countries.\" The Government did not listen.  Last week, disabled people braved the storm to protest outside the D\u00e1il. One man spoke about relying on food banks because he cannot afford groceries. Another woman described having to go to libraries to stay warm.  This is a crisis. It is not sustainable. Disabled people are clear about what they need, which is an emergency \u20ac400 winter payment. That will still leave people \u20ac1,000 worse off, but it will at least go some way towards meeting the cost of food and bills this winter.  The question is whether the Government is listening. Every time disabled people raise issues about the budget, all we get from Government is deflection. Investment in services is conflated with a recognition of the cost of having a disability. The Government ignored its own reports on the huge additional cost of having a disability and took the decision to cut people's income, removing one-off payments without replacing them with anything permanent. Many people are full of dread about the future because they literally do not know how they will keep food on the table. Will the Taoiseach tell the people watching whether the Government will introduce a \u20ac400 cost-of-disability payment for the winter? When will it will introduce a permanent weekly payment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important issue. We are listening to people with disabilities. Last Monday, we had a very significant meeting with disabled persons' organisations in the context of the implementation of the national strategy for disabled persons and the action plan that underpins it. There were a number of Ministers present, and I chaired the meeting. Each Minister outlined his or her programmes in respect of the action plan, following on from the publication of the strategy some months ago. The whole purpose was co-design and to listen to and engage with representatives of various pillars of disability organisations in the country. There will be further meetings, which will be more thematic and which will relate to specific areas.  I established a disability unit in my Department to drive change across Government in respect of disability. We also have a Cabinet committee on disability, which I chair. There was a particular focus on the issue in the budget. At today's Cabinet meeting, we produced a budget spotlight on the measures taken in respect of disability. These include a 20% increase in services, the largest increase in disability services for quite some time. We need more, and we need to do more.  The special education budget is now over \u20ac3 billion. That has to manifest itself in additional classes, teachers, special needs assistants and therapies in our schools and it is doing so. Very quickly after coming into government, we were in a position to roll out the school therapy programme. The Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan, is doing phenomenal work in special education along with the Minister, Deputy Naughton, as he did with the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee. We are very focused on establishing that programme in the early months of the new year before expanding it to all special schools in the next school year, during the period from September to January. We will then expand it further. We will continue to look at ways to improve the quality of education for children with special needs and how to ensure the right placements on time with the right therapeutic supports. We are also continuing to recruit for CDNTs and so forth.  The Minister, Deputy Dara Calleary, is working on the issue of the cost of disability. He is leading the strategic focus network on the cost of disability, working closely with disabled people and their advocates to shape how this payment will be designed and delivered. Several meetings have already taken place. The intention is to bring a proposal to Government in the first half of next year.  The bottom line is that we want to embed a permanent change in our payments systems and across all Government Departments. Once-off payments are no substitute for that. The once-off payments were introduced to deal with emergency situations arising out of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. They are not fiscally sustainable in the long term. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The Taoiseach says he is listening but he has inadvertently told us very clearly that he is not. I ask again whether the Government will introduce a \u20ac400 winter payment. Investment in services is welcome and absolutely essentially but, with respect, it is not what I am asking about. For example, investment in special schools will not put food on the table, pay bills or pay people's rent. Ireland has the lowest rate of employment for disabled people in Europe and one of the highest costs of living. People were outside the D\u00e1il last week, in the middle of a storm, to protest. They told us how embarrassing it was for them to have to do that.  One in five disabled people in Ireland lives in consistent poverty. That was before the Government slashed their payments. The Government is either not listening, does not get it or simply does not want to do anything about it. Which is it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I disagree with the Deputy. This is a priority for me and for the Government. Just because she stands up and says it is not does not mean it is not. It is, but we need permanent change and permanent improvements, not just once-off stuff every year. That will not cut it either and----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  Why not cost for----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  A permanent costed disability payment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Martin  Deputy Calleary is working through the detail because is not simple. He is going to work through it and will have proposals in the first half of next year. This year, we brought in the highest ever increase to the child support payment, namely \u20ac16 per week for children over 12, up to \u20ac78 now----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  That is not relevant to what I am asking. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Of course it is relevant. That is for all children. There has been a \u20ac20 monthly increase to the domiciliary care allowance----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Answer her question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----on the back of a very big increase last year. We are not going the route of short-term, once-off payments. Such payments are not fiscally sustainable in terms of the \u20ac3 billion and more we allocated last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Property is not fiscally sustainable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is not your turn Deputy McDonald. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Please allow someone else to have the opportunity to hear my reply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I am supporting my colleague and her very reasonable question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. Time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It will be interesting to see how long the Deputies opposite will remain colleagues, but anyway. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  To start with, we in Independent Ireland extend our sincere sympathies to the families of all those who lost their lives in Australia in the past few days as a result of the Bondi Beach tragedy.  What happened last Friday in Brussels was nothing short of a disgrace. It was a betrayal of the Irish fishing industry and of every costal community in this country. Ireland has been stabbed in the back by those who call themselves our European partners. The outcome of the EU Fisheries Council negotiations for 2026 quotas represents a black day for Ireland. It is a day that will never be forgotten by our fisherman. For decades, Ireland has played by the rules. Since 1973, we have opened our rich waters to Europe under the Common Fisheries Policy. We gave access and we sacrificed. In return, we were promised a measure of fairness, a safeguard called the Hague preferences. That was our crumb of comfort when cuts were imposed. Last Friday, that safeguard was ripped away. It was blocked deliberately by the Netherlands, backed by France, Germany and, shamefully, Poland, which had pledged support but which turned its back when it mattered. The Netherlands, with its factory ships and super-trawlers, already dominates our waters. It control fleets across Europe. It has now ensured its dominance will continue, while Irish fishermen are left to rot. The countries involved have declared war on the Irish fishing fleet.  Let us talk facts. Belgian beam trawlers will haul 400 tonnes of black sole from Irish waters in 2026. Irish fishermen will catch just 28 tonnes in our own waters. We are staring down the barrel of a loss of over \u20ac100 million in quota value, a hit of more than \u20ac200 million to wider seafood sector and more than 2,500 jobs gone from communities that have already been gutted by years of EU mismanagement and Government indifference.  Let us not forget that this is not the first time. We were sold out during the Brexit negotiations. A deal struck at Christmas that year gutted our industry, and now we are here again. We depended on Barnier that time and he stuck us on the double. Now, it is another Christmas, another blow, another betrayal. The amount of fish we will be allowed to catch in 2026 in the waters off our coast will be less than 9%, while others have increased their shares to 91% as a result of this action. Where is relative stability now? Those involved blocked the Hague preferences and secured their own access. They did all of that under the banner of European solidarity. Solidarity - I hate to say it - my arse; this is piracy dressed up as policy. I say this plainly. Ireland has been betrayed. The Common Fisheries Policy is corrupt. It is designed to serve the interests of the big players, such as the Netherlands, France and Germany, while crushing small coastal nations like ourselves.  What do we get from our Government? Silence and platitudes. There is no fight, no backbone and no defence of our people. Where were the Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste and the senior Minister last weekend? The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, was there, but where were the rest? We need a full scale political response. We need to challenge this injustice at every level. We need to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  -----protect what is left of our industry before it is whipped off the map. If we do not, mark my words, the Irish fishing industry will not survive another decade. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Will the Government challenge this in courts going forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very important issue. I agree with him that what happened in Brussels last week was absolutely unacceptable in terms of the pulling back of the Hague preferences. The situation is far more grave than that, however.  In terms of the overall issue, it was on scientific advice that the Council based its decisions. The Deputy is familiar with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, report, in which the scientific advice was, in essence, for a reduction of 70% in the total allowable catch for mackerel - that is existential for the pelagic fleet - a 41% reduction in respect of blue whiting and a 22% reduction in respect of boarfish. These are devastating losses for our fishing community, with consequential issues for seafood sector, for processing downstream and for coastal communities that are dependent on jobs arising from that.  The issue of unsustainable fishing of key pelagic stock such as mackerel by certain coastal states outside the European Union has been raised by Ireland repeatedly. We have, through the AGRIFISH Council, called for urgent European action to save the north-east Atlantic pelagic stocks. Again, Europe needs to negotiate far more strongly in terms of sending a clear message that actions that threaten the sustainability of our shared stocks are not acceptable to the European Union. There needs to be a concerted response. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, travelled to all the capitals and worked extremely hard. The Minister, Deputy Heydon, was there with the Minister of State at the time. I met with all the major fishing organisations last week or the week before last.  What we have to do now is develop our approach. Today, the Government took a decision to establish a task force with the industry to come back to us in the first quarter of next year in terms of how we, nationally, can support our fishers and create a sustainable pathway over the next number of years. We intend to re-engage regarding our limitations under existing state aid rules. Given the existential nature of this hit to the Irish fishing industry, we will have to respond in a strong way in terms of financially supporting our fishers over the next number of years. Approximately \u20ac102 million is involved, and that does not take account, as the Deputy said, of the impacts on the value chain in the seafood sector for fish processes and ancillary services. That is also an issue of significant concern. The Hague preferences would have accounted for somewhere between \u20ac13 million and \u20ac18 million of that \u20ac102 million, so it is a much bigger issue, notwithstanding the unacceptable nature of the decision of other member states not to facilitate the granting of the Hague preferences. We will work now with the industry with a view to designing a package and a framework to create a sustainable future for Irish fishing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Let us be honest: a task force is political theatre. It will not restore quotas, it will not save jobs and it will not undo the betrayal of last Friday. Ireland has been stripped of the Hague preferences, with our share cut to less than 9% while others walked away with 91%. That is piracy, not partnership. I met many trawler owners in Castletownbere on Sunday. They tell me that 30 articulated lorries come into Castletownbere every week and leave it with Irish fish out of Belgian, Spanish, French, UK and German trawlers. They are robbing our Irish fish in our Irish water and taking it into their countries while we stand idly by and accept this. I am not asking for another committee or report. Will the Government take this fight to the highest court possible? Will it challenge this corrupt decision by legal means or will it stand by while Dutch super-trawlers plunder our waters and Irish coastal communities are wiped off the map? Let us have no more excuses. Will the Government fight or will it surrender? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I put it to the Deputy that what I am proposing is far more realistic in terms of an immediate or timely response to the predicament and the dire situation Irish fishers find themselves in, primarily, let us be honest, because of scientific advice. When the stock is----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  What caused that to happen? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I gave the reason earlier. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Mac Lochlainn, this is not your question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  This is Deputy Collins's time. Sinn F\u00e9in cannot cannibalise everyone else and grab their time. I know it tries to do it politically. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  What have you done, as Taoiseach of our country, since last Friday? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Collins is the one Deputy in this House who has raised this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  You have not done a thing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Mac Lochlainn's party chose not to raise it. Deputy Collins raised it and, in fairness to him, he should be allowed time for a response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  There has been not a word from you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I say to Deputy Collins that we will look at all options. The most immediate one I am concerned about is that we need a framework of response in order to bring about a financially sustainable future for Irish fishers.  That is important. We want to work with the industry to do that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"orderofBusiness","bill":null,"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","counts":{"speechCount":73,"speakerCount":26},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kevin Boxer Moran","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  Tuesday's business shall be:  - Motion re Referral to Joint Committee of Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  - Motion re Appointment of Members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  - Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  - Motion re Restoration of Private Members\u2019 Bill to the Order Paper (without debate)  - Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and D\u00e1il Reform on Rota for Leaders\u2019 Questions pursuant to Standing Order 38 (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  - Appropriation Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (to conclude within 3 hours and 34 minutes and any division claimed deferred to immediately before Committee Stage on Wednesday)  Tuesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Blister Packs, selected by Sinn F\u00e9in.  Wednesday's business shall be:  - Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (to adjourn after 90 minutes)  - Statements on Fisheries (not to exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes)  - Appropriation Bill 2025 (Committee and remaining Stages) (to be taken no earlier than 7 p.m. and to conclude within 90 minutes)  - Credit Review Bill 2024 (Report and Final Stages) (to conclude within 30 minutes)  - Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025 (Report and Final Stages) (to conclude within 30 minutes)  - Motion re Proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025*  - Motion re Proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025*  - Motion re Presentation and Circulation of Revised Estimates 2026 (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  * Back from Committee; to be debated together and brought to a conclusion within 60 minutes, with questions to be put on each motion separately; any division claimed to be taken immediately  Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Second Stage of the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025, selected by the Independent and Parties Technical Group.  Thursday's business shall be:  - Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (if not previously concluded, to adjourn after 3 hours and 24 minutes)  Thursday evening business shall be the Motion re Report entitled \"Report on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill\", sponsored by the Committee on Health.     Proposed Arrangements for this week\u2019s business:     In relation to Tuesday\u2019s business, it is proposed that:  1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  (a) the time allocated to Government business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the D\u00e1il may sit later than 10.48 p.m.; and  (b) private members\u2019 business may be taken later than 6.12 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Second Stage of the Appropriation Bill 2025, with consequential effect on the commencement times for the items following in the ordinary routine of business, namely, Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Defence and topical issues;  2. the proceedings on the Motion re Referral to Joint Committee of Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  3. the proceedings on the Motion re Appointment of Members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  4. the proceedings on the Motion re Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  5. the proceedings on the Motion re Restoration of Private Members\u2019 Bill to the Order Paper shall be taken without debate;  6. the proceedings on the Motion re Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and D\u00e1il Reform on Rota for Leaders\u2019 Questions pursuant to Standing Order 38 shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and  7. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Appropriation Bill 2025 shall be brought to a conclusion after 3 hours and 34 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) on the conclusion of the first speaking round or where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; Provided that any division claimed on the Second Stage proceedings shall be taken immediately prior to Committee Stage on Wednesday; and  (c) members may share time.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20     In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:  1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  (a) the time allotted for Government Business shall be extended in accordance with the arrangements for that business and the D\u00e1il may sit later than 9.30 p.m.;  (b) in the event that the Statements on Fisheries conclude before 7 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 7 p.m. when the order of business shall resume with the Appropriation Bill 2025;  (c) any motions to be taken without debate shall be taken on the conclusion of the Motions re Proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025; and  (d) the weekly division time shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on any motions without debate, and the D\u00e1il shall adjourn on the conclusion of the weekly division time;  2. notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Animal Health and Welfare (Ban on Fox Hunting) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours;  3. in relation to the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Public Health (Single-Use Vapes) Bill 2025, the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) the proceedings shall be interrupted and stand adjourned either after 1 hour and 30 minutes or where no further member is offering, and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (i) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down); and  (ii) members may share time; and  (b) the proceedings shall not be resumed on Wednesday;          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20     4. the Statements on Fisheries shall not exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (a) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (c) members may share time;          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    35    25    15    15    5           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    15    15    5    12    15           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    5    12    15    5    8     5. the proceedings on Committee and remaining Stages of the Appropriation Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 90 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation;  6. the proceedings on Report and Final Stages of the Credit Review Bill 2024 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 30 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Finance;  7. the proceedings on Report and Final Stages of the Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 30 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration;  8. the proceedings on the Motion re Proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025 and the Motion re Proposed approval by D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann of the Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply thereto:  (a) the two motions shall be debated together, with separate questions put on all proceedings thereon;  (b) the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:-  opening speech by a Minister or Minister of State \u2013 10 minutes;  speeches by representatives of Sinn F\u00e9in, the Labour Party, Social Democrats, Independent and Parties Technical Group, and Independent Technical Group \u2013 7.5 minutes per party or group;  speeches by Other Members \u2013 7.5 minutes in total; and  a speech in response by the Minister \u2013 5 minutes;  (c) members may share time; and  (d) any divisions demanded shall be taken immediately; and  9. the proceedings on the Motion re Presentation and Circulation of Revised Estimates 2026 shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately.  In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that:  1. (a) the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  (i) pursuant to an Order of the D\u00e1il of 3rd December, 2025, Parliamentary Questions to the T\u00e1naiste and Minister for Finance pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall be taken for 96.5 minutes immediately following the SOS;  (ii) topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the adjournment of the Second Stage of the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025, with consequential effect on the commencement time for the Motion re Report entitled \u201cReport on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill\u201d: Provided that where the Second Stage of the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025 concludes within the available time, topical issues shall be taken on its conclusion; and  (iii) the D\u00e1il shall adjourn on conclusion of the Motion re Report entitled \u201cReport on Pre-Legislative Scrutiny of the Health (Assisted Human Reproduction) (Amendment) Bill\u201d; and  (b) the D\u00e1il on its rising shall adjourn until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 13th January, 2026; and  2. in relation to the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) (Amendment) Bill 2025, the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) subject to subparagraph (ii), the proceedings shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 3 hours and 24 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (i) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (ii) where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (iii) members may share time; and  (b) the proceedings shall not be resumed on Thursday.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20     "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the arrangements agreed to? They are not agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  We have deep concerns about the response to the flu outbreak. Accidents and emergency departments are under pressure. We have run out of nasal flu vaccines for infants. We would like to get a response from the Government before we go into the Christmas break, which we expect to be peak flu season. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Last June, parties across this House welcomed the show of support for freedom of expression by hundreds of thousands of Hungarians when they marched in the Budapest Pride parade, which that country's government had tried to ban. Now we see the Hungarian Government initiating prosecutions against the Green mayor of Budapest and the Pride organisers in another Hungarian city. Could the Government find time this week for statements on this matter and could the Minister for foreign affairs raise it with her counterpart in Hungary? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I am calling on Deputies in the order they raise their hands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I ask for time this week to debate child homelessness. This Christmas we will have a record number of homeless children in emergency accommodation - 5,274. I ask for time to be put aside this week to debate the issue and to discuss emergency measures that could be brought in to stop the number of families and children being evicted into homelessness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Could we have statements this week on Mercosur? It is of very serious concern. We saw what happened with fisheries last Friday. We cannot have that happen with agriculture. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael MEPs are more or less making statements saying they are going to support it, and we want the rest of Europe to go our way. We need statements on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Mac Lochlainn. I thank Deputy Collins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I have also called for statements on Uisce \u00c9ireann. It is very hard to get it here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  I support the request by Deputy Collins, which has been made at the Business Committee as well for a number of weeks. It is extraordinary that there is no time to debate Mercosur. It is a massive issue and decision time is coming up. We do not know the Government's position. Perhaps the Taoiseach could clarify that, or at least pass a message to the Chief Whip to do so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  There I was thinking the spirit of Christmas might have landed on the very last day----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Bah humbug. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  -----and that the Order of Business might be agreed.  I contacted all the Whips last Saturday to let them know that, following a request from Deputy Collins, and after speaking to the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, the Ministers would like to facilitate statements on fisheries. That is being facilitated tomorrow afternoon. It will be a full round, so that limits the amount of other time that is available.  I remind all Whips from the Opposition parties that they can use their time on Leaders' Questions, Private Members' business, Topical Issues and Questions on Policy or Legislation to raise the myriad of important issues outlined. I wish everyone a very happy Christmas. The Order of Business stands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the proposed arrangements for this week's business agreed to? "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and declared carried."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Christmas is here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We move now to Questions on Policy or Legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Taoiseach's very cruel decision to withdraw funding for blister pack services has caused huge anger and worry. The Government's penny-pinching means that very vulnerable people will face charges of perhaps up to \u20ac50 a month for this service, a charge that many older people simply cannot afford, and may be forced to go without their blister packs, putting their health and welfare at risk.  It is particularly distressing for elderly people with dementia, Alzheimer's, or other serious conditions requiring multiple medications. For them, tablet blister packs are a lifeline to help them remember the right medication to take at the right time and the right dosage. The stress that this has caused should not be underestimated. I have been inundated with messages from older people and their families, who are very worried, angry and hurt. The Taoiseach needs to tell them today that he will reverse permanently this cruel decision and continue to fund the blister pack service.  He needs to tell them they will not be charged----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy is way over time. The Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  -----not in January, not in March, not ever. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Government did not withdraw anything. There is a need for proper debate on these matters. Everything gets weaponised and simplified and to hell with the consequences or to heal with the truth behind the issue and so on. I refer to the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, statement of last week. This is a bit more complex now than has been articulated by the Deputy's good self and others in the past week up to now.  The Minister has engaged with the representative bodies and there will be further discussions but nothing has been withdrawn by the Government. Some pharmacies provided this free for a long time. Some charged minor amounts and others charged the State. Those who charged the State apparently did it under a different heading. All that needs to be worked out. It is not as simple as the Deputy presents it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  If it is simple do not do what you are doing with blister packs. What is complicated about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Politically it is, of course, because that is what the Deputy is fundamentally about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Time is up, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There is an obligation on public representatives of all parties----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  There is an obligation on everyone to stay within one minute. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----to get to the truth of these issues and deal with them in a straightforward way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Is that a \"Yes\" or a \"No\"? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I wish to raise with the Taoiseach conditions at Curragh Community College, which is based on Department of Defence lands on the Curragh, County Kildare. The school is crumbling around staff and students, presenting immediate and serious safety concerns. Classroom conditions are dire. Radiators are not working and children are learning in extremely cold environments where there are even broken windows. There is no safe pedestrian crossing for children and there was a recent accident involving a car and a child. Staff facilities are wholly inadequate and present ongoing physical hazards under workplace safety regulations.  We all know a new school has been promised for Magee Barracks in Kildare town, which will replace this school, but that is a number of years away. Can the Taoiseach say if officials from the Department of Defence, who are responsible for the site, and the Department of Education and Youth can immediately call to the school to address the serious issues that are ongoing at the school? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I certainly will. It is unacceptable. There is no call for broken windows. We have minor works grants and various schemes that can deal with issues of maintenance. In particular, if glass is broken or whatever, you fix the window, for God's sake. I will talk to the Minister and ask her to engage with the Minister for Defence, although it would seem to me that it is primarily an education matter on the capital side. I will certainly follow that up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Some 300,000 people are in arrears on their electricity bill with 187,000 of them in long-term arrears. In October, the Taoiseach spoke about price-gouging by energy companies and since then, all we have seen is price hike after price hike. Staff of the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, was on \"Morning Ireland\" today and advised people to shop around for their bills or to put their electricity on at cheaper times of the day. That is completely tone deaf when we are in a situation where people do not have enough money to turn their heating on to keep their house warm. Will the Taoiseach direct the regulator to conduct an investigation on price-gouging? It is long past time that retail companies were held to account for the extortionate prices they are charging people. We are going into another winter where people are really struggling to pay these bills. Will the Taoiseach do that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Energy efficiency is always something that should be focused on. It should not be just dismissed as the Deputy potentially did there. I recall what supermarkets did during the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the terrible crisis we had at the time. They put doors on their fridges, a simple thing that saved massive amounts of energy and was money well spent. Prior to the crisis, it was whatever. What I mean by that is we do have to continue to fund retrofitting and energy efficiency.  On the CRU, the regulatory model is what we are examining right now. That is not a simple thing. It does need to be changed and the consumer is bearing the brunt of a lot of the investment. Again, it is the CRU, and the Minister has established an energy affordability task force. It has already published its first report. Some of that manifested in the budget decisions we took and we will be dealing with the overall framework, which is important. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Tomorrow, there will be a first ever D\u00e1il vote on banning fox-hunting in this country, a drawn-out killing for sport of foxes, one of our native species.  It has been outlawed in the UK and most of Europe. This practice has been opposed in successive polls across every demographic, region, province and age, yet the three big parties seem to support it so they are out of sync with the general population. Will the Taoiseach allow Fianna F\u00e1il TDs, 16 or 17 of whom I believe want to vote for my Bill, to do so? I have spoken to Fine Gael and Sinn F\u00e9in TDs who want to vote for my Bill. I ask the Taoiseach to give a lead. Given the date that is in it, let us learn that it is not a great idea to tell your TDs what to do against their will. The Taoiseach should learn from the presidential election where whips did not work very well and allow a free vote. It is not about the budget, the programme for Government or an economic issue. It is about a conscience issue - a cruelty issue. Will the Taoiseach allow a free vote? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is a matter for each political party to decide when the whip applies and when it does not. If we changed all our processes, the Deputy would love for us to divide and fragment. That would suit her fine but there is a reason for political parties too. I would argue that we have had a democracy for 100 years because we have had strong cohesive political parties that were stable and able to deliver policies in times of crisis and in good times. That is a comment I would make generally and not in the context of the specific issue raised by the Deputy. The parties will decide individually on that issue and the whip will apply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  Section 39 workers are some of the hardest workers in our society. Their work in the health and social care system involves providing round the clock care and support to people with complex medical needs, protects the most vulnerable and gives them complete dignity yet they are treated as second-class workers. They are doing the same work as HSE colleagues but are often lower paid, have weaker conditions and are outside the pay restoration grants to public servants. As a result, predictably, there is a high turnover and a revolving door when it comes to people working in nursing homes and those type of settings. Let us be honest;: those who stay do so out of dedication and professionalism and not because the system treats them fairly. My question is quite simple. Would the Taoiseach work for such pay and conditions and if not, why does his Government continue to allow this? Will he commit to a clear timeline for pay parity and fair treatment of section 39 workers to provide the services that are so dearly needed in this country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have made good progress on these issues over the past number of years in respect of section 39 in terms of the application and subsequent negotiation in the context of the public pay agreements. Some organisations have been moved out of section 39, particularly hospices, to achieve the pay parity mentioned by the Deputy. It is a very big area with many organisations, some big, some small, so it is complex enough. It is not simple. We have a process in terms of pay determination for section 39 that is much better than what was there in previous years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  I want to raise the serious gap in primary care services in the midlands. There is no primary care occupational therapist in counties Offaly or Laois. As a result, children with mild to moderate developmental or sensory needs have no access to occupational therapists locally. Families are being told that unless their children's difficulties worsen to the point where they meet the criteria for disability services, no support is available. That means children are being left without care until their needs escalate when early intervention could have prevented that outcome. I have raised the issue repeatedly through parliamentary questions but responses continue to refer to general recruitment challenges rather than address the reality on the ground. Will the Taoiseach help with providing these services in the midlands? This issue requires immediate attention and action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will certainly pursue this matter in terms of additionality and services in primary care. Recruitment has been challenging. I might take the opportunity to engage with the Deputy and the Minister in terms of what we can do to add services, support recruitment and retention and have a better impact into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  I raise the pending closure of the Merck facility in Arklow, whose foreign investment we formally welcome. Merck is a huge multinational global company with a turnover of over \u00a32.2 billion in the last quarter of this year. It has also been supported warmly by IDA Ireland, but the initial redundancy package put to the workers is simply an insult to over 100 employees. We now have to go down the WRC route, which is hugely stressful for the workforce. This workforce is highly skilled and some have given decades of service. All they simply want is fairness with a fair redundancy package and fair pensions. Sometimes large companies take over and close down units like this, and treat site workers simply as stats, but these are genuine people. They are people who have applied for mortgages, who are in their elder years and may not get employment again. I ask that everything be done to help these workers in their fight for fairness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy very much indeed for raising this issue. As he said, Merck made the decision last month to wind down operations at its Arklow facility by the end of 2028 following a strategic portfolio product review. Other operations in Ireland are unaffected. The IDA has activated internal processes for responding to the potential and actual job loss situation with the client company. That involves proactive engagement with the site leadership of the company and its parent company. A consultation process is under way between the company and its employee representatives; that normally happens following any announcement.  The IDA leads the co-ordinated response by other relevant Departments and agencies. We tend to focus on trying to get alternative work through local enterprise offices and others and on whether there are potential new start-ups, which happens at times when companies close. We have out-placement employment support services and potential training opportunities may be provided, as well as provision of detailed skills profiles for the employees and other recruitment opportunities with other employers. We will work fully to try to help the workers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I revisit the issue of catchment flood risk assessment management, CFRAM, and flooding, which I brought up earlier. I would be delighted if the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, could take the question. We have had significant flooding in County Louth. Many people will have seen the footage of Blackrock. We also had flooding at the quays in Dundalk and Drogheda and other areas, such as Fair Green. Dundalk is very much exposed. That is why big CFRAM projects are promised. I am very worried about the delivery time. It will be quarter 4 of 2027 for a planning permission application for south Blackrock and Dundalk. This is all much later than anticipated. I ask the Minister of State to make a visit. When we talk about the likes of Blackrock, in particular, we could be looking at interim solutions. I request the Minister of State does all he can. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kevin Boxer Moran","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Kevin-Boxer-Moran.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Kevin Boxer Moran)  I thank the Deputy for the question. I have seen the footage on social media and a lot of people sent pictures to me of what happened in that area last week. He is right that there are interim solutions we brought forward, along with the changes to the minor works scheme. I say to every Deputy in the House that I need local authorities to work with me and my Department, and not come to the House to blame the OPW, although I am not saying the Deputy is doing that. The OPW feeds local authorities with the funding. The minor works scheme is there. It has increased from \u20ac750,000 to \u20ac2 million. That allows the places the Deputy talked about to come in. We will support them, but the local authority has to lead first.  My Department has met with the local authority in Louth and spoken to officials, and another meeting will take place. I have to go to Portrane very shortly and maybe we will take in that visit on the way back. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy William Aird  I raise an issue that is causing huge concern to families across County Laois, that is, the urgent need for ASD classes at post-primary level. Last year, the then Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, successfully spearheaded a campaign to open more ASD classes at primary school level. We need the same level of urgency at post-primary level. We know that a significant number of children with ASD will move from primary to post-primary in coming years. Their parents are already worried about the availability of suitable places. They want their children with ASD educated, with their siblings and peers, in their local schools and communities. These families deserve assurances that their children will not be left without appropriate educational facilities. Schools and parents in towns such as Abbeyleix, Mountmellick, Mountrath, Portarlington and Portlaoise need to know what engagement is happening and what planning is under way to secure places for September 2026.  I am asking the Taoiseach to liaise with the Minister for education to ensure that the new ASD classes are open to meet this growing demand in County Laois. I ask for a clear timeline for delivery of these units at post-primary level. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (Deputy Michael Moynihan)  We are acutely aware of the challenges in post-primary education. Primary education, by and large, has stepped up to the plate. We are acutely aware of the challenges right across the country, not just in Laois. The Minister, Deputy Naughton, and I are working closely to make sure we have places for children in 2026. However, we are acutely aware of the challenges across County Laois and across the country at post-primary level. I welcome the engagement of the patrons and other bodies with the Department and the NCSE to ensure we have places in second level education. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  In Kildare, Sensational Kids is a social enterprise that provides assessment of needs and a range of therapies for children. It is also operational in counties Monaghan, Mayo and Cork. Approximately two years ago, on foot of a commitment of \u20ac9.5 million from the Department of justice's IIP programme, complemented by local fundraising, Sensational Kids commenced construction of a national child development centre on a site it had bought in Kildare town. A year ago, having drawn down half of the IIP money, the Department of justice ceased the flow of funds, and the builder departed the site while still owed over \u20ac600,000. Today, a year later, the site stands idle with no commitment forthcoming for the release of the balance of the IIP funding or for any additional capital funding from the HSE or any other State source. I have a simple question. Will the Taoiseach refer this crisis situation for consideration to the disability unit established by him, in his Department, in order to find a resolution to this critical matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will do that. This is extremely unsatisfactory. Is the Deputy saying that the building is half up? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Heads need to come together from different Departments to make sure something can be done. I will talk to the Minister for Justice, the Minister of State with responsibility for special education and the Minister for Health. I will ask officials in my Department to bring a report to me as quickly as possible. This is not good enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  The Taoiseach did not answer the earlier questions about the Fisheries Council outcome. It is a disastrous outcome. The Taoiseach must know about the big five, the massive Dutch corporations that have bought up fish quotas across the European Union. They have 240 vessels. Approximately one in six of the fish caught under all the countries of Europe are under these corporations. They clearly have more power than our country. How can it be that for our State and our waters, which have suffered so much, the Hague preferences - in place since 1976 and the final veneer of fairness in the Common Fisheries Policy for Ireland - can just be stripped away? I am asking the Taoiseach if he will take legal action. Will he call for an investigation into these major corporations based in the Netherlands that are plundering and taking fish all across the European Union under the Common Fisheries Policy? Deputy Michael Collins called it corrupt. I think it is a corrupt policy at this stage and the Taoiseach needs to speak out and defend Irish interests on this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Government will use very lever at its disposal to support the Irish fishing industry. It seems to me that the most effective one we have right now is what we can do nationally to support the industry because of the research outcomes. It is the research outcomes that have the most devastating impact. Let us be clear about that. What is happening with the Hague preferences is wrong and we have pursued that in any way we can. However, we are looking at over 100 million, the vast bulk of which is made up of a 70% reduction in pelagic, 41% in another category and right along. It is devastating because of overfishing by countries outside of the European Union----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Backed by these corporations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Stop, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----with which the EU has an agreement. There is also the issue of what has transpired. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, has apprised me of this in terms of how the industry has changed in the Netherlands where it is now conglomerates essentially running the industry. They are clearly winning a lot of influence to get the outcome they got last week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  The Taoiseach and others have rightly condemned the horrific attacks in Sydney where 15 people were killed and more were injured. Given the atrocity, there is always a risk that abuse to our own Jewish community may increase and there may be copycat incidents. In that context, has the Taoiseach had discussions with the Garda Commissioner or anyone on the security side to see what can be done to reassure our own Jewish community in light of these attacks? Whatever our views are on the Israeli state's treatment of Palestinians, our Jewish citizens have a right to live in peace and not be tormented by anyone. They will be feeling fear now and need reassurance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Historically, our Jewish community has made a very significant contribution to the formation of the Irish State during the War of Independence and afterwards for many decades. We have to protect our Jewish community from any violent acts or increase in antisemitism. An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the Garda Commissioner are very aware of this, as is the Minister for justice. Across the board, we review all security in respect of all issues. Be in no doubt that this is a matter the garda\u00ed are giving significant attention to. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  Traffic congestion on the Whitegate to Midleton road has been like nothing on earth for months now. I know this well because I travel the road several times a week for a school trip. It is beyond frustrating for commuters to be left stewing in traffic as they are trying to get to work, school or cr\u00e8che day-in, day-out. The road is at over capacity but the recent installation of traffic lights near the Lake View roundabout is the most recent factor in disrupting traffic flow. This is because the lights are operating on fixed intervals rather than responding to actual traffic flow.  Cork County Council has installed fiber connections to facilitate more fluent traffic flow but these cannot be turned on until the road is resurfaced. The council has been prevented from resurfacing the road because Uisce \u00c9ireann has yet to complete a water connection to an estate near the Lake View roundabout. Uisce \u00c9ireann is not engaging reasonably with Cork County Council on this matter. This is just another example of Uisce \u00c9ireann operating as a dysfunctional and unresponsive law unto itself. I urge the Taoiseach to take Government intervention on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Again, this is an issue that has to be resolved at the correct level, between the county council and Uisce \u00c9ireann. They should resolve it but we will see what we can do to prod it along. These are basic issues on the ground that should be dealt with by the council and Uisce \u00c9ireann. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  It is not getting a response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Policing and Community Safety Authority Ireland reported on performance levels in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na today and has said that unfortunately, it is failing in 11 of the 18 areas the authority made recommendations in. Recruitment and retention, which we have spoken about often here, is a major issue. However, the authority complimented and pointed out how high visibility policing is working in the capital but it is not working in Roscrea and many other towns in Ireland. How is that we have a situation where we have a Minister from Dublin and high visibility in Dublin? If you walk out of here, you will see them all over the place, which is great. However, you will not find them in Roscrea. Why is there high visibility of garda\u00ed across Dublin this Christmas but there is not in Roscrea? Why is rural Ireland being discriminated against compared to Dublin when it comes to high visibility policing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I was in Templemore recently with Deputy O'Meara, who raised the issue of the need for more garda\u00ed in Tipperary more generally. There is good recruitment now. The largest class came in recently and it is really buoyant in Templemore in respect of the investment there and the garda\u00ed coming through. The next stage will be----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  I hope there will not be a second college. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We will try to increase and expand and do what we can with Templemore. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Okay good. I am delighted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The point is we will get there. I am afraid to say it to the Deputy but there was a big allocation to Cork recently. We are going to do it in stages and Roscrea and Tipperary will get a good allocation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  We only got one in the last allocation for the whole county. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Please, Deputy Kelly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is wrong to say it is discrimination. Instead of giving dribs and drabs all over the country, what is happening in terms of----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Go to Roscrea and look at it. You cannot find a garda. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach's time is up. I call Deputy Murphy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----Dublin is correct. It has worked and is demonstrable. It will be repeated across the country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  There are no garda\u00ed there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It has been three years since the completion of the Shannon report into sexual abuse of children at St. John Ambulance. It is a harrowing report which concluded that the organisation had failed to act against the perpetrator for years, despite, \"a significant degree of organisational awareness of the risk that he posed to children\". One of the central recommendations of that report was that the national safeguarding officer be independent, specifically to counter what was described as a cultural deference within St. John Ambulance. However, departmental funding for that role has now been ended and the same officer is being retained directly by the organisation itself, which at the very least raises a question mark over the independence of the role. I understand that survivors have been attempting to engage with, and discuss this with, the Minister for children but there has been no engagement whatsoever. In replies to parliamentary questions, the Minister details engagement with boards, with audits and with governance structures but does not seem to be engaging with the survivors. I ask the Taoiseach to discuss this with the Minister to ensure she engages and meets with the survivors. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will follow up with the Minister for children and endeavour to ascertain what the current state of play is in that situation and the background to it. I will revert to the Deputy on it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy John Cummins)  I move:  That the proposal that D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann approves the following Regulations in draft:  Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025,  a copy of which has been laid in draft form before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 9th December, 2025, be referred to the Joint Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage, in accordance with Standing Order 103(5), which, not later than 16th December, 2025, shall send a message to the D\u00e1il in the manner prescribed in Standing Order 110, and Standing Order 109(2) shall accordingly apply. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) (No. 2) Regulations 2025: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Appointment of Members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann, noting that the Government, on 4th November, 2025, agreed to nominate Sam Erik Blanckensee, Cathryn Costello, Adam Harris, Rosaleen McDonagh, Patricia Munatsi-Mangwiza and Rose Wall for appointment by the President as members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, recommends, pursuant to section 13(1)(b) of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act 2014 (No. 25 of 2014), that Sam Erik Blanckensee, Cathryn Costello, Adam Harris, Rosaleen McDonagh, Patricia Munatsi-Mangwiza and Rose Wall be appointed by the President as members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Appointment of Members of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I move:  That, notwithstanding anything in the Order of the D\u00e1il of 5th February, 2025, setting out the rota in which Questions to members of the Government are to be asked, Questions for oral answer, following those set down to the Minister for Defence on 16th December, 2025, shall be set down to Ministers in the following temporary sequence:  Minister for Children, Disability and Equality  Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment  whereupon the sequence established by the Order of 5th February, 2025, shall continue with Questions to the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment: Provided that, notwithstanding the rota adopted by Order of the D\u00e1il of 18th February, 2025, the sequence of allocation to parties and groups of Parliamentary Questions nominated for priority pursuant to Standing Order 50 shall be unaffected. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/10","event":{"uri":null,"houseCode":null,"stage":null,"isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Restoration to Order Paper (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Restoration to Order Paper","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I move:  That, pursuant to Standing Order 205, the Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023, which lapsed on the dissolution of the 33rd D\u00e1il, shall be restored at Order for Committee Stage and notice shall be published pursuant to Standing Order 37. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The vote will be deferred until the weekly division time tomorrow. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health (Regulation of Termination of Pregnancy) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Restoration to Order Paper"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Report on Standing Orders and D\u00e1il Reform on Rota for Leaders\u2019 Questions Pursuant to Standing Order 38: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann adopts the Report of the Committee on Standing Orders and D\u00e1il Reform entitled, \"Rota for Leaders' Questions pursuant to Standing Order 38\", copies of which were laid before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 12th December, 2025. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Report on Standing Orders and D\u00e1il Reform on Rota for Leaders\u2019 Questions Pursuant to Standing Order 38: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna - Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","counts":{"speechCount":26,"speakerCount":14},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 15, inclusive, together.  The Cabinet committee on housing last met yesterday, Monday, 15 December. The committee works to ensure a cross-Government approach to the implementation of our commitments regarding housing policy. This week\u2019s meeting was specifically focused on our homelessness challenge, in particular the national housing plan commitments in this regard, including the development of a homeless prevention framework and a child and family homelessness action plan.  We are making good progress on the delivery of homes to those most in need across the country, with the new housing plan committed to delivering 72,000 social homes over its lifetime. However, as we increase supply, we also recognise that those experiencing, or at risk of, homelessness have a wide and complex variety of needs. We need to ensure that the appropriate services and policies are in place to support them. Housing is our single biggest issue as a country, with profound social and economic consequences. That is why it is at the centre of the Government\u2019s focus.  Along with the largest ever commitment on social housing, the new national housing plan commits to delivering 300,000 new homes, including 90,000 affordable supports to help people who are struggling to have a home of their own. The plan sets out the highest ever commitment of State funding for housing, with \u20ac28 billion over the next five years, coupled with additional funding through State vehicles, including the Land Development Agency, the Housing Finance Agency, Home Building Finance Ireland, the First Home Scheme and the Irish Strategic Investment Fund. Housing delivery, along with infrastructure and utility investment to enable delivery at scale, is at the core of the agreed national development plan published in July, and, at \u20ac275 billion, the largest ever capital injection in the history of the State.  To build homes at the scale now required, we need improved and more resilient water, energy and transport services. We will see large-scale investment in all of these areas over the coming years. Last month under price review 6, the investment plan for energy infrastructure was finalised, including funding allocations of up to \u20ac18 billion to ESB and EirGrid, leveraged by the Government injection of \u20ac3.5 billion in equity to these companies. This will enable thousands more homes to be connected to the grid.  We have also published the investment plan for water, which sets out over \u20ac12 billion investment in our water infrastructure, the majority of which will support the delivery of our housing targets. In addition, we are tackling barriers to delivery, through the accelerating infrastructure report and action plan, which includes reforms which will support public and private sector delivery of homes at scale.  Housing is at the centre of the State\u2019s investment and focus for the coming years. However, to meet our targets, we will also need significant delivery from the private sector and we have implemented a number of measures and reforms in support of this. We have focused on making apartment delivery more financially viable, reformed our planning process and created a stable policy environment to enable the private sector to deliver at scale.  We are seeing indications now that our measures are beginning to take effect, evidenced by CSO data showing that we have had an increase of almost 30% in homes approved for planning in quarter 3 of this year, in comparison with the same time period last year, with the number of apartments approved up by over 50%. These are clear indications of confidence. Work is under way to zone a significantly higher quantum of land across the country. Now is the time for ambitious execution, and we have set out a clear framework and roadmap for the coming years to do this. I am confident that we can build on our success to date and bring about a very significant scale-up in our delivery of housing over the lifetime of this Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I thank the Taoiseach. I welcome today's announcement in relation to the vacant property refurbishment grant and the extension of this grant until 2030. This provides important certainty from a policy point of view in relation to vacant properties. We know they are still a very significant challenge. I also welcome the new initiative in relation to the above the shop grant. Up to \u20ac140,000, where multiple properties are involved, is potentially available. That is very significant and the fact that it will be available by quarter 1 of the new year is very important. It is important to look at the local authorities and their resourcing in terms of being able to deal with this grant. I ask the Taoiseach to also look at that. We want these grants to be processed in a timely manner so that we can get on with utilising this currently under-occupied space. The resourcing of local authorities is important and I ask the Taoiseach to look at that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  In my constituency between Shanowen Road and Collins Avenue there are proposals to build new apartment developments. While the additional new housing is incredibly welcome, unfortunately the under-utilised industrial estate there is currently occupied by Santry Boxing Club. Would the Taoiseach agree as well as powering ahead with the provision of new housing, Dublin City Council needs to have a more proactive strategy of making land available to sports clubs so they can avail of programmes like the sports capital grant? Santry Boxing Club is an amazing local facility and will be a great facility for those new homes that will be built. As well as enabling new homes, we need to put in place new facilities, and Dublin City Council needs to be more proactive in making land available to sports clubs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  As the Taoiseach said, the delivery of housing is the number one priority for this Government. That is why it is strategically important that all sectors of the Government support that aim, namely through the national development plan's transport sectoral plan, which was published recently. In my constituency, which the Taoiseach visited, we see it as one of the fastest-growing constituencies in the country, with large developments like Adamstown and Clonburris flying ahead. In its county development plans, South Dublin County Council is setting very ambitious targets for zoning. The key to enabling this zoning and to enabling delivery of those homes is the deployment and development of DART+ South West as a transport programme, to intensify the capacity on that line, not only benefitting commuters in Dublin Mid-West but also Kildare North, Dublin South-Central and Dublin-Central.  I am asking the Taoiseach for his support to do all we can to prioritise and bring forward, where possible, the delivery of Dart+ South West as a long overdue infrastructure requirement to not only allow catch-up on public transport in my area but also to plan for the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Connolly  One of the actions in the recently published housing plan is that the Department will be publishing quarterly and annual performance tables for new-build output versus targets per local authority, thereby ensuring transparency and accountability.  I understand that will commence next June in relation to social housing. We should also provide similar tables in relation to affordable housing. The local authorities should also be assessed on their output of affordable housing. What actions will the Government take with local authorities that are not meeting their housing targets? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Last February the Government announced its intention to remove the requirement for planning permission for log cabins and modular homes in backyard developments. By the end of the Christmas recess, it will be nearly a year since we heard that announcement. One-off houses in rural Ireland can benefit if we allow log cabins and modular homes to be built not just in backyard developments. They are also one of the few affordable houses out there for young people in rural Ireland whom I speak to. I could give numerous examples of log cabins and modular homes across north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny that are at threat of enforcement proceedings because they do not have planning permission. Enforcement should not be ongoing until we know what these regulations say. In addition, the development contributions for one-off rural houses should be scrapped again. They are simply a privilege for building on your own land. First, will we see these planning regulations that will exempt log cabins? Second, will this go beyond backyard developments and allow them in rural areas? Third, when will we see the regulations? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Ruth Coppinger. One question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I also send my solidarity to the Jewish community in Sydney following the appalling attack.  I am sure the Taoiseach agrees with me that cities should be liveable and should have culture as well as venues where people can meet, socialise and enjoy themselves. Will the Cabinet committee on housing and local government discuss the issue of The Complex, a very important cultural space in our capital where artists are currently housed but have been given an eviction notice for the middle of January? A protest on this will come to the D\u00e1il tomorrow. I have attended meetings and other get-togethers in The Complex. In fact, it was the venue for the launch of one of the presidential campaigns. Dublin City Council is open to buying The Complex but only if it can be given 80% to 90% of the funding. We need to intervene to buy this for \u20ac10 million. It would be \u20ac80 million to buy or to build a similar space. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I ask the Taoiseach to consider issuing an upfront fund to local authorities, but to Mayo County Council in particular, in order that they can turn around the vacant properties they have without having to go through the bureaucratic nightmare of applying for funding from central government on a house-by-house, unit-by-unit basis. Can the Taoiseach imagine what it is like to be a homeless person in Mayo watching council houses remain empty month after month while nothing is done? I will give him an example from a young mother in my constituency:  I am homeless, living in a friend's house. I've just had my first baby. She's now a month old. She was born at 36 weeks. I've been in and out of hospital the whole of the pregnancy with stress and anxiety. I developed diabetes also. I was rushed to a Dublin hospital for a week from bleeding and pains. I had a terrible experience. A lot of this stress has been brought on because of my homeless situation.  That is the case for many people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I too join in the condolences on the attack that happened on the Jewish community in Australia.  I also support the plea for funding for The Complex.  Regarding the Cabinet committee on housing, across the country AHBs have signed turnkey deals that then collapse. In D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown, there was a recent scheme that had the contract signed, everything was above board, they were all ready and, at the last minute, when they were looking for funding, the Department denied the funding for 40 turnkey units. If we are to bring medium-sized and small developers into the market, this risk cannot be acceptable. We will not get the funding from the funding schemes, and it is putting all the risk on the developers. The homes are built, the deal collapses and the investor walks away. We want these small-scale developers to meet the housing targets. I have hundreds of people in my constituency looking for affordable housing, and this cannot happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I want to raise the issue of child homelessness. In October there were 5,274 children in emergency accommodation. More than 150 of those were in my county, Meath. There is an expectation that at Christmas there will be more than 5,000 and that almost 1,000 of those will be in emergency accommodation for their second or third Christmas. Are there specific measures the Government will take in advance of Christmas, now a handful of days away, to minimise the number of children in homelessness this Christmas? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We all know the issue that exists in relation to housing, whether it is homelessness, the lack of supply, those who cannot get houses, whether from a rental point of view or a purchase point of view, and those languishing on social housing lists. However, we also have to look at the issue of estate management. I do not believe the local authorities, like Louth County Council, have the necessary powers when dealing with chaotic tenants. They may need supports, but even beyond that, we have seen outright criminality and drug-dealing. We know that AHBs have greater levels of power even in relation to the nuclear action of eviction. That should be the last thing that is looked at but, at the end of the day, it is a requirement. I have worked alongside the Louth local authority, the Garda and others in dealing with some situations and we have attempted to move people sideways to deal with the issue. Some very good work has been done, but we do not have the necessary tools, and that is the problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  One of the most infuriating parts of the housing crisis is the tens of thousands of properties that have been left idle and decaying throughout the country. Youghal's potential to be on a par with Kinsale for economic prosperity and tourism has been thwarted by the epic scale of dereliction that has been allowed to take place there over many years. Likewise, Castlemartyr and Midleton have many prime-location properties left like deserted husks where boutiques could be flourishing or community hubs or accommodation created. In Holland or Germany this would not be tolerated. Landlords would have to sell up or repurpose a vacant property within a reasonable period or face losing it. The Government's softly-softly approach to vacancy and dereliction is clearly not working, and our towns and villages are haunted by this policy failure. We need to see swift direct action by our local authorities with landlords who blight our streets with decaying properties and a much more urgent pursuit of derelict site levies. The collection of derelict site levies by Revenue is welcome, but why is the Government waiting until 2027 to implement this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The housing crisis has had varied and wide ramifications in Irish society. One of them is a serious fall in the fertility rate in this State. There has been a 30% fall in the number of births annually. There has been a 20,000 fall in the number of births annually since Celtic tiger times. Some 69% of people aged 25 years or under are living with their parents. Well over 40% of adults who are under 30 are living with their parents. That is changing the very nature of Irish society. The ability for adults to form relationships to have children is being deleted for hundreds of thousands of people. This is having massive ramifications. Schools are now noticing that there is a fall in the number of children being enrolled. An unbalanced demographic structure has serious consequences for our workforce and our pensions. Planning, permitting, licensing, tendering and judicial reviews here are among the slowest in the whole of the European Union. While the Taoiseach's Government has announced plans, they are not ambitious enough and I do not believe they will be implemented in a timely fashion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There were quite a number of questions there, beginning with Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath. I welcome also the good initiative we have announced today, namely the extension of the vacant refurbishment grant to 2030, but specifically on the commercial properties and the \u20ac140,000 plus a \u20ac5,000 grant for assistance to support the owner to design a project. The Deputy is right in saying that we need to make sure that the local authorities prioritise this - in other words, that they put a project manager or whatever in charge of this operation in the towns and the cities to make this a reality. It needs to be driven with someone who is accountable and who is doing this every single day, in my view. I will talk to the Minister about that.  We need to alert all the business committees in towns and cities because people need to know. If you combine it with the living city initiative, there are real prospects of, once and for all, getting activity in towns and city centres to address dereliction and allow for change of use. Due to changing patterns of trade and so on, many commercial uses are no longer sustainable, so there is an opportunity for increased numbers residential units in towns and cities.  Deputy McAuliffe raised the topic of the Santry Boxing Club. I was recently with the Land Development Agency, LDA, on the southside, where an existing boxing club has been incorporated into a housing development. A new boxing club is being built in the housing development. That is the way to go. Is the local authority involved in the specific development to which the Deputy referred? It is. The local authority should look seriously at that example. Amenities matter in communities and society. They give young people opportunities. It seems to me that some accommodation must be made for Santry Boxing Club. The other example was a good initiative. The name of the boxing club escapes me now, but the people will have a first-class boxing club as a result of the development. It might be a bigger development. In fairness to the LDA, it saw that needed to be done. The Deputy might give me the details.  Deputy Shane Moynihan spoke about the interdependence of the national transport plan in terms of infrastructure and housing delivery. Housing delivery will depend on infrastructure delivery. I am acutely aware of planning considerations. South Dublin County Council is looking at 10,000 to 18,000 new zonings for housing. That will be dependent on DART+ South West. I have had meetings with the Minister for public expenditure and the Minister for climate and transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to ensure we can underpin the development of DART+ South West. We can make progress on that to give the certainty that the council, Deputy Moynihan and the people in the area require.  Deputy Connolly asked about quarterly tables for social housing. He asked about applying such an approach to affordable housing. I will talk to the Minister. It is a fair point. The councils control a bit more for social housing, but outputs should be across the board. The first issue is to highlight those councils that are not performing. It becomes fairly obvious in a league table scenario which councils are not performing. The actions can take a number of forms. We have to work through the actions. There could be disincentives or limited finance. We have to work through that, but there must be consequences or direct action from the State to override councils that are not performing in respect of housing more generally.  Deputy O'Meara spoke about log cabins and modular homes. I hope that the Minister will in February have a list of exempted developments. I understand it has expanded significantly. There have been a lot of submissions from Government Departments and agencies, particularly those with acute issues, including health, for example, where we need urgent public services. The Minister recently indicated to me that it would be February that we will have completion of that. It is fairly complex and much bigger than we originally anticipated.  The rural housing guidelines need to be published. I have asked the Minister to prioritise that. I fully accept what the Deputy is saying about the potential for enabling and helping young people in rural Ireland to afford housing at a reasonable cost when it comes to buying or renting. We will keep an eye on that. We will look at the development levies over time in respect of rural buildings on people's land although services of one kind or another are required.  I fundamentally agree with Deputy Coppinger that cities should be liveable and that there should be strong social support and creative cultural amenities. The Deputy said the local authority is depending on someone else. Other local authorities tend to get on with it and are in a position to facilitate either the acquisition or purchase of a building without having to do the simple equation and getting the Department to pay out for every single acquisition. The Minister for public expenditure has taken an interest in this issue. I will check the current lie of the land in respect of the Complex. I know Deputy Heneghan also raised that issue.  To Deputy Conway-Walsh, I say that there is no reason why voids should take so long. There has to be some framework of control for the Department. We discovered recently with the tenant in situ scheme that houses were being bought with people living in them. Those houses are bought by councils and suddenly there is \u20ac80,000 or \u20ac100,000 going into the house. The original objective of that was to stop people going into homelessness. When a local authority house becomes vacant, unless there is something majorly wrong structurally, it should be occupied within a month. We have given huge money to local authorities for voids over the past five years. They should get on with it. They let the houses lie idle for too long. It is inexcusable. In some councils, there is inertia. I have seen it. People leave very good houses for one reason or another, the shutters go up and the houses are left there for three or four months. Those houses should be reoccupied once the electrics and everything else are grand. If we have to get around to repairing them, we can at least give someone the house. That is my view. I get impatient about it from time to time, to be honest. I hear what the Deputy is saying. If you give an upfront grant, there is no guarantee it will be spent on voids, and that is the problem.  I do not have the details of the 40-turnkey units to which Deputy Heneghan referred. Are they in D\u00fan Laoghaire? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Has the Deputy moved across? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I am national now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy has a wide compass. He is national now. I ask him to give me the details and I will follow through. It should not happen. I do not know the background to that.  I appreciate the Deputy's comments about the Jewish community in Ireland and the impact that what happened in Bondi Beach has had on the Jewish community globally and in Ireland. The murder that took place was quite shocking. Others were injured. The Deputy also referenced the Complex.  Deputy O'Rourke spoke about child homelessness. The meeting of the Cabinet subcommittee on housing yesterday was entirely about different aspects of homelessness. We had good presentation of data. The data illustrates that there is a wide variety of reason why people become homeless. There are different factors. There is a high rate for singles in homelessness as well as children. There are different elements to the issue. An increasing amount of those who leave direct provision end up homeless. Family reunification comes with that. The link between migration and housing has grown, but is not the only factor. Family separation is a factor. Different factors give rise to homelessness, and specifically child homelessness. The Minister has specific measures. He achieved \u20ac100 million in the budget to acquire social housing and housing more generally to take more families out of emergency accommodation and get them into either local authority houses or acquired homes. There is a specific programme ahead now.  Have I dealt with everyone? I have not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputies \u00d3 Murch\u00fa and T\u00f3ib\u00edn. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  How could I forget Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa? He spoke about estate management powers to deal with what he described as \"chaotic tenants\". There are powers. I am not sure that the AHBs have different powers. They just have a different way of operating. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It is about eviction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  They have a different way of operating. They lay it down from the beginning. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It is easier for them to evict people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Local authorities have struggled with this for quite a long time. My own belief is that persistent misbehaviour and so on should mean you lose the tenancy. That is what should happen. It is hard. We know of housing estates that have awful tensions, difficulties and challenges. I would be glad to work with the Deputy on the issue. I will talk to the Minister about it.  Deputy Quaide spoke about the thousands of houses that have been left lying idle. We give responsibilities to the local authorities. Deputy Connolly talked about league tables. There is a league table showing which local authorities did what in respect of derelict sites. It is very telling. There are two or three that did an exceptional job. If they can do it, why cannot others? It begs the question of whether there is, or has been historically, inertia in local authorities about the Derelict Sites Act. Revenue will now be charged with it. That will bring about a change and better behaviour. The reason for the length of time, and I hope it can be accelerated, is the mapping. I have challenged officials from the Department of Finance and Revenue about this issue. I have asked why the maps are not there already and why they would take so long. Apparently, at the time of the land tax and others, the mapping was not as comprehensive as people would have expected.  That is the issue there. I think it is a game-changer and will be a game-changer.  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn is making a link between falling fertility and the housing issue. Again, there are a number of variables, I imagine, responsible for that. The bottom line is we do need to provide more housing more quickly to as many young people as possible. It is a social need. Every young person in the country has a right to aspire to owning a home, and many do aspire to owning a home, or some young families being able to rent a home at an affordable cost. We are building substantially more houses than we did five years ago. We are doing about 30,000 odd now compared to 20,000 in 2020. We need to go to 50,000 and we need all hands on deck in that respect. I do not think enrolments are going down in schools yet, I think they are going up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  They are; 30 schools are falling this year. And childcare. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cabinet Committees"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements","counts":{"speechCount":16,"speakerCount":8},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 16 to 24, inclusive, together.  I attended the leaders\u2019 summit at COP30 in Bel\u00e9m, Brazil, on 6 and 7 November. Coming a decade after the Paris Agreement and during a period of enhanced geopolitical turbulence, my attendance at the summit was an important opportunity to show Ireland\u2019s continuing commitment to the objectives of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Paris Agreement to limit emissions in order to avoid the worst impacts of climate change. I delivered Ireland\u2019s national statement on 6 November, highlighting the reality that climate change is no longer a distant threat and pointing to the remarkable litany of record-breaking climate events in the 12 months since COP29 in Azerbaijan, including Storm \u00c9owyn which brought the strongest wind gusts ever recorded in Ireland and the highest storm surges on the western seaboard. We saw the damage that Storm Bram caused last week to counties all over the country. I also argued that the sharpest impacts of climate change are felt by the world\u2019s most vulnerable people and countries and noted that no country can successfully address the crisis of climate change alone.  I participated in two thematic round tables with my fellow leaders to discuss climate issues of common concern. The first focused on \"Climate and Nature: Forests and Oceans\". I reiterated Ireland\u2019s strong support for the agreement reached at COP15 to protect at least 30% of land and oceans by 2030. The second thematic session took the form of a panel discussion on \"Energy transition and ten years of the Paris Agreement: NDCs and financing\". I expressed Ireland\u2019s commitment to ensuring a just and inclusive energy transition pathway for all nations. I also shared Ireland\u2019s focus on accelerating the delivery of renewable generation. I also participated in a small round table hosted by President Lula da Silva and attended also by the United Nations Secretary General, Ant\u00f3nio Guterres, on climate adaptation and resilience. I spoke of Ireland\u2019s commitment in this area with 80% of our climate finance concentrated on adaptation.  I also attended an event launching the Tropical Forest Forever Fund, hosted by President Lula. This global initiative aims to finance the conservation of tropical forests. I reaffirmed Ireland\u2019s commitment to the preservation and sustainable use of the Amazon rainforest. I announced Ireland\u2019s commitment to provide \u20ac15 million over the next three years to the Amazon fund, with the aim of preventing and combating deforestation.  While in Bel\u00e9m, I also took the opportunity to visit the offices of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees, where I met with representatives of some of the refugees they work with, including indigenous people from the Amazon displaced by climate change. To date in 2025, Ireland has provided over \u20ac25.5 million in funding to UNHCR. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I welcome the fact that the Taoiseach attended the COP in Brazil as head of Government. It is appropriate that he did so. I welcome his remarks while there. I ask the Taoiseach to consider that Ireland might consider hosting a future COP to raise awareness of the important issues he has outlined.  I do want to express concern that if we are going to reduce our own dependence on fossil fuels and get people out of cars, we have to provide them with a realistic public transport alternative. I am passionate about rail travel but unfortunately the M11 is increasingly becoming a car park every morning. The problem for those travelling along the M11 into the capital, unlike a number of other commuter routes, is that we do not have a realistic rail alternative. We have fewer services, worse rolling stock and more overcrowding than any other rail service. What particularly annoys me is the fact that yesterday, the rail project prioritisation strategy made no commitments whatsoever about improvements for the Rosslare rail line and further looked at abandoning the proposals to develop and reopen the Rosslare to Waterford rail line. If we are to provide a real alternative and reduce our dependence on fossil fuels and car use, there has to be a real public transport alternative. I want assurances that the Department of Transport has not abandoned the rail commuters along the Rosslare rail line. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I note that, following the Taoiseach's attendance at COP in Bel\u00e9m, the EU made a significant decision to permanently stop Russian gas imports and phase out Russian oil. Similar to Deputy Byrne, I wish to highlight the issue of reducing our reliance on fossil fuels in the context of significant investment in public transport, in terms of DART+ West, for example, going to Maynooth and then Kilcock. The prioritisation of DART+ South West was not announced. There is significant traffic and build-up on the N7, M7, N4 and M4, particularly the N7 coming from Naas, Sallins and Celbridge. Indeed, Deputy Shane Moynihan has raised it previously. We need to ensure that these key pieces of infrastructure are prioritised along the commuter line that is causing the greatest amount of traffic. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  One of the most effective ways we can reduce emissions is by encouraging people on to public transport. I want to raise the lack of public transport in Bellewstown, County Meath. A 13-year-old boy, James Black, has started a campaign there and has hundreds of petition signatures calling for a public bus services for the village of Bellewstown. Fair play and well done to him for that. He has got an amount of media attention about it. He is very articulate and very clear in what he is trying to achieve.  The Connecting Ireland scheme in the Department of Transport is a very good one but it is underfunded and Bellewstown is not included in it. Will the Taoiseach increase funding to the Connecting Ireland scheme and will he include Bellewstown, County Meath in it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  We heard a lot during the last Government about how much more investment went into the National Parks and Wildlife Service but in east Cork and Waterford, the level of under-resourcing has been baffling. In east Cork, we have had no ranger for approximately 12 of the last 15 years. There has been no district conservation officer for 18 months and no regional manager in place for years over east Cork and Waterford. It is difficult to give precise figures for these vacancies, because the Department has been incredibly opaque in response to questions I have submitted on recruitment to the NPWS. In one response, the Minister referred to \"perceived vacancies\", as if we were all imagining those roles being vacant. Also, bizarrely, the Department will not give details of staffing by geographical area for \"operational security reasons\". This is akin to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na not sharing numbers of garda\u00ed employed in a given division. The Department also will not give any information on recruitment campaigns being undertaken. Meanwhile, hedgerows and trees are being trashed with impunity and the whole idea of habitat protection looks more like a bad joke in this country. When are we going to see more transparency from the Department of heritage on staffing of the NPWS? When are we going to see those crucial roles in east Cork and Waterford filled? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Today the Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, stated that the Mercosur deal held many benefits for the Irish farmers and the wider economy. He said that for Ireland, Mercosur could be a significant beneficiary. This is incredible. It is the Minister of State putting up the white flag of surrender in terms of Mercosur. It comes just a few days after the Government put up the white flag in terms of the Irish fishing industry. Make no mistake about it, the Mercosur trade agreement will damage the livelihoods of hundreds of thousands of farmers in this country. All the fine words about COP mean nothing if we are going to facilitate or allow Mercosur to go through. It beggars belief that at a time of climate crisis, we will be bringing in Brazilian beef, which is produced in an environmentally unfriendly way, by which forests are burnt down and land is overgrazed, not to mention the environmental cost of transporting all that beef from South America to Europe. Will the Government stop speaking from both sides of its mouth in terms of Mercosur? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It is difficult to believe that we are talking about rail services being cancelled. These are proposed new services that make complete sense because we want people to move to public transport. We know the advantages that exist in that regard. One of the new rail services that was being proposed between Clongriffin and Drogheda has been mothballed. This would have allowed for further express services to Dundalk, Drogheda, Newry and Belfast. Such services are absolutely necessary because they are allowed to skip slower services. What is happening does not make any sense at this point. Will the Taoiseach seek some clarity in respect of this matter? I other colleagues in expressing absolute anger if this is the road we are going to take. No pun intended. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank Deputy Byrne for acknowledging that it was important to attend the COP, even though it was a long distance to go. We needed to send a signal given that we are at a point at which the issue of climate change is receding in terms of political prioritisation. This is a real concern. Some people are pulling back from their commitments.  On hosting a future COP in Ireland, next autumn we will have the largest ever political meeting held in Ireland. There will be over 40 states represented. It is a ginormous undertaking to host a COP, but it is something the country should aspire to do in the future. It depends on the shape and nature of a COP. In some ways it has become very big. Maybe it is has gone too far in some respects in the context of how it has evolved. We need to get back to the more fundamental origin and idea around COP, which was countries coming together to make decisions on global agreements in respect of sustainability, the future of the planet and the impact of climate change.  I will look at the matter of rail project prioritisation. I take on board what the Deputy said. We have a lot of projects that are needed. We do not have commensurate capital, but I will have a look at where the Rosslare railway line is. We put a lot of money into Rosslare on the custom side and all of that in the context of Brexit. We did it in double-quick time. Rosslare to Waterford is an important link. I will have a look at that to see what we can do and where we are. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  There is nothing on the roster----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  This is not a back-and-forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I said I am going to have a look at it. The Deputy asked me to have a look at it, so I am telling him that I am going to have a look at it.  Deputy \u00d3 Cear\u00fail is correct on the moves we made in terms of dependency on Russian oil and gas. On public transport, it is key. I have spoken to the Ministers for public expenditure and Transport in respect of DART+ South West. That has gone through all the planning and is shovel ready. The county council has zonings for between 10,000 to 18,000 houses. It feels that this is essential infrastructure. I am seeing if we can do something to make that we progress the project. That is work I am engaged in at the moment with the relevant Ministers.  Deputy O'Rourke referred to public transport more generally and to a young person named James Black. I pay tribute to him for his civic initiative, participation and being involved in something like that in terms of public service for Bellewstown. I will talk to the Minister and make him aware of that. On Connecting Ireland, I take on board the Deputy's views.  Deputy Quaide referred to the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. There has been huge investment in recruitment. The investment in the NPWS has more or less doubled since 2020. I took a personal interest in this. I worked previously with the then Minister, Malcolm Noonan, on it and continue to work on it with the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan. Recently, we announced a \u20ac700,000 lifeline for Fota Wildlife Park through the NPWS because of the outstanding work that Fota does in respect of conservation of particular species and so forth. I will engage with NPWS in respect of the issues the Deputy has raised to see if we can throw some light on the situation.  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn referred to Mercosur. There was no agreement on that. It was not put to COREPER last Friday. I do not have the up-to-date information, but it seems unlikely now that it will put before COREPER before Christmas. What we have undertaken to do is work with like-minded countries, particularly France and Italy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  What is our position? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----in terms of securing additional safeguards. Quite a significant number of safeguards have been secured. That is contrary to what was there a year ago. They are taking the form of legal instruments that the Commission has committed to.  We succeeded in securing the nitrates derogation. It is a significant advancement that we now have that for a further three years. It was challenging and difficult. We worked hard with the Commission to get it over the line. Approximately 200,000 tonnes of Mercosur beef come into Europe on an annual basis as it stands. The new initiative under Mercosur would allow 99,000 of those to be brought in under a reduced tariff preference. The Minister of State, Deputy Thomas Byrne, spoke about the wider issues around Mercosur. All trade agreements bring benefits and losses. There is no heresy in saying that. The Canada deal was tremendous for Ireland in terms of the increased exports for SMEs and so on. I accept that every agreement is different. At the moment, there is no sense of any breakthrough or agreement in respect of Mercosur. That is where we are at present.  Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa referred to the Clongriffin to Drogheda service. Capital is not limitlessness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I get that. I was just wondering. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  If we were to add up the figures from everybody's contributions, I would guess that we would arrive at another \u20ac50 billion. We have to try keep things moving with planning in the context of progressing as many projects as we possibly can and to make sure that we have sustainability, financing and all of that. I will have to look at the rail prioritisation strategy that emerged on Friday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Taoiseach's Meetings and Engagements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/81","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/81\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Appropriation Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Appropriation Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":18,"speakerCount":15},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Jack Chambers)  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a second time.\"  I am pleased to introduce the Appropriation Bill. The Bill is an important annual financial legislative instrument which must be enacted before the end of the year in order to give effect to the authorisation of voted expenditure through 2025 and to allow for the continuation of expenditure into 2026.  The Bill has two primary functions. The first is to provide legal authorisation for all the expenditure that occurred in 2025 on the basis of the Estimates voted on by the D\u00e1il over the year. These allocations are known as the amounts to be appropriated for the supply of services. They are set out in section 2 and Schedule 1. They relate to the Revised Estimates, Further Revised Estimates and Supplementary Estimates that have been agreed by the D\u00e1il over the course of 2025. In net terms, these Estimates amount to \u20ac91.5 billion. In gross terms and taking into account expenditure on the Social Insurance Fund and National Training Fund, total gross voted expenditure allocated for this year is \u20ac109.9 billion. This reflects the Government's investment in public services, delivering on the priorities we set out in budget 2025, including higher weekly social protection payments, targeted investments in areas such as health and transformational investment in infrastructure to unlock growth, enhance competitiveness and support communities all over the country under the revised national development plan.  Our social protection system seeks to provide an effective social safety net for the more vulnerable members of our society. When expenditure on the Social Insurance Fund is included, the 2025 gross expenditure allocation for social protection is over \u20ac27.5 billion.  Funding provided in 2025 enabled improvements to the social welfare system for people on a range of income supports as well as providing additional support for families and people on illness, disability and carer programmes. Funding in 2025 delivered increases in core weekly social welfare rates, which increased the income of an estimated 1.45 million recipients, increases to the child support payment and working family payment income thresholds, an increase in the domiciliary care allowance rate, and a range of other measures.  Significant investment in the health service, with the allocation for health in 2025 reaching \u20ac26.1 billion, continues a trend of substantial resourcing in recent years. It underscores the Government\u2019s commitment to ensuring that the healthcare needs of our population can continue to be met in a complex and challenging environment. Ireland achieves good health outcomes across a number of indicators. Over the past decade, Ireland has achieved an improvement in life expectancy. Improvements in the overall health of the population have resulted in significant declines in our mortality rates for many of the common causes of death over the past decade. There have been significant expansions in eligibility for schemes including the free contraception scheme. There have also been women\u2019s health initiatives and the abolition of inpatient charges for public patients.  Housing has seen a strong ramp-up in delivery on both the social and affordable programmes. In 2024, 10,500 new social homes were delivered and there is a continued delivery pipeline for 2025 and future years. A total of \u20ac9.7 billion in funding is being provided this year for the housing, local government and heritage Vote group. This includes close to \u20ac6 billion in capital funding. The significant level of capital investment will continue under the revised national development plan, with almost \u20ac40 billion committed over the period to 2030 to support housing delivery and water infrastructure.  Education funding in 2025 provided an appropriate school place to over 975,000 students in primary, post-primary and special schools around the country. This is alongside a record number of teachers, with approximately 78,000 employed by the Department of Education and Youth. Close to 700 new teachers were employed in September 2025 for the commencement of the 2025-26 school year. To support the education of students with special education needs, over 400 new special classes were sanctioned for this school year, bringing the total number of special classes to over 3,700. Education capital expenditure in 2025 is supporting the continued progression of around 300 building projects currently at construction.  The 2025 funding has also enabled a range of other schemes and initiatives across government. In further and higher education, 2025 funding continues to invest for our future and to meet the skills needs of the labour market. Investment in 2025 provided funding for the increased delivery of apprenticeships, supporting skills development in key areas for the economy such as housing and climate action.  At \u20ac1.35 billion, investment in early learning and childcare reached record levels in 2025. National childcare scheme universal subsidies are worth up to \u20ac5,000 per child in 2025. In addition, the access and inclusion model is now supporting more than 8,000 children with a disability to access childcare. Budget 2026 will continue to see early learning and school-age care prioritised, with an increase in the allocation of 10%. This will support affordability measures including further reductions in the maximum level of fees and increases to the income-assessed thresholds on the NCS. Increased capital funding through the NDP will seek to improve accessibility in the sector.  A balanced approach to public service pay in the context of both the State's fiscal position and the broader economic environment was achieved by the Public Service Agreement 2024-2026. Multiyear public service agreements have contributed to stability within our economy by facilitating the delivery of quality public services, ongoing reforms and the maintenance of industrial peace in the public service.  The second principal function of the Bill is to provide a legal basis for expenditure to continue into next year in the period before the D\u00e1il votes on the 2026 Estimates. As set out in the Central Fund (Permanent Provisions) Act 1965, the authority for spending in 2026, prior to the agreement of the 2026 Estimates by the D\u00e1il, is based on the amounts included in this Bill. For this reason, it is essential that it be enacted before the end of 2025. Should the Bill not be enacted, there would be no authority to spend any voted moneys in 2026 from the start of January until the approval of the 2026 Estimates.  To account for the complexity faced by Departments in planning for major capital projects, the rolling multi-annual capital envelopes introduced in 2004 allow for the carryover of up to 10% of unspent voted capital expenditure from the current year into the next year. This provides the degree of flexibility needed for the year-on-year planning of capital expenditure. Schedule 2 of the Bill sets out the proposed capital expenditure amounts that are to be carried over to 2026 by Vote. The total level of capital carryover sought from 2025 into 2026 is \u20ac182.25 million. The carryover figure is on a downward trajectory from the amounts requested by Departments in recent years. I am pleased that the strong performance of capital expenditure this year reflects significant improvements in capital project delivery throughout the country. This continued investment is providing housing, school buildings and transport infrastructure for all our citizens, building capacity for our future. The Revised Estimates Volume 2026, which will be published by my Department in December, will include details of the amounts to be deferred by subhead for Votes that are availing of the capital carryover function for next year.  As in previous years, the Appropriation Bill also provides a provision for repayable advances from the Central Fund to the Paymaster General\u2019s supply account to meet certain 2026 Exchequer liabilities due for payment over the first week of January, such as payroll and pension payments. The provision for these advances is critical as the banking system will be closed on Thursday, 1 January. This means that it is necessary for the funding to be in place in departmental bank accounts before the end of this year to meet those liabilities on a timely basis.  This Bill also provides provision to prefund certain payments under the Social Welfare Acts due between 1 January and 6 January 2026 that are made on an agency basis by An Post. The advances provision in the Bill ensures that these payments can be transferred from the Department of Social Protection to the network of An Post offices throughout the country. Section 3 provides for up to \u20ac1.2 billion to be advanced from the Central Fund to meet these requirements. This is a higher amount than in recent years due to payroll dates in early 2026. This is a technical provision and any advances will be repaid to the Central Fund in January 2026.  The Bill is an essential element of housekeeping undertaken by the D\u00e1il each year. The passage of this Bill will authorise in law all of the expenditure that has taken place in 2025 on the basis of the Estimates voted on by the D\u00e1il over the course of this year. It also provides authority for voted expenditure to continue in the period between the beginning of January 2026 and when the D\u00e1il approves the 2026 Estimates. This will ensure the continued funding for the delivery of front-line public services, including our health and education services, social protection payments, funding for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and much more. It reflects a continuation of our planned approach to public spending, which is focused on delivering our economic, social, and climate ambitions and supporting a growing population now and into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis na hAir\u00ed as teacht os comhair na D\u00e1la ar an gceist seo. Ar nd\u00f3igh, tuigim gur Bille f\u00edorth\u00e1bhachtach \u00e9 seo chun a chinnti\u00fa gur f\u00e9idir le Ranna Rialtais airgead a chaitheamh ag t\u00fas Mh\u00ed Ean\u00e1ir agus nach mbeidh v\u00f3ta\u00ed ag teast\u00e1il chun \u00e9 sin a dh\u00e9anamh. Mar gheall air sin, tuigimid an t\u00e1bhacht a bhaineann leis. T\u00e1 bun\u00fas bunreacht\u00fail leis an mBille seo agus, mar sin, beimid i Sinn F\u00e9in ag tac\u00fa leis.  I understand there is a constitutional requirement for this Bill as it legislates for the financial resolutions, which include all of the Estimates agreed by the D\u00e1il this year. The sums granted from the Central Fund under the Central Fund (Permanent Provisions) Act 1965 will go towards making good the supply grant and amount, in the aggregate, to the sum of \u20ac91 billion. The key to this Bill is that it is a constitutional requirement and is essential to ensure Departments can spend money come January. We will therefore support the Bill.  The Bill also allows for the four-fifths rule provided for under the Central Fund (Permanent Provisions) Act. This means Departments can spend four fifths of what was allowed under the previous Appropriation Act without the need for a vote. If the Bill was not enacted, these Departments could not spend.  The Bill also allows for capital carryover. As per the Finance Act 2004, each Department can carry over 10% of its capital allocation to next year. The deferred surrender relating to capital supply services this year totals \u20ac182 million.  The spending of these funds will be key to tackling the big issues of the day. For many years, there was no debate on these Bills. It is welcome and important that we are now debating this particular Bill because there is a very serious aspect to it. Over the years, when we have discussed these Bills, one of the issues I have always raised is the matter of our infrastructural deficit and the fact that, for years, we have had the IMF, OECD and others telling us we had such a deficit. One of the issues I have always raised is that, when we look at capital expenditure, we must attempt to alleviate that infrastructural deficit. As I said to the Minister during oral questions last week, I really do wish him the best in that regard because this State and the people living within it and within our communities can no longer deal with the lack of infrastructure they are facing.  I will start, when we are talking about that, with housing. Mar is eol don Aire, rud at\u00e1 r\u00e1ite agus luaite agam go minic leis n\u00e1 go bhfuil fadhb againn nuair nach bhfuil an buninfreastrucht\u00far i gceantar agus mar gheall air sin nach bhfuil na su\u00edomhanna leis na seirbh\u00eds\u00ed ann chun tithe a th\u00f3g\u00e1il. M\u00e1 bhreathna\u00edmid ar Chonamara mar shampla, t\u00e1 a fhios againn i ndeisceart Chonamara nach bhfuil an talamh n\u00e1 na su\u00edomhanna ag an gcomhairle contae chun a chinnti\u00fa go bhfuil s\u00ed in ann tithe a th\u00f3g\u00e1il ar na su\u00edomhanna sin mar gheall nach bhfuil na bunseirbh\u00eds\u00ed ann. T\u00e1 impleachta\u00ed aige sin ar chuile sh\u00f3rt, ach go h\u00e1irithe orthu si\u00fad ar fad at\u00e1 ag iarraidh bheith in ann c\u00f3na\u00ed sa cheantar arb as d\u00f3ibh, rud nach f\u00e9idir leo a dh\u00e9anamh faoi l\u00e1thair mar gheall nach f\u00e9idir teach a th\u00f3g\u00e1il, a cheannach n\u00f3 a fh\u00e1il ar c\u00edos i gConamara. Mar gheall air sin, t\u00e1 t\u00e1bhacht ag baint leis an mBille seo agus go n-\u00fas\u00e1idfear an t-airgead sin chun an infheisti\u00fa sin a dh\u00e9anamh.  When talking about housing, as I mentioned relating to Conamara but also Galway city, we have had the issue of lack of wastewater infrastructure on the east side of Galway city where I live, and the impact that has had on na nArd\u00e1n. That is why Bills like these are quite important because they have a direct impact. We need to see all that, what I would call basic, fundamental infrastructure, be developed to ensure that housing can be built on the east side of Galway city. Too many people who are born and raised in Galway city can no longer live in it because of the lack of housing. Then, we can look at the likes of the other basic infrastructure I have raised over the years when we were discussing this and talking about the importance of us having a full infrastructure plan. I understand the Minister is working on that and is hoping to progress it. I wish him well on that but because we have had decades of neglect in this region, there are serious implications. For example, extra services out of Oranmore train station are extremely welcome. The passing loop is extremely welcome but the fact that at the same time additional parking spaces have not been created, or they will not be prepared in time for the passing loop, means there is then an issue whereby if we do not have the infrastructure there, as sometimes one hand is not talking to the other, it will result in additional pressures. We already know the impact there. Oranmore train station is always packed out with cars. We then have additional stops that are crucially needed to ensure better public transport in Galway city. I refer to the likes of having an additional stop at Roscam to serve the people in the east side of Galway city, from Doughiska to Roscam, who could just dander down to a place like that if it was there. Park and ride has been talked about for years but again there has been an issue with the development of sites. When we have historically not looked at putting the investment into our basic infrastructure, these are the real-life impacts that has.  Tuigeann an tAire go maith na deacrachta\u00ed at\u00e1 ann leis na b\u00f3ithre, i gConamara ach go h\u00e1irithe, agus an easpa infheist\u00edochta a rinneadh iontu le fada an l\u00e1. Anois, t\u00e1 fadhb againn nach mb\u00edonn an t-airgead ar f\u00e1il don chomhairle contae chun d\u00e9ile\u00e1il leo seo. Tuigim an t\u00e1bhacht a bhaineann leis an mBille ionas go mbeidh na Ranna \u00e9ags\u00fala in ann airgead a chaitheamh i m\u00ed Ean\u00e1ir ach caithfimid breathn\u00fa ar an mbealach ina bhfuil airgead \u00e1 chaitheamh agus cinnti\u00fa go bhfuil an t-airgead ann d\u00e1 leith\u00e9id\u00ed sin freisin. I will leave it at that as I am sharing time with my colleagues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Constitutionally required, a key provision of this Bill relates to capital carryovers. This allows Departments to carry over allocated but unspent capital funding this year. That is straightforward enough. However, a cause of frustration is equally straightforward and that is the question of why. We immediately know that these funds are going unspent because one of the Minister's ministerial colleagues managed to deliver to some works early or under budget. It was the Minister for Finance who oversaw the signing of a contract for the national children's hospital. There have been 16 missed completion deadlines and it is running to around three times the initial estimated cost.  While the Government today looks at the capital carryover, the country remains awash with underfunded infrastructure projects in desperate need of Government support. Nowhere is this more so than in the case of the north-west and Border regions. In my own constituency of Cavan-Monaghan, there are a number of such projects with the potential to have a profound impact on communities. Two are the N2 Clontibret to the Border and the N2 Ardee to Castleblayney road projects. I reiterate my welcoming of the shared island funding for works on the A5 in the North, which complements both of these projects. However, the overall benefits accrued can only maximised if works being completed on this side of the Border are actually carried out. The N2 upgrades have potential to play a crucial part in the unlocking of the economic potential of the region. However, these projects have not seen the prioritisation needed from the Government. Works were effectively suspended under the previous Government due to a lack of funding. While the Minister can dispute that if he wishes, \"suspended\" is the language used by Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, yet, its project appraisal balance sheet for this project scored these works the highest possible score for the impact they would have on safety. Following the tragic events of the last weekend, where four people were killed in separate collisions over a 24-hour period, the number of people killed on our roads in this State this year to date is 179, a figure which has surpassed that of last year. This is a crisis level of collisions. I support the Government target of reducing road fatalities to zero by 2050 but we need increased funding for education and communication in the Road Safety Authority and the Garda roads policing resources. We also need capital investment to progress projects that will have an impact on safety, and the funding of these projects in Monaghan can play a part in that in our region.  Another area where our Government woefully failed to manage a budget is in relation to carbon tax allocations. In that case, we are not even talking about carryover. Having promised farmers that they would receive \u20ac1.5 billion from carbon tax by 2030, in addition to the CAP, halfway through 2030 what has materialised? Not half, not even 10%, just \u20ac110 million of the promised \u20ac1.15 billion. Of that \u20ac110 million, what was the Government's track record? More than half went unspent and was returned to the Exchequer, with just \u20ac4 million carried over in the manner we are dealing with today.  In January, the Government will increase the cost of petrol and diesel through a hiked carbon tax. The Minister cannot tax people into using public transport options that are not reliable and are simply not there; they do not exist. He cannot credibly continue to mislead farmers promising billions of euro while delivering a meagre fraction. Real vision from the Government is needed. A vision for decarbonisation, economic development in the Border region and north west and increased use of public transportation will not be delivered through carbon tax. What the people of Monaghan and Cavan need is infrastructure and services, not hectoring or lectures and certainly not capital surrenders while the Government fails to fund the infrastructure our communities need. I ask the Government to consider its carbon tax increases, penalisation of the farmers and an abysmal track record of infrastructure in the Border region. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Is Bille cu\u00edosach teicni\u00fail \u00e9 seo i sl\u00ed amh\u00e1in. Tagann s\u00e9 os \u00e1r gcomhair gach bliain, ach is le d\u00e9ana\u00ed a thosaigh d\u00edosp\u00f3ireacht air. Nuair a bh\u00ed mise tofa ar dt\u00fas, bh\u00edodh s\u00e9 rite tr\u00edd gan aon d\u00edosp\u00f3ireachta in aon chor ag deireadh na bliana. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 go maith go bhfuil an d\u00edosp\u00f3ireacht ann i sl\u00ed amh\u00e1in.  Sa deireadh thiar thall, n\u00edor chuala m\u00e9 aon rud riamh sna d\u00edosp\u00f3ireachta\u00ed seo a thug le fios go dtiocfadh aon athr\u00fa an mBille bliant\u00fail seo, n\u00f3 go n-athr\u00f3far an sl\u00ed a dtabharfaimid faoi seo in aon bhliain amach anseo. T\u00e1 muid ag d\u00edri\u00fa isteach ar cheisteanna m\u00f3ra agus caiteachas an-mh\u00f3r \u00f3 thaobh an St\u00e1it de. Is \u00e9 sin an f\u00e1th a bhfuil fonn ar dhaoine a bheith ag d\u00e9anamh d\u00edosp\u00f3ireachta air seo. Chuile bhliain, feiceann muid ar na ceisteanna at\u00e1 ardaithe anseo. De ghn\u00e1th, \u00e1fach, b\u00edonn reachta\u00edocht ann maidir le ceisteanna leasa s\u00f3isialta. Tar \u00e9is an bhuis\u00e9id, de ghn\u00e1th, tagann Bille leasa sh\u00f3isialaigh os \u00e1r gcomhair chun na hathraithe at\u00e1 ag teacht \u00f3n bhuis\u00e9ad a chur i ndl\u00ed. N\u00ed bheidh s\u00e9 sin rite i mbliana roimh an Nollaig. N\u00edl a fhios agam c\u00e9 acu an athr\u00fa poirt n\u00f3 cinneadh a bh\u00ed ann toisc an sl\u00ed a raibh an buis\u00e9ad rite.  Questions need to be asked every single year in regard to how we fund our public services. One of those questions relates to the Defence Forces because the State has to set aside a certain amount to meet the established membership figure the forces are supposed to achieve. That number used to be 12,500 and was then reduced to 9,500. Every year, the money is set aside in the hope, or perhaps the dream, that we will reach that magical number. At the moment, we are 2,000 short of the magical number of 9,500. There are not enough people in any of the sections of the Defence Forces, whether an Cabhlach, the military or the Air Corps. They cannot provide services as an aid to the State at the rate we would like them to be able to do. That is no criticism of the men and women of the Defence Forces. It is just a fact of life and everything has to be tweaked accordingly.  The men and women of the Defence Forces are under huge pressure to ensure they deliver extra overtime even though they do not get paid for any such overtime they do to fill in on the jobs that are meant to be done. We know this from some of the headlines during the year and it seems we will face the same situation next year because of the lack of equipment and, in particular, the lack of personnel. There was a lot of talk in the media in recent weeks about the additional costs and additional security required for the meetings that will be held in Ireland during our Presidency of the EU in the second half of next year. I am assured by the members of the Defence Forces to whom I have spoken that they will do what is required to ensure there is not any disruption to what is planned. However, unless we get real, that will take its toll on the Defence Forces. Even the recent announcement about capital spend on material does not address some of the shortfalls, including the continuous loss of personnel to the private sector or to other types of jobs.  We must take seriously the need to increase the Defence Forces numbers, increase the equipment they have and identify the threats faced by the State, of which there have been a number over the years. The Defence Forces have not been provided with the equipment that could be used for defence purposes and as an aid to the civil power. Recently, the headlines have focused on the issue of drones. Anyone looking at the world in the past ten years will understand that drone technology is where it is, yet the Defence Forces have not caught up because they have not been given the funding to do so. The same is true of the Naval Service and the job of work it must do to defend our fishing industry, our coastline and, additionally, to defend cables under the seas, for which all the onus seems to be on us. That cannot be done unless we have the personnel, fleet and wherewithal to do it. It is good that there has at least been some type of acknowledgement of that in recent years. It means the funding must be spent when it is there.  There are other areas we need to look at. Housing was mentioned by my colleagues. There is also the case of the national children's hospital, which features year on year in these debates. The Bill sets out what we are spending and it is not working in terms of the national children's hospital because we still have not shifted everybody over there, as should have happened at this stage. It should have been opened several years ago if the Government had taken the proper tack. That was not to be and we still do not know whether it will open next year. We hope it will, at long last, and that local residents will have peace and quiet after the alarms have been going off in the hospital on an ongoing basis in recent weeks.  I asked the Minister last week in the Chamber about the arts centre in the north inner city that is facing eviction on 14 January unless the State steps in and helps the people running the service with a capital injection to enable them to acquire the property and continue operating this important and eclectic arts centre. It is not a huge amount in the bigger scheme of things. The Government has proposed setting up some type of arts capital scheme based on the sports capital schemes. We would welcome if the Minister or some other Minister would take the opportunity this week to set out that the Government is fully behind the proposals for the arts centre and at least to get the landlord to back off and give the people running the centre some time. Dublin City Council has agreed to step in to part-fund the proposal to purchase the complex and for it to continue to be run as an arts centre.  T\u00e1 a l\u00e1n eile, mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9, maidir le tith\u00edocht, agus tith\u00edocht na Gaeltachta go h\u00e1irithe. Luaigh mo chomhghleaca\u00ed, an Teachta Mair\u00e9ad Farrell, a l\u00e1n de sin. T\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go mbeidh muid in ann teacht go dt\u00ed an Bille seo ag deireadh na bliana seo chugainn agus an infheist\u00edocht cheart d\u00e9anta. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Bill. I recall the rushed nature of the debate on the corresponding Bill on the eve of the general election last November. As has been said on many occasions over the years, this legislation is, to some degree, a housekeeping exercise, as reflected in the Minister's comments, but it is nevertheless important that we have a D\u00e1il debate on the matters the Bill addresses more broadly. As previous speakers noted, it was not that not long ago that the D\u00e1il did not debate appropriations of this nature at all, with annual appropriations simply being nodded through. Our consideration of the Appropriation Bill allows us to take stock and think for a minute about the direction of public spending and how and why we allocate resources. That is the very essence of politics. Constitutionally, it is our job as Members of the D\u00e1il to do so.  There are few measures contained in the Bill that anyone will disagree with and nobody has any issue whatsoever with the Bill going through. I hope I speak for everyone in opposition on that count. It will ensure moneys are available into early next year to pay public servants, keep services going and provide for the carryover, within reason, of capital, accepting the complex and multi-annual nature of important capital projects. It will also ensure core social welfare payments are made seamlessly at the beginning of the new year.  On the capital side, we ought to have a D\u00e1il debate on our return in January on the recently published Accelerating Infrastructure plan. Such a debate has not yet happened. We in the Labour Party have given the general approach of the plan a measured and calibrated welcome, with some caveats in relation to what we view as dangerous limitations being placed on the right of citizens in this Republic to access what we might term environmental justice and to have access to the courts on important matters of justice and rights.  Such is the dire situation with the delivery of housing, offshore energy, transport projects and so on, which are key to our economic performance and the success of our society, that any plan that envisages a new mission-orientated approach should be given a chance. Ministers and senior officials seem prepared to be accountable - in the truest sense of the word - for failure. A plan should be given a chance to prove its worth and value.  We care about the future of the country, and we will not play opportunistic politics with a plan of this nature, but we will relentlessly hold the Government to account on any slippage and on any failures. This is far too serious a plan and far too serious a situation for us not to do that.  To a degree, this kind of debate is almost at odds with the growing pattern evident in recent years of the weakening of the transparency framework around framing budgets and indeed the presentation and debating of spending plans, annual Estimates and Supplementary Estimates. This year the D\u00e1il has been expected to approve, on the nod, Supplementary Estimates totalling around \u20ac4 billion. While this might be down on last year's figure, it is still an extraordinary ask of our National Parliament. The bizarre thing is that there is little or no real debate in this Chamber or in the line committees on the nature of the requests from Ministers for extra allocations. This has become an-all-too-frequent occurrence and now an almost routine part of the annual budgetary process. That this is the case raises very serious questions about how we do the people's business. It would be useful to have access to the Revised Estimates for 2026 in advance of a debate of this nature, so we can look at spending on a multi-annual basis in the round and make some comparisons.  It is worth reminding ourselves that it is the constitutional function of TDs and the D\u00e1il collectively to scrutinise Estimates, to amend and pass the annual budget and to hold the Executive to account. The reality is that the Executive sees the D\u00e1il merely as a rubber-stamping Chamber. This is bad for our democracy and for the principle of good fiscal management. This year again, we were asked to nod through substantial Supplementary Estimates that are cumulatively the equivalent of the amount of revenue raised in corporation tax in any one year just over a decade ago. This puts the position we are in into some kind of context.  Whether Ministers have the will to stay within the tramlines next year is an open question. We have a situation now in Ireland where budgets, as I have said repeatedly, have become works of fiction as Ministers have shown themselves incapable of responsibly controlling spending and staying within the confines of the sizeable allocations announced 13 or 14 months prior. We know for example that this year's budget saw total spending up by 12% on the 2025 Estimates. In budget 2026, we saw the largest allocation of public money ever, beating last year's record. That is required to meet the social and economic demands of a growing country, and the growing demands of the populace.  It was a budget of over \u20ac9 billion, comfortably beating the last one, yet working people are still likely to be worse off than they were, largely thanks to decisions made on wasteful tax cuts brought in at the behest of noisy lobbyists. Responsible budgeting does not mean cuts. There should be no confusion about this. We can have responsible fiscal management and social and economic progress, imagination and innovation at the same time. They are not mutually exclusive. It is not a zero-sum game.  I have said time and again that we cannot spend more and cut taxes at the same time, put that approach on a continuous rinse-and-repeat cycle, and expect an outcome that does not prove to be negative in the end. That is all at the same time as our tax base is at mortal risk. Given what we have seen in the last few budgets, Paschal was not prudent, and with his signature VAT cut for the burger barons, neither was Simon as sensible as the moniker he has given himself suggests.  The D\u00e1il needs to exercise its rights and constitutional functions when it comes to accountability for our public spending. This is precisely why I will shortly be publishing legislation to establish an office of an Estimates commissioner, which will greatly enhance the capacity and function of the D\u00e1il to keep the Government honest on its in-year spending plans. There is a worrying opaqueness about how we allocate resources, and how we plan.  Time and again, I have criticised the opacity around the presentation of the cost, for example, of maintaining existing levels of service, ELS. This is not an abstract point. It goes to the heart of the budgetary process. It suits the Government to be less than clear about what it costs to maintain basic levels of health, education and spending on other services, so it can juggle with the numbers, make itself look more responsible than it is, or alternatively pull some rabbits out of hats on or near budget day.  For years, we have all been working on the basis that the summer economic statement was the gospel, published well ahead of the October budget, allowing for clear data on ELS for the subsequent year, and making it clear as well what fiscal space was available, on a more or less no-policy-change basis \u2013 in other words, what would be available for extra spending and additional tax-cutting measures when everything else is accounted for to keep the show on the road and meet evolving demographic needs.  Clear data and better D\u00e1il scrutiny of the data and figures would also help to keep the Opposition honest. It is not just about keeping the Government honest but about having an informed debate in this House on agreed numbers. The post-budget analysis of the Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO, does not pull any punches. For this year's budget, it says \"there is a noticeable absence of transparent, data-driven analysis to underpin fiscal decisions.\" It also states there is \"now no separation between the allocation given for new measures and funding required to maintain ELS, with the exception of the pay deal impact and carryover costs.\" Again this is not in any way an academic point, as it makes it difficult for all of us to conclude if the spending we are doing for this year and next year will in fact keep the show on the road at all. Will it help us to meet the challenges we have? Do we need more or less? What is the objective situation? It is hard to be definitive.  Similarly, there are criticisms of what is termed the weak evidence base to inform some decisions contained in the PBO's analysis. For example, not all pledged tax expenditure reviews were published. We are also reminded that there have been no spending review papers published for 2025. This is really unforgivable in the current environment and it needs to change fast. Never before have we spent more as a country, yet there is an evident frustration that I have not seen for some time, if at all, about how the country simply is not working in a way that a rich country should. We are used to seeing Ireland as a two-tier country, but in my experience in recent times a three-tier Ireland is emerging. We are speaking about the Appropriation Bill, which in general terms is about spending and the allocation of resources. We need to be clear that the frayed social contract can only be repaired if we get better at generating and allocating the resources we need to make sure that everyone feels they have a stake in this evermore complex society.  I will explain what I mean when I talk about a three-tier society. The resources of the top 10% of asset owners and income earners mean they have only heard mere talk of a cost-of-living and housing crisis. It has never visited their door. We have a cohort of people where the idea of a cost-of-living crisis now has a real permanence in their lives, and where the State needs to offer a better, more hopeful future for them and their children, as their prospect of progress seems more remote from their reality with every passing day. Then we have people on middle incomes, many of whom I have never seen as angry and frustrated as they are now. They see an economy that is objectively doing well but they do not feel that is the case for themselves. That is not their own experience. They are dealing with what I might term broken promises on reducing childcare costs. We will see what the Government publishes tomorrow in its childcare plan. People spend endless hours in cars driving from a home that is some distance from where they want to live to jobs where the salary would ordinarily have guaranteed them a good life, but now it does not. Instead of tax cuts and once-off payments to lessen the blow, it is affordable homes and decent universal public services - the kind which their peers in other wealthy countries have and take for granted - that they expect, and should be entitled to expect from a good government that has their backs. It is not much to ask in a country that is wealthier economically than it has ever been, and when we are debating, as we are today, the general allocation of resources in the broad sense. Our absolute focus in the future needs to be on investment in universal public services that work, and that are accountable, to give some hope of a better, fairer future for every citizen of this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I want to talk in the few minutes I have about some capital projects in Kerry, which badly need to be progressed.  In a county like Kerry, with 13 blue flag beaches, mountains, lakes and coastline that are the envy of many, unfortunately we have a major structural deficit. In order for people to reside in their own home areas, we need a massive injection of funding to bring us up to a level that is taken for granted in some of those other counties.  Yesterday, I was in Castlegregory, where I met Pat Barry and John Buckley to discuss the challenges for the development of that village. The sewerage system, if you could call it that, is no more than an open pit and an Imhoff tank, which was probably built 70 years ago. It is fewer than 25 m from the local secondary school and about 150 m to 200 m from one of the 13 blue flag beaches in the county. It is a village that has been repeatedly overlooked for investment. I am asking the Minister to inject more money into the programme for wastewater treatment plant systems in Kerry and to include Castlegregory in that. There are ecological and health imperatives to this.  I received some emission limit values from tests that have been done. While I accept that Irish Water has carried out some works in the past few years with pipes, rebuilt manholes, etc., there is nowhere close to reasonable effluent quality. In fact, there is an argument that it is actually worse coming out of the pit that is near the centre of the village than anywhere else. I would love to be able to say that Castlegregory is alone in this but there are other villages in Kerry such as Ballyduff, Fenit - which has a similar Imhoff tank or pit near another blue flag beach - and Abbeydorney, to name but a few, where more funding is necessary for these purposes.  I also want to raise the need for a public building on the Denny site in Tralee. We recently asked for a meeting with Kerry County Council. There is a building that is owned, I understand, by a Canadian pension fund. The education and training board, ETB, the Courts Service and the HSE are renting properties from it. An opportunity has arisen because the old town council was granted a site on the old Denny factory in the middle of the town. The ETB is paying about \u20ac300,000 per year, the Courts Service is paying over \u20ac100,000 and the HSE refused to say how much it is paying when I asked it in a parliamentary question but I will get to the bottom of that later. The Minister can be sure that there is over \u20ac500,000 in State funding being paid every year for rental on this property. I ask the Minister to encourage Kerry County Council and make funding available to it in order to construct a building that will save money and bring the 140 people who are currently working there into the centre of town where they will be spending money on the retail offering that is in the town centre.  Last week I asked about the roof of the Bryan MacMahon hall at Scoil R\u00e9alta na Maidine, the boys' school in Listowel. It is 70 years old and was not constructed to modern building practices. I ask the Minister to make funding available for that.  Last but not least, we have been waiting three years, since the Maskey report showed there were 46 children exposed to significant harm and 240 children at risk of harm in south Kerry, and still the north Kerry review has not been published. Over \u20ac2 million, I understand, has been spent on it. I was told in July that the north Kerry report would be made available as soon as possible. The file reviews were completed then----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  -----but there is still no sign of it. Would the Minister ever get that published so that the people can have answers and be included in the scheme, and so that the children who are at risk of heavy weight gain and an awful lot of other difficulties are not further punished by having to pay for their own medical reports? If they are in the scheme, they do not have to pay for it. It is inexcusable that they have not been included in it to date. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  T\u00edr gan teanga, t\u00edr gan anam; t\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin f\u00edor. It is equally true to say that a city without arts and culture spaces is a city without a soul. I join others in urging the Government to intervene in regard to The Complex arts centre. It is really important that we do not continue to have arts and artists being pushed out of Dublin city. We need more, not fewer, arts and community spaces and spaces for culture, and we need more creativity in the city to have a happy, thriving city.  This Bill is a constitutional requirement that is necessary to keep our public services running and keep the show on the road. It presents a good opportunity to scrutinise Government spending and take stock of what we should be doing better. It is remarkable that this Government managed to put together a \u20ac9.4 billion budget that leaves the most vulnerable worse off. The Government is spending like there is no tomorrow, according to the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, but there are still well over 5,000 children who will spend Christmas in homeless emergency accommodation. That number has increased month after month since this Government took office. Disabled people have had their incomes cut by up to \u20ac1,400. Pensioners are afraid to turn on the heating. There are families struggling to afford the basics at the supermarket, so where exactly are these billions going? They are not being targeted at those who need it most.  The budget should have been an opportunity to show foresight, discipline and responsibility. Instead, it has become a case study in how this Government ignores expert advice, dismisses the evidence and gambles recklessly with the future of our public finances. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, the Nevin Economic Research Institute, the Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, the Commission on Taxation and Welfare and the Parliamentary Budget Office, PBO, have all, in different ways, issued stark warnings and those warnings were ignored.  The fiscal council warned that this Government's budgetary policy was adding fuel to an economic fire. It highlighted that spending growth was rising far above sustainable levels and that repeated budget over-runs were baked into the system. Most damning of all, it showed that our surpluses exist only because of windfall corporation tax receipts from a handful of multinationals. Strip those out and Ireland is already running a deficit of \u20ac7.4 billion in 2025, rising to \u20ac13.6 billion in 2026. These windfalls should have been invested in infrastructure projects that will benefit our long-term economic security. Instead, in large part, they were used to cut taxes for developers and fast-food chains. The council's verdict was devastating. On this, it said: \"The Government is budgeting like there is no tomorrow.\"  The Nevin Economic Research Institute echoed these warnings. Before the budget, it said that fiscal policy was already running too hot. After the budget, its assessment was blunt. It said: \"We are channelling the 2000s with boom-time budgeting for a boom-time economy.\" It condemned the complacency bred by headline surpluses, which exist only because of corporation tax windfalls. It warned that if those receipts vanish, Ireland will be left with a massive deficit. It singled out one measure as particularly reckless: the VAT cut for the hospitality sector. In its words, wasting \u20ac700 million annually on a low-pay, low-productivity industry was \"a breathtakingly feckless waste of resources\". It pointed out some of the ways we could have used \u20ac700 million. We could have hired 11,000 additional nurses, made public transport free or lifted 50,000 children out of poverty. Instead, it was handed to the loudest lobby group.  The ESRI gave similar warnings. In September, it warned that fiscal policy was pro-cyclical, stimulating demand in an economy already at or above capacity. It urged targeted investment in infrastructure bottlenecks and preparation for predictable long-term pressures like climate change and ageing. After the budget its analysis was damning. It found that budget 2026 would actually reduce disposable incomes with average losses of 2%. Low-income households were hit hardest, losing 4.1% of disposable income. Low-income households already making choices between heating or eating cannot afford any more cuts to their income. They do not have a single cent to spare. This shows the priorities of this Government and how out of touch it is. Those who are struggling get thrown under the bus while there are tax cuts aplenty for those at the top.  The Commission on Taxation and Welfare provided the long-term roadmap. Its report, Foundations for the Future, made one point above all others: Ireland must broaden its tax base. It recommended shifting the balance of taxation away from labour and towards capital and consumption. It urged reforms to PRSI, increases in wealth taxes and a gradual phasing out of reduced VAT rates. Budget 2026 did the opposite. Instead of broadening the tax base, it narrowed it. Reckless VAT cuts were introduced for developers and fast-food chains in direct contradiction of the commission's recommendations. These cuts erode revenues and leave Ireland even more dependent on volatile corporation tax receipts.  The commission's message was clear that Ireland's overall level of tax base must grow to meet the challenges of ageing, climate change and debt. Budget 2026 moved in the opposite direction. Finally the PBO was scathing in its assessment of budget 2026. It condemned the reckless tax cuts for hospitality and property developers and warned that subsidies of \u20ac675 million for developers were introduced without any analysis of how they interact with the housing market, whether they are effective or whether they create intended consequences. It warned that giant tax cuts for the hospitality sector were not likely to result in lower prices for consumers but instead would be pocketed by the likes of McDonald's and Domino's. The PBO analysis made it abundantly clear that budget 2026 was built on a weak evidence base with tax expenditures rolled out to the loudest lobby groups rather than meeting the greatest needs in the country.  Let us take stock. The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council told us we are budgeting like there is no tomorrow, the Nevin Economic Research Institute warned that we are channeling the mid-2000s with boom-time budgeting and the ESRI told us we risk overheating and leaving ourselves exposed. The Commission on Taxation and Welfare previously warned that we need to broaden the tax base and yet the Government narrowed it. The PBO told us the reckless tax cuts for hospitality and property developers are fiscally unsustainable, economically unjustified and socially wasteful. These are five different independent bodies with five sets of warnings, all of which were ignored.  Budget 2026 shows that the Government was unwilling to listen, plan and prepare with the advice that was given. It shows the Government choosing short-term politics over long-term sustainability and leaves Ireland dangerously exposed to the volatility of corporation tax, the predictable costs of an ageing population, the demands of climate change and the risk of future downturns. If it continues down this path, tomorrow will come with deficits, cutbacks and the public finance system unprepared for these challenges. These decisions were reckless. Government spending this year will be remembered for what it was: a story of bad choices and missed opportunities. The Government could have backed families struggling with energy bills. It could have abolished the means test for carers. It could have introduced a cost-of-disability payment, which was promised in a report in 2021 that has not yet been acted on. It could have reduced childcare costs as promised during the election, but that has not happened. It could have lifted 40,000 children out of poverty, but it did not. Instead it chose developers, large landlords and fast-food giants and chose recklessly to narrow our tax base. Once again, it shows that the priorities of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael are more concerned with those at the top rather than looking after our long-term economic security. No amount of spin can disguise that. It can be seen. Rinne an Rialtas na roghanna m\u00edchearta. M\u00e1 chaitheann muid s\u00fail siar at the mistakes that were made in the past in the run-up to the collapse of the Celtic tiger, we can see those same mistakes being repeated again. C\u00e9ard at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill this evening. It is clear that it is an essential part of what we need to put in place for spending for the coming year and the function has to be put through here. We understand that.  I take the opportunity to speak about some issues in in my constituency and in the north west in general, particularly capital projects. Capital projects are certainly something we need to see greater investment in because the parts of the country that have been left behind the longest and have the least development are the places that have the most potential. If we could get the investment, we could certainly turn this around.  The Government seems to have been blind to the north west for decades. It seems to ignore the potential of Sligo, Leitrim and Donegal and focuses instead on other areas for investment. We want to see projects that are not just spoken about but are actually invested in so that the money is put up-front and driven home. These projects include the N4 bypass in Carrick-on-Shannon in my own area, which is absolutely essential and needs to be done with haste. Anyone who travels from Sligo to Dublin most weekday evenings but certainly on a Friday evening knows that there could be a queue back almost as far as the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan's home town of Boyle. People are sometimes waiting for hours. This infrastructure badly needs to be put in place.  The upgrade of the N17 is something we need to see delivered with haste as more and more people continue to lose their lives and the tragic accidents on that road continue to mount up every year. As we come to the end of another year, we all recognise the huge tragedy on our roads. Many of these road tragedies are a consequence of what were often called accident black spots but in actual fact are infrastructure deficits. These very dangerous multi-collision points on our roads need to be dealt with hastily.  We need to see an upgrade of the Sligo-Dublin rail line. If I want to leave Dublin to go home on the train this evening, the last train leaves at 7.30 p.m. The last train to any region from the capital city should not be leaving at 7.30 in the evening. It should be leaving an awful lot later. We need better infrastructure and more frequency of services. We also need to see the introduction of a rail line in the western region. I welcome Irish Rail's recent decision that it is not interested in seeing a greenway being developed on the stretch of rail line that goes from Sligo to Galway, but wants to see a railway put on it. That is the western rail corridor, which has probably been talked about for generations at this stage. We need to see that put in place with haste and invested in because it can benefit the north west with significant advantages for people travelling through that region.  There are many other infrastructural deficits that we see, with housing being the major one that captures everyone in every part of the country because it is the father and mother of many of our problems, for example in the health service and the education system. People cannot get housing. They cannot get places to live in. The reason developments cannot take place in many of the regions, including the north west, is that we do not have the water or wastewater infrastructure in place. In Carrick-on-Shannon, the development of water infrastructure is really serious and needs to be dealt with critically because it is at 110% capacity at the moment. That water treatment plant serves the whole of south Leitrim. If somebody comes in with planning permission in Mohill or Drumshanbo, they cannot get a letter from Uisce \u00c9ireann saying they will get a water connection because the water is not being delivered. All of these issues are having an impact.  We also see the situation with the electricity grid being upgraded and the recent announcement about that. All of these things are welcome but we keep hearing more and more announcements, and those of us who live in the north west - certainly, in counties Leitrim or Sligo - see very little delivery. That is what needs to change. While we will support what is coming before us this evening in the context of this Bill, we need to see the investment on the ground. We need to see people out doing the work and we need to see delivery, and that needs to happen with haste. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  A substantial amount of people's money is being spent on a yearly basis, and most of this spending is very welcome. However, significant moneys have been wasted in cases like the Leinster House bicycle shed and the delays in the construction of the national children's hospital. The delays to metro north could cost tens of millions of euro. This long-delayed and vital infrastructure is costing billions more than when it was first proposed.  This brings me to another project that has been proposed for many years in my constituency and neighbouring constituencies. I refer to the metro west project, which was cancelled during the recession by Leo Varadkar and pushed back until 2035. For those unfamiliar with it, it is a metro link from Tallaght through Clondalkin, Lucan and Liffey Valley shopping centre into Dublin 15 and around to Blanchardstown shopping centre, the National Aquatic Centre and the Dublin economic zone, where it is proposed to have up to 50,000 workers; and from Meakstown to the airport. The proposed metro line has been protected by various councils through county development plans and is mostly a greenfield site.  Last week, it was announced that the M50 motorway in Dublin is officially at capacity and maxxed out with record traffic levels exceeding Celtic tiger numbers leading to severe congestion. It is now carrying 160,000 vehicles every day on average. The peak is closer to 190,000, making it Ireland's busiest road. Transport Infrastructure Ireland has acknowledged that the motorway is at its limit with little more physical capacity to add forcing a reliance on other solutions. This has led to extremely long commute times of sometimes more than three hours, gridlock for minor incidents and a negative impact on the economy, people and surrounding communities because it does not just affect the M50. It affects our community as well when the traffic is backed up all through the N3, through Blanchardstown and Dublin 15 and up to Tyrrelstown. Experts and officials point to a significant investment in public transport such as DART and Luas, better cycling infrastructure and policy changes to shift commuters away from cars as the only real fix. Transport Infrastructure Ireland has stated that it has done all it can physically do and that solutions require significant policy changes, increased public transport and investment in alternatives.  Metro west would provide links to the new DART+ rail line, which will go from Maynooth to the city centre. It is designed to link at St. Mochtas Football Club in Clonsilla with DART+, providing a direct link to the city centre. It would also link with the huge developments now being built at Kellystown, Clonsilla and Castleknock, and provide transport links to the Blanchardstown Centre, the National Aquatic Centre, the sports campus at Abbotstown, the Dublin economic zone and on to the airport.  Given our road network system is now pretty much at capacity in the city, is it not time we have a real look at metro west? Is it now time to look at funding for the future? We know if we delay, then it will cost billions and billions more. This has been in the planning for 20 plus years. It was delayed because of the recession. At the time, maybe you could understand that but now there is no excuse. There is no excuse whatsoever, given the total gridlock on the M50 and surrounding areas, not to proceed with metro west. I urge the Minister, when he talks to his colleagues around the Cabinet table, to bring this forward. We have been talking about this for seven or eight years now. Let us bring it forward and get it delivered for people right the way from Tallaght all the way to the airport. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Richard O'Donoghue is sharing time with Deputy Michael Collins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Every time I come in here, I look across the benches and see where we cannot get delivery. I then look at communities where any time something is wanted or somebody is in trouble, people ask what they can do to help, even if they have not got it themselves. Yesterday, I was in Limerick. It is a tradition in Limerick that Fossett's Circus comes there. Fossett's Circus does a charity night, every time it comes to Limerick, for people just to go to see a circus. It offers a full night. It offered me tickets to give to agencies that want to go to see a circus. I go to different communities that offer the same but when it comes to governance, the same thing is not awarded. A cr\u00e8che in Banogue is waiting for a letter from Uisce \u00c9ireann. The funding is there to build it to support the local school and local families who are working in the area. A letter from Uisce \u00c9ireann to say it will now upgrade the system is all that is wanted for the local authority to give the go-ahead. It has been going around in circles for three months now. People want to start it for the betterment of the community.  We talk about where our tax is going and the minimum wage. I have no problem with a wage increase but if it does not make a difference in the pockets of the people getting it, I do have a problem with it. We see today that the minimum wage of \u20ac13.50 will be increased to \u20ac14.15, which will give a person an increase of \u20ac26. It is not an increase of \u20ac26, however, because of the tax bands. When the USC charge was lowered, the Government never moved the tax bands, so that person will pay more tax on it. When you break it down, take off the 1.5% auto-enrolment, which is also starting in January, and keep breaking it down, the person who will get the minimum wage increase is not getting an increase. What it does is drive inflation because people on the other side have to put up their costs.  People asked me why the hospitality sector got a reduction in VAT. The hospitality sector is one of the cases where the minimum wage will come in. It will have four wage increases coming next January, in the short term. If you add that to the knock-on process of all the different wage increases across the sector, the 4% decrease it got will not add a cent to inflation. At the Committee on Budgetary Oversight that I chair, I asked people from the Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC, whether it would create an inflation cost; it would not. What it does is absorb the costs the sector has got in the past three years, and stops it increasing the price of food, beverages and everything within that sector. It was the right thing to do. I thank the Government for eventually doing it because, otherwise, it will be a circular economy. It will come back around to the same people who have got the wage increase paying more for the same product.  We then look at every person who is paying PRSI and PAYE, who is also paying into the National Training Fund, but it does not actually go to funding national training. It goes around; it was voted on recently that it be used to buy up properties. It is taking from a fund for training people. That money has been sitting in accounts and building up for years. It could never be touched but now the Government wants it to go into something that is not based on training.  We have a lot of very good projects that could be built. We talked about UHL today. I thank the Minister for saying that she is looking at options A and B, and all the sectors of it, but it is about the delivery of this. We are talking about 36 beds being delivered next year and it is hoped to increase that to 178 beds before 2030. The commercial sensitivity of getting extra lands is being talked about. We have also talked about developers saying they will build it on the same basis as a mortgage system, where they will build it, give it back, and it will cost a euro. If they do not have the funding to deliver it now, they will deliver the project within two years to help people save lives. How many more people's lives will it take before the Government listens to businesspeople and lets them deliver the infrastructure and buildings for it? It can then invest in the healthcare that needs to go into these buildings. How many more people will die before we do that?  We are at Christmastime. I was at a funeral during the week. One person turned around to me after she buried her mother and said, \"Please, please, please Richard, if you do anything, will you please sort out UHL?\". A new CEO is coming in place. I hope and pray they have the capability to bring people with them to get the adequate staff that hospital needs. There is one accident and emergency department for 45,000 people. Hospitals were downgraded without thinking of the impact of an increasing population. That is recklessness. People are dying needlessly, while they are waiting for care. On the other side of that, people do not want to be employed by the hospital because of the stigma that was attached to it. Something radical needs to change. The management in place at the moment are trying to change it. They have been in contact with us in trying to change this but unless they get the proper staffing and proper people employed there, they cannot do that. It goes back to the question of how many more people have to die before the Government listens to people who can deliver infrastructure for it.  I have been talking here about this, and I know the Minister has looked at certain parts of it. I will give him praise for what he does. He has listened to us talking about delivery of public versus private, and looking at budgets for delivery of public buildings that are privately built and then taken over by the public. We are looking at delivery of infrastructure that will then be given over to the likes of Uisce \u00c9ireann, where it will be built on time and on budget, making money travel further. We will get delivery faster. That is what it is about.  Young people trying to get on the property ladder have moved in with their parents. Under the laws that are there, even if they have a modular unit out the back at the moment, they are being penalised by the local authority because the Bill, for people trying to move home to try to save to get on the housing ladder, has not gone through the House yet.  We are going to introduce modular units at the back of houses, which will hopefully come about early next year, but the Government has only allowed an extra 5 sq. m to the planning guidelines when a two-bed apartment is 63 sq. m. We have asked the Government to bring it up to 63 sq. m to allow for liveable accommodation. If elderly people said they would move into the modular unit to let the family move into their house, it would not be big enough to accommodate them either because the Government does not have the foresight to allow for a two-bedroom unit to be built on-site, which would be 63 sq. m. We are now looking at 45 sq. m. Will it not look at this again? What happens if a person living in the modular unit gets sick and somebody has to move in to take care of them? What happens if a carer is coming in to take care of an elderly parent? It is simple legislation. Listen to the people who know about it.  Our budgets have to be costed from now on by people who deliver on time, pay taxes and make profits. The Minister and Minister of State have to cost their Department's delivery of infrastructure, whether it is housing or any development. Costings have to be evenly based across the board to make sure their Department is accountable. That means they could deliver more for less. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I will start with some criticism I heard about the Government's introduction of a lower rate for the hospitality sector. I welcome that from the bottom of my heart because I know what it means. It tells you how out of touch with reality the Social Democrats, the Labour Party and People Before Profit are that they do not understand the benefit of the VAT rate going down from 13% to 9%. It is an astonishing attack on ordinary small businesses throughout the country that they come in here time and again condemning the Government for lowering that VAT rate when we know, as do the people on the ground, that it will mean the very survival of a lot of cafes throughout the country. I welcome that, as I always have. I pushed for it also. I will not stand up here and be critical about it. It is scandalous to think that these parties are so out of touch.  I know businesses the length and breadth of west Cork and Ireland, because I have met a lot of them, are furious with the Social Democrats, the Labour Party and People Before Profit who are attacking them continuously for getting that chance of survival. Even though I wish it was done straight away, it happened during the year. They needed that and the Government has given them that chance and that is something we all have to welcome and not attack. They keep throwing that decrease in with the McDonald's carry on. It is an outrageous attack on small businesses to peg them to that sector and it is not fair.  I have raised disability here. Those with disabilities lost \u20ac1,400 in the last budget. That is an astonishing attack on a lot of elderly people and people who have severe disabilities who cannot fight back. They have seen energy costs increase and the blister pack cost coming on board. It is another hit. These people are suffering. They are mainly elderly people who need a little respect and do not need to be picked on but that is what the Government has done. The blister pack thing is outrageous and we will debate it later on.  Energy credits were given last year, prior to the budget and the general election. They gave people hope that the Government was giving them serious consideration and was sympathetic towards their needs but by God it sure showed this time that it did not care now that the election was over. There are 300,000 people in serious debt and they desperately need the Government to intervene. They do not know whether or not they will have a light on for Christmas. That is a serious blow to anybody, regardless of what they think people have. I would appreciate it if the Government looked at that again. There is no point saying there are lots of pluses in the budget if the Government turns around and hits the most vulnerable in society like those with disabilities and those who cannot pay bills.  I looked at a lot of expenditure and announcements in the budget. I do not see any announcement for roads like the N71 in west Cork, the R585 or the R586, the Innishannon bypass, the northern or southern Bandon relief road, the Bantry bypass or the Clonakilty bypass. There is nothing - zero. The AIRO report a number of years ago was drawn up by an independent body for Cork County Council and made it clear that Cork County Council was getting the lowest amount of money for roads and for so many other budgets. Nothing has changed. On roads all the way from Innishannon to Skibbereen you cannot pass a car. I hear the Minister goes to Kinsale on and off for meetings and things like that. You cannot pass a car. There are no passing bays. People are pulling the hair out their heads. This leads to accidents, unfortunately. It is time to spend money on roads. We do not have rail. That should surely mean extra would be put into roads in those areas if they do not have rail. We do not even have a sign for 150 km of roadway to rail in west Cork. Then there is this thing called Connecting Ireland, which is a farce. If you cannot deliver rail, you cannot connect and you cannot deliver proper road structure. There is something wrong somewhere and someone is not talking.  Our politicians in west Cork, who are in government, whether from Fine Gael or Fianna F\u00e1il, are not delivering for the people of west Cork. That is the bottom line. Year in, year out, and I am here since 2016, I have asked for passing bays. I have not asked for flyovers or anything dramatic. I am asking for common sense passing bays and they are refused continuously. God almighty, if they would step aside for six-months, we would have it done. We would need no help. We would put in a machine and get the goddamn roads widened and let people get on with their business. We would let the tractor and the lorry driver drive on the N71 and spend an hour or hour and a half getting from A to B while not holding up the motorist who is trying to get on with their business. There needs to be a real awakening as to what is going on in the real world.  I will move on to wastewater. We need more housing in west Cork and the wastewater is in an absolutely scandalous condition. We have Shannonvale, which was brought up by Councillor Daniel Sexton last week. There is black water for people to drink in Shannonvale and Clonakilty. Uisce \u00c9ireann is not accountable. It does not have to answer questions. It is the same in Rosscarbery, Dunmanway, Ballydehob and Goleen. I could go on. Tomorrow morning, we will read an EPA report saying what the farmers are doing wrong but it will not point the finger at the reality of the crisis. The reality of the crisis is that wastewater treatment tanks are bursting raw sewage into our beautiful waters. Those are the facts, and I am raw from saying it.  I spent the past number of months looking to have a meeting about Adrigole. We are supposed to have a meeting but I do not see any date. People have had 14 disruptions in their water the past number of months. It is unfair for any community to have to put up with that. No one should expect that in a modern society. We cannot find out when the council will come in and dig up the pipe, give them the funding and deliver a proper water structure for the people of Adrigole. There are suggestions and solutions from the community and we are begging. That is not being delivered.  We look then at where money is being spent and wasted. Millions of euro are being wasted by TII on greenways without any consultation but only dictation to landowners. I have seen it in west Cork. There is no such thing as sitting down to talk with a landowner. It will take a 20 m tar roadway through their farm whether they like it or not. Jesus, you would not expect that in a dictator's world but we are accepting it in this country. The Minister is the man with his fingers on the purse and he has to ask whether this money is being spent properly. Are these landowners being dictated to? In the Cooley Peninsula, 1,000 people attended a meeting two weeks ago in a fury about their land being taken from them. God almighty, the Minister would not expect his land to be taken from him and neither would I. We expect that there is a right for these genuine, hardworking farming people to have their land swiped from under them, whether they like it or not that. That is where the wastage of money is coming into play. The people of Kilcrohane, the Sheep's Head Peninsula, the Sheep's Head way and the Beara Way were never dictated to. There was never a CPO put on lands, only a lovely walkway made with consultation. TII can now dictate by wagging a CPO in front of somebody. We have to cop on. This is Ireland in 2025 and we have to respect the people who live in it and pay their taxes in it.  We have a lot of discussions regarding childcare and many families are in dire straits. What frustrates me is what people are genuinely saying when I meet them. They say they have two great incomes coming into their house but they cannot survive. There is something wrong when you hear that and when people honestly admit they have two good incomes coming into the home but they still cannot survive. There is something seriously wrong. Childcare costs are astronomical and are out of control. We have sat by idly in here and allowed that to happen.  There is talk about a rainy day fund. I sincerely hope the Government has \u20ac110 million because that is what is costing fisheries because of that stinking, rotten deal done in Europe last Friday. Fishermen are going to be \u20ac112 million out of pocket. I plead with the Minister to find that \u20ac112 million because it looks like the national Exchequer is going to have to pay that money. Is the Minister going to throw crumbs to the Irish fishermen and expect they are going to take it? It is a wipe-out. I have met people with trawlers that have spent \u20ac6 million, \u20ac8 million, \u20ac10 million and \u20ac12 million to put a good trawler out to sea to bring Irish fish back into our own country. Now, we have Belgium, Germany, the Netherlands and other countries robbing our Irish fish and we have allowed them. We have patted them on the back, we have praised them and we have given them a great honour to do that.  It is time to stand up and prove a budget is for the people. It has not been for the people for the past number of years, and certainly the last budget was one of the most scandalous budgets ever in the State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Obviously, this is a technical Bill. We have it every year and it is an absolute requirement. We will be supporting it on that basis but it gives us an opportunity to speak on capital projects. To follow on from the previous Deputy, it is fair to say there is a considerable amount of anger in the Cooley Peninsula. I was at the meeting in Cooley Hall. The fact is there is absolute fear that people's homes or farms could be CPOd and there is an element of Louth County Council and TII having lost the dressing room too early. There is a need for a greater level of engagement but I know Anton Waters and many other elected representatives have looked for almost a postponement of the review process that is ongoing on the delivery of CPOs. I call on the Minister and Government to do what they can on this because we have all seen greenways delivered, and very delivered well. We need to see proper engagement with people and it cannot be under the fear of CPO. I do not think there is anyone who believes that is, in any way, justified, particularly when we are talking about such a project.  Like many others, I am absolutely aghast at what I heard yesterday on rail prioritisation and the fact it looks like it will not be prioritised where I am from. I am speaking specifically about the idea of the new line from Clongriffin to Drogheda. This was to allow for further express services to Dundalk, Drogheda, Newry and Belfast. We know the vital importance of this to that part of the world I am talking about, not just for population but for cross-Border reasons and everything else. I ask for a review in relation to this particular issue. We could look at there being some element of sense and sensibility here.  Like many others, we could go on about Uisce \u00c9ireann. In my part of the world, we are forced into the scenario of the delivery of interim wastewater schemes as new housing schemes are built. This will obviously lead to added cost. I know the Minister has dealt with some of these issues previously, or is at least aware of them. This just tells you where wastewater capacity is in Louth. In certain parts of Dundalk, it leads to real fear of flooding, even in the part of the world I live in. I mention Dundalk south, anywhere from Cluan Enda right through to Bay Estate and beyond. These are very particular issues that need to be looked at.  I brought up the issue of CFRAM earlier with the Taoiseach and Minister of State, Deputy Moran. We have several projects throughout Louth but let us talk about the Dundalk-Blackrock south project. We are looking at quarter 4 of 2027 for submission of planning permission. That is a long way from what we need to protect the homes CFRAM was designed for. In fairness, the Minister has agreed to look at Blackrock and the likes from the point of view of whether there could be flood mitigations introduced before the proper flood mitigations but none of this is good enough.  I have brought up the issue of schools, including Ardee Educate Together National School. We have to improve the planning process and the Ceann Comhairle will have heard me speaking about this before. We have a new school build of \u20ac7.6 million and this has been an ongoing project since 2012. We are looking at 34 staff and at best, there will be 21 parking spaces, of which three will be disabled parking bays. You are also looking at a place that has minibuses delivering to five ASD classes, for which there are only two parking bays. These are issues that need to be delivered on. I spoke to Louth County Council which is one of the facilitators in relation to this. I spoke to the planning department which said we could look at anything in relation to retention and whatever----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  -----but there needs to be movement from Government and the Department. The problem is there are too many people responsible for this, so no one is responsible. We need to see delivery on this. It is not good enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Frankie Feighan)  I thank all the Members for their very helpful and informative ideas and contributions. We will certainly take many of them on board.  The Appropriation Bill 2025 sets an amount that we appropriate for supply of services of \u20ac91.5 billion. This reflects the Estimates voted by the D\u00e1il over the course of this year, including Revised, Further Revised and Supplementary Estimates. In gross terms and taking into account expenditure on the Social Insurance Fund and the National Training Fund, the total gross voted expenditure made available this year is \u20ac109.9 billion. As Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa said, the Appropriation Bill is a technical piece of legislation that authorises in law all the expenditure that has been agreed by way of Estimates during the year.  The House will be aware the passage of the Bill is required to ensure it is possible to make payments in 2026 in respect of services that were funded from voted expenditure this year, including jobseeker's allowance, disability allowance, non-contributory State pension, nurses pay, Garda pay, teachers pay and all those who pay on pensions funded from voted money, payment of suppliers for goods and services, including SMEs. Of fundamental importance to those who depend on our essential public services is the passage of the Appropriation Bill which will allow for the payments required to deliver these public services to continue in 2026.  Government continued investment in our ongoing critical public services during 2025, with a significant proportion of gross voted current expenditure allocated in the areas of health, housing, social protection, education and justice, all of which provide essential front-line public services. The funding provided this year will support a sustainable delivery of public services and infrastructure, providing a clear vision for the continuous improvement of public services, living standards and the infrastructure. This expenditure will ensure investment in better public services, anticipating and meeting the needs of our growing and changing population, and investment in digitalisation and climate initiatives.  To address our infrastructure needs, Government has made clear capital investment is a priority for the years ahead. As part of this prioritisation, Government has completed a review of the national development plan which was published in July of this year. The NDP review is the most ambitious investment plan launched in the history of the State. The review provides us with the potential to transform our built environment, through permanent and sustainable interventions focused on the medium- and long-term health of our economy and country. Taking into account the total gross voted capital expenditure for 2026, set out in the budget and the addition of capital carryover in the Appropriation Bill, over \u20ac19.3 billion will be available for capital spending next year. The increased investment plays an important role in delivering much-needed public infrastructure across Ireland and the sectors such as social housing, education and higher education, primary healthcare, public transport, water infrastructure, climate change adaption and mitigation.  In 2024, due to an unexpected shortfall in appropriation-in-aid not matched by consummate savings and expenditure subheads, an excess Vote of \u20ac9,680 was recorded for the 2024 Appropriation Account for Vote 14 - State Laboratory. This led to a net deficit in the Vote, which the Comptroller and Auditor General referred to at the public accounts committee.  At a committee meeting on 9 October 2025 the Comptroller and Auditor General referred the excess expenditure recorded for Vote 14 to the committee. The committee noted the Accounting Officer had stated that the State Laboratory has implemented appropriate procedures to prevent a similar situation arising in the future. In light of the assurances from the Accounting Officer, the committee saw no objection to this sum being provided by Excess Vote. The committee agreed an interim report at its meeting of 9 October 2025 in respect of excess expenditure incurred by the State Laboratory, indicating that the committee saw no objection to the sum provided by excess Vote.  Our social protection system seeks to provide an effective social safety net for the more vulnerable members of society and when expenditure on the Social Insurance Fund is included, the 2025 gross expenditure allocation for social protection is \u20ac27.5 billion. This allows delivery of an adequate and sustainable social protection and pension support system and better outcomes in tackling poverty through providing a wide range of income support schemes. It helps to support the standard of living of the most vulnerable in our society. In particular, funding provided in 2025 enabled improvements in the social welfare system for people on a range of income supports, as well as providing additional support for families and people on illness programmes, disability programmes and carers' programmes. For example, 2035 funding enabled a \u20ac12 increase in core weekly social welfare rates, an increase in the weekly rates of child support payments by \u20ac4 for under 12s and \u20ac8 for over 12s. There was a \u20ac60 increase in the working family payment income thresholds and an extension of fuel allowance to those in receipt of carer's allowance. There was also the introduction of a \u20ac280 newborn grant for each child born in the State to help parents with the initial costs of parenting.  On housing, to the end of quarter 3 2025 there were 24,297 home completions, an increase of 12% over the same period in 2024. In 2024, 10,581 new social homes were delivered, including 7,857 new-build homes, 1,501 acquisitions and 1,223 homes delivered through the leasing programmes. In the first six months of 2025, 3,918 affordable housing options were delivered, which represents 61% of 2025's delivery target. This is a 44% increase in delivery compared to the same period in 2024. The biggest drivers of affordable delivery were first home schemes with 1,558; vacant property refurbishment grants, 1,334; AHB cost-rental, 497; and local authority affordable purchase, 359.  Education funding in 2025 provided an appropriate school place to over 975,000 students in primary, post-primary and special schools around the country. To support the education of these students a record number of teachers totalling approximately 78,000 are employed by the Department of Education and Youth. In addition, over 700 new teachers were employed in September 2035 for the commencement of the 2025-26 school year. To support the education of students with special educational needs over 400 new special classes were sanctioned for the 2025-26 school year. This brings the total number of special classes to over 3,700. Five new special schools were confirmed for the 2025-26 school year, bringing the total to 129 special schools, catering for approximately 9,000 children and young people with complex special educational year. Alongside this increase in special classes and special schools is an increase of the number of SNAs. There was an increase of a further 1,600 special needs assistants in September 2025, bringing the total number of SNAs working in schools to over 20,000. Capital funding in 2025 will amount to \u20ac1.6 billion to support a continued progression of the circa 300 building projects in the school building programme that are currently at construction stage.  In 2025, funding for the Department of Transport has enabled delivery on a number of key projects. There was a continuation of the fare initiatives, the 20% adult fare discount, the 50% discount and a 90-minute fare which reduce the cost of public transport and encourage modal shifts. Progress was made on the construction of the first 12 BusConnects phase 4 bus corridors, with a second due to begin in early 2026.  A number of key public transport projects have been progressed through 2025, with railway orders for Dart+West, Dart+South West and Dart+ Coastal North, and procurement under way. Construction on key projects also included the M28, Cork to Ringaskiddy, Adare bypass and the N5, Ballaghadereen to Scramogue. There has also been a lot of very good announcements on the N4, Longford to Mullingar and the N17.  I thank all the contributors for today's debate and thank them for their help and information. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Appropriation Bill 2025: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Blister Packs: Motion [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":60,"speakerCount":33},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:  notes that:  \u2014 in September, the Government accepted and published the new Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025, which was negotiated by the Department of Health;  \u2014 the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 explicitly excluded reimbursement for monitored dosage systems (MDS), which had previously been reimbursed through the phased dispensing reimbursement mechanism, a practice which was widely known, accepted, and unchallenged by the Government;  \u2014 MDS, such as blister packs, are an essential and basic tool for improving medication management and safety, and can be the difference between taking medicines safely and risking missed doses, double dosing, or dangerous confusion; and  \u2014 the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 could have included reimbursement for MDS where they are requested by a person's general practitioner or other appropriately qualified treating clinician;  further notes that:  \u2014 blister packs without subsidisation can cost an individual in the range of \u20ac20 to \u20ac50 a month, even more in some cases where a person has particularly complex needs;  \u2014 blister packs are an essential component in medication management, which allow for greater involvement of a person's carer or personal assistant in ensuring a person receives the right medicine in the right dosage at the right time, particularly where a person has cognitive or mobility issues or a physical or intellectual disability, which is otherwise not permitted; and  \u2014 many people, in particular older people, people with disabilities, and people with multiple conditions, had come to rely on this service being provided free of charge and cannot afford the additional cost which the Government has now imposed on them, which can accumulate to several weeks' worth of income a year;  considers that the inclusion of MDS in reimbursement arrangements with pharmacies is a small step towards universal healthcare which the Government should take; and  condemns:  \u2014 the Government's decision to withdraw blister pack supports from vulnerable people at the most expensive time of year for households and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis; and  \u2014 the failure of Government and the Minister for Health to ensure coverage of MDS in the new Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 on the basis of need; and  calls on the Government to:  \u2014 urgently avert the new fees for MDS, which are due to take effect from 1st January, 2026 by temporarily permitting reimbursement as was the case to date; and  \u2014 immediately engage with the Irish Pharmacy Union, to include a reimbursement mechanism for MDS in the Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025, which delivers coverage on the basis of need, not ability to pay for all people who need them on the basis of a clinical recommendation.  It came as a shock to many patients when they received letters from pharmacists or were told orally by pharmacists that the blister packs that were previously funded and paid for, as they saw it, were now going to be subject to a charge from 1 January 2026 onwards. It is important to point out that these are very vulnerable patients. The vast majority of them are older people, over the age of 65. They are people with dementia, disabilities and a range of health needs, but they are the most vulnerable patients. The vast majority of people will not need blister packs, but for those who do, they are a necessity and they are important for a number of purposes. They help patients manage medicines, and they are also a very important aid and tool for carers and family members. I know from my own siblings and others who look after people that they have to make sure that the blister pack is out, the patient uses the appropriate medication and everybody benefits from it. It is really good for patients and there was an awful shock, when patients received notification formally or informally that this was going to come to an end and they will have to have to pay for it. Sometimes we lose sight of the fact that \u20ac20, \u20ac40 or \u20ac50 a month is a huge amount for some people. We cannot ever live in a bubble here in Leinster House. We have to understand that this type of charge is a loss for a person who is on a very low income, a disability payment or a low-paid pension. For those people to be hit with this additional charge really did come as a shock to them and their families and to carers. However, it was not a shock to me that this was going to happen because I raised it directly with the Minister. I also issued a press statement at the time when the new community pharmacy agreement was put in place. I recognised this as a glaring omission and I warned that this would become an issue and unfortunately, it did. I understood the importance of them for patients and families and I certainly knew that when the time came and people realised that what they were getting previously free of charge and covered was going to be to be subject to a charge, would go down very badly and rightly so. It has been described as cruel by many people who have texted into radio programmes over the past week as well.  The Minister issued a statement on Friday of last week saying that she would put on hold the new community pharmacy agreement for a couple of months. The reason she gave for putting it on hold was rightly, that there is a lot of additional work for pharmacists. They are administering the flu vaccine and the Covid vaccine, which I got myself in a pharmacy last week. There is obviously additional work in managing diseases and the flu circulating in the community and other issues that pharmacists are dealing with. That was the reason the Minister gave. Nowhere in the press statement did she say she would look at this. In fact, she described blister packs as being private fees. In a response she gave in the Seanad, she doubled down as well on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  I was not in the Seanad. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I do not understand this approach. It may not have been the Minister who gave the speech in the Seanad but certainly it was a Minister who essentially doubled down. Nowhere did the reply say there would be any agreement.  In fact, what it said was that this is a private matter between patients and pharmacists. I understand that this was funded indirectly; I said so at the time. It seems that this was funded through the phased dispensing scheme and that pharmacists were essentially offsetting the cost of blister packs through phased dispensing. Whatever about the rights and wrongs of that at this point in time, many of these people who were previously getting it funded now have to pay and they simply cannot afford to do so. We are being constructive in tabling this motion to ask the Minister to engage and to look at putting in place a scheme whereby this can be funded. There are different ways this can be done. She could allow GPs, for example, to determine whether, through the same funding pot as phased dispensing, we provide for blister packs as well. Obviously, funding into the pot could be increased. There are a lot of options open to the Minister. However, the option of saying \"No\" will not win over the support of those people who are now, as they see it, being left high and dry.  I know the Minister is not opposing the motion but I appeal to her to listen not just to me but to all those people who have reacted very angrily. They do not really care who is right or who is wrong as to how these were funded in the past. The only thing that matters for them and their families is that they are now facing an additional cost, and that is very unfair on those patients. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  We need to be frank: this is a cold and ruthless move by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. To announce this charge just before Christmas, at the most expensive time of the year for many families, is nothing short of cruel. While the Government has stalled it for a few months, leaving a weight of uncertainty over many families, this policy decision goes far beyond a simple financial blow to some of the most vulnerable in our society; this is an attack on their independence.  For over 20 years I worked as a carer for adults with additional needs. I saw first-hand what these blister packs meant. They were not a luxury; they were a lifeline. They gave people the freedom to manage their own medication safely without constant supervision. They preserved dignity and enabled independence. The Minister can try to push the narrative that blister packs are unnecessary and that people can manage just fine without them, but the ordinary people, like the people across Carlow-Kilkenny whom I represent, can see through this spin. Most of us have had a loved one at some stage who has relied on this simple, effective system. We have seen the independence it has given our loved ones. How the Government can justify tax breaks for the likes of McDonald's and Starbucks while imposing this charge on older people managing multiple medications - people living with dementia, disabilities or brain injuries - is beyond me. This move will reduce people's independence. It will heap pressure on family carers. It risks poorer medication adherence, leading to avoidable harm and higher long-term costs for our health service. Let us be crystal clear: this decision will damage lives. This is not just poor policy; this is heartless. I urge the Minister to reverse this decision. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  A minute or two ago, I could see the Minister become exasperated at my colleague describing this as cruel as \"heartless\", but it is important that she understands how this is being felt by people. When people went to their chemist or learned about this, it was very hard for them to understand why a government would come to such a decision because these blister packs are essential to people who have conditions such as Alzheimer's and dementia and other vulnerable categories of patient. A lot of these people are on not just one or two tablets a day but multiple tablets. Sometimes the administration of the medication to people is quite complex, so it is vital for their health that they have the ability to avail of these blister packs. People have gone into a chemist and learned about this during a cost-of-living crisis. Many of the people who were retrieving these medications from the chemist are themselves on carer's allowance or something like that, are responsible for the care of their parent, their adult child or another loved one, and are being hit by perhaps \u20ac20, \u20ac40 or \u20ac50 a month in additional charges if we are talking about two people whom they are caring for. It is therefore quite understandable why people are responding to this and believing that it is cruel and heartless in relation----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Believing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  It is reasonable for people to draw that conclusion.  There is an obligation on the Minister to demonstrate that she will find a solution to this. That is why we have brought this motion to the D\u00e1il. The Government is not opposing it, which I welcome, but we need a solution. A lot of our community pharmacists are being stretched very thin as things are. The agreement the Minister needs to reach with the pharmacies needs to ensure that vulnerable patients who have been relying on blister packs for a very long time continue to be provided with them. They are not a luxury but a lifeline for them. That is the obligation on her. This needs to be resolved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  In the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, the very least - and I mean the rock-bottom, bare minimum - that anyone could expect from a government of any decency is that it would not make things worse. A total of 21% of households that have one or more members with a disability are materially deprived. Some 20% of those are in poverty. Some 16% of people over 65 are in poverty. The extra \u20ac20, \u20ac30, \u20ac40 or \u20ac50 per month is therefore not nothing; it is massively significant to people who have already been pushed into poverty by the decisions of this Government. As my colleagues have outlined, these blister packs are an essential organisational tool for people who are trying to manage their medication but who have difficulty doing so. Basic patient safety means that they must have access to blister packs or else they must have access to somebody who will help them to take their medication, but the latter robs them of their independence. As they get older, people with disabilities will say that their world becomes very small as they become more and more dependent and as society disables them. This will further increase their loss of independence.  I welcome that the Minister is not opposing this motion but, to be very clear, the decent thing to do is to support it and to work with the Opposition to find a solution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  The withdrawal of funding for medication blister packs was an ill-thought-out and cruel choice. It is disappointing that the Minister has allowed this issue to fester into the debacle we now have before us. I raised this with the Minister over a month ago, and her response, in effect, was to deny that there was or has been an issue at all until, that is, the public outcry became much too much. Pharmacists are being asked to play an ever more important and front-line role within our communities, and it is time Fine Gael treated them with respect. We had a similar fiasco at the onset of the year, when despite promising a free HRT scheme through pharmacies from January, the roll-out was delayed because the Minister simply could not get the job done on time. That was not a pharmacist issue; that was the Minister's issue, and so too is this. While the Government attempts to muddy the water, the fact of the matter is that reimbursement for blister packs was known and has been understood by the Government. The Minister sought to withdraw this crucial support, she got called out for it and she has backed down for now. Vulnerable patients who rely on these packs to manage the dosage of their medication cannot be asked to stump up as much as \u20ac50 per month arising from the inept leadership of this Government. Many will not or cannot, and that is a public health concern of the her making.  Sinn F\u00e9in's motion offers the Minister the opportunity to draw a line under this. I urge her to take that responsibility, accept that she was wrong and implement this motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  As the Minister well knows, blister packs are a medical necessity for many vulnerable people. They ensure that people can independently administer their own medications, reduce the risk of dose errors and avoid unnecessary hospitalisations. The cruel decision to withdraw the reimbursement of blister packs has caused deep anxiety, with many people receiving letters outlining that they will have to start paying to maintain this essential service. Many constituents have been in touch with me to outline their concerns, and their testimonies capture the scale of this issue.  One woman wrote to tell me that this initiative makes no sense to her, as a nurse. She said that the elderly and vulnerable patients for whom she cares are most often taking multiple medications that need to be given in the correct dose at the correct time. She said that the risk of error by omission or overdose can have dangerous consequences and that this is another example of Government short-sightedness.  Another professional, who works in community mental health, wrote to me to say that what this measure will do is alarming. My correspondent stated that there is a significant risk of the people they care for administering the incorrect doses, becoming unwell and needing to attend an accident and emergency department. They said that this is the last thing that a person with mental health challenges needs to deal with.  This is an outrageous decision that will impact the most vulnerable in society. Nobody should be priced out of safe medicine management, but that is what will happen if the Minister does not see sense. We are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis. It is unforgivable to target the most vulnerable in our society. We are talking about tens of thousands of people, including people with conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer's disease, facing additional charges of up to \u20ac50 per month for these packs. This issue may have been delayed by three months, but there is no certainty thereafter. The Minister needs to commit now to continuing this vital service and ensuring that these packs are provided free of charge into the future. She needs to do the right thing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I thank Deputy Cullinane for bringing forward this motion. The value of blister packs is far beyond the monetary cost of the plastic. They provide independence, confidence, reassurance and safety for patients and their families. They bring reassurance that patients will be safe and will be able to manage their own medication.  Last week's announcement has had an impact on many people across the State. It has caused huge frustration and anxiety. Numerous people have contacted my office. A good example was an elderly couple in their early 90s. They know the value of blister packs. When the lady did not have a blister pack, she overmedicated, took the wrong medication and ended up in the emergency department at huge cost to the health services and the State. It knocked her confidence in her ability to stay at home, which she can do with the aid of blister packs.  I listened to the Minister on the radio at the weekend and read her press statement. We should not be in this position at all. She will say, no doubt, that it is a complicated system that contains anomalies and that some people were drawing down different funding streams that were not intended for this use. However, the reality is that she has caused major anxiety among a vulnerable population. She has provided no reassurance in her public utterances since then. She needs to act on this Sinn F\u00e9in motion and get to the negotiating table, if that is what it takes. Under no circumstances can we stand over a situation where in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis additional costs are being heaped on vulnerable people and putting them at medical risk. It is totally unacceptable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The one word to describe the action that the Minister and the Government have taken is \"cruel\". It is cruelty towards some of the most vulnerable people in this State. It is mean. Will the Minister not make a decision? Will she not stand up to whoever behind the scenes is forcing her to make this call? She should decide not to let down pensioners, the disabled or the most vulnerable. How can she justify it? She has the power. People are watching and listening to the debate. They are looking to the Minister for hope. I know she will postpone the measure for a couple of months. Is she postponing it because she will not admit that Sinn F\u00e9in is right or is she doing so because this Government is so cruel to vulnerable people? That is the question people are asking.  Blister packs are important to vulnerable people. This measure will put more pressure on carers and families. It will put vulnerable people at risk. Why would the Minister do it? How can she justify standing over it?  In the budget, the Government gave hundreds of millions of euro to developers and speculators. It gave millions and millions of euro to the hospitality sector. When those decisions were made, the Minister knew she was going to introduce this measure. Deputy Cullinane outlined this months ago and she still went ahead. The Government promised a budget that would deliver for people with disabilities. It promised financial support. It let those people down. Not alone did the Government let them down in respect of a cost-of-disability package, it doubled down and put extra charges on the most vulnerable. There is pressure on carers again. I do not know where the Minister and the Government are living. People are mad. They are furious. They cannot understand how the Government can give money all over the place except to the most vulnerable.  A person pointed out to me the other day that before the election, the Government was full of smiles and promises. It promised to do this, that and the other. It never told the people last year that it would charge them \u20ac30, \u20ac40 or \u20ac50 for blister packs. This is another one of its broken promises and hidden taxes. It is now the bones of four years until the next election. I ask the Minister to think about the harm she is going to cause. I ask her to make a decision, stand up and decide not to charge for blister packs. People deserve them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  We are not opposing the motion and we are grateful for the opportunity to clarify what has been a very confused and inaccurate set of comments over the recent period. It is really important that we take the opportunity because a lot of people have been very frightened by this debate.  I note from the comments that have been made in the first 20 minutes of the debate that not one of the Deputies referenced the many constituents who have been paying for blister packs for some time. I know they have that information because my colleagues also represent those constituents. I also know from their social media accounts how many people have contacted them to tell them they have already been paying for blister packs for some time. They have been paying fees of \u20ac10 or \u20ac20 for some time. This is, and always has been, a private service. It was never funded by the State and there has been no removal of that service by this State. The Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, confirmed that in a statement on Friday.  I will outline what is different. There have been three groups of people. The first is those people who know they have always been paying for blister packs as a private service. They know that, we know that and Sinn F\u00e9in knows that because much of the commentary on Deputies' social media posts have told them that if their constituents have not. They have not taken the opportunity to reference that during the debate. Those people have been paying for blister packs as a private service. Another group of people have been getting blister packs for free because their pharmacists are giving them blister packs for free. I thank those pharmacists. There is a third group of people whose pharmacists have been giving them blister packs for free but charging the State under a different heading, as Deputy Cullinane referenced. They have been charging under the phased dispensing scheme, which is a very different scheme. Charging like that is wrong, inappropriate and contrary to numerous circulars that the HSE has issued. There is litigation to this effect against a sizeable private company that was wrongly doing this. There have been two sets of litigation and the State won on both occasions. It is wrong to give a service to someone and to charge the State wrongly under a different scheme. That is wrong, and I am glad that we have the opportunity to highlight that very wrong practice that some pharmacists in the State have been carrying out.  This afternoon, I spoke with the regulator. It, along with the HSE, will be looking at this issue very clearly. They will be looking at the primary care reimbursement service, PCRS, data. People have received letters. There should be no change for those first two groups of people. If you have already been paying for blister packs, there will be no change under the community pharmacy agreement. If it has been free, I ask people to go in and speak to their pharmacists. Will it continue to be free? If it has been free, it will probably continue to be. If people have received letters, perhaps they want to share them with the regulator. It might be a scenario where a pharmacist who had previously been claiming under the wrong scheme is now trying to put the cost on the patient. As everybody here has correctly said, that is wrong.  We are responsible for the money that taxpayers pay the State, which is then given to pharmacists. We are giving new funding of \u20ac50 million for pharmacists, as well as the funding within the pharmacy scheme. It is wrong for taxpayers' money to be used in a way that is not allocated. It is really important for me, even though it might not be as glamorous as simply just solving the problem, to take the time to get to the bottom of the issue and fix it over time, as I did with hormone replacement therapy, HRT.  The many women who are enjoying their completely free HRT are the beneficiaries of that little extra time it took to do the job properly. In the same way, we will get to the bottom of the information here and find out who has been charging this inappropriately and how the regulator or others purport to deal with that. There are many people who have been charging.  Phased dispensing is a really important protection for people, particularly those getting psychotropic drugs, opioids and codeine. Those drugs are dispensed, and pharmacists are paid to dispense them, on a weekly basis or even in some cases on a daily basis. That is for the safety of the patient. Although we assumed together and I certainly assumed in relation to blister packs that it was a patient safety measure and a convenience - a whole range of different good things - actually the evidence is quite different. That is something we could talk about if we had more time or if we were more committed to the details of science. I really hope we have that conversation. We all agree here as public representatives that where somebody has gotten used to having a blister pack or chooses to have a blister pack, I can completely see how that has been a good and positive thing, even if some of the medical perspectives are very different.  The groups we would be most concerned about are already the groups that pharmacists and GPs are most concerned about. If someone is getting phased dispensing, for example, as Deputy Cullinane has said, it is already the case that a GP has to sign off on that. There needs to be evidence in a pharmacy that it is being correctly done on a weekly or daily basis as appropriate. That body of evidence should be there if phased dispensing is being used correctly. That might sound very technical to people watching tonight, and I totally get that, but it is taxpayers' money. We cannot have any profession using taxpayers' money in a way that has not been allocated, especially where that has been repeatedly communicated to them. It is an important marker. It is the responsibility of the Government and everybody here who is responsible for taxpayers' money. It is a different thing from making sure we continue to reassure people.  Of all of the constituents who got in touch with the Deputies opposite on their social media, not one of them said they were already paying \u20ac50, because I checked. That is something that came into the vernacular last week, which was frightening for people and it was wrong. Whoever had an incentive to put figures like that into the media or into the debate knew what they were doing and knew it was not reflective of the practice that exists currently, where we are seeing fees of between \u20ac5 and \u20ac20, as reflected on the Deputies' own social media. That was a wrong thing for those people to do; it was frightening and wrong. I can completely understand why people would be so upset about that, especially when times are hard, especially in the winter and especially where it is perceived to be a new charge somebody is imposing and people do not have the information as to what has gone on in the backdrop.  I am very glad for this opportunity to clear this up; I think it is the right thing to do. I am also glad we have taken the opportunity to put a pause on this to get the best information and to work out with the clinical community which people need blister packs and for whom they should be provided, and how we as a State make sure our resources are going to protect the most vulnerable and not everybody. Some of the commentary and what has been said already may imply that we should reward those pharmacists who have been using the State's money wrongly for this by simply covering it off. I would rather show the Irish people what was going on first and then protect the vulnerable. Some of the commentary refers to people who are already paying it. What is going to happen to them? What have they been doing for some time? That was a private service. It was never a State-funded service. There was nothing to withdraw. There was no Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il withdrawing from anything because it was never funded by the State. We have to have transparency in a developed State. We have to have the ability to set things out clearly and honestly. I am very glad for the opportunity Sinn F\u00e9in Deputies have provided with their time for us to be able to do that and place real clarity on it. I thank the Deputies for their engagement and for highlighting this important issue so that we can get to the bottom of what is truly a risk to people who are vulnerable and something that has perhaps been inflated by those who might have an incentive to cover what was done in the past and create very scary figures for private services for the future.  I had a very important conversation with the regulator today. There will immediately be an analysis by the PCRS which the regulator may be involved with at any stage, and then we will lean into it in a much deeper way as the process goes on with an analysis of the phased dispensing claims that have been made to the HSE in a specific timeframe. This will be to examine what the criteria might be for any outliers in the phased dispensing scheme that may help to highlight those pharmacies that are in difficulties, and to have a very suitable, targeted probity process and targeted interventions and actions as may be appropriate, to be determined by the regulator. If there is a person in this House who disagrees with that course of action, I would like to hear about it. It is very important. Separately, the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, as the regulator, will support with any necessary follow-up actions.  We are introducing transparency in pharmacy. There are so many good pharmacists who are going above and beyond for their patients every single day. We all know who they are. They are absolutely brilliant. Their first concern and one of their obligations is to put patient safety first. That is what they do. They are obliged by their profession to take care of their patients. They are obliged to make sure that patients understand their medication and receive their medication in a way that is capable of being understood and is going to keep them safe. That is their obligation. There are so many pharmacists who are doing that well. It is also true to say that there has been too much hidden in the charging in pharmacies, whether it is dispensing fees, as was shown through the HRT debate, or transparency on other things like private services that are reasonably paid for, like blister packs, BMI and a whole range of different things. That is why, along with the pharmacy regulator, I have required detailed receipts outlining the cost of every professional service that pharmacists should be allowed to charge for their expertise, including dispensing fees and a whole range of other things that Deputies Cullinane, Sherlock, Rice and I have discussed a number of times. Pharmacists are entirely entitled to charge for their expertise, but it should be transparent to their customers. This debate has helped to shine another light on the need for transparency in pharmaceutical services and I thank the Deputies for bringing this motion tonight. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I am glad the Minister has recognised that there has been confusion, a lack of clarity and three different types of scenarios in the way this money has been dispensed. I received an email from one constituent informing me that on her last visit to the chemist to pick up her 80-year-old mother's prescriptions, she was informed that the blister pack charge would be increasing to \u20ac7.50 per week from 1 January 2026. She was shocked at the extra \u20ac5 per week, an increase of 200%. She said that she currently pays \u20ac10 a month for the packs but from 1 January, it will be \u20ac30, an extra \u20ac20 per month. She felt that this was scandalous. If ever there was an issue where the Department did not know on a practical level that the facts of the situation were that the phased dispensing scheme was being used to pay for these, it was this. I could instance hundreds of different ways where I feel the HSE is paying too much. It recently purchased a building in Tralee. The site was previously purchased for about \u20ac160,000 two or three years ago, and the HSE recently purchased it for \u20ac4.2 million. I know they are paying hundreds of thousands in rent for the primary care centre in Tralee. When I ask how much they are paying for it, they refuse to confirm the amount, probably because they are embarrassed as to how much they are paying. It is not a good use of taxpayers' money.  It is a fact that these blister pack monitored dosing systems have been widely used. Whether it is part of the scheme or not, the Minister accepts that there is confusion. Nearly everyone here knows someone who has used it, is using it or should be using it, particularly older vulnerable people with dementia, brain injuries and disabilities. The monitored dosing systems were historically reimbursed in practice through phased dispensing, as the Minister has admitted, which was in reality known to everybody who was involved in the system. We raised the concerns in October. They were ignored and it is only now the Minister is dealing with it. I am glad to hear she will be addressing it in the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  The first statement that funding for blister packs was being withdrawn sent shock waves into the hearts of the most vulnerable section of people in society, their families, carers and close relations. The second statement, that the Minister is pausing them until 2026, has added further to the confusion for thousands of people who mostly subsist on disability pensions and occupational injury pensions. The severe impact of withdrawing funding for blister pack medication is quite evident in the many emails and complaints I have received in my office from across County Wexford. I received correspondence from an 82-year-old woman's daughter, who is her carer. This woman is blind and has Parkinson's disease. She is on six different medications a day. The daughter has a genuine fear of her mother ending up in hospital or being harmed due to taking the wrong medication. It is genuinely creating a high-risk health and safety issue for both mother and daughter.  Another woman, Mary, wrote:  My husband has been diagnosed with terminal brain cancer which ultimately went to his brain in 2024. My husband was quite unreliable about taking his medication. I asked for trays for three reasons: one, to ensure he was taking his tablets correctly; two, to reduce the mental load of being carer for myself; and three, to reduce conflict in the home. My husband was an intelligent man, but his illness affected him mentally and physically as all illnesses do to everyone.  The decision to postpone funding for blister packs is a diabolical one and must be reversed, not postponed or put on the back burner. What most of our vulnerable citizens need now is clarity, protection and a guaranteed assurance that their blister packs will continue to be funded on a permanent basis. I urge every Member of the Oireachtas to support this motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  I am lucky enough to be here a long time. I have seen stuff before, but this one can walk under a snake's belly with a bowler hat on. It is so embarrassing what the Government is doing. I had a gentleman on to me last week who is on a waiting list for meals on wheels. The Government is on about a cost-of-living crisis, and it brings in this extortionate disgusting charge on blister packs for people. It was brought in originally in 1996 as a health and safety issue. Now, everything is after getting fixed. I was in Market Green in Midleton last Saturday and Santy was there, believe it or not. Santy pulled me aside and asked me what the bloody hell is happening with the blister packs. This is a fact. We had a good conversation. He told me that he and his wife, Mrs. Claus - they are pushing on now - are disgusted at what is happening. On top of that, I can guarantee that the Minister is definitely on the naughty list this year anyway when it comes to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Did the Deputy not hear what I said? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  There are no words for what the Government is doing to people. It is one of the most dangerous things. I have spoken on the radio about this. People have a system because, as I said at the start, this was brought in as a health and safety issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  No, it was not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  People will die. There is misinformation----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Sorry, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle, this has gone too far. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  -----misdiagnosis, overdoses, underdoses, you name it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  It is not accurate in any sense. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  The Minister is playing a charge here. Please do not talk me down. I am giving her respect, and I have always been respectful to her. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  That is true, but that is just not accurate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  She needs to withdraw this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Withdraw what? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  This temporary measure. She has spoken about a pause, but a pause on what? A pause on death? That is what is going to happen. The Minister had better reverse this because it is an utter disgrace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  It is a basic set of facts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  When the story first broke about the blister packs, my office was inundated with calls. People contacted me not only asking why but expressing their disgust and anger and a deep sense that once again the most vulnerable in our society are being left behind, forgotten and treated as an afterthought by this Government. Whatever way they get their blister packs, it is not their fault that they were getting them for free and now they may have to pay for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  We talk about the bike shed and the security hut as examples of taxpayers' money being wasted, but I would not call this a waste of money. It is a lifesaving device. What we are seeing here is all too familiar. The most vulnerable people in Clare and across the State are being given a small rise on one hand, only to have to have it taken straight back on the other. That is not progress. It is not fair. It certainly is not protecting those who rely on these vital lifesaving supports. I have listened carefully to those who came to me. This decision does not just affect those who use blister packs; it affects carers, families and loved ones who depend on this lifeline to keep people safe. These supports help elderly people, people with physical disabilities and those living with cognitive impairment of all ages.  Imagine coming home to find your loved one collapsed or incoherent. You ring an ambulance, and you are asked a simple but critical question, \"Have they taken their medication?\" but you cannot answer because their blister pack is not there. You do not know if they have double dosed, triple dosed or taken none at all. Blister packs provide answers to those questions that can save lives. Imagine trying to live as independently as possible with a disability only to have a simple lifesaving support priced out of your reach. The loss of independence forces people to rely on others and even they may not have someone to rely on. It is not acceptable. Sinn F\u00e9in believes people should be able to live in dignity and safely. I implore the Minister to give some people hope this Christmas that they will not face the cost of funding for a device that is not a luxury but a necessity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Tugann scannal na spuaicphaca\u00ed l\u00e9argas soil\u00e9ir ar mheon an Rialtais reatha. Is Rialtas \u00e9 nach bhfuil cl\u00fa aige c\u00e9ard at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa i saol an ghn\u00e1thdhuine agus at\u00e1 s\u00e1sta an costas a bhaineann le seirbh\u00eds\u00ed bun\u00fasacha sl\u00e1inte a bhr\u00fa ar dhaoine nach bhfuil in acmhainn \u00edoc astu. Nuair a fhaigheann an Rialtas an deis, d\u00e9anann s\u00e9 iarracht an t-ualach a chur ar an ngn\u00e1thdhuine go ci\u00fain, i ngan fhios d\u2019\u00e9inne, agus gan aon mheas ar an tionchar daonna. N\u00ed ghlacfaimid leis sin. Beart daonna a bh\u00ed i gc\u00f3ras na spuaicphaca\u00ed in am na fl\u00fairse, ach is cinneadh cru\u00e1lach agus ioml\u00e1n m\u00edfh\u00e9ar\u00e1ilte at\u00e1 i gceist anois. Caithfidh an Rialtas athbhreithni\u00fa pr\u00e1inneach a dh\u00e9anamh ar an gcomhaont\u00fa cogasa\u00edochta pobail agus ais\u00edoca\u00edocht a thabhairt bunaithe ar riachtanais, n\u00ed ar \u00e1baltacht \u00edoca\u00edochta.  These monitored dosage systems are not a luxury. They are a core patient safety service relied on by older people, people with disabilities and those managing complex or multiple medications. The decision now to target the pharmacies exposes how out of touch this Government is. Constituents contacted my office shocked and afraid about what the new year will bring. One man wrote to me. Michael and his wife are both pensioners. Each of them takes seven tablets a day for conditions, including blood pressure issues, mental health needs and recovery from a recent heart attack. Their pharmacist has now told them that they will face an extra \u20ac50 per month. This is money that they simply do not have. At the most expensive time of the year in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, patients now find themselves having to pay for a safety-critical service regardless of income. There is no justification for that. The evidence is clear: removing access to monitored dosage systems will worsen medication adherence, increase hospital admissions and deepen health inequality. Community pharmacists are uniquely placed to prevent that harm, but they cannot continue to provide this service at a loss. Healthcare should be based on clinical need, not ability to pay. This House should stand with the most vulnerable and not abandon them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing forward this motion. I stand here frustrated that we are having this conversation at all. We should be spending time talking about improvements to the health service but instead we are talking about a service that is effectively going backwards. The reality is that when we were talking about the community pharmacy agreement in October in this House, I raised issues about phased dispensing and blister packing. There was no action from the Minister or her Department. It is only when uproar has arisen in the past week that she has responded to say that she has to try to work things out. We all know that blister packing is separate from phased dispensing, but the reality is that many pharmacists were using the money they were receiving for phased dispensing to put together blister packs for their patients. Blister packing is the dinosaur of medical technology, but it works in terms of ensuring that vulnerable patients and patients with a disability get the appropriate medication. It prevents unnecessary hospitalisation, it gives peace of mind to families and it is utterly consistent with the perspective that we should try to keep people at home.  As I said in this Chamber two months ago, it is a real backwards step in the new community pharmacy agreement that the Government would reduce from four to two the number of criteria to be eligible for phased dispensing. As many pharmacists will not be getting that money for phased dispensing, the free blister pack service that many patients were availing of is coming to an end and they will have to pay for it. The consequences are potentially very real for many patients. I am struck by research that was done after the introduction of prescription charges in 2011. Obviously, they were not popular at the time but were done for a particular reason. Professor Charles Normand in Trinity College Dublin undertook significant research to show that there was a significantly higher number of strokes and heart attacks among the population who should have been taking their medication. Due to the introduction of prescription charges, these people failed to take their proper prescriptions. I worry that people who should be getting blister packing will not pay \u20ac10, \u20ac20, \u20ac30, \u20ac40 or indeed \u20ac50 - whatever the amount the pharmacist is going to individually charge - to get the blister packing service and then we will end up in a situation where health outcomes deteriorate and not improve.  The reality here is that older people and those with a disability have become pawns in a game being played out between the Department of Health and pharmacists. Phased dispensing has become a pawn in the game being played between the Minister and the IPU. That is really to be regretted. It is the antithesis of all the messaging that has been coming from the Minister and the Department over the past year as to how to improve our hospital system, prevent unnecessary hospitalisations and ultimately ensure more people are looked after at home.  I will speak to where we are now. There are lines within the community pharmacy agreement that talk about a saving arising from the withdrawal of the two categories of phased dispensing. I have a question for the Minister. What has she done since the agreement was made in September to determine how that saving is to be used? Has the Department of Health done anything with pharmacists in that time? I am not hearing about anything having been done. What I am hearing is that it was wrong and not transparent of pharmacists to use phased dispensing money to provide a blister packing service. That is completely the wrong message. Many pharmacists have been doing this for the right reasons and have not been making money from the phased dispensing service. They have been doing it because they can see the impact on their patients. What is the Minister going to do in the time she has given herself to ensure appropriate measures are put in place so that any patient who needs and wants blister packing or phased dispensing, which are separate but related, can access those services? We need to do more of it in future and not less. It is really regrettable that we have to spend any time debating the matter this evening when it should never have been included in the community pharmacy agreement. We also raised it on the floor of the Chamber when we were discussing the agreement back in October. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  I have listened carefully to the debate, the Minister's contribution, the other Deputies and my constituents and my conclusion is that this is a mess. The Minister said that there are people who are confused and frightened. That is certainly true. People have been in touch with my office and with those of other Deputies and they are genuinely concerned about this. People are struggling with bills and with the cost of living and they are really worried they are going to have to pay huge costs out of pocket. Whether it is \u20ac15 or \u20ac50, people are genuinely worried. These are people who are older, people with disabilities and people on social welfare. They will say that, while the Government cannot control all prices, it can control this price and can make this service free of charge.  The Minister pointed out that she was going to do an analysis, that there would be a probing process and that she wanted greater transparency but why now? Why was this not done during the negotiation phase? Why was all of this not teased out in advance? Why did it take public pressure and motions before the D\u00e1il for her to put a pause on this and take these steps? Like other Deputies, I raised concerns about changes in the agreement when we spoke about it back in October. I highlighted concerns around changes in respect of phased dispensing but nothing was done. It was not until there was increased public pressure that it was suddenly decided that things would change.  The Minister has a huge mess on her hands. People want clarity. People have said time and again that this is a service they really need and rely on. It gives them certainty, confidence and reassurance in taking their medication. It is a service they would like provided free of charge. It is something the State can support them with. That is the outcome we need to reach in the time ahead.  At the core of this is the use of blister packs, a dosage monitoring system that helps patients manage medication safely and retain their independence, which is particularly important given our ageing population. Two weeks ago today, the Department of Health and the HSE published Delivering an Age-Friendly Health System, a blueprint intended to transform healthcare for older people. The Minister of State with responsibility for older people said that \"It sets out a clear and ambitious mission for Ireland to become a country where the entire health system is designed and delivered through an age-friendly lens that enhances the lives and well-being of all older adults.\" That is crucial. We need an age-friendly approach and that is why we need to get this right and fix the mess that has been created. The report hinges on what it calls the four Ms. One of those Ms stands for medication. According to the framework, an age-friendly health system should \"prescribe medication thoughtfully and safely\". Surely, blister packs are part of that. It is crucially important that we maintain people's independence and keep them at home for as long as possible. That is really important.  Something that has not come up enough in this debate, in the media or in the Minister's contribution is the changes to phased dispensing and the impact that will have for some of the most vulnerable parts of our community. Deputy Sherlock made reference to that. The Minister has repeatedly cited the distinction between phased dispensing and monitored dosing systems, both of which were previously reimbursed under the phased dispensing arrangement. Strictly speaking, phased dispensing was introduced for patients to whom it would be unsafe to give their medication for the month on one single occasion. The rules around this are changing too but we have heard very little about it. Those changes will disproportionately impact deprived communities. That is not addressed in the motion and has not been addressed in media reports or in the Minister's statement. According to Deep End Ireland, which represents GPs in disadvantaged communities, there will be a profound and sudden narrowing of the list of medications deemed to be high-risk and, therefore, eligible for reimbursement under phased dispensing. There are very serious changes to the rules around phased dispensing as well and these need to be considered, looked at and changed.  For patients who are homeless or whose living conditions are unstable, the risk of having all of their tablets dispensed at once is not confined to the pharmacology of the particular drug. The risk lies in the overall burden of managing multiple medicines when you have memory difficulties or poor health literacy, when you live a chaotic life or when you lack support. Blood thinners and insulin will no longer be deemed high-risk medications but they are high-risk for some. Why is the Minister shifting this avoidable clinical risk onto those least able to manage it? In her reply, I would really like the Minister to tease through and look at that matter because these changes are also really important and have not been given enough attention. They affect some of the most at-risk groups. It needs to be addressed.  The Minister claims the changes to blister pack rules are just a correction but this decision is anything but correct. It is the wrong decision. It flies in the face of stated Government policy on ageing and delivering an age-friendly health and social care system. A constituent of mine called it a stealth tax and I would agree. We need to change this. The Minister needs to look at it. She particularly needs to look at the narrowing of the category of high-risk drugs because that will have a real impact on people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I support the motion. I highlight the issue of the cost-of-living crisis that is affecting a great many people across this country. In my own constituency, in areas of severe disadvantage like Ballymun and Finglas, people are literally living hand to mouth. Last week, we heard people with disabilities say that they are choosing between eating and heating. That is not just a phrase and it does not just affect those with disabilities. It is particularly affecting vulnerable groups, including elderly people. Families are also really struggling. The proposal to add additional costs to blister packs shows a disconnect between this Government and the reality of people's lives. Older people, many of them living with families, are really struggling. Any additional cost could be the one that prevents them from affording food, paying rent or covering basic costs. It is an illogical move because it actually worsens health outcomes. I know the Minister knows this. She knows that the costs of living people face may mean they cannot cover health costs or the cost of heating their homes and that this worsens their health outcomes.  Elderly people are living in cold and in fear. They cannot pay anything that would cost another cent.  I want to raise the wider issue of the cost of healthcare, in particular for families and children. There was a promise in 2019 by Fine Gael and the Minister, Deputy Harris, to introduce the free GP care up to age 12 by 2022. We will be in 2026 in a few weeks' time and still that commitment to free GP care for children up to age 12 has not been delivered. When will the Minister deliver that commitment that was made over seven years ago? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I also support the motion. I have received a number of emails from constituents in Dublin South-Central who are absolutely flabbergasted by this mean-spirted decision to charge vulnerable and elderly people for a pack that is life-saving to them. This is the antithesis of how this country should be supporting vulnerable people. The story of Scrooge will never be dead as long as things like this are decided, and so close to Christmas. The worry that elderly and vulnerable people and their families have now is how they are going to be able to afford this. I am not joking when I say this - I am not making this up at all - but there are people in my constituency in Dublin South-Central where this amount of money that they will have to pay is really going to put them in such a bad way. St. James's Hospital is a massive hospital, as I am sure the Minister is aware. It is my constituency. It services not only the people of Dublin South-Central but also people from around this country with acute care needs. It does an excellent job. What people who go into hospital want is to go home. Everybody wants to be at home, especially when they are unwell. The last place they want to be is in a hospital in unfamiliar surroundings. Therefore, to be at home really is of utmost importance and these blister packs are what allow people to be cared for in their homes for as long as that might be needed. If they cannot afford to do that, that pushes people out of the possibility of being able to stay in their home being cared for. It is just such an unnecessary cost. Of all the things the Minister could have charged people in this country for, this is the thing she chooses. I am literally flabbergasted that she would chose this. It is so mean and so unfair. The reality is that this is an important thing for people being cared for in their homes. I am getting emails from family members who are really worried about this. I will stop talking now but I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing this motion forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this motion. It is a very important issue. I am glad the Minister for Health, as the senior Minister, is here to address this. We are having this conversation in the context of us being just days away from Christmas. This is one of the last sittings of the D\u00e1il. Here we are, discussing a measure and what is up for consideration is a very small amount of money. On the other hand, it is about saving people's lives and looking after people's health. We are also having the debate in the context of supposedly getting near the final furlong in the implementation of Sl\u00e1intecare, a public health system, and we are nowhere near that, unfortunately.  The importance of blister packs and the importance of having monitored dosage systems cannot be overstated. The health and safety of patients is paramount. The withdrawal of this is dangerous and I do not say that lightly. For people with complex medical needs and multiple conditions, this very basic service was provided free of charge. I heard the Minister's interview on Sunday and I know she explained how it is being funded. I get that but we are dealing with people who have multiple medical needs and who are taking multiple medications. I have seen the medications on the kitchen table in households. They are taking two of this a day, four of that and one of those. They could have seven or eight different types of medication. It is very hard for them to keep track of this and this is a simple way of doing it. The majority of them are pensioners, disabled people, or people on very low incomes. We are talking about the most vulnerable. The blister packs are simple and it is a safe way of ensuring people are taking the correct dosage at the right time at the correct time of the day and everything else. Older people, including people with a range of medical conditions, rely on them - as I said, those who have complex medical needs. Chemists can charge between \u20ac30 and \u20ac50 for them but this is on top of other medical costs. The decision by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, and the Minister, to withdraw this now is putting an extra burden on these low-income households and individuals and it is coming at the worst time of the year. The majority of those who are typically dependent on the packs, which as the Minister said on Sunday - and fair enough - are being funded through what is called a phased dispensing reimbursement scheme, are on low incomes. This is coming on top of increasing food and energy costs. There was another announcement of an energy increase today. These are all increasing. Wait until the bills start coming in January. We have not even hit Christmas yet. This comes on top of the high cost of living. The increases are happening right across the board and it will disproportionately hit the poor the hardest. What must also be factored into this is the low income thresholds for medical cards. If you are under 66, the income threshold for a single person is \u20ac184. The last time I remember that being increased was back at the start of the noughties, around 2002 or 2003. I am open to correction but it was well over 20 years ago. If you are over 66, it is \u20ac201. When you hit that, you are gone. You cannot get a full medical card. For a couple under 66, the income threshold is \u20ac201. A couple over 66 - between that and 70 - it is \u20ac298. I am imploring the Minister and the Minister of State here to address this.  What has also increased in the past 14 or 15 years is the number of items and medications no longer covered by the medical card scheme. Every TD will have heard this over the past 14 or 15 years. People come to us saying that such and such a thing they used to get on a medical card is no longer there as it was withdrawn. A third thing that has come into play in the past 14 years is GPs charging for blood tests. I raised this with James Reilly, Leo Varadkar and every Minister for Health since. That used to be free for people with medical cards but what happened was that the GPs started charging for it. They say they do not have to do it, according to their contracts. However, the Fine Gael Government, which the Minister was not part of at the time, negotiated a new contract with the GPs and this was not addressed in it, despite the fact it was pointed out on the floor of the D\u00e1il to Leo Varadkar, James Reilly and others. I remember standing here in this same spot pointing it out to them, as did others at the time. I had pensioners coming to me about it at the time. That needs to be sorted out.  There is all of that. There is the low income threshold, increasing medical card costs, the number of substances not covered and then GPs charging medical card patients for blood tests. When the Government negotiated the agreement with the pharmacies this year, this was not included. The State always paid for the phased dispensing and that was used as a safer way for different people. Some pharmacies were using it to cover the costs, and that is fair enough. There are two ways to resolve this. One is to allow the pharmacies to cover the costs under the existing scheme, what is called a phased dispensing scheme. The other is to pay the pharmacies a modest fee to dispense this using the monitored dosage system and the blister packs. There has been a giveaway budget for the big hotels, McDonald's and Costa. They got nearly \u20ac1 billion. The tiny amount of money that would fix this was not thought of. This needs to be fixed. We are nearly on the eve of Christmas. I ask the Minister to do one good thing for Christmas. I ask her to sort this out, cover the cost of the blister packs and keep our patients, elderly and vulnerable people, safe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  The custom and practice is the reality and the fact that there is no charge for blister packs. Whatever the ins and outs of this issue, the Minister and her Government are now placing the individual patients as pawns between the Department, the Government and the pharmacies. The buck stops with the Minister. I am asking that the Minister does the right thing, the compassionate thing and stops any question of charging for blister packs either now or into the future.  This issue reminds me of the blood test charge debacle. First, GPs started charging medical cardholders for the taking of bloods. After being told it was illegal, we were then told it was not so illegal and would be covered under the contract. Political football was played with the issue for years and the outcome was that every medical cardholder now pays for blood tests. In my home town of Clonmel, patients pay anything from \u20ac10 to \u20ac30 for a blood test, regardless of whether they have a medical card.  That should not happen in this case but I am very much afraid that the attitude of the Department and the Minister means it might well happen. I am putting them on notice tonight that the blister pack issue must be dealt with now and any charge to patients in this regard should be ruled out completely. Anything short of that will show again that the Government is out of touch with the public. The whole question of the cost of living arises with this issue. The very people it is proposed to charge for the blister packs, namely, the elderly, the vulnerable, the sick and the disabled, are already being hammered by increased costs.  Unfortunately, the Government made a choice in that regard in the budget when it supported developers, burger barons and landlords and failed to support the vulnerable people in society who needed energy credits and supports and who have already been hit by huge energy cost increases. Almost all the major energy companies, all of which are making obscene profits, have increased their charges in recent months. Department officials recommended to the Government that there be energy credits in the budget, noting that, without them, the average family will pay an additional \u20ac321 per year. The Government took no notice of that. Vulnerable people were not the choice. The Government chose the developers, landlords and burger barons.  The budget was framed on the basis of a 2% inflation rate but a recent survey shows the rate is at 3.2%. The former Minister based his budget on a rate of 2% before taking off to the World Bank. We now have a situation where people who were already under pressure are being hit with an inflation rate 50% higher than was budgeted for in a context where not a single energy credit was put in place. Food costs are also hammering all the people who may be subject to a blister pack charge. The same survey recently showed that food prices are up by 6%. Over the past few years, the average family paid an additional \u20ac3,000 per year in food costs.  People who are vulnerable, including the disabled, the ill and the elderly, are now facing the prospect of an additional charge. I ask the Minister of State to rule this charge out for once and for all. I am asking that it not be deferred for two months, six months or whatever but ruled out now and for good. If that is not done, I would be very much afraid the Government will go down the same road as its predecessor in regard to blood test charges and we will end up with blister pack charges of \u20ac10, \u20ac20, \u20ac30, \u20ac40 or \u20ac50 per month. I ask the Minister of State to do the right and compassionate thing by ruling out these charges, full stop. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  The best way to describe this situation is that we are now right at the bottom of the barrel in society. In the UK, the Labour Party Government brought in cuts in funeral cost supports and there was an absolute outcry. Elderly people in the UK are absolutely disgusted their Government did that. What the Government here is doing with blister pack charges is shocking. It is attacking the most vulnerable in society, namely, the elderly, the disabled and the sick. The Government knows that is whom it is attacking. It is why it is slipping in a kind of underhanded charge.  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing forward this motion. In fairness, it calls a spade a spade. The blister packs we are talking about cost anything from \u20ac20 to \u20ac50 and even more for complex medications. The charges will affect people with dementia and their carers and people with Parkinson's disease. Taking their medication on time every time is very important for those patients. This really is an attack on the elderly.  People are facing a range of little charges, including prescription charges and GP blood test charges. Elderly people are telling me they cannot get to see a chiropodist. A gentleman who came to my clinic in Clonakilty the other day said he is finding it very difficult to get a chiropodist appointment. All these hidden withdrawals of services and hidden charges are attacks on people. The most annoying thing is that we have a pharmacy union that is putting up with this nonsense from the Government. The Minister announced free HRT medication for women and then threw it to the pharmacies to clean up the dirty mess. She had to clean it up herself in the end but that situation should never have arisen. In this case, once again, the pharmacy union should be not in that situation. Pharmacists are being dragged here and there having to explain to the people to whom they have been so good and caring down through the years that this is a cost outside their control.  Blister packs are not a luxury but the Government seems to think people only want them because they are a cool thing to have. In fact, they might be the difference as to whether a patient with dementia or a very serious illness can control their medication every day without missing it and then collapsing and having to go into hospital, which ends up being a terrible cost to the State and their family. I do not understand where this is coming from. By saying it is deferring the charges and kicking the can down the road to March or April, does that mean the Government will bring forward this proposed charge again? It has been resoundingly rejected by the public and the majority of the political system in this House. The Government needs to be very clear on what will happen. Every TD I have heard speaking has said that. The Government must make up its mind. Is it going ahead with this? It must tell the truth and stop codding people.  This is an outrageous attack on elderly people. I know of a lady who cares for her 82-year-old mother who has Alzheimer's disease. A blister pack charge means she is facing extra costs of up to \u20ac40 a month that she cannot afford. Where will this money come from? There are extra costs across the board and nothing for people in the budget other than \u20ac10 for pensioners and people on disabilities. A lot of people have lost \u20ac1,400 in disability supports this year, which is an astonishing attack on them. There is time for the Government to wake up and act. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I have been here for the entire debate. I have heard from the Minister and from all sides of the House. I accept the Minister's explanation that there was a private service, that some pharmacists were giving out a free service and that others were charging to the Government with an incorrect charging rate. I accept all of that. However, what she has told the House is an indictment of the Government. It knew this was happening back in September, when it went into negotiations with the pharmacy union. The Government knew the issues with blister pack charges. We are all TDs and we are all dealing with constituents day in and day out. I defy anyone in this House to say it was not known how blister packs were being distributed. The Government decided to go back into negotiations, get this done and save itself a couple of bob. My God, it could find \u20ac125 million for Ukraine the other day, just like that and no problem whatsoever, but it cannot find the money to support people with medications.  Blister packs are vital for anybody who is elderly. If we ask people in the ambulance service, they will say that when they go into somebody's house and that person is unconscious, they will check the blister packs to see what medication the person is taking. They can make the right decisions on that basis. Blister packs are essential for those who want to live independently in their home. They are essential for the carers who look after people.  The Minister wants to take the blister packs off them. She also says she is going to have an investigation. By God, the Government is brilliant at investigations. It is brilliant at drawing them out forever and ever. The Taoiseach wrings his hands every now and again and he will stand in this House and say we must learn from our mistakes. The Minister is making another mistake by getting rid of this. It is an absolute disgrace. The excuse coming from the senior Minister was cold and harsh and did not give a damn. She does not give a tuppenny curse for what is going on with the people of this State. They do not give a damn about it. The proof of that is the empty Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael benches today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Blister packs are essential for people who live with dementia. They are an essential part of the lives of people on medication who live at home. It is even essential for first aid responders who come to houses looking for people, as they know what they have taken.  The main point in the debate is that the blister packs are for the same people who have blisters on their hands from working all their lives to support the Government. These are the people who are now retiring. They are the same people to whom the Government gave \u20ac10 extra in the budget for their pension. Now, it is taking \u20ac20 back.  Let us flip to the other side. These are the same people throughout the country from whom the Government has taken \u20ac3 billion in carbon tax this year. Let us look at the amount of income tax this Government has taken in the past 12 months. What did it do but lower the USC? It never changed the tax base. It gave a minimum wage increase and taxed people more on the minimum wage increase. It said it was doing something good but it was taking it all back off people again.  My God, has it come to this for the people in this country that the Government is giving them this and then taking it back? It is not taking it back singly; it is taking it back on the double and treble. These are the same people that come looking to the Government for help with their electricity bills. These are the same people who are saying they are doing without food themselves to provide food for their children. These are the same people that come to the Government to say they want to bring their elderly parents home with them. They want the Government to allow them to put up a modular unit on a small piece of ground at the back of their house so they can take care of them. These are the same people that are taking care of their own family because the Government did not. The Government cannot look after a simple blister pack. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I am sorry. I have another half a minute. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I am just keeping the Deputy on track. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  Fair play to the Leas-Cheann Comhairle. It is a Limerick thing. These are the same people that are looking at a children's hospital that has gone \u20ac1.2 billion over budget, yet the Government cannot look after the vulnerable in regard to blister packs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  Blister packs are fundamentally important. They are not a luxury; they are vital. I spoke to a pharmacist yesterday who explained what happens to dementia patients and patients with a cognitive impairment who are not on a blister pack. Many often end up going back into hospital because they cannot manage their medication. Their home help cannot assist them with it. They present back to the pharmacy, the GP and go into hospital when the medication is not provided to them in a blister pack. Blister packs reduce errors and prevent readmission to hospital.  The cost to the pharmacy is enormous. On average, it takes about one hour to prepare a blister pack. They have to be clinically checked first, over and back with the GP, and an assembly process then takes place, usually by a technician, and finally then it is verified by a pharmacist. It costs in the region of \u20ac70 per hour. This is a loss-making exercise for pharmacists. That is what is happening. They are doing it for the benefit of their patients because they have an obligation to them. The Minister is disregarding dementia patients. She has money for the Ukrainian situation and for the 32,000 NGOs in the country, but the most vulnerable people in the State, the people who have built this society - the roads and infrastructure in this country - are being disregarded.  I take issue with some of the comments made by the Minister. She stated that if patients are getting their blister pack free at the moment, this will probably continue. That is not the reality. I have been speaking to pharmacists across Mayo who are telling me this cannot continue. They cannot continue this loss-making exercise, particularly with regard to the changes that are set to be introduced. I want that to go back to the Minister. Many patients with dementia will be put in significant jeopardy if these changes go ahead.  The Minister stated that patients should report their pharmacists to the regulator. What planet are we on? What planet is she on? Pharmacists in Mayo and across the country are trying to do their best for patients. They are trying to use the available schemes to get their patients a blister pack. They are doing that for the safety of their patients. Pharmacists are still operating at a loss in this regard. The Minister is asking patients to report their pharmacists to the regulator. Goodwill should be recognised here. It should be recognised that pharmacists are doing their best for patients while operating at a loss. This is the respect the Government has for them in relation to this service.  I question the Minister's statement that this has always been a private service and therefore that should always be the case. HRT was only available privately up to a few months ago and the State saw fit to pay for that and to bring it into the public scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Lawless should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The blister pack is fundamentally important for the most vulnerable. I have spoken to pharmacists across Mayo who say they will have to cap the number of patients who get blister packs. It is crucially important that the Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, and the Government prioritise the most vulnerable in society. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  N\u00ed bheidh an Teachta \u00d3 Nuall\u00e1in anseo anocht.  The Minister has had to leave. I missed the opening part of the debate but I hope to clarify some pieces of misinformation that in the media that have been bandied about in the Chamber this evening. The role of a pharmacist and their team, including pharmacy technicians, is a very professional one of safeguarding and ensuring that the right patient gets the right medicine at the right time. Over the years, the delivery of complex medicines has increased, as has the complexity of ensuring that the right patient gets the right medicine. Initially, pharmacists offered an opt-in for an optional blister packing service. Then it became slightly more formal with the recognition of phased dispensing. That could be requested by a GP. In 2017, the HSE PRCS decided to take a more in-depth look because the fees for the phased dispensing service were increasing. They were up around \u20ac68 million per annum at that stage. They dropped back to between \u20ac53 million and \u20ac54 million, on average, in 2022-23 and \u20ac58 million per annum in 2024.  There are effectively three systems in place. The first is phasing without a blister pack, which is requested by a GP or a consultant. If a pharmacist recognises that a patient is having difficulty with his or her medicines, they can advise the family, the carer or the public health nurse to have word with the GP or to request a consultation. There may or may not be blister packing. Then there is a blister packing service that has been provided for nothing by many of my colleagues. There is a charge of around \u20ac12, on average, by others. Then we jump to \u20ac50 and the fearmongering around that.  I do not know where that figure came from. I am searching and I have not found it but I will put it in context as to where that may have arisen. A review of the scheme has been announced and that review has come about from the HSE primary care reimbursement service. That review was not announced by the Department and it was not announced by the Minister. There has been a reference to \"age friendly\" and Age Friendly Ireland. I was a member of the committee in Meath for a number of years and two recommendations came from Age Friendly Ireland about three years ago. They were to the IPU and the then Minister, Stephen Donnelly. That was the dump scheme to dispose of unwanted medicines properly because a lot of older people tend to stockpile, or medicines accumulate. Sometimes there is a fear there where people are afraid to say to the receptionist in the GP clinic or to the GP that they do not need X, Y or Z medicine. They are afraid they might not get it again so it appears on the prescription and it is dispensed continuously.  The other situation is where the blister packing was and is very highly regarded by Age Friendly Ireland and the older persons' councils, as it is primarily intended to be a safeguarding mechanism to make sure the patient gets the correct medicine at the correct time. However, the rules for phasing are currently set down by the HSE and relate to medicines that are high-risk medication or medication with a potential for misuse. The reality of the situation is that my colleagues going back 20 years have, in the main, been providing the service free of charge. Some 22 or 23 years ago, a customer - a family friend, very dear to me - was on 16 medicines. The only way I could actually cope to make sure he got the correct medicines in the correct blister at the time was to go in at 7.30 a.m. or 8.30 a.m. when there was no one around, to do it in complete peace and quiet. That, effectively, is what is being done by pharmacy teams up and down the country. To be putting the fear of God into the general public about a phased scheme that is going to be reviewed is actually, in itself, shameful scaremongering and does not do anything for older people and anybody who is vulnerable or who may even suffer with anxiety as part of a mental health condition.  The system needs to be reviewed and the recommendations of Age Friendly Ireland and the carers' organisations have to be taken on board but the record also has to be set straight that the service, in the main, has been provided free of charge or for a modest enough fee that is well below the cost - the cost of the time and the materials involved. I have absolute faith that proper consultation will take place, given that part of the new pharmacy agreement for 2025 is a section on medicines optimisation. This is exactly where that sits - in the discussion on medicines optimisation and enhancing the role of the community pharmacist and the teams within to make sure that if anything, the service is improved. I am not throwing down the gauntlet to my colleagues; I can speak for the two pharmacies I worked in over the past couple of years. One charges nothing and will continue to do so. The other charges a fraction of the rumoured \u20ac50 and will continue to do so. That is not accounting for the time that is taken in consultation on phone calls to GPs, consultants, carers and public health nurses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  F\u00e1ilt\u00edm roimh an deis labhartha anseo anocht ar an motion seo. Since this issue arose, I have been contacted by numerous constituents of mine, many of whom are elderly, vulnerable and on limited incomes, who fear there will be a cost of \u20ac50. I bow to Deputy Toole's superior knowledge in this particular area. They are worried about the impact such charges will have on their monthly outgoings and their ability to provide for themselves with fixed incomes, such as old-age pensions.  Without access to monitored dosage systems or blister packs, there is a real risk of medication errors, missed or excessive doses, loss of independence and avoidable deterioration in health. In fact, it would not take a lot of imagination to envisage somebody ending up in a nursing home, and the State having to fund the nursing home fair deal scheme for that individual, on foot of a mistake that had a catastrophic effect on such a person.  I welcome the Minister for Health's decision to pause the charges until quarter 1 of 2026, as the IPU and its members now have time to engage over the next three months. I encourage the Minister, the HSE and the pharmacies to prioritise a targeted patient-centred solution that ensures those with the greatest clinical need continue to receive support, no vulnerable patient is left worse off, and safeguards are in place to ensure appropriate use of such medication. This is about supporting safe medication use, dignity and independent living for those who need it most, and there is scope for a balanced solution that protects vulnerable patients while remaining consistent with the objectives of the community pharmacy agreement. At the heart of any outcome should be safety, dignity and fairness for vulnerable patients. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  I thank all the Deputies for their contributions today, particularly Deputy Toole for her knowledge. What she spoke of was very informative for me. I know some pharmacists in my own area of Carlow and I can only say their work and commitment to the people in the area is brilliant.  First, I thank Deputies again. I know that the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, has outlined that the proposed changes to phased dispensing have been paused until the end of quarter 1 of 2026. This pause was agreed to allow the IPU and its members to have more time to engage with patients in a structured way over the next three months. Charges for blister packing are currently a matter for individual pharmacies providing that service as a private business. It has always been a private service and we have heard the range of prices, if any, that pharmacists charge their patients. The State has never agreed to fund this monitored dosage system or blister packing. The HSE has consistently taken steps to inform the community pharmacists of this important distinction.  The IPU is also aware of this issue and in March 2025, it published an article making it clear to its members that blister packing is not the same as phased dispensing and is not reimbursed by the State. While monitored dosage systems may have a role for some patients, there is significant uncertainty around the robustness of the evidence supporting this. It was for this reason that, during the negotiations for the 2025 community pharmacy agreement, when monitored dosage systems were discussed it was agreed not to change their status. Inappropriate claims for monitored dosage systems as phased dispensing represents a significant opportunity cost for other patient safety and clinical services.  Under the landmark community pharmacy agreement, a new strategic collaboration group will be established in early 2026. This will provide a structured forum for joint consideration of a strategic issue shaping the future of community pharmacy in Ireland. That is what Deputy Toole spoke about. This will be really important. A new strategic collaboration group will be established in early 2026 to provide a structured forum and I think that is the way forward.  A key pillar of this is that a dedicated fund has been allocated to progress opportunities to improve or expand community pharmacy services in relation to medicines. The aim is to examine and test new value-added services in the community pharmacies to support patients with management and safe use of their medicines. This new, structured, collaborative process will help to design and deliver evidence-informed, high-impact medicines optimisation services to patients and support future opportunities for services investment. The strategic collaboration group will be tasked with exploring the best way to utilise this fund.  The Government is keen that the public is not misled in regard to the way that changes are going to happen. Deputies have spoken about phased dispensing and how it is reported.  The one thing we have learned from today is that we need to make sure that the proper information is out there and that we deliver it. We do not want to frighten people either. We are all very mindful of people who are very vulnerable and that will definitely be considered. I have no doubt about that.  Concerned members of the public and their families and carers should realise that their local community pharmacist is the expert in their medication. They have the expertise and they are so approachable when someone wants information or advice. In line with the pharmacy contract, the regulatory framework and the service provided by pharmacists and pharmacies can assist patients through counselling, reminder charts, the Know Check Ask system with the HSE and tools like pictures or large-print labels and alarms so there are ways to help. All of these are aimed at improving understanding of the medication. There are lots of ways that pharmacists can help patients. It does not always come down to the blister packs. International evidence will show that blister packaging to maintain compliance is always supported so we need to look at the evidence as well. That is something we will be addressing, along with how we all work together. All of us here want to help the most vulnerable in our community - the people who need these supports - and that is what we are here to do.  There is very good evidence relating to true community pharmacy intervention, including patient counselling when a new medicine is prescribed or for high-risk medicines or when prescriptions are changed or just discharged from hospital medicines, so that the pharmacist can really support people to understand and use their medicines appropriately. We understand the role of the pharmacist and the pharmacies and the work they do. It is important to highlight that tonight.  Phased dispensing is not being withdrawn by the community pharmacy agreement but there will be improvement controls around phased dispensing in order to put patient safety first and to allow the State to look at the funding to be used to implement new patient-centric services. Phased dispensing and the supply of medicines in monitored dosage systems are separate and distinct with one being State supported and the latter being a private service.  In her statement on 12 December, the Minister noted that community pharmacies are under pressure at the moment with an earlier than expected start of the flu season. At the moment, we see all these incidences of flu. They are also delivering vaccinations and preparing to establish the new common conditions service. I know the Minister has been working extremely hard on this. The Minister agrees that the IPU needed to engage further with its membership to clarify what the community pharmacists had to do on further work with their patients, especially the most vulnerable, to clarify these supports. It is all about getting information out there. It is important that when a pharmacy charges a fee for any professional service, it provides updated information to patients in line with the new pricing transparency guideline, which came into effect on 1 December. I want to reassure the House that the Department, the HSE and the IPU will continue to engage, including on two new collaborative structures to support any clarifications required, and, importantly, to ensure the success of the new pharmacy agreement. Older persons counselling, Age Friendly Ireland and carers were mentioned. It is important that everybody works together and no misinformation is given. I thank the Deputies. It is a really important issue and it is important that we have these few months and that the proper information is given. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  The line Minister's statement on Friday night when she spoke about the three-month pause was tone deaf. It did not address any of the concerns of patients and their families and the issues that they raised about this ill-thought-out and cruel decision. The reason for the postponement is very clear. It is not because Sinn F\u00e9in warned the Government in October about the difficulties that this would cause patients both in terms of costs and health outcomes. In fact, the Government ignored us back then. The reason the Government has postponed this is because it has been taken aback by just how upset the public is over this move, particularly our older citizens.  On the extra monthly charge, we have seen some pharmacies issuing letters, some of which our colleagues have read from, relating to someone getting an extra \u20ac30 while others got an extra \u20ac10 so it differed between pharmacies. The fact that people were getting these increases during one of the worst cost-of-living crises is cruel. It was being delivered to people in the depths of winter but that is only one part of the issue. For people who have dementia, brain injuries or mental health issues, or those who simply have to take a large amount of medication, blister packs ensure they do not overdose or miss their doses. The outcome of either of these things can be very serious for a person's health. It can also put extra strain on the health service. For carers and families, blister packs provide reassurance that their loved ones are on top of their medication while allowing them to maintain their sense of independence and manage their healthcare in their own home. If the Minister had addressed the concerns raised by Deputy Cullinane, we would not be in this mess. Why did she not take the advice given in October and prevent us from being here? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  Most of us agree that blister packs are an essential and basic tool for improving medication management and safety. They can be the difference between taking medicines safely or risking missed doses, double dosing, or the all-too-familiar dangerous confusion for the recipient. We have all come across people who have been in that situation. I came across a case recently of a 94-year-old woman, where we did not know whether she had taken a double dose. The woman was distraught and upset and her family felt even worse. She ended up in hospital the next day. When one is caring for a loved one with dementia or other conditions that can cause cognitive or mobility issues, blister packs are not an optional extra but a necessity. Blister packs without subsidisation can cost an individual in the range of \u20ac20 to \u20ac40 a month. This is what people are telling us. The Minister asks where we are coming up with that number. These figures are coming to us from people. I do not know how much it is going to cost and clearly the Minister does not know, which is a problem for her and the Government.  The Government's announcement that it was to withdraw blister pack supports from vulnerable people at the most expensive time of year for households and in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis reflects again how out of touch it is when it comes to real-life issues. The decision at the weekend is for a pause only. It goes back to the question of why this was not sorted out in negotiations with the IPU. That is the big question everyone is asking here tonight. The Department of Health is famous for announcing that it is going to go ahead with something and that it has the agreement of doctors. Doctors might not know about it but the Department announces it in the media. Clearly, this situation seems to be the same. This was something the Government just pushed. It did not think it was an issue and now ordinary people will be left with the problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  We have seen some very bad policy decisions made time and time again by this Government but this latest stunt is the most thoughtless. Over the weekend, amid the confusion and chaos, many people got in touch with me to tell me how this was going to affect them or their loved one. Vulnerable users of the blister packs such as older people managing multiple medications, people living with early-stage dementia or Alzheimer\u2019s disease or people with arthritis find blister packs really handy. This will directly affect their health and safety. One woman in north Kildare named Maureen told me that her daughter has cerebral palsy and lives independently with 24-hour support. Maureen used to organise her daughter's medication in the little pill boxes for many years but now the home care provider has mandated that staff can only use medication from blister packs. This leaves her daughter worried that she might have to stop her medication, give up independent living and move into a nursing home, which would be a lot more expensive with her already inadequate disability allowance.  These charges are punishing those who want to live independently. It is our most vulnerable who will be affected by this. This will further push them into poverty by a Government that is really testing the limits of just how much they can squeeze out of them.  Sinn F\u00e9in raised this concern back in October. We knew this was going to affect people. I listened to the contribution of the Aire. I urgently ask the Minister of State to reverse, not just pause, this decision to withdraw funding for this essential service and give our people peace of mind over Christmas. I was a community first responder. It is really handy, if you are attending somebody's house, that the first thing you can check is their blister pack. You will then have a fair idea of what medication they are on. It is a false economy to withdraw this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  The announcement by the Government to delay until later in 2026 its proposal to withdraw funding from January for medication blister packs issued by pharmacies clearly shows that the Government has bowed to the immense political and public backlash to this very unpopular proposal. However, kicking it down the road is not a solution to a problem of its own creation. It is outrageous that the Government wants to put a charge on such packs. It is also outrageous that even those holding medical cards will be liable to pay the charge. Who are the people who will be most affected by such a charge? They will be the people who will benefit most from having their medication dispensed from blister packs, such as elderly patients and those with memory-related difficulties like Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. It will also impact individuals who have complex medication regimes, for example, cancer patients, who realistically can have a dozen or more tablets to take for anything up to three times a day. Blister packs are especially useful for caregivers who can check whether the medication required by those they are caring for is taken in a timely manner.  I have already had a number of calls to my constituency office from very distressed constituents, who are already struggling in this cost-of-living crisis. Many are on long-term medication and the thought of having to pay anything up to an extra \u20ac50 for their medication is causing them great anxiety. This stress and anxiety are not alleviated by the Government deferring the payment until later in 2026. It cannot have this hanging over the heads of some of the most vulnerable in our community. The Government should do the decent thing and reverse this proposal, which has proved itself as popular as the infamous proposal to tax children's shoes by a previous Fine Gael Government in 1982. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I will clear a number of things up for the Minister, who is not here, because she seems to think we do not understand how this works or what issues are at play here. We have never said that every patient has had blister packs paid for. That was never the case. We also understand, and I acknowledged this at the time the community pharmacy agreement was being reached, that phased dispensing was being used by some pharmacists to offset the cost of blister packs. Whatever about the rights and wrongs of that, which is what I said to the Minister in my opening remarks, what is undeniable is vulnerable patients are now being told they will have to pay. Whatever about the indirect or unorthodox way it was paid for in the past, that does not really matter to those patients right now. That is where the Government and the Minister are tone deaf.  I have no problem with transparency when it comes to the Minister, the Government or pharmacists. I have no problem with what the Minister called \"targeted probity processes\" being put in place to examine what pharmacists were or were not doing. That is a matter for the Government, the regulator and pharmacists, but what was missing entirely from the Minister's opening speech was any empathy for people who are now left high and dry. That was what was missing - that human empathy where very vulnerable patients are now being told they are going to have to pay. What I am saying, and I do not understand why this would be in any way a mystery to the Government or seen in any way as radical, is the State should pay for those vulnerable patients.  We all signed up to the spirit and logic of Sl\u00e1intecare, where we want a transition to a single-tier health service that is free at the point of delivery. I hope that is where we are going. We have had a couple of examples over the past number of weeks and months, where I have had to seriously ask myself whether this Government is committed to that. It is not unreasonable to ask a Government, in circumstances where vulnerable patients are now being left high and dry, to do its job. As was said, the Government knew when it negotiated this agreement and, as it saw it, tightened up on the rules in relation to phased dispensing, that this was going to happen. I knew it was going to happen. I warned the Government, it did not listen and now we have very upset, vulnerable patients who have been left high and dry. It is simply not good enough. It is not good enough, by the way, that the Government will say it is not opposing the motion but will then not do anything about it. It has to go and negotiate with pharmacists and put in place a long-term solution for those people it has abandoned. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and declared carried."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 7.26 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 7.29 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 7.26 p.m. and resumed at 7.29 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Blister Packs: Motion [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"National Security","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The presence of drones in Dublin Bay during the visit of President Volodymyr Zelenskyy was the source of much commentary internationally and domestically. We are facing into a crucial year in which security, and the ability of this State to ensure the safety and security of high-level meetings and the people attending them, will be under a good deal of scrutiny, which needs to come through.  We need to consider the protocol with regard to the response to this and in terms of equipment. It is not something we wish to see repeated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Defence (Deputy Helen McEntee)  I propose to take Questions Nos. 85, 86 and 85 together.  I thank the Deputies for their questions. As this is my first parliamentary question session as Minister for Defence, I look forward to working with them constructively at what we know is an important time in the world, particularly for Ireland's position on a range of defence matters. As Minister, I am committed to the ongoing transformation and modernisation of \u00d3glaigh na h\u00c9ireann across land, air, sea and cyber domains. It is essential that we continuously strengthen our defence capabilities in light of what is a changed geopolitical landscape since Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine, in particular.  As the Deputy said, a widely reported incident occurred on Monday, 1 December, regarding drones operating in the vicinity of a Naval Service vessel in the Irish Sea. Notwithstanding some suggestions, I will be clear that at no stage was the flight of President Zelenskyy compromised and the security operation, led by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na supported by the Defence Forces, was successfully deployed through multiple means, ultimately leading to a safe and successful visit to Ireland by President Zelenskyy, the first lady and their team. All of the circumstances, as you would expect after something like this, regarding the drone incident have been and are being investigated and analysed by the Defence Forces and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. At all times, the Irish Naval Service vessel operated within standard operating procedures, rules of engagement and the law of the sea and could have exercised the right to self-defence if it considered itself under threat. This is obviously a decision that has to be taken by those who are trained and who are dealing with the potential response.  In the circumstances, the Deputies will appreciate that it is not appropriate for me to comment further on operational decisions, particularly in relation to deployment of military capabilities. As Minister, I will prioritise the delivery of counter unmanned aerial systems capabilities for use by the Defence Forces - in other words, counter drone technology, which is an urgent operational priority. I can confirm that procurement of same is well advanced. Today at Cabinet, I brought forward a memo bringing forward such capabilities. We have approved the preliminary business case.  I have said clearly that we will now be partnering with France, although a number of other countries have engaged with us on this. The next stage is to engage in extensive and further detail with France. I will bring forward a further business case in the new year. On top of that, we will bring forward early next year the counter radar system, which will be up and running and in place before the EU Presidency next year.  One of my key priorities as Minister for Defence is to ensure that the operational capacity of the Defence Forces is maintained and developed in line with the Government\u2019s decision to move to level 2 ambition as defined by the Commission on the Defence Forces. The Commission on the Defence Forces recommended the development of a primary radar capability to ensure that Ireland can maintain a complete recognised air picture. As I said, I brought this to Government this morning. A project team comprising senior civil and military personnel is continuing to progress the radar programme. This programme of work is ongoing and good progress has been made. When fully delivered, the recognised air picture will incorporate this suite of military radar systems. It will have the capability to detect all aircraft traversing our airspace, including any that may be operating with their transponders turned off. Full delivery of the programme will be complex. The timeline at the moment is out to 2028 but I have brought forward the counter drone elements of it, which will be procured and in place next year before the EU Presidency. As announced today the programme is moving to the next stages. We look forward to working with the Government and with France to make sure we have that in place as soon as possible.  I assure Deputies that the Defence Forces are working closely with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in response to these potential incidents we are seeing happening quite frequently across the EU. In the past couple of weeks I have regularly sat with colleagues across the European Council. We hear from colleagues in Lithuania that they are having significant hybrid threats with balloons in airspace. We have seen in Poland where explosions have literally taken trains off tracks. If it were not for some not exploding, there could have been significant loss of life. We are seeing other countries like Denmark and elsewhere where these types of threats are occurring more regularly. We have to be live to the fact that we are not immune to this. That is exactly why we are investing in the radar system, in particular. It is exactly why a significant proportion of the \u20ac1.7 billion of our capital plan announced last week will be invested in our radar system. That is why we are bringing forward the counter drone technology to be in place before the EU Presidency next year. That is why we are doing everything to make sure that where we can put in place new measures that they are done as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  To be clear, there is no doubt but that the presence of drones such as this in our airspace is a threat to our national security. The neglect of the Defence Forces by the past three Governments, Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il in their various turns, has created a threat to our national security. The Minister spoke about bringing forward the radar picture, the anti-drone system and counter unmanned air system capabilities. That was due to be delivered in the autumn - quarter 3 of 2025. It is in the Commission on the Defence Forces. She is not bringing it forward. It is already late. In that context, it is a concern to me as to whether it will be in place before the EU Presidency. Realistically, it needs to be in place now. It is a huge concern that in the past there has been excellent co-operation between An Garda and the Defence Forces but to see both organisations briefing against each other raises significant concerns about the strength of the protocols that exist. We are not going to get into operational matters, because it would not be appropriate, but we clearly need to see protocols tighten up if there is a conflict in approach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  A lot of this has been well aired over the past couple of weeks but I have a number of questions. Will the Minister clarify if this is being treated as an act of hybrid warfare? Was air traffic control in Dublin Airport made aware in real time, or as close to real time, of the incident, and if not, why not? When was it made aware and what protocols underpin engagement with air traffic control in Dublin? Are there plans to release some form of footage relating to this to counter false narratives out there up to and including people doubting whether this actually happened? I, for one, believe it happened and believe this is a threat. However, I have concerns that without footage being released in some fashion that those false narratives could take hold and undermine us moving towards a more credible security strategy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  Reports of unauthorised drone sightings in north Dublin during the Zelenskyy visit are a matter of deep concern given the obvious security sensitivities involved. Such incidences highlight the real and present risk posed by drones during the high-profile visit. We can expect activity like this to persist when Ireland takes over the EU Presidency next year, as our counterparts in Denmark experienced during their Presidency. I raised this matter with the Taoiseach last week during Taoiseach's questions. In his response he advised that Ireland is developing radar capacity and that we are procuring equipment, that the Garda special detective unit is carrying out an investigation of the circumstances of the incident, and that we have already enhanced our anti-drone capabilities. Will the Minister advise what stage the procurement process is at, and when will the radar be delivered? Is there a date for that and when it will become operational? Will she also provide any updates on the Garda investigation into the sightings, and advise what threat assessments are carried out and will be carried out during the visits of international dignitaries? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I am responding to different questions. First, we all know there were drones. For anybody suggesting otherwise, we know that was the case. I repeat that at no stage did they compromise the security operation that was in place for President Zelenskyy's visit. I will say that we are taking this matter extremely seriously. That is why there is a review under way. That is why the Garda is conducting a review working with the Defence Forces. Of course, if lessons need to be learned about how different information was communicated and whether or not appropriate steps were taken. My understanding is that all appropriate steps were taken and all proper controls were followed. However, we need to make sure we can learn from any type of scenario like this because we are all aware that these types of incidents are not once-off. We are seeing them happen more regularly and that is why we are taking them seriously. It is also important to stress that this was a successful visit. We did not close down airspace. There was not any issue in terms of the plane or visit itself.  That in itself shows that we have the radar capacity to identify them but we know we need to enhance our capability. That is exactly why we are investing in the way we are now. We have capacity already but we know there are gaps and we need to enhance it.  When Ant\u00f3nio Costa visited Ireland last week, he was asked the question, \"Do you have confidence in Ireland's capacity and capabilities?\" and his very clear answer was \"Yes\". It is important for all of us to be confident in the capacity of our Defence Forces and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to defend this country and to make sure we have a successful Presidency. I certainly have confidence but again, there is more we need to do.  Regarding the relationship between An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the Defence Forces, and I have spoken to the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces many times, including as recently as this afternoon, the Chief of Staff is in constant engagement with Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly. They are in constant engagement and that will continue, if not increase, in the run-up to the Presidency to make sure in our security operations, which will be led by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, they are working closely together and that other agency, whether it is air navigation or anybody else on the ground, that need to be involved in part of the overall security operation is involved in that too.  As regards our counter-drone technology, I hope to have a contract signed by the end of the year, which will mean we will have the technology bought before the first half of next year, that is, by May or June. In parallel with this, training will take place within the Defence Forces to make sure we have members that are able to use it. Of course, the Presidency will start in the beginning of July and I appreciate timelines may have changed but I am saying very clearly I will be signing a contract before the end of the year. We will have this capacity before the second half of next year and we will have it in place and operational before the Presidency starts.  In terms of the overall Presidency, we will have the new security council, which has already met in this new government format and will be meeting soon. This is a structure that will be in place and will be meeting regularly throughout the Presidency. It is attended by members from An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, the Defence Forces and the relevant Ministers and Members. This is a space separate to the work ongoing between the garda\u00ed and the Defence Forces to make sure the preparations, plans and security measures that need to be put in place are in place and are operational for next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  There are many comments I would like to make but the first relates to the timeline. It sounds extremely tight. It will be purchased within the first half of the year but that is not a lot of time for the personnel to get used to this and ensure protocols are in place and so on. What struck me most was clearly the visit of President Zelenskyy was very welcome and worthwhile but the Minister has talked about it proving the radar system worked. These drones were 400 m or 500 m away from the naval vessels. They could be seen with the naked eye, so it does not prove anything on that or tell us anything about our radar capacity. I note the report last weekend by Conor Gallagher in The Irish Times made the point the L\u00c9 William Butler Yeats did not have radar-guided weapons in the way the previous flagship, L\u00c9 Eithne , had and it was therefore constrained in its ability.  Finally, Deputy Smith is absolutely right. There is no reason it should not be released. I believe it, certainly, but transparency is important here and we need to get serious about that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  If the Minister does not have the answer now, I would like her to come back on the question relating to when air traffic control in Dublin Airport was informed about this. According to my sources, I understand it was not informed about this and has led to some disquiet about different organisations talking to each other. We have fixed rules regarding drone activity and no-fly zones and for the major airspace to not have been made aware of that is quite concerning.  That is not to overstate this because it was a successful visit, but we are trying to hold Government to account and find gaps that need to be improved, not just for the EU Presidency but for our overall security architecture. Again, underpinning all of this is the lack of a national security strategy. I will repeat as often as I can that we need to see that published and we need to ensure we can agree a strategy that works for militarily neutral Ireland in the face of hybrid and other warfare threats. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  I was happy with the response I received from the Minister but I agree with some of Deputy Smith's sentiments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We all agree the world we are living in now is changing and the types of threats we are facing are changing. We are no longer just thinking about warfare in terms of land incursions and what we are seeing, whether it is in Ukraine or elsewhere in the world. Hybrid threats are happening on a daily basis that are impacting people's day-to-day lives and businesses. Perhaps, there are also more sinister threats across Europe and the world. We have to be clear we are not immune to these types of threats and that is why we are investing the way we are in our Defence Forces.  The capital plan I announced last week provides for a 55% increase in spending on the previous capital plan. I will look to make sure we can do as much as we can with that and where and if possible, to increase that further. Our current spending on the Defence Force in the past four years alone has increased by about 40%. If we look at the work being done following on from the Commission on the Future of the Defence Forces and I am pleased that last year, for the first time in many years, investment in personnel did not go down but remained steady and is now starting to increase this year. We are finally starting to see an increase. There is an investment in the men and women of the Defence Forces and in our technology and equipment. A huge amount of work is also being done with the Defence Forces and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to make sure we have the appropriate measures and responses in place.  For security matters, the House will appreciate there are things that cannot and should not be said when it comes to our security and it is important our Defence Forces and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na can work effectively. There are certain things that cannot be said but they are working extremely well together. We are looking, as we always need to do, to see what the emerging threats are and whether there is more we need to do on how we need to increase our capabilities. That is exactly what we are doing with the new radar system and with our counter-drone technology. If there is more we need to do, that is certainly something I, as Minister for Defence, will make clear in my engagement with Government colleagues, as well as within the Defence Forces. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Security"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Air Corps","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  This is probably the Minister's first time debating this particular matter but the issue of the potential adverse health outcomes for former aircraft maintenance personnel in the Air Corps has been discussed a lot over the years. Many people who served in aircraft maintenance believe many have suffered very severe health outcomes, including untimely deaths, because of exposure to dangerous chemicals. What is the Minister going to do about that in respect of the category generally, not individual cases? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  As this is my first time answering a question on this matter as Minister for Defence, I want to take this opportunity to say that the health and well-being of the men and women of Oglaigh na h\u00c9ireann is of the utmost importance. In fact, it is paramount and front and centre in everything we do, as it is to the Chief of Staff and Secretary General.  I am very clear in my view as Minister that those who serve the State with such professionalism and integrity should be able to do so in a modern and well-equipped Defence Forces that is also a safe place to work, as all places should be. In that regard, as I mentioned previously, I announced a substantial investment of \u20ac1.7 billion in the Defence Forces over the next four years. It is not just about technology and equipment or new naval vessels. There is an investment specifically in the men and women and the equipment they use on a day-to-day basis. It is very important we invest in them directly and ensure they are working in safe spaces.  I acknowledge the Deputy\u2019s ongoing commitment to this issue. I am aware that, further to an offer made to him in this House by my predecessor, the T\u00e1naiste, he availed of an opportunity to meet with some of my senior departmental officials in the past two weeks to share his views on this matter. The meeting, which took place at the end of November, I understand was constructive and I will continue to engage with the Deputy on this matter. It is absolutely essential the health, safety and well-being of the men and women of Oglaigh na h\u00c9ireann are front and centre in everything we do.  I received an initial brief from my officials on the matter of health and safety in the Air Corps. I expect to have a detailed report from them in quarter 1 of 2026 regarding the matters the Deputy has brought before the House. This report will take due cognisance of the recent meeting he had with officials, as well as the views of the State Claims Agency, as it manages such litigation claims on my behalf. I also intend to seek the views of other stakeholders on what, if any, options may be open to me to pursue, further to my receipt of the report.  All that being said, and the Deputy is very much aware of this fact, I am limited in what I can say further in this regard in this House. I am the defendant in several litigation cases that are under way and being dealt with in the courts. I say that obviously not to avoid discussing it, but there is litigation and it is important I do not impede or infringe on that at all.  The Deputy will appreciate that it is an extremely complex matter. It requires very serious thought, engagement and deliberation. This is what my officials have been doing and it is something I will focus on and prioritise as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The reality is that this is not an issue that has only arisen in Ireland. We know that in other jurisdictions such as Australia and the Netherlands exposure to very powerful, strong and dangerous chemicals caused adverse health outcomes for personnel in those locations. Australia took a sensible approach. Officials evaluated the situation trhough the study of health outcomes for aircraft maintenance personnel and they offered health supports. That is key to what we do on this. That is the kind of approach that makes sense - evaluate the situation, try to identify the connections between the exposure and health impacts, provide healthcare solutions and find out how it came to pass. This has been examined on a number of occasions in the past, although not all of this is in the public domain. We had the EEA air monitoring report in 1995, Forbairt report in 1997 and HSA report in 2015, but there is other documentation that not public at this point in time. Is the Minister open to doing something in addition to dealing with individual cases as a category? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I appreciate that we might not be on our own and similar issues have arisen in other jurisdictions. It is about going through the appropriate process and making sure that we are responding in the most appropriate way. These matters are currently the subject of active and ongoing litigation, as I have mentioned. The HSA has conducted several inspections in Baldonnel Aerodrome and there is more detail in that regard than has been provided previously. What I want to do now is make sure that I receive the report being conducted in quarter 1. That is the timeline I have been given. I will then be able to make any decision on what future actions can be taken and whether something can be done separate to the individual cases and ongoing litigation at the moment. Ultimately, I want to support the men and women of \u00d3glaigh na h\u00c9ireann. We want to make sure that we understand exactly what may or may not have happened here. Once I have that information then we can all decide what are the next appropriate steps and where we will take it from here. I have been given that timeline and I will work closely with my officials to make sure that we achieve it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The Minister is right that the men and women of the Defence Forces are its greatest asset. The weight of this needs to be emphasised. The Air Corps Chemical Abuse Survivors, ACCAS, group has identified what it believes to be 110 untimely deaths. It has used that language advisedly because the link needs to be proven in that regard. However the group has questions and concerns over that many deaths and serious illnesses. That is the concern, and indeed in other jurisdictions there was a connection between the chemical exposure and serious illness. In the Air Corps there were many instances of no protective equipment, no masks and so on being provided.  I appreciate court cases have to happen, and people have an entitlement to that. For the industrial schools and the Magdalen laundries this did not stop an approach that offered redress, support and accountability to the category as a whole concurrently. I encourage the Minister to talk to the Departments in question - indeed she was in one of those Departments herself - about how that was approached. We can have the court cases, which people are entitled to tae, and we can have a redress system for the category as a whole. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I will treat this with the utmost seriousness. I am working closely with my officials. It is also important to stress these are cases of alleged past exposure to toxic chemicals. I want to be clear that we are talking about issues that may have happened in the past and to reassure people in that regard. In terms of the HSA and the inspection that took place, it advised in a subsequent report in 2024 that the Defence Forces had proactively rolled out training in the use of substances across the relevant personnel and noted the evidence of compliance with the contravention notice, It is important to point out where there have been inspections, where there have been engagements with the Defence Forces and where there have been changes.  As well as the report I mentioned, the tribunal of inquiry is due to start. This will have the power to investigate the response to complaints made regarding the use of hazardous chemicals within the Air Corps headquarters at the Casement Aerodrome. That is part of that as well, so there will be an opportunity within the tribunal to be able to consider adequately any of the complaint processes that have been made in light of the responses received. A number of different things are happening at the moment separate from the litigation and separate from the individual cases, with the review and the report that is being done. Obviously, there is another opportunity here throughout the inquiry for these types of concerns to be raised as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Air Corps"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Naval Service","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  We have had a fair bit of discussion in recent weeks in on capital investment, but there is obviously the need for current investment. Our Naval Service has serious challenges because of a lack of specialist staff. Some of that is because of their attractiveness to employers in the private sector. The State invest in training people but then they are lost and not retained. That is holding back the full development of the Naval Service and it is something we need to come to terms with. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I understand from the military authorities that the strength of the Naval Service, as of 31 October 2025, the latest date for which this information is available, stood at 784 personnel out of an establishment of 1,094. While I appreciate that it is not at the establishment figure, this compares favourably to a total strength of 719 at the end of last year. The figures did not decrease last year and they started, thankfully, to increase this year.  Challenges in the recruitment and retention of personnel in the Naval Service are well documented and to address these a wide range of recruitment and retention initiatives have been introduced. These include: an increase in the maximum recruitment age to 39 for those roles that had a recruitment age below that, and to 50 for direct entry officer specialists and we have seen, thankfully, that have a positive impact; an increase in the mandatory retirement age to 62; a doubling of the Naval Service patrol duty allowance after ten days; the extension of the Naval Service tax credit for a further five years; the application of the working time directive across the Defence Forces in January of this year, subject to certain exemptions; and the extension of the provision of private secondary healthcare to all members of the Permanent Defence Forces.  There has also been significant progress on pay, with the most recent increase paid in August of this year with a further pay award due for all personnel in February of next year. Recruitment to the Naval Service is ongoing via a wide range of pathways, including general service recruitment, re-entry schemes and eight Naval Service-specific direct entry competitions. Figures provided by the Defence Forces for the year to date are encouraging. A total of 156 inductions to the Naval Service has been achieved as of 31 October. This represents an increase of 59 more than the total of 97 inductions achieved for all of 2024. In addition, applications for the Naval Service have grown substantially this year with the total number of applications received as of 31 October being 2,591, which is 31% higher than the total received for all of last year. Application numbers for direct entry specialist competitions are positive, and have resulted in growth in specialist recruitment. As of 31 October there have been 19 direct entry inductions into specialist roles in the Naval Service. This is the highest annual total recorded since the commencement of this specific direct entry recruitment for the Naval Service in 2019. I will come back later with further information. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The key question I raise here and my key concern about the Naval Service is to do with specialist personnel. The Naval Service such as it is today requires people with very high skills. Many of them gain these skills within the Naval Service, but we have had the embarrassing situation in the past 12 months that a navy ship was put to sea without a functioning main gun. The reason for that is the Naval Service did not have the specialist staff required, namely, artificers. There are also issues with marine engineering officers, because there is a significant outflow of them. We have seen a situation with the 63rd Naval cadet class where six cadets commenced training but only two were commissioned. There remaining four withdrew before being commissioned, referencing the extended service commitment associated with naval officer training as the primary reason for their departure. This is after considerable investment by the State and therefore, the loss of those personnel. Therefore, we need to be looking at commitment service schemes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I appreciate that maybe the numbers look small, but this year we had the highest number of direct entry recruitments for specialists in the Naval Service since 2019. While the numbers are smaller, obviously, we are moving in the right direction. There were four direct entries to the Naval Service for electrical engineers, one direct entrant for marine engineering and two direct entries as operational branch officers. We then have Naval Service direct entry for hull artificer and Naval Service direct entry for radio or radar technician.  We are starting to see an increase in the number of specialist positions there, but, again, there is more work we need to do. I fully appreciate that.  There is a new strategy being worked on looking at the Defence Forces overall. The Defence Forces and the Chief of Staff are working on a strategy that will set out how we will achieve our overall targets and objectives, not just for the Naval Service but also for the overall force. I will work closely with them in the new year to see if we need to do more. A lot has happened in response to challenges that may have been precluding us from increasing our numbers. If there is more that can be done and that we should be doing, I will focus on that. The investment, including the very clear investment in our Naval Service, will, I hope, encourage more people to join the Naval Service. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  It is not merely about small numbers - although the numbers are small - it is also about the proportion and the fact that of the cadre six who went into the 63rd naval cadet class, only two were commissioned. Two thirds of that cadre, however small, left early. That is the issue. Specialist numbers within the Naval Service are critically low despite targeted recruitment. Some of that is due to the extensive time required to train personnel in key technical areas. Marine engineering officers are one group I have identified. These groups are currently operating at approximately half strength, resulting in increased workloads, added responsibilities and declining morale. Retaining such expertise - marine engineering officers, artificers and so on - is essential for the effective operation of the Naval Service. A service commitment scheme such as has been recommended by RACO for certain critical roles, such as marine engineering officers, artificers and so on, would represent a tangible step towards stabilising the force. The Minister needs to look at that as a key action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  There are quite a number of different competitions, recruitments and initiatives ongoing, including those specifically for women. They are not necessarily specific to the Naval Service, but it is important that we support and work with the Defence Forces in making sure they are reaching out, whether in our schools or in different industries or sectors, specifically to ensure that we have those specialist positions and that we are reaching out to the areas and the specialist teams where we could maybe identify new recruits. There are different competitions and initiatives happening. I refer, in particular, to the Naval Service-specific competitions at officer rank, including those for operations branch officers, marine engineering officers, electrical engineering officers, engine room artificers, hull artificers, electrical artificers, radar-radio technicians and chefs. A great deal of work has been done. I appreciate that we need to do more, but it is very welcome that the numbers are starting to increase. We need to make sure we continue to focus on increasing them and reaching over the target of 1,000 we have set ourselves. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 89 taken with Question No. 85. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Naval Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"United Nations","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I congratulate the Minister on her appointment and wish her every success in the role. Will she outline what engagements she has had with UNIFIL about the security of Defence Forces' personnel in Lebanon? Has she identified any additional security threats in view of the decision to end the mission there? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We have been absolutely committed to the UNIFIL mission for many years. Like, I think, many people, we would prefer not to see it come to an end towards the end of next year. Obviously, we will ensure that our troops who are there are able to carry out those missions. I hope we can look beyond 2026 and still have a presence on the ground because it is still very much needed. I had an opportunity yesterday to meet with my Lebanese colleague Youssef Rajji, who is the minister for foreign affairs, and speak to him about the situation on the ground, which is still extremely difficult and fragile. The security situation itself is feeding into an increased level of tension in certain areas, so we need to be vigilant.  The Irish Government remains firmly committed to assisting Lebanon in ensuring the return of its effective authority in southern Lebanon, and committed to UNIFIL, the UN peacekeeping mission in Lebanon, in support of this overall aim. In this regard, I can confirm that the Department of Defence maintains continuous and active engagement with the UN system, both bilaterally and via our permanent representation to the UN in New York, as well as with Security Council interlocutors, on the evolving situation in southern Lebanon, in particular, and on all matters relating to UNIFIL. At the end of October, senior officials in my Department met with the UN secretariat, including the Under-Secretary-General for peacekeeping, Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix, and the Under-Secretary-General for Operational Support, Mr. Atul Khare, to discuss operational issues relating to Ireland's participation in the UNIFIL mission.  Negotiations on the renewal of the UNIFIL mandate over the summer, led by France, as we all know, proved challenging, reflecting differing views among Security Council members. In the weeks leading up to the mandate renewal, the T\u00e1naiste and then Minister for Defence closely engaged with our partners, including Lebanon, France, Italy, the US and the UN, in support of attaining a mandate extension. On 28 August the UN Security Council renewed the UNIFIL mandate to the end of 2026, with a period of drawdown and withdrawal to follow in 2027.  Yesterday, at the EU-Lebanon Association Council in Brussels, I underlined the pressing need for reconstruction supports for Lebanon, the very challenging humanitarian situation being faced there, and the ongoing need for the EU to assist Lebanon. I also highlighted to the Lebanese minister for foreign affairs, as I said, the need to make sure that not only civilians on the ground but also our peacekeeping troops are safe and that we engage extensively and closely with the Lebanese army in that regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Irish men and women have served with such distinction over many years in Lebanon. The Minister is right: it is such a regrettable decision that the mission would not continue. Nonetheless this decision of UNIFIL and the mission not going on leave a void once the force starts to scale down its numbers and the possibility of a scramble to fill that void, whether from one side or another there. That is a threat both to people locally there and to the troops themselves. Has the Minister identified particular threats in that regard? Are steps being taken to ensure that the Irish people who will be there as that scale-down occurs will remain safe and will be able to conduct a peacekeeping mission there? In addition, there have been incidents where the IDF has fired on them. Has the Minister complained to UNIFIL in that regard? If so, what has been the response? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  In relation to the final question, not every incident is necessarily relayed or the subject of a complaint made in terms of overall complaints to UNIFIL and the Israel Defense Forces concerning military fire, whether on Irish personnel or otherwise. This information is not ordinarily provided by the UN. There are situations and scenarios where we have made complaints and have raised this. Again, that is something I highlighted with the Lebanese minister for foreign affairs yesterday as essential - not only that civilians are protected but also that those peacekeeping troops, our troops, who are doing fantastic work on the ground, are protected and that the Lebanese army as well is there to support them. I think the next couple of months will be challenging but I reassure the Deputy and everybody else that, as our troops scale back and scale down over the next year, they will continue their peacekeeping mission, they will continue doing the fantastic work they are trained to do and, at all stages, the situation will continue to be assessed. I have spoken to the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces about this. He has been very clear that, as the mission scales back, our troops will be kept safe, and if changes need to be made in how they carry out their work, that will happen. However, we need to look beyond next year. I hope there will be a space for Irish peacekeeping troops as well as other troops to be able to fill that space in some way and to continue to have a presence on the ground, which, given the security situation, I think will still be needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I need to return to the original question. Has the Minister identified additional threats locally there, particularly in view of the changing situation and the reduction in the numbers of Irish troops there over the course of days, weeks, months or whatever length of time that will take? There is likely to be some level of additional threat there. Have any threats been identified from either side?  To return to the point about Irish troops having been fired on by the IDF and the challenges the Minister may have made to UNIFIL in that regard, how have they responded, what level of commitment will they give that people will be safe during the transition, and have they given any commitment thereafter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I reiterate that this is a changing environment. It is most certainly a challenging environment, in particular the ongoing situation with Hezbollah in the south of Lebanon. The Lebanese Government is grappling with and trying to respond to this.  The decision has been taken to end UNIFIL. We need to ensure that while our troops are there, they are still engaged in the mission they are committed to and are kept safe.  I reaffirm the fact that the period of transition for any missions is challenging. It needs to be planned carefully and that is certainly what the Chief of Staff of the Defence Forces, working with his excellent team, is doing. They are making sure that the safety and security of our UNIFIL peacekeepers are front and centre in everything we do. Those considerations remain of paramount importance and will continue to be in the months ahead. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"United Nations"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I would appreciate it if the Minister would inform the D\u00e1il of the current numbers of personnel within each service of the Defence Forces, the current establishment figure and the number that will be required to meet level of ambition 2 under the commission on the future of the Defence Forces. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy. As of 31 October 2025, the strength of the Permanent Defence Force stood at 7,760 personnel, consisting of 6,237 Army, 739 Air Corps and 784 Naval Service personnel, as well as over 400 civilian members.  On foot of the recommendations from the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, the Government approved a move, over a six-year period, to a level of Permanent Defence Force capability equivalent to level of ambition 2. This will require an additional 2,000 personnel, including a civilian component, beyond the 9,500 establishment figure that was set at the time of the commission's report. The establishment figure for the Permanent Defence Force has increased incrementally since 2022 to 9,739 to facilitate the implementation of the recommendations of the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces.  Working towards the achievement of level of ambition 2, budget 2026 provided a record allocation of \u20ac1.49 billion for the defence sector, an increase of \u20ac145 million on the previous year. These funds include provision for the recruitment of a net 400 additional Permanent Defence Force members per annum. In order to meet Government targets, the Defence Forces are making concerted efforts to ramp up recruitment. Increased training capacity is being progressed. I recently visited the Joint Induction Training Centre which has been established in Gormanston camp in my constituency in Meath and provides initial training to recruits from all three branches of the Defence Forces. There is a huge amount of investment going into the accommodation, the gym area and the canteen to ensure we can increase the number of personnel who can go through Gormanston camp and be trained. The Defence Forces advise that when fully operational, the centre will facilitate the training of up to 900 recruits per annum.  Last year saw a stabilisation in numbers with 708 inductions to the Permanent Defence Force and the military authorities have advised that they are targeting over 750 inductions for 2025, which is expected to result in an increase in the total strength of the Permanent Defence Force. There continues, thankfully, to be very strong interest in a career in the Defence Forces. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  We use the term \"level of ambition\" about the future of the Defence Forces. However, the level of ambition from the Government is absolutely pathetic considering where we are starting from and the situation we have as a result of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael mismanagement. In December 2019, just prior to Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael coming together in the previous Government, the number of personnel in the Defence Forces was 8,700. We are supposed to celebrate that numbers are now a little over 7,700. There are 1,000 fewer personnel. This is at a time when the Government is planning to abandon the triple lock to send our Defence Forces to places it will not yet stipulate. The Minister tells us that we will have 750 inductions at best this year. Perhaps she could inform the D\u00e1il how many discharges she expects within the Defence Forces this year because on average, it is approximately 750. Is she telling us that at the end of this year, we are effectively going to have no increase in the numbers of personnel in the Defence Forces? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We all agree that more needs to be done and I do not think the Government is saying anything to the contrary. It is clear that there continues to be a very strong interest in a career in the Defence Forces with further growth this year. Let us look at the figures. A total of 14,879 applications have been received this year, up to the end of October. The most important thing that I need to focus on now is making sure that as many of those as possible get into training and that we retain as many of them as possible.  We have introduced a range of key enabling measures to support and drive Defence Forces recruitment and retention, working closely with the Defence Forces. These include increases in the maximum ages of recruitment and retirement, the extension of private secondary healthcare to all personnel and the application of the provisions of the working time directive across the Defence Forces, subject to certain exemptions. The patrol duty allowance payable to Naval Service personnel at sea has been doubled after ten days at sea in a calendar year, while the Naval Service tax credit has been extended for a further five years. There has also been significant progress on pay with all personnel benefiting from a further pay award made in August of this year. Money has been provided through the capital budget.  Significant work has already been done to try to ensure that the terms and conditions are improving for our members. There is a plan that has been worked through with the Defence Forces and my Department to set out exactly how we are going to achieve those targets.  It is not going to be straightforward or easy. I accept that. I am absolutely committed to doing everything I can. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The difficulty is that the Minister's speech reflects, virtually verbatim, what we heard this time last year from the then Minister. There is no issue with applications or expressions of interest. We have seen that time and again. People are interested in the prospect of joining the Defence Forces. The difficulty is bringing them to the point when they are inducted and ensuring they are retained within the Defence Forces. Across the board, the Government does not have the ambition at the start or the policies at the end.  The difficulty is that the members of the Defence Forces have been telling us all, and specifically the Government, the measures that are required to actually address the retention and recruitment crisis we have been facing.  Has the Minister met with the Defence Forces' representative organisations? As a result of those meetings, if they took place, are there any new measures that the Minister now plans to bring forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  While the measures have not changed, what has changed is that the numbers are increasing. I appreciate that might not be at the rate or in the numbers we all want, but numbers have now stabilised and are moving in the right direction. My intention and ambition are to work directly with the Defence Forces to ensure they have the right structure and the capacity and ability to increase the number of recruits. We will see an increase in the numbers of men and women we can train in Gormanston.  I have not yet met the representative organisations but I have made it clear that I will meet all of them in the new year. I have met them in various contexts and I will sit down with them in the new year. I know that my Department has worked closely and has had very good relationships with the representative organisations. A lot of progress has been made, much of which has come directly from the Defence Forces. I was looking recently at what has happened in the past number of years and much of it has been at the request of the representative organisations. When I meet them, I will, of course, be engaging on the concerns and issues they have and their potential requests. It is important that we bed down the work being done at the moment and make sure that the changes taking place have time to bed into the system so we can start to see those numbers increase. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question No. 92 taken with Written Answers ."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Defence Forces"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"National Security","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  The recent visit of President Zelenskyy highlighted the threat from drones and the gaps in our defences in respect of how we deal with drones. Will the Minister outline efforts to deal with drone threats and hybrid conflict? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  As I outlined in an earlier response, a widely reported incident occurred on Monday, 1 December, regarding drones operating in the vicinity of a Naval Service vessel in the Irish Sea. Notwithstanding some suggestions, at no stage was the flight of President Zelenskyy compromised and the security operation led by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na was successfully deployed through multiple means, ultimately leading to a safe and successful visit to Ireland by President Zelenskyy. It was an opportunity for us to restate our absolute support and commitment to supporting Ukraine in the face of a brutal and illegal invasion by Russia. As previously mentioned, I ask Deputies to reflect on the ongoing speculation in respect of this incident. It is important that we show confidence in the capacity and ability of the Garda and the Defence Forces, both of which were involved in that hugely successful operation, to do their jobs effectively.  I have been fully briefed, in my capacity as Minister for Defence and as part of the national security committee, on the initial findings and I am reassured that both the Defence Forces and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na have examined and are examining this matter extensively. With any incident of this kind, we have to review what happened and how the operation was put in place, and consider whether something could have been done differently and whether something needs to be changed. That work is ongoing.  One of my key priorities as Minister is to ensure that Defence Forces capabilities are maintained, developed and enhanced so that the organisation can meet all Government-assigned roles, including those that may arise as a result of drone incursions. Certainly this is something we are seeing far more of right across Europe. As I mentioned earlier, in other countries we have seen hundreds of millions of euro in losses because of closed air space due to issues around airports. In the most part, that is probably part of the intention behind some of this activity. It is really important that we do everything we can to try to prevent these types of incursions.  The Office of Emergency Planning in my Department conducts the national risk assessment on a rolling three-year cycle, as part of our reporting commitments under Decision 1313\/2013\/EU. In the latest national risk assessment, the disruptive use of drones was identified for the first time as one of the State\u2019s 22 key risks. This is certainly something we are taking with the utmost seriousness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  One of the issues that was highlighted arising from that incident was where the Irish vessel was not able or did not feel it could engage with the drone because there were no rules of engagement in place. Will that be dealt with? Will they be put in place and how quickly will that happen? There is a whole range of policies that would be needed to support dealing with the drones, I imagine. I understand the Minister is looking at the possibility of investing up to \u20ac1.6 billion in a radar system which would be in place by about quarter 2 of next year. In advance of that, I expect the Minister can be engaged in putting in place the various policies. Is there a timeline laid out for those? Is the Minister looking at the possibility of deploying our own drones? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  On the overall response, at all times the Naval Service vessel the Deputy referred to operated within the standing operating procedures, the different rules of engagement and the law of the sea. They could have exercised the right to self-defence if that was what they decided was necessary or needed. These are all of the scenarios and decisions that have been taken that are under review. That is being conducted by the Garda working closely with the Defence Forces. I think there will always be lessons to be learned. If there are improvements or changes needing to be made, that will be taken under consideration. That information is not necessarily going to be made available or public either, given the security nature of it.  On our radar system, a significant amount of our \u20ac1.7 billion capital plan will be invested specifically in a new radar capacity. This will allow for long-range radar systems. There will be radar systems on our naval vessels and there will be a counter-drone technology. This is the specific piece we are bringing forward. I am hoping to have a contract signed very soon which would allow us to purchase these and have them in place and have personnel trained through the early part of next year so they will be live and operational and in use for the Presidency, which will start on 1 July. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Drone technology is typically used as part of hybrid warfare, where there are various techniques including online, physically on the ground or indeed under water. I have raised repeatedly the threat to the cables offshore and the danger there as well. It seems we do not have underwater capability so the view was to have wireless or remote-controlled visibility under the sea as well. Is the Minister advancing drone technology to defend the underwater cables as well? Is the drone defence entirely a radar of the skies? Is the Minister looking at a hybrid approach where there also would be a threat underwater? We have seen it again and again that the drones would be used as a type of hybrid weapon rather than one thing on its own. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We currently have our own drone capacities but they are generally used for surveillance, not trying to counter. There is work under way at the moment to develop a further or future strategy on the acquisition of different types of drones that could be used. That is at an early stage and is being developed. In terms of our subsea capabilities, as part of the NDP plan I mentioned last week, which was published, investment in our sonar capability, the towed sonar the Deputy referred to, is being prioritised as the first project. This will see the Naval Service acquire sonar capability that will be used to detect objects that would be near cables and pipelines within Irish territorial waters and within our exclusive economic zone, EEZ. This new acquisition will enhance awareness below the surface, which is absolutely vital for us as an island, contributing to the overall maritime picture available to the Naval Service and the wider Defence Forces. We are investing in our capacity in air, on land and under water. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 94 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Security"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  We had a discussion a short time ago about specialist staff. Connected to that is the whole issue of cadet training and their experience. There is the issue of entry-level cadet pay. It has been well flagged by RACO, including at the conference a few weeks ago, and the fact that it has not kept pace with some of the other increases in the system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  While I appreciate that more progress needs to be made, the Deputy is aware that there has been significant progress overall in terms of pay and conditions for Defence Forces personnel, particularly over the past six years. A school-leaver cadet, on commissioning, was paid \u20ac30,884 in January 2019. As of 1 August 2025 a school-leaver cadet, on commissioning to second lieutenant is paid \u20ac45,795, which is an increase of 49% or over \u20ac14,000 in the past six years. After two years in that rank they are promoted to lieutenant and their pay increases to \u20ac51,184. In May 2019, a newly qualified three-star private could have expected to earn \u20ac27,759 gross per annum on completion of their initial training. That has now increased to \u20ac41,880 per annum. Where a graduate joins, the pay rate on commissioning begins at \u20ac51,184. These rates all include a pensionable military service allowance, which is an allowance that is paid to all ranks up to and including the rank of colonel, for the unpredictable nature of the work encountered by the Defence Forces.  In the conversation surrounding the pay and conditions of members of the Defence Forces, it is important to point out that in addition to basic pay and military service allowance, certain positions in the Defence Forces also attract specialist and technical pay. Additionally there is scope for further income from duty allowances for specific duties carried out, on an ongoing basis, as well as the possibility of earning a tax-free duty allowance, starting at \u20ac15,000, for a six-month overseas deployment. As the Deputy is also aware, different pay scales also apply during the training period for both cadets and recruits.  The matter of cadet pay has been raised by the Representative Association of Commissioned Officers, RACO. I understand that a claim has been received from RACO, which is being dealt with specifically under the conciliation and arbitration scheme for members of the Permanent Defence Force and is the subject of correspondence between the Department and the representative association. The Deputy will appreciate that as discussions under the conciliation and arbitration scheme are confidential to the parties involved, it would not be appropriate for me to comment further on the specifics of the claim. I look forward to constructive engagement between the parties to the scheme.  Interest in a career in the Defence Forces continues to grow. There was a total of 13,348 applicants for entry into the Defence Forces in 2024, of which 1,795 were for the cadets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The Minister said a while ago that she was going to meet all the representative organisations. I welcome that and hope that includes not only those for the Permanent Defence Force but also those for the Reserve Defence Force and the veterans' organisations. I am sure RACO will raise this issue with the Minister. The information she gave was in the longer run, when they are qualified and reach a certain rank. The issue here is at entry level. A cadet who joins - up to the age of 39 - earns \u20ac25,748 annually, or approximately \u20ac493 per week. A recruit in the enlisted ranks earns \u20ac540 per week in the first ten weeks, increasing to \u20ac617 for the following 16 weeks, and, after approximately six months, \u20ac860 per week. While it is obviously welcome that recruit pay has increased in general terms cadets' entry pay has not kept pace and they earn significantly less than their enlisted counterparts for the duration of a multiyear training programme. That anomaly needs to be considered. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Yes, I intend to meet them in the new year and really look forward to meeting them. I also had an opportunity to meet and speak with cadets who were quite literally mid-training when I was in the Curragh last week.  There were some who had completely changed their career paths because they were passionate about joining the Defence Forces. There were others whose siblings had been members as well and they wanted to join. It was wonderful to see the commitment and the fact that they were there because it was something they were passionate about.  I appreciate that the entry point for cadets in training is lower. They receive board and food. That is a cost that is taken away from them. It depends on the different cadetships; they are anywhere from 15 to 18 months long. Some may take longer, so there are implications more broadly. The process that is engaged in at the moment is an important step to try to make progress where we can specifically in relation to this level of pay scale. The overall improvements we have seen over the years have come about because of the need and commitment to invest in the men and women as they are training, but also as they rise through the ranks. I am committed to making further progress on that where we can and to working closely with the organisations and representative groups. They are now part of ICTU. With the public sector pay agreements, it gives the Defence Forces an opportunity to make sure that they are now represented at the table. That is a welcome development in recent years. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 96 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Defence Forces"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cybersecurity Policy","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  We have spoken about how potential defence and national security issues will not always be what we have traditionally imagined. Cybersecurity and hybrid threats are going to be significant features of that. The cybersecurity command has been established, which was called for in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. That is very welcome, but progress in the implementation of its plans is what we now need. What is the current strength of the cybersecurity command? What will it be in 12 months\u2019 time? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  As recognised in the Report on the Commission on the Defence Forces and accepted by the Government, the Defence Forces need to be capable of delivering military effects across the cyber domain. To this end, my Department published the high-level action plan for the report, which included recommendations relating to the Defence Forces' cyberdefence functions. As a result, the Defence Forces have established the joint cyber defence command, which was established back in 2024. The command will be able to conduct full-spectrum cyberspace operations to robustly defend against cyber threats, support Defence Forces' operations at home and overseas, and enhance technicalities.  I will provide the exact figures. The Department has approved the assignment of 19 Defence Forces specialist posts to kick-start the operation of this unit, which is headed by an officer of general rank. My Department has engaged with the Public Appointments Service to recruit ten civilian cyber specialists who will be embedded in this new cyber unit. To date, the Public Appointments Service has completed a recruitment campaign for these civilian cyber specialist roles and appointments are in the process of being made, so we are well under way in making sure that this unit has the appropriate support. Additionally, to make sure that there is appropriate infrastructure, the development of the purpose-built communications and information services, CIS, office block in McKee Barracks has been approved and procurement of same will commence shortly so that we do not just have the personnel, but also the physical infrastructure that is needed.  To give effect to the strategy, the specialist units have been assigned. The new Defence Forces officer has been appointed to head up a specific unit at brigadier general level. In addition, my Department is engaging with the Public Appointments Service to recruit the various different specialists. I am satisfied that, from a defence perspective, we are developing a positive trajectory to ensure that the new cyber defence command unit is well positioned to meet the ambitious targets set out in the cyber strategy.  The Defence Forces will liaise and work with their counterparts in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in addressing and countering cyber threats. The work that is being done through this specific unit is only specifically looking at the Defence Forces and making sure that they are protected from any type of cyber threat. As time goes on, though, and working with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, there is more we can do to look beyond that. The funding that I announced last week of \u20ac300 million for this year, rising to a further \u20ac360 million by 2029, illustrates the investment we are making in the Defence Forces, our capability and modernising infrastructure. It is important when we are doing that and investing in so much technology and equipment that we make sure that we have the right types of response, resource and structure in place to protect all of the investment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I appreciate that it was not specifically written in the question, but if the Minister has the figure to hand, what does she expect the strength to be by the end of next year? I would appreciate that.  The architecture around the whole area of cybersecurity is a little bit complicated in the sense that the National Cyber Security Centre is responsible for protecting the State broadly speaking, the Garda has responsibility as a major intelligence organisation, and the Defence Forces are responsible for protecting themselves. It is a combination to some degree of all three where there is a hybrid element and a kinetic element to it. With the development of this command, what are its priorities? How does it intend to develop? How advanced are protocols for those hybrid cyber threats that include a kinetic element and can include a cyber element? Part of that is the responsibility of the National Cyber Security Centre, but some of it potentially falls to the Defence Forces. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Relating to cybersecurity, the primary role of the Defence Forces is to defend and secure their networks and systems. The role of the Garda is to do the same and to look at other areas as well.  Specifically in relation to the joint cybersecurity command, there are three key pillars to it: the joint command centre, which is receiving investment and is being developed; the strategy itself; and the additional posts. I will have to come back to the Deputy on the figure as regards the overall objective. The focus of my Department now, working with the Defence Forces, is on working on the implementation of all of this. That is happening. I believe a meeting is taking place as soon as tomorrow between members of my Department and the Defence Forces to make sure that the elements of the strategy can be implemented. Key areas of the strategy include: to prevent and defend against cyberattacks on Defence Forces' networks; to develop a comprehensive programme of training and cyber-related subjects; to identity and protect critical defence infrastructure and increase resilience to cyber attacks; and to conduct ongoing risk assessments to evaluate the potential impact and likelihood of cyberattacks on Defence Forces' networks. That is our focus immediately when looking at the Defence Forces themselves. However, I have no doubt that, as this beds down and our capability and capacity increase, there will be more ways in which we will be able to work collectively and closely with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  It is very possible that future threats to our national security will potentially arise in a hybrid way. It is not inconceivable that we could have a kinetic or physical element to something, such as what we had with drones recently, as well as a co-ordinated cyberattack on Defence Forces' equipment, personnel and installations to hinder the ability of the Defence Forces to deal with the kinetic element of it, for example, drone interference with airports, infrastructure, visiting Heads of States and so on. The primary responsibility for the cyber element of that lies with the National Cyber Security Centre. Clearly, there need to be agreed protocols in relation to how that hybrid element or instances are dealt with. Is there such a protocol and how recently has it been concluded? Is there an agreed protocol between the National Cyber Security Centre, the Garda and the Defence Forces in terms of how they will respond? Is there a clear plan of action in those instances? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I agree with the Deputy that the changing nature of threats is clearly moving towards hybrid threats in a way that we have never dealt with before. I know from a previous role that the Garda has been investing significantly in its capabilities, capacity and workforce. That is why we are doing what we are doing here with the Defence Forces. There is an emergency group that I chair when it relates to specific defence matters. It is chaired by the Minister for the environment if there are natural disasters or other issues that need to be dealt with. This group brings together all of the relevant bodies to be able to respond to particular threats, be they hybrid threats, cyber threats or otherwise. That group meets as it needs to and there are protocols in place. We need to make that they are always up to date and that we are able to respond to the changing threats and environments that are there. I have no doubt that I will be chairing that meeting in the near future. In fact, I know that I will.  It is important that we make sure that we are alert and live to all types of threat and that the different arms of the State are working together and in close in communication. The Garda Commissioner and the head of the Defence Forces are working closely together, not just because of the EU Presidency, but because of the changing nature of the threats that we have both referenced. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cybersecurity Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Will the Minister outline the progress that has been made on the introduction of the rank of lance corporal? When will it be introduced to the Army? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Commission on the Defence Forces report recommended significant changes for the Defence Forces and defence provision in Ireland. It covered high-level Defence Forces structures, defence capabilities, organisation, culture and human resources, the Reserve Defence Force and funding. One of the recommendations in the report was the creation of a new enlisted rank of lance corporal in the Army and Air Corps.  The detailed implementation plan for the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces has identified that this recommendation requires further evaluation. The further evaluation will be informed by work under way in the Defence Forces on force design, which is also a Commission on the Defence Forces recommendation. The report recommended, \"The Chief of Defence to initiate an immediate force design process assisted by external experts with access to international military expertise.\" This is the same force design process I mentioned earlier, which will help us achieve our overall targets. The Defence Forces have established force design teams within the Army, the Naval Service and the Air Corps and an overarching strategic force design office. The force design teams are working with external expertise in designing a structure for a modern force of Ireland\u2019s size taking into account the Defence Forces' roles and the capabilities required to deliver these roles. The outcome of the work on force design will inform further evaluation on the introduction of the rank of lance corporal. Such further evaluation will also require consultation with other key stakeholders, including the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, regarding all aspects of the resource, policy, financial and legislative implications of introducing a new rank into the Defence Forces.  I also point out that the Government has implemented a range of measures aimed at addressing the recruitment and retention challenges in the Defence Forces. I have mentioned these already. They include the increase in the maximum recruitment age to 39 years for those roles that had a recruitment age below that and to 50 years for direct entry specialists. The mandatory retirement age has been increased to 62, private secondary healthcare has been rolled out to all PDF members, the patrol duty allowance has been doubled, the Naval Service tax credit has been extended for a further five years and there has also been significant progress on pay. There is more work that needs to be done. That work is happening at the moment. We will then be able to make a more informed decision on this rank. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  As the Minister has said, the Commission on the Defence Forces recommended the creation of the new rank of lance corporal in the Army and the Air Corps. It also recommended that consideration be given to whether there is a need for an equivalent rank in the Naval Service. The qualification course for this rank should be of short duration and conducted in the home unit. The commission believes the creation of the rank of lance corporal would allow for earlier rank progression for enlisted personnel with leadership potential and that it would also offer unit commanders and senior NCOs the opportunity to assess the leadership ability of junior personnel before further advancement. The rank would also be useful for specialist trades as it could allow privates to advance and carry out supervisory functions without needing to complete the potential NCO course. I understand that work is being done in the background, as the Minister has outlined. Is there a projected timeline for this to be brought to fruition and for the rank of lance corporal to be introduced? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  On the evaluation of the Commission on the Defence Forces recommendations, a number of factors have to be taken into consideration before a decision can be made. These include military management advice on the introduction of the rank, the potential benefits to individual personnel, the future role of personnel at this new rank, the impact on career progression for personnel, the impact of increasingly hierarchical structures, and the legislative and financial implications, which may not be to the fore. The report noted that this rank exists in a number of other militaries, specifically those of the UK and the US. It is provided between the ranks of private three star and corporal. All of these different situations and scenarios need to be taken into consideration before this is taken on board. I believe the main reason for this ask is that it would give privates the opportunity to do a shorter course but all of this has to be looked at in the overall context of force design. There is a lot of work under way as part of general force design. This is very much part of that overall review. Decisions will be taken in the new year as to whether we will move on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  The first thing I take from the Minister's response is that a decision has not been made to put such a rank in place. When my colleagues and I had the opportunity to meet with PDFORRA recently, the association was very clear that this was needed. The Commission on the Defence Forces has also been very clear on it. Why is there uncertainty as to whether this rank would be created? Time can be spent trying to develop the course and bring it to fruition but the decision as to whether it should be introduced or not should surely be made at this stage. Will the Minister clarify why it has not been? What impediments need to be cleared? Why is the Minister not convinced of the need for this post? How quickly will a decision be made on it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  In recommending it, the commission was of the view that the creation of the rank of lance corporal would allow earlier rank progression for enlisted personnel with leadership potential and that it would offer unit commanders and senior NCOs the opportunity to assess the leadership ability of junior personnel before further advancement. The rank would also be useful for specialist trades, allowing privates to advance and carry out supervisory functions without the need to complete the full potential NCO course. These are some of the reasons the commission made the recommendation. However, different risks or challenges were identified when the recommendation was evaluated further. After examining the benefits and the opportunities, the evaluation process also considered these risks. While I do not want to pre-empt the outcome, some of the risks considered in this further evaluation included greater rigidity in the Defence Forces as a result of an increasingly hierarchical structure, a lack of differentiation between roles, slower progression through the ranks and lack of ambition or opportunities for advancement. This is all being looked at on both sides at the moment. The review being undertaken by the Defence Forces is under way. It will not be completed until next year. It is at that stage that these decisions will be taken. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 99 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Defence Forces"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Military Honours","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  What is the process for the awarding of historical IRA medals to families of volunteers? I raise the case of Patrick Morrissey from Athenry, County Galway, with the Minister. I will come back to that in my later contribution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Government decided in January 1941 that two medals should be struck in respect of service during the 1916-21 period, one for service during Easter week 1916 and the second for subsequent service up to the truce of 11 July 1921. In May 1942, the Government further decided that the second medal, the service medal, should be issued to two groups of people. The medal with bar was to be issued to persons in possession of a military service certificate entitling them to a pension under the Military Service Pensions Acts in respect of the period subsequent to 1916 and prior to 11 July 1921 and to those persons not in possession of a certificate who could satisfy the Minister for Defence that, had they applied for a pension, their service was such as would have merited the award of a pension. The medal without bar was to be issued to persons who were enrolled in the Irish Republican Army, Fianna \u00c9ireann, Cumann na mBan or the Irish Citizen Army not less than three months prior to 11 July 1921 but who did not qualify for a pension.  In certain exceptional situations, a medal can be posthumously awarded if no medal was previously issued. However, in order not to diminish the intrinsic value of such medals, this is only done in exceptional cases and only where there is incontrovertible verified evidence available that the criteria for the award of a medal have been met. The process by which applications and petitions or appeals under the Military Service Pensions Acts were investigated and verified was wound up in 1958 and, as the Deputy can appreciate, there are now no surviving members of the old IRA or related organisations who could verify membership. Given the time that has elapsed, there is no mechanism available now by which service and activities can be investigated or verified other than existing departmental records. It is therefore difficult to satisfy the requirements, although it is not impossible and, over the last number of years, there have been people who have satisfied the requirements and been awarded medals posthumously. All applications for a posthumous medal made to my Department are carefully considered. However, there are no plans to put in place wider arrangements or to lower the criteria in relation to the award of posthumous medals.  Certainly, if there is an individual the Deputy is referring to specifically, a request for applications can be addressed to the pensions administration section of my Department, which is based in Renmore in Galway. I can provide the Deputy with the full postal and email addresses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  The individual in question is Patrick Morrissey of Athenry. Patrick joined the Irish Republican Brotherhood in 1907. He later joined the Irish Volunteers in Athenry in 1914. Athenry was one of the main focal points of the 1916 Rising outside of Dublin. Patrick played a key role locally in that. He was subsequently imprisoned in Kilmainham and then in Wales. He was active once again during the War of Independence as part of the Derrydonnell brigade of the IRA. One of his relatives, Michael Morrissey, has conducted extensive research into the role Patrick played in the Rising, the 1918 election and the War of Independence. There is a lot of supporting documentation, books and different sources on his active role in the Army. Michael has attempted a number of times to apply for a medal with the evidence he has collated to date but, due mainly to the passing of time, this has not been accepted. Will the Department engage with Michael on this application and ensure that, in some way, Patrick's service can be recognised? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Deputy outlined some of the details, but he will appreciate that without having all the information, it is hard to make a decision or to be able to respond effectively. While I said it is very difficult, it is certainly not impossible for medals to be awarded posthumously. In 2024, 15 posthumous medal applications and five medals were awarded. I do not know when Michael Morrissey applied initially or whether he was one of those 15. To date this year, 14 applications have been received and five medals awarded. Of the remaining nine, three were refused because they did not meet the criteria. Three were found to have been awarded previously, so there was obviously an overlap, and three applications are in progress. I advise that if the individual representing the person wants to make a further application, there is quite a stringent process in place. There are strict set criteria that need to be complied with but the matter can be looked at again if the person makes a further application. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  While I appreciate the Minister's response, I find it frustrating because I know Michael Morrissey has submitted a number of applications. The evidence is clear that Patrick was a member of the Irish Volunteers and the IRA. It is very frustrating for the family. These medals are cherished possessions for the families who have them. It is really important to them that the efforts of their family member are properly recognised. Patrick Morrissey passed away in 1962. He had no direct next of kin. Michael Morrissey has made significant efforts in this regard. Will the Minister take a look at this case? I am happy to send on the full details submitted by Michael on a number of occasions. I feel he has been very hard done by in this case. It is really important to him that this is properly recognised. If at all possible, will the Minister take a look at this particular case and possibly engage with the Department on awarding the medal to this particular individual? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I support what Deputy O'Hara is asking for. I happened to be present at the presentation of a medal in 2019 to the family of Joe Murphy. It was presented to his nephew Henry Delaney and is a source of great pride to that family. If the evidence is there, these medals are very important to families and the local community.  A issue that was raised with me by Jim Hegarty, a nephew of John Joe Hegarty who was a member of the old IRA, is that the rank of the volunteers seems to have been in records recognised in relation to the pro-Treaty side but not for the anti-Treaty side. The rank of those who fought in the Tan War and the War of Independence should be restored to those who fought on the anti-Treaty side subsequently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire. If he writes to me directly on that matter, I will respond to him.  In response to Deputy O'Hara, I appreciate that this was highly specific prior to 1958 when many changes were made. Before 1958, applications were required to state the name of the unit, subunit, battalion company, former brigade, battalion and the company officers commanding. Given that this process was wound up in 1958 and that there are no surviving members alive to verify membership, and in light of the time that has elapsed, it is hard to investigate or verify information in terms of existing departmental records. That is why it is very difficult. It is also the reason that posthumous awards are applied in a small number of the applications made. All I can say is that another application can be made if there is further evidence or information that can be provided on behalf of the individual. If that is done, the Department can look at it again. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question Nos. 101 and 102 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Military Honours"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"National Security","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I wish the Minister well in her new role. It has probably never been so important.  I listened intently to the Minister's answers on the incident involving five drones endeavouring to intercept the plane of President Zelenskyy recently. Was a C70 form was completed to ensure there was a Garda-Defence Forces co-ordinated response? Were all protocols followed in the context of that incident? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I propose to take Questions No. 103 and 112 together.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne, who submitted Question No. 112, is not here. As I outlined in my earlier response, the widely reported incident regarding drones operating in the vicinity of the Naval Service vessel has been discussed here at length this evening. Notwithstanding some suggestions, President Zelenskyy's flight was not compromised and the security operation led by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na was successfully deployed through multiple means, ultimately leading to a safe and successful visit.  When we are speaking about these issues, we all need to ensure that we are speaking about the facts. I appreciate Deputy Conway-Walsh is asking for facts but in some instances only limited information can be provided given the security nature of what we are discussing. I have been fully briefed, in my capacity as Minister for Defence as part of the national security committee, on the initial findings and I am reassured by both the Defence Forces and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na that they have examined and are examining this matter extensively. While I can confirm a C70 was issued by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to the Defence Forces seeking assistance in respect of the visit of President Zelenskyy, the Deputy will appreciate I cannot comment further because these are operational matters. However, a C70 form was issued by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to the Defence Forces.  One of my key priorities as Minister for Defence is to ensure our Defence Forces capabilities are maintained, developed and enhanced so that the organisation can meet all Government-assigned roles, including those that may arise as a result of drone incursions. This is something we are seeing more and more of across Europe and the world. The work of the Defence Forces in this space aligns with broader national security planning that is ongoing. Work is well under way on the military radar programme I mentioned earlier, which is a significant capability enhancement. A dedicated project team of senior civil and military personnel has been advancing this programme, particularly in relation to the counter-drone element and it is being actively pursued by my officials. This morning, I brought to Cabinet the next stages of the new radar system. We have put forward the new preliminary business case. We are partnering with France and I hope early in the new year to be able to bring the final business, so that we can start what will be an extensive roll-out of our new radar capabilities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I certainly welcome the increase in the radar capability. It is very important. I appreciate that the Minister cannot give every detail and has to be cautious in what she says but people want to know. They want reassurance that we are resilient enough and that our reliance is holding up and being improved all the time. One of the questions that has been asked of me a lot is on what protocol is in place when there is drone activity in our airspace. Are airlines notified? What happens when such incidents occur? I very much appreciate and welcome the fact that President Zelenskyy had a safe landing and take-off, and was safe while he was here. That tells us certain things but we need to know whether other incidents could have happened and whether all the protocols were followed in that incident. Will the Minister tell us what the protocol is in relation to drone activity? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I have confidence in our ability to defend ourselves and those who travel to this country. However, we all appreciate that there is more we need to do. We are no different from any other country in that regard.  There are, of course, standard operating procedures, SOPs, different rules of engagement and different laws depending on whether an incident occurs on sea, air or land. It is for those who are trained and who are operating on the ground to respond and make sure they comply with the different standard operating procedures.  At all times, whether it was the Naval Service or those responding, those involved in this incident operated within the SOPs. However, as there should be with any incident like this, a review is taking place and the Garda is working closely with the Defence Forces on that. If there are operating procedures that need to be enhanced, improved or changed and if better structures need to be put in place, that certainly should be done. I reiterate that there was not a closing of airspace and no significant issue arose.  Of course we need to be very serious about any type of threat and any types of drones in our airspace or within the vicinity of our vessels. This is something we are taking extremely seriously. It is why we are prioritising within the \u20ac1.7 billion budget the development of new radar capabilities and the expansion of our sonar, air fleet and ground fleet. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I reiterate that we need to have some transparency. That is why I asked that the remit of the defence and national security committee be revisited. Transparency and accountability are very important. I welcome the investment the Minister announced last week, which is badly needed to address the neglect there has been of our Defence Forces, but there must be oversight of how it is spent and accountability for it. People need to know we are resilient as a State. That is necessary not just for the public but also in terms of our competitiveness and the assurances we can give to foreign direct investors in this country. They need to be assured right across the board in terms of our cybersecurity and security generally. Those issues have gone way up the scale in terms of things that are important to multinational businesses and also to our indigenous businesses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I commend the men and women of the Defence Forces on the fantastic work they do. In my time as Minister for Defence, my priority will be investing in them and their capabilities, including their ability to respond to emerging threats. It is also important to acknowledge the historic role our troops have played in peacekeeping. That will continue to be a focus and priority.  Regarding the changing environment and changing threats, so much has moved to cyber threats. It is an issue that is raised regularly with all of us by companies small and large and by our agencies as well. It is vitally important that we continually invest in all our abilities to respond to these types of threats. I mentioned in response to an earlier question the investment that is going into technologies within the Defence Forces to enable them to identify and reject these types of threats. There has been huge investment in recent years in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Through the Department of enterprise, working with IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, there has also been huge investment to ensure businesses are alert to these types of threats, are able to respond to them and know exactly who to go when these types of incidents occur. We all need to work collectively on this issue. A huge amount of funding will be spent on the Defence Forces and, with that, we will make sure the right structures and resources are in place to protect that investment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 104 to 110, inclusive, taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Security"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  As we are short of time, I ask the Deputy to keep things as tight as possible. I will allow a one-one-one exchange. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  My question relates to the investigations into the tragedy of the loss of Private Se\u00e1n Rooney, who was killed on 14 December 2022 while on active service in Lebanon. Trooper Shane Kearney and a number of others were injured in the incident. This shows us the reality of peacekeeping. It is absolutely vital that we engage with the Lebanese authorities on this matter. None of us could be happy with the lenient sentences for those responsible. I understand Mohammad Ayyad is still free. We must ensure the Lebanese authorities follow through on their promise of appealing the overly lenient sentences. We also must see publication of the investigation by Mr. Michael Delaney SC into operational protocols. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  This is something I raised directly with my Lebanese counterpart, Youssef Rajji, when I met with him yesterday prior to the EU-Lebanon Association Council meeting. I referred to the trauma that has been inflicted on Private Rooney's family, the need for answers and the need to ensure we have the full co-operation and support of the Lebanese Government regarding the appeal. We will continue to engage with the Lebanese authorities in that regard. It is absolutely essential that we have answers and an appropriate response to what has happened to date. I have written to Private Rooney's mother and I hope to meet with his family in the new year and engage directly with them on this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I really appreciate the Minister's answer. It is absolutely vital that we follow through on the promise that was made that no stone will be left unturned in delivering justice for Private Se\u00e1n Rooney. It is essential that we look after the families of those who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  I understand the T\u00e1naiste briefed the Minister on the issue, of which she may already have been aware, regarding John McNeela and the non-transfer of a pension to him on the death of his wife. His son Michael McNeela died in Lebanon while on peacekeeping duty. The Army Pensions Act is really unfair legislation that needs to be updated. I understand the Minister's Secretary General is looking at progressing legislation on the back of other legislation. Is there a timeline for that? I have asked previously whether an interim solution is possible and I have spoken about the need to ensure any provision is retrospective. It is vital the change happens as fast as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  For those who make the ultimate sacrifice on the missions they are committed to, we must ensure their families are supported. My colleague has given a commitment that no stone will be left unturned in ensuring there is justice and that we have all the answers. I reaffirm that commitment.  I will get back to the Deputy directly on the pension issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I ask that the Minister also get back to me on the timeline for the report by Mr. Micheal Delaney SC. It was intended to be published in quarter four of this year, which is now. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Defence Forces"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Mark Wall - To discuss the need for an ASD class for Scoil Bhr\u00edde Lackagh, County Kildare.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss qualification for carer's leave for teachers.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss the CFRAM project at Blackrock, County Louth.  Deputy Liam Quaide - To discuss assistance for healthcare workers currently on special Covid leave.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.  Deputy Rory Hearne - To discuss ongoing issues with the tenant in situ scheme in Dublin North-West.  Deputy Eamon Scanlon - To discuss the dispute involving Caredoc staff.  Deputy Aidan Farrelly - To discuss deferral of commencement of the Dart+ South West project to 2030.  Deputy Jen Cummins - To discuss community spaces in Dublin 8.  Deputy Albert Dolan - To discuss a proposal by Caltra Community Playgroup for funding under the building blocks grant.  Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher - To discuss the omission of a school from DEIS.  Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh - To discuss the imminent closure of The Complex in Dublin.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the need for a 24-hour rapid response vehicle at Tuam ambulance base.  Deputy Conor Sheehan - To discuss the 304A bus service in Limerick city and the roll-out of the BusConnects service.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss publication of the north Kerry look-back review.  Deputy Eoghan Kenny - To discuss the granting of planning permission for a super-casino in Ballincollig, County Cork.  Deputy Paul Donnelly - To discuss a continuing sewage problem in Dublin 15.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the tender for the building of Cork Educate Together Secondary School.  Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl - To discuss a possible resolution to the question of Western Sahara.  Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan - To discuss the need for funding for a school in Cork due to ongoing leaks.  Deputy Darren O'Rourke - To discuss plans for investment in water and wastewater infrastructure in Dunboyne, County Meath.  The matters raised by Deputies Mark Wall, Barry Ward, Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl, Liam Quaide and Paul Donnelly have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sorca Clarke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Sorca-Clarke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Sorca Clarke)  The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is to reply to the first Topical Issue. She has indicated she needs to leave the Chamber briefly to obtain documentation. The Minister of State, Deputy Harkin, is in the Chamber and is willing to reply to Deputy Wall's matter if it is taken before the first Topical Issue. On second thoughts, we will not mess with a well-designed plan and will leave the order as is. We are two hours ahead of schedule. I will pause for a moment to give the Minister a chance to return. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Foreign Conflicts","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I am grateful to the Minister for being present to deal with this matter. I want to declare an interest in that, as the convener of the Ireland-Morocco Parliamentary Friendship Group, this is an issue in which I am keenly interested. Will the Minister provide an update on Ireland's stance on the question of Western Sahara in the context of the recent developments at United Nations level?  This 50-year-old dispute remains one of the longest standing issues on the agenda of the UN. Despite successive UN efforts to facilitate a negotiated settlement, the situation has continued to evolve, shaped by developments on the ground and by broader dynamics in the region. Since the 1991 ceasefire and the establishment of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara, MINURSO - to which Ireland contributed peacekeeping personnel until 2021 - efforts to implement the original settlement plan, which consists in the organisation of a referendum, proved unworkable between 1991 and 2004 due to the inability to agree on an electorate. Recognising this impasse, the Security Council shifted course in 2004 and called instead for a political solution. In response, Morocco presented its autonomy initiative in 2007, a proposal that successive UN Secretaries General and Security Council resolutions have acknowledged as serious, credible and realistic.  Ireland has consistently demonstrated its commitment to multilateralism, the peaceful settlement of disputes and respect for international law, notably through its support for UN-led processes, peacekeeping operations and dialogue-based, negotiated solutions. On 31 October 2025, the Security Council adopted Resolution 2797 by 11 votes in favour, including three permanent members. The resolution takes note of the support expressed by many member states for Morocco's autonomy proposal, presented on 11 April 2007 to the UN Secretary General, as a basis for a just, lasting and mutually acceptable solution to the dispute. It affirms that genuine autonomy under Moroccan sovereignty could constitute a most feasible solution. It calls upon the parties, namely Morocco, Algeria, Polisario and Mauritania, to engage in negotiations without preconditions, taking as a basis Morocco's autonomy proposal. It recognises that genuine autonomy could represent a most feasible outcome and encourages the parties to submit ideas to support a final mutually acceptable solution. It expresses appreciation to the United States for its readiness to host negotiations in furtherance of the personal envoy's mission to achieve a solution for Western Sahara and the region.  In his written reply of 5 November on Resolution 2797, the Minister's predecessor stated, \"Ireland is considering the implications of the mandate renewal.\" Given Ireland's long-standing support for UN-led political processes, our commitment to regional stability, and our interest in a strong partnership with a key EU neighbour and strategic partner in North Africa, clarity at this stage matters. In that context, will the Minister provide an update on Ireland's position on Western Sahara in light of the UN Security Council Resolution 2797? Will she clarify the Government's position on the Moroccan autonomy initiative, particularly in light of the growing international consensus explicitly mentioned in the last Security Council resolution? A clear Irish stance, aligned with the UN, consistent with our principles and attentive to regional security realities would strengthen the prospects for a realistic and durable resolution to this long-running conflict. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Helen McEntee)  I apologise for delaying everybody. I thank Deputy \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl for raising this important issue.  I welcome the opportunity to update the House on the subject of Western Sahara. As we have heard, the House is aware that since 1975, Western Sahara has been the subject of a territorial dispute between Morocco and the Polisario Front. The United Nations recognises Western Sahara as a non-self-governing territory under international law. In 1991, MINURSO was established by Security Council Resolution 690, in accordance with the United Nations and the Organisation of African Unity settlement proposals accepted by Morocco and the Polisario Front. The referendum has not taken place. However, MINURSO has continued to perform tasks entrusted to it by the UN Security Council.  In November 2020, the UN-mandated ceasefire collapsed and low-level hostilities resumed along the 2,700 km-long sand berm that separates Polisario and Morocco-controlled territory. Actual hostilities remain at a low level at the moment.  As the Deputy has pointed out, on 31 October, the UN Security Council adopted Resolution 2797, extending the MINURSO mandate for one year, until 31 October 2026. The resolution received 11 votes in favour and three Council members abstained. Ireland is not currently a member of the United Nations Security Council, although we have been in the past. As set out in the text of the resolution, the UN Security Council \"expresses its full support for the Secretary-General and his Personal Envoy in facilitating and conducting negotiations taking as basis Morocco's Autonomy Proposal\". It does so \"with a view to achieving a just, lasting, and mutually acceptable resolution to the dispute, consistent with the UN Charter, and welcomes any constructive suggestions by the parties in response to the Autonomy Proposal;\" Ireland is still considering the implications of the MINURSO mandate renewal following its adoption.  Our position on Western Sahara has been, and continues to be, guided by the aim of achieving a just and lasting political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. Our engagement on this issue will also continue to take account of the role of and the insights provided by the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General for Western Sahara, Staffan de Mistura. Following the adoption by the Security Council of Resolution 2797, which the Deputy referenced, the personal envoy outlined that the Resolution provides a framework for negotiations. To quote the statement of the personal envoy, the resolution \"does not prescribe an outcome ... which will, as always, in order to be sustainable, be the result of negotiations conducted in good faith.\" The personal envoy also stated that engaging in negotiations \"does not mean automatically to accept an outcome.\" The personal envoy plans to call all parties to submit proposals and suggestions in order to allow the UN to develop a broad agenda for direct or indirect talks on the most relevant issues. In accordance with the resolution, the parties are Morocco, the Polisario Front, Algeria and Mauritania.  Officials at the headquarters of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and in the mission network continue to be in contact with relevant parties in support of efforts to achieve a solution to this long-standing dispute.  As Ireland considers the implication of the mission mandate renewal and efforts to resolve this long-standing dispute, I assure the Deputy and this House that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and I as Minister will continue to keep any relevant developments under review, including in the context of EU and UN discussions. I am happy to talk further with the Deputy on all of this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I thank the Minister for that response. It has to be accepted that, I think, we are building an ever stronger relationship between Ireland and Morocco. We have opened our embassy there. Our ambassador, Helena Nolan, is doing a superb job for us in Rabat. We all know the Moroccan ambassador to Ireland because he is ever present in this House and never loses an opportunity to promote his country. We know that many Irish people travel there regularly, that business and trade are increasing and that Morocco is a developing, progressive country that represents for us in Europe the gateway to Africa.  I will put it to the Minister that she recognises that a process is under way. Over 100 countries have now committed themselves to the resolution as set out by the UN. We have a deep and fundamental commitment to the work of the UN and I would urge the Minister to conclude the review she is doing when possible and ensure that Ireland gets on board with the process. Most recently our EU neighbour, the Netherlands, has committed itself to this process. Many - I think over 20, in fact - of our EU colleagues have done likewise. We do not want to remain the odd one out. We want to be seen to be participating in the efforts to find a solution to a 50-year-old intractable problem that leaves everyone the winner, with a better opportunity for the future of the Sahrawi people and for progress in Algeria and Morocco. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  On the Deputy's initial point, interestingly, today in Cabinet, we brought forward a review of Global Ireland 2025, which has been our strategy for a number of years. While the objective within that was to enhance, grow and double our footprint, within that, if you dig down into it, it is about enhancing and strengthening relationships, linking in with our Irish diaspora and seeing how we can grow those connections and use our own experience, expertise and knowledge to support other countries. Morocco is no different and there are many other countries as well.  As we look to our Global Ireland 2040 plan, which I hope can be published before the Presidency next year, we will build and grow on that huge amount of work that has been done. Of course, when it comes to the UN as an organisation, it has to be something that we look to, support, strengthen and enhance in the years ahead because there are many challenges. As an organisation, it faces many challenges in the very important work it does.  I would restate in regard to this issue that in our own engagement on this, we have to continue to take account of the role of the insights provided by the personal envoy of the UN Secretary General but it is very much our hope that the efforts of all involved here will help achieve a just and lasting political solution that will provide for the self-determination of the people of Western Sahara. Ireland's position continues to be guided by that aim. I know of the Deputy's interest and through the Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade and in other ways, my officials in the Department and I are happy to work with him and engage with him on this matter, as hopefully we can reach a solution and a conclusion that is suitable for everyone. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Foreign Conflicts"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I want to talk the Minister of State about Scoil Bhr\u00edde, Lackagh, south Kildare. This is a beautiful rural school that currently has 101 students enrolled. The school, I am told, has 30 new children applying to the school in September 2026. Parents in Scoil Bhr\u00edde are currently fighting for an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, unit. There are a number of children who are struggling in mainstream classes in the school and who would benefit greatly from this new unit. Another child is also due to start in September of next year as their siblings are also currently going through the school.  There is an empty classroom in the school and a teacher available. The school just needs the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, and the Department to give the go-ahead and give parents the certainty of an appropriate classroom environment for their child. We just cannot continue the practice of taxiing children out of their local community when there is a local school like Scoil Bhr\u00edde in Lackagh available to them within their own local area. Scoil Bhr\u00edde can accommodate this unit as it has the space and, as I said, it has the staff member.  As always, I want to put on the record of the House some testimonials I have received from parents seeking this ASD unit. The first one states:  Our youngest boy is autistic and requires an autism class. His siblings have all attended our local school in Lackagh. Our lovely local school Lackagh is due to lose a teacher in Sept 26 due to falling enrolment, therefore we have the space and the teacher available. All we want for Xmas this year is for a school place for [our child] in... his local school. He deserves the same opportunities his siblings had and wear the Lackagh uniform with pride. Please give us that chance.  Another parent said:  My son is 9 years old and is currently facing significant challenges in the standard classroom environment due to his autism. A specialized class would provide the necessary resources, structure, and tailored educational approach to help him thrive academically and socially.  Implementing this class would not only benefit my child by offering him the appropriate setting for success but would also ensure that the school is meeting the diverse needs of all its students.  Finally,  My daughter is currently in Lackagh.  Her teachers and I have come to the realisation that although she is doing great now, she will most likely need a special class as she goes into older classes.  She absolutely loves going into school in Lackagh and we would be heartbroken to have to move her from her friends and teachers if Lackagh doesn\u2019t get the special class they so... [deserve].  Tonight, I am asking the Minister of State to give these parents and their children the ASD unit that Scoil Bhr\u00edde so desperately needs. I hope the Minister will have a positive answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science (Deputy Marian Harkin)  I thank Deputy Wall. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth.  First, the Minister is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. Budget 2026 has secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE is currently examining where these places are best located for the 2026-27 school year.  Over 2,700 new places have already been provided for the 2025-26 school year. This means there are now 3,742 special classes nationwide. We will build on this figure next year placing specialist provision where it can best meet existing and future demand. In County Kildare, 148 special classes are now in operation, providing capacity for 888 students. This includes 17 new special classes for this year. In addition, 16 new special schools have been established in recent years.  Special school capacity has also been expanded across a number of special schools nationwide. Six of these special schools are in County Kildare, educating approximately 359 students with the most complex of special educational needs. These schools are supported by the Department and the NCSE.  The NCSE will have a clear picture of local demand for special class places in the 2026-27 school year after it reviews and assesses all of the information that has been provided through the parents\u2019 notification process, which closed on 1 October. The NCSE expects to start sanctioning new special classes for the 2026-27 school year shortly and the Department and the NCSE continue to consider options for increasing special school capacity.  This can be achieved either through the expansion of existing special schools or the establishment of new special schools. A key focus will be on establishing new special classes in schools without an existing special class such as the school referred to by the Deputy, Scoil Bhr\u00edde in Lackagh. I recognise the crucial importance of the matter raised by the Deputy having listened to many of the testimonials provided by him.  An earlier notification deadline was introduced this year to support forward planning and to equip the NCSE with timely local information on those students leaving school, transitioning to post-primary specialist places or seeking specialist placement and entering the education system for the first time. This information is critical when examining where provision needs to be placed to meet demand. The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will be become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school. I stress that the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to it after this date. However, it is critical that the NCSE has timely access to local knowledge to effectively plan future provision. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State for her comprehensive reply. We can both agree about the importance of allowing children to attend their local national school where possible. This is why I raised the needs of Scoil Bhr\u00edde in Lackagh tonight. This is a rural school that, unfortunately, has seen something of a decline in numbers but has a need for a special unit. All of us in this Chamber have spoken for a long period of time about the importance of keeping rural schools open. If we can publish that Scoil Bhr\u00edde has this unit, I have no doubt we will see the 30 children the school has increase. My office is inundated, as are I am sure the Minister of State's office and those of all Deputies, with parents looking for that special school place or that special school. The reason why it is so important that we keep children in their local school is because many of them are getting into a taxi early in the morning - 7 a.m. in some cases - and travelling 30 or 40 miles to get that special school place. I have spoken in this House previously about one parent who has had to ring over 40 different schools to get that school place. That is quite common in County Kildare given the demand for school places. Here we have a perfectly good school that has a great reputation. It is a rural school that has the accommodation and, most importantly, a staff member who can come into this unit straightaway in September 2026. I ask the Minister of State to bring this matter back. She has heard the testimonials tonight from parents. The school needs that ASD unit. It needs it for the children who need the unit and it needs it for the school community. It will develop as a school. It is an absolutely brilliant school. If we are serious about treating all children equally, we must give children the opportunity to take part in their own local school and as the parents have said to me, have pride in their local school uniform. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  The Deputy did not just raise an important question, he did it so passionately as an advocate for the school he spoke of. I can fully understand his passion in this regard. All I can do is thank him for raising the matter and for giving me the opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that all children can access an education that meets their needs. I heard what the Deputy said about local provision, which is hugely important. The Department continues to engage intensively with the NCSE regarding forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best fitting their educational need. It is important to remember that the vast majority of students with special educational needs are supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. Central to this are the 15,000 special education teachers and 12,500 SNAs allocated to mainstream settings. For children with more complex needs, special classes or special school places are provided. This is in keeping with the policy on inclusive education, which advocates that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible. The NCSE advises that a small number of special places remain in many counties for those seeking placement this year. While those places may not always be in a preferred school, vacancies do exist. The NCSE remains available to provide advice and support to all families seeking specialist placement and will continue to examine where provision is required for the 2026-27 school year. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Carer's Leave Eligibility","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I want to raise qualification for carer's leave for teachers. Section 6(1) of the Carer's Leave Act 2001 makes provision for carer's leave for teachers and provides that they must be in continuous employment for 12 months before they are entitled to that leave. That makes perfect sense because it avoids a situation where a brand-new employee takes leave having just entered into a position, which would be very unfair on the school and all the circumstances around that. Section 3 of the Act also provides for the Minister to have the power to make regulations in this regard.  I want to talk about a teacher in my constituency who has been teaching in a school for ten years so she is not a new teacher. She is not a newly qualified or newly employed teacher. She is paid by the Department. She moved school in January and within a month of moving to that new school, she got the terrible news that her daughter was suffering from terminal cancer. By a bizarre and restrictive interpretation of the Act, she is now being told that she cannot qualify for carer's leave because she is in a new job for less than 12 months.  This is the most appalling interpretation of the law. The way the law is written makes perfect sense and it is entirely sensible to have the 12-month provision. This lady was a teacher for ten years. She is still employed by the Department and still has the same Teaching Council number. The only thing that has changed is the school in which she works. I find myself aghast at the fact that the Department has now made a decision that red tape is going to triumph over common sense and compassion. The last few months or however long her daughter has left will now be marred by the fact that her mother is not being given carer's leave to look after her.  We deal with hard cases in our jobs all the time and one would like to think that when we can solve problems, we would solve them. I have put down parliamentary questions about this and been told that section 6(1) prevents the Department from doing it. I do not necessarily accept that. I cannot see how that is the correct interpretation of the Act. It is surely open to the Minister or Department to say that this woman is with the same employer, has the same Teaching Council number and has been in the same job for over a decade. Can we not express the will and desire to stand by her at a time that is incredibly difficult for her and her family? It makes no sense that the Act is being interpreted in this way. We are allowing that awful red tape to triumph over the compassion that should be shown to this woman.  We put carer's leave in place for a very specific reason with specific parameters and now they are being interpreted to exclude somebody who by all logical consideration should be entitled to carer's leave and should be entitled to take the time she needs to with her daughter to ensure that she can look after and care for her at what must be an appallingly difficult time for that family.  Does the Minister of State agree that this is the only interpretation that can be made in respect of section 6(1)? If so, when are we going to change the law because that is the next step that has to take place? Alternatively, is it not the case that the Minister could make regulations to change this or to set out the parameters by which section 6(1) should be interpreted? Can we not allow common sense and compassion for once to triumph over bureaucracy? If it is not the case that we can and if all of the advice is that this is what the Act says and we cannot go beyond the legislation, when are we going to change it? Let us change that law quickly. Only a small change is required to allow for the interpretation regarding somebody who is continuing in the employment of the Department of Education and Youth, continuing in her role as a teacher and continuing to serve her community and students but is being let down by the system so let us change it if that is what we have to do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  While I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for education, I hear very clearly what the Deputy is saying. As somebody who has championed carers' rights for many years, both at European Parliament level and at home, I fully hear the argument he is making. However, I have a response I will read to him and I will perhaps make one or two further comments.  As the Deputy said, the carer\u2019s leave scheme is regulated by the Carer\u2019s Leave Act 2001, as amended. The terms and conditions of the carer's leave scheme for teachers are outlined in chapter 6 of the Department of Education and Youth\u2019s Circular 54\/2019, Leave Schemes for Registered Teachers employed in Recognised Primary and Post-Primary Schools. Under the terms of the circular, a teacher may apply for carer\u2019s leave when they have satisfactorily completed one year\u2019s continuous service with their current employer. This requirement is waived where a teacher is compulsorily redeployed into a school or where a school is amalgamated, provided that they have worked at least one full year in their former school prior to redeployment or amalgamation.  Under section 24 of the Education Act 1998, as amended by the Education (Amendment) Act 2012, the board of management is the employer of teachers, SNAs and other staff of the school. In the case of community national schools, the ETB is the employer and not the board of management. Therefore, when a teacher moves to another school, they are changing employer. This is further confirmed by the contract of employment, which states that the employer is the board of management of the school. To reiterate, the Department of Education and Youth is not the employer.  I hear what the Deputy says, but as the scheme is regulated by the Carer\u2019s Leave Act 2001, as amended, it is not within the remit of the Department of Education and Youth to amend the eligibility criteria set out in the Act. It should be noted that the eligibility criteria set out in the Carer\u2019s Leave Act 2001 applies to all employees of the State. As I said to the Deputy, I cannot go beyond the response that is in front of me, but he makes the case very clearly and compassionately. That is what he is asking for. If it is any help, I am certainly willing to make sure that his message gets to the Minister and is delivered very clearly as to the specific circumstances of the case. Perhaps he is right. Perhaps we need to change the law or there are some other solutions. I honestly cannot say but I can say this much: I certainly hear what he says and I remain open in any way I can to seeing whether I can help to provide a solution to this extremely difficult case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  At the outset, I totally accept the Minister of State's bona fides on this issue. I know of her track record on leave for carers and carers' rights. I have a copy of the reply she read. I am really disappointed by it because in no part of it is there any expression of compassion or regret for the fact that our system has failed this teacher. This teacher is being unduly penalised for the fact that she changed position. Of course, technically and to the letter of the law, the response is correct that she is not an employee of the Department but of the school. When she changed school, she was with a different employer and, therefore, the clock reset on her entitlement to carer's leave but, when she changed, she did not know her daughter's diagnosis was coming. What the law states is wrong and what the Act does is wrong. The restrictions placed on this woman and family are wrong. That is why I say we need to change the law.  The Minister of State quoted Circular 54\/2019. I understand why that is there and that it is the interpretation, but it is not correct in terms of the scheme put in place by these Houses 25 years ago to provide for exactly this type of situation. It was to provide backup, succour and care for those people in that situation who are being failed by the application of the Act in this way. The Department is entitled to make the statement that it is not entitled to go beyond the scheme. It is probably legally correct to do so, and I say that as a lawyer who respects the law, but I also think we cannot allow bureaucracy to hold sway always. We must look at people in situations. That is what this House is about. It is about recognising the fact that people need support. This family needs support. They are not getting it from the State and that is why we need to change the law.  I am grateful for what the Minister of State said about bringing the message back to the Minister, but it is really important she understands that this has to change. It is absolutely not fair or sustainable. It is something this House can do. It is within the power of the Legislature to change this. Let us get on and change it. I would be grateful if the Minister of State could convey that to the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I have a further response here reiterating all of what I said. To be honest with the Deputy, I know he does not want to hear it. Nonetheless, that is my role and responsibility this evening. The Deputy talked about bureaucracy, but it is also the law. He is an expert in this area where I am not, but perhaps the law is what needs changing and not so much the bureaucracy or how the law is implemented. As I said, the employer of all school staff is the individual school board or the board of management which manages the schools on behalf of patron bodies. The Department is not the employer. The carer's leave scheme is regulated by the Carer's Leave Act 2001, as amended. In line with the Act, the eligibility criteria for carer's leave includes the requirement for an employee to have been employed for a period of 12 months' continuous employment with their current employer.  The Deputy has made the specific circumstances in this case very clear. As I said, I will bring it to the attention of the Minister, if the Deputy wants to speak to me afterwards or tomorrow. I am not saying I can do anything, but I will make sure this message is clearly brought. I will not read any more of what I have in front of me. I do not think it would be helpful. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Carer's Leave Eligibility"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Covid-19 Pandemic Supports","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I raise a very important issue with the Minister of State. While I am grateful to her for being here, I am conscious that in her role she will not have decision-making capacity on it. It is disappointing not to see the Department of Health represented by either the senior Minister or a junior ministerial colleague.  A cohort of healthcare workers has been in receipt of special Covid leave with pay, which is essentially their basic salary, over the past four to five years in recognition of the fact that they contracted the virus at the peak of the pandemic in high-risk settings such as hospital wards, often without adequate PPE, when much of the rest of the workforce was protected by working from home directives. They have paid an enormous price in the form of persistent long Covid symptoms such as debilitating post-exertional malaise. That is a level of physical depletion the average person just cannot imagine, for instance, being unable to lift a cup of tea after what most people would consider mild exertion or having to go back to bed with exhaustion after dropping their children to school.  Long Covid typically involves a range of symptoms, including nerve pain, vertigo and brain fog, which have a major impact on a person\u2019s capacity to work or carry out basic tasks. Treatments for long Covid are extremely limited and for some people their symptoms have not improved. I know this because I worked in such a clinic in Cork. The best we can hope for with treatments so far is, generally, the management of symptoms and not their alleviation or cure. Despite the sacrifices these healthcare workers made on all of our behalf, they have faced the loss of their financial security each year since becoming unwell as their unions have had to battle it out with the Department of Health in the WRC and the Labour Court. They have been on a cliff edge regarding their financial security as they approach the end of each term of the special Covid leave with pay. This has added a huge amount of additional stress to their lives.  These workers now face the loss of their income a few days after Christmas this year, when they will be placed on the standard public service sick leave scheme. What this means in practice is healthcare workers, mostly women, having to retire in their 40s or 50s on medical grounds and some not being able to pay their mortgage as a result.  This is huge financial stress on top of the many challenges they face every day just carrying out basic tasks. The Government keeps emphasising that it has extended the pay arrangement several times, as if the healthcare workers should be grateful, and that the hand of generosity can only extend so far instead of acknowledging that they sustained a serious workplace injury and should be compensated. Many were infected in early January 2021 following the so-called \"meaningful Christmas\" in which restrictions on movement were crudely lifted by the Government against public health expert advice. They were essentially cannon fodder in the context of that reckless decision, where many people died unnecessarily and these workers\u2019 health and physical functioning suffered lasting damage. It is heartless of the Government to cast these healthcare workers aside and rip away the one basic financial security they had, with no clear reasoning. I am asking that special Covid leave with pay be extended for six months to give time for a proper consideration of long Covid as an occupational injury for this cohort of healthcare workers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for Health. The Minister once again acknowledges the extraordinary role our healthcare workers played during the pandemic, as do I. They went far beyond the call of duty working on the front line, treating Covid-positive patients, and doing so in the early days when the protections we now take for granted were not yet in place. Their courage and commitment can never be forgotten. The Deputy has described well the price some of those workers have paid for that.  In July 2022, a special scheme was introduced to provide support to eligible public health sector staff who developed long Covid. This was a temporary, exceptional measure, unique to the health sector, designed to acknowledge the risks faced by staff working in high-exposure environments before PPE, vaccination and widespread community transmission were established.  The Department has advised that there are approximately 159 employees still in the scheme. Most of these staff have been supported with full pay for almost five years. The Department of Health has consistently worked to ensure that these staff are looked after and has requested that the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation agree to extend the scheme several times, as the Deputy mentioned, since its introduction. Following a Labour Court hearing in June of this year, a final extension was recommended. The scheme will now run until 31 December 2025, when it will formally conclude. The Department wants to be clear that the conclusion of this scheme does not mean that supports will end. Staff who remain unfit to return to work will transition seamlessly into the public service sick leave scheme, ensuring continuity of care and financial protection. Under that scheme, staff will receive full pay for three months, followed by half pay for three months. They will then have the option to apply for temporary rehabilitative remuneration, which can provide up to a further 547 days of paid leave. In addition, the critical illness protocol may provide supports for up to three years.  Beyond financial supports, staff will also be entitled to reasonable accommodations to assist them in returning to work. This may include modified duties or adjusted work patterns while rehabilitating. These measures are designed to ensure that staff are supported not only financially but also practically as they recover and reintegrate into the workplace.  While some EU countries recognised Covid-19 as an occupational illness, this applied to Covid-19 itself, not long Covid. To the Department's knowledge, no country provided sustained full pay for long Covid comparable to Ireland\u2019s special scheme. The Minister for Social Protection has reviewed the EU recommendation on recognising Covid-19 as an occupational illness. It has been determined that Covid-19 does not meet the criteria required for recognition under the Social Welfare Acts.  The Department wants to assure the House that, while the special scheme will conclude at the end of this year, the supports available to staff will continue under established public service arrangements. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  It is despairing to receive that response. It is so completely out of touch with the reality of these workers' circumstances. There is no security that comes from being on standard sick leave. That is just a pathway to medical retirement. There is no rationale given as to why this basic financial support is being ripped away at this arbitrary cut-off date. The health condition of these workers has not changed. As social protection Minister in the previous Government, Heather Humphreys, according to reports from 2024, was vigorously opposed to making Covid an occupational illness, saying it would be impossible to determine whether someone had contracted the virus in the workplace. This was despite the fact that most European countries had done so, with the exception of Greece and Ireland, and despite the glaring contradiction of providing special Covid leave with pay to the cohort of workers I am speaking of on the basis that they contracted the virus at work. It was the then Minister's party leader at the time, Leo Varadkar, who dispensed with public health advice, opening the floodgates on the virus circulating through the community and infiltrating healthcare settings to an overwhelming degree in those dark weeks of late December 2020 and early January 2021. These workers are now living with the lasting impact of that.  There is no doubt that these workers contracted Covid in the workplace. They were caught up in clear outbreaks in healthcare settings while the rest of the country\u2019s workers for the most part were able to work from home. There is a clear contradiction in the Government\u2019s recognition of long Covid as occupationally acquired, demonstrated in its granting of special Covid leave with pay to date and its crude termination of that scheme at an arbitrary cut-off date of 31 December as these workers continue to experience significant disability arising from that condition.  It was utterly callous, miserly and incoherent of Heather Humphreys to deprive these workers of a basic level of financial security as she sailed off into retirement on a gold-plated pension. Her comments are part of an overall pattern of gaslighting that these workers have experienced in occupational health departments, as well as with some medical practitioners and now, unfortunately, this Government. It looks from this response like we cannot expect any degree of compassion or reason on this issue from the Minister of State's colleagues. I implore her to take this back to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. There is no justification for what is being done here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I hope the Deputy will understand that I will not comment on his remark regarding former Members of this House who are unable to explain their rationale or whatever. However, as he asked, I will bring this to the attention of the Minister for Health, as it has been. I just happen to be answering tonight on her behalf.  I again acknowledge the extraordinary service of our healthcare workers during the pandemic. The special scheme for long Covid was an exceptional measure introduced to recognise the unique risks faced by staff in those early days. It is important to say that it has provided sustained support for almost five years, a level of protection unmatched in any other sector. I personally agree that it is warranted. As the scheme concludes on 31 December, staff will not be left without support. They will transition automatically into the public service sick leave scheme with full access to the supports that provides, including temporary rehabilitative remuneration and the critical illness protocol. Reasonable accommodations will be available to assist all staff in returning to work. This approach at least tries to ensure fairness and equity across the public service while continuing to provide meaningful protection for those affected. Our priority remains to safeguard staff welfare, uphold the principle of equal treatment and ensure that those who gave so much during the pandemic are supported to recover. I reassure the House that the Department of Health will continue to work closely with the HSE, staff representatives and with colleagues across Government to ensure these supports are delivered effectively and compassionately. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Covid-19 Pandemic Supports"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Wastewater Treatment","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  Honestly, I cannot believe I am here in 2025 talking about this issue because 14 years ago, when I was standing for local elections, I raised this issue as one of the major issues within the Mulhuddart area. We talked on top of a hill beside Mulhuddart cemetery and that piece of land now has 800 homes on it. There are now in the region of 2,500 to 3,000 houses within the curtilage of this issue and stench coming from a pipe which comes from a pumping station in Kilbride and Hollystown in County Meath. It peaks at the area I just talked about, where there are vents that are emanating this horrendous smell.  For the past 20 years, we have constantly tried to get this issue resolved between Fingal County Council that originally had its water department and which then transferred over to Uisce \u00c9ireann. In fairness to Uisce \u00c9ireann, it has come back to us on numerous occasions and told us it has put new plant machinery in, new scenting machines, cleaned out the sewage pipes and sealed the shores along the road where this problem is. However, unfortunately, it keeps coming back. I have comments here from local residents. Even today, one resident said:  It has been there for years. They have built around it. It is rotten. It is like a rotten egg, a chemical smell or sulphur. They said it was cleared and flowing. It is back again. As long as I am living here, the smell has always been that way but recently it is worse.  It is comment after comment and it is hard to believe when you are there and drive through that area, you have to roll the windows up in your car. It is that bad at times; it is not all of the time but it is consistent enough. The reason I am raising it tonight is because in recent weeks it has got really bad. It has been raised at Fingal County Council and with Irish Water but it does not seem to be resolved at this stage. I appeal to the Minister to maybe sit down with us and Irish Water to try to figure out a long-term plan for this. In my opinion, the long-term plan is for that pipe to be moved.  As I said, we have a situation whereby Fingal County Council has built close to 1,000 houses. There are currently 800 or 900 houses there in a place called Church Fields. It is social, affordable and cost-rental housing. It is a lovely estate but we said at the time if this sewage smell was not resolved, then we will have huge problems. We were putting people literally next to it and I find that really frustrating.  At this stage, I am appealing Government for the sake of the residents. There are people who have lived in that estate and those areas for 40 years and in the past 20 years, they have been constantly told this is going to be resolved and unfortunately, it has not. As I said, in recent weeks it has got really bad. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I am taking this question on behalf of the Minister for housing, Deputy O'Brien.  The Deputy will appreciate, and already knows, the supply of public water and provision of wastewater services in general are matters for Uisce \u00c9ireann in the first instance. Uisce \u00c9ireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local level. Neither I nor Minister Browne have an operational function in the matter to which he refers. However, we have asked Uisce \u00c9ireann for an update on his behalf.  First, Uisce \u00c9ireann is committed to addressing odour issues and supporting communities impacted by public wastewater infrastructure. As the national water services provider, Uisce \u00c9ireann manages approximately 26,000 km of public sewers across Ireland. This extensive network is continually monitored and maintained to ensure it operates effectively and minimises any impact on local communities. In response to complaints relating to odour in the Mulhuddart area specifically, and I think the Deputy referred to this, Uisce \u00c9ireann recently undertook significant improvement works upstream to enhance flows from Kilbride, County Meath. These works involved diverting flows away from Church Road and directing them eastwards. This diversion has already delivered a noticeable reduction in odour impacts across the wider area, improving conditions for residents and businesses.  Does the Deputy know if this has had any impact? Some of what he has said is it seems to come and go. I am not sure what he is saying but certainly, if that is the case, that needs to be brought to the attention of Uisce \u00c9ireann because he is right, it is not good enough. However, further measures are planned for early in the new year to build on this progress, and I hope there has been some progress. These include sealing the old pipeline that is now disused following the diversion. Once sealed, the old manhole chambers will also be filled with concrete, eliminating potential sources of odour and further improving the local environment. While I personally know nothing about the specific situation, I believe that should be prioritised.  It is important to note Uisce \u00c9ireann is responsible for the public wastewater network only. Odours arising from private side dwellings or internal plumbing fall outside its remit. However, it remains committed to investigating any reported issues within the public network and implementing solutions where required. Uisce \u00c9ireann teams continually review the network to identify opportunities for improvement and ensure that communities experience the highest possible standard of service. Uisce \u00c9ireann has established a dedicated team to deal with representations and queries from public representatives. I do not need to tell the Deputy what the email is and there is also a dedicated telephone number. Finally, the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, also provides a free complaint resolution service for customers who have submitted a complaint to Uisce \u00c9ireann and are unhappy with the outcome. Again, I presume I am telling the Deputy what he already knows but it does provide solutions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  It is an interesting reply. In some ways, it probably makes sense in that the pipe is now disused and has been moved eastward. I assume it has moved eastward towards Damastown because there were recently major pipe works along that road. We are probably currently dealing with the last bits of it because if it is not being used and is empty, there maybe some residue leftover.  In the next couple of months, we will continue to monitor it and I look forward to it being sealed up and concreted over. That should hopefully get rid of that problem along Church Road and finally get a resolution to this. I welcome the response. The best thing we can do now is possibly just monitor this to make sure the works Uisce \u00c9ireann says are going to be carried out will be done as quickly as possible. We may finally see the end of this problem for the residents. Being honest, it is something that has really frustrated people over the past 20-odd years. As I said, I went back and checked my files and it was 14 years ago when I first raised it. Hopefully, this is the last time I do.  I appreciate the response and we will keep it under review and see how we get on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  I thank Deputy Donnelly. Again, without knowing any of the specifics, I agree with the Deputy and hopefully we are dealing with the final steps and that, as he said, it would be sealed up and concreted over. I agree nobody should have to live with that.  I will again refer to what is contained in the response I have here. I think I can say with sincerity that Uisce \u00c9ireann would like to assure customers that it is committed to addressing odour issues and supporting communities impacted by issues relating to public wastewater infrastructure. The networks are continually monitored and maintained to ensure that they operate effectively and that any impact on local communities is minimised. From what the Deputy said, it appears that progress is being made. What needs to be done now is to get to the end point----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  As quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marian Harkin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Marian-Harkin.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marian Harkin  -----in order that the Deputy will not have to raise this matter again and that nobody will have to respond to it again.  The updated national development plan has secured record levels of investment of \u20ac12.2 billion for the water sector, of which \u20ac11.7 billion will be invested by Uisce \u00c9ireann to support the delivery of key strategic projects in our cities and regions in order to deliver the additional water services capacity required for the new housing targets, while prioritising public health and safeguarding the environment. That reflects the issue the Deputy raised. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 10.11 p.m. go dt\u00ed 9 a.m., D\u00e9 Ceadaoin, an 17 Nollaig 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 10.11 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 17 December 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Wastewater Treatment"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-12-16"},{"contextDate":"2025-12-11","debateRecord":{"house":{"committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","chamberType":"house"},"counts":{"questionCount":40,"billCount":1,"debateSectionCount":56,"contributorCount":137,"divisionCount":0},"debateType":"debate","date":"2025-12-11","lastUpdated":"2026-04-10T03:11:42+01:00","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/main","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Departmental Reports","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_4","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Flood Relief Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_5","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Protected Disclosures","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_6","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Public Sector Pay","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_7","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Flood Risk Management","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_9","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Flood Relief Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Public Procurement Contracts","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Rail Network","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Public Sector Pensions","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Public Sector Pay","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_14","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Regional Development","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_15","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Regional Development","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_16","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Heritage Sites","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_17","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Housing Provision","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_19","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"National Council for Special Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_20","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Pension Provisions","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_21","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"School Funding","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_22","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_23","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Child Abuse","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_25","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"School Accommodation","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_26","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_27","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_28","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Youth Services","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_29","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_30","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Sc\u00e9imeanna Oideachais","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_31","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"School Facilities","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_32","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_33","counts":{"speechCount":67,"speakerCount":13},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_34","counts":{"speechCount":25,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_35","counts":{"speechCount":74,"speakerCount":19},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_36","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_37.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_37","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Apprenticeship Programmes","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_38.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_38","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Third Level Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_39.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_39","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Scientific Research","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_40.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_40","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Technological Universities","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_41.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_41","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Student Accommodation","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_43.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_43","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Further and Higher Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_44.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_44","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Student Accommodation","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_45.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_45","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Apprenticeship Programmes","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_46.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_46","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Third Level Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_47.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_47","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Third Level Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_48.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_48","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Third Level Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_49.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_49","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Research Funding","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_50.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_50","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Third Level Education","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_51","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_51","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_52","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_52","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Culture Policy","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_51","debateSectionId":"dbsect_51"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_53","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_53","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Voluntary Sector","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_51","debateSectionId":"dbsect_51"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_54","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_54","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Bus Services","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_51","debateSectionId":"dbsect_51"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_55","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_55","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ports Policy","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_51","debateSectionId":"dbsect_51"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_56","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_56","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Youth Services","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_51","debateSectionId":"dbsect_51"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/30","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/30\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-11\/debate\/dbsect_57","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":7},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_57","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Health (Waiting Lists) Bill 2024: Second Stage [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}}]}},{"contextDate":"2025-12-10","debateRecord":{"house":{"committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","chamberType":"house"},"counts":{"questionCount":28,"billCount":14,"debateSectionCount":24,"contributorCount":165,"divisionCount":10},"debateType":"debate","date":"2025-12-10","lastUpdated":"2026-04-10T03:11:39+01:00","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/main","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_4","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Crime Prevention","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_5","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Departmental Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_6","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Hospital Facilities","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_7","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/69","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/69\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_8","counts":{"speechCount":36,"speakerCount":27},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_9","counts":{"speechCount":65,"speakerCount":9},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":44,"speakerCount":19},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/83","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Residential Tenancies (Winter Ban on Evictions) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/83\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"stage":"1"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Residential Tenancies (Winter Ban on Evictions) Bill 2025: First Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_14","counts":{"speechCount":66,"speakerCount":11},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"National Security","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_15","counts":{"speechCount":44,"speakerCount":14},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_16","counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":37},"debateType":"statement","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Online Safety: Statements","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_17","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":5},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/67","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/67\/dail\/3_sub","isBillStage":false,"stage":"3_sub"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_19","counts":{"speechCount":27,"speakerCount":5},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Committee and Remaining Stages","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_20","counts":{"speechCount":16,"speakerCount":10},"debateType":"billCommittee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Instruction to Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/75","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/75\/dail\/3_sub","isBillStage":false,"stage":"3_sub"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_25","counts":{"speechCount":121,"speakerCount":16},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/110","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Just Transition (Worker and Community Environmental Rights) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/110\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_50","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Just Transition (Worker and Community Environmental Rights) Bill 2021: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/74","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/74\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_55","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_55","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/74","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/74\/dail\/motion\/referral","isBillStage":false,"stage":"motion"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_60","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_60","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-10\/debate\/dbsect_61","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_61","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"European Convention on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters: Motion (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}}]}},{"contextDate":"2025-12-09","debateRecord":{"house":{"committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","chamberType":"house"},"counts":{"questionCount":13,"billCount":2,"debateSectionCount":27,"contributorCount":170,"divisionCount":1},"debateType":"debate","date":"2025-12-09","lastUpdated":"2026-04-10T03:11:36+01:00","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/main","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":53,"speakerCount":11},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":52,"speakerCount":25},"debateType":"orderofBusiness","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/79","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Civil Liability (Child Sexual Abuse Proceedings Against Unincorporated Bodies of Persons) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/79\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"stage":"1"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_8","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Civil Liability (Child Sexual Abuse Proceedings Against Unincorporated Bodies of Persons) Bill 2025: First Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_9","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Excess Vote 2024: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/74","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/74\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":40,"speakerCount":24},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Arbitration (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":36},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Assessment of Needs: Motion [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Inflation Rate","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_14","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Derelict Sites","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_15","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Tax Code","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_16","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Tax Code","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_17","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Tax Reliefs","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_19","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Trade Relations","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_20","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Tax Code","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_21","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Derelict Sites","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_22","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Urban Development","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_23","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Tax Reliefs","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_24","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Fiscal Policy","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_25","counts":{"speechCount":31,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"National Treasury Management Agency","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_26","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_28","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Mental Health Services","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_29","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Eating Disorders","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_30","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Hospital Overcrowding","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_31","counts":{"speechCount":16,"speakerCount":4},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"School Facilities","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_32","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Energy Infrastructure","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27"},"speakers":[]}}]}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-07-01T02:13:00+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-12-04","counts":{"contributorCount":124,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":49,"questionCount":26,"billCount":4},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Plean\u00e1il Teanga","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Is maith an \u00e1it \u00ed tos\u00fa ag uimhir a haon. T\u00e1 ceist at\u00e1 agam don Aire Forbartha Tuaithe agus Pobail, agus Gaeltachta, an Teachta Calleary, mar gheall ar an st\u00e1das at\u00e1 ag na pleananna teanga in gach limist\u00e9ar plean\u00e1la Gaeltachta agus bailte seirbh\u00edse Gaeltachta. C\u00e9n obair at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal chun an ch\u00e9ad ghl\u00fain eile do phleananna a fhorbairt? An nd\u00e9anfaidh s\u00e9 r\u00e1iteas ina thaobh sin agus i dtaobh na moille at\u00e1 i gceist le cuid de na pleananna sin? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (Deputy Dara Calleary)  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta as an gceist. Is \u00e9 an sprioc at\u00e1 leis an bpr\u00f3iseas plean\u00e1la teanga n\u00e1 an Ghaeilge a l\u00e1idri\u00fa mar theanga phobail. D\u00e9antar \u00e9 seo tr\u00ed phleananna teanga a fheidhmi\u00fa i limist\u00e9ir aitheanta a chuirfidh le h\u00fas\u00e1id na Gaeilge i r\u00e9ims\u00ed \u00e1irithe sa phobal, mar shampla, sa teaghlach, i measc na h\u00f3ige, sa ch\u00f3ras oideachais, san earn\u00e1il ghn\u00f3 agus san earn\u00e1il phoibl\u00ed. Cuirtear taca\u00edocht ar f\u00e1il do na pobail leis na pleananna sin a chur i bhfeidhm agus fosta\u00edtear oifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga, OPT, le tabhairt faoin obair sin.  Ceada\u00edtear maoini\u00fa ar bhonn bliant\u00fail do 29 ceanneagra\u00edochta plean\u00e1la teanga leis na pleananna teanga at\u00e1 faofa do 26 limist\u00e9ar plean\u00e1la teanga, LPT, agus dh\u00e1 bhaile seirbh\u00edse Gaeltachta, BSG, a fheidhmi\u00fa faoi sc\u00e1th \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta. Mar chuid den mhaoini\u00fa sin, ceada\u00edtear do na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed OPT amh\u00e1in, n\u00f3 beirt i gc\u00e1sanna \u00e1irithe, a fhost\u00fa. Faoi l\u00e1thair, t\u00e1 ceadanna in \u00e1it le 35 OPT a fhost\u00fa sna 26 LPT agus dh\u00e1 BSG.  Faoi sc\u00e1th Fhoras na Gaeilge, t\u00e1 seacht mbaile seirbh\u00edse Gaeltachta taobh amuigh den Ghaeltacht agus tr\u00ed l\u00edonra Gaeilge ag feidhmi\u00fa. Anuas air sin, t\u00e1 feidhmi\u00fa dh\u00e1 l\u00edonra Gaeilge neamhreacht\u00fail \u00e1 mhaoini\u00fa ag Foras na Gaeilge ar an taobh \u00f3 thuaidh den Teorainn, is iad sin, Carn T\u00f3chair agus iarthar Bh\u00e9al Feirste.  T\u00e1 r\u00f3l l\u00e1rnach ag na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga sa phr\u00f3iseas plean\u00e1la teanga. T\u00e1 na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga fostaithe ag na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed \u00e9ags\u00fala, n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in sa limist\u00e9ir phlean\u00e1la teanga Ghaeltachta ach i mbailte seirbh\u00edse Gaeltachta agus l\u00edonra\u00ed Gaeilge araon. Is iad na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga at\u00e1 freagrach as cur i bhfeidhm bhearta an phlean teanga faoina gc\u00faram. Cuireann siad an Ghaeilge chun cinn, eagra\u00edonn siad imeachta\u00ed cult\u00fartha, cuireann siad acmhainn\u00ed agus taca\u00edochta\u00ed ar f\u00e1il d'fhoghlaimeoir\u00ed, agus b\u00edonn siad rannph\u00e1irteach leis an bpobal agus na heagra\u00edochta\u00ed Gaeilge a bh\u00edonn ag obair sna ceantair phlean\u00e1la teanga.  T\u00e1 s\u00e9 i gceist go mbeidh na pleananna at\u00e1 in \u00e9ag cheana f\u00e9in n\u00f3 a bheidh ag dul in \u00e9ag idir seo agus deireadh 2025 bail\u00ed go deireadh na bliana 2027 n\u00f3 go dt\u00ed go n-aont\u00f3far pleananna nua, cib\u00e9 acu is luaithe. Beidh aon phlean a th\u00e9ann in \u00e9ag tar \u00e9is an 31 Nollaig 2025 bail\u00ed go ceann bhliain tar \u00e9is d\u00f3 dul in \u00e9ag n\u00f3 go dt\u00ed go n-aont\u00f3far plean nua, cib\u00e9 acu is luaithe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire as an gcuid sin d\u00e1 fhreagra. T\u00e1 dea-obair ar bun ag na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga agus na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 f\u00e9in mar oifigeach plean\u00e1la teanga i nGaeltacht na nD\u00e9ise tr\u00e1th d\u00e1 raibh. Feictear go bhfuil f\u00e1s ag teacht ar l\u00edon na gcainteoir\u00ed Gaeilge laeth\u00fala i go leor limist\u00e9ar plean\u00e1la teanga. T\u00e1 l\u00edon na nGaeltachta\u00ed a bhfuil f\u00e1s ag teacht orthu ag dul in airde de r\u00e9ir an daon\u00e1irimh is d\u00e9ana\u00ed, ach t\u00e1 moill i Roinn an Aire agus sa ch\u00f3ras. T\u00e1 ocht bplean tagtha chun deiridh. T\u00e1 plean amh\u00e1in cr\u00edochnaithe le tr\u00ed bliana agus t\u00e1 s\u00edneadh ama curtha leis. N\u00ed fheictear go bhfuil aon dul chun cinn i dtaobh na bpleananna nua a fhorbairt. T\u00e1 seacht gcinn sa bhreis ag teacht chun deiridh i mbliana, rud a chialla\u00edonn go mbeidh 15 plean teanga as feidhm ag deireadh na bliana seo. Caithfidh muid an ghl\u00fain nua de phleananna nua a chur i gcr\u00edch gan a thuilleadh moille. Bh\u00ed a fhios againn go maireann na pleananna seo seacht mbliana agus go raibh deireadh ag teacht leo. Ba cheart go nd\u00e9anfa\u00ed an obair seo cheana f\u00e9in. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag imp\u00ed ar an Aire dul i ngleic leis an bhfadhb seo agus an mhoill a sheachaint. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  T\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm nach raibh seans agam mo bhu\u00edochas a ghabh\u00e1il leis an Teachta as a chuid oibre mar oifigeach plean\u00e1la teanga. Mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 i gceist go mbeidh na pleananna at\u00e1 in \u00e9ag cheana f\u00e9in, n\u00f3 iad si\u00fad a bheidh ag dul in \u00e9ag idir seo agus deireadh na bliana seo, bail\u00ed go deireadh na bliana 2027 n\u00f3 go dt\u00ed go n-aont\u00f3far pleananna nua, cib\u00e9 acu is luaithe. Beidh aon phlean a th\u00e9ann in \u00e9ag tar \u00e9is dheireadh mh\u00ed na Nollag 2025 bail\u00ed go ceann dh\u00e1 bhliain tar \u00e9is d\u00f3 dul in \u00e9ag n\u00f3 go dt\u00ed go n-aont\u00f3far plean nua, cib\u00e9 acu is luaithe. Tuigim go bhfuil moill ann agus t\u00e1 muid ag dul i ngleic leis an moill sin. Beidh \u20ac3 milli\u00fan bhreise sa bhuis\u00e9ad le haghaidh an phr\u00f3isis plean\u00e1la in 2026. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag obair le hoifigigh na Roinne ar an moill agus bh\u00ed cruinni\u00fa ag oifigigh mo Roinne ar thaobh Oireachtas na Samhna i mB\u00e9al Feirste leis na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga chun c\u00farsa\u00ed a phl\u00e9, idir c\u00farsa\u00ed buis\u00e9id agus eile. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire as \u00e9 sin a admh\u00e1il agus an obair at\u00e1 ag dul ar aghaidh. Creidim go bhfuil obair ag dul ar aghaidh sa Roinn le dul i ngleic leis seo. I nd\u00e1ir\u00edre, n\u00ed rud maith \u00e9 go bhfuil muid sa riocht seo. Ba cheart go seachn\u00f3fa\u00ed \u00e9 seo tamall \u00f3 sh\u00edn. Caithfimid a admh\u00e1il chomh maith go bhfuil fadhbanna le h\u00e9iginnteacht. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 go maith go bhfuil na pleananna chun a bheith s\u00ednte go dt\u00ed deireadh 2027 agus go mbeidh siad f\u00f3s bail\u00ed agus a leith\u00e9id, ach caithfimid tuiscint go bhfuil difr\u00edocht idir an st\u00e1das agus an riocht ina bhfuil na ceantair Ghaeltachta ar an talamh anois i gcompar\u00e1id le seacht mbliana \u00f3 sh\u00edn. T\u00e1 ruda\u00ed tar \u00e9is athr\u00fa. T\u00e1 an gh\u00e9arch\u00e9im tith\u00edochta, mar is eol don Aire, tar \u00e9is dul in olcas \u00f3 shin, mar shampla. T\u00e1 \u00e9iginnteacht ann i gcomhar na noifigeach phlean\u00e1la teanga. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 deacair do na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed iad a ch\u00f3im\u00e9ad ina gcuid post n\u00f3 iad a earc\u00fa chun na poist a l\u00edonadh. Anuas air sin, i dtaobh ch\u00farsa\u00ed tith\u00edochta de, t\u00e1 Conradh na Gaeilge agus gr\u00fapa\u00ed eile nach \u00e9 ag iarraidh go mbeadh strait\u00e9is daonra agus tith\u00edochta i ngach limist\u00e9ir phlean\u00e1la teanga. Ba cheart go mbeadh s\u00e9 sin fite fuaite leis na pleananna teanga. Ba cheart go mbeadh an d\u00e1 rud ag dul ar aghaidh ag an am c\u00e9anna le ch\u00e9ile leis an taith\u00ed agus eolas c\u00e9anna ag dul isteach sa strait\u00e9is agus phlean. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9 sa fhreagra, t\u00e1 an t-uaf\u00e1s oibre ar si\u00fal ag na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga. Baineann cuid den sc\u00e9al agus fuinnimh at\u00e1 sa teanga lena gcuid oibre. T\u00e1 siad an-l\u00e1idir sa sc\u00e9al sin. Tuigim go m\u00f3r an br\u00fa at\u00e1 orthu agus ar na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed, ach t\u00e1 muid ag foghlaim agus muid ag cur an cl\u00e1r seo ar si\u00fal sa t\u00edr. As an bhfoghlaim agus an cleachtadh sin, beimid in ann ruda\u00ed a dh\u00e9anamh n\u00edos fearr. Tuigim an br\u00fa at\u00e1 ar na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga agus na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed, go h\u00e1irithe \u00f3 thaobh oifigigh plean\u00e1la teanga a ch\u00f3im\u00e9ad. Tuigim freisin na fadhbanna at\u00e1 ann \u00f3 thaobh tith\u00edochta de. T\u00e1 siad go l\u00e9ir ceangailte agus t\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go bhfuil tuiscint ar an gceangal sin, n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in ag mo Roinn \u2013 c\u00e9 go bhfuil s\u00e9 sin t\u00e1bhachtach \u2013 ach ag Ranna eile, lena n-\u00e1ir\u00edtear na Ranna oideachais agus tith\u00edochta. Beimid ag pl\u00e9 na gcleachta\u00ed \u00f3n athbhreithni\u00fa le hAir\u00ed eile, n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in i mo Roinn f\u00e9in. T\u00e1 suim mh\u00f3r agam sa phr\u00f3iseas seo. T\u00e1 suim mh\u00f3r agam cleachta\u00ed a fhoghlaim as an obair at\u00e1 d\u00e9anta go dt\u00ed seo agus lean\u00faint ar aghaidh leis na hoifigigh phlean\u00e1la teanga, na ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed agus ceanneagra\u00edochta\u00ed breise freisin. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Plean\u00e1il Teanga"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  Given the importance of the seniors alert scheme to so many people, will the Minister of State confirm whether budget 2026 has allocated any additional funding to it, and if so, whether that includes an expanded list of equipment, such as assistive technology? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht (Deputy Jerry Buttimer)  I thank the Deputy for his very important question and ongoing commitment to this particular area. When we were in the Seanad together, he raised this on many occasions. As he knows, our Department is responsible for the seniors alert scheme, which encourages community support for older people through the provision of personal monitored alarms to enable them to live securely in their homes with confidence, independence and peace of mind. Funding is available under the scheme for the purchase, by a registered community-based organisation, of a personal alarm or pendant. Since the scheme was launched in 2015, 156,488 participants have been approved for the alarms, including over 15,000 this year, and since 2015, 4,819 people from Kildare have availed of the scheme.  My Department is reviewing all aspects of the seniors alert scheme, including the technology and services available, and I hope to launch a new iteration of the scheme in 2026. Any new iteration of the scheme will take into account the learnings from recent weather events - we heard this morning about Storm \u00c9owyn being the most googled term this year - and will also have regard to modern technological advancements to ensure the most reliable, robust devices available are procured.  The budget for 2025 is \u20ac3.2 million and this allocation has been maintained for next year, with additional funding allocated as necessary from the Dormant Accounts Fund. As the Deputy knows, the seniors alert scheme is a demand-led scheme and to date everybody who has applied to the scheme and meets the eligibility criteria has been approved. We and our officials in the Department will continue to monitor funding to ensure all eligible applicants can avail of the scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State very much for his reply.  We are all aware of the importance of the seniors alert scheme. It has been a life-saving scheme for many people, not just in rural communities but also in urban areas. I am glad to hear that so many people have taken it up since it was launched in 2015, and that the Department is launching a new scheme in 2026.  In launching the new scheme in 2026, has the Department looked at those technologies we were asking about? The Minister of State mentioned weather alerts and so on. Unfortunately, much of that is dependent on electricity, and there have been outages. For older people in particular, when there is an outage and the electricity is gone, they have no contact with the outside world. That is where modern technologies need to play their part.  An important aspect of the scheme is the house alarm, which would give people security. The pendant is great, but it is about deterring those who might want to enter a house for illegal activity. A house alarm would benefit many people, particularly in rural areas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  The Deputy raises a pertinent point. The Department and its officials, in the review, are very conscious of new technological advances. However, the review will provide an opportunity to consider not just technological advancements but how to broaden the reach of the scheme to more vulnerable and older people. I will give the Deputy a flavour of it. The review has seen engagement with Pobal, telecoms operators, technology consultants and representative bodies for older people. In addition, on the Deputy\u2019s point concerning the storm\u2019s effect on electricity and broadband, the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, has been in consultation with Eir and ComReg on the replacement of the copper networks with fibre, which is another important part.  The one thing we want to do is keep the scheme broad and open. We must be conscious that we cannot do anything that, as the Deputy said, would regress the scheme or create uncertainty. There is an impact due to the broadening of technology. We have to work to make sure we do not negate the scheme for the people who require it more than anybody else. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I totally agree. This has been a great scheme. I thank the Government for the allocations to date. When I was a councillor in Kildare, we looked at other schemes. One of those was a public light or a light outside the door for people in rural areas, and we gave some funding from the LPT towards that. It was very beneficial. That is the type of scheme I would like to see included under the seniors alert scheme to ensure that older people, particularly in rural but also in urban areas, have that bit of security, whether it is a light, an alarm or assistive technology. We should keep our minds open, as the Minister of State said. Many schemes are being administered by local authorities, including in Kildare. They have benefited so many people, whether it is the house alarm or the additional light outside the door so they can see who is out there. The scheme really has been beneficial. Indeed, it has been life-saving for many people. Given the open mind that the Government has, I hope it can look at other schemes and other areas to ensure that older people have the quality of life they deserve, and that they all should have in their golden years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I will take the Deputy\u2019s point back, including the example he raised. What we envisage is that the scheme will take into account the use of modern technology to ensure that people who are vulnerable or older and require the alarm are not left isolated on regular days, or on extreme weather days where power and communications are down. An extensive consultative process is ongoing with the representative groups.  There is a potential impact given the replacement of the copper infrastructure, which is going to happen because it has to. We will have to phase that out, along with the use of remaining legacy devices. What we want to do, and are committed to doing as part of the review, is ensure that we include new technologies and broaden the target demographic, while ensuring there will be no negative impact due to what we do. The next iteration of the scheme will take into account the new advancements in technology and ensure that people who require the seniors alert alarm will have it. In particular, as the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I have discussed, it is important that during extreme weather events, people will not be isolated in their own homes. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"C\u00farsa\u00ed Tith\u00edochta","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Faoi Acht na dTithe (Gaeltacht) (Leas\u00fa), 2001, t\u00e1 cumhachta\u00ed ar leith ag an Aire. An bhfuil s\u00e9 s\u00e1sta na cumhachta\u00ed sin a \u00fas\u00e1id? An bhfuil s\u00e9 tar \u00e9is a bheith i dteagmh\u00e1il leis an Aire tith\u00edochta chun go mbeidh s\u00e9 ar an eolas faoi na cumhachta\u00ed seo agus gur f\u00e9idir leis an Aire deontais ar leith a thabhairt do dhaoine at\u00e1 ag iarraidh a bheith ina gc\u00f3na\u00ed sa Ghaeltacht? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Tuigim go maith na d\u00fashl\u00e1in at\u00e1 ann i gceantair Ghaeltachta tith\u00edocht a chur ar f\u00e1il ar phraghas r\u00e9as\u00fanta do dhaoine \u00e1iti\u00fala. Is d\u00fashl\u00e1n \u00e9 seo a ghabhann n\u00edos leithne n\u00e1 an Ghaeltacht f\u00e9in ach tuigim go m\u00f3r an br\u00fa at\u00e1 ar cheantair Ghaeltachta. Agus \u00e9 sin r\u00e1ite, n\u00edl s\u00e9 i gceist ag mo Roinn ag an bpointe seo na sc\u00e9imeanna tith\u00edochta faoi Achtanna na dTithe (Gaeltachta), a cuireadh ar athl\u00f3 roinnt blianta \u00f3 shin, a thabhairt ar ais. \u00d3 cuireadh na sc\u00e9imeanna sin ar athl\u00f3, t\u00e1 sc\u00e9imeanna eile bunaithe ag an Rialtas le tac\u00fa leo si\u00fad at\u00e1 ag iarraidh tithe a cheannach n\u00f3 a th\u00f3g\u00e1il. Mar go bhfuil na taca\u00edochta\u00ed at\u00e1 ar f\u00e1il faoi na sc\u00e9imeanna nua seo n\u00edos flaithi\u00fala \u00f3 thaobh airgid de n\u00e1 na sc\u00e9imeanna tith\u00edochta faoi Achtanna na dTithe (Gaeltachta), is \u00e9 tuairim mhe\u00e1ite mo Roinne nach bhfuil g\u00e1 iad a athsheoladh ag an bpointe seo.  T\u00e1 an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 geallta i bplean tith\u00edochta an Rialtais don Ghaeltacht soil\u00e9ir. Anuas ar na sc\u00e9imeanna taca\u00edochta n\u00e1isi\u00fanta a bheidh ar f\u00e1il don phobal i gcoitinne, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 geallta go bhfoilseofar r\u00e1iteas n\u00e1isi\u00fanta plean\u00e1la don Ghaeltacht sa ch\u00e9ad leath de 2027 agus go n-oibreoidh \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta i gcomhar le hUisce \u00c9ireann agus na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala chun na f\u00e9idearthachta\u00ed a bhaineann le su\u00edomhanna seirbh\u00edsithe a bheadh feili\u00fanach do thith\u00edocht a fhiosr\u00fa. Anuas air sin, tabharfaidh an Bille um \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta (Leas\u00fa), 2024 cumhachta\u00ed nua d'\u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta talamh a chur ar f\u00e1il \u00f3 phunann maoine na heagra\u00edochta le haghaidh tith\u00edochta do chainteoir\u00ed Gaeilge i gceantair Ghaeltachta.  \u00d3 thaobh l\u00f3ist\u00edn turas\u00f3ireachta gearrth\u00e9armach de, cuirfidh an Bille um ligean gearrth\u00e9armach agus turas\u00f3ireacht bonn reacht\u00fail ar ch\u00f3ras nua cl\u00e1r\u00fach\u00e1in le haghaidh ligean gearrth\u00e9armach in \u00c9irinn. N\u00ed dh\u00e9anfaidh an Bille seo aon athr\u00fa ar na riachtanais phlean\u00e1la at\u00e1 ann cheana f\u00e9in le haghaidh ligean gearrth\u00e9armach in \u00c9irinn, ach cabhr\u00f3idh s\u00e9 leis na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala na riachtanais phlean\u00e1la at\u00e1 ann cheana a chur i bhfeidhm ar bhonn n\u00edos \u00e9ifeachta\u00ed. Cabhr\u00f3idh an Bille seo chomh maith le soil\u00e9ireacht a thabhairt faoin gcuid seo de thionscal na turas\u00f3ireachta agus chun a chinnti\u00fa go bhfuil s\u00e9 ag feidhmi\u00fa ar bhonn inbhuanaithe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Is \u00e9 an f\u00e1th gur luaigh m\u00e9 Acht na dTithe (Gaeltachta) n\u00e1 go n-aithn\u00edonn an chuid is m\u00f3 de dhaoine gur c\u00e1s ar leith \u00ed an Ghaeltacht, c\u00e9 go bhfuil an chuid eile den t\u00edr i ng\u00e9arch\u00e9im thith\u00edochta freisin. Muna bhfuil tithe ar f\u00e1il do l\u00e1n\u00faineacha agus daoine \u00e1iti\u00fala chun c\u00f3na\u00ed iontu, n\u00ed bheidh an Ghaeltacht ann amach anseo agus n\u00ed f\u00e9idir rud mar sin a at\u00f3g\u00e1il in aon bhealach ceart. In 2009, tugadh \u20ac2 milli\u00fan i ndeontais faoin Acht seo. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ann agus is f\u00e9idir \u00e9 a dh\u00e9anamh. D\u00e1 r\u00e9ir, is f\u00e9idir ceist eisceacht\u00fail a dh\u00e9anamh den Ghaeilge agus cuidi\u00fa le l\u00e1n\u00faineacha at\u00e1 ag triail le tithe a fh\u00e1il. N\u00ed f\u00e9idir leo tithe a fh\u00e1il mar n\u00edl siad ar d\u00edol. B'fh\u00e9idir go bhfuil siad \u00e1 ligean ar Airbnb. T\u00e1 c\u00e1s ar leith anseo. Is \u00e9 seo an bealach chun infheist\u00edocht a dh\u00e9anamh go tapa. Aithn\u00edm an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa ach t\u00e1 s\u00e9 ag tarl\u00fa go an-mhall. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Ar an gc\u00e9ad dul s\u00edos, is \u00e9 seo an f\u00e1th go bhfuil an Bille nua faoi ligean tith\u00edochta gearrth\u00e9armach chomh t\u00e1bhachtach is at\u00e1 s\u00e9. Beidh treoirl\u00ednte ag na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala. Aonta\u00edm leis an Teachta go bhfuil br\u00fa n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in ar ch\u00farsa\u00ed tith\u00edochta sa Ghaeltacht, ach ar an teanga. T\u00e1imid ag obair ar a l\u00e1n ruda\u00ed ach n\u00edl s\u00e9 simpl\u00ed. Caithfimid a admh\u00e1il nach bhfuil s\u00e9 simpl\u00ed. T\u00e1im ag bualadh leis an \u00fadar\u00e1s chun obair leis maidir leis an talamh at\u00e1 aige ag an bpointe seo agus chun a fh\u00e1il amach an bhfuil an talamh sin ullamh le haghaidh tith\u00edocht, n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in \u00f3 thaobh seirbh\u00eds\u00ed ach \u00f3 thaobh plean\u00e1la freisin. Beidh muid ag d\u00e9anamh na hoibre sin leis an \u00fadar\u00e1s. T\u00e1 r\u00f3l m\u00f3r ag na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala, na comhairl\u00ed contae, maidir leis seo freisin. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 tar \u00e9is c\u00fapla cruinni\u00fa a bheith agam le pr\u00edomhfheidhmeannaigh na gcomhairl\u00ed contae sin. Beidh cruinni\u00fa eile agam i m\u00ed Ean\u00e1ir chun br\u00fa a chur orthu, mar \u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala plean\u00e1la, chun obair a dh\u00e9anamh ar an bp\u00edosa seo. T\u00e1 na Gaeltachta\u00ed at\u00e1 i limist\u00e9ir na n-\u00fadar\u00e1s \u00e1iti\u00fail sin thar a bheith t\u00e1bhachtach. Caithfidh na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala, na comhairl\u00ed contae, an t\u00e1bhacht sin a thuiscint. Ag an bpointe seo, t\u00e1 deis leis an athbhreithni\u00fa maidir le rezoning at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal ag an bpointe seo.  T\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go dtap\u00f3idh siad an deis sin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Cloisim cad at\u00e1 \u00e1 r\u00e1 ag an Aire ach t\u00e1 frustrachas ar mhuintir na Gaeltachta toisc go raibh siad ag si\u00fal le treoirl\u00ednte plean\u00e1la Gaeltachta. T\u00e1 na treoirl\u00ednte sin tar \u00e9is b\u00e1s a fh\u00e1il. T\u00e1 an tAire ag caint faoi r\u00e1iteas anois a thiocfaidh agus a bheidh ag dul amach go comhairli\u00fach\u00e1n. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ag caint faoi bhlianta eile. Is an rud c\u00e9anna \u00e9 faoi Bhille \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta. N\u00edl s\u00e9 rite so n\u00edl na cumhachta\u00ed sin ag an \u00fadar\u00e1s faoi l\u00e1thair. T\u00e1imid f\u00f3s ag fanacht air teacht ar ais le go gcr\u00edochn\u00f3imid iad. N\u00edlimid ag iarraidh go mbeadh aon mhoill air. T\u00e1 g\u00e1 go mbeadh na ruda\u00ed seo ag tarl\u00fa anois mar is \u00e9 seo an \u00e1it at\u00e1 an fhadhb. An f\u00e1th go bhfuil m\u00e9 ag cur na ceiste faoin Acht ar leith seo n\u00e1 gur bealach tapa \u00e9 seo fad is at\u00e1imid ag fanacht ar na c\u00e9imeanna eile. Mura dtarla\u00edonn s\u00e9 sin, beidh s\u00e1inn ann. Beidh B\u00c1N\u00da, an eagra\u00edocht at\u00e1 ag tabhairt taca\u00edochta do cheantair Ghaeltachta maidir le tith\u00edocht, ag \u00e9ir\u00ed n\u00edos m\u00f3. T\u00e1 an ceart ag an Aire go bhfuil r\u00f3l ag na comhairl\u00ed contae. Ach anois l\u00e1ithreach, c\u00e1 bhfuil Bille \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta? C\u00e1 bhfuil na cumhachta\u00ed? C\u00e1 bhfuil an gn\u00edomh chun d\u00e9ile\u00e1il leis an gceist \u00e9igeand\u00e1la seo \u00f3 thaobh na Gaeltachta anois l\u00e1ithreach? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Beimid ar ais ag an mBille go luath san earrach. Roimh an mBille sin, t\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag obair leis an \u00fadar\u00e1s. N\u00edl m\u00e9 i mo shu\u00ed ansin. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag obair chun go mbeidh tuiscint idir m\u00e9 f\u00e9in agus an t-\u00fadar\u00e1s faoi st\u00e1das plean\u00e1la na tal\u00fan at\u00e1 aige i ngach chuid den Ghaeltacht. N\u00edl aon fhadhb agam cumhachta\u00ed a thabhairt don \u00fadar\u00e1s don talamh at\u00e1 aige ag an bpointe seo ach t\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go dtuigfimid c\u00e9ard \u00e9 st\u00e1das na tal\u00fan sin ag an bpointe seo agus c\u00e9n athruithe at\u00e1 d\u00e9anta. N\u00edl aon phointe cumhacht a thabhairt don \u00fadar\u00e1s murar f\u00e9idir leis an chumhacht sin a \u00fas\u00e1id mar gheall ar ch\u00farsa\u00ed plean\u00e1la n\u00f3 aon rialach\u00e1n a bheidh ar an talamh sin. T\u00e1im s\u00e1sta \u00e9 sin a phl\u00e9 leis an Teachta \u00d3 Snodaigh n\u00f3 leis an Teachta McGuinness i rith m\u00ed Ean\u00e1ir chun go mbeidh tuiscint ar an s\u00f3rt treo ina bhfuilimid ag dul. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"C\u00farsa\u00ed Tith\u00edochta"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Rural Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  Will the Minister consider granting funding to homecoming festivals in various locations in the country to promote tourism and increase investment, particularly in rural areas? What is his opinion on this? What supports can be provided? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank the Deputy for his question. My Department implements a wide range of schemes and supports that are available to community organisations and groups across the country. While my Department does not have a scheme specifically for community or homecoming festivals, there may be an avenue of support under the LEADER programme or potentially the local enhancement programme.  In respect of the LEADER programme, in line with the programme for Government, LEADER has a strong focus on rural tourism and funding has been made available under the programme for festivals and local tourism initiatives. For example, I am sure the Deputy will be well aware of the Old Fort Quarter festival, which has been run very successfully in Portlaoise in recent years. That has received funding from LEADER.  In order for a project to be eligible for LEADER funding, the proposed activity must be compatible with the actions outlined in the approved LEADER local development strategy and comply with the EU regulations and operating rules. The programme is administered by the local action groups, LAGs, across the country. Prospective applicants organising festivals should contact their relevant LAG.  Moving to the local enhancement programme, which is run by the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and me, this programme provides small capital grants to community and voluntary groups to improve facilities or purchase equipment. This may support groups that help run local festivals. We are finalising local enhancement programme for 2026 and will announce details of the new programme imminently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  What the Minister said in the last couple of sentences, in relation to finalising plans for 2026, is timely. This is a great way of improving tourism and visitor numbers. As we all know, tourism figures are down this year and there are various reasons for that. Some of it is due to high prices being charged by some hotels and over-pricing, and the industry has to take that on board. The first homecoming festival was organised in Laois this year and it was a huge success. It took place on 4, 5 and 6 September. A lot of voluntary work and commitment go into these festivals and it is an area we need to target in terms of economic and tourism benefits. It also has community and family benefits, because people who had not seen each other for 50 years, in some cases, met again for the first time. The route to securing funding needs to be simplified. I take on board the point about the LEADER programme but it tends to be set. There are a lot of calls on it. A separate stream of funding needs to be made available for this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I absolutely appreciate the role of any festival or gathering in any rural community. That is why we support the rural shows to the extent of \u20ac1 million right across the country, with over 130 of them. F\u00e1ilte Ireland, which is the predominant domestic tourism development agency, has a range of schemes in place for supporting local festivals and local community events, as do the local authorities. As I said, the LEADER programme supports festivals. There is one in Portlaoise and others in Ballinakill, Cullahill and Spink, across the Deputy's county. The LEADER programme has a very good track record of supporting festivals across County Laois. I know there are a number of local authorities around the country that provide current funding for festivals in local areas as well.  We are more than happy to assist with capital funding through the LEADER programme, but given the existing level of support through F\u00e1ilte Ireland and other organisations, I have no plans to look at this proposal further at this point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I thank the Minister for his reply. I acknowledge the support given to the Old Fort Quarter festival and other projects in County Laois through the LEADER fund and I accept that. The key thing is that sometimes the information on what is available and where it can be accessed is unclear. I know some bureaucracy is necessary and it is important that money be accounted for properly and that things be done the right way. However, we need to try to streamline this. There can be a multitude of places to go to for funding but sometimes there is a fog in that regard. It needs to be kept very simple and straightforward. Maybe there could be something from the Department to state what is available. The Minister mentioned a number of avenues. Information is key for local communities to find out where to go for this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Absolutely. We did try to provide that information, but that feedback is coming back to me quite often, so we will consider a one-stop shop for that information. I acknowledge that it is predominantly volunteers who organise these festivals. These are people who are very busy elsewhere in their lives and are probably involved in multiple other organisations in their communities at the same time. We will try to ensure we have a one-stop shop to provide the information.  I wish to bring the attention of every Deputy here this morning to the fact we are finalising the current consultation on Our Rural Future, which is our scaffolding document for rural policy. The final date for submissions is 12 December, which is tomorrow week, and I encourage all Deputies to look at the current draft and to input into that review. If there are suggestions or proposals similar to those the Deputy has, every Deputy should try to make those and we will incorporate the views of Oireachtas Members into the document. It is the scaffolding document on which we will build projects and funding programmes over the next five years. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 5 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Rural Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Foras na Gaeilge","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Cuirim ceist faoi fhorbairt an phobal Gaeltachta. C\u00e9 go bhfuil an tAire le moladh as an ard\u00fa suntasach a baineadh amach i mbuis\u00e9ad 2026 don Ghaeilge agus don Ghaeltacht, an bhfuil socr\u00fa d\u00e9anta i dtaobh an \u20ac2 mhilli\u00fan a gealladh d\u2019Fhoras na Gaeilge? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta. Tabharfaidh m\u00e9 seans d\u00f3 a breath a fh\u00e1il. Is \u00ed an Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas a cheada\u00edonn buis\u00e9id bhliant\u00fala na gComhlachta\u00ed Forfheidhmithe Thuaidh Theas, an Foras Teanga san \u00e1ireamh. Cuireann Rialtas na h\u00c9ireann 75% de bhuis\u00e9ad Fhoras na Gaeilge ar f\u00e1il agus tagann an 25% eile \u00f3 Fheidhmeannas Thuaisceart \u00c9ireann, de r\u00e9ir an ch\u00f3imheas maoinithe a aonta\u00edodh nuair a buna\u00edodh an Foras Teanga.  D'fhreastail m\u00e9 ar chruinni\u00fa de chuid an Chomhairle Aireachta Thuaidh-Theas i gCampas S\u00edoch\u00e1na Mhuineach\u00e1in inn\u00e9, an 3 Nollaig, inar aonta\u00edodh pleananna gn\u00f3 agus buis\u00e9id 2026 d'Fhoras na Gaeilge agus do Ghn\u00edomhaireacht na hUltaise. Mar thoradh air seo, cuirfear maoini\u00fa comhaontaithe de \u20ac20 milli\u00fan ar f\u00e1il d'Fhoras na Gaeilge agus do Ghn\u00edomhaireacht na hUltaise in 2026. Anuas air seo, cuims\u00edtear sna pleananna gn\u00f3 go mbeidh maoini\u00fa imfh\u00e1laithe \u00e1 chur ar f\u00e1il ag mo Roinn don fhoras agus don ghn\u00edomhaireacht le cl\u00e1ir agus gn\u00edomha\u00edochta\u00ed ar leith a reacht\u00e1il in 2026. Cuims\u00edonn s\u00e9 seo an maoini\u00fa breise a fuair m\u00e9 mar chuid de bhuis\u00e9ad 2026.  T\u00e1 \u00e1thas orm a fh\u00f3gairt go n-ard\u00f3far maoini\u00fa chl\u00e1r na leabhar Gaeilge go \u20ac2 milli\u00fan in 2026, an leibh\u00e9al is airde riamh. Chomh maith leis sin, cuirfear maoini\u00fa breise os cionn \u20ac2 milli\u00fan ar f\u00e1il do chl\u00e1ir agus do ghn\u00edomha\u00edochta\u00ed eile Fhoras na Gaeilge in 2026. Cuirfear \u20ac200,000 ar f\u00e1il do Ghn\u00edomhaireacht na hUltaise do thogra\u00ed bainteach le gn\u00edomha\u00edochta\u00ed ar leith i gContaetha Dh\u00fan na nGall, Mhuineach\u00e1in agus an Chabh\u00e1in, agus n\u00edos faide \u00f3 dheas de r\u00e9ir a ch\u00e9ile. Tabharfaidh s\u00e9 seo ar fad cinnteacht don bhForas Teanga agus do na heagra\u00edochta agus gr\u00fapa\u00ed pobail ar fud an oile\u00e1in a bhaineann tairbhe as na sc\u00e9imeanna taca\u00edochta agus maoinithe a chuirtear ar f\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 go deas \u00e9 sin a cloiste\u00e1il. Maidir leis an maoini\u00fa le haghaidh Foras na Gaeilge, ba mhaith liom m\u00edle bu\u00edochas a ghabh\u00e1il ar son mo Dh\u00e1ilcheantar agus ar son muintir na Gaeltachta. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ag caint le hionadaithe agus t\u00e1 siad an-bhu\u00edoch. An f\u00e9idir leis an Aire an \u20ac2 milli\u00fan at\u00e1 beartaithe d\u2019Fhoras na Gaeilge \u00f3 mh\u00ed Ean\u00e1ir ar aghaidh a mh\u00edni\u00fa? Can this funding be channelled directly through Foras na Gaeilge from that date? What interim or alternative solution has been designed so that community groups do not lose time or opportunities? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  T\u00e1 muin\u00edn agam anois mar gheall ar an airgead breise. N\u00edl aon ch\u00fais ann go gcaillfeadh aon ghr\u00fapa am n\u00f3 airgead. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 soil\u00e9ir le m\u2019oifigigh agus leis an bhforas nach raibh m\u00e9 ag iarraidh go mbeimid san \u00e1it c\u00e9anna a raibh siad sa tr\u00e9imhse dheireanach. Mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9 sa fhreagra, t\u00e1 cinnteacht ag Foras na Gaeilge faoin airgead breise at\u00e1 acu le caitheamh ar ghr\u00fapa\u00ed agus eagra\u00edochta\u00ed Gaeilge. Leis an gcinnteacht sin, beidh bord an fhorais in ann plean gn\u00edomha\u00edochta agus plean gn\u00f3 a aont\u00fa leis na heagra\u00edochta\u00ed. Mar gheall ar an airgead breise, n\u00ed bheidh aon gh\u00e1 leis na fadhbanna a bh\u00ed againn i rith na bliana. Tuigim, i ndiaidh na comhr\u00e1ite a bh\u00ed agam le pr\u00edomhfheidhmeannach an fhorais agus le cathaoirleach bhord an fhorais inn\u00e9 go bhfuil siad ag ullmh\u00fa agus ag caint leis na heagra\u00edochta\u00ed Gaeilge. T\u00e1 oifigigh mo Roinne ag caint leo freisin. T\u00e1 muin\u00edn agam go mbeidh bliain fhada agus l\u00e1idir ag an bhforas agus, go h\u00e1irithe, ag na heagra\u00edochta\u00ed faoi sti\u00faradh an fhorais. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  N\u00ed raibh m\u00e9 ag an gcruinni\u00fa sin; bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ag cruinni\u00fa eile. T\u00e1im f\u00edorbhu\u00edoch as an \u20ac2 milli\u00fan sin d\u2019Fhoras na Gaeilge. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ag caint le hionadaithe ar\u00e9ir nuair a chuir an tAire an f\u00f3gra amach. Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis as sin. Agus muid ag caint mar gheall ar an nGaeilge agus Foras na Gaeilge, ba mhaith liom ceist eile at\u00e1 ag goilli\u00faint ar phobal mo dh\u00e1ilcheantar a ard\u00fa. B'fh\u00e9idir nach bhfuil an tAire in ann caint faoi. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag caint faoi deighilt a dh\u00e9anamh idir an bh\u00e9alscr\u00fad\u00fa agus ceist na gramada\u00ed. T\u00e1 go leor daoine i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath at\u00e1 l\u00edofa sa Ghaeilge nach bhfuil in ann aon rud a chur ar ph\u00e1ip\u00e9ar. An bhfuil \u00e9inne sa Roinn oideachais ag smaoineamh mar gheall ar an nGaeilge mar \u00e1bhar scoile a roinnt idir an bh\u00e9alscr\u00fad\u00fa agus an ghramadach? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  N\u00ed h\u00e9 sin mo ch\u00faram. Baineann s\u00e9 leis an Aire oideachais agus an Roinn oideachais. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Tuigim \u00e9 sin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Fad is at\u00e1imid ag caint faoi, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach a r\u00e1 go bhfuil Gaeilge ag gach duine sa t\u00edr seo. Ba cheart go mbeimid in ann \u00ed a \u00fas\u00e1id gan ghear\u00e1n. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go mbeadh muin\u00edn ag daoine a gcuid Gaeilge a \u00fas\u00e1id gan daoine a bheith ag magadh f\u00fathu. T\u00e1 s\u00ed againn. Ba cheart go dtabharfadh daoine a bhfuil Gaeilge l\u00edofa acu seans do dhaoine nach bhfuil chomh l\u00edofa c\u00e9anna a gcuid Gaeilge a \u00fas\u00e1id agus a labhairt. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go gcuirfimid b\u00e9im ar an nGaeilge \u00f3 bh\u00e9al. Is \u00e9 sin ceann de na c\u00faiseanna go bhfuil c\u00farsa\u00ed ag \u00e9ir\u00ed chomh l\u00e1idir i dtaca leis an nGaeilge anois. Anseo i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath t\u00e1 Gaeilge 365 againn, ar bhunaigh Comhairle Cathrach Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 mar sprioc ag an gcl\u00e1r iontach seo cabhr\u00fa leis na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala seirbh\u00eds\u00ed a chur ar f\u00e1il tr\u00ed Ghaeilge. Gu\u00edm gach rath ar Gaeilge 365. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Foras na Gaeilge"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"EU Funding","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  LEADER funding, as the Minister will be aware, plays a vital role in our communities and businesses, especially in my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan. A reduction in LEADER funding would be unacceptable for rural communities that are already struggling. Can the Minister assure us that LEADER funding will not be reduced? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  For over 30 years, LEADER has delivered tangible benefits to rural communities in areas such as economic development and job creation, rural infrastructure, social inclusion, environmental sustainability and, as we discussed, rural activities. Therefore, the development of the EU regulations relating to the post-2027 Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, and the new national and regional partnership plans is a matter of significant importance to me and to my Department. Ireland will continue to advocate for a well-funded CAP that supports farm resilience, environmental ambition and, crucially, rural development measures such as LEADER.  Within the draft regulations, the inclusion of the LEADER programme as a CAP intervention is to be welcomed. As part of the ongoing negotiation process, my Department continues to emphasise the importance of a ring-fenced allocation for the LEADER Programme. Detailed discussions on the shape and operation of the new regulations are ongoing at both national and EU levels. To facilitate the current negotiation process for the post-2027 period, the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine has established a CAP consultative committee, which includes representation from my Department. I acknowledge the work of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, in involving my Department in this.  Separately, while in Strasbourg last week, I met with Irish MEPs, including Kathleen Funchion, to discuss a range of issues, including LEADER funding, in the context of the next EU budgetary cycle. I will continue to work with the Irish MEPs and my Government colleagues to ensure that the LEADER programme is supported and well funded into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  The LEADER programme has played a crucial role in rural development, especially in addressing and developing the rural community. It has, therefore, been a regressive move that LEADER has faced cuts in every programme for nearly 20 years. Prior to the financial crisis, the annualised budget for the LEADER programme between 2007 to 2013 was \u20ac57 million per year, reducing to \u20ac54 million post the crash. The annual allocation for the 2014 to 2020 programme was slashed by one third to \u20ac35 million. The Government signed off on a transition programme of \u20ac35 million to \u20ac36 million on average per year for 2023 to 2027. That is not only a cut in real terms. Taking account of inflation, LEADER funding must stand at half of what it once was. My question again is: does the Minister accept that the LEADER budget has been gutted and what can he do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  If the Minister will hold on, Deputy McGuinness has a supplementary question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  LEADER funding has been cut in 2024 and 2025 and now it has been cut in the budget for next year. I would like to know what the rationale is for that and I would like a breakdown of what will be affected by that cut. The cut in LEADER funding for next year is in the order of \u20ac10 million.  That has to be considered in the broader reconfiguration of CAP happening at European level and the Government's failure - this is bigger than the Department only as it is being led by the Department of agriculture - to come to terms with that and to exert influence at European level to ensure that rural development funding and, indeed, other measures are protected within that reconfiguration.  This is also part of a direction of travel here in Ireland where there has been a divestment in rural communities by successive Governments from 2014 on, with changes to the LEADER programme and, as my colleague Deputy Bennett said, year-on-year cuts to funding.  It can be dressed up as being about transitional periods and an envelope of funding that lasts but in real terms, we are seeing cuts year on year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  One cannot talk about LEADER cuts without also talking about the fact that a whole range of new programmes have been invested in, including RRDF, TVRS, RSS and CCIF. They are now in place but were not in place over many years of the LEADER programme. They fulfil many of the duties LEADER did. LEADER funding is not cut for next year. We will spend the full allocation during the programme. The remaining \u20ac180 million has been allocated for 2023 to 2027. That maintains the funding with the previous programme. I am confident we will spend that full \u20ac180 million. Approvals are currently slow, as has always been the method. We will ensure allocations are in place. I am working on a post-2027 scenario. That is why I have had meetings with MEPs. I encourage the Deputies to do the same in terms of looking at that cross-European support that we need to have a LEADER programme funded separately under the CAP measure. That is important. The MEPs left me under no illusion last week as to the challenges relating to the multiannual financial framework, MFF, and funding. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  I am relaying the fears of my constituents. LEADER funding was cut in the immediate aftermath of the financial crash, was raided during the austerity years and it was cut further in real terms under the previous Government. The meagre increase is not enough to keep up with inflation. My fear now is the Government is seemingly not that put out about a European Commission proposal to cut CAP by nearly 25%, through which LEADER is funded, and that the European Commission, Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael will see our local development companies and rural development take the short straw once again. Will the Minister not only rule out further cuts to LEADER but commit at European level to advocating for the full restoration of LEADER funds to pre-crash levels? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I do not have the Waterford figures but the Cavan LEADER programme for 2023 to 2027 has an allocation of \u20ac6.37 million. There is \u20ac5.985 million for Monaghan. To date, under the 2023 to 2027 programme, 45 projects have been approved, 25 in Cavan and 20 in Monaghan to the value of \u20ac1.62 million in Cavan and \u20ac1.29 million in Monaghan. That funding continues but it is also in partnership with the other projects I mentioned. We have seen some of those projects in RSS, CCIF and RRDF. I will continue to work the Deputy and the Chair on delivering projects in Cavan and Monaghan. The development companies are very important partners in developing those projects. I was in Cork last weekend with the Minister of State where we saw IRD Duhallow using other projects. The Deputy can be absolute assured that I am very focused on LEADER. That is why I was in Strasbourg last week and met MEPs. Equally, it is not the Government causing the difficulties. A debate is under way about the entire European budget. I assure the Deputy the studs are on and we will defend the interests of LEADER and I will defend the interests of rural communities. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 8, 9 and 11 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"EU Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Irish Language","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  T\u00e1im f\u00edorbhu\u00edoch as a bheith sa Chamber ar\u00eds. T\u00e1im chun ceist a chur ar an Aire faoin Clondalkin Irish language network agus Gaeilge 365 idir 2025 agus 2028 agus faoi na targets, the number of innovative projects to be developed each year, the number to be mainstreamed agus an l\u00edonra at\u00e1 ann idir na ceithre local authorities i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath. When talking about giving constituencies stuff, I urge the Minister not to forget north Dublin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  As the Deputy will be aware, Muintir Chr\u00f3n\u00e1in is the lead organisation, which prepared the Clondalkin language plan approved in 2020. Annual funding of \u20ac96,000 is provided to the Irish Language Network to implement its language plan and to employ a full time Irish-language officer. Foras na Gaeilge continually monitors the implementation of specified actions in the Clondalkin language plan in its role as the organisation tasked with supporting and funding Muintir Chr\u00f3n\u00e1in. Separately, it is intended that a review of the Clondalkin language plan will be carried out in the sixth year of the implementation, a process I discussed with Deputy Conor McGuinness.  My Department intends to publish the first evaluation of language plans in the Gaeltacht language planning areas in the coming weeks. They will be used to further inform the methodology for monitoring plans under the Irish language process, including Clondalkin. Gaeilge 365 is the first innovation unit to operate through Irish in the public service. The fundamental aim of this project is to put an innovative approach in place to create more opportunities for the public to speak Irish through the services of the four Dublin local authorities including those servicing Dublin Bay North. Indicators used to measure progress include the following: for year one, to develop 16 innovative tested language projects; create 30,000 plus Irish-speaking opportunities through council services; root at least two innovative language projects in the councils; scale at least one innovative language projects through additional funding sources; at least three empowerment programmes in hand with over 45 participants annually; launch the policy book; and 100,000 plus social media views on related content. These targets will be built upon for years two, three and four of this initiative. T\u00e1 muin\u00edn agam go mbeidh seans ag muintir Dh\u00e1ilcheantar an Teachta \u00fas\u00e1id a bhaint as Gaeilge 365 agus na deiseanna a ghabhann leis. Mar is eol don Teachta, t\u00e1 gealltanas sa chl\u00e1r Rialtais chun Gaeilge 365 a leathn\u00fa amach go dt\u00ed \u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala eile sa St\u00e1t. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  T\u00e1im f\u00edorbhu\u00edoch as sin. T\u00e1 na daoine at\u00e1 ag obair le Gaeilge 365 ag d\u00e9anamh obair na gcapall. Maidir leis an rud faoina raibh m\u00e9 ag caint leis an Aire n\u00edos luaithe, n\u00edl s\u00e9 greanta i gcloch. T\u00e1 a fhios agam nach bhfuil an tAire sa Roinn oideachais ach t\u00e1 go leor eolais aige mar gheall ar an \u00e1bhar seo. T\u00e1im ag iarraidh an rud a d\u00fairt m\u00e9 a shoil\u00e9iri\u00fa. N\u00edlim ag iarraidh dh\u00e1 \u00e1bhar. T\u00e1im ag iarraidh an t-\u00e1bhar a athr\u00fa. T\u00e1 a fhios ag an Aire nach bhfuil an Ghaeilge i leabhair. T\u00e1 pop-up Gaeltacht sa teach t\u00e1bhairne, t\u00e1 F\u00e9ile na Geala\u00ed i R\u00e1th Chairn agus t\u00e1 go leor initiatives eile ann. T\u00e1 an fuinneamh at\u00e1 sa Ghaeilge anois craice\u00e1ilte. Maidir leis an rud at\u00e1im ag iarraidh a dh\u00e9anamh, c\u00e9n f\u00e1th go bhfuilimid ag foghlaim \"An Spailp\u00edn F\u00e1nach\"? Is cuma le gach duine faoi sin. B'fh\u00e9idir go bhfuil go leor daoine \u00e1 iarraidh ach caithfidh daoine a bheith ag labhairt na Gaeilge. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 beo. N\u00edl s\u00e9 sa leabhar. Ba ch\u00f3ir f\u00e9achaint ar an rud a rinneadh sa Bhreatain Bheag. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Maidir le c\u00farsa\u00ed oideachais, ba ch\u00f3ir don Teachta ceisteanna a chur ar an Aire oideachais. T\u00e1 tuairim\u00ed suimi\u00fala ag an Teachta ach ba cheart d\u00f3 na tuairim\u00ed sin a phl\u00e9 leis an Aire oideachais, an Teachta Hildegarde Naughton. Thug m\u00e9 freagra maidir leis an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa le Gaeilge 365. L\u00e9ir\u00edonn s\u00e9 sin an fuinneamh agus na c\u00farsa\u00ed nua at\u00e1 ar bun chun an Ghaeilge a spreagadh. T\u00e1thar ag baint \u00fas\u00e1id as na me\u00e1in sh\u00f3isialta, as seirbh\u00eds\u00ed na gcomhairl\u00ed \u00e1iti\u00fail i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath, as seirbh\u00eds\u00ed daoine agus as leabhair. Maidir le ceist dheireanach an Teachta, t\u00e1 \u20ac2 milli\u00fan bhreise tugtha d'Fhoras na Gaeilge le haghaidh cl\u00e1r na leabhar Gaeilge. Leis na leabhair Ghaeilge, beidh d\u00e9ag\u00f3ir\u00ed agus p\u00e1ist\u00ed in ann an Ghaeilge a \u00fas\u00e1id i gcomhth\u00e9acs difri\u00fail agus suimi\u00fail. T\u00e1 leabhair nua maidir le teicneola\u00edocht agus gach rud eile \u00e1 bhfoilsi\u00fa de thoradh ar an airgead breise sin. Tuigim an frustrachas at\u00e1 ar an Teachta ach, maidir le haon rud le haghaidh na Roinne oideachais, ba ch\u00f3ir d\u00f3 an frustrachas sin a ligean amach ar an Aire oideachais. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Tuigim \u00e9 sin. T\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm ach t\u00e1 go leor eolais ag an Aire faoin \u00e1bhar seo. T\u00e1 fearg orm faoi. T\u00e1im 27 mbliana d'aois. T\u00e1 gl\u00fain nua ag teacht anuas agus iad ag foghlaim an rud c\u00e9anna a d'fhoghlaim m\u00e9 f\u00e9in. N\u00ed bheadh Gaeilge agam gan mo dheirfi\u00far. N\u00edlim ag cur aon shade ar fhil\u00ed. Is file \u00ed mo dheirfi\u00far ach caithfimid an rud a athr\u00fa. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sean. N\u00edl s\u00e9 don ghl\u00fain seo. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ag caint leis an Aire faoi seo. M\u00e1 fh\u00e9achann t\u00fa ar an teanga n\u00e1d\u00fartha sa Bhreatain Bheag, is l\u00e9ir go bhfuil siad ag d\u00e9anamh an rud ceart. T\u00e1 siad ag athr\u00fa sa roinn agus is \u00e9 sin an rud is t\u00e1bhachta\u00ed.  Caithfimid caimil\u00e9ireacht a dh\u00e9anamh ar an rud seo agus an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 ag obair sa t\u00edr eile seo a dh\u00e9anamh leis an teanga d\u00fachasach anseo. T\u00e1 a fhios agam nach h\u00e9 an Teachta Calleary an tAire oideachais. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  N\u00edl m\u00f3r\u00e1n disagreement eadrainn. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag s\u00fail go mbeidh deis agam staid\u00e9ar a dh\u00e9anamh ar cad at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa sa Bhreatain Bheag go h\u00e1irithe maidir le c\u00farsa\u00ed teanga agus fuinnimh. Caithfidh an Teachta a admh\u00e1il go bhfuil fuinneamh ann i gc\u00farsa\u00ed Gaeilge ag an bpointe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  T\u00e1. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9 leis an Teachta McGuinness n\u00edos luaithe, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 ann de bharr obair na OPTs at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal agus an obair a bh\u00ed \u00e1 pl\u00e9 againn at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal ag na daoine in \u00c1ras Chr\u00f3n\u00e1in agus i ngach chuid den t\u00edr. T\u00e1 na daoine \u00e1iti\u00fala at\u00e1 ag pl\u00e9 le c\u00farsa\u00ed \u00e1iti\u00fala ag cur ruda\u00ed ar si\u00fal agus ag cur cl\u00e1r na Gaeilge ar si\u00fal. T\u00e1 an fuinneamh sin ann mar gheall ar obair TG4, Raidi\u00f3 R\u00ed-R\u00e1, Conradh na Gaeilge, agus na heagra\u00edochta\u00ed Gaeilge a bh\u00edomar ag pl\u00e9 n\u00edos luaithe faoi ch\u00farsa\u00ed Fhoras na Gaeilge agus an t-airgead sin. Beidh an \u20ac2 milli\u00fan breise sin ag dul i dtreo an fhuinnimh sin. T\u00e1 sc\u00e9al maith agus l\u00e1idir againn ach tuigim frustrachas an Teachta. D\u00e9anfaidh m\u00e9 staid\u00e9ar ar cad at\u00e1 ag tarl\u00fa sna t\u00edortha eile. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Irish Language"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  As the Deputy knows, the local improvement scheme, LIS, supports the improvement of rural roads and laneways that are not usually maintained by local authorities. Since its re-establishment in 2017, the Government has provided almost \u20ac184 million to local authorities under it. This funding has resulted in improvement work on nearly 5,000 roads, benefiting over 23,000 landowners and residents in rural areas. Once LIS allocations are made each year on a county basis, it is at the discretion of each the local authorities to select and prioritise roads for improvement under the scheme each year.  I announced additional funding for the LIS in August, bringing the total allocation for 2025 to \u20ac30 million. This is the highest annual allocation for the scheme to date, and it reflects the priority that the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I attach to it.  Since 2017, Cork County Council has received a total of \u20ac14.15 million in LIS funding, the second-highest allocation to local authorities nationally. Cork's allocation under the 2025 scheme totalled \u20ac2.33 million.  The 2026 scheme is expected to be launched early next year. I am reviewing the provisions in advance to ensure they will be managed as reasonably and efficiently as possible. My officials will continue to engage with local authorities across the country as next year's scheme is rolled out. I encourage Deputies to engage with their local authorities to ensure all funding for 2025 is expended. Details of the 2026 scheme, including county allocations, will be circulated among local authorities and published on the Department's website as they become available. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I thank the Minister. It is great to see that so much progress has been made on the local improvement scheme since it was re-established in 2017. The 5,000 improved roads in many rural parts of the country are very important to many of our constituents. I welcome the fact that the Minister has doubled the funding this year to \u20ac30 million, representing one of the largest increases for the scheme in the history of the State. It is great to see that Cork County Council has expended over \u20ac14 million on the scheme since its re-establishment in 2017.  There are many roads in my constituency, Cork North-West. We had the privilege of having the Minister down in Rylane last weekend. Many roads around Rylane and other areas are in significant need of refurbishment. Many applications have been received by Cork County Council and there are many on hand. As a public representative for the area, I urge the Minister to continue to push for further funding between now and 2030 so we can continue to address the backlog of roads that need to be improved during that time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank the Deputy. We had a super day in Rylane and Kishkeam. I thank everybody for their welcome, including Deputy John Paul O\u2019Shea, Deputy Aindrias Moynihan and the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. There was a lot of really good progress in respect of the subject matter of the discussions we had here earlier.  Cork County Council reported 175 LIS roads awaiting repair at the end of 2024. Fifty-one roads, including four island roads, have been repaired to date in 2025. Cork County Council is one of our best-performing local authorities. I am very conscious of the size of Cork county in the context of all our allocations. We will continue to work with local authorities on the LIS.  The cost per road repair differs from local authority to local authority. I am carrying out an analysis of what is influencing this. We need to address the backlog. The Deputy has spoken about the backlog in his area. I will do some work on this and am happy to take suggestions from all the rural Deputies on how we should address it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I thank the Minister. It is good to see that Cork County Council is getting a lot of praise here this morning for its participation in the scheme and for ensuring many roads will be done this season. A total allocation of \u20ac2.33 million for 2025 is very welcome. I am sure many roads in my area, Cork North-West, and right across the county will be done. It is great that many roads on the islands off the mainland of Cork County have been done also.  It is important to get the allocations out early in the year so we can ask the local authorities about projects. The roads staff do all our public roads and are involved with the community involvement scheme and roads programme right across Cork county. It is important from a resource point of view to get the allocation as quickly as possible. I will work with the Minister, the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and others to try to address the long waiting list for Cork county. I can guarantee the Minister that we will spend whatever money we get. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I absolutely agree. We will try to get the allocations out early. Under the former Minister, Heather Humphreys, and under me and the current Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, where there were underspends in our capital area half way through the year, we put them in. That is why I was able to get the additional allocation. The initial allocation for 2026, which will be announced, is \u20ac17 million. I am confident we will be able to increase that. We will get it out early. I am confident, from engaging with my officials, that there are no major underspends in any local authority this year. It was astounding to me that any local authority would not spend its full LIS allocation. We have resolved that issue.  Department officials are engaging with the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and me on what a 2026 scheme would look like. I am very much open to suggestions, particularly on the backlog, on how to address it and how to achieve a balance in doing so. We will continue to engage with the Department of Transport on this in the context of the value my Department offers in this space. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Irish Language","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  An leagfaidh an tAire amach na tionscnaimh at\u00e1 \u00e1 gcur ar bun ag Gaois in DCU, and will he make a statement on the matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Go raibh maith ag an Teachta. Mar is eol d\u00f3, is gr\u00fapa eolais \u00e9 Gaois i bhFiontar agus Scoil na Gaeilge in Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath. It comprises lecturers, researchers and postgraduate students. Gaois has received funding from my Department since 2027. I visited DCU just last month to see the great work it is doing. I was delighted to announce just over \u20ac4 million for Gaois for the next four years to help to significantly develop its major projects.  The projects developed by Gaois are research and reference resources of an exceptionally high standard, which provide a comprehensive facility to the Irish-language community focused on the development of innovative resources to sustain the language and the learning of Irish. Students, teachers, journalists, translators and the wider public can, depending on their areas of research, easily access the contents through searching some of the following sites: d\u00fachas.ie , which entails digitisation of the Irish folklore collection; logainm.ie , the Irish placenames database; corpas.ie , the national corpus of the Irish language, which includes both written and oral material; can\u00faint.ie , a repository of Irish dialects; and ainm.ie , the national database of Irish-language biographies. The sites will be of interest not only to ourselves but also to daoine i ngach chuid den domhan a bhfuil suim acu sa Ghaeilge agus i stair agus cult\u00far an oile\u00e1in freisin.  I am very conscious that the funding my Department is providing will enable Gaois to develop greater integration between the sites, provide more powerful search facilities and ensure a structured supply of information in a measured way to artificial intelligence models.  Additionally, it will advance the Gaois working groups, develop the next generation of technicians and researchers, and sustain the resources' userbase. Previous projects undertaken by Gaois with the assistance of funding received from my Department include the LEX Project, which has provided terminology support for the EU institutions from 2008 onwards, and an l\u00edonra saineolaithe a bh\u00ed forbartha with the aim of providing high-quality technical advice to Irish-language translators and terminologists in the European institutions. I look forward to continuing work with Gaois sna blianta at\u00e1 romhainn. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  As the Minister mentioned, the \u20ac4 million investment is a very substantial commitment from the Department and I welcome it. Gaois's building in DCU is a big northside institution right on the edge of Dublin Bay North, my constituency, and it serves that entire area well. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 iontach go bhfuil an infheist\u00edocht seo ag tarl\u00fa ach go bhfuil s\u00e9 lonnaithe sa tr\u00ed\u00fa leibh\u00e9al. T\u00e1 an cumas acad\u00fail ag na hinstiti\u00faid\u00ed tr\u00ed\u00fa leibh\u00e9al an taighde ar fad a tharraingt le ch\u00e9ile agus na huirlis\u00ed seo a chur ar f\u00e1il. Luaigh an tAire d\u00fachas.ie , logainm.ie , corpas.ie agus can\u00faint.ie . They are some of the big projects that are being expanded. They are great tools for students of all levels, for researchers and for the Irish-language community across the country and abroad. They are a great reference and can really bring people in. There is significant potential for these projects for the next generation of Irish-language speakers. A renewal is happening which is huge and is great to see. I ask the Minister to continue on the investment track, build these projects and invest in third level so we can build out those tools for generations to come. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas as sin. Is infheist\u00edocht an-mh\u00f3r \u00e9 \u20ac4 milli\u00fan. T\u00e1im f\u00edorbhu\u00edoch as sin. T\u00e1 an tAire ag cur go leor airgid i mBaile \u00c1tha Cliath thuaidh so t\u00e1 s\u00e9 iontach \u00e9 sin a fheiscint. Is iarmhac l\u00e9inn m\u00e9 de chuid Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ann dh\u00e1 bhliain \u00f3 shin. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 iontach. Bh\u00ed m\u00e9 sa Chumann Gaelach ann. T\u00e1 m\u00e9 f\u00edorbhu\u00edoch as sin. Mar a d\u00fairt an tAire, t\u00e1 mic l\u00e9inn a thagann go Baile \u00c1tha Cliath \u00f3 gach t\u00edr in ann an Ghaeilge a fhoghlaim. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin iontach a fheice\u00e1il. T\u00e1im f\u00edorbhu\u00edoch as sin. Gabhaim m\u00edle bu\u00edochas le mo constituency colleague, Deputy \u00d3 Muir\u00ed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta \u00d3 Muir\u00ed agus an Teachta Heneghan as an deis a thabhairt dom caint faoi Gaois. Bh\u00ed an mhaidin sin coic\u00eds \u00f3 shin in Ollscoil Chathair Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath iontach. Bh\u00ed fuinneamh agus suim sa seomra sin agus s\u00fail ar an \u00e1bhar freisin. Bh\u00ed siad ag \u00fas\u00e1id na websites sin, d\u00fachas.ie , logainm.ie , corpas.ie , can\u00faint.ie agus ainm.ie . T\u00e1 siad ag cur s\u00fail ar an todhcha\u00ed agus t\u00e1 tuiscint acu faoi ch\u00farsa\u00ed intleacht shaorga, go h\u00e1irithe na deiseanna at\u00e1 ann le AI agus an teanga, agus na d\u00fashl\u00e1in at\u00e1 ann freisin. T\u00e1 a l\u00e1n oibre ar si\u00fal i Gaois faoi na d\u00fashl\u00e1in ach faoi na deiseanna freisin. T\u00e1 muin\u00edn agam san obair at\u00e1 ar si\u00fal ansin. T\u00e1 muin\u00edn agam go mbeidh an Roinn in ann obair le Gaois chun cl\u00e1ir eile a chur ar si\u00fal. I am confident that we will be co-operating further with Gaois. I am always happy to invest in the north side of Dublin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  B\u00edm bre\u00e1 s\u00e1sta i gc\u00f3na\u00ed ard\u00e1n a thabhairt don Teachta Heneghan. B\u00edonn s\u00e9 liom gach uile \u00e1it a dt\u00e9im. Nach bhfuil s\u00e9 sin f\u00edor? Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire. T\u00e1 an-fh\u00e1ilte roimh an infheist\u00edocht i dtuaisceart Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath. T\u00e1 an institi\u00faid sin thar cionn. D\u00e9anann D\u00e1ire Keogh agus an gr\u00fapa ansin an-jab. T\u00e1 na fr\u00e9amhacha leagtha acu \u00f3 thaobh an obair a dh\u00e9anamh. Ar aghaidh linn leis an tionscnamh. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Cuirfidh m\u00e9 n\u00f3ta go dt\u00ed an Teachta McGuinness. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 l\u00e1idir sa troid sin. Bh\u00ed an \u00f3c\u00e1id sin iontach. Mar a d\u00fairt an Teachta, t\u00e1 an togra seo t\u00e1bhachtach n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in do na mic l\u00e9inn ollscoile ach freisin do mhuintir na teanga anseo agus go hidirn\u00e1isi\u00fanta. T\u00e1 siad in ann staid\u00e9ar a dh\u00e9anamh ar d\u00fachas.ie , logainm.ie , corpas.ie , can\u00faint.ie agus ainm.ie cib\u00e9 c\u00e9n \u00e1it ina bhfuil siad. T\u00e1 an LEX Project an-t\u00e1bhachtach le haghaidh ch\u00farsa\u00ed an EU ionas go mbeimid in ann na seirbh\u00eds\u00ed a chur ar f\u00e1il san EU, including translation services. I met Irish MEPs last week, including Cynthia N\u00ed Mhurch\u00fa and Se\u00e1n Kelly, who are very frustrated at the slow progress of full translation services at EU level. The work we are doing at DCU and under Gaois is very much central to our case. Gabhaim bu\u00edochas le gach duine i Gaois agus san ollscoil, ina measc uachtar\u00e1n na hollscoile, D\u00e1ire Keogh, agus an foireann bainist\u00edochta as a suim i gc\u00farsa\u00ed teanga. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Irish Language"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Rural Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  The CL\u00c1R programme exists to support less well-off areas and remote areas. I thank the Minister for the funding he announced recently. He may have seen a recent report on RT\u00c9 News, fronted by Marty Morrissey, outlining the effects of depopulation on local GAA clubs in remote rural areas, particularly in south Kerry where up to five clubs have to amalgamate at under age level in order to field a team. Will the Minister accommodate the immediate and timely set-up of a depopulation task force in south Kerry? I appreciate that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta Cahill as an gceist agus as an deis caint faoi CL\u00c1R. The CL\u00c1R programme provides funding under a number of different measures for small-scale infrastructural projects in designated rural areas. Measure 1 provides funding for community facilities and amenities and accounts for the vast majority of funding. Measure 2 provides funding for vehicles to support the transport of people with reduced mobility, community first responders and Meals on Wheels. Measure 3 is targeted at our island communities. As the Deputy said, I was able to announce funding of almost \u20ac12 million for 198 projects under measure 1, which included funding of almost \u20ac700,000 for ten measure 1 projects in Kerry. Across all measures, this brought the total CL\u00c1R funding in Kerry this year to over \u20ac911,000.  Under measure 1, local authorities seek applications from local community groups in designated CL\u00c1R areas in their county. They then assess the applications received in order to prioritise those applications which they submit to my Department as a request for CL\u00c1R funding. This year saw the highest level of funding allocated under CL\u00c1R since it was relaunched. Notwithstanding that, I understand that some groups will be disappointed. I would advise such groups that we will be relaunching the scheme in the new year. As part of our consultation regarding Our Rural Future, which is the scaffolding documents for all these rural policies, the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I met the demographics committee of the GAA in September. We asked it for input into Our Rural Future. I understand it is launching its report today and I look forward to engaging with it about that report. I have heard the reports from Marty Morrissey this week. They have been interesting and challenging. I will certainly engage with Deputy Cahill about the specific challenges in south Kerry, but given that Kerry has just won another all-Ireland, I think that is not a challenge facing it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  We want to continue to win all-Irelands. The problem with depopulation is that it will filter its way upwards in the coming years, through the more senior age groups, and wipe out many locally organised volunteer sports clubs and force parents and players to travel long journeys to take part, if indeed they continue. I sincerely thank the Minister. The Minister has already helped Dingle GAA, An Ghaeltacht GAA, Listry GAA, Rathmore GAA and many more. As stated by the Kerry GAA county board demographics officer, GAA clubs are a reflection of the communities they serve. It is vital that young people are encouraged and supported to live and work in rural areas, in our towns and villages and in our vibrant economic and social hubs. Population change is having an effect across our wider rural communities, with fewer people in the area to support local businesses, shops, post offices, restaurants, pubs and so on. When fewer children are attending local schools, teaching and SNA posts are in danger, if not entire schools. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I agree with the Deputy. We are concerned about rural depopulation and the inconsistency in population growth around the country. That will be a focus of the new version of Our Rural Future, which, as I said, is our scaffolding document for rural policies and programmes in Ireland.  We have a draft document that is available for consultation at the moment. The deadline for consultation is 12 December and I encourage each Deputy to give a formal submission ahead of 12 December, which is tomorrow week. We want to address the areas that are causing depopulation. We want to ensure that we continue the level of capital investment that we have made in counties such as Kerry in the CL\u00c1R areas. Equally we have to engage and ensure that rural services are provided. This is not just a matter for Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht; it is an all-of-government approach. The document within Our Rural Future will seek to capture an all-of-government approach to address challenges Deputy Cahill has just outlined. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I urge the immediate initiation of a task force and I again call on the Government today to set that up with strong guidelines and short timelines to put the expertise of the hand-picked members to work as efficiently and quickly as possible to identify the many causes of depopulation and find solutions to it. In that news segment, south Kerry was highlighted not only by the Kerry county board demographics officer, Michael Murphy, but also by the south Kerry GAA board chairperson, Joe McCrohan, and of course one of the all-time great Kerry footballers from the region, Bryan Sheehan. South Kerry Iveragh is the perfect location for this task force on depopulation where the problem is most acute. Last November, I brought a delegation to Kerry County Council with the name \"Three\" to make a presentation. The causes are many and include housing and employment, but locally many more are at play. We need to have them identified, targeted and solved in as short a timespan as possible. I plead with the Government to set up this depopulation task force for south Kerry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I accept there is a challenge and I want to deal with. We will deal with it through Our Rural Future. I will certainly consider the Deputy's proposal in the context of the scaffolding that Our Rural Future will provide. I encourage him to engage with Kerry County Council in relation to a specific focused task force. I would be happy to engage with its proposals. I ask all local authorities in rural areas to engage with the Our Rural Future process by providing detailed submissions. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, and I had a very useful meeting with the GAA demographics committee in September. It was a very stark meeting in relation to the challenges by its clubs and most importantly by the people living in rural areas. I want to address those challenges in a comprehensive and structured manner. The best way we can do that is through Our Rural Future and through the new document. I again remind people that Friday, 12 December is the last day for submissions. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Rural Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Women's Sheds","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  We have seen the excellent work being done by men's sheds throughout the country and now at women's sheds. I commend the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht, and Department of Health on establishing a workforce to establish a national governing body for women's sheds. When will the facilitator's work plan with women's sheds will be completed? How does the Department plan on working with that governing body, particularly on funding for individual women's sheds? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I thank the Deputy for this very important question. He is right that the work of men's sheds has been tremendous. Every community has benefited and equally women's sheds are emerging. The emergence of women\u2019s sheds has been a very positive development for communities across Ireland. They provide a safe, comfortable and inclusive environment where women of all ages can share skills, work on meaningful projects and connect with their communities.  The Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I are committed to providing any support we can for the development of a national governing body for women\u2019s sheds to ensure that individual women\u2019s sheds can benefit from having a strong national representative body to advocate on their behalf. I am pleased that our colleague in the Department of Health, the Minister of State, Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor, shares our view.  A number of meetings have taken place between representatives of women's sheds and officials from our Department and from the Department of Health. Both Departments have jointly funded the provision of a facilitator to assist the representatives of the women\u2019s sheds in their discussions on the formation of a national body. The facilitator is also providing advice to the representatives from the women\u2019s sheds in the context of appropriate governance structures. Several meetings have taken place, both online and in person, and further meetings will be scheduled in the coming weeks.  The women\u2019s sheds representatives and the facilitator are working together to outline a work plan to determine what the next steps should be. Officials in our Department along with their counterparts in the Department of Health hold regular update meetings with the facilitator to discuss progress, the most recent of which took place last week.  Discussions on the work plan are ongoing and it is expected that these discussions will continue into the new year, given the Christmas break and the sensitivities of the matter being discussed. Once the work plan has been completed our Department will review its recommendations and we will continue to engage with the women's sheds representatives to determine the most appropriate support for its implementation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  As the Minister of State said, the work of men's sheds nationally has been rightly recognised. It is now time to recognise the work of women's sheds. It is a different space. While traditionally there would have been the ICA, women's sheds offer a different type of social space and give women different options for engaging in their community. This came about initially because representatives of Naas Women's Shed were in touch with me about funding in September. They said the same grant opportunities were not available to them as there were for the men's sheds. I hope the completion of this work plan and the establishment of a national governing body will afford more funding opportunities and more grant opportunities for women's sheds, such as the women's sheds in Naas and Celbridge. It would be wonderful to see men's sheds, not only in Kildare but throughout the country, looking to establish women's sheds as part of their men's sheds and share that space with women. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  We all share the aspiration to fund and support because it is a programme for Government commitment to continue to form both men's sheds and women's sheds. The women's sheds do not have the current umbrella body like men's sheds do and there needs to be a mechanism to channel the funding that is needed. Our Department has a number of schemes through which women's sheds can avail of support, such as LEP, SICAP and LEADER. We are committed to working with women's sheds post the facilitation to ensure that we provide support and funding. As the Deputy said, this is an important new departure, doing different work from other women's organisations, the benefit of which can be seen in our communities. The Deputy mentioned Naas as an example and it is tremendous to see what is happening there. I thank him for raising the matter again. We stand ready. We will engage further post the publication of the recommendations by the facilitator and I hope that we will come to an agreement on the way forward in the new year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I appreciate that the lack of an umbrella body has made it more difficult. I acknowledge the work that the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Gaeltacht and the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor, are putting in, working with representatives from women's sheds throughout the country and ensuring good governance structures are put in place to ensure that there is longevity in what we do and that it is not just for one year or for two years. We need these groups to last and we need funding streams that can be guaranteed in the future. I acknowledge the work that is being done and if there is anything I can do at any stage, I would be more than happy to put my shoulder to the wheel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I know the Minister of State is aware of the D\u00e9ise Women's Shed in Dungarvan. I believe he has met some of its representatives, probably several times at this point. It was one of the first women's sheds in the State alongside the sheds in Naas and Midleton in east Cork. We all know and recognise the social, health and personal development benefits that come from these wonderful social spaces. While I do not want to pre-empt the results of the work plan and the facilitator's report, facilities and space will be key recommendations in it.  I know the Minister of State is aware of the situation in Dungarvan, which despite its size has no community centre and no family resource centre. There is a huge limitation on space available to all sorts of community organisations. It is really impacting the ability of the women's shed in particular to recruit and retain members to conduct all the activities that they would like to conduct. It is limiting them. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ag cur srian ar a gcuid oibre. I ask the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and the Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, to do all that they can to facilitate and speed up the process of developing a community centre for Dungarvan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jerry Buttimer","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Jerry-Buttimer.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jerry Buttimer  I thank both Deputies for raising the matter. There has been significant engagement. Progress has been made and the most important point is that if we did not have engagement both Deputies would be coming in with a different set of questions in terms of governance and in terms of structures and the appropriateness of that. We have seen record investment in community by Government over the past decade. There are deficits in some cases and we will work to fill those deficits. Both the Minister, Deputy Calleary, and I are very committed to the enhancement and support of local community organisations because our country is a better place by the strength of the voluntary and community endeavour we have. The Deputy will see in the coming weeks and months further investment by us as a Government in terms of the local enhancement projects and other community initiatives. We are, as a Department, very aware of the benefits of women's sheds to communities and aware of the importance of them. We will work together, le ch\u00e9ile, to ensure we have an appropriate and proper governance, administrative structure and funding to women's sheds in the future. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Women's Sheds"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Offshore Islands","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  Can the Minister outline the current supports available to Mayo's offshore islands, including Inisturk, Clare Island and Achill Island in the areas of transport, housing, health, education, digital connectivity and community development, the efforts that are set out for the planned initiatives and funding streams for these islands over the coming years, including measures to sustain population levels, promote tourism and protect the cultural and linguistic heritage of these areas? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta as ucht an cheist seo a ard\u00fa inniu. As the Deputy knows, the programme for Government commits to ensuring that Our Living Islands, which the national islands policy, is fully implemented to support sustainable development for island residents. Our Living Islands is a ten-year policy for the whole of Government backed up by rolling three-year action plans so the Departments and agencies across Government will be held accountable. This is a policy supporting communities in all of our inhabited offshore islands, including those in Mayo.  My Department provides a range of dedicated supports specifically to our inhabited offshore islands with significant annual investment in subsidised transport services to ensure our island communities can avail of reliable, affordable, year-round transport services. In 2025, over \u20ac700,000 will be invested by my Department in support of the Mayo island transport services, including daily passenger ferry services for Clare Island, Inisturk, and Inishbiggle. My Department also provides dedicated annual funding of \u20ac152,000 each to the community development companies on both Clare Island and Inisturk, which represents a 26% increase in funding which I approved earlier this year. Separately, \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta administers funding of over \u20ac113,000 to Comhlacht Forbartha \u00c1iti\u00fail Acla in addition to dedicated funding to implement the island's language plan. Last month, I attended the AGM of Comhdh\u00e1il Oile\u00e1in na h\u00c9ireann on Clare Island where I also announced funding of \u20ac500,000 to complete an upgrade to the existing Clew Bay bike trail park on the island. Last Friday, I was pleased to announce core funding of over \u20ac60,000 for community power solutions on both Clare Island and on Inisturk, and as the Deputy knows, we are currently running a pilot scheme of TFI Anseo on Achill Island through Local Link.  These are just some examples of practical supports my Department is providing or supporting. The Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, is working on these programmes in terms of my Department and the Department of Transport. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  I am lucky enough to have been with the Minister on Inisturk when it got its new helipad and at the launch of TFI anseo, so I can definitely see all the improvements we are making. Last week the people there were very happy and they welcomed the likes of the solar panel to help their generator keep going. We know that, like all communities around Ireland, the islanders are particularly struggling with housing, childcare and access to jobs, given they are so dependent on tourism. The Minister has recently announced funding for the business case at Roonagh Pier. We can both agree, especially with Storm \u00c9owyn and even recent storms that were not so bad on the mainland but were terrifying for the residents, we are not yet there with reliable year-round transport. The islanders, as the Minister knows well from their stories, struggle when their cars are at Roonagh and they have to go to Achill Island if ferries are cancelled. Can we look for a dedicated engineer to be assigned to those three piers, Roonagh, Clare Island and Inisturk around the breakwaters? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I am absolutely focused on Roonagh at the moment and at how we can invest in it to make it more reliable and to make it climate proof in the context of the very changing weather. We have been working very closely with Mayo County Council to progress this. At the end of September I announced funding of over \u20ac157,000 for Mayo County Council to commence the development process and I want to acknowledge the Deputy's work in that space too. This funding has enabled Mayo County Council to appoint consultant engineers to prepare a preliminary business case, including a strategic assessment for marine infrastructure improvement options. In early November, subsequent to that, Mayo County Council advised us of immediate risks to part of the pier as a result of the storm damage the Deputy referenced. A detailed survey has now been completed. They are compiling a series of recommendations. I assure the Deputy we will provide all of the necessary support and funding to Mayo County Council for the emergency works and also for the development of the pier into the kind of pier we need it to be. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  That will be welcome news to the islanders and I know when we have one announcement we are always looking to the next announcement. Regarding the piers at Clare Island and Inisturk, when we arrived there the islanders spoke about the difficulty getting the ferry right up to the shore with sandbanks and different things. Even though we are progressing Roonagh, there will still be lots more work to do. I am sure that after that, there will be even more. I was struck by my visit to Clare Island where people talked about the struggles accessing housing, the reliability on the fish farm and the lack of a hotel given that it was difficult to sustain a chef on the island. We have much work to do. There were fears about the school closing down and lack of childcare. We are doing great work but they are depending on us to do more. I would like to come back at a later date and talk about TFI Anseo. I am hearing fantastic things from constituents. It would be great to see that rolled out even further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I join the Deputy in praising the work of the TFI Anseo pilot. I thank the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and Minister of State, Deputy Buttimer, for choosing Achill Island. I encourage people to use it because it is a pilot not just for Achill but for the entire rural community. It is Local Link on demand, effectively. We are very aware, and engage regularly, with Joanne Carroll and her committee on Clare Island and Sinead Cahalan and her committee on Inisturk. The two development organisations on Clare Island and Inisturk, along with Achill, do fantastic work. They definitely keep us aware of the challenges. It is important that we address those challenges within the framework of Our Living Islands but also through the process we now have. I welcome the process the island communities have with Mayo County Council where they meet regularly to discuss and action these things. I know from working with Deputy Keogh and our other colleagues in the county that we will continue to put pressure on Mayo County Council and as Mayo County Council submit business cases they will receive a very favourable hearing. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Offshore Islands"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"C\u00farsa\u00ed Tith\u00edochta","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  T\u00e1im ag t\u00f3g\u00e1il na ceiste seo ar son an Teachta John Connolly. Mar is eol don Aire, t\u00e1 g\u00e9arch\u00e9im thith\u00edochta ann sa Ghaeltacht. C\u00e9n f\u00e9idearthachta\u00ed at\u00e1 ann d'\u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta obair le hUisce \u00c9ireann agus le h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala chun tith\u00edocht a th\u00f3g\u00e1il do phobal na Gaeilge agus na Gaeltachta, go h\u00e1irithe leis an bplean Tithe a Sheachadadh, Pobail a Th\u00f3g\u00e1il 2025-2030? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta \u00d3 Cear\u00fail agus leis an Teachta Connolly. Aithn\u00edonn an Rialtas go bhfuil f\u00e1il ar mheasc\u00e1n oiri\u00fanach de thithe cu\u00ed r\u00edth\u00e1bhachtach chun inmharthanacht pobail rath\u00fala Gaeltachta a chinnti\u00fa. D\u00e1 r\u00e9ir, foilseofar \u00e1r r\u00e1iteas n\u00e1isi\u00fanta plean\u00e1la do thith\u00edocht sa Ghaeltacht chun soil\u00e9ireacht agus lean\u00fanachas a chur ar f\u00e1il den ch\u00f3ras plean\u00e1la maidir le cosaint na Gaeilge. Gealltar sa chl\u00e1r Rialtais go leanfar ag obair le h\u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta agus le p\u00e1irtithe leasmhara eile chun a chinnti\u00fa go bhfuil sol\u00e1thar leordh\u00f3thanach tith\u00edochta agus seirbh\u00eds\u00ed pobail ar f\u00e1il sna ceantair Ghaeltachta. De r\u00e9ir Acht na Gaeltachta, 2012, t\u00e1 an t-\u00fadar\u00e1s freagrach as forbairt eacnama\u00edoch, teanga, s\u00f3isialta agus cult\u00fartha laistigh de na 26 limist\u00e9ar plean\u00e1la teanga. Taca\u00edonn \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta le n\u00edos m\u00f3 n\u00e1 9,000 fostaithe i gcliantchomhlachta\u00ed d\u00e1 chuid.  Beidh sol\u00e1thar tith\u00edochta do chainteoir\u00ed Gaeilge at\u00e1 fostaithe sna comhlachta\u00ed seo, sa tionscal, i ngn\u00f3tha\u00ed eile san earn\u00e1il phr\u00edobh\u00e1ideach agus i gcomhlachta\u00ed san earn\u00e1il phoibl\u00ed ag feidhmi\u00fa laistigh den Ghaeltacht r\u00edth\u00e1bhachtach sa Ghaeltacht. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 seo mar r\u00fan againn chun deis a thabhairt do chainteoir\u00ed Gaeilge fanacht ina gc\u00f3na\u00ed sa Ghaeltacht.  Ina theannta sin, t\u00e1 \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeilge le roinnt blianta anuas tar \u00e9is saineolas a fhorbairt maidir le c\u00farsa\u00ed fu\u00edolluisce tr\u00edd a bheith ag freastal ar a gcuid l\u00edonra p\u00e1irceanna gn\u00f3 agus le heast\u00e1it tionscla\u00edochta at\u00e1 faoina ch\u00faram. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 i gceist go nd\u00e9anfar meas\u00fan\u00fa ar an fh\u00e9idearthacht go bhforbr\u00f3dh \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta, in \u00e9ineacht le hUisce \u00c9ireann agus na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala, su\u00edomhanna seirbh\u00edsithe \u00f3 phunann maoine an \u00fadar\u00e1is a bheadh feili\u00fanach do thith\u00edocht do chainteoir\u00ed Gaeilge laistigh de na limist\u00e9ir plean\u00e1la teanga. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ar intinn agam go mbeidh cruinni\u00fa agam le pr\u00edomhfheidhmeannach an \u00fadar\u00e1is chun an teagmh\u00e1il sin le hUisce \u00c9ireann agus an g\u00e1 le comhoibri\u00fa idir an d\u00e1 eagra\u00edocht a phl\u00e9, n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in do ch\u00farsa\u00ed tionscail ach do ch\u00farsa\u00ed tith\u00edochta freisin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  Is dea-nuacht \u00e9 sin. Mo bhu\u00edochas leis an Aire go bhfuil s\u00e9 ag buaileadh le pr\u00edomhfheidhmeannach \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta le breathn\u00fa air seo agus ar na f\u00e9idearthachta\u00ed at\u00e1 ann. Mar is eol d\u00f3, t\u00e1 gr\u00fapa\u00ed \u00e9ags\u00fala ann ar n\u00f3s B\u00c1N\u00da agus Tinte\u00e1n at\u00e1 ag d\u00e9anamh iarracht an c\u00e1s seo a chur os comhair an phobail. An c\u00e1s n\u00e1 nach bhfuil tith\u00edocht n\u00f3 cead plean\u00e1la \u00e1 fh\u00e1il ag muintir na Gaeltachta agus go bhfuil s\u00e9 deacair d\u00f3ibh fanacht sa Ghaeltacht agus go mbeadh daonra \u00f3g sa Ghaeltacht freisin. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin fh\u00edorth\u00e1bhachtach go h\u00e1irithe do thodhcha\u00ed na Gaeltachta agus go mbeadh s\u00e9 tarraingteach do dhaoine \u00f3ga agus do phobal labhartha na Gaeilge chomh maith b\u2019fh\u00e9idir bogadh go dt\u00ed an Ghaeltacht. \u00c9 sin r\u00e1ite, f\u00e1ilt\u00edm roimh an dea-nuacht ar maidin go mbuailfidh an tAire leis an bpr\u00edomhfheidhmeannach agus go mbreathn\u00f3idh s\u00e9 ar na f\u00e9idearthachta\u00ed at\u00e1 ann \u00f3 thaobh plean\u00e1la de. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  T\u00e1 a fhios agam go bhfuil an tAire an-d\u00e1ir\u00edre agus tiomanta mar gheall ar an gceist \u00e1irithe seo. T\u00e1 an plean tith\u00edochta a nochtaigh an tAire tith\u00edochta c\u00fapla seachtaine \u00f3 shin lag ina ioml\u00e1n ach t\u00e1 s\u00e9 thar a bheith lag i dtaobh c\u00farsa\u00ed Gaeltachta ach go h\u00e1irithe. Ba mhaith liom rud \u00e9igin a chur ar an taifead anseo. T\u00e1 dh\u00e1 p\u00edosa tal\u00fan sa Rinn, i nGaeltacht na nD\u00e9ise, ceann amh\u00e1in gur leis \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta \u00ed agus ceann eile gur cheannaigh an chomhairle \u00e1iti\u00fail le tamall anuas. T\u00e1 na seirbh\u00eds\u00ed uisce timpeall orthu. Chun a cead a thabhairt d\u2019Uisce \u00c9ireann, t\u00e1 infheist\u00edocht an-mh\u00f3r curtha isteach aici sa Rinn le c\u00fapla bliain anuas. T\u00e1 c\u00f3ras ioml\u00e1n s\u00e9arachais nua timpeall air seo agus t\u00e1 cos\u00e1in. An rud at\u00e1 in easnamh n\u00e1 toil pholaiti\u00fail \u00f3n Rialtas seo chun dul i ngleic leis seo agus tithe a th\u00f3g\u00e1il. T\u00e1 an t-\u00fadar\u00e1s \u00e1iti\u00fail tar \u00e9is iarratas a chur isteach sa Sean Phobal, an dara leathphar\u00f3iste i nGaeltacht na nD\u00e9ise, i gcomhair tith\u00edocht sh\u00f3isialta. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin f\u00f3s leis an Roinn, c\u00faig bliana i ndiaidh don iarratas dul isteach. Is \u00ed sin an fhadhb at\u00e1 ann i dtaobh an gh\u00e9arch\u00e9im tith\u00edochta. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  Aonta\u00edm leis an Teachta agus t\u00e1imid ag iarraidh \u00e9 sin a phl\u00e9. Ar mhiste leis an Teachta McGuinness na sonra\u00ed sin a chur chugam go d\u00edreach agus d\u00e9anfaidh m\u00e9 iarracht breathn\u00fa orthu? Is \u00e9 sin an saghas ruda go gcaithfimid obair air; \u00e1iteanna a bhfuil talaimh agus sites cos\u00fail leis sin ann. Pl\u00e9ifidh m\u00e9 an p\u00edosa le pr\u00edomhfheidhmeannach an \u00fadar\u00e1is nuair a bhuailim leis. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go mbainfear \u00fas\u00e1id as an talamh at\u00e1 ag an \u00fadar\u00e1s nach bhfuil s\u00e9 ag \u00fas\u00e1id do ch\u00farsa\u00ed tionscal. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach freisin go leanfaidh s\u00e9 ar aghaidh leis na pleananna tionscla\u00edochta agus poist a chruth\u00fa sa Ghaeltacht. T\u00e1 talamh ar f\u00e1il le haghaidh tith\u00edocht nach mbeidh an t-\u00fadar\u00e1s in ann a \u00fas\u00e1id le haghaidh c\u00farsa\u00ed gn\u00f3 n\u00f3 fosta\u00edochta. Ba cheart go mbeadh muid in ann \u00e9 sin a dh\u00e9anamh. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach freisin go bhfuil tuiscint n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in ag an \u00fadar\u00e1s ach ag na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala n\u00f3 na comhairl\u00ed contae \u00e1iti\u00fala faoi chomh r\u00e9idh is at\u00e1 na tal\u00fan sin agus na sites sin. Beidh suim agam na sonra\u00ed on Rinn a fheice\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  Nuair a bhreathna\u00edmid ar r\u00f3l an \u00fadar\u00e1is go dt\u00ed seo agus poist \u00e1 gcruth\u00fa aige, is d\u00f3cha go bhfuil s\u00e9 deacair poist a chruth\u00fa nuair nach bhfuil \u00e9inne ann chun obair sna poist sin. Go dt\u00ed seo, bh\u00ed mise ag ceapadh an t-am ar fad go raibh na cumhachta\u00ed sin ag na comhairl\u00ed \u00e1iti\u00fala \u00f3 thaobh cead plean\u00e1la de agus \u00f3 thaobh plean\u00e1il timpeall an chontae, go h\u00e1irithe sna contaetha sin a bhfuil Gaeltacht iontu. Is l\u00e9ir, \u00e1fach, nach raibh na comhairl\u00ed contae go dt\u00ed seo ag d\u00e9anamh idirdheal\u00fa idir an Ghaeltacht agus \u00e1iteanna eile nach bhfuil sa Ghaeltacht maidir le dul chun cinn na Gaeilge agus pobal na Gaeltachta agus cead plean\u00e1la a thabhairt d\u00f3ibh sin i gcompar\u00e1id le daoine at\u00e1 ag t\u00f3g\u00e1il tithe samhraidh, mar shampla. F\u00e1ilt\u00edm go m\u00f3r roimh an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 r\u00e1ite ag an Aire inniu. Ba bhre\u00e1 liom cloiste\u00e1il conas a \u00e9ir\u00edonn leis an gcruinni\u00fa sin leis an bpr\u00edomhfheidhmeannach, m\u00e1s f\u00e9idir an t-eolas sin a roinnt linn ina dhiaidh, agus faoin obair a dh\u00e9anfaidh an t-\u00fadar\u00e1s agus an Roinn lena ch\u00e9ile as seo amach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  T\u00e1imid ag obair leis an \u00fadar\u00e1s ach t\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go bhfuil na h\u00fadar\u00e1is \u00e1iti\u00fala ag obair freisin agus go bhfuil siad ag cur b\u00e9ime ar ch\u00farsa\u00ed plean\u00e1la sa Ghaeltacht agus ag obair leis an Roinn tith\u00edochta. Beidh m\u00e9 ag obair leis an Aire tith\u00edochta ar an bhfadhb seo agus ar an d\u00fashl\u00e1n. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 t\u00e1bhachtach go bhfuil cinnteacht againn faoi st\u00e1das na tal\u00fan sin agus faoi st\u00e1das na sites at\u00e1 ag an \u00fadar\u00e1s agus fios a bheith againn an bhfuil siad r\u00e9idh don plean\u00e1il. Luaim n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in c\u00farsa\u00ed seirbh\u00edse, c\u00farsa\u00ed uisce n\u00f3 s\u00e9arachais ach freisin dl\u00ed plean\u00e1la agus gach rud mar sin. Is \u00e9 seo pr\u00edomhthosa\u00edocht na Roinne tith\u00edochta agus beidh m\u00e9 ag obair leis an Aire. Tuigeann s\u00e9. Bh\u00ed cruinni\u00fa ag an mbeirt againn le B\u00c1N\u00da agus le Tinte\u00e1n i rith an tsamhraidh faoi seo. Beimid ag obair agus beimid ag cur b\u00e9ime air sin. M\u00e1 t\u00e1 sonra\u00ed ag aon Teachta faoi thalamh n\u00f3 faoi site sa Ghaeltacht, iarraim orthu na sonra\u00ed sin a chur chugam agus d\u00e9anfaidh m\u00e9 obair orthu. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"C\u00farsa\u00ed Tith\u00edochta"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Community Development Projects","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dara Calleary","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Dara-Calleary.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dara Calleary  I thank Deputy Scanlon. He is constantly putting pressure on. He will be pleased to know that since 2020, Sligo has been allocated in the region of \u20ac57 million and Leitrim nearly \u20ac66 million in funding from various schemes and programmes administered by my Department, which includes \u20ac7.5 million for Sligo and \u20ac8.5 million for Leitrim in 2025 alone.  Sligo and Leitrim have secured significant funding under my Department's rural regeneration and development fund, including \u20ac1.1 million for the National Surf Centre in Strandhill and \u20ac3.4 million for the Mohill public realm works, which I had the pleasure of visiting earlier this year. Just last week, I was pleased to announce CL\u00c1R funding of just over \u20ac537,000 for County Leitrim and \u20ac502,000 for County Sligo. Successful projects included \u20ac100,000 for the Leitrim village playground and \u20ac54,000 for facilities in the Cliffoney men's shed.  In addition to these capital schemes, the social inclusion and community activation programme, SICAP, and committee services programme are providing current expenditure supports to organisations throughout both counties. I look forward to continuing to work with the Deputy on our strong record of investment in rural Ireland, including in Sligo and Leitrim. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Community Development Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"International Protection","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Minister has stated publicly on a number of occasions that a significant proportion - in fact, the vast majority - of those seeking international protection in this State are coming from Britain via the common travel area. It seems logical to most people that we need a bilateral agreement with Britain to ensure those international protection applicants who should be processed in Britain are returned there in a timely manner. What progress is being achieved in securing such an agreement? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Jim O'Callaghan)  I thank Deputy Carthy for his question. He is correct in identifying that there clearly is a lot of fluidity between asylum applications in the United Kingdom and Ireland because individuals can travel freely from Britain to Northern Ireland and, because of the common travel area, there is no barrier to individuals travelling south from Northern Ireland into this jurisdiction. Similarly, it operates in the other way. Many people can fly into Dublin Airport, freely travel up to Northern Ireland and then readily transfer over to Britain. It is an issue in the context of assessing applications for international protection.  It is important to set out the situation that pertained previously. Prior to Britain leaving the European Union, Britain was part of the Dublin III regulation and, therefore, returns could operate in respect of people who had come from Britain and applied for asylum here. After Brexit that changed. Promptly after Brexit, we designated the United Kingdom as a safe third country but that was fairly rapidly challenged and the court ruled it could not be categorised thus for a period. Then, earlier this year, on 11 March, I designated the UK as a safe third country. However, because the UK is outside of the EU, we do not have an operationalised system of returns between the UK and Ireland at present. My officials are in discussion with officials from the Home Office and I will be talking to the Home Secretary again in the week after next. I had very good engagement with the previous Home Secretary and I assume I will have the same good engagement with the current one. That said, I have to point out that the political reality is such that the UK is not going to enter into an agreement with Ireland whereby it simply takes back individuals who have applied for asylum in Ireland because they emanated from the UK. We can see what is happening in France. I agree with Deputy Carthy that there has to be greater engagement with the UK and I am in the process of doing that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Minister will be aware that this week, the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Home Affairs and Migration in its pre-legislative scrutiny report on the international protection Bill asked that consideration be again given to opting out of the EU migration and asylum pact because that pact does not take cognisance of the fact we operate within a common travel area. Ireland is in the unique position of being an EU member state that also has a common travel area with a state outside of the EU. It is becoming increasingly clear that the pact fails to take account of Ireland's unique challenges. I am concerned at the lack of priority that the Minister is giving to what is a programme for Government commitment to prioritise working with the British Government to introduce further measures in respect of the common travel area. No progress has been made.  Is the Minister going to take account of the pre-legislative scrutiny report from the committee and prioritise this issue? It needs to be prioritised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  Progress has been made with the British Government. There is very good engagement between my Department and the Home Office. The only way we will be able to resolve the issues of concern to the Deputy and me is through collaboration and co-operation with the British Government. He keeps mentioning that we should not have opted in to the pact, but he must then present to the public the consequence of that. The consequence of not opting in is that the 2015 International Protection Act would still apply, as would the 2004 directives giving effect to that. It is not as simple as saying that we should not have opted in to the pact. If we had not opted in to the pact, we would still have the same issue under the 2015 legislation and that does not resolve the issue we are facing. There needs to be an awareness that opting in to the pact has not precluded us from doing what we want to do. The reason we have had a significant change is that the British have left the European Union. It is as a result of the British leaving the EU that we have this issue in our common travel area. I would appreciate if Deputy Carthy and Sinn F\u00e9in would say that the common travel area is for the benefit of citizens of Ireland and the UK and not for anyone else. That would be a considerable contribution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I will say that if it makes the Minister happier. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  Well done. That is one in a row and the first time he has said it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Minister should also say, as all of us in this House should say, that managing migration would be much easier if we were doing it on an all-Ireland basis within a unitary state framework and that, therefore, we should try to advance the reunification of our country for that and many other reasons.  In 2020, Ireland and Britain agreed informal, non-legally binding operational arrangements to return asylum seekers to each other. How many have been returned to Britain from Ireland? I ask the Minister to provide real figures. Different percentages have been cited in terms of the numbers that are coming through the common travel area. We do not know the numbers for sure because we are not compiling data on people who might, for example, have come for tourism or on student or work visas and subsequently applied for international protection, or on those who applied in any other way. If the figures are anywhere close to those that have been cited, then it is negligence that ensuring we have an arrangement in place is not at the top of the Minister's list to . As he rightly says, the British Government has a potential benefit from this as well if what it is stating is the case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  In response to the Deputy's specific questions, in 2019, of 35 people transferred, 33 were sent to the United Kingdom. In 2020, of eight people transferred, seven were sent to the UK. This is at the top of my list. In fact, I am criticised for trying to deal with issues in respect of international protection and for giving too much priority to it but it is an absolutely essential issue. In terms of what the Deputy said about the figures, what we have is an assessment that the figures are very high because huge percentages of people are applying for international protection at the International Protection Office, IPO. They are not applying at the airport and while it is not conclusive, we believe it is strongly persuasive evidence that those individuals who apply for asylum at the IPO are coming south over the Border. That is supported anecdotally as well. The percentage of people applying for asylum at the IPO is 87%.  As I have said previously, there are many people going in the other direction. When I speak to the Home Secretary, she will be saying to me that she has great concern about people flying into Dublin Airport and coming into Britain through Northern Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Then let us have a bilateral agreement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  They have a bilateral agreement with the French and it is one in, one out. They are realistic politicians. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  We have a common travel area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  That agreement is one in, one out. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"International Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  As the Minister is aware, I asked a number of parliamentary questions regarding the remuneration of the former Garda Commissioner but the information provided to me was not accurate. It was misleading. There was a deal with the former Commissioner in relation to his accommodation and that rent was not indexed, so there was a loss to the taxpayer. Essentially, his rent was subsidised and paid for. Is the Minister going to provide the full details? Will he apologise and correct the record? In future, will he ensure his answers are not misleading to this House? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I want to start by apologising to Deputy Kelly. He asked a question on 23 September and asked the same question on 9 October. In both questions, he asked about the total remuneration package paid to the current Garda Commissioner and the former Garda Commissioner. The answer he got was incomplete. It was very restricted in that it outlined only the salary of the current Garda Commissioners and stated that the previous Commissioner had had the same salary. It did not include, as Deputy Kelly has said, details about the fact that the previous Garda Commissioner had been provided with accommodation in Phoenix Park by the Office of Public Works and that the rent on that had been paid by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. The rent was \u20ac1,800 per month. While I am conscious that the personal tax details of individuals are confidential, I can confirm that the former Commissioner paid benefit-in-kind in respect of that arrangement.  The question Deputy Kelly is asking goes further than those he asked in September and October. It also seeks information on other financial costs to the State related to the appointments. In respect of that and on foot of a security assessment by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, expenditure of \u20ac212,000 was incurred by the Garda Vote for security at the house. An annual monitoring charge of \u20ac2,500 was incurred for those security arrangements. Neither I nor my predecessors have commented on those security arrangements for serving Garda Commissioners.  In respect of the pension arrangements, the former Commissioner had the option to join the single public service pension scheme or receive a pension contribution, equivalent to 18.4% of the salary, into a pension scheme nominated by him. He waived that and, in fairness to him, that resulted in a considerable financial gain that he did not seek to accrue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  I thank the Minister for correcting the record. Only for my party colleague Deputy Eoghan Kenny, asking questions in the Committee of Public Accounts, we would not have found this out. I asked numerous questions about this. I spoke to the Garda Representative Association today and was told about so many garda\u00ed who are resigning because they cannot afford to pay rent. The Minister is probably aware of this. Accommodation was provided to a Commissioner and the rent was not indexed. There was a considerable loss to the State where, basically, the rent was not being paid. This is the Accounting Officer for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and it is low rent. Why was this arrangement not advertised as part of the package when we were looking for a Commissioner? Why was it not part of the job evaluation afterwards once it was awarded? Why did An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na look for a house in 2017 prior to a Commissioner even being appointed? The head of the OPW at a meeting of the public accounts committee two weeks ago said it had actually been leased in 2017. Is that accurate? Will the Minister also confirm whether there were any other costs during those seven years in relation to this accommodation that were, in any way, met by the taxpayer? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  Obviously, there were unusual aspects to the appointment of the previous Commissioner because he was from outside An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. He came externally and, obviously, issues arise in respect of that. However, I went back and looked at some of the coverage of the new Commissioner\u2019s appointment. On 13 December 2017, The Irish Times reported, \u201cThe Government may pay the accommodation costs and education fees for dependent children if an international candidate is selected for the role of Garda Commissioner.\u201d It was obviously envisaged at the time that if someone were going to be appointed to the job of Garda Commissioner from outside of Ireland, accommodation costs would have to be paid in respect of that individual. That situation arose. As I said, the information should have been provided to the Deputy in respect of the rent that was paid on the former Commissioner's behalf by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. That should have been provided to the Deputy previously.  As for any other costs, aside from the payments the former Commissioner received which I have already provided to the Deputy, namely, the rent and property and the other financial costs associated with expenditure on doing up the house for security reasons, I am not aware of any other expenditure or extra package that was available to that Commissioner. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  Why was this hidden for seven years? That is a real question. Second, other candidates were not aware of this accommodation scenario. Was it, therefore, a fair competition? This is not the first time that I have submitted questions to the Minister\u2019s Department that have not been answered. When the Minister commenced in his role, I asked questions regarding holsters. The Minister wrote to me in that regard, but his response was inaccurate. On that occasion, I went to him and he wrote to me again but, again, the response was inaccurate and I had to tell him that. The Minister had to write to me three times on the one question. I am also the Member who had to tell the Minister about the arms in the boot of the car in the Evan Fitzgerald case. The Minister was not aware of it. He said a narrow interpretation of my parliamentary question was taken, but am I meant to basically second-guess all answers now as being narrow interpretations? How is it possible the Minister was not aware of this issue?  I have a deep concern about how policing is administered from the Minister\u2019s Department, as opposed to other sections. I have said to him that any of three things could be happening regarding these questions because I cannot, as an Opposition spokesperson, continue to ask questions and receive narrow interpretations. It is either incompetence or a deliberate act or the people answering the questions genuinely do not know at this stage what is accurate or inaccurate. Any or all of them are deeply worrying for this House. Will the Minister guarantee that the answers he gives to questions from Opposition spokespersons will be accurate and he will not mislead the House in the future? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I am checking something that is of significance to the answer. I take answering questions in this House extremely seriously. Obviously, parliamentary questions come in. I was searching for a figure. Since I have been appointed as Minister, somewhere in the region of 3,500 to 4,000 parliamentary questions have come in and each one of them deserves a full and complete answer. I have instructed officials in my Department that when it comes to answering parliamentary questions, in cases where there can be either a broad or narrow interpretation, they are to adopt the broad interpretation in giving an answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  When did the Minister tell them that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I have been telling them that consistently. Part of the reason the Deputy received a previous answer by way of a letter from me a number of months ago is that I am insistent that information is given, not just to the Deputy but to all TDs, as thoroughly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  I told the Minister it was inaccurate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  With regard to the Deputy\u2019s point that this was hidden, having referred to what was in The Irish Times , I do not think it can be said it was hidden. Anyone applying----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  It was not public. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  Anyone applying from outside of Ireland in 2017 would have been aware that one of the options or packages applied would be accommodation fees and education fees, if they arose. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Kelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Alan-Kelly.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Kelly  The candidates were not aware of it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Refugee Resettlement Programme","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It is a simple question. We have all seen the horror and genocide in Gaza over the past two years. Despite the so-called ceasefire, it continues. There was an attack on an apartment block last night, with children murdered again by Israel. We have all been contacted by people who have connections to Ireland in various ways and who are looking to get out of Gaza and become refugees to resettle in Ireland. It has been difficult to help those people. We have had sympathetic responses from the Minister and the various people we write to, but little practical help. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  What is happening in Gaza is horrific. My Department continues to work closely with the Department of foreign affairs to ensure a co-ordinated national response to the situation. This includes working with Irish citizens and their families who may require visa assistance. Many visas have been granted to individuals coming from Gaza to Ireland.  In common with the position for all non-EU nationals, entry of Palestinian nationals is undertaken through the existing legal immigration pathways available. Palestinian nationals are visa required and must have a valid Irish visa before they seek to enter Ireland. Palestinian nationals can apply for a visa and permission to remain in Ireland for a variety of reasons, including employment, education or to join a family member in the State. That information is available on my Department\u2019s website.  Visa applications are part of a screening process, designed to establish that a person has a legitimate reason to come to Ireland prior to travel. All such applications undergo this process. Separately, there is also the process of applying for visas since October 2023. I understand that the total number is 1,790, of which 1,068 have been granted. Visas are being granted in respect of Palestinians who seek to come to Ireland. Obviously, individuals who come to Ireland and claim international protection having emanated from Palestine will have their applications considered.  This is an international crisis in terms of trying to provide humanitarian assistance to people in Gaza. It is particularly difficult to get out of there, but Ireland plays its part in assisting people who want to leave, whether that is through immigration visas or someone making an application for international protection. Of course, that will be considered as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  When Putin invaded Ukraine, the Irish Government was clear in its welcome to Ukrainians who were fleeing a brutal invasion and war. The Palestinian people for two years - longer in reality - have been facing absolute horror and they continue to face it. It is fine to say the information is all on the website, but the Minister and I know that many of these cases are quite complex. We write to the Minister and then we are told that, for example, guidance cannot be provided on visas applications that have not yet been submitted. In many cases, however, what these people need is assistance in making the best application they can. We need practical guidance on how to advise people of their visas options. We do not really have that knowledge.  Ideally we would have a dedicated contact point to assist with some of the more challenging cases that come to us so that people can make whatever application they need to make. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  There is a significant difference between Gaza and Ukraine. People cannot leave Gaza but they can leave Ukraine. The European Union decided that the temporary protection directive would be commenced in respect of individuals emanating from Ukraine. We also want to be careful in that we do not want to facilitate an Israeli policy of seeking to compulsorily move people out of Palestinian territory.  The statistics confirm that a lot has been done. Looking at the total number of visa applications received from Palestinian nationals since October 2023, which is the past two years, 1,700 have applied and we have granted over 1,000. A lot of visas are being granted to individuals who apply for visas from Palestine. It probably does require a broader international humanitarian response. There was a broader European response with Syria and Afghanistan but there are very particular issues arising given the Israeli policy of precluding people from leaving Gaza that have an impact on policy developed by European countries. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I accept entirely the point about Israel's role, and the Jordanian authorities have also presented an obstacle to this. I have met with many Palestinians who are here who have family members, be it brothers and sisters or whatever, stuck in Gaza in this absolute horror. I agree that we do not want to facilitate the ethnic cleansing of Gaza but we also do not want to say \"No\" to people who want to come and join their families here. These people come to us, and I am sure the Minister has also heard many awful stories. These people have lost many members of their families, they are trying to get out and they are trying to join their families that are here. What should we tell them? At the moment we write to the Minister through parliamentary questions and we write to the immigration service, but we just get boilerplate answers that do not facilitate them. Can more practical assistance be provided to them with a point of contact in the Department in order to be able to give more assistance to people in those sort of circumstances? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  The officials in my Department give a very sympathetic response and an efficient response. The numbers of applications for visas to come here are very significant and it takes a long time to process them. I do not know whether it is the case that priority is given to applicants from certain countries but the best way of dealing with it is to ensure that we improve and increase efficiency, which is something that can always be done.  In terms of what else is happening, the Irish Red Cross has offered to assist families in Ireland to apply for entry visas for their family members still in Gaza. Applications from eligible family members will be processed as swiftly as possible. This is what my officials say to me. I understand that the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Irish embassies and consulates are limited to providing assistance to non-Irish citizens but they are actively exploring options for the provision of assistance to individuals in Gaza who wish to travel to Ireland. The Deputy will also be aware that we did a lot in terms of the medivac scheme. In September 2024, the Government approved Ireland's participation in the initiative to evacuate up to 36 children from Gaza. So far, 19 paediatric patients and members of their families have arrived. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Refugee Resettlement Programme"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Coroners Service","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  Following a recent meeting in University Hospital Waterford, UHW, attended by representatives and officials in my Department, I am advised that the pathologists employed at that location have indicated they are not available to carry out post mortems. On foot of this, my Department has been engaging with locum pathologists with a view to agreeing a solution to the situation in UHW from 1 January next. This approach is an unfortunate necessity to minimise any impact on bereaved family members who are engaging with the Coroner Service. A long-term sustainable solution is, nevertheless, required whereby locum pathologists are not relied upon to provide for the autopsy service and instead this service to the community is provided from within the pathology profession in Ireland generally.  I am afraid that I am also advised there are issues arising with respect to the performance of post mortems within the pathology profession generally. These include issues relating to training and recruitment as well as competing demands on pathologists in areas of diagnostic and research work. These are concerns that I am particularly worried about. There is an overlap here between my Department, which has responsibility for the Coroner Service and inquests, and the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.  In April 2022, my Department established a standing committee on the provision of coroner-directed post mortem examination services, membership of which consists of representatives from the Department of Health, HSE, Office of the State Pathologist, Garda, Coroners Society, and other officials from the faculty of pathology in the Royal College of Physicians. While this committee is an important forum with appropriate membership to discuss issues in relation to the autopsy service, I am conscious that the situation in University Hospital Waterford has reached a critical juncture and an urgent solution is required. I will consider and continue to seek to engage on this issue but it is an issue over which I do not have full control in light of what pathologists are doing at present. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  We are little more than 40 days from a cliff edge that the Minister has just described as a \"critical juncture\". From 1 January post mortems will no longer be carried out at UHW, a service that carries out 700 cases every year, which are often the most tragic and traumatic of deaths. Behind every one of these cases is a family in shock waiting for answers and waiting simply to lay a loved one to rest yet today, with the deadline fast approaching, there is no clarity on who will perform these examinations, where they will take place,or how families in counties Waterford, Wexford, Kilkenny, Carlow and Tipperary will be protected from delays that could last days or weeks. How will the Minister ensure that bereaved families in the south east are not plunged into a crisis of delays, distress and indignity from 1 January? Families deserve certainty, they deserve compassion and a plan, and they deserve it now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I agree with the Deputy that it is a very traumatic experience for a family after there has been a death if they are told that there has to be a post mortem and then there can be a considerable wait prior to the funeral. I would not like to see Ireland develop in the same way as other countries where there is a significant delay between death and the funeral. One of the things we do very well in this country is death and it is not something that we want to change by having a big gap between death and a funeral.  Where a coroner deems a post mortem examination to be required, the coroner concerned will arrange the post mortem examination to be conducted as expeditiously as possible to ensure timely release of the remains to the next of kin. Depending on the circumstance of the death, a post mortem examination is carried out by a pathologist or, in State forensic cases, by the Office of the State Pathologist. I am in the process of seeking to review the law in respect of coroners. We need to examine the circumstances of when we order a post mortem. A post mortem is not needed in all the situations that we have them at present, particularly for elderly people, but that level of reform will not be in place by 1 January. I am concerned about what the Deputy has narrated as to the circumstances in University Hospital Waterford. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Murphy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Murphy  This is not an abstract policy issue; this is a human one. There are 700 cases every year. Every day that a family waits for a post mortem is a day they cannot hold a funeral, cannot begin the grieving process and cannot find closure. That is the reality that awaits hundreds of families across the south east if this service collapses on 1 January. Coroners, funeral directors and front-line responders still have no guidance. Families deserve reassurance that they will not be left waiting in deep distress for a service that is their right. I again ask the Minister, respectfully but firmly, to commit to guaranteeing that no family across the south east will face avoidable delays or uncertainty on the most difficult days of their lives. The people we represent in the south east deserve nothing less. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I thank the Deputy. I will give the statistics in respect of University Hospital Waterford. There are nine sanctioned consultant pathology posts of which eight are currently filled with one vacancy to be filled next year. Two posts were filled earlier this year and these appointments have not been made on the basis of the autopsy element being excluded. The remaining six pathologists have provided the autopsy service with three taking on the bulk of the workload. All six have confirmed that they will withdraw the service from 1 January. This is happening because consultants are withdrawing from a service. We need to look again at the contracts of individuals we are hiring as pathologists, so that there is a requirement that they perform post mortems and autopsies.  As the Deputy said, approximately 700 autopsies are conducted in University Hospital Waterford every year. The local pathologist services with which the Department is engaging will be contracted to provide a service from pathologists not already providing services in Ireland. In practice, this will be from the UK. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Coroners Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Legal Aid","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  It is now several months since the Minister received the report on the civil legal aid review, which in itself took three years to complete. Recommendation 22 of that report called for an immediate review of the Legal Aid Board's capacity to administer the current civil legal aid scheme. Will the Minister advise whether that has been commenced and when it is expected to be complete? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  As the Deputy knows, the Legal Aid Board is the statutory body responsible for the provision of civil legal aid and advice to qualifying individuals. There are two parts to it, one is legal advice while the other is legal representation. Eligibility for the scheme is determined by reference to a financial assessment. The Legal Aid Board provides enormous assistance, particularly in the area of family law and, indeed, going back to what we were talking about earlier, international protection.  The Deputy is correct in that the former Chief Justice, Mr. Justice Frank Clarke, was asked in June 2022 to conduct a review. Two reports actually were published in July 2025 which contained recommendations relating to the income threshold allowances and other financial aspects of the scheme. Since the overall available income eligibility threshold is influenced by the level of deductible allowances any changes must be considered in the round and the potential implications that such changes might have on the operation of the scheme. While the review highlights the need for comprehensive legal aid reform it also recognises that the current legal aid system must function effectively in the meantime. A critical aspect of any implementation will, therefore, be careful sequencing of reforms. However, I want the Deputy to know that in my Department, officials are considering the reports and are putting together proposals that will come to me for the purpose of implementing the recommendations.  The Deputy is correct in noting that the review group recognised that immediate action is required on the financial eligibility thresholds. It favoured an increase in the available income threshold from \u20ac18,000 to \u20ac23,500 as soon as possible. I want to see that achieved. I have instructed officials in my Department that I want to see it achieved. However, I have to inform the Deputy that I cannot just do that by the stroke of a pen. Once I do that, the demand for services is going to increase quite significantly. I need to ensure that I have the lawyers available to provide the increase in services. It is an important question and progress is being made on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Having heard the number of announcements the Minister has made over the past year without any changes happening, it concerns me when he has not even made an announcement in respect of this. That says to me that there is not an appreciation yet of the urgency here. There is a real crisis right now in accessing civil legal aid. That means there is a crisis in access to justice. The income limits, incredibly, have not changed since 2006. We are told by everybody involved that the fee structure means we do not have enough private lawyers carrying out legal aid work. That is creating problems in some parts of the country where there are basically no supports available, particularly for vulnerable people, including victims of domestic violence, who just cannot get the representation they need.  I am told by those who work in the area that the civil legal aid services are virtually on the brink of collapse, unless something is done urgently. I hear what the Minister is saying in terms of asking his officials to do this and wanting to do that. Will he give us a timeframe and clarity as to when we will see action in this area? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  It is important that I got the report, read it and published it and that we tried to consider how we could implement it. I regret to say that it cannot happen overnight. The Deputy might think that can happen in government, that a Minister can say, \"I am going to do this\" and that it happens. It is important to announce what one's policy objective is, however. It is important for me to say that I want to see the recommendations in respect of the financial eligibility set out in the majority report implemented.  It is also important to emphasise that funding for legal aid and legal advice has increased significantly in recent years. In budget 2021, my Department's allocation to the free legal advice centres, FLAC, trebled from \u20ac98,000 to \u20ac294,000. It is important that I made an announcement this year which was followed up with actual money. The budget allocation for FLAC for 2026 increased significantly from \u20ac500,000 to \u20ac750,000. The increased funding will allow them to prioritise callers and assist people who are seeking legal aid and legal assistance. Work is, therefore, being done. I am not going to just give a timeline but I have instructed officials in my Department that I want to see the recommendations set out in Frank Clarke's report implemented in respect of financial eligibility. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  For all the recommendations and the fact we need a whole overview of the civil legal aid scheme, two things need to be addressed, namely, income thresholds and fees. I do not believe that even the income thresholds suggested in the majority report are going to be sufficient to provide for access to the justice that I think the Minister will agree is integral. We need to get those two things sorted very quickly. While there has been no movement on that side, there is potentially a lot of additional pressure coming. I do not know whether the Minister followed the pre-legislative scrutiny discussions but people who work in this area have highlighted the burden that will be placed on them by the international protection Bill. Additional work is going to be put on the civil legal aid process. The Minister is adding to the pressures but not providing the solutions. What does the Minister intend to do to address the concerns around the international protection Bill? Crucially, when are we going to see the income thresholds and fees addressed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  In terms of international protection, Deputy Carthy is right about that. A significant number of people are seeking legal aid from the Legal Aid Board in respect of international protection. In fact, 11,689 applicants sought legal aid services in relation to international protection last year, which was an increase from nearly 10,000 the year before. That is hugely demanding for the Legal Aid Board. I am increasing the funding to the Legal Aid Board. The current budget allocation for the board for 2026 is \u20ac72 million, which is made up of \u20ac36.5 million for the pay budget and \u20ac35.6 million for the non-pay budget. When it comes to international protection and the enactment of the new international protection Bill, obviously there is a requirement within that, that we are going to provide legal counsel to individuals who are seeking assistance in respect of the international protection process. I will have to fund that. That funding will have to be made available. That will happen immediately, as of 12 June next year.  I am committed to changing the financial eligibility rules. However, I am not going to give a date here when I do not have certainty that it will be complied with by that date. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Legal Aid"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 78 and 79 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Last year more than 11,000 people applied to join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. It was a very successful recruitment campaign. At this point, how many of those people have come through Garda training? What is the capacity of the centre to train and put garda\u00ed on the street? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I thank the Deputy for his question. One of the great privileges of being Minister for justice is to attend passing out ceremonies in Templemore. I have been to four already this year. They are wonderful occasions for the new Garda recruits and their families. One thing that stands out for me is that the numbers are increasing each time I go to each passing out. At the recent one I was at with the Taoiseach, 194 new Garda recruits passed out.  On the Deputy's question, overall 794 trainees entered the Garda College this year. This is the highest number since 2018. Recruitment into the Garda is gathering momentum. I was delighted to see not only the 194 new recruits coming out but also 223 enter Templemore the following Monday. That is the largest single intake in over a decade. This was the second intake of 200 or more this year. If I can get 200 or more new recruits going into Templemore for each training period, that will have a huge impact on the numbers coming out. We can see the advantage when large numbers come out of Templemore.  The Commissioner decides where new recruits go but in Dublin we have been able to see increased Garda visibility in the city centre. In Cork we have been able to see increased Garda visibility in the city. The Commissioner shares my view we want to see that visibility and that Garda presence apparent throughout the whole country and not just in our cities, towns and villages, but we also need a mechanism to make garda\u00ed more visible in rural areas. That is what the public want. They want to see more of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. It is a great credit to the organisation so many members of the public want to see members in their community, but the only way we are going to be able to continue doing that is by encouraging people to join. I am pleased the recruitment campaigns this year have resulted in expressions of interest from over 11,000 people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I thank the Minister. Over 11,000 is a huge number and a very strong statement of interest and of the appetitive for joining the Garda. It is a very positive sign. That recruitment has reached out to various communities. What particular efforts have been made to reach different groupings for recruitment? What is the capacity to bring people through the training centre? Some 794 entered last year. That is a very big number and possibly the largest in some time, but how many at a time are coming through there? How soon does the Minister expect to have to undertake further recruitment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I am being told by the Garda it could put 1,000 people a year through Templemore, which is an extremely encouraging number. It can take up to 225, perhaps more, in each intake. When an intake is approaching, a huge amount of effort is put in by Garda HR to try to process applications faster. I am pleased there is a very efficient processing within An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na now. Previously I had heard complaint about people having to wait a considerable time to get a response but now we are emphasising the urgency of this valuable human resource.  On looking to recruit people from various backgrounds, it is essential the police force reflects the society it serves. That means we need to go to the new Irish communities, people who may not have born here or whose parents may not have been, and encourage them to become part of the Irish police force. It is a fantastic attribute that we have attracted so many people from diverse backgrounds into An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. I hope to see that continue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Leis an d\u00e1 shruth gur th\u00e1inig isteach anuraidh, bh\u00ed 245 duine a th\u00e1inig tr\u00edd an sruth Gaeilge i m\u00ed Feabhra agus 128 tr\u00edd an sruth Gaeilge san fh\u00f3mhar. Is l\u00e9ir go bhfuil laghd\u00fa ann i l\u00edon na ndaoine at\u00e1 ag teacht tr\u00edd an sruth Gaeilge. Cad iad na hiarrachta\u00ed faoi leith at\u00e1 \u00e1 nd\u00e9anamh chun Gaeilgeoir\u00ed a mhealladh isteach tr\u00edd an sruth Gaeilge agus chun neart\u00fa a dh\u00e9anamh ar an l\u00edon Gaeilgeoir\u00ed laistigh den ch\u00f3ras? T\u00e1 a fhios agam go bhfuil iarrachta\u00ed faoi leith \u00e1 nd\u00e9anamh le f\u00f3gra\u00edocht, ach an bhfuil aon rud breise \u00e1 dh\u00e9anamh? An f\u00e9idir c\u00e9imeanna breise a th\u00f3g\u00e1il do na ch\u00e9ad sruthanna n\u00f3 ghr\u00fapa\u00ed eile a bheidh \u00e1 bhf\u00f3gairt? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta as an gceist. T\u00e1 an ceart aige. T\u00e1 a l\u00e1n Gaeilgeoir\u00ed sa Gharda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Beidh m\u00e9 ag dul go dt\u00ed D\u00fan na nGall inniu agus beidh m\u00e9 ann am\u00e1rach. N\u00edl aon dabht ach go mbeidh m\u00e9 ag labhairt Gaeilge leis na garda\u00ed i dT\u00edr Chonaill. T\u00e1 sc\u00e9im sa Gharda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. T\u00e1imid ag lorg Gaeilgeoir\u00ed. Chuaigh m\u00e9 go dt\u00ed Contae na M\u00ed c\u00fapla seachtain \u00f3 shin agus bh\u00ed m\u00e9 ag labhairt Gaeilge le go leor garda\u00ed. Th\u00e1inig siad isteach sa Gharda S\u00edoch\u00e1na tr\u00edd an sc\u00e9im Ghaeilge. T\u00e1 s\u00fail agam go mbeidh n\u00edos m\u00f3 garda\u00ed le Gaeilge ag teacht isteach sa Gharda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 ceart garda\u00ed at\u00e1 \u00e1balta Gaeilge a labhairt a fh\u00e1il mar t\u00e1 a l\u00e1n daoine in\u00e1r dt\u00edr ag labhairt Gaeilge. N\u00edl a fhios agam c\u00e9n f\u00e1th nach mbeid\u00eds siad \u00e1balta labhairt Gaeilge leis na p\u00f3il\u00edn\u00ed freisin. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 81 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Naturalisation Applications","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel McCarthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel McCarthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Noel McCarthy  I thank the Minister, Ministers of State and their staff for their work so far and their responses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Colm Brophy)  I thank the Deputy for his question and his remarks. Earlier this week I was delighted to attend the citizenship ceremonies held in Killarney along with the Ministers of State, Deputies Collins and Buttimer. It is a wonderful ceremony to go to. We had 5,200 new Irish citizens there.  Last year the number of naturalisation applications received by the Department was 27,032. Separately, the number of people who received a letter of approval was 29,868 and 187 were refused. Despite the substantial increase in applications received in recent years, the fact processing times have significantly reduced is a huge credit to the work of the Department and the staff in that particular area. The median processing time for a decision on an application in 2024 was eight months. This is a significant improvement from the median processing time of 15 months in 2023, 19 in 2022 and 24 in 2021. The Department has taken a significant number of steps to speed up the process for applicants. These included introducing an online digital application, online payments and the introduction of evetting. This digitisation has facilitated a record number of citizenship decisions made last year. In just over two years, my Department has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year to processing over 20,000 applications in 2023, more than 31,000 decisions in 2024 and over 32,500 to end October 2025.  I assure everyone who has an application for naturalisation submitted to the citizenship division that the Department is doing everything to progress it. However, it is important to note that no two naturalisation applications are the same and some take longer than others to process. It is important the citizenship process be robust and comprehensive. Checks are carried out on each application. Unfortunately some of the international checks can take considerable time and this is largely outside of the control of the Department. I am sure the Deputy receives, as I and many others in this House do, receive representations on that. For that reason, while I expect going forward more applicants will receive a decision within one year, it cannot be guaranteed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel McCarthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Noel McCarthy  I thank the Minister of State for his response. I again thank his departmental staff. He mentioned Killarney last week and I know people who were there. Friends of mine got their citizenship and were very proud to do so. Again, I ask him pass on my thanks to all the staff.  It is important the Department continues to plan ahead as application numbers change. In that context, does he foresee an increase in naturalisation applications next year? Has the Department put in place the necessary planning to avoid any risk of new backlogs? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  The Department is always planning ahead and looking at that. We have put, as I said, additional resources in place. I do not believe additional backlogs will come in. Every effort is made. As I know people will listen to this, I reiterate that no two applications are the same. Some individual applications that come in take considerably longer, particularly in relation to checks that have to be done by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, which are outside our direct control in terms of reply lines. That leads to a frustration where people ask why their application is taking X amount of time compared with those from others.  As a general rule, the Department is working towards a processing time of within 12 months for applications coming in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel McCarthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Noel-McCarthy.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Noel McCarthy  I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. With the ongoing modernisation of the immigration system, many applicants are keen to see how these changes are working. Will the Minister of State update the House on how the recent digitalisation measures have affected processing times so far, and whether further reforms or improvements are planned for 2026? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  As I indicated in my initial response, we have seen very significant reductions in processing times. The objective is to try to provide that service within as tight a 12-month timeframe as we can. We will continue to do that. As I mentioned, there will always be individual cases where that is not the case. In the context of a significant increase in the number making applications in recent years, we have seen the processing time decrease in the handling of that increased volume. I would like to put on record that this is a result of the excellent work being done by the staff in that area in the Department. They are based in Tipperary and do an excellent job in processing these applications. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Questions Nos. 83 to 85, inclusive, taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Naturalisation Applications"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eamon Scanlon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eamon-Scanlon.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Eamon-Scanlon.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Niall Collins)  I can assure the Deputy that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is fully committed to tackling all forms of crime and theft everywhere in the country. The Government's first priority is to increase Garda numbers and Garda visibility so all of our communities, rural and urban, can feel safe and be safe. This is reflected in the record allocation of \u20ac2.59 billion in the Garda Vote for 2026, which will support investment in equipment and technology and, importantly, the continued recruitment of Garda personnel.  I must be clear, though, that it is the Garda Commissioner who decides where to deploy Garda personnel. Neither the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, nor I, nor, indeed, any official from the Department, can direct the Commissioner on where garda\u00ed are to be stationed. I am pleased to confirm, however, that recruitment to An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is gathering real momentum, and we now have a steady pipeline of new recruits entering the Garda College. Some 194 new garda\u00ed attested from Templemore in mid-November, taking the total this year to 619, the largest number of new garda\u00ed in a single year since 2018. A total of 794 new recruits entered the college this year. We can look forward to seeing those probationer garda\u00ed assigned throughout the country in 2026 as they pass out of Templemore.  It must also be noted that the allocation of newly attested garda\u00ed allows for currently serving garda\u00ed to move on transfer to other divisions across the country and into specialist units. In this regard, I understand that a number of garda\u00ed have been transferred into the Sligo-Leitrim division during the course of 2025.  With regard to theft, the Government takes this issue extremely seriously. Thanks to the effective work of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, almost all property crime types have seen decreases at a nationwide level. In the Sligo-Leitrim division, there has been a 50% reduction in reported burglaries in the year to date. In addition, thefts and related offences, thefts from shops and vehicle thefts are also down by 26%, 29% and 39%, respectively, in the first half of this year when compared to the same period last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eamon Scanlon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eamon-Scanlon.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Eamon-Scanlon.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eamon Scanlon  Earlier this year, Sligo Garda station was identified as one of several stations that experienced crime rates above pre-pandemic levels in 2024, with theft accounting for nearly one third of all incidents. It is imperative that we shine a spotlight on rural crime and the emerging trends in the north-west. In Donegal and Sligo, there has been a marked rise in theft and arson, leaving communities anxious and unsettled. County Leitrim has witnessed an increase in burglaries. Only last Friday, a property was broken into in broad daylight at 1 p.m., which is a stark reminder of the growing boldness of criminal activity.  The Minister of State said 194 garda\u00ed and 17 reserves were sworn in last month, but none of those were assigned to the Sligo-Leitrim Garda division. It is a continuing pattern. More garda\u00ed should be assigned to that area, when we consider the crime statistics. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  It was encouraging to see that the CSO crime statistics, released last week, show that detection rates for crime incidents reported in 2024 were equal to or above those in 2023 for nine of the 14 crime offence groups.  The Department is currently progressing work to develop a retail crime strategy to tackle the complex and evolving nature of retail crime, which the Deputy mentioned. We are all too conscious that this is not just about organised retail crime, and that there is a large amount of lower level, everyday shoplifting, which has just as serious an impact on smaller retailers and their staff. The retail crime strategy will build on existing initiatives to tackle this criminality, integrating the latest national and international evidence-informed approaches for enforcement and prevention strategies, in addition to supports for retail workers.  In September, at the National Ploughing Championships, the Department published the rural safety plan for the period from 2025 to 2027. The plan\u2019s vision is to ensure people and communities in rural Ireland feel safe and are safe in their homes, places of work and local communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eamon Scanlon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eamon-Scanlon.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Eamon-Scanlon.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eamon Scanlon  While I have the opportunity, I wish to extend an invitation to the Garda Commissioner, Justin Kelly, to visit Sligo Garda station to witness first-hand the current working conditions, and to address the ongoing staffing shortages.  The proposed Garda division headquarters at Caltragh has faced repeated delays, stemming from earlier plans to merge the Sligo-Leitrim division with Donegal. The existing station at Pearse Road is not fit for the future needs of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na in the region.  The OPW has confirmed refurbishment works for a vacant State-owned building adjacent to the current station in Tubbercurry. We urgently need clarification on when this building will be occupied. It is a matter of critical importance for both community safety and public confidence. The existing station, dating back to the 1960s, is wholly unfit for purpose. Tubbercurry Garda station is the third busiest station in the Sligo-Leitrim division. It requires facilities that meet the demands of a modern, functioning Garda station, yet the current building falls far short of that. There is a State-owned building. I know plans are afoot to move the Garda station into the newly refurbished building. When can that go to planning, if it needs planning? When will the new station be opened? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  The Department has been informed by the Garda authorities that works are planned for Sligo Garda station in the immediate term. These works will support a scene of crime task force relocation. The project is at the tender evaluation stage. In accordance with the requirements of the infrastructure guidelines, a preliminary business case for a new Garda divisional headquarters in Sligo is also being undertaken by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Once complete, the preliminary business case will be issued by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na to the Department for review and approval. Following approval of that preliminary business case, An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na will then advise the Office of Public Works regarding the prioritisation of the programme. We will convey the Deputy's invitation to visit the region to the Garda Commissioner, and the Deputy will be duly informed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"International Protection","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  It is important that in all our discussions here, we choose our language carefully. We must not say anything that might inflame situations or give encouragement to any extreme positions. We must stick to the facts at all times. Let us remember that we are talking about fellow human beings.  I ask if there is a strategy to spread the location of IPAS accommodation and avoid having large clusters in one area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  I appreciate the comments in relation to the language and tone that must be used at all times in having conversations around this issue. It is very important, and important in this House.  During the period from 2022 to 2024, over 45,000 additional international protection applicants arrived in Ireland. Prior to this, a typical three-year period would have seen between 8,000 and 9,000 arrivals. IPAS was accommodating approximately 7,000 people in total at the end of 2021. By the end of 2024, that figure had risen to 32,000.  During that surge, the State was obliged to urgently source over 26,000 beds for international protection applicants, and in parallel, up to 60,000 beds for people fleeing the war in Ukraine. Centres were opened across the country, often at short notice, in order to ensure that people were provided with shelter. Given the emergency, the State was not in a position to implement any deliberate policies in relation to dispersal or distribution of accommodation centres during this period. However, I note that the 318 IPAS accommodation centres currently in operation are distributed and operational in every county across Ireland.  Due to the reduction in the numbers seeking international protection in 2025, my Department has been able to progress a range of very significant actions; to work to improve oversight, particularly of value for money; and to increase the proportion of State-owned beds across the system. The new rate card that has been implemented for contracts has delivered savings of over \u20ac59 million since May of this year. While commissioning emergency commercial accommodation will continue to be necessary in the short to medium term, it is being contracted on a short-term basis, which enables the State to decommission this capacity with agility as contracts expire or to meet fluctuating demand.  Ireland has adopted and is now working to implement the EU pact on migration. Reforming and speeding up the processing of applications should serve over time to reduce the scale of the demand for international protection accommodation, as we have seen starting in recent years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I thank the Minister of State for that information. I understand the massive pressures that commenced three or four years ago. The most important thing is that we have open and frank discussions. By having open discussions, we lessen the possibility of false information and extreme positions taking hold. Two years ago, I stated publicly that we should have an open discussion on immigration. Only now is this beginning. We need to discuss this openly and not brush it under the carpet. We have nothing to hide. As a nation, we have been very generous. It is important that centres are not all located in one area or that small towns and villages do not have very high numbers. In my own county of Wicklow, the majority of IPAS centres, and of the numbers of applicants, are located in one municipal district. That district is west Wicklow. This district is also the most poorly served by public transport and services. This was not well planned. We need now to develop long-term strategies for IPAS locations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  I assure the Deputy, as I did in my initial reply, that this is what we are doing. We fully recognise that we went through a period where we had an effective emergency. We had a massive surge in numbers and we had to respond to those on a humanitarian basis and to provide emergency accommodation as necessary. The operation that the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and I have been working on, literally day and night since we came into office, is to ensure we put in place an IPAS system that is fit for purpose, delivers value for money for the taxpayer, is based on moving towards State ownership of facilities rather than commercial contracting, and takes into account impacts on communities and local people. We also want to meet our key central requirement, which is to provide the accommodation that is needed, as we are obliged to do under our international obligations. In the context of doing all of that and in the context of renewing the contracts as they fall due, we are very much aware of the need to have an even spread, to look at how impacted communities are by location and to take that into account in all future decisions we make. Overall, the way of dealing with this is to bring down the numbers, which will bring down the need for the centres. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I fully appreciate the great work the Minister of State is doing. I commend him and the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, on the steps taken. They are very much facing up to the reality because to date in this country the political classes have been out of sync with the views of ordinary decent Irish people. We need to be transparent in how we are dealing with the housing of people who are exiting the IPAS system. Our councils need to inform the councillors of any relevant policies that impact housing allocations. Also, in regard to expenditure, and I understand the Minister of State is dealing with this, I urge the Minister to work to renegotiate all contracts with a view to lowering the cost. Regular counts should be done to establish the numbers in each centre so we are not paying for people who are not living there. One of the cornerstones of any system is that all citizens of the State who are working are treated equally. In the case of IPAS residents who are working and earning a wage, there must be a contribution to accommodation costs. Rent should be calculated along the lines of the letting priority scheme and local authority rents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  There is very little of that I would disagree with. To be absolutely clear, the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and I have announced a contribution model which we will implement. We believe absolutely in a system based on fairness, which means that people who are working and bring provided with accommodation through the IPAS system should make a contribution to the cost of that provision. On the actual cost of providing the IPAS system, as I mentioned we have implemented a new rate card as part of contract renegotiations. As each contract comes forward for renegotiation, the new rate card kicks in. That is delivering savings to the State on providing IPAS accommodation of million and millions of euro. The real long-term saving to the State is the switch, which we have also implemented, to State-owned facilities. As the cost of a State-owned facility is a fraction of that of a commercial facility, that is the way we want to move. We are also cognisant that once people have moved through IPAS and have been granted permission to remain in this country, they should move out of IPAS centres and move into their own accommodation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 88 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"International Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I ask the Minister to outline the measures in place to ensure timely Garda statements and preservation of evidence in suspected spiking incidents where a victim is incapacitated. What measures are in place in Garda stations to ensure suspected spiking incidents are treated as crimes and investigated promptly? Are these measures supported by appropriate policing protocols? Will the Minister make a statement on the matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I thank Deputy Cahill for his very important question. As he will be aware, spiking is a crime that preys on vulnerability, undermines consent and can have devastating consequences for victims. I want him to know that as Minister, I am committed to the Government's zero-tolerance approach when it comes to all forms of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence. Regrettably, it is the case that spiking incidents are generally accompanied by sexual offences as well.  The programme for Government includes a commitment to introduce stronger laws to combat the spiking of drinks. Spiking a person\u2019s drink or spiking someone by injection, which can happen as well, are, in effect, poisoning and are criminal offences under the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 that can result in a term of imprisonment. Depending on the nature of the substance that is administered, it may be possible to charge a perpetrator with endangerment under section 13 of the Non-Fatal Offences against the Person Act 1997, which provides that it is an offence to intentionally or recklessly engage in conduct which creates a substantial risk of death or serious harm to another. The offence of endangerment carries a maximum penalty of seven years' imprisonment.  I know that An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na takes all reports of spiking seriously and thoroughly investigates such reports to determine the exact nature of each incident, including results of toxicology reports in each case. I know Deputy Cahill will join me in advising all victims of these incidents or any form of spiking to come forward and report them to the local Garda. On the measures in place to ensure timely Garda statements and preservation of evidence where a victim is incapacitated, I am informed that on receipt of a report of any crime, garda\u00ed are duty bound to gather and seize evidence at a crime scene. It is also extremely important that we procure the evidence promptly. If somebody believes they have been spiked, it is important for them to report it to the Garda in order that a toxicology report can be obtained to ensure the crime can be prosecuted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I thank the Minister for his detailed response and I welcome everything he said. I believe the numbers involved are increasing. I am basing that on reports coming to my constituency office, and telephone calls and meetings I am having with young women and, on occasion, young ladies with their mums.  Sadly, the Minister is correct in saying that many of these suspected spiking incidents involved rape. I believe we need to protect our women. We need to do everything humanly possible. Of course, it is difficult to prove, in that the person may have one or two drinks as well. Can the Minister outline in more detail the protocols that are in place for a patient who presents at the accident and emergency department and reports suspected drink spiking and the reason hospitals do not carry out intoxication testing in these cases, especially when requested by patients and families? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I agree with the Deputy. This is an extremely serious offence. It is an offence that is targeted predominately against women so that other serious sexual offences can be perpetrated against them. Garda\u00ed inform me that incidents of spiking are more commonly reported alongside other primary offences.  I also regret to say that it appears that the number of incidents of spiking is significant. I am informed by the Garda that of the 60 reported incidents in 2024, 28 were drink spiking, a needle was used in ten and the method was unknown in 22. There were fewer than ten prosecutions initiated relating to fewer than five of those incidents reported during the 2022 to 2024 period.  If you believe you are a victim, obviously report it to the Garda. Garda\u00ed will refer you to the appropriate hospital if they do not have the facilities to take the toxicology test, which is the case in many instances. It is important there is co-operation from hospitals and I believe that co-operation is present. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  I believe toxicology reporting and testing in these cases is critical and it should be carried out in all suspected cases. Will the Minister commit to establishing a clear national pathway across all hospitals and Garda stations to ensure suspected spiking incidents are treated and investigated promptly and supported, as I said, by appropriate clinical and policing protocols? I cannot emphasise strongly enough how serious this matter is. I genuinely fear that the number of such instances will increase. It is a sly way of people getting what they want. I would ask the Minister - he will be strong on this - to ensure that every measure is taken to ensure that the people who carry out these offences are prosecuted and treated extremely harshly by the courts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I will raise with my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, the protocols that are or could be put in place if someone presents at an emergency department who believes their drink may have been spiked or they may have been spiked. It is obviously important, if that occurred, for the purpose of the investigation that samples are taken so that proof can be provided that the spiking did, in fact, occur. It can be difficult for an individual, if it is left for a lengthy period of time, to prove that the spiking occurred when it did, and obviously the corresponding offence occurred when it did immediately after the spiking.  I was encouraged by the fact that my predecessor, the Minister, Deputy McEntee, launched an information campaign in December 2021 with the Union of Students in Ireland to raise awareness of the signs of drink spiking and to give guidance on how to help a potential victim. I think the Deputy will agree that this is a particular concern for young people, particularly students, when they are out socialising and having a good time. The Deputy is correct that it is a particularly egregious and nasty form of criminal act that seeks to make a person even more vulnerable than they may be on a particular occasion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Domestic Violence","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I raised with the Minister previously the situation in County Roscommon where they are having major difficulties in sourcing a building that meets the requirements to become a refuge. Will the Minister look at areas such as County Roscommon that, despite best efforts, are struggling to find such a building? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  It is an essential part of the Government strategy in respect of responding to domestic violence that we have in place appropriate refuges and safe houses throughout the country.  Under the third national domestic, sexual and gender-based violence strategy, this Government has committed to doubling domestic violence safe accommodation capacity to 282 units by the end of next year. Cuan, the statutory body that has responsibility under my guidance for this, has been working to accelerate the delivery of safe accommodation across the country.  Following a request from me, Cuan worked with services and partners to assess and review progress and identify a series of actions to accelerate delivery and to bring safe accommodation on stream as quickly as possible to meet the needs of those fleeing violence.  On foot of this review, completed in spring 2025, the following will be delivered: 52 new family refuge units by the end of 2026; 45 new safe homes by the end of 2026; and 50 new units will be under construction by the end of 2026. Cuan has a total budget of nearly \u20ac67 million to respond to that.  In the Deputy's area, plans are under way to develop an eight-unit purpose-built refuge in County Roscommon. Cuan has established a local stakeholder group to lead and support the development of domestic violence accommodation. This group includes representation from Roscommon Safe Link, Roscommon County Council, Cuan and other important agencies. Site feasibility is being completed on a potential site. Safe home accommodation was developed in the county with two safe homes being operational in July 2025 and Roscommon Safe Link received additional funding from Cuan for the development and delivery of these safe homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I acknowledge Cuan, the agency, and the work it is doing and the efforts that are being made to increase capacity when it comes to refuge spaces and safe houses for those who are fleeing domestic violence or violence typically in their own home.  A number of sites had been identified by Roscommon Safe Link but, because of the criteria being so rigid, none of those sites was found to meet the criteria in place. We all hope that the site identified now will be the site. I would ask that in certain areas, such as County Roscommon which is rural, where the need is established and where genuine efforts have been made to find a site, that the criteria could be looked at with a little flexibility in engagement with both the safe link and the local authority because it has been a challenge in County Roscommon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I thank Deputy Kerrane for her question. No doubt there will be an element of flexibility in respect of considering locations for refuges.  It is essential that we have refuges spread geographically throughout the country. What I want to see is not necessarily a refuge in every county, because in some counties you may need two because of the size of them, but locations that are close to where people are and are equidistant from each other so that where there are higher population levels people will know that there is a refuge available.  I have visited many refuges since I have become Minister. I visited a refuge last week and I was impressed with what was going on and the level of commitment there.  It is also important to point out, however, that we cannot have it as the automatic response that when there is domestic violence, the women has to leave the home. We need to look at barring orders as well. There will be an immediate requirement for emergency accommodation but the solution should be that the abuser leaves the home and the victim gets back into her home. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I hope we will see that development of a refuge in County Roscommon because, as I said, the need is there. I hope the site that has been identified will be successful.  The Minister is correct that in most of these cases, it is the woman who flees the home. That should not be the case. We should be looking at turning that around, where the abuser is the one who has to lose his home, typically, as the case may be. That is the way we should look at it. For the refuges we need, particularly in the west in counties like Roscommon and the county part of Galway, there is a need to ensure there is an adequate number of refuges, particularly in parts like the west, where there are many very rural areas. I thank the Minister. I hope we will be successful in the refuge for County Roscommon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I should have pointed out that the refuge I visited on Monday was in Clonmel. I was extremely impressed by the service provided and the commitment of the staff. I was also at another event this week which is relevant to the discussion we are having about domestic violence. That was the launch of a report by an organised called Men Overcoming Violence, MOVE. We are never going to be really able to resolve or properly confront the scourge of domestic violence unless we engage with and try to give counselling and an avenue out of it for men involved in committing violence. MOVE produced a useful report and gave an insight into the motivating factors that led men to perpetrate violence against their intimate partners. In many instances, it was insecurities, fear of losing the partner and substance abuse. It can be difficult for State bodies or State-funded bodies to engage with perpetrators. It is extremely important that we continue to do that because we will not be able to confront this issue without doing so. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Domestic Violence"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Minister and Department seem to have at last recognised that the accommodation recognition scheme paid in respect of Ukrainian accommodation has had and is having an impact on the private rental market and what I consider the undisputed fact that landlords are using the scheme to avoid tenancy obligations. Will the Minister outline when he intends to bring forward proposed changes to the accommodation recognition scheme? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  As the Deputy will be aware, this year we changed the payment under the accommodation recognition payment, ARP, from \u20ac800 per month to \u20ac600 per month. I know there were concerns about that change as to what impact it would have on those individuals being accommodated. I am pleased to say it has not had, in our opinion, a significantly detrimental impact and has not led to very many people who were being accommodated pursuant to that payment losing their accommodation. The accommodation recognition payment was a useful measure. It was a goodwill payment to recognise the contribution of hosts who opened up their homes to temporary protection beneficiaries from Ukraine. Some 41,500 people are being accommodated in over 23,000 hosted accommodations supported by this scheme. The ARP is not intended to be a substitute for rent. Indeed, it is not payable where there is a rental agreement in place between the host and the guest. According to research from the Irish Red Cross, the vast majority of hosts who avail of the ARP were never and have no future plans to be landlords. I am aware of concerns about the impact of the scheme on the private rental market. Analysis carried out by the RTB for my colleague, the Minister for housing, suggests that some landlords could be diverting accommodation from the private rental sector to benefit from the ARP. It is difficult to reach definitive conclusions on the matter given wider issues impacting housing supply. I can, however, confirm that the Government agreed to a proposal brought jointly by the Minister for housing and me for the governing legislation to be amended to limit eligibility for the ARP to properties that are not rental properties. I think that will meet the Deputy's concerns. I am pleased to inform the Deputy that drafting of the necessary legislative amendments to give effect to the decision is well advanced. The proposal follows the measure implemented earlier this year where we reduced the ARP from \u20ac800 to \u20ac600. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  I will agree with the Minister on one point - the accommodation recognition payment was a goodwill gesture for people who opened up their homes to Ukrainians fleeing war. It is very laudable and supported by everybody, I think, in this House. It was then extended and since then the impact of the ARP scheme on the rental market is seen in communities across the State. The Minister and the Government have refused to accept amendments Sinn F\u00e9in has brought forward that would limit the scheme to avoid the damage being done in the private rental sector. I welcome that there has been a belated acknowledgement by the Government that the scheme has impacted the private rental sector. We know landlords are availing of the scheme because they are incentivised to do so. Under the ARP, landlords get a tax-free payment. Crucially, and this is the reason we have not seen any distinction in the number since the reduced payment, they are able to avail of a top-up payment from their tenants without any regulation whatsoever. They are completely freed of any tenancy obligations that they would have for any other tenant. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  It was blatantly obvious this was going to have an impact on the private rental market, and it is blatantly obvious that it is having an impact on the private rental market. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. Please conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  When will changes actually be brought forward, rather than just these cloudy timelines the Minister has been providing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I disagree that it was blatantly obvious at the time it was introduced that it was going to have an impact on the private rental sector. We are not even sure at present that it is having an impact. There may be issues in respect of it. It is hard to definitively establish that. We are ensuring it will not be able to affect the private rental sector because we are going to limit eligibility for the ARP to properties that are not rental properties. That will ensure it will not have any distorting impact on the private rental sector. We also reduced the fee from \u20ac800 to \u20ac600 per month in respect of individuals giving goodwill accommodation. We also need to recognise, when you look at the number of people accommodated under the ARP - at present, it is about 41,500 - if it fell apart, if it was taken away and if there was no ARP, where would those people be accommodated? The Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I are trying to insist that if people with temporary protection are working, they have to pay for their own accommodation. There are people who will still need to be provided with State accommodation. This is probably the cheapest mechanism available at present. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Here we go again. The Minister finally announced that there would be a recognition of the potential impact on the rental market months ago and he is still talking about himself and the Minister for housing bringing something forward at some unspecified time. What is really infuriating for so many people is the Government has yet to recognise that this scheme is deeply unfair. It provides a non-means-tested housing support to one group of people in need of housing that is not available to others. There is a situation where one person might be in employment, on good wages and is able to access housing support through the ARP and somebody else who might be on a lower income is not able to avail of it. Landlords tell me this is the absolute best in terms of their conditions because they have no obligations to the tenant and they can get a tax-free payment and top-up payments. For most of the period this scheme has been in place, the Government has refused to accept Sinn F\u00e9in's concerns or take on board any of our amendments. Now, the Minister is saying he recognises there are problems and he will bring forward some changes but will not specify exactly what they are or tell us when they will actually be brought in. It is time for real clarity and honesty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  I do not recall Sinn F\u00e9in objecting to the ARP when the previous Minister, Deputy O'Gorman, introduced it at the time temporary protection was granted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  It was for hosts in their own homes at that stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jim O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jim-O'Callaghan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jim O'Callaghan  It was a necessary measure for the purpose of providing accommodation to the large number of people from Ukraine who came here. The Deputy said the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, and I have not done anything but we have. We reduced it from \u20ac800 to \u20ac600. I would have thought it is clearly the case we are gradually trying to introduce further measures in respect of it. We are bringing forward legislation to ensure it cannot be used in respect of rental properties so that the issues about which the Deputy and I are concerned will not apply. It is wrong to suggest it is having a completely distorting impact on the rental sector. It is predominantly used to accommodate people who have been granted temporary protection and individuals whom, if they are not accommodated pursuant to the ARP, the State will probably have to look at some other mechanism of accommodation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Housing Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":43,"speakerCount":7},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I welcome to the Visitors Gallery the group of women, including Patricia Walsh, from Rock Street, Tralee, which I am told is the street of champions. They are very welcome to Teach Laighean inniu. Cuirim f\u00e1ilte rompu.  Ar phr\u00edomhleathanach an Irish Daily Mail inniu, tuairisc\u00edtear bhfuil s\u00e9 r\u00e1ite ag an T\u00e1naiste go gcuirfidh s\u00e9 airgead ar ais i bp\u00f3ca\u00ed na ndaoine. Gheall an T\u00e1naiste roimhe seo go mbeadh laghd\u00fa ar ch\u00e1in ioncaim do ghn\u00e1thoibrithe. Bhris s\u00e9 an gealltanas sin. Gheall s\u00e9 go mbeadh laghd\u00fa ar chostais fuinnimh, ach t\u00e1 na costais sin n\u00edos airde n\u00e1 mar a bh\u00ed riamh. Tharraing s\u00e9 siar na creidmheasa fuinnimh a bh\u00ed daoine ag brath orthu. Bhris s\u00e9 an gealltanas sin. Gheall s\u00e9 go mbeadh plean aige taobh istigh de 100 l\u00e1 a chinnteodh go mbeadh costais\u00ed c\u00faraim leana\u00ed ar \u20ac200 sa mh\u00ed. Ar\u00eds, bhris s\u00e9 an gealltanas sin. Gheall s\u00e9 sa toghchan go n-\u00edsleodh s\u00e9 t\u00e1ill\u00ed tri\u00fa leibh\u00e9il do mhic l\u00e9inn. Bhris s\u00e9 an gealltanas sin agus chuir s\u00e9 in airde iad. N\u00edl daoine b\u00f3m\u00e1nta; d\u00e9anfaidh siad breithi\u00fanas ar an Rialtas bunaithe ar na gealltanais at\u00e1 d\u00e9anta aige agus ar c\u00e9 chomh rialta is at\u00e1 na gealltanais sin briste aige.  On the front page of the Irish Daily Mail this morning, the T\u00e1naiste is quoted as having said he will put money back into people\u2019s pockets. He even describes himself as \u201cSensible Simon\u201d in his new role in the Department of Finance. However, for workers, families, carers and students listening today, that claim collapses when measured against the promises the Government has made and broken. Let us take these promises one by one. The Government promised to cut income tax for ordinary workers but instead produced a budget that delivered huge tax breaks for developers and wealthy executives, while PAYE workers were left behind. The T\u00e1naiste promised that energy bills would go down under Fine Gael. People have never paid higher energy bills and the Government withdrew the energy credits they depended on. The Government promised to abolish student fees but instead hiked them by \u20ac500 compared with what parents were paying last year. The Government promised that within 100 days it would produce a plan to reduce childcare fees to \u20ac200 per month. The 100 days are long gone and there is still no plan and no reduction in childcare fees in the budget the Government introduced. It promised to protect households from fuel price shocks but it is now driving up the prices of petrol and diesel through further carbon tax hikes. It promised it would increase the rent tax credit, yet the budget failed to do so, while landlords received tax breaks and rent pressures continue to spiral out of control.  These are not minor oversights; they were clear, repeated promises of the Government and each and every one of them is broken. The Government has done the exact opposite of what it promised. This is the real issue. People are not stupid. They are judging the Government on the promises it made and how consistently they have been broken. At the same time as breaking promises to workers and families, the budget found millions in taxpayers\u2019 money for banks and developers. To be absolutely clear, this is not putting money into people\u2019s pockets; it is taking money out of their pockets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Does the T\u00e1naiste accept that his \u20ac9.4 billion budget has left ordinary workers and families worse off? Does he accept that what he is promising in the Irish Daily Mail today is directly contradicted by his own litany and record of broken promises? Will he now commit to a real cost-of-living reset, including the immediate restoration of the energy credits, \u20ac10 a day childcare, a ban on rent increases, meaningful rent relief, the scrapping of further carbon tax hikes on petrol, diesel and home heating oil, the abolition of the universal social charge on the first \u20ac40,000 of income, and ending the means test for carers and, maybe, the sweetheart deals for banks, developers and vulture funds?  After everything that has happened, why should anybody take the T\u00e1naiste seriously when the promises he made before the general election have been broken one after the other and he has done the opposite of what he promised? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Of course, Deputy Doherty chose not to start today, in his question about our economy and the budget, with the economic figures that have been published in the past hour, which show that, thanks to sensible and careful management, we have an economy that is performing well. We see modified domestic demand, which is pretty much a good proxy for domestic economic activity, growing by 5% annually for the third year. We see consumer spending remaining good, with record solid growth of 2.5%. We see investment in building and construction contributing positively to growth in the third quarter, and we see activity in the sector expanding by close to 9% annually. That is what we want to see at a time when we want to build more homes and infrastructure. We see employment growth as well and an economy doing well in a very challenging environment.  It is against this backdrop that we will continue to pursue sensible economic policies. It is not that long ago since we had high unemployment in this country and people felt they could not get a job. It is not that long ago since we had ghost estates in this country. It is not that long ago since we had to seek help from others to keep the economy running. That is why we will continue to run budget surpluses. It is why we will continue to put money into funds to protect the economy from any shocks, despite Deputy Doherty objecting to the legislation to establish those funds. It is why we will continue to be prudent and sensible in the time ahead.  The Deputy continually comes to this House and does two things. First, he suggests that everything said during an election campaign and stated in a programme for Government must be implemented immediately. The people of Ireland are not stupid. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy\u2019s cacophony of assistance here is great. What was implied is obviously not reflective of how a programme for Government works. To the people at home, I say we have a programme for Government that commits to what we are going to do over five years. It is a published document, available on gov.ie . We have only delivered budget one of five. The Deputy will be pleased to know there will be another four. He will be 19 years delivering his ripostes to our budgets by the end of this D\u00e1il term. We will deliver four more budgets. In the most recent budget, which the Deputy again fails to acknowledge, we have already taken a number of measures to assist people with the cost of living, and we have tried to target those most in need, which I believed the Deputy might support.  For example, we introduced the largest ever increase in the child support payment, under the Minister, Deputy Calleary. It is a targeted measure to help low-income families and children most in need. We have extended the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance to preschool children, helping those children most in need and their parents with the cost of going to preschool. We have increased the domiciliary care allowance. We have expanded eligibility for student grants under the Minister, Deputy Lawless, meaning more families are benefiting. We have continued with the roll-out of free schoolbooks and free hot meals. All these measures assist families with the cost of living in the here and now. We have expanded the working family payment so more families can qualify. We have increased the State pension. As we speak today, people right across the country are seeing the benefit of the Christmas bonus. This initiative, which costs around \u20ac370 million from the budget, is to assist pensioners, carers, people with a disability, those on low incomes and vulnerable people. We will see further expansions to the fuel allowance. We have reduced the VAT rate applying to energy costs to 9%, permanently, or certainly for many years to come. These are practical measures.  The Minister for children will update the Government this month on an action plan on childcare. This week, as Deputy Doherty will be glad to know because he is very worried about this, as he should be because it is a big issue, the Minister announced a capital plan that will see a very significant level of funding for State-led childcare facilities. I am sure the Deputy welcomes this. It is a welcome development. We will commit, with Deputy Doherty and everyone in this House, to delivering during the lifetime of the Government the kind of childcare system on which I believe there is almost a consensus. Childcare is not just a social issue but is now a real economic one as well.  The Deputy should please not continue to come into this House and misrepresent what the Government is doing. The Government has taken action to stimulate housing supply. It has taken action through the budget to help in respect of jobs in rural and regional Ireland, in towns and villages including in County Donegal in the hospitality sector. We have also taken measures to help people with the cost of living, starting with those most in need. The Deputy can be assured we will fulfil the remaining programme for Government commitments over the next four budgets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Maybe the T\u00e1naiste should read his own ESRI research. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It is not mine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I am referring to the Government\u2019s own economic research body. What does it say about the budget? It states there will be income losses next year across the board. It states these will be even higher for those on lower incomes, affecting their disposable income. It states this will lead inevitably to reductions in household living standards in 2026. That is what the T\u00e1naiste has been able to achieve with a \u20ac9.4 billion budget. This is because he prioritises his buddies. He has left behind and abandoned ordinary people. I put to him, to Sensible Simon----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Angry Pearse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  How did he break all these promises? He should answer the question. He made pledges to people over and over again. He is T\u00e1naiste and he wants to be Taoiseach in a couple of years. He promises tax cuts every year to workers.  There are no tax cuts in this budget, as he pointed out. He said energy would be cheaper under Fine Gael. People have never paid more. The Government knew that and withdrew the energy credit. People now have to get \u20ac321 extra. The T\u00e1naiste promised cuts in third level fees. People are paying \u20ac500 more than they paid last year. The T\u00e1naiste promised no shocks in fuel prices. The Government is pushing up fuel prices with carbon taxes. The T\u00e1naiste promised things over and over again and broke them one after another. The question is simple. Why should anybody take the T\u00e1naiste seriously in relation to his latest promise that he will put money back into people's pockets? The ESRI and everybody else knows that what the T\u00e1naiste has done is taken money out of their pockets and left them worse off in a \u20ac9.4 billion budget. How the hell could he do that? It is unbelievable in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, Simon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  You can debate the use of the word \"sensible\", Pearse, but one thing is for sure, no one would ever call you \"Prudent Pearse\". Had we followed the economic plans of Deputy Doherty's party, God knows where we would be. He has some cheek, coming into this House and raising the issue of college fees, because I am sitting beside a Minister for higher education who has permanently reduced fees and will continue to do so in the time ahead. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Deputy Doherty took to social media yesterday. He will probably recognise the First Minister and leader of Sinn F\u00e9in in Northern Ireland, Michelle O'Neill, in the picture I am holding up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  College fees are up. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yesterday, on its social media account, Sinn F\u00e9in heralded the fact that it had managed to freeze fees at \u00a34,855----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Are fees up or down? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----and put this up on its social media as though it was good news. It is more than twice what students in this jurisdiction pay. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Sinn F\u00e9in are hypocrites and phoney. Your faux outrage, Angry Pearse, does not convince anybody. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Are fees up or down? Are they more or less than last year? They are more. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We are reducing fees in this jurisdiction. Fees in the North are more than double, and Sinn F\u00e9in thought to take to social media to say this was great news. Sinn F\u00e9in are hypocrites. People see through it and that is why they are sitting over there, giving out, rather than actually being in government, because they have no credibility on this. They say one thing here and do the exact opposite in Northern Ireland. Shame. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Are fees up or down? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  We need to get in on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  We had that regular Thursday pantomime at the end of the first part of Leaders' Questions. I want to focus on an issue that is important to the Labour Party, which is Garda resources and Garda recruitment. Specifically, I want to raise with the T\u00e1naiste the lack of new Garda stations and the Government's continued lack of meeting Garda recruitment figures. According to a reply to a parliamentary question I submitted earlier this year, since 2017, only two new Garda stations have been delivered in the country, despite the population increasing by nearly 1 million citizens. One of those stations is on O'Connell Street in the centre of Dublin. The other was a replacement of the divisional headquarters in Wexford. There has been only one new Garda station in eight years. It is simply unacceptable. In my town of Swords, the third largest town in Ireland, we have a Garda station that is only fit for a village. The town of Donabate, just up the road, which is served by Swords Garda station and will be 20,000 people strong in a couple of years, has no Garda station or plans for a Garda station.  This is not unusual throughout the country. My colleagues and I are screaming out for more resources throughout the country, particularly in rural Ireland, where we are being gaslit by the Minister about Garda resources. In a response earlier this year, the justice Minister said that 56 stations in this country were not closed but were simply unstaffed. That is absolute nonsense. If the door is not open and there are no opening hours for people to go in and meet and talk to garda\u00ed, that station is, in effect, closed.  Here is the reality. Figures show that 129 of 567 stations had a reduction in the number of garda\u00ed assigned to them in the last year, and one in ten stations is without any designated garda. Overall numbers in An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na have actually grown, by a paltry increase of 193. However, if you dig into the detail, the number of front-line garda\u00ed has actually decreased, from just over 12,000 to 11,928, a net decrease. Warning lights are being flashed for the Government. At its conference this year, the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors stated that we could lose 30% to 50% of our force due to upcoming retirements. Fine Gael has always identified itself as the party of law and order, yet the T\u00e1naiste's party has stood over this lack of delivery for nearly a decade. The T\u00e1naiste was one of the Ministers responsible for this portfolio, lest we forget. This situation is now beyond urgent and we need to see this Government make big changes to ensure greater recruitment and retention of garda\u00ed and investment in Garda stations. The Government needs to look at increasing the training allowance, at pension reform and at building more stations.  Will the T\u00e1naiste increase the Garda training allowance to really incentivise new recruits? Will he reform the pension for our uniformed service members, including our garda\u00ed who were hired post 2013, who upon retirement will receive no support from the State for possibly ten years? Will this Government commit to significantly increasing the number of new Garda stations being built around the country, prioritising large towns that have unfit-for-purpose stations, such as my own, Swords, and for really rapidly growing towns such as Donabate and many others throughout the country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I agree with the Deputy that we obviously need to get more garda\u00ed on our streets. We need to recruit and train more garda\u00ed. The Deputy has made some suggestions as to how he thinks that can be done and I will come back to that in a moment. I need to make a few points about the level of investment we are now making in the Garda budget to empower the Garda Commissioner and Garda authorities to increase the numbers. We have a Garda budget of \u20ac2.59 billion for next year. This will fund recruitment of up to 1,000 new garda\u00ed and 200 more Garda staff and also a doubling of the Garda Reserve to over 600 next year. We have run two Garda recruitment campaigns in 2025 and we have seen more than 11,000 applications to join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na received this year. There is genuinely a sense when I talk to the Minister and Garda authorities, as the Deputy can probably see himself, that there is some momentum with the number of people going into Templemore, though I admit it has been a challenging number of years. We saw, for example, 194 garda\u00ed attested last week. This brings the total number of newly attested garda\u00ed so far this year to 617. We saw 223 trainees enter Templemore in the last couple of weeks as well. This was the largest intake in Templemore since 2014, so the largest intake in 11 years. We have seen 794 trainees enter Templemore so far this year, which is the most since 2018. There are larger attestations, the largest training classes going on and the largest number of people overall training in Templemore in many years.  As of October this year, which is the latest month for which numbers are available, there are a total of 14,290 garda\u00ed across the State. For comparison, in 2015, there were 12,816. There are now 3,487 Garda staff, which obviously helps to free up garda\u00ed to put them on front-line duties as well. The Deputy asked specifically about the Garda training allowance and pension. I hear these issues too. I was in Coolock Garda station not too long ago. This discussion came up last year too. I need to say that all of these matters are for discussion and engagement through normal processes, public pay processes and the likes, rather than for me to give loose commitments on the floor of the D\u00e1il.  Specifically on the third point, about Garda capital, I know the Minister for justice had approval at Cabinet this week for the Garda sectoral plan, as part of the sectoral investment plan in justice. That will see a significant increase in the number of Garda stations being constructed in the time ahead. I am conscious of the point the Deputy makes and I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, about this, particularly with the fast-growing populations around Swords, Donabate and the likes, and the particular need for additional infrastructure there. I will ask the Minister to come back on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  The capital plan that has been drafted does not seem to be rooted in the reality of how towns are growing. My colleague Deputy Conor Sheehan talked about the Garda station and Garda needs in Castletroy. Every Member in this House will say the same. There needs to be a commitment to the reality. I did not mention investment, because we have had no shortage of money; it is a shortage of delivery. There has been some creativity in how the figures for recruits into Templemore have been published over the last couple of years, with recruitment classes starting very late in the year, where in essence they were beginning in the following year. All this has been revealed through parliamentary questions from our justice spokesperson, Deputy Alan Kelly, and other Members in our party. Fundamentally, two things are happening here. We are not recruiting or attracting enough garda\u00ed. As a result, our communities and people are not feeling safe or protected. That is a real issue that the Government has not got a handle on despite the amount of money we have in the coffers. I ask the T\u00e1naiste again to properly recommit to a training fund and to pension reform, and to prioritise those towns and villages all over this country that need proper Garda resources invested in their communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I acknowledge the point the Deputy makes, and do not want to jump over it, that it is not now an issue of shortage of money. It used to be. It is an issue now where we are actually able to invest properly, but that also means that we need to look at the processes. If 11,000 people put up their hand and say they want to join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, the Minister for justice and the Garda Commissioner are eager to make sure that the pipeline is as efficient as possible in taking expressions of interest to join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, robustly vetting and training those individuals and then having them on the streets, serving the people of this country and keeping people safe as well. There are some signs of positivity in Garda recruitment at the moment, albeit admitting that, with the closure of the college twice during Covid and the financial crash, there was lost time, which caused significant disruption.  We have also made changes to the recruitment age, the maximum age at which someone can join An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the retirement age, and we have seen some positive effects from that too.  I will take the points the Deputy made back to the Minister for his conversation with the Garda Commissioner about matching investment in Garda stations and population growth. It is not an unfair point. Many parts of this country are growing much more quickly than other parts. The other issues of how to improve incentivisation for recruitment and retention are matters for the normal engagement and industrial relations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  In advance of the last election, the T\u00e1naiste said disability was \"an absolute priority issue\". He said, \"We've got to look after people with disabilities\". He could not have been any clearer. However, those words now ring hollow. That is not me saying that; that is the assessment of disabled people who feel forgotten, abandoned and betrayed by this Government for good reason. The Disability Federation of Ireland called the recent budget a devastating setback for disabled people that leaves them poorer, unsupported and excluded. In a \u20ac9.4 billion budget package, the Government managed to leave disabled people worse off. They have lost \u20ac1,400, an enormous sum for people who are living on the breadline. The budget was a deliberate attack on people with disabilities by a government awash with cash. Not only did the Government get rid of energy credits, it cut all the once-off payments. This included a once-off payment that for the first time recognised the additional cost of having a disability. Does the T\u00e1naiste think that the costs associated with having a disability just disappeared overnight? Does he think those costs are temporary? It was a cruel and callous cut.  We have heard a lot from the Government about the need to target resources at those who need them most and the Social Democrats agree. Nearly 40% of disabled people live in forced deprivation, a staggering figure. They are precisely the people that resources should be targeted at. That is why in our alternative budged we included a permanent cost-of-disability payment, an increase to the disability allowance of \u20ac15 a week and a targeted energy credit of \u20ac400. Taken together our package would have meant an additional \u20ac2,200 for disabled people. That is what targeting resources looks like, not slashing payments to disabled people already living in poverty.  There is cold fury in the disability community about this Government's treatment of them. Services are threadbare, waiting lists are endless and now even the temporary cost-of-disability payment has been abolished. The Daily Mail today reported today that the T\u00e1naiste promised to put money back in the pockets of people, yet with the stroke of pen he took \u20ac1,400 out of the pockets of disabled people at a time prices are rising. Disabled people have had enough of this Government's broken promises and duplicity. The Irish Wheelchair Association, Access for All and the Disability Federation of Ireland will hold a protest outside Leinster House on Tuesday. They want the T\u00e1naiste to live up to his commitments, put his money where his mouth is and introduce an emergency winter payment for disabled people. Will he do this? When will he introduce a permanent cost-of-disability payment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Disability issues and disability services are an absolute priority for this Government. That is why one of the things the Deputy will have seen published in the past number of months was the new national human rights strategy for disabled people, which is a really good piece of work. A huge amount of work was done with representative groups and with people with disabilities directly. It is a Government strategy that involves all parts of government. Because the Deputy has raised it, I will deal with it directly. He raised a very specific issue in relation to costs. It is a very valid and important issue. All aspects of how the State's policies interact with people with a disability respect their human rights and enable them to live their lives. We took a number of decisions on permanent increases in this budget. We were always very clear that we were moving away from the temporary measures that were brought in at a time inflation was extraordinarily high. We were very clear on that and we have to be clear on it because we have to make sure that we move back to a regular rhythm of an annual budget with clear parameters that works.  As part of that, the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, specifically increased the disability allowance, increased the domiciliary care allowance and made improvements to payments for carers as well. I agree with the Deputy, the Minister agrees with him and the Government as a whole agrees with him on the importance of a cost-of-disability payment. I am pleased to tell him that there was a meeting as recently as this week where groups representing people with a disability were in with the Department of Social Protection to discuss the work on designing that payment. That is something that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is leading on, something on which he will have the support of Government as well.  We also made another change so that people who are leaving the disability allowance to move into employment are able to retain their fuel allowance, something people had sought for quite a period of time. This is the week in which the Christmas bonus is being played out. It is the last of the direct one-off cost-of-living payments to help people at this period. It is being paid out to people in receipt of disability allowance and indeed other payments too.  The budget did, though, make a very big investment in disabilities. Even organisations have accepted this in other areas. In the capital budget for disability to deliver the specialist disability infrastructure that we need across the country, the respite facilities, the residential homes, the multidisciplinary teams, we have seen a doubling of the current capital levels. We had \u20ac278 million announced in terms of disability services in the capital plan only this week. Quite rightly we also saw a very significant increase in the level of funding for disability services in the HSE with hundreds of millions of euro extra in funding provided. It was one of the largest areas of increase in the budget but I accept and Government accepts the work on the permanent cost-of-disability payment is an important piece of work. We are engaging collaboratively on that with groups, organisations and people with a disability. I know it is something that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, will be working on in the months ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Does the T\u00e1naiste not see something fundamentally wrong with producing a budget that leaves disabled people \u20ac1,400 worse off, pushing disabled people even further into poverty? It was a \u20ac9.4 billion budget package and that is what the Government produced. That is a huge problem that it needs to address now. For years, the Government has promised a cost-of-disability payment but where is it? We have had years of promises on this. There was huge disappointment in the disability community that there was no permanent cost-of-disability payment this year when the Government abolished the temporary supports.  The removal of the disability support grant is regressive and shameful. The budget \"locks disabled people and their families into another cycle of exclusion\". Those are not my words; they are the words of the Disability Federation of Ireland. Will the T\u00e1naiste listen to disabled people? Will the Government introduce an emergency winter payment, which is needed now? When will it end the talk that has been going on for years about a cost-of-disability payment? When will it actually introduce it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Minister, Deputy Calleary, is eager to work collaboratively and is eager to engage with the Social Democrats and others on the composition of a cost-of-disability payment, what it looks like and who qualifies. He will engage with the Deputy and others on that. I have provided a status update in the sense that that work is under way with groups in the Department of Social Protection this week specifically on the issue of a cost-of-disability payment; I welcome that. I accept that it is something that has been discussed and debated in this country for a significant period. However, I would push back somewhat on the idea that the budget did not prioritise disability services because as the figures clearly show, there were a number of areas where we quite rightly took a conscious decision to significantly increase the level of funding to our disability services. We are seeing the benefits of that now in some areas, including CDNTs and the numbers of staff on them.  The Deputy asked when we would listen; we are listening. He asked when we would engage; we are engaging. We want to work in collaboration with representative groups. Indeed, we would welcome the Deputy's own input as we seek to design the payment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  There is quite an incredible display of cognitive dissonance here. The T\u00e1naiste went to the media and told them he is going to put money back in people's pockets. He then comes in here and he is asked on behalf of disabled people who are crying out for this to put money back in their pockets via a winter emergency measure, with a one-off payment, and he just bats it away. He did not engage with it at all. These are the people that the Government made poorer, not just a little bit poorer, but a lot poorer. They are \u20ac1,400 worse off as a consequence of the budget. It cut the disability support grant, a loss of \u20ac400. It cut the living alone allowance, a cut of \u20ac200. It reduced the fuel allowance, a loss of \u20ac160. It cut the October double payment, a loss of \u20ac254. It cut the electricity credits, another loss of \u20ac250. Altogether over \u20ac1,400 has been taken from the pockets, not put into the pockets, of disabled people.  Yet, the T\u00e1naiste still thinks he can go to the public and say, \"Don't worry; we're still going to put money back in people's pockets.\" The excuse before the budget, from the T\u00e1naiste's predecessor as Minister for Finance, was to say we do not need cost-of-living payments because \"inflation has now returned to normal rates. We now know that was a load of nonsense. He is now in Washington where he is on over \u20ac600,000 a year. I am sure he is not bothered by the cost of groceries, but ordinary people here are left with the highest inflation in two years. They are out preparing for Christmas, and they are seeing the reality of still-soaring grocery prices with over 4% food price inflation and 3.3% energy price inflation. It is going to be a cold, hard Christmas for a lot of people. The cost of 1,000 litres of home heating oil has shot up, yet in a country with a massive budget surplus, a rich country, the Government had a budget that made everyone poorer except if they were a fast food giant, a multinational corporation or a developer. In particular, t hit the poorest and most vulnerable the hardest, the bottom 10%. As a result of the withdrawal of one-off payments they had an income decrease of 4.4%. The next 10% had a loss of 3.9% and then there was the particularly cruel approach to disabled people. The Government abandoned the promise to introduce a permanent cost-of-disability payment and then withdrew the one-off payments. They are not going to take this lying down. The Government is telling them everything is great and that it has actually improved disability services. All the organisations are screaming at the Government saying they need an emergency winter cost-of-disability payment. The Irish Wheelchair Association, the Disability Federation of Ireland and Access for All, will be together next Tuesday outside the D\u00e1il from 12.30 p.m. to 2 p.m. Please, do not continue to be Scrooge, do not continue to be the Grinch and give this little amount back into people's pockets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I do not remember the Deputy welcoming budgets where we brought in cost-of-living measures before the election. He is kind of opining wishing we had the budgets of the past number of years. I do not remember him ever supporting measures we brought into this House over the past several years to try and assist people at a time of extraordinarily high levels of inflation. The Deputy seeks to slag Paschal Donohoe, whose view I would take on the economy more seriously than his, for his views and call them nonsense. There is a reason the World Bank hired him. It is because he knows a few things about economics. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  He was wrong though, was he not? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Surely, the Deputy would acknowledge that, while we would like to see inflation fall further, that inflation both in Ireland and in the eurozone is at a much lower level than it was when those cost-of-living packages were brought in. The inflation was off the Richter scale for a period. It may be the Deputy's position, and in fairness to him I think it is as he is quite clear about it, that he wants to have two annual budgets effectively - a budget that runs from now to Christmas and then another budget that runs next year. We cannot run the economy like that. We just cannot; it is not sustainable. We have to get back to an annual budget and that is what we said we were going to do, and that is what we have done this year.  The Deputy talked about a cold winter. I am really conscious that people look in on this from home. I want to talk to those people and for them to know there are a number of measures in place to help people with energy poverty this winter. If someone is an older person living alone, this week, he or she will, quite rightly, have received a double payment of their State pension. Older people will receive the fuel allowance, which is now up to over \u20ac1,000 a year. That fuel allowance is due to go up again in the new year. They will see the household benefit package in terms of that cost coming off their energy bill, which is worth over \u20ac400, during this period. We have reduced the VAT rate which other parties proposed allowing that go back up including some who thought the rate should go back up in April. We did not do that. We have extended that for quite number of years more. I know we have different political views, but the Deputy makes these snide comments saying all we care about is helping the multinationals. Did he see the Exchequer returns yesterday? What does he want us to do - send the jobs and the money back, somewhere else? We are very proud to be a Government that is pro-enterprise, and we are going to continue to pursue policies to keep jobs in Ireland, to keep revenue in Ireland, because that is helping to fund the country. It is helping to provide so many employment opportunities, including in the Deputy's constituency. He is getting very close to the \"Ah, sure, send them all away\" brigade. We need to continue to make sure we support policies in this country that attract the jobs because there are many people in the Deputy's constituency and mine that got in a car this morning and drove to work in one of those multinationals that he dismisses our support for as though it is irrelevant. He also mentioned our support for \"developers\". He likes to call them \"developers\" because that is, in his view, a dirty word. I like to call them people who build houses and people who build houses in a housing emergency. It is a serious point. Deputy Murphy can laugh and have his little ideological view of the world----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Do you know who builds houses? Workers build houses, not developers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----but we need to build apartments. All of the decisions we take are to protect jobs because that is how we keep people in employment, and it is also how we run the country in terms of funding public services and we also make sure we can stimulate the building of houses and apartments in this country. These are good things to do. However, I want people with a disability to know, as I have directly said in reply to Deputy O'Callaghan, unlike Deputy Murphy's comment, that we have not abandoned anything. Work is under way on a cost-of-disability payment and as recently as this week organisations representing people with a disability did not need to stand outside the gates, they were in the Department helping engage on this very payment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Whataboutery from the T\u00e1naiste to avoid----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Except when you say it. When you say it you are such a wise sage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  -----the point. Can the T\u00e1naiste answer a yes-no question? Did his budget make almost everybody in the country poorer, \"Yes\" or \"No\"? Did his budget affect those who are poorest the worst by the budget, \"Yes\" or \"No\"? Did his budget leave disabled people substantially worse off? The answer to all of those questions is \"Yes\". I am interested in hearing the T\u00e1naiste try to spin how the answer is \"No\". He asked what I want him to do. He has a substantial budget surplus and in that context he should not be making disabled people poorer. That was a mistake made in the budget. The T\u00e1naiste presumably agreed to it. I am appealing to him in the days running up to Christmas to use the resources he has to reverse that decision. Do not make disabled people poorer next year. Therefore, do what they are asking of the Government and introduce an emergency, one-off winter payment. It is very simple. That is what I am asking. It is a political choice for the T\u00e1naiste to do that or not to do that. I do not know if he is suggesting that by doing that somehow all the jobs will flee the country. Is that the type of scaremongering he is engaged in? He can make a choice not to deprive these people, many of whom are living in deprivation, and not drive them further into poverty when we are a rich country with a substantial budget surplus. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  No, the point I am making is very clear. The Deputy stands up and makes snide remarks about supporting multinationals or snide remarks about supporting developers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  They are not snide. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I make the point that is about supporting jobs and building homes. That is the difference between the Deputy's ideology and ours. He is proud of that difference and I am proud of that as well. We have a different view in on this. The multinational jobs in this country are important. They help to actually fund through income and corporation taxes the running of this State and it is a bloody good thing we have them. We need to work to continue to make sure we attract investment in to this country, particularly at such a volatile time. Does the Deputy know how to make people poorer in the country? You make people poorer by continuing to go along in the hope that everything is grand and wake up one day and realise that, actually, the fiscal vulnerabilities that in the paper that I published yesterday in the Department of Finance have come to be realised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Can we get some answers? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We are not planning on opening the budget process again because we are delivering one annual budget. Within the context of the budget we delivered, we have delivered a progressive budget. The budget documentation shows it is a progressive budget, helping those most in need over those who have the most. That is the budget we ran. That is the budgetary process and we will continue to run progressive budgets. In the context of that we have made a number of decisions to increase weekly supports to people with a disability and invest significantly in services for people with a disability. Work is under way on the development of a cost-of-disability payment and we want to work in partnership with representative groups and political parties on getting that right. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  All Members hold constituency meetings with constituents and issues that affect them are presented to us. In the case of Galway East, one issue that has repeatedly come to the attention of my office is the re-evaluation of commercial rates. I refer to two small businesses, one a nail manicure outlet and another a hair salon, that had commercial rates heretofore of \u20ac600. That has risen to \u20ac1,448, which is a 200% increase. One of the liveliest and busy but well run filling stations in Headford, County Galway provides better access and all the stuff that goes with having the best possible business from a safety point of view. Some of these measures were forced on the owners by the council and their commercial rates went from \u20ac8,900 to \u20ac52,000, which is a 484% increase. I was absolutely astonished when those figures came to me because I did not think that, regardless of how the old system was, there could be that much of an incremental increase.  While I do not like to hear it, I hear from the owners of smaller businesses such as hair salons that they will not continue and they will instead operate in their own homes. That is what makes me sit up. We are all pleading for better support for businesses, and we need to support our businesses because that is what makes Ireland, in particular rural Ireland, tick. I am not sure what measures the Government can introduce. We are not a basket case in Galway East but commercial rates are a major issue for many small businesses. I am shining a spotlight on this today. We need to focus on how the valuation is done. Is it done based on ground space or turnover? Some businesses use a premises for storage but there is no value in storage. What is required is to examine those businesses that are trading and have reason to believe they would be liable for commercial rates. The ones I just mentioned are just a snapshot. There are many more like that. I am trying to have a conversation on how that can be managed going forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Roche for raising the issue. I agree that we do not want people who are running a business to decide it makes economic sense to run it from their home. Last Friday, I was in Macroom where we saw the opposite. I met a woman called Nickie who owns a business called Juniper Lane, which makes homemade products, including jewellery and the like - very nice stuff. She had been doing that work from home and availed of a Government grant for a derelict property and converted an old derelict pub on the main street of Macroom. She took the business from her kitchen table onto the main street and brought a derelict building back into use. That is the direction of travel in which we want to go as a Government. It is important in terms of the vitality of main streets, in particular in rural communities. I had the pleasure of being with the Deputy in an abbey in Craughwell and in Kylemore recently, where we spoke to cheese producers. Rural Ireland is the beating heart of our indigenous economy.  The Deputy raised a specific issue regarding rates and I thank him for doing so. It is stating the obvious to say that commercial rates are an important contributor to the funding base of any local authority in terms of the provision of services. It is important that we are always aware of the challenges that can sometimes be posed to ratepayers and employ the suite of options available to try to support them. This is governed under the Local Government Rates and Other Matters Act 2019, which was commenced in late 2023. I am informed that this adds to the suite of options already available to local authority to try to support local businesses. Local authorities are using have used this new legal framework since January 2024. Provisions include new rate waiver schemes to be decided by local authority members as part of the annual budget process. I do not say that pressure on councillors; I know they often have a difficult job to do in making everything add up.  There is now an ability to have a rates waiver scheme and this is designed to support not just national policy objectives but local policy objectives that Galway County Council might have in terms of certain initiatives it wants to see take place in rural communities. It is now open to local authorities to design a waiver scheme that supports their county development plans and local economic and community plans. Regulations to support the making of a rate waiver scheme require a local authority to consult with the public in its administrative area and get the views of the public.  It is never the purpose of a revaluation to increase the commercial rates collected. Sometimes this is a misnomer. It is actually about balancing. Where somebody's goes down or somebody else's goes up, the pile stays the same size. I am told by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage that large increases are rare, although I am sure they can happen. The Deputy has outlined one very large example about which I want to learn more. I have also been told that in terms of revaluations to date, the trend is that about 60% of ratepayers have experienced a decrease in their commercial rates bill. Next week we will welcome our Galway council group to Government Buildings for engagement. Perhaps we can have further discussions on this then. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I would be the first to acknowledge Government supports for businesses such as those we have spoken about. I have suggested for quite some time that our local authority, Galway County Council, is chronically underfunded. As a consequence, our poor councillors have had to make that ultimate bad decision. The consequences of that have been felt because businesspeople do not want to condemn, criticise or complain. They are in the business of making money, if they can, employing staff and ensuring that they are doing things in a prudent rather than a greedy way. I honestly believe that in the case of the filling station in Headford, which saw an increase from \u20ac8,900 to \u20ac52,000, some consideration should be given to the fact that the business was forced to do things by the local authority in terms of car parking and has paid a big penalty for doing that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Roche. I do not want to comment on a specific case for obvious reasons, including the fact that there are appeals mechanisms open and anybody can appeal a valuation to the Valuation Tribunal. The business to which the Deputy referred may or may not have done that. The level of increase to which the Deputy referred is not the general experience but is cause for concern.  Perhaps we can have engagement with the Minister for local government and my Department on these issues in Galway. Now more than ever we have to support indigenous industry. We spoke about multinationals earlier. We benefit hugely from foreign direct investment into this country. It is a really good thing in terms of job creation and revenue. A majority of people in this country are employed in Irish SMEs and we want to continue to support Irish business. I look forward to engaging further with the Deputy on how we can better support those businesses in Galway. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Seanad \u00c9ireann has passed the Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025 without amendment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":91,"speakerCount":20},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Confidence in the Government's stated opposition to the EU Mercosur agreement has been further undermined in recent days by the withdrawal of Brazilian beef from sale across Europe and the fact an Irish MEP, Regina Doherty, from the T\u00e1naiste's party, gave a full throated support for the deal on RT\u00c9 radio - I am not sure if he heard her - contradicting the Government's stated position. I would appreciate if the T\u00e1naiste answered my questions. What action has been taken by the Government to help construct a minority blocking mechanism at EU level to stop Mercosur? Can he state clearly to the House and, more importantly, to farmers that Ireland will vote against the deal at EU Council level? Can he take this opportunity to call on other member states to vote against the deal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Doherty. The position of the Government remains the same and as outlined in the programme for Government in terms of our concerns regarding the Mercosur deal. A lot of significant work is being undertaken, in particular by the Minister for agriculture and other Government colleagues, to engage with other like-minded countries or those which have similar concerns about the Mercosur deal to ascertain whether the blocking minority remains in place. The Government still has concerns about the Mercosur deal, despite some of the protocols that have been announced. We continue to engage with those like-minded countries and will continue to engage directly with farming organisations. The Government's position has not changed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Will the T\u00e1naiste not answer the question? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Ahern. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Will it vote against it and will you call on others to do so? Please answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Ahern. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I asked simple questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I outlined that the Government----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Is Ireland going to vote against the deal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----remains opposed to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Will the Government vote against the deal? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am not going to be heckled in the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Just answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I talk directly to farmers every day of the week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Doherty, you have asked your question. The T\u00e1naiste has answered. Can we move on to Deputy Ahern please? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The IFA called on the T\u00e1naiste to clarify the position. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I talk to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  Earlier this week, Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, waved the white flag on the M50. It basically said it is full and there is nothing it can do to address congestion. Commuters are stuck in their cars and wasting their time. The situation is costing our economy, climate and public health. Instead of focusing on the causes of this gridlock, which is a lack of public transport in this country, the Government has chosen this week to launch a transport plan that returns to old vices like building roads and bypasses while delaying much-needed public transport projects.  The Government is giving out about judicial reviews delaying critical infrastructure projects but DART south west has planning permission and is shovel-ready yet the Government has chosen to push it out to 2030 at the earliest. The same goes for the Fingal Luas and the Cork Luas. The Government is choosing to build a ring road around Galway rather than a Luas, despite the fact that the M50 is a perfect example of a ring road that just does not function any more.  Adding more lanes has simply added more cars and more congestion. We are failing to learn the lessons of the past. Will the Government rethink its plan and give the D\u00e1il an opportunity to debate it in the House next week? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Ahern for his question. Obviously, in terms of debating these things, that is a matter for the Business Committee but I have no issue with debates taking place. There is a lot of legislation to get through between now and the Christmas break but I am sure there will be an opportunity to debate and discuss the transport plan. I would make a number of points on it. First, we are investing a very significant amount in the capital budget of the Department of Transport. Second, I do not think it is either-or in terms of road infrastructure or public transport. We need to do both and in all of our constituencies our constituents are keeping us under pressure to do both. Third, the NDP is not the final word on the matter. There will be an annual TII capital plan published for projects below \u20ac200 million. I am expecting the first of those to be published in January 2026. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, to correspond with the Deputy on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  The trial of Kerry man Se\u00e1n Binder begins today in Greece. As perverse as it sounds, Se\u00e1n is going on trial for saving people's lives. In 2017, while volunteering with a search and rescue organisation in Greece, Se\u00e1n saw rubber boats in distress off the coast of Lesbos. Instead of watching people drown, he and other volunteers rushed into the water to help. Thanks to their swift and courageous actions, lives were saved. Instead of receiving a bravery award from the Greek Government, Se\u00e1n ended up in jail. Serious charges, including people smuggling and membership of a criminal organisation, have been pending since then. This trial is a travesty of justice. Amnesty has said that it is not just Se\u00e1n who is on trial; humanity and solidarity are in the dock with him. If Se\u00e1n is convicted, what kind of message will that send? Is it that migrant lives are so worthless that they should not be saved from drowning? Is it that if one does not stand back and watch them die, one will end up with 20 years in prison? Is the T\u00e1naiste concerned about this case? Has he raised his concerns with the Greek Government? What support is the Irish Government providing to Se\u00e1n? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Rice for raising this important issue. I want to treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves in terms of getting the latest update from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I will make sure that the Department makes contact with Deputy Rice today in relation to that issue. I will not say anything regarding an ongoing case in the European Union but I know that the consular service in support of our embassy is always very active in relation to these issues. I will link directly with our embassy and make contact with Deputy Rice later today in relation to this case in terms of seeing what supports are being provided and the latest view on the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Like Deputy Rice, I want to raise the situation of Se\u00e1n Binder and the 23 other human rights defenders who are appearing in court in Greece today. Their crime is volunteering as rescue workers and saving the lives of those who are distressed at sea. In the seven years since he was arrested, Se\u00e1n Binder has posed this question, \"If you come across somebody in distress, what do you check first, their pulse or their passport?\". These human rights defenders now face up to 20 years in prison but this trial is not just solely about them. It is also about the broader message sent to those who choose compassion over indifference. If the T\u00e1naiste could also update me when he gets a briefing from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade on its specific intervention in this case, I would appreciate it. I ask him to speak to the issue of what this trial says about the broader question around the approach the EU is taking to people who are found in distressed conditions in these boats. What is the prioritisation here? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I will absolutely ensure that Deputy O'Gorman is also briefed in relation to this situation. I am being intentionally cautious in what I say until I speak directly to the Department of foreign affairs on this because of the active nature of the case that the Deputy has raised today. I appreciate the seriousness of it and appreciate the importance of timely intervention. I will seek the latest from the Department as soon as I leave here and will come back to Deputies Rice and O'Gorman on it shortly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I got a text from a constituent whose brother tried to commit suicide on Monday. He did not just try in one way. He slit his wrists and took an overdose. This man was not leaving anything to chance. He wanted to die. I have consent from his family to read out the text that was sent late last night to me:  We spoke yesterday about my brother in Mercy [hospital]. He's being discharged tomorrow to CUH for wrist surgery, but still hasn't had a proper mental health assessment. They claim he was seen, but it was only the nurse and the discharge letter says \"low mood\". No mention of his suicide attempt, no care plan discussed with the family. She just told him to call the Samaritans or his GP and get a taxi or arrange his own lift home. He's still suicidal and the family are desperate. The family rang the ED last night. They said he saw a specialist but couldn't say who and my brother insists he didn't. We, the family, are frustrated and angry. He has 24\/7 observation inside for three days, yet they deem him fit for discharge. Where do we go from here?  Our mental health services have questions to answer here and in other cases too. The message in this text is simple. On Monday this man tried to kill himself and on Thursday he is being discharged from hospital and has to find his own way home. If he feels low again, he is to call the Samaritans or his GP. Where in the name of God does his family go to try to save his life? I fully respect that I am landing this on the T\u00e1naiste's lap without warning but I would appreciate his help on this issue. It is a very serious matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Collins for raising what is clearly a very sensitive matter but he does so with the affected family's consent. I want to reply with the same sensitivity. I am conscious that this is a public forum but my heart goes out to that man and his family in what is an extraordinarily difficult and challenging time. I am also concerned by some of what the Deputy has said there. I will immediately ask the Minister for Health to look into that matter, engage with the Deputy and get back to him directly to see what can be done to assist. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  The guidelines for wind farms date from 2006. They have not kept up with advancements in technology. I am receiving representations from every corner of my constituency in relation to the inadequacy of guidelines for wind farms. Renewable energy is absolutely essential----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Deputy voted with the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The vote was last night. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  -----and we cannot regulate it out of existence, either for solar, wind or anaerobic digesters. Last year the T\u00e1naiste said that the Government was listening and would revise the 2006 guidelines. Last night the Taoiseach gave a commitment to the Fianna F\u00e1il Parliamentary Party that we would see draft guidelines for wind turbines next year. Setback distances, noise control and flicker must be part of this. Will the T\u00e1naiste commit on the floor of the D\u00e1il today that we will see draft guidelines for wind farms? Furthermore, can we get a commitment----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  And the vote last night? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Deputy Lawless gets enough time in this House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order please, Deputy Lawless. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I have my time and I will not be interrupted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The Deputy is a hypocrite. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  He is a hypocrite. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Deputy Lawless and his party get more time than anyone else here, as glorified Independents----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Hypocrite. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  -----and I will take my time to represent my constituents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  And vote accordingly? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Will the T\u00e1naiste also commit----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Allow Deputy O'Meara----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I am speaking for the people of north Tipperary----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  He is not voting for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  -----and north-west Kilkenny right now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  Is he voting for them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I do not need Deputy Lawless to speak for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  Is he voting for them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Lawless, order please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  He can stand up here as a glorified independent and do what he will but I will speak for the people I represent and I will not be shouted down. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  Why not vote for them? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Vote for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Can I also get a commitment from the T\u00e1naiste on guidelines for offshore wind farms? They are absolutely essential and have to be the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy O'Meara who represents the people of Tipperary North with distinction and hard work. I thank him for raising this important issue today, which he has also raised with the Taoiseach. This is an issue about which people right across the country feel very strongly. Indeed, I have had a number of meetings with a number of community organisations that are simply asking for the publication of guidelines to bring clarity to this and, as the Deputy rightly says, to update the guidelines. There was a debate in this House last night and the Government position is very clear that those guidelines will be published in 2026. That is the commitment the Taoiseach gave to Deputy O'Meara last night and I am happy to ----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  That promise has been around for as long as the T\u00e1naiste has been in the D\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy just has to sit over there and ask us to do things; we actually have to do them. We will publish these----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The T\u00e1naiste promised that in 2015. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn, allow the T\u00e1naiste to answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Deputy O'Meara makes a fair point. There are 48 of them. When he stands up to try to ask a question, the Deputies try to shout him down. They should give him a second. He is asking a question on behalf of the people of Tipperary North. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I am just correcting the D\u00e1il record. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  He has a right to hear from me on behalf of the Government. I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising the issue. We are actually going to deliver the guidelines and not just shout about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  Licensed firearms, namely shotguns and rifles, have an important place in rural Ireland from their use in controlling vermin and predators to their use in protecting crops, livestock and poultry. Many of the groups representing licensed firearms users have expressed concerns about inconsistencies in the interpretation and implementation of firearms legislation. In 2016 a firearms consultative panel was established which brought together a number of groups including the Irish Farmers Association and the National Association of Regional Game Councils, but this panel has not met since 2019. It is my understanding that the Department is currently holding a series of meetings with individuals and experts. This is not the permanent forum for national representative groups that the leading organisations want. Will the Government consider reinstating the permanent forum for national representative groups advocating on behalf of licensed firearms users? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Clendennen for his question. This is an issue, as he rightly says, that has been discussed for quite a number of years. A consultative panel was established, as he says, in 2016. I understand that the Department of Justice is holding meetings with individual firearms organisations on request and engages with various firearms stakeholders in other ways, while An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na also meets with stakeholder organisations. The firearms consultative panel was a non-statutory forum comprising various firearms interest groups.  It last met in 2019. There was a breakdown in relations between some of the major firearms interest groups represented on the panel and the Department viewed that it was not possible for meetings to take place with all groups represented. One of the issues raised during the course of the engagements was the need for more regular and structured engagement between policymakers and firearms users. I understand the Department organised a series of engagements earlier this year. In February, three national forums were held with registered firearms dealers in Wicklow, Limerick and Carrick-on-Shannon, while a further two were held with firearms owners in Mullingar on 19 June. A new forum has been established by the Department involving more than 20 representatives of the shooting community and shooting stakeholder organisations. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, engaging with the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, to specifically consider the proposals the Deputy has made and whether any further action can be taken in that regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  With the school secretaries and caretakers pension dispute now referred to the Labour Court for 12 January, these dedicated staff are deeply anxious. They engaged in the process in good faith and ended their strike on the promise of a resolution. Given the recent breakdown at the WRC, the fundamental commitment to a fair pension comparable to teachers and SNAs and all their long years of service, will the T\u00e1naiste give a direct assurance to these workers now that the Government will engage constructively with the Labour Court process to deliver this and will not, through inaction or inadequate offers, force them out on strike again? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I agree with Deputy O\u2019Rourke on the point that we all want to see a successful resolution to this. School secretaries and caretakers play an important role in our communities. They are engaging, as is the State, in good faith to try to make progress. I welcome the fact that it has now been referred to the Labour Court. The Labour Court has a strong track record of resolving such disputes. Of course, the State side will engage in good faith to try to find a resolution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Cahill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Michael-Cahill.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Cahill  Killarney Chamber of Tourism and Commerce has been campaigning along with Kerry County Council for a CCTV system to be provided in Killarney town for over 20 years. Promises have been made and repeated time and time again. Promises were made that camera systems would be installed at several locations in the town centre and in key areas on the outskirts. The matter has topped the agenda of both the council and the chamber on a constant basis. Apparently, funding had been provided yet no progress has been made. I wish to acknowledge the tireless work of the local councillors in Killarney. The whole issue seems to have hit a roadblock. While there is lingering hope, there is no great confidence in the town that CCTV will be delivered until data protection issues are addressed. There has been considerable engagement between all stakeholders regarding CCTV cameras and, in particular, the preparation of a data protection impact assessment for the Killarney scheme. The final approval of that assessment is still awaited and no commencement date, project timeline or installation schedule has been provided. I plead with the T\u00e1naiste to intervene and, maybe, speak to the relevant authorities, as well as An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and Kerry County Council. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Cahill for raising this important matter for Killarney. One can see the compelling case for a need for this in such a vibrant and busy town. CCTV can play an important role in assisting the Garda and acting as a deterrent to crime. I am going from my memory but I thought the policing Act in this House brought in new kinds of structures to try to help to ensure clarity around how CCTV could be rolled out in areas where An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na is seeking it. On foot of the Deputy raising it today, I will ask the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, to directly engage with the Deputy, the local authority and the chamber to see whether we can make progress on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  This Saturday will mark the tenth anniversary of the death of Aoife Winterlich who was a 14-year-old girl. She went on a trip with Scouting Ireland. The trip went on an unplanned excursion to Hook Head during a storm, which was not properly supervised. She fell in the water and drowned. A report commissioned by Scouting Ireland found there was no failure in its duty of care. Last year, however, after a long time, Scouting Ireland finally settled a court case that Aoife\u2019s mother took against it and accepted liability. Since then, Scouting Ireland has refused to apologise for a failure of duty of care. In correspondence with Scouting Ireland, it says it is sorry for the loss of her daughter but it refuses to apologise for any failure in its actions. It has also not relooked at its report. It had a report that found it had no failure, but then it later accepted liability. It raises questions whether there are any lessons learned into the future for the organisation. Scouting Ireland is in receipt of public funds and I am asking whether any possible pressure can be applied on Scouting Ireland to do the right thing, apologise to Aoife\u2019s mother for its failure and commission a new report. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  My heart goes out to the family of Aoife. We think of them particularly as they approach the tenth anniversary. It sounds like the most horrifically sad and tragic situation. From what I recall, Scouting Ireland may receive money from the Department of children. If that is not the right Department, I will bring this matter to the relevant Minister\u2019s attention and ask him or her to consider the Deputy\u2019s point and liaise with him directly on the issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  Despite the Government telling us for years that there was no need for a special school in County Monaghan, a sustained and dignified campaign by families of children with disabilities, which we in Sinn F\u00e9in were very proud to support, led to the announcement in the run-up to the last election that an interim special school would open. I am very pleased to say that that school has now opened but it was already clear beforehand \u2013 it has since crystallised - that additional capacity would be needed. Today, I am appealing to the T\u00e1naiste to put the full force of the Government behind the campaign to deliver a permanent special school in Monaghan with the capacity for every child who needs it. In too many instances, we have special schools operating in interim or temporary accommodation. That has to end. We need the plans for the permanent school in Monaghan to begin right now. Will the Government promise that every child who needs a place in this special school in Monaghan actually gets one? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I remember the long and frequent exchanges in this House around the need for that special school in Monaghan. I am pleased to hear that it is now open but I take the point that there is a need for a permanent building. In the education capital allocation that was recently given to the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, there is a significant additional allocation for special schools. I will ask the Minister and the Minister of State to come back to the Deputy regarding that permanent build to see what the timeline is in that regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I am raising the issue of bus drivers over the age of 70 for the school bus scheme with the T\u00e1naiste. When I raised it with him in the first week of February, I pointed out that as it is a part-time job, most of the drivers are retired from their full-time careers and are between 60 and 70 years of age. People over the age of 70 can drive 50- and 60-seater private coaches for long distances, but they cannot drive a 12- or 14-seater minibus to the local school. The Government is committed to expanding the school transport scheme. I am proposing that the age limit be extended to 75 on the condition that the drivers pass a strict test. The local media picked up on this issue the last time I raised it with the T\u00e1naiste. One paper said, \"T\u00e1naiste Simon Harris backs Laois TD's call for over 70's bus drivers\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The T\u00e1naiste, therefore, became popular with 69-year-old bus drivers in Laois. The T\u00e1naiste said at that time that this is quite a farcical and bizarre situation. I have been back and forth with the Minister since and I have raised it a number of times in the Chamber. This is something that we can do, and there is a problem already with drivers. There is a shortage of school bus drivers because it is a part-time position and it suits retired people. I am asking the T\u00e1naiste to fix this. This needs be caught and fixed. I hope we can do it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I hope it does not make the Deputy uneasy, but I find myself agreeing with him on this issue. Along with a number of Government colleagues, I must acknowledge, I have been trying to pursue this. There is significant institutional resistance - let us call it that - to what I see as a common-sense proposal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The Government runs the show. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am trying to work my way through it. Someone who is 71 years of age could drive kids to a football match but that same person could not drive the same kids to their school. If it is safe to drive them to the football match, it must be safe to drive them to the school. It has to be logical. Bus \u00c9ireann has a very specific view on this. I think they are entirely wrong. On foot of the Deputy\u2019s question \u2013 he has riled me up - I will now raise this issue again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  Hopefully the T\u00e1naiste will agree with me in the same way he has agreed with Deputy Stanley. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I will do my best. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  He is asking in advance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Brophy  It is almost Christmas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  The T\u00e1naiste does not need me to tell him about the importance of the DART+ South West project. We have seen now is that the project has been shelved for a minimum of four years before any works will take place. We have heard at length about the impact judicial reviews have on delaying significant infrastructure projects. This project has no judicial reviews. It has full planning permission. An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la approved the railway order back in 2024. Under questioning this week, the Taoiseach said he will speak to the Minister. Will the T\u00e1naiste join him in trying to get this project back on the cards? The people of Kildare need this. The M50 and M7 are all full. We do not want more people in their cars; we want this project. Will he commit to that today? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  In my new role, I practice prudence every day but I take the broader point regarding the importance of this project. I have heard it from a number of colleagues as well as from Deputy Farrelly. In the context of capital budgets, often capital budgets are announced but not every project moves at the same time.  There can often be an opportunity to make amendments or additionalities because not every plan necessarily proceeds in one go. That is obviously not how our processes work. I will join with the Deputy in engaging with the Minister in relation to this and keeping an eye on this project. I know it is one that has a lot of support but I also know there is a very particular congestion issue. Indeed, we have seen comments on the limits on solving any of that congestion issue in relation to roads in recent days. I will come back to the Deputy on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  Every housing target and every infrastructure project in the country depends on a skilled workforce. Instead of opening the doors and making the apprenticeship system much more attractive we are actually going in the opposite direction. I believe apprentices are treated like second-class citizens in that third level space. There is a significant lack of capacity and this is causing significant delays. The contribution fee has actually increased this year. Phase 4 apprenticeships starting in January will be hit with an almost \u20ac1,000 fee. These are students who are working below minimum wage and with significant costs for tools and vans for getting to work. They do not avail of SUSI grants either. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to start prioritising the apprenticeship system. It is crucially important. There is a skills shortage in the country. I speak to builders all the time and they fear five, ten or 15 years down the line. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to start prioritising apprenticeships and reinsert the support that was at 33% last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy is right to highlight this issue. In every report, in particular in the housing report, the need for more apprentices is very apparent. I would just make the point that we are making good progress in the number of new apprentices and in the number of programmes in which apprenticeships are available. We need to make it continually attractive for people to be an apprentice. The Minister for Further and Higher Education, Research, Innovation and Science, Deputy James Lawless, is looking at ways we can do that. Going from memory from my time in that Department, we do have a cost of education paper that comes out each year. I understand that apprenticeships are considered as part of that. Let me ask the Minister, Deputy Lawless, to look specifically at the issues and I will come back to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  I wish to raise with the T\u00e1naiste the issue of BusConnects. This morning the National Transport Authority, NTA, and Dublin Bus met with elected representatives in my area and they accepted that the roll out of the F spine has been incredibly poor. They have committed to putting in a new timetable, which would reflect congestion, and to having additional drivers in place compared to the number at the beginning. Would the T\u00e1naiste agree that we have to get better at implementing these BusConnects programmes to instil confidence? This involves having a sufficient number of drivers, picking the right time of year for it to be implemented and including local elected representatives who can often help them balance some of the decisions. For example, today they have confirmed that the No. 23 and No. 24 will now service O'Connell Bridge and the quays. This is a really important change. Working with local elected representatives will, I believe, assist the NTA. It is not about answering every query but they will assist them in balancing the changes that need to be made. We need to be including elected representatives far earlier in the roll out of each BusConnects phase. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We do, and we need to see a bit of respect from State agencies for the people's elected representatives. This is a point I make frequently. I have made it this week in relation to one State agency. If an elected representative is trying to engage in a project, they are doing so because it matters to the people they are elected to represent. It is very important that mechanisms are put in place in this regard. Unelected officials will often find that if they engage with elected officials, they can actually roll out a project like BusConnects, as the Deputy suggested, in a much smoother fashion. I will raise that broader issue with the Minister for Transport, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, who I know would be supportive of that idea of plugging in local representatives at that earlier time. I am pleased to hear the progress Deputy McAuliffe has made with the new timetables and the additional drivers. I will ask the Minister to come back to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  The T\u00e1naiste will be aware that in my constituency of Wicklow and Wexford there is a very proud and vibrant agriculture sector. There is huge concern on the ground in relation to Mercosur. We read recently that the Irish Farmers' Journal sent a delegation out and they found they could access antibiotics without any checks or documentation. We also heard over the past couple of days that a batch of meat was taken off the shelves in Europe because it was full of hormones. These hormones have been banned in the EU for the past 30 years. I am all for free trade. We continue to be told that these checks are being done at the EU level but if this does not set off alarm bells, then nothing will. We have a proud history in Ireland of top-quality meats, and by word \"meats\" I mean white meat and red meat. However, if we get a tsunami of meat that is not up to the standard that is required, it will have a detrimental effect on the agriculture sector and on the health of our nation. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to reassure us that he is stronger, if anything, on our programme for Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Brennan for raising this issue on behalf of farmers in Wicklow and Wexford. I know the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Martin Heydon, is working very hard in relation to this issue. In fact, he is working very hard on a number of issues, be it the nitrates derogation, Mercosur, and getting a properly adequately resourced CAP with less bureaucracy that works for farmers in the new multi-annual financial framework. I support him in all of that work too.  Deputy Brennan is right to highlight this issue. The EU does have very stringent standards, which we know as the sanitary and phytosanitary standards, SPS. They are there to protect everyone - to protect human health, animal health and plant health. The standards are among the highest in the world and they are non-negotiable. They have to apply equally to food produced in EU member states and they have to apply also to food that comes in from other countries. Ireland continues to engage through the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and others in relation to all of these issues, and also in ascertaining if the blocking minority in relation to Mercosur is still in place. The Minister, with the full support of the Government, is very actively involved in all of these issues. I thank the Deputy for raising it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Placing an adult in a Tusla residential unit is a very serious breach of child protection. Aont\u00fa has raised this issue a number of times with the Government and we have been told that the Government is doing everything it can to make sure that it does not happen. We are being told that the immigration services know exactly who is coming into the country and that checks are being done. Vadym Davydenko was a Ukrainian boy who was placed in a residential care unit very recently. The suspect in that alleged murder was also placed in that residential home. We now come to understand that the suspect was an adult. Today it has emerged in a report that 192 adults have been placed in children's residential homes in the past three years. This is an incredible figure.  It has been reported to me by people who are working within the sector that not enough work has been done on the documentary research to find out the age of an individual and not enough work has been done on the scientific research to be able to pinpoint an individual's age. Is it not the case that in many instances the State does not know the age of the individual or, indeed, the identity of the individuals who are coming into the country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn raises a very important and very serious issue. We have seen a very large increase of about 500% - that is the figure in my mind - in unaccompanied minors presenting. I am sitting beside the Minister of State with responsibility for migration, Deputy Brophy. It is a reality that an increasing number of people are now travelling by themselves and they present to the international protection office as minors without any family members. Age verification is an important part of the international protection application process. The Government had a meeting with Tusla on this just this week. The age identification process and the possibility that people presenting as minors may not be minors presents significant child protection issues. The Deputy is correct that it is an area of concern. These concerns are being addressed with the new statutory scheme now being set out in the international protection Bill, which will be introduced into these Houses very soon. The new legislation will set out in far greater detail how age is to be assessed, which I think is the core of the Deputy's point, by a multidisciplinary team. It will also provide for regulations governing the standards, qualifications of personnel and so on for the purpose of that process. We have different views on the EU asylum and migration pact but, as required by that pact, the Bill would also make provisions for the appointment of representatives to assist and safeguard the interests of unaccompanied minors. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/77","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/77\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Gender Recognition (Amendment) (Prisons) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Gender Recognition (Amendment) (Prisons) Bill 2025: First Stage","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I move:  That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to amend the Gender Recognition Act 2015 to make provision for single-sex accommodation in prisons; and to provide for related matters.  I want to first make a quick reference to the motion that was brought by the Labour Party yesterday on trans healthcare. It was startling for a number of reasons. First of all, it is probably one of the biggest examples of a disconnect between the D\u00e1il bubble and the people of Ireland on issues. The vast majority of people in this country believe that a woman is a female adult, and do not believe that a man can get pregnant. They also believe that education should be on the basis of science. The second issue that struck me about yesterday's debate was that TDs were willing to throw out scientific evidence on the basis of ideology. The safety and protection of children was actually being forgone on the basis of an intellectual fashion.  That is a major threat to well-being. The third issue was that only eight TDs out of 174 actually stood up for a vote on this issue. There were 166 TDs who stayed silent and stayed seated in relation to it. A number of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael TDs mentioned to me during the day that they saw the speech we gave on the issue and that they agreed with the speech. That is a problem. I say to TDs, especially new TDs who may be here for a term, or two or three, in that time if they do not stand up for what they believe in, if they do not vote for what they believe in, they may as well not be here. Somebody else might as well be in that seat. If we are not actually voting on the basis of our own principles, somebody else is in that seat in many ways. My advice to those TDs is to wake up and make sure they use the time they have here in the best way they can.  I mentioned yesterday that Aont\u00fa is a pluralist, republican political party. We believe all citizens are equal and should be treated equally and valued no matter what their identity, ethnicity, religion or orientation is. I mentioned that gender dysphoria is real. It is not easy. People who have it should be treated with respect. However, the treatment they get should be on the basis of science, not on the basis of ideology. Basing treatment on ideology is actually quite dangerous.  I want to talk about the gender recognition Act. The gender recognition Act is problematic at the moment. I will tell Members why. It includes self-identification which means that anybody, for any reason, can identify themselves as the opposite gender. I am sure that the vast majority of people who use the gender recognition Act, absolutely feel that they themselves are the opposite gender. However, the gender recognition Act has no gatekeeper. As a result, no doctor or psychiatrist determines whether or not a person is transgender. Anybody can use a gender recognition certificate. That allows for potentially bad actors to seek to use that loophole for opportunistic reasons. I am not saying for a second that any person who has gender dysphoria is any more likely than the general population to have a propensity for bad action. I am not saying that for a second. I am saying that the gender recognition Act is designed without a gatekeeper and as a result it allows people to use it for bad reasons.  Women and girls have the right to safe spaces. It is actually shocking that I have to say that. We have understood that for hundreds of years. The vast majority of physical and sexual attacks that happen to women are carried out by men. Incredibly, many of the parties that sit right beside us here on a regular basis talk about gender-based violence, but they develop a blind spot in relation to the protection of women-only safe spaces. One of the consequences of the gender recognition Act is that it allows for male-born criminals to be placed in women's prisons. That is quite incredible because the female prisoners and the female staff have no option but to be in that location and the State is putting male-born sex offenders, men, into those prisons.  We have this absurd situation where Barbie Kardashian, who was found guilty of threatening to kill, rape and torture his mother, was granted a gender recognition certificate by the Department of Social Protection and as a result was placed in a women's prison. The Government stood over Barbie Kardashian being placed in a women's prison. That is a horrendous dereliction of duty in relation to the Government. It is against all the prevailing winds on a medical basis, the science basis and even the political basis. Yet, the Government stood up for that.  The ministry for justice in Britain released very interesting statistics in relation to people in prison who declare themselves as transgender. Many of them are in prison because of sexual offences. The vast majority of these trans sex offenders were born male. The ministry for justice statistics show that transgender women exhibit male-type patterns of criminality. It is clear that this data shows self-identification unfortunately is being used opportunistically. The Aont\u00fa Bill is designed simply to prevent male-born criminals being placed in women's prisons. Our Bill provides for a gender recognition certificate that does not affect whether a person is deemed male or female for the purpose of applying for the existing rule of single-sex accommodation in prisons. I urge the Government to support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Is the Bill being opposed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Brophy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Colm-Brophy.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Colm Brophy)  It is not being opposed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I move: \"That the Bill be taken in Private Members' time.\" "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.25 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.06 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.25 p.m. and resumed at 2.06 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gender Recognition (Amendment) (Prisons) Bill 2025: First Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/67","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/67\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":8},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time\".  I am pleased to introduce the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 to the House. It was initiated in the Seanad on 14 November and passed through the final Stages there on 26 November. I look forward to hearing Deputies' contributions and I hope they will support this Bill. Officials from the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport will be with me shortly and can provide any information anybody here might like.  This is a short, technical Bill. The Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 has one important objective, namely, to increase the statutory limit on the cumulative capital outlay, commitments and liabilities that can be advanced by Screen Ireland, which was formerly known as the Irish Film Board. The limit will be increased from \u20ac500 million to \u20ac840 million. As is the case with some statutory bodies that receive public funding, a limit was set by statute on such outlays in the Irish Film Board Act 1980. This limit must be reviewed by the Houses of the Oireachtas every six to seven years. In this way, the Oireachtas can monitor cumulative capital funding to this statutory body each time the limit needs to be increased. Since the Irish Film Board Act 1980 was first enacted, the funding limit has been adjusted upwards on six occasions. It is now proposed to increase this limit to \u20ac840 million to allow Screen Ireland to continue to operate within an appropriate statutory limit. The proposal to increase the limit on advances is an enabling provision. Funding of Screen Ireland is, of course, subject to the normal Estimates procedures as set out by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. The proposed legislation will not, therefore, mean any additional cost to the Exchequer as Screen Ireland\u2019s annual allocation is set by the Oireachtas each year.  Section 2 cites this Bill as the Irish Film Board (Amendment Bill) 2025 and, together with the Irish Film Board Acts 1980 to 2018, will be cited as the Irish Film Board Acts 1980 to 2025.  Screen Ireland is the national development agency for Irish screen sectors including feature film, TV drama, animation, creative documentary and digital gaming. Screen Ireland operates within the framework of the Irish Film Board Acts 1980 to 2018. Its statutory remit is to assist, encourage and develop the screen sectors across the State. Screen Ireland supports these sectors by providing investment loans for the development, production and distribution of film, television and animation projects. The allocation to Screen Ireland will be \u20ac42.96 million in 2026. This is an increase of \u20ac2.1 million, or 5.1%, on the amount allocated this year. The additional funding in 2026 will allow Screen Ireland to keep the indigenous production levels at a pace consistent with previous years. It will enable Screen Ireland to encourage more regional production in the Irish language, continue the talent academies and have an increased focus on digital games.  Screen Ireland is the creative partner to the screen sector, investing in talent, creativity and enterprise. With a comprehensive range of practical funding supports across development, production, distribution, promotion and skills development, since 2018, Screen Ireland has assisted in the production of 115 feature film projects, 44 television dramas, 80 documentaries, 41 animation projects and 69 short films. Screen Ireland has also supported projects for distribution and has seen the development of over 1,100 projects in the period.  With the success of Irish screen productions, activity is increasing in the sector. This is made evident by the dramatic increase in applications for funding to Screen Ireland. In 2025 alone, Screen Ireland reported an overall 65% increase in the number of applications for its various funding streams when compared with 2024, which itself was a dynamic year. Screen Ireland-supported films won 78 national and international awards in the fields of film, TV and animation. Through Screen Ireland, Irish film has sustained a presence at A-list festivals, from the historic selection of \u201cKneecap\u201d and \u201cSmall Things Like These\u201d at Sundance and the Berlin Film Festival to an unprecedented showing for Irish film at the Cannes Film Festival, which listed \u201cThe Apprentice\u201d, \u201cSeptember Says\u201d, \u201cKinds of Kindness\u201d, \u201cOn Becoming a Guinea Fowl\u201d and \u201cThe Surfer\u201d. The selection of a film to be shown at A-list film festivals, whether Cannes, Berlin, Venice or Sundance Toronto, is a huge honour, and only the world\u2019s best productions are chosen. Screen Ireland continues to support emerging Irish talent through screenings, networking events and talent promotion initiatives at major festivals throughout the year.  Screen Ireland began funding TV drama in 2015, and since then, the output for TV drama production in Ireland has seen a remarkable increase, almost tripling in production spend. Deputies may be familiar with some of the fantastic Irish-based TV dramas made possible in recent years by Screen Ireland\u2019s support. These include \u201cObituary\u201d, \u201cThe Dry\u201d, \u201cHidden Assets\u201d, \u201cThe Young Offenders\u201d and \u201cThe Walsh Sisters\u201d. Feature films include \u201cThat They May Face the Rising Sun\u201d and the Irish language film \u201cB\u00e1ite\u201d. One to watch out for is \u201cSaipan\u201d, which is coming to our cinemas in January. It is about the events at the 2002 World Cup, and stars young Cork actor \u00c9anna Hardwicke as Roy Keane, alongside Steve Coogan as Mick McCarthy. This is apt timing, with the World Cup draw taking place tomorrow in Washington DC. I really hope to see the Republic of Ireland take part. These are just a few of the many wonderful productions with which Screen Ireland has been involved.  Screen Ireland operates a dual approach to industry development. It is one that maintains a balance between indigenous productions and incoming internationally mobile projects. That creates a range of opportunities for Irish creatives to work in partnership with Irish or international studios. The success of this approach has resulted in a stronger and more sustainable environment for screen production. As our screen industries continue to grow, balance and partnership remain priorities, alongside an enhanced focus on sustainable production.  Screen Ireland is committed to the development of the indigenous audiovisual industry into the future, supported by the agency\u2019s strategic plan 2025-2029, and working with all stakeholders and industry partners to collectively deliver on the Government\u2019s ambition to establish Ireland as a global production hub. As an agency, Screen Ireland remains deeply committed to best practice and the principles of sustainability in all aspects of industry development, including environmental protection, green production, dignity in the workplace and nationwide development.  A skilled workforce in the screen sector is a crucial component for the development and maintenance of our screen industries. Screen Ireland has a skills and training division that is responsible for monitoring the needs of the screen sectors and ensuring that those needs are met at all levels. As part of its skills programme, for example, Screen Ireland has co-developed a bachelor of arts in screen industry practice, in conjunction with TU Dublin. The degree course is aimed at experienced professionals within the sector who do not have a level 8 qualification. There are currently 30 people enrolled in this course. Screen Ireland also supports initiatives across animation, digital games, TV, VFX and the unscripted and extended reality sectors, aimed at all levels, from new entrants to experienced professionals, as well as engagement with our next generation of young filmmakers in the 15- to 19-year-old age category.  A skilled workforce is achieved through partnership and collaboration, and building a stronger ecosystem supported by stakeholder organisations, Screen Ireland's national talent academies network and Irish production companies nationwide. The national talent academies network is a recent initiative of Screen Ireland and includes the national talent academy for film and television, led by Ard\u00e1n in Galway, the national talent academy for animation, led by Animation Ireland, the national talent academy for VFX, led by Cultural & Creative Industries Skillnet, and three regional crew academies in Galway, Limerick and Wicklow. This network has been established to develop a highly skilled, diverse talent and crew base throughout the country, offering a wide range of activities for the Irish screen industry, including courses, programmes and career opportunities. The overarching aim of the national talent academies is to address and support current educational skills gaps in the screen sector and support the next generation of creatives - filmmakers, producers, directors, screenwriters, animators, VFX artists, game developers and production crew. The approach that Screen Ireland has taken is the envy of many of our competitors.  Screen Ireland aims to support and promote Irish film, television and animation through fostering Irish artistic vision and our diverse creative and production talent, growing audiences and attracting filmmakers and investment into the country. Recent years have been significant in terms of Irish creative talent and the Irish screen industries for the commercial and critical plaudits of Irish film not only at home but also on the international stage. Our highly trained and skilled shooting and construction crews are crucial in making Ireland an attractive location for projects, with record-breaking productions like \u201cWednesday\u201d locating here. The Irish screen industries are now in a strong position as a result of years of investment by the Irish Government.  Regional production taking place across Ireland brings cultural and economic benefits to the entire country. Crucially, this can also provide the opportunity to build cultural infrastructure in new geographic areas and to tell more diverse, cultural stories on our screens. Alongside its national talent academies network and support for film festivals in Cork, Galway, Dingle and beyond, Screen Ireland has committed to regional development by ring-fencing its funding in its annual budgets in recent years to provide targeted support. This year alone, its nationwide additional production fund has supported seven different productions to film in counties Sligo, Cork, Donegal, Louth and Kerry, while large-scale TV productions like \u201cWayfinders\u201d set up their base in Troy Studios, Limerick. This is providing skills development programmes to local crew and new entrants based nearby. Over the next year, we will see a range of productions of all sizes being encouraged to film in regions around the country, including season two of the very successful Irish language series \u201cCr\u00e1\u201d in Donegal.  The need for continued Government investment is vital to build on these success stories. We cannot afford to rest on our laurels. We must seek out new opportunities to give our industry the help and opportunities it deserves. Screen Ireland supports the games sector with its innovation in storytelling development fund, in partnership with Animation Ireland. This initiative is now in its fifth year and has supported digital games prototypes to support existing series, new tech workflows and the exploration of a range of new storytelling formats.  More recently, Screen Ireland has launched several funding initiatives for digital games, including IndieDev, the first all-island initiative to support the development of games prototypes, as well as talent incubator schemes designed to encourage cultural, creative and commercial growth in the sector. The agency is also working jointly with IMIRT, the game developers' representative organisation, to develop a competency framework for the industry. This will support and further build a skills development pipeline that can sustain growth into the future. Ireland\u2019s digital games sector has shown sustained momentum in recent years. Despite the real challenges posed by a very competitive global landscape, we are witnessing a growing ecosystem of studios, talented artists, supportive programmes and international investment.  The Minister, Deputy Patrick O\u2019Donovan, has indicated that he intends to bring forward further proposals to amend and update the Irish Film Board Acts next year. There is potential for growth in the Irish digital gaming sector. This is a sector in which Screen Ireland will be taking a greater role over the coming years.  In an increasingly competitive international environment, Screen Ireland will be able to continue to effectively discharge its vital role of promoting our indigenous film industry and marketing Ireland as a location for incoming internationally mobile productions.  Our cultural and artistic identity gives us a competitive advantage. The benefits of high levels of film and television production in Ireland include increased international investment in the economy, increased employment in this sector, positive spin-off effects for promoting the country as a tourist location and as an industrial location for all aspects of creative endeavours.  That is why I am really pleased to commend this Bill to the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Is Bille teicni\u00fail \u00e9 seo chun deis a thabhairt d'Fh\u00eds \u00c9ireann lean\u00faint ag tac\u00fa le scann\u00e1in in \u00c9irinn sna blianta amach romhainn. N\u00ed chuirfidh Sinn F\u00e9in i gcoinne an chusp\u00f3ra sin. T\u00e1 \u00e9acht den scoth bainte amach ag an earn\u00e1il scann\u00e1na\u00edochta in \u00c9irinn leis na blianta anuas. T\u00e1 Sinn F\u00e9in tar \u00e9is tac\u00fa go m\u00f3r leis an earn\u00e1il. Anuraidh, d'fhoilsigh Sinn F\u00e9in plean cuimsitheach le deich dtosa\u00edocht maidir le scann\u00e1na\u00edocht mar chuid d'\u00e1r bpolasa\u00ed eala\u00edona. T\u00e1im tar \u00e9is tr\u00ed Bhille a thionscn\u00fa sa D\u00e1il seo chun tac\u00fa le hoibreoir\u00ed scann\u00e1n, le d\u00e9ant\u00fas scann\u00e1n lasmuigh de Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath agus Chill Mhant\u00e1in, agus le rochtain a chinnti\u00fa do ch\u00e1ch ar sheirbh\u00eds\u00ed closamhairc trasna an oile\u00e1in.  The reason we in Sinn F\u00e9in have put so much time and energy into producing dedicated policies and introducing Bills to support our film industry, performers and audience access is film is vital not only for the creation of jobs and bringing investment to our regions, but also to the nation both in terms of how we are seen by others and how we view ourselves. When Irish films succeed, our economy, society and culture benefit. Thanks to the tremendous work of screenwriters, cinematographers, producers, directors, editors, cast and crew, as well as the hard work and investment of State bodies, including F\u00eds \u00c9ireann, Ireland can boast of enormous success in recent years, from which we have all benefited. Not alone has Ireland witnessed unprecedented wins, from the Oscars to the Sundance Festival, but a golden age has emerged, in particular for film-making in our native tongue. This golden age has been a long time in the making. Last year marked 90 years since the seminal documentary, \"Man of Aran\", which focused on saol na h\u00c9ireann, and since then we have seen many other films. In particular, of late we have had \"Kneecap\" and \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\" but they are not the only ones that have been cited by many. We have also had \"An Taibhse\", \"Fr\u00e9amhacha\", \"Arracht\" and even \"Foscadh\" and \"R\u00f3ise agus Frank\", which have put the spotlight on many of the contrasting ways our society operates and brings grief, in some cases, and joy in other cases. They often revolve around strong women working together and carrying out, in one of the films, \"Aontas\", a heist on a credit union in, or the women's naomh\u00f3g race in \"Tarrac\". I urge everyone who is listening in, if they are at all, to look at the Irish language films and at the Irish made films in the first instance and see they are products of our investment and the likes of this type of legislation, which encourages films to go a long way.  Major changes are required and this is one of them. We are supportive of the intention of the legislation. It is a practical step, and a technical step in some ways. It is an acceptance of the real life of cinema. We must acknowledge there are problems within the industry. The Minister of State will be aware of some of the issues I and others in the opposition have been raising consistently over the past few years. I have had this conversation with the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, and he has indicated he will examine some of the issues and maybe in other legislation that has been mooted there will be changes forthcoming.  The three major issues that must be addressed are the rights of workers and performers, the imbalance in the regional development of the sector and the failure to deliver funding potential for our cultural sector. I raised the issue of rights for workers and performers only last week in our discussion on the Finance Bill and I welcomed the commitments given by the T\u00e1naiste in response because we need to ensure that from wherever State support is being provided to film productions, whether it is through F\u00eds \u00c9ireann or another form of tax relief, that it does not contribute in any way to undermining worker's rights and conditions or it is not in violation of copyright law, in particular the EU copyright directive, because that directive outlines that performers have an unwaivable right to equitable remuneration and we know there are incidents where State-supported film productions are forcing performers to waive their rights and accept remuneration as proportionate before knowing what proportion it is in terms of their future revenue. That is unacceptable.  I quoted from one company last week that is in a coproduction with a US company that filmed in Ireland this year and was in receipt of the section 481 tax relief. The contract stated:  The artist acknowledges that the fees payable herein constitute a complete buyout of all rights contemplated hereunder and the artist shall not be entitled to any further sums whatsoever by reason of the exploitation of the film or other exploitations permitted hereunder ... No further sums are payable to the artist, or to the artists under this agreement, whether in respect of the hours worked by the artist or under any collective bargaining agreement, or in connection with the use or the exploitation and\/or the promotion of the film unless otherwise expressly stated herein. ... To the extent that the artist becomes entitled to any use, fees or residuals in respect of the film, no obligation shall be placed on the company in relation to the collection of payment of such moneys.  The law is meant to protect the vulnerable from being pushed around and having their rights denied. That is exactly what that contract would do and it is in breach of the EU directive. We need to expose this when this happens and back those who wish to take a stand because the problem is if someone refuses to sign these contracts, he or she will not get the work. In an industry where work can be precarious and consist of going from film to film, if people are cut out, while they may not be blacklisted, they will not get another contract because there are only a certain number of them. We need to send a message that any State support, whether through F\u00eds \u00c9ireann or a licence under section 481, will not tolerate any undermining of those rights.  I encourage the Minister of State to meet Irish Equity in particular, in future, to hear out the concerns around the contracts and the buyouts and to speak to film workers who have been raising issues of industrial relations and blacklisting in the industry for years.  The other issue I want to raise if that of the regional imbalance. There was an attempt to address this in 2019 when there was a short-lived regional uplift on top of section 481. That did not have an effect because it was truncated in the middle because of a two and a half year interruption due to Covid. While it was extended for an additional year, it was being tapered out anyway so we did not have the full effects of that. Maybe the Minister of State could look again at reintroducing it to see whether it would address the imbalance whereby most of the film productions and companies are located on the east coast, and in the Dublin region in particular. A \"Gaeltacht uplift\" is another way to look at it but it is something that would help and the Minister indicated he would look at it again. I am just using the opportunity to encourage him to do so again.  The other issue that needs to be considered is how to ensure Irish music, musicians and composers are used and get the full benefit of all of these films being produced in Ireland, We have some of the best musicians in the world and we have seen that on every world stage and through every genre of music.  There is no guarantee while the film companies are benefiting from the section 481 tax credit that Irish-based composers should continue to be used but also that the companies would be encouraged to consider them. None of the high-end productions that are filmed in Ireland have been using the composer of late. The Screen Composers Guild of Ireland has collected data that show that the level of productions in receipt of section 481 credit who employ Irish-based composers or use any Irish-based contribution continues to remain static at 30% and none of these productions are in the high budget bracket. This falls short of what the guild has said is an acceptable level given that the tax credit is, in fact, tax foregone by our society. If we are going to give away taxpayers' money or at least not call it in, we should ensure that we get the best and the most possible benefit and that includes ensuring composers have a role in productions.  The Irish Music Rights Organisation, IMRO, in its prebudget submission last year, expressed its concern that despite music being a vital component of film success, most section 481 schemes do not specify or mention music in their applications, unlike schemes in Britain. That is one of the key points. We need only look across the shore and see the benefits of investment in music in film, but also that many working in the film industry, actors or screenwriters, have a better contract than their Irish counterparts are being asked to sign. In fact, in some productions in Ireland, people are directly recruited to the film in London and the ones recruited in Ireland have two separate contracts, one of which, the English, is more beneficial.  Screen composers have outlined that music for film is highly international and competitive and in order for Ireland and Irish-based composers to compete successfully, it is important that music creation be supported overtly within the Irish audiovisual tax credit mechanism and that this is comparable to similar incentives offered by international coproduction partners to ensure that there is no in-built disincentive to bringing music departments to Ireland where coproductions are availing of multiple incentives. We believe that there are constructive solutions. They might not be ones that we will fully address in this Bill, but I intend to table one or two amendments to the Bill on Committee and Report Stages, to address some of these issues as they relate to this, as I said, technical Bill. We will have that discussion next week when this Bill comes before the House again. I tabled those amendments earlier, which, I think, was the deadline even though we are only on Second Stage. I sent them in and we will have the opportunity to discuss them next week. We would be standing up for Irish workers and artists if the amendments and the suggestions I and many others have tabled were adopted. My amendments are not aimed at hampering the industry in any way. They are aimed at enhancing it to all of our benefit.  Sin an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 agam faoi l\u00e1thair. T\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm. N\u00ed f\u00e9idir liom fanacht mar t\u00e1 gr\u00fapa \u00f3n bPalaist\u00edn istigh agam faoi l\u00e1thair. B'fh\u00e9idir go mbeidh m\u00e9 ar ais roimh dheireadh na r\u00e1iteas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We all love the idea of a thriving Irish film industry, whether we look at it, historically, through the likes of \"My Left Foot\" and \"In the Name of the Father\" right through to \"Kneecap\" and \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\", a lot in between and many smaller enterprises. We all should take great pride in this. We are only too delighted if section 481 is used as a means of enhancing the film industry and ensuring that we continue with this and we can improve upon it.  When we talk about the cultural test that is meant to be implemented and we look at the industry that we should have, we all would like to say that there would be some sort of State buy-in and, beyond that, that we would ensure that we would have a well-looked after and well-paid professional workforce that also ensures the sustainability of the film industry. That has been raised by Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh. I also have had many interactions on this particular point. Last week, Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh and I had an interaction with the T\u00e1naiste and Minister for Finance on section 481, and Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh withdrew his amendment to the Finance Bill on the basis of a promise made to examine this properly. We have all seen the cases that have been before the courts on the specifics of who is an employer. When a film is being created, a designated activity company, DAC, is put into operation. The DAC lasts for the entirety of the film but the fact is it is the employer but then it disappears. When we are talking about the European working time directive and ensuring its enforcement and other issues, they are not necessarily issues because the producer draws down the section 481 relief but the DAC is the employer. Unfortunately, I am almost like a broken record on this because this issue still has not been resolved.  My big fear around this is workers highlighting how their rights have been overridden and even being blackballed. Blackballing can happen in the film industry a lot easier than in other industry because, even though for many years somebody could be in constant employment almost with the same production company, multiple DACs are formed for every film being produced. If there is a particular issue and somebody needs that looked at, be it in relation to the working time directive or whatever, the fact is he or she might not necessarily get the phone call the next time. This is about ensuring workers' rights, which are taken for granted. I do not want to overegg it but we have used the analogy previously of the 1913 Lockout. People require to a call for a production and if someone makes a determination across the board that they or a number of their cohort have been involved in looking for rights for workers and ensuring that those rights are enforced, they might not get the call and the phone will not be as much use as it was beforehand. This is something that definitely needs to be looked at.  An issue has been brought on multiple occasions relating to Irish Equity, copyright and so-called \"residuals\". Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh brought it and I have no doubt Deputy Boyd Barrett will as well. It is Christmastime. Could the Minister of State imagine if somebody was forced into a contract that meant that moneys that would be due to them were not due to them into the future and were owned by somebody else altogether and what should be theirs had been taken away from the point of view of their creative endeavours? Let us imagine that person was George Michael or Mariah Carey. They would be down a huge amount. While we are not quite sure that \"Die Hard\" is a Christmas film or not, if Bruce Willis had to sign away his residuals that would be very different. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  There would be hell to pay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Indeed, there would. \"Yippee KiYay\", and all of that. That is the reality. I am not trying to make light of it. That was not going to happen in these sets of circumstances but it has happened to loads of people who work in the Irish film industry and that is not okay.  This is not some industry that is operating away on its own independently. This is an industry that is rightly supported by the State. We need to find a mechanism whereby we continue with section 481 but we ensure that section 481 ensures there is the correct cultural output required and that we have a film industry that gives people the correct type of work, be they directly involved from in the crew or appearing in the set and being filmed.  If we do not have that, we might have the horror stories we have all heard about phone calls not being made to the people who have all the experience. While it is important to have trainees, sometimes the ratio can be the wrong way and there may be too many trainees. This might result from someone looking at it from the point of view of saving money. The film industry is a fabulous thing. We all want to see it continue and be supported, but we need to make sure that workers' rights and artistic endeavours are looked after and that there is a sustainable industry, particularly when the State looks into it. We have an industrial relations infrastructure and framework but it is a very different situation in the film industry from many others. I would like the Minister of State to look at this issue and follow up with the T\u00e1naiste on his promises. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  I congratulate the Minister of State on her uplift to higher office. I welcome this Bill. I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak on it and more broadly in support of the arts, one of the most powerful forces shaping our culture, society and reputation around the world. The success of the Irish film industry is something we in the Labour Party are very proud of. It was Michael D. Higgins, as Minister for Arts, Culture and the Gaeltacht, who established the Irish Film Board way back in 1993. He had the foresight and vision to put in place the building blocks of what has become a really remarkable Irish success story, with tax incentives, training initiatives and direct supports that laid the foundations for a thriving, world-renowned screen sector. These State supports were transformative. They turned Ireland into a leading international filming destination attracting major productions from \"Saving Private Ryan\" to \"Braveheart\" while nurturing our own creative talent and storytelling traditions. Most recently, the Netflix series \"Wednesday\" was filmed in various locations around Ireland.  We are proud that our Labour Party vision helped to reshape Irish film and remains something we are very proud of. For that reason I welcome this Bill, which raises the cap on the supports that may be provided by Screen Ireland. Increased investment is essential to ensure high-quality indigenous productions continue to thrive. We want to see more extraordinary films like \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\" and \"Kneecap\", works that captured global attention and showcased the artistic brilliance emerging from Ireland. It is not only film; we have become a powerhouse across television, documentary, animation and games. Irish directors, writers, actors and craftspeople consistently punch far above their weight for our small but mighty country - long may that continue. Most recently, \"The Traitors\" was a huge success. It even prompted a Labour Party WhatsApp group to keep everyone informed. If this Bill were to be delayed, the essential funding pipeline for upcoming productions would also be delayed. That would put unnecessary pressure on producers, on employment and on Ireland's international reputation as a reliable partner for production so we are very pleased to support the legislation. At the same time, it is important that we use this moment to reflect honestly on where our domestic screen landscape can and must improve.  Section 481, the backbone of our internationally competitive film industry, has served Ireland well. The industry is changing rapidly across the world, however, and we need to ensure our tax relief remains fully competitive, agile and strategically aligned with the future needs of the sector. We should ask at this stage whether similar models of support should be extended to musicians. Far too many artists and performers are struggling in an era dominated by global streaming platforms where revenue models have shifted dramatically. If a version of section 481 could help to support film, why should we not consider whether it could also help to sustain Ireland's extraordinary music talent? Films and music go hand in hand as most films have a soundtrack that can often do just as well if not better than the film itself.  Above all, we must insist that our film and creative industries, which are built on imagination, innovation and collaboration, are places where workers are treated fairly, safely and with respect. Too often, we have heard stories of unfair work practices and of people, particularly younger people and women, being made to feel unsafe or exploited. If public money is supporting production, public values should underpin the conditions of that support. The Labour Party has long argued that access to section 481 relief should be conditional on offering secure, safe, high-quality employment with terms and conditions equivalent to those in other leading film nations. Workers' rights must be upheld not as an aspiration but as a requirement. I urge the Minister of State to take that commitment seriously.  I want to highlight the vibrant ecosystem that surrounds filmmaking - the festivals, community cinemas and local arts organisations that create space for Irish talent to be celebrated. I make this speech today on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Robert O'Donoghue, who unfortunately cannot be here. He asked me to give his constituency of Dublin Fingal West a twist. It has remarkable film festivals that bring people together, showcase Irish and international work, support local creatives and foster the next generation of filmmakers. These events are part of the cultural fabric of our communities. They educate, inspire and connect us. Supporting the screen sector means supporting them too. Most recently in Dublin Fingal West, they had the beautiful film \"Sunphlowers\" set in Rush in conjunction with the local theatre, Millbank Theatre.  Let us remember the substance behind this Bill. Screen Ireland operates under the Department of culture and is tasked with supporting and encouraging the making of films, developing the industry and promoting Irish culture on screen. It participates in international collaborations, supports skills development across film, TV, animation and games and promotes inward investment. Under section 10 of the film board Act, Screen Ireland's total investment is capped. As of December 2023, \u20ac430 million of the \u20ac500 million limit had been reached. There were five previous increases to this cap, reflecting the sustained growth of the industry. Budget 2026 increased Screen Ireland's budget by \u20ac2.1 million, bringing it to almost \u20ac43 million, a 5% rise. Section 481 offers a tax credit of 32% for qualifying productions, capped at \u20ac70 million with requirements for cultural value, employment standards and skills development. These are not abstract policy measures; they are the engine of an industry that now produces acclaimed works such as \"Small Things Like These\", \"The Wonder\", \"The Apprentice\", \"Normal People\" and \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\" among many others.  The arts are not a luxury; they are a necessity. They shape who we are, how we see ourselves and how the world sees Ireland. They sustain jobs, drive regional development and help to build a society that values expression, diversity and creativity. By supporting this Bill, we are not simply adjusting a funding cap; we are reaffirming our commitment to Ireland's creative future, to our actors, musicians, screenwriters, designers, animators and cinematographers and to all those whose artistry enriches our lives. Let us ensure they have the funding, protections and respect they deserve. Let us keep building the conditions in which Irish creativity can thrive safely, fairly and proudly.  I would like to draw the Minister of State's attention to another pressing matter. While going slightly off topic, I want to address the sudden and deeply concerning closure of The Complex in Smithfield, a cultural and artistic space that has served as a vital hub for creativity, community and expression in our capital city. The abrupt nature of this closure is yet another stark reminder of how Dublin is steadily losing its cultural heartbeat. It is a consequence of unchecked commercial pressure, a lack of meaningful Government intervention and ongoing silence when it comes to the urgent need for nightlife and cultural space reform.  As the Labour Party has consistently highlighted, since 2000 more than 522 cultural and arts venues have closed nationwide. In Dublin today, we are left with only 23 late-night venues in operation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Mark Wall)  The Deputy should keep his comments relevant to what we are talking about today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  This decline is not sudden; it is the cumulative result of years of neglect.  In the time I have available to me, I want to talk about the fantastic work being done in my constituency by Film in Limerick, which is an initiative of Innovate Limerick that provides valuable local supports and acts as a point of information and contact for film in the region. We had a film lab that launched in Limerick last July, bringing 18 producers from Ireland, Canada and Scotland together. We really need to see a return of the regional uplift for film in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025. Before I do so, however, and since we are discussing Irish screen production, I would like to formally express my condolences on the sad, sudden passing of Hugh Wallace, who was not originally a television presenter but certainly endeared himself to the Irish public on the many shows he presented. I express my condolences to his husband, family, friends and colleagues.  This is a short, technical Bill, as the Minister of State has highlighted, but it carries real significance for jobs, creative talent and the stories we tell about Ireland. Its core purpose is straightforward: it raises the statutory ceiling on Screen Ireland's cumulative capital outlay and commitments from \u20ac500 million to \u20ac840 million. In effect, it ensures the agency can continue to fund development and production without hitting a legal wall in 2026. This is necessary as, under the current legislation, the \u20ac500 million limit will be exhausted once the full 2025 allocation is drawn down. By the end of 2024, the aggregate figure already stood at over \u20ac467 million, meaning that without this Bill the 2026 programme would breach the limit. The sector is growing and the demand for Irish content is also growing. Screen Ireland has demonstrated its capacity to deploy funding effectively. This legislation gives the agency the headroom to continue this good work.  The Oireachtas has had to adjust the ceiling several times over the past decade as the screen sector has expanded. The increases reflect the success of the industry. Sustained investment has driven creative output, talent development and economic returns. That remains true to this day.  Screen Ireland, formerly the Irish Film Board, is the national development agency for film, television, animation, documentary and digital production. Its mandate spans development and production finance, distribution and festival support, promotion, and, crucially, skills and talent development. It sits on a lineage that has helped to transform Ireland from a location for other people's productions into a country with a rich, self-confident screen culture of its own.  Since 2018 alone, the agency has supported the development of more than 100 feature films, dozens of TV dramas and documentaries and a constant stream of animation and short films. This activity translates directly into opportunity for writers, directors and performers but also for the crews and craftspeople who make up the backbone of the industry. The industry means work for carpenters, costume designers, editors, caterers and post-production teams. That diversity of employment is one of the sector's great strengths.  Irish work has also made a decisive impact internationally. Recent years have brought a record number of Oscar nominations and global acclaim for films like \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\" and \"The Banshees of Inisherin\", as well as Irish-based television series that travel well, from \"The Young Offenders\" to \"Hidden Assets\", to name but a few. These achievements are grounded in talent but also in the strategic support Screen Ireland provides. The agency pursues a dual strategy: backing indigenous Irish stories and attracting incoming, internationally mobile productions. Both matter. Irish stories preserve and amplify our cultural voice. International productions bring investment, skills development and global visibility. Ireland can compete successfully for these productions due to the consistent quality of our crews, our location and our policy environment.  Skills development is central to this. Screen Ireland's training and talent initiatives have expanded significantly in recent years. The National Talent Academies network, covering film and television drama, animation and visual effects, VFX, ensures that emerging talent across the regions can access structured development pathways. The Minister of State referred to the regional crew academies in Galway, Limerick and Wicklow. These are helping to deepen the skills base outside Dublin and ensure the growth is genuinely nationwide. This whole-of-pipeline approach is essential if we want a sustainable industry in the long term.  The Bill sits alongside the substantial Government support delivered through recent budgets. Through budget 2026, for example, funding for Screen Ireland will rise to \u20ac42.96 million, an increase of over 5%. This is a clear signal of the Government's commitment to building a competitive, future-focused screen sector.  On the taxation side, there have been important enhancements to section 481. The 8% Sc\u00e9al uplift, introduced in 2025, strengthens the economics of live-action and animated features with budgets under \u20ac20 million, a zone where Irish and European co-productions thrive. A further 8% uplift for VFX in budget 2026 recognises the importance of post-production and visual effects to competitiveness and to high-value employment, especially as international demand for VFX capacity continues to rise.  The Government has improved the digital games tax credit, which is helping to develop a connected creative-tech ecosystem alongside film and television. We have increased the overall cap for section 481 productions to \u20ac125 million, and work is under way to introduce a new 20% unscripted programmes tax credit. This will support high-end factual and documentary formats, representing an area where Irish producers are well placed to excel.  All of this forms part of a coherent audiovisual strategy. This entails backing local talent, attracting global productions, expanding skills and ensuring Ireland remains competitive in a fast-moving international environment. The benefits are broad. A strong screen industry enhances our reputation, supports tourism and showcases Ireland's culture and landscapes to global audiences. It creates high-quality jobs across rural and urban areas. It sustains Irish-language production, children's programming and diverse storytelling that reflects modern Ireland. It also supports regional development, particularly where studio facilities and crew bases are emerging outside Dublin.  However, we should be honest about the challenges, some of which have been alluded to. Other countries are constantly reshaping their incentive regimes. The economics of streaming and distribution are shifting rapidly. Smaller companies and freelancers can be vulnerable to international disruption, as we saw during recent global strikes. If we want to keep our talent here, and avoid a drain to London, Budapest or Vancouver, we need to plan ahead and provide stability. That is exactly what this Bill does. By increasing the capital ceiling to \u20ac840 million, we are giving Screen Ireland the certainty it needs to deliver on its strategy for 2025 to 2029 to support both indigenous creativity and internationally mobile projects, and also to maintain a strong skills pipeline across the regions. We are also sending a clear message, which is that Ireland is open to investment and collaboration and committed to supporting our creative industries.  I welcome the Bill and commend the Minister of State and the officials on introducing it. This necessary and practical step will allow Screen Ireland to keep backing Irish stories, Irish talent and Irish jobs. I welcome the Minister of State's commitment to expanding the funding, particularly for digital gaming. I want to be associated with the remarks of colleagues on the need to support workers' pay and conditions. Everyone must have fair, decent working arrangements. I am happy to support the Bill. I look forward to the next chapter of Irish film and screen production. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. As I understand it, it is about raising the aggregate amount that Screen Ireland can give out, presumably because we are near the limit of \u20ac500 million. The Bill proposes to raise this to \u20ac800 million.  I have long and repeatedly argued that we should increase the amount of money that we put into artistic and cultural endeavour generally, and into film. At one level, I welcome an increased commitment to support the film industry but I also, as the Minister of State, and certainly as officials in the Department of arts will know, have concerns about the conditions attached to that funding and whether the requirements for state aid to the film industry, which are set down in EU directives and, in the case of section 481, are legislated for, that you have to fulfil certain requirements in order to receive state aid for film, and the culture and industry tests, are being met.  There is no doubt, and many people have talked rightly, about the huge talent we have, and the successes we have seen in the film industry. I do not think it is a surprise to anybody because we know we have a tremendous pool of talent and creativity in this country, including writers, actors, musicians, the crew and all the various people who work in film. Enormous talent exists. It should not be a surprise that given the right support, they can achieve absolutely incredible things. It is right to list the successes and awards that have been achieved. I applaud all of that.  I am also concerned that while we need to increase the supports, we are not meeting those tests, particularly the requirement for quality employment and training in the film industry. There are two main dimensions of that that I want to talk about. First of all, there is the issue which was highlighted again in the High Court in the past few weeks. I am not sure if the Minister of State or Department are aware of this. There was a decision by Mr. Justice Garrett Simons in the High Court, in a case taken by stagehands who have worked in the Irish film industry. I was just looking through the details. I have not had the time to look at all of it and I have not read the full ruling. The judge found in their favour against motions put by one of the major recipients of Irish Film Board grants and of section 481 funding, one of the two biggest film producer companies in this country, Metropolitan Pictures. Similar types of cases have been and are being taken against the other major recipient by people who worked on Irish film productions for Element Pictures, the other major recipient. They are the two dominant recipients. There are a few others but they are the major recipients of State support for the film industry.  The first thing I would ask the Government, as I have repeatedly, but on this particular ruling, relates to the Departments of Finance and arts. Finance is relevant to section 481, although not so much to the Irish Film Board but obviously the film industry benefits from funding both from the Irish Film Board via the Department of arts and it and the Department of Finance through section 481. I ask them to look at that decision made in the courts because it related to a case taken by stagehands to the WRC over the failure over the film producer companies, which get money from the Irish Film Board and section 481 to vindicate their rights under the fixed-term workers legislation. It is complicated. I do not know how many times I have explained it. I will table an amendment on Committee Stage of this Bill saying that the giving out of grants and loans by the Irish Film Board should be contingent on very strict adherence to the obligations under fixed-term workers legislation, and that we do not have, as I certainly believe is the case, the issue with the cases taken by the stagehands. To try to summarise it, the WRC found in favour of the stagehands. The Labour Court then overturned that decision but then it went to the High Court and it essentially found in favour again of the stagehands. I do not think the Labour Court decision has been fully quashed yet but the High Court found in favour of the stagehands.  There have been many of these cases. It revolves around the fact that state aid to film producer companies in this country is contingent on giving quality employment and training. They get the money because they are providing employment but when people who worked on film productions made by those recipients and film producer companies which get the money take cases against their employer over, for example, not getting their employment rights properly vindicated, the film producer company goes into the WRC or the Labour Court and says it does not have any employees. It says the designated activity company, DAC, it set up has the employees, therefore the film producer company is not really their employer. That is sort of laughable. It is Russian doll sort of stuff. It is an abuse because, on the one hand, the company gets the money from the State on the basis that it is creating jobs, and on the other hand, when the people it is supposed to be employing say it is their employer but it is not giving them their rights, it says it has never employed them and has no employment relationship with them whatsoever. It might have set up the DAC but that is not the company but somebody else. To me, that is an abuse and should not be allowed to carry on. We have to stop giving money to film producer companies which are doing that until it is rectified.  What is the human cost of all of this? People who worked, in the case of that stagehand for 18 years in the film industry, are essentially cast out of the film industry because they try to assert their rights. They are blacklisted and they are left high and dry with nothing. Many of them would say they have been blacklisted out of the industry, having sometimes worked for 20, 30 or 40 years in the film industry. They are left high and dry with nothing because the people who have employed them again and again hide behind these DACs even though they are claiming large amounts of money.  Looking at the amount of money, if we have reached the limit of \u20ac500 million, half a billion has been given out since this started and we are now going to go up to over three quarters of a billion over the next few years. That is a lot of money. When you look at section 481 or its predecessors, it is probably \u20ac3 billion or \u20ac4 billion. That is a lot of money. I am in favour of that money being given out but I am concerned that we are giving out billions to people who say they have no employees.  The industry test as required by EU law is that we build up companies of scale. I think \"companies of scale\" is the phrase used in the EU directive. How can a company be a company of scale if it has no employees? Again and again, they go into the court and their employees come in and say, \"You're my employer\", but the person running the company says, \"No, I don't have employees. I've never had employees. There are no employees. They are employed by a DAC that is now wound up\". It is an abuse and it has to be stopped. It is completely unfair. I hope I have explained that.  We need to make the giving-out of these moneys conditional on that abuse stopping and the rights of workers need to be fully vindicated. Similarly with the actors and performers, the issues are different but it is to do with use of buyout contracts. The officials will be familiar with this. I know the Minister of State is new in the job and she might not be as familiar. Most actors at the best of times have a pretty precarious existence and do not really know when the next job is coming or where the next paycheck is coming from. Once upon a time they got royalties or residuals for previous performances they did on films. When films or TV series were shown again, they might get a small cheque of a few hundred quid in the post, which would be very welcome.  Despite the billions coming out of section 481 over the years, at \u20ac500 million now to go to \u20ac750 million from the film board, most of our actors and most people who work in the film industry live in poverty. While there are a few A-listers, the vast majority of them are not A-listers but they are absolutely critical to the existence of the industry, an industry where there are no jobs and there is very little infrastructure for all those billions, by the way. Where are our studios? We sold the last bit of Ardmore to an American company. Where is our infrastructure for all the billions we put in? We do not have any. Where did it go? Who has it for all those billions?  I am sorry about going off the point there. For the actors, performers, writers and so on, those residuals are critical. Now, however, apart from those A-listers or those whose agent can negotiate a better situation for them, in order to get a contract, they are handed a buyout contract where to get the job they have to sign away their right to royalties and residuals in the future. It is supposedly voluntary but the truth is that if they do not sign that, they will not be getting the job.  The Minister of State may have heard the phrase \"You'll never work in this town again\". There is a reason that is a familiar phrase to most people because it comes from showbiz. It was probably first heard in Hollywood or somewhere. This is a phrase that exists in the culture and arts, and film industry. It very much exists here. That phrase probably did not originate here - it probably originated in Hollywood or wherever - but it exists in reality here. If you do not sign that contract, you will not be working in this town again. It is as simple as that. Everybody knows it. It is the dirty secret but we do not acknowledge it. People are afraid even to speak about it because if they speak about it publicly, they may never work in this town again but everybody knows it. What are we going to do about it?  Given that the producer companies are getting all this money - as I said, I actively want us to invest in these areas - I believe we have to safeguard the rights of the talent. By the way, when I use the phrase \"the talent\", all of them are talent, including the guys who build the sets and paint the sets, the transport workers, right up to the actors, the make-up people and all the rest of it. Often a distinction is made between those in front of the camera and those behind the camera. I completely reject that. We need all these people and all of them deserve to be treated with respect.  In reality, the people who do the best out of it all are the producers. This may be a little sign of the way the industry is going. I do not want to sound too nostalgic but in the old days when the credits used to roll on films, we saw the names of the actors, the directors and the various crew people who made it happen. They were the most prominent things. Now, with an awful lot of TV and film productions, the most prominent things, often coming up first on the credits, are a long list of the names of the producers, the suits. The suits come up first. I think that is emblematic of what is going on in these industries. I went into the Labour Court with those stagehands. They had no legal representation at all. The film production company, which gets a lot of money from the Irish State, had a phalanx of legal advisers, experts, suits. Who paid for them to sit there and say to people they knew had worked on film productions funded by the State, \"We have no employment relationship with you\"?  I do not know how many times these things have been said to the Government. When are we going to end this situation? It is just not fair that film crews have been blacklisted out of the industry. It is not fair that actors, performers and so on can be told to sign buyout contracts and not get their residuals and royalties as they did once upon a time. I believe that situation has to end.  I want to speak about the culture test. Ultimately these things may be somewhat related. I may be going slightly more out on a limb. Some good stuff has happened in the last year, with a bit more money going to indigenous, small, young, new people and so on. I am very glad to see that and it is great to see the success, which shows what is possible. However, why is there not more stuff done about the incredible historic and cultural heritage this country has? A few weeks ago on an American streamer, I saw a feature film about Daniel O'Connell, which was dreadful. It was made in America with an all-American cast. It was absolutely dreadful. I was wondering why we did not make a film about Daniel O'Connell. Then I thought, where's our Gulliver's Travels ? Where is our Dracula seeing as the book originated here? Where are our productions about Robert Emmet and the United Irishmen? Where is our film about Constance Markievicz? Where is all this stuff? I know we have produced some like \"The Wind that Shakes the Barley\" and \"Michael Collins\" but it is quite a while since we did any of those big historical productions.  I have run out of time. There should be more going in to celebrate our cultural heritage, our rich history and so on and some of the incredible cultural artistic talent that we have in this country than is currently the case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy did very well in 20 minutes. I have no doubt we will have a film about him at some stage. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Debate adjourned."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Marie Sherlock - To discuss the parents notify system.  Deputy Sean Fleming - To discuss the transfer of patients from Erkina House in Rathdowney, County Laois, and the future of this facility.  Deputy James Geoghegan - To discuss the issue of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in Ireland.  Deputy Ryan O'Meara - To discuss the inclusion of commercial bus operators in the under-nine free-travel scheme.  Deputy Rory Hearne - To discuss changes to bus networks in Dublin North West.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss overcapacity and reliability issues on the E1 and E2 bus routes.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss solar energy developments in rural Ireland and the need for specific planning guidelines.  Deputy Gary Gannon - To discuss the crisis facing the prison system.  Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath - To discuss the new school building project proposed for the amalgamation of Shanbally and Ringaskiddy National Schools, County Cork.  Deputy Michael Collins - To discuss water supply issues affecting Adrigole.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss accessibility issues at at Ardee Educate Together School, County Louth.  Deputy Jennifer Whitmore - To discuss special education in Wicklow.  The matters raised by Deputies Marie Sherlock, S\u00e9amus McGrath, Jennifer Whitmore, Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa, Barry Ward, Ryan O'Meara, James Geoghegan, Gary Gannon, Michael Collins and Louis O'Hara have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/67","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/67\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed)","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question again proposed: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\""},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I thank the D\u00e1il and acknowledge the interest and support of Members for this technical but important Bill. It was really heartening to have the engagement and to hear so many of the TV shows and films that I watch being mentioned here today. It shows the fantastic talent that we have in Ireland and why it is so important that we continue to support the industry.  I am going to take a moment to respond to some of the queries and concerns raised here today. I thank Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh for his kind words about Screen Ireland and assure him that Department officials are in ongoing contact with Irish Equity and SIPTU in relation to the issues he raised.  Deputies \u00d3 Snodaigh, Sheehan and Boyd Barrett raised the matter of section 481 tax relief. I confirm this is not part of this Bill and Screen Ireland has no competency in the area of tax. Screen Ireland gives grants and loans and, to be clear, is not involved in tax.  I thank Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa, who has arrived back just in time. We all love Irish productions and are proud of our talented creatives. I fully agree with him on that.  Deputy Sheehan spoke about \"Sunphlowers\", which premiered this year in July at the Galway Film Fleadh. It showcased north County Dublin at its best as well as the creative skills of the crew and the creatives involved. The Deputy also spoke about film in Limerick. I assure him that is part of the work and that Paul Ryan works with Screen Ireland. I also reassure Deputy Sheehan and his colleague in north Dublin that ongoing negotiations are happening with the developers regarding The Complex arts centre and that the Department is working to support those discussions.  I echo Deputy Devlin's deep condolences on the sad passing of Hugh Wallace. May he rest in peace. I send my condolences to his family, friends and colleagues. I thank Deputy Devlin for his comments and assure him the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, is very committed to increasing a focus on gaming. The vast majority of Screen Ireland funding goes to the indigenous screen industries.  Deputy Boyd Barrett spoke about taxation and legislation, as I said. He also spoke about EU law, DAC and the industry test, which is part of the application process for tax relief. In terms of buyout contracts, the Screen Ireland copyright process includes the trade unions Irish Equity and SIPTU, employees, Screen Producers Ireland, Animation Ireland and the creative guilds representing directors, screenwriters and composers. They have all agreed guidelines on copyright and intellectual property rights. I hope that is welcome news.  Irish talent and Irish production companies supported by Screen Ireland have achieved outstanding international success over the last decade. Irish-originated films, TV drama, animation and documentaries have been enjoyed by audiences worldwide and have premiered at major international festivals. They have sold in every territory around the world and they have received critical acclaim and awards recognition at the highest levels. Major successful international films and TV dramas have also been produced across Ireland, generating a substantial contribution to the economy, providing significant employment and world-class skills development.  The Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 has a single provision, to increase the statutory limit on the cumulative capital outlay, commitments and liabilities that may be incurred by Screen Ireland. I thank everyone who was involved in the Bill, including the Minister, Deputy Patrick O'Donovan, and his team and the officials who are with me today. I commend this Bill to the House. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Irish Film Board (Amendment) Bill 2025 [Seanad]: Second Stage (Resumed)"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Is the Minister of State taking the Topical Issues? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  Yes, ten Topical Issues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Ten Topical Issues, okay. We begin with Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"School Facilities","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I thank the Minister of State. Fair play to anybody who is going to sit through ten Topical Issues. It is a matter of actually getting delivery on some of these issues. This issue is one where you think there must be a simple solution, so it is a matter of us finding that solution. I was sent a letter from the board of management of Ardee Educate Together National School and its principal, Ann Middleton. I was lucky enough to go around the site for the new build. All I can say, which is no different from what is in the letter, is that it is absolutely fabulous work. It needs to happen as soon as possible. As I said, I had a site visit. They are great grounds. It is an absolutely spectacular building. It looks like something that is fit for purpose, as we would expect of any new build these days. However, there are particular issues and I think they could be very easily addressed now. If they are not addressed now, it will be very costly to deliver later.  These are the details that were sent to me regarding special needs provision, buses and transport. The school has five special needs classes for pupils with autism, comprising 30 pupils. They do not have enough drop-off and collection points for special needs buses. They barely have room for two minibuses, whereas they require five. The lack of bus parking will cause backup for the remaining buses and cars and result in huge traffic jams and delays. Special needs pupils with autism have difficulties with transferring and waiting and this could affect pupil regulation and cause meltdown for pupils with challenging behaviours. The present system will result in absolute traffic chaos. The principal has repeatedly raised this with Louth County Council and the architects, Kennedy Fitzgerald Architects. I went to Louth County Council myself and was told this had gone to the design team, which had refused it on the basis of cost, and that it would have to go back for planning. However, I agree with what is written in the letter in that this issue can be easily resolved by continuing the bus parking set-down area by three spaces to the west onto unused space, of which there is a lot, between the school and the boundary fence. The letter actually says \"see map\" but we do not need to get into that.  This is quite simple. If you are going into the school building, you will come off the road and swing a left. That is a road on the school property that could be extended. Regarding the school car park, I was sent a plan showing how it could be extended with a widened road. There are 21 spaces. There is a need for probably double that number. There are two set-down minibus spaces and you would almost have to park perfectly to get into them. Like I said, there are five minibuses that will leave children with challenging needs to the school. In addition, they come from various places, so it is not as though the school can just put more children onto one particular bus.  This has been in operation for a long time. The school building was promised in 2012. It may be that a ratio that was delivered earlier regarding parking spaces does not take into account the five autism spectrum disorder, ASD, classes. Staff are coming from right across Louth, Meath, Monaghan and beyond, so it is not as though people are able to cycle or whatever else.  I was shown the works and met the contractor. He will very soon carry out tarmacking and other works. If the work was done at this point in time, it could be done cheaply and would only involve removing stuff that has been put in from an aesthetics point of view. I ask that we find a solution as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Hildegard Naughton.  As he said, the brief for this major school building project is to provide an eight-classroom school with an additional four classroom special educational needs, SEN, base included. The project has been devolved to Louth County Council for delivery. The project is currently at stage 4, that is, construction, of the delivery process. It is envisaged that, pending no unforeseen delays or issues, the estimated completion date will be within the first quarter of 2026. It is great to hear that the Deputy had a site visit and saw with his own eyes how well the construction is proceeding. From his account, it sounds like the project is on track to meet the deadline.  The Department has been actively engaging with the design team and Louth County Council throughout the process and will continue to engage to provide practical advice and assistance on this important project. The Minister for Education and Youth acknowledged that the school previously submitted a request for additional car park spaces which was reviewed by the Department but was not approved.  The design team is now required to construct and progress the project in accordance with the project brief, as agreed in the service level agreement and in accordance with any local authority planning conditions. The number of car parking spaces currently provided for is what is in the planning conditions. What is currently provided for is in line with the approved planning requirements and what happens generally. While I appreciate the Deputy has said the problem could be resolved simply, it sounds like it would require changes to a planning application.  Since 2020, the Department has invested over \u20ac6 billion in schools throughout the country under the national development plan, involving the completion of over 1,300 school buildings. In addition, repurposing and optimisation of existing accommodation capacity across the school estate has been a key enabler of timely, local provision of special class capacity in a way that supports best practice in inclusion and integration. About 80% of new special classes in 2025-26 are being facilitated in repurposed classroom accommodation.  In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the new national development plan, NDP. As part of this allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. Regarding project roll-out for larger-scale projects and the additional school accommodation scheme, the approach will be to continue to maximise capacity and prioritise the most urgent needs.  The Deputy spoke about a solution for his school put forward by the principal, namely, widening the road and extending the car park. To me, this might require planning permission and would be something he would need to engage on with Louth County Council. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Louth County Council is almost a facilitator. It speaks to the design team. I raised this issue with the Taoiseach in terms of the need to streamline regulation. We all know the issues that exist in respect of planning. We need a system that can be more agile. While we need checks and balances, that should be possible.  If mistakes are made or issues are seen, they could be addressed in a timely manner. The project could proceed through the process and the problem would still persist and would need to be dealt with in six months. There may be a new planning application, but at that stage we would consider removing parts that have been added in, such as hedges, fencing, pavement or tarmac and other works that need to be done.  At any point in time, we could have a proper and speedy review of what is possible and how quickly we could fix this. There will be traffic chaos, which has been pointed out. There are very simple issues.  The process was probably simpler once upon a time when the school was given responsibility to deliver projects. I am sure there were problems and mistakes in that system, but at least schools did not have to go through three layers. Louth County Council is only one of those layers and then we have the Department, building unit, architects and contractors. This is not working. The process is taking too long.  There are issues in respect of the yard size. I have written to the Minister and will hand the Minister of State a letter later. I ask that she follows up with the Minister. We need to try to deal with this as quickly as possible. This will become a bigger problem very quickly and it will become a more expensive problem. It is an absolute necessity that action is taken. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy. I hear and appreciate his frustration. The number of car parking spaces currently provided for is in line with the approved planning requirements. In order to change the plans, there would need to be a new planning application. I appreciate he does not want to do that after the new school is built, given that it would involve additional disruption. The advice would be to engage now with Louth County Council to see it is if it is possible for the planning changes to happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  It not the council; the Department has a role to play. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I will pass on the Deputy's feedback to the Minister to see if planning was granted whether it would be possible for the Department to fund those works. Right now, there is no planning grounds for it. That seems to be the problem and that is where I will advise the Deputy to take this next. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Facilities"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Amalgamation","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I thank the Minister of State for taking this question. I want to raise the issue of the proposed amalgamation of Shanbally and Ringaskiddy national schools in County Cork. They are two existing schools in older buildings. Ringaskiddy has a school population of approximately 60 students and Shanbally is larger with approximately 199 students. The proposed amalgamation has been on the cards for a decade and a half at this stage. Unfortunately, despite this long time it is at the earliest possible stage, namely pre-stage 1 of the school building programme.  There are emergency needs in these schools. I have had the good fortune of being able to visit these schools in my time. I most recently visited Shanbally, the larger of the two schools. Of the nine classrooms in the school, six are prefabs. Many of the prefabs are over ten years old and are in an appalling condition. I witnessed it myself. Floors are collapsing and ceilings are bulging with dampness. There are health and safety issues, in that ceilings could collapse on students. There is dampness and mould. I could go on. There are significant issues with electrical trip switches, which are tripping because of the dampness in the school. There is a chronic need to develop the new school so that the students can get out of these older and dilapidated buildings.  As I said, despite the time involved, the project is at the earliest stage of the school building programme. There is deep frustration locally about the slowness of the process. This has been a long running process. A site was identified a number of years ago. Unfortunately, the site had to be acquired for the development of the M28 motorway. That was one setback. A new site was identified and is fully in place. Everything is now ready to go in terms of developing the new schools.  Given the issues I outlined earlier with the condition of the buildings, the principals of the schools have had to fight tooth and nail is to get emergency funding to carry out works. They have been put through the wringer in trying to get funding to carry out works for roof repairs and to address dampness and other safety issues in school buildings. It is simply not good enough in this day and age that such a number of children are being educated in these facilities.  To be fair, the children receive a good standard of education. The principals and teachers in Ringaskiddy and Shanbally national schools are doing their level best to provide good levels of education. They are also doing their best with regard to special education and are certainly playing their part in providing places for students with additional needs. They need the school building programme to progress quickly and for this school project to be on a proper trajectory towards the delivery of a new school building.  I hope the Minister's response can give some hope to the communities, teachers, pupils and parents locally that the school building project will progress and they will see credible and substantive progress in the near future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am taking this on behalf of the Minister for Education and Youth. This gives me the opportunity to outline to the D\u00e1il the current position regarding the proposed amalgamation of Ringaskiddy Lower National School and Shanbally National School in County Cork.  This project is planned to be delivered as part of phase 2 of the Department\u2019s Adapt 4 programme. That programme uses a professional external programme manager to co-ordinate and drive the integrated project team to achieve the best possible timeframe for the project through the stages of architectural planning, to tender and construction. This programme is being led by integrated project teams consisting of highly skilled and experienced design professionals, architects, engineers, project managers, quantity surveyors and various other consultants to deliver the projects.  The project manager for this particular project was appointed in the third quarter of 2023 and is in the process of preparing documentation for the tender process for the appointment of integrated project teams for the phase 2 bundle of projects. The brief for the project is to provide a new 16-classroom primary school with four classrooms for pupils with special educational needs. The new school is expected to be located on a 6.068 acre site which is currently privately owned but is anticipated to be transferred into the ownership of Cork Diocesan Trust. Currently the two national schools are located off site, in two separate locations where they will remain until the new school building is completed.  From the account given by the Deputy today, it sounds like the conditions the students and staff are operating in are not satisfactory. I will pass that on to the Minister and ask that it be taken into consideration as the plan is progressed with urgency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  I thank the Minister of State for the reply. I appreciate the response. As the Minister of State said, this is to be a new 16-classroom primary school with four classrooms for children with special education needs. This facility is so badly needed in the local community and the constituency that I represent. My main reason for submitting this Topical Issue matter was to get a status update. I appreciate that the Minister of State has provided an update in relation to the project manager being appointed in the third quarter of 2023 who is in the process of preparing documentation for the tender process for the appointment of the integrated project teams for the phase 2 bundle of projects. While I appreciate the reply, it is lacking in clarity in relation to the timeline. It does not give me a lot to go back to the school community, parents or principal and teachers with, in relation to the timeline. If there is any additional information, I would be very grateful for it.  I note the appointment of the project manager and the preparation of the documentation for the tender process but at the same time, this school amalgamation process has been in the pipeline for so long that we do need some credible timelines at this stage, especially because the current conditions are so unsuitable. The facilities where the pupils are receiving their education are not fit for purpose. Despite the conditions, both schools are providing an education to the highest standard but they are really up against it in terms of the environment in which they operate. I visited the schools and saw first hand the conditions and they really are not acceptable. I ask the Minister of State to relay that to the Minister and to stress the urgency of this particular project. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy McGrath for his response, for his advocacy on behalf of the schools and for taking the time to go and visit both schools and provide feedback on the floor of the D\u00e1il on what he has seen. This is a little bit more complex than some proposals because we are talking about the amalgamation of two schools. We are also talking about a site that is privately owned and that must come into the ownership of the Cork Diocesan Trust first. The fact that a project manager is already in place and is looking at this and preparing the tender documents is quite helpful but there is that added dimension of ownership which I assume will need to be sorted out.  I went back to the Department of Education to ask if would be possible to get a clear timeframe that I could give the Deputy today. As the Deputy said in his opening remarks, this is at pre-stage one which is why the Department was not able to give me either a start or completion date. The context is that the site needs to be transferred into new ownership and the tender needs to go live. The documentation is being worked on for that tender to go live, which I hope the Deputy will agree is very encouraging. I will pass on his feedback in relation to the conditions the staff and students of the schools are working in. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Amalgamation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Today I want to raise issues in relation to special education needs in Wicklow. I am really concerned about children who have special education needs. I have been trying to raise this with the Minister of State and am really disappointed that he is not here today. I have been trying to talk to him on the floor of the D\u00e1il for the past few weeks in relation to this issue. I am worried from a number of different perspectives but ultimately, there are three areas of concern.  First, the NCSE has set up a new system through which parents can get a letter of eligibility which they then use to get a special needs place in a school. The portal for that letter of eligibility closed on 1 October. That deadline was for children who need classes in 2026. We both know how difficult it can be to get the assessments done as well as the costs involved, the timelines and the waiting times. Therefore, there is a cohort of children who did not make that 1 October deadline. The NCSE's page on the portal says that the council will give guidance to those parents who did not make the deadline and that guidance would be available within a matter of weeks. That was on 1 October but the council still has not updated the page. I have asked the council and the Minister of State over and over what those parents and children are meant to do. It is not just an issue for Wicklow but across the country. I have been contacted by parents across the country whose children did not get their letters through the portal.  The second issue is that those parents who did get the letter of eligibility have not been able to secure a school place. They were told that this was the process they needed to go through and when they had done so, the supports would be there but they are not hearing anything at all about school places. Children who have special needs and their parents need not only to be sure of a place, they also need time so they can get their children ready for going to school. Any transition like this is very difficult for children with additional needs. The fact that parents still do not know whether their child will get a sanctioned place is completely unacceptable. The whole point of having this new online system was that it would take the uncertainty out of it for parents but that uncertainty is still there. I have spoken to principals who have yet to be told whether they will be sanctioned for classrooms for next September. Those principals need to get everything in place and they are not being told anything by the NCSE. I ask the Minister of State to pass this on to the NCSE and to the Minister of State with responsibility for special education needs. Parents need to be informed immediately. If there is a shortfall of places, those places need to be found somewhere. They need to sanction and open up new classrooms. It absolutely has to be done and they need to get on top of it now.  The other concern I have, which is really worrying, relates to what I have heard from medical professionals who do assessments for children. On multiple occasions when they did medical assessments and made recommendations, the SENO, who is not medically qualified, has refused to accept their recommendations. I was told of a child in Wicklow who is autistic, non-verbal and cannot toilet themselves but was deemed to be not complex enough to warrant a letter of eligibility. That information goes back to the parents and not to the medical professionals. I am wondering how many parents out there have been told \"No\" by the SENO when their medical professional has said \"Yes\". This is something that I am really worried about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy Whitmore for raising this really important issue. At the outset, I want to assure her that the Government is absolutely committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. Budget 2026 secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE is currently examining where these places are best located for the coming academic year.  Deputy Whitmore raised three specific issues which I will address in turn. I have a number of pieces of information in relation to Wicklow but I will speak to the three points that the Deputy raised. The first concerned the NCSE, the new system and the letter of eligibility.  Yes, the NCSE brought in a new system. It brought in a much earlier deadline in order to be able to do exactly what the Deputy has articulated, that is, make those offers earlier to give both parents and children the certainty they deserve and need. At the moment, the NCSE has done that and it will have a clear, locally-mapped picture of local demand right across the country for special place classes for the coming academic year once it reviews and assesses the information that was provided through the parents notification portal, which, as the Deputy said, closed on 1 October. I am informed the NCSE will start sanctioning new special classes for the coming academic year shortly. The Department and the NCSE will continue to consider options for increasing special school capacity for exactly the reason the Deputy outlined, that is, to ensure capacity where there is need. This can be achieved either through the expansion of existing special schools or the establishment of new schools.  The earlier notification deadline is about getting us to that point. It was introduced this year to support forward planning and earlier equip the NCSE with the local information as to the students who will be leaving school, transitioning to post-primary specialist places, seeking specialist primary places or placement or entering education for the first time. That information is absolutely critical to examine where provision needs to be placed in order to meet demand. That information is not fully collated or assessed yet. Once the NCSE has fully collated and assessed the information, it will then be in a position to engage with the schools and the principals across the country, which the Deputy spoke about, in order to open new special classes. In doing this, the NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary school.  With regard to the Deputy\u2019s point about parents who missed that cut-off deadline, I am assured directly by the Minister and the NCSE that they will continue to support all children made known to them, whether that is after that deadline. It is important that we put this deadline in place for forward-planning purposes and that an earlier timeframe is worked to in which the NCSE has much more local knowledge and detail as soon as possible.  I appreciate the information is not online. That is probably causing an information vacuum. I am encountering it myself. Parents are coming to me saying they have missed that deadline. I have been in touch with the Minister in this regard. Ultimately, what needs to happen is that the NCSE will collate and assess the information which has gone in - it was only in the last number of weeks it has gotten the information \u2013 and it will make decisions based on that. I will also ask it to put that information up online.  In respect of SENOs refusing letters of recommendation, that is something the Deputy might raise directly with the Minister of State with responsibility for special education, Deputy Moynihan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I was hoping to. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I appreciate that. There is inconsistency around this from a nationwide perspective and it is quite important that every child, no matter where he or she lives, gets the same treatment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I am finding this really frustrating. In the response the Minister of State gave \u2013 I absolutely acknowledge that is the response she was given and I know this is not her portfolio \u2013 she stressed that the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to it after 1 October. First, how are children to be made known to the NCSE if the portal is closed? Second, this has not happened. There has been no contact at all in respect of those parents and children who were not able to get their letter of eligibility. They are now in a vacuum and the risk is that those children will not have a school place, or a suitable school place, for 2026. They could end up in a mainstream school but that is not the best place for them. That is the first point.  It is absolutely incredible that two months after the NCSE said that it would update its website to inform parents about the next steps if they did not meet the deadline, the website is still not updated, even though I have raised it by email with the Minister and the NCSE. I have also raised it on the floor of the D\u00e1il. It is completely unacceptable. It is so un-child and un-parent centred; it is incredible. I am all for forward planning but please treat people with respect and provide them with the information they need to relieve some of their stress.  When it comes to developing a clear picture of local demand, I absolutely have no problem with the principles behind this process. The reality is that for two months now, the NCSE has had a picture of the exact number of children in an area eligible for a letter of eligibility. It has had that information for two months. While all of the children in mainstream schools are now being told whether they have a school place and the school they are going to, children with additional or special education needs have no idea because the NCSE still has not provided that information. I understand the need for a new process but the NCSE is absolutely failing to implement this properly in the first year of its existence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I, too, agree with the need for a new process. Every year for countless years, we have had parents at the last minute not knowing where their children are going to school. This is about reducing, as much as possible, that stress, strain and uncertainty. We now have the information as of 1 October. The NCSE is working hard to collate, process and map that out to figure out the schools that may have physical capacity to take on additional classrooms and where we might be able to put in additional special schools.  It was great to see the sod turned for a new building for St. Catherine\u2019s Special School in the Deputy\u2019s constituency earlier this week. These projects are happening around the country.  The information is needed to be able to inform the strategy of the areas where those projects are needed the most. I will absolutely take it up directly with the NCSE as to why more information is not available for parents on its website, particularly for parents who missed that 1 October deadline because they missed it through no fault of their own; they were waiting for an assessment. I will absolutely do that.  While I am sure it will be written into the D\u00e1il record, the Deputy should have information specific to Wicklow because this Topical Issue was originally to discuss special education in Wicklow. There are 132 special classes now in operation, providing capacity for 800 students. That includes 12 special classes for this year. That means the number of classes in County Wicklow has almost doubled in the past five years. The earlier notification system will help us when it comes to continuing to roll out new special schools and new special classes across the country. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_44","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I suspect I will be raising a lot of the issues Deputy Whitmore raised. I am coming to this from a position of enormous frustration because of the lack of co-ordination and planning within the Department of education in tandem with the Department of Health over many years. The parent notify system, in theory, is great. I know the date was, of course, brought forward this year to allow both Departments to be able to plan for the future. I very much welcome it. However, the actual process is failing a number of families really badly across the country. Families have contacted me who have put in their application for 1 October but because all parts of the assessment of need process, the service statement in particular, were not ready, they have been told by the special educational needs organiser, SENO, that they cannot get a letter of eligibility and they are just going to have to wait until next year. It is simply disgraceful for a system that was set up to try to identify children. The child has had the assessment of need; they are just waiting on the service statement but they are still told, \u201cNo\u201d. It is another barrier being put up to these children.  For how many years have people stood up in this Chamber talking about the families who are having to apply 20 or 30 schools? Think of the cost of a birth certificate for every single application. We have to transform how special educational places are allocated in this country. There is a huge mismatch as it is. I welcome initiatives like the parent notify system but it is not working, particularly when these barriers are being put up at a local level.  We have to remember the assessment of need process takes three to four years in most areas across the country. The particular issue that I ask the Minister of State to look into concerns the service statements. We know there can be a delay of six months or more for parents to receive their service statement because of quality control issues with regard to outsourced assessments of need and co-ordination within children's disability network teams, CDNTs.  We have that context. Then we have the context of the lack of special classes and special schools. Of course there is the whole issue of the lack of special needs assistants, SNAs, in certain primary schools across the country. We need a degree of common sense and cop on, which is not what we are seeing from some SENOs.  I have previously been very critical of parts of the National Council for Special Education, NCSE. I think there is some fantastic work being done by the NCSE but it is really patchy. There is a lack of consistency with regard to what is being done across the country. We know that some SENOs are not applying common sense with regard to the letter of eligibility.  I want to use my remaining time to raise a related issue with the Minister of State. I understand what she will say about the new special schools that have been built. That is wonderful, but there are 16 CDNTs across this country that have no special school in their catchment area. One of those areas is Dublin 1. No child in Dublin 1 will ever be top of the waiting list for a special school because there is none in the Summerhill CDNT area. That is wrong. That is so wrong because the level of need in that area is higher than in many other parts of the country. We need a special school in Dublin 1.  I appreciate that the Minister of State, Deputy Higgins, is stepping in for the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan today. We had hoped he would be here. The specific point I am putting to the Minister of State is that we need to see a change to the parent notify system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy Sherlock for raising this important issue. We have just had a discussion on the same issue with Deputy Whitmore. I reiterate that the Government is fully committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. In this academic year, we have surplus special education provision. It was provided based on the numbers notified through the parents notify process, and a number of these places still exist nationwide. Over 2,700 new special education places have been provided. Many of these are in special classes, meaning there are now 3,741 special classes in our education system.  We will further build our specialist provision next year by providing at least 3,000 new places, placing provision in locations where it is best placed to meet existing and future demand. The Deputy has outlined that in her own local area there is demand and there is no special school. This will be borne out in that plan because we are doing it to make sure that existing and future demand is catered for. In addition, special school capacity was also expanded across a number of special schools nationwide and 16 new special schools have been established in recent years.  The NCSE will soon have a clear picture of local demand for special classes and special school places for the 2026-27 academic year after they review and assess all the information, which is then provided through the parents notify process that closed on 1 October, as the Deputy pointed out. This new timeline was publicised widely and was communicated to schools, special education advocacy groups and parent representative bodies. Of course, it is not as if any parent missed this deadline; there was a delay in getting the information they needed to be able to provide that through the portal. The NCSE also undertook some work at local level to ensure that families were aware of the set of timelines and processes, a lot of which was outside of their control. As the Deputy will be aware, the earlier notification deadline was introduced this year to equip the NCSE at an earlier stage with local information on the numbers of students who would be leaving school, transitioning to post-primary specialist places, seeking specialist placements or entering education for the first time. This information is absolutely critical for forward planning and examining where provision needs to be best placed to meet demand. The earlier date in October coincides with when the schools begin enrolment processes and it affords parents the opportunity to enrol in existing classes. Many mainstream schools, particularly at post-primary level, start the admission process for the following year on 1 October. That is why the date was chosen.  The NCSE is working now on sanctioning as many new special classes as possible for the 2026-27 academic year by 31 December. This will be four months earlier than last year and it will bring clarity and certainty for parents and schools as to where classes will be located. It will also afford greater lead-in times for schools that might require repurposing or major building works to get work started and completed. It will allow schools to recruit staff and undertake the training needed so that children are fully supported in those placements. Once the NCSE has fully collated and assessed the information they receive from the parents notify process, it will engage with schools across the country to open new special classes.  The NCSE will also have due regard to any vacant places in existing special classes in an area and any places that will become available through the normal movement of children leaving primary or post-primary education. They advise that the majority of children and young people coming through the parents notify process are already enrolled in school and are being supported by existing special education teachers and special needs assistants. I stress that the NCSE has committed that it will continue to support all children made known to them after that 1 October deadline. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I thank the Minister of State for that. We all appreciate the expansion in the number of places but the reality is that there was a time when Ministers here would get up and say that one did not need an assessment of need and that the education system did not need a diagnosis to provide additional support. Of course, that is the case for special schools but what we are seeing now is a potential deepening inequality between families. One of the families that approached me could not afford to go private for their child's assessment of need. They waited and their child is aged five now. They only got their assessment of need this year. They have been precluded from the process because they did not get all their service statement. They will now have to wait until next year. Another family with a child of the same age had the money to go and get the assessment done privately, and they have now got through the hoop and they are going to be assessed for next September. Why are we exacerbating this inequality between families with children with additional needs? It is beyond me why we would have a process put in place to supposedly show compassion and understanding, and to prevent the mismatch that we are seeing happening whereby children who should be in special schools are in autism spectrum classes, and children who should be in autism spectrum classes are in mainstream classes. This is a new barrier that has come into the education system.  I ask that the Minister of State would take this back to the NCSE. Something has to be done now, not for next year. It must be done now with regard to those families who have gone through the 1 October deadline and presented paperwork, even if it is incomplete, so that they are given a letter of eligibility. The second key thing is the need for a special school in Dublin 1. I ask that this be a priority for the Minister of State, of all the areas across the country, given the level of educational disadvantage. We need to see progress on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I agree with the Deputy. I do not think that an assessment of need should be a barrier to receive extra support. It is not in terms of preschool, or from an access and inclusion model perspective, or from an SNA perspective. I certainly want to get to a point where it is not a requirement for a special class or a special school either. That makes sense and I agree with the Deputy on that. This is something I will undertake. I am undertaking to work with the Minister for Education to get to that point.  With regard to a special school in the Deputy's constituency, these decisions will be made based on the data available to the NCSE. They now have new data available as of 1 October. They will be using the time between now and the end of the year to ascertain where the need is greatest and make the decisions based purely on that. If the need is very big, as the Deputy has suggested, I am sure this will come out in the data.  I assure the Deputy that the NCSE will continue to support all children made known to them who require specialist support. It is important to remember that support comes in so many forms within our education system. The vast majority of students with special educational needs are supported to attend school in mainstream classes with their peers. Obviously, they get fantastic support from SNAs but it is also really important that we continue to grow the number of special school places and the number of special schools that exist. This is something the Government has done in the last year and is doing again this year. It is a huge part of our national development plan and infrastructure commitments going forward. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_45","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Bus Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I want to raise the issue of capacity on the E1 and E2 bus routes, on the E-spine of BusConnects. The E1 and E2 routes go between Northwood and Bray, and between Harristown and D\u00fan Laoghaire, respectively.  The E2 is the much-lamented old 46A. We in D\u00fan Laoghaire miss it terribly. We have to call it the E2 now. I take the E2 bus and I am grateful for it. It is also a 24-hour service which is not to be sniffed at. I take it home from Kildare Street after late votes on a Wednesday. There is not a capacity issue after midnight during the week, but there is a capacity issue in the mornings. I receive representations about this all the time. There is a problem with capacity. I know from getting the bus in the morning that there can be times when the bus passes full. It affects people on the E1 and the E2, particularly before the Foxrock church bus stop, because each of the buses serves that part of its route on its own. If there is a ghost bus as it is known locally, or a bus that does not turn up because a driver has not turned up at the depot in D\u00fan Laoghaire or Ballywaltrim and the bus therefore cannot leave, the next bus is so full that nobody can get on it at Galloping Green and Stillorgan, etc., on the route to town. It is a significant problem.  I acknowledge that this is an excellent service for the most part. It runs every seven or eight minutes during rush hour, morning and evening, and every nine or ten minutes during the day. It is a great service. It provides a really important link for people in the suburban areas to the south east of the city into town. I am not taking it down in that way. However, it is a long bus route. I know from talking to people and from people emailing my office that there are several instances at rush hour when the bus arrives at a bus stop locally and they cannot get on because it is full, or the bus does not turn up. That is a major problem.  I have been engaging with the Department and the National Transport Authority, NTA, on the issue. I acknowledge that a review took place in September. A review was undertaken. I understand that other buses have been added to the system and that is welcome. The problem continues, however. It is particularly the case on the E2 service, with which I am familiar. There are times when you are standing at the bus stop, but the bus is full when it comes.  We have invested a huge amount of money in BusConnects. I have supported that. It has been problematic in areas like Shankill, where I have opposed it on the basis that it will cause knock-on impacts for local communities. However, BusConnects as a project has been really positive. It has shown the commitment of the State and the Government to providing public transport that is attractive, usable and incentivised for people all over this city, so it is a good thing. If we want people to use that public transport, however, we have to make it easy, comfortable and reliable for them. The problem I have with the E1 and the E2 is that is not always the case. The bus can be rammed, first of all. We would live with that but what is much worse is not being able to get on the bus at all. When people go to their normal bus stop to get to work and an earlier bus has not arrived, it causes a backlog at the bus stop. Similarly, the previous bus stops will have been more crowded than usual. This means that when the bus arrives, it is so crowded that people cannot get on. In that situation, it cannot be okay to tell people they are not going to get to work on time today because the bus they normally get - the bus they expect to be there at a particular time with capacity to get on - cannot take them. That is not okay. Such unreliability is not fair to the people who live in these areas.  I have engaged with the NTA and I accept that a review has taken place. I am certainly anxious to hear what the results of that will be. However, can we please make a commitment to drive with the NTA to ensure there is capacity and reliability so that people can depend on that service? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy Ward for raising this really important topic, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Darragh O'Brien. From the outset, it would be remiss of me not to clarify that while the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The NTA, to which the Deputy referred, has statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally. It works with the public transport operators who deliver the service and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. That said, I would like to reassure the Deputy that, as outlined in the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, the Government is strongly committed to enhancing transportation networks and infrastructure development. Public transport obviously plays a key role in delivery of that goal.  To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department of Transport secured \u20ac940 million of funding for public service obligation and TFI Local Link services. That was a 43% uplift, a really significant uplift and an increase from \u20ac658 million in 2025 to \u20ac940 million for next year. This package includes funding for the continuation of various fares initiatives such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free child fares on public service transport to include those aged five to eight years of age and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects, to which the Deputy referred, and Connecting Ireland. BusConnects, as Deputy Ward acknowledged, is a transformative project and investment in the bus system that is providing better bus services right across our cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the State. It is managed by the NTA with the aim of improving the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services with high-frequency spines and new local orbital and radial routes.  In terms of those high-frequency spines, Deputy Ward's constituency is a beneficiary of the E1 and E2 routes. As he said, the E2 was formerly known as the 46A. In relation to capacity on those routes, Dublin Bus has confirmed that its operation teams have identified capacity issues with the E1 service. I know the Deputy has been working closely with Dublin Bus and the NTA, which have helped to make sure those problems were addressed by providing additional morning and evening services. He spoke about how much of a pinch-point rush hour is. These additional services, which are now implemented, are there to tackle the morning and evening pinch-points on the E1.  Dublin Bus has informed the Department that along with the NTA it is monitoring the E2 service, and the data available show that customer demand is currently being met. I know that does not tally with the experience shared by the Deputy today. That is something I will definitely ask the Minister to take back to the NTA.  I want to reassure the Deputy that the Department of Transport, the NTA and the public transport operators are working to ensure the optimised deployment of resources across the network to best meet passenger demand. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I acknowledge the points made by the Minister of State about the investment in the bus service and the provision of the 90-minute fare. These are all positive things. I do not dispute that for a moment. I also welcome the acknowledgement by the NTA that there are capacity issues on the E1 route. I think that is correct. I do not agree that passenger demand is being met on the E2 route, although I will say that when it works the way it is supposed to work, that is probably true. The problem arises when a bus driver is sick and does not turn up for his or her shift in D\u00fan Laoghaire that morning. His or her bus then does not leave D\u00fan Laoghaire. I do not know what provisions are in place to replace that driver to ensure that a bus leaves. The service is then a bus short and there is a knock-on effect all along the route. People cannot get on the bus when it gets to Honeypark, where I live, or when it gets to Deansgrange or wherever it might be. That is the issue. Maybe the review shows that when it works well, it works well. I would not dispute that. However, I know from hearing from people and, unfortunately, from standing at the bus stop myself that there are times when the bus comes and you cannot get on it. That is not okay.  This is a long route so that knock-on effect continues right the way along the route, all along the N11 and into town. With such a long route, maybe there are issues that could be addressed by starting a bus somewhere along the route; for example at Donnybrook garage. Donnybrook garage sends chills down people's spines because when you get to Donnybrook garage, you can sometimes sit on the bus for five minutes as the drivers change over, which is not ideal either. If an empty bus started at Donnybrook garage, however, it could deal with many of the capacity issues created by a ghost bus coming through the system and causing problems.  I acknowledge that a review has taken place. I acknowledge what the Minister of State said about Bus \u00c1tha Cliath continuing to monitor the E2 route. I welcome that. I ask that it would take into account the fact that it does not always work the way it is envisaged to work. It does not always do what it needs to do. It does not always meet passenger capacity. Unfortunately, my neighbours and I are sometimes left standing at a bus stop because we are not able to get on the bus. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I know the frustrations the Deputy and many of his constituents are feeling. It is not satisfactory to be left waiting at a bus stop as a full bus passes by. I am pleased that the Deputy worked so successfully to ensure there have been additional commuter services on the E1 route. As the Deputy suggested, if the E2 ran on time it might meet demand but some of the issues arise from the fact that there might be driver shortages.  I assure the Deputy that the performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place. As part of this, and in line with the regulatory powers available to the NTA to measure performance, it reports on and seeks to maintain standards across the network. There are also instances where, as the Deputy has mentioned, performance can drop and financial penalties are therefore applied, unless the cause of the performance issue is outside the control of the operator. There are measures the NTA takes to try to mitigate any such issues.  On driver shortages, changes were made to the employment permits system to allow for the issuing of 1,500 permits for bus and coach drivers with the aim of alleviating recruitment challenges by supplementing our workforce with drivers from outside the European Economic Area. The goal is improving service reliability. Public transport operators are hopeful that successful recruitment and retention of critical staff, especially drivers, will lead to improvements in reliability in the coming months. It is clear from what the Deputy has said that his issue is the reliability of the E2. I am really pleased the E1 route now has these additional buses. On behalf of the Minister for Transport, I thank him for bringing this matter forward. I will of course provide his feedback to the Minister. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Bus Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_46","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Public Transport","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I thank the Minister of State for being here on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I congratulate her on her recent elevation. The matter I am raising affects families, especially in rural and regional Ireland, in a way that is unfair and out of step with the Government's transport and climate objectives. I am referring to the exclusion of commercial bus operators from the under-nines free travel scheme. Successive budgets have introduced measures designed to reduce public transport costs and these have been broadly welcomed as they are very good, but there is a significant and unexplained gap in policy and it affects the children and families I represent in rural Ireland.  Children under the age of nine travel free on public service obligation, PSO, services but not on commercial bus routes, even though these routes are often the only public transport options in rural towns and villages such as those in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny. Commercial operators play a central role in our transport system. The private bus sector is responsible for carrying over 75 million passengers a year. It supports 11,000 jobs and contributes more than \u20ac600 million to the economy. It is already participating in the free travel scheme and the young adult card. Despite this track record, it was left out of the under-nines initiative without a clear rationale even though this should be low-hanging fruit. It is a very inequitable system for rural and regional areas. A two-tier system has been created. In cities with extensive PSO networks, children travel free. In rural Ireland, where families have few alternatives, children continue to pay full fares. This creates an obvious urban-rural disparity and it is difficult to justify.  The exclusion of these children from this initiative also runs counter to our climate ambitions. A single coach can remove as many as 40 cars from the road. Even a modest shift of 10% away from car travel at peak times would reduce annual emissions by more than 14,000 tonnes. We cannot credibly ask families to leave the car at home if public transport for their children is more expensive simply because they live outside big cities or large rural areas. Importantly, there is an easy fix to this problem. Including commercial operators in the scheme would cost less than \u20ac1 million per year. As the Department of Transport has an annual budget of \u20ac4 billion, it would be money well spent in rural Ireland. The Leap card technology is already in place and can deliver the scheme without an administrative burden on the State. More importantly, the benefit goes to families, including those I represent in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny. It eases the cost-of-living burden on parents of young children at a time when everyday expenses continue to climb.  My questions are quite straightforward. Will the Department move to include commercial bus operators in the under-nines free travel scheme as a matter of priority? When can we expect this to take place? Families across the country deserve a consistent and equitable transport system. This is a small change but it would have a large and immediate impact. I mentioned that this would cost less than \u20ac1 million from a budget of \u20ac4 billion. I mentioned that this inequity within our system means that the people I represent in rural Ireland - in north Tipperary and north-west Kilkenny - are not getting the same access to transport as those in large urban areas. At a cost of less than \u20ac1 million, from a budget of \u20ac4 billion, it is low-hanging fruit we can deliver for the young people and families I represent in rural Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy O'Meara for raising this important issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Transport. While the Minister has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport, neither the Minister nor his officials is involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory obligation for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority, NTA, which works with the public transport operators that deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters. The NTA has statutory responsibility for the regulation of fares charged to passengers in respect of public transport services provided under PSO contracts. They are the PSOs and the actual public ones.  I assure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority of the Government under the programme for Government. The 2026 PSO funding allocation of \u20ac940 million represents a significant 43% uplift from last year. It further supports subsidised bus and rail services across Ireland, including rural Ireland. This allocation also maintains targeted fare initiatives, such as the recently introduced free travel for all children up to the age of nine and the young adult card for those aged 19 to 25, as part of the NTA's national fares strategy. That of course is in the PSO contracts.  I am pleased to confirm that the free travel for children between the ages of five and eight initiative, which launched in September of this year, extends free travel on PSO services, thereby building on the previous policy that granted free travel to children under the age of five. This measure was announced as part of the budget 2025 package. It delivers on a key programme for Government commitment to make public transport more affordable and accessible for families. Uptake of this initiative has been really strong. Approximately 25,000 child Leap cards were issued in the first month after the launch of this scheme, and applications are continuing apace.  As the Deputy will be aware, the Government's decision did not include provision for extending free travel for children under the age of nine to commercial bus operators. While the NTA is responsible for licensing commercial bus services, any decisions regarding fares charged by these services are managed by commercial operators themselves, which largely operate without any State subvention. As such, while commercial operators are licensed by the NTA, they determine their own fare structures independently. I am sorry to not have better news for the Deputy on this. I am aware it is something he has campaigned on, cares very passionately about and wants to see provided for children in the areas he represents. All I can say is that this is now policy, is now law and is now happening on PSO services. I will provide the Deputy's feedback on licensed commercial bus services directly to the Minister, but his proposal is not currently in the plan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I appreciate the response the Minister of State has given me on behalf of the Minister for Transport. I appreciate that a lot of the work that has been done has been really positive, but I really do not appreciate where the policy stands. I hope the Minister of State will carry that back, while she is at Cabinet, to the Minister. I represent a constituency that does not have PSO routes and does not have public routes either. A number of years ago we lost the X12 and X8 routes, which were direct routes that travelled through County Tipperary.  Deputy Ward spoke earlier about the 46A, which I had quite a fondness for during my years in UCD. We all mourn its loss. Interestingly enough, during that time I travelled on the X12 regularly. It ran from Limerick to Dublin. That is gone. We do not have it anymore. We have private operators.  We do not have the PSO routes but we have children under nine who cannot qualify for free transport or the free travel scheme in the way that their peers in areas that have PSO routes or urban areas can qualify. It is, quite simply, an inequity in the system.  In her response, the Minister of State stated: \u201cI would like to assure the Deputy that improving the accessibility, reliability, and affordability of public transport, while ensuring the system remains well-funded and responsive to passenger needs, is a core priority under the programme for Government.\u201d I ask the Minister of State to carry that exact sentence back to the Cabinet and the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. If we want to improve the accessibility, reliability and affordability of public transport, particularly public transport for young children under nine in rural Ireland, we need to give them the same access to those routes as children in urban areas or areas with PSO obligations. Just because we are unlucky enough not to have them does not mean that the children and families I represent in rural Ireland should be unlucky enough not to be able to access the system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  The Deputy makes a very good argument for this, and I fully appreciate where he is coming from. Something that might help to strengthen the Deputy's case is the fact that the young adult card scheme was broadened in 2022 to include eligible services operated by commercial bus operators on an opt-in basis. Individual commercial operators chose to participate, and the NTA then compensated them for the agreed discount and the fare that was forgone, effectively. This was done to ensure that young people benefited from the reduced fares across both subsidised and participating commercial services. Perhaps there is some hope for the Deputy in the fact that this has happened from a young adult card perspective. It may bolster his case to put forward a proposal that would mirror this specifically for young children. If he does that, I will make sure it gets into the hands of the Minister for Transport, who has asked me to reaffirm that the Government remains committed to making public transport as accessible and affordable as possible, while also ensuring that our system remains financially sustainable in the long term. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Transport"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_47","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"International Protection","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  First, I congratulate the Minister of State on her appointment to her new role as Minister of State with responsibility for disability at Cabinet. It is a very important and challenging role.  The issue I am discussing is not unrelated insofar as it concerns the safeguarding of children. Some weeks ago, the CEO of Tusla appeared before the Committee of Public Accounts. We probed her in respect of the issue of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection and how they are cared for within a Tusla setting. At that meeting, the concern that Tusla has on the whole area of age verification was revealed to us. As it happens, that particular meeting predated a number of incidents, which I will not speak about here, including some tragic incidents that have taken place. It is a real worry and concern. Today, we have the figures, given in response to a parliamentary question, that there are over 200 people who Tusla has identified as, in fact, being adults, not children, and who have resided in a centre designed for children with international protection applicants who are unaccompanied minors. This is a real child safeguarding issue.  My concern is that it appears two State agencies - Tusla and the Department of justice - are somewhat at loggerheads and in dispute. Some weeks after the appearance of Tusla before the Committee of Public Accounts, we heard from the Department of justice, which was very firm in its view that the responsibility for carrying out age assessments or age verification rests solely in the hands of Tusla. However, when the Department wrote back to the committee several weeks later, it acknowledged that as a matter of law - the laws that have been passed in the D\u00e1il, Seanad and Houses of the Oireachtas - the legal responsibility for carrying out age verification is, in fact, vested in the Department of justice and the Minister for justice.  It has been the practice for at least a decade that Tusla and its predecessors have, effectively, been given this function as an outsourcing function. When we think about what Tusla's responsibilities are, they are not to carry out legalistic determinations as to whether or not the people who are in its services require its services. Its job is to look after some of the most vulnerable children in this country, no matter what nationality the child may be, no matter in what circumstances the child entered its services.  There is now this additional challenging issue. Perhaps this is why it has not come to the fore previously but it has now. The issue is that the number of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in Ireland has risen significantly at a time when the overall number of people seeking international protection is on the decline. At a time when we have enough accommodation to accommodate persons seeking international protection in this country, it is on the increase when it comes to unaccompanied minors. In the past year, there has been a 13.5% increase in the number of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection.  The truth is that we have a real challenge. We are looking after up to 600 unaccompanied minors, some of whom will have come from devastated parts of the world, and some of whom, no doubt, will have gone through traumatic journeys, where the risk of trafficking is significant. Now, added to that, we have the admitted concern that there are adults in the centres where there are children. What needs to happen is an intervention whereby we can get clarity as to who is carrying out age verification and how it is going to be properly invested in and resourced. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I am taking this matter on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan. I thank Deputy Geoghegan for raising this important matter and providing the opportunity to give clarity. I hope the Deputy gets that clarity from the comments that the Minister has asked me to make on his behalf.  I am aware that this matter has been discussed by the Committee of Public Accounts and that the Department has responded in writing to a range of queries from the PAC. First, I would like to set out the legislative position regarding age verification. The International Protection Office, IPO, is responsible for determining the age of an applicant, and the Child and Family Agency - Tusla is responsible for determining if an individual is entitled to access its services, including the provision of accommodation. These issues are addressed under the International Protection Act 2015 and the Child Care Act 1991, respectively.  The International Protection Act states that where it appears to an immigration officer or an international protection officer that a person seeking international protection is under 18 and has not been accompanied by an adult, the child should be referred to Tusla. At that point, in accordance with the International Protection Act, it is assumed that the person is a minor and that the Child Care Acts and the Child and Family Agency Act 2013 apply.  The International Protection Act states that Tusla is responsible for making an application for international protection on behalf of the child. It also makes provision for the IPO to arrange an assessment to determine an applicant\u2019s age, but this cannot happen without the consent of the person, or Tusla acting on the person\u2019s behalf. Independent of this process, Tusla carries out an assessment to determine the eligibility of the person, who has been assumed to be a minor, to access its services. In practice, and for many years, it is this latter assessment that is taken as being determinative of age for the purposes of both eligibility for services and for the processing of an international protection application. In cases where Tusla decides that the person is not eligible because they are judged to be an adult, the applicant is referred back to the IPO, which will process their application as such.  While this has been the long-standing practical process around age verification, there is an acknowledgement that it needs to be adapted. The Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, intend to use the forthcoming International Protection Bill to amend the statutory mechanisms for age determination. The measures under the EU Migration and Asylum Pact set out safeguards and procedural guarantees for unaccompanied minors in the international protection process and will be given effect in the International Protection Bill. The Bill will also provide for appropriate alignment with the screening regulation. As required by the pact measures, the Bill will make provision for the appointment of representatives to assist and safeguard the interests of unaccompanied minors.  Additionally, the International Protection Bill 2026 will propose that the determining authority - the replacement for the IPO - will arrange and be responsible for age assessments. It will set out in far greater detail how age is assessed and provide for regulations governing the standards for that process and the qualifications needed for staff. I hope that clarifies the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  I thank the Minister of State for this very comprehensive reply given on behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan. The challenge, as we await new legislation and what seems to be a new announcement I had not seen before, is that age assessment will be governed by regulations pursuant to this new legislation, the International Protection Bill, but the number of unaccompanied minors does not appear to be on the decline. In fact, it seems to be the opposite. The risks will continue to rise and while I understand every effort has been made to initiate and get this Bill through - perhaps even in the first half of next year - as the Minister of State knows, it will take time to commence relevant provisions and for the determining authority to be established. It will take time to ensure the appropriate staff are resourced and, if there is a more prescriptive measure in terms of how age is to be assessed, to ensure training would accompany such regulations. All of that is welcome but will take a lot of time. It is important the Minister for justice indicates what will happen on an interim basis, pending the introduction of this new regime. It seems Tusla is very concerned about this issue and about its responsibilities in ensuring it is protecting every person who is presumed to be a child when he or she arrives to Tusla as an unaccompanied minor. Then, on the other side of the equation, there is the issue of where Tusla may have identified somebody as not being a child who enters into adult services but it is later proven that person is a child and remitted to child services. This is a very complex area and I think interim approaches are necessary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy and fully agree it is a very complex area. We need to make sure we are getting this right. There is a long-standing process around age verification of unaccompanied minors seeking international protection in place. That process will continue to be the practice until the new International Protection Bill is enacted and all of the relevant measures behind it come into force.  On behalf of the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, I thank the Deputy for giving us the opportunity to have this discussion on the floor of the House and to put some of that new information on the record of the House. Also, I thank the Deputy's colleagues on the Committee of Public Accounts because I know they also had a number of queries. The Department has responded in writing to a range of queries on this issue following the recent appearance at a committee meeting the Deputy referenced. This has given us the opportunity to clarify and expand in more detail on the plans in this area. To be crystal clear, the Minister intends to use the forthcoming pact legislation as an opportunity to amend the statutory mechanism for age determination. Both the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Brophy, are absolutely committed to working closely with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality - my own Department - and Tusla on matters relating to unaccompanied minors in the international protection process. Their aim is to ensure our national legislation and our operational practices will accord with requirements under the pact and will ensure the appropriate care and protection of unaccompanied minors. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"International Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_48","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Water Services","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  The people of west Cork are genuinely at the end of their tethers. Since July, they have had 14 water breakages. It has led to the local cr\u00e8che and school having to close because if they do not have water they cannot remain open, use toilets or whatever else. I was at a public meeting the other night which was attended by other public representatives. The local Airbnbs had to give money back to people because they could not shower in the morning. People who had coffee shops basically had to close their doors. These are small things that mean a lot to businesses. It was the same with animals who were stressed without water, which was a huge issue throughout the summer. I went through it myself 20 years ago in Schull.  A number of solutions were put forward during the public meeting. Some made sense and some did not but they need to be discussed. We need to sit down with Uisce \u00c9ireann and we need a pathway forward. I, and the public representatives who were there - and I have met them since in the corridor here - are worn out looking for Uisce \u00c9ireann to give a straight answer. Will the Minister meet the local community group, maybe three individuals, with the Oireachtas Members to talk about what Uisce \u00c9ireann's intentions are in laying down a new water pipe for the people of Adrigole so they can get a proper water supply and do not have to look over their shoulders and worry whether they will be closing their business or their school tomorrow morning? The water was out for a spell and somebody said to me recently that a newborn baby had to be taken to stay at someone else's house overnight. It is the basics.  The bottom line is that I genuinely cannot get an answer. What I hope I can get this evening is an answer because I have really pulled out all of the stops on this. I understand the stress people are going through because I went through it myself 20 years ago. At that time, it was the council. The councils were more or less in charge and that is the way it should have stayed because we had some accountability and councils were able to give answers. Councillor Danny Collins, who is my brother and an Independent Ireland councillor down there, has been dealing with this issue on a week-to-week basis. Apparently the council is now saying we can no longer bring Uisce \u00c9ireann up in a motion because it no longer has anything more to do with Uisce \u00c9ireann. That is outrageous because public representatives should be bringing up whatever issues they have and then it is up to the council. Obviously, the council cannot resolve the issue now; it is Uisce \u00c9ireann. The council should pass the issue on to Uisce \u00c9ireann and let it come back on it.  The bottom line is that in all of my weeks bringing this issue up, and previously as well, I cannot get an answer. The Minister of State from Cork South-West cannot get an answer nor can the Fine Gael Senator. I spoke to them and they told me so. We want Uisce \u00c9ireann to sit down and meet the local group, including ourselves, to tell us what it intends to do and what will happen. It might take two month or six months but, please God, it will happen. God almighty, it is a living terror to think all I am getting is a generic answer. All the Minister is getting is a generic answer. All everybody is getting, including the community group I set up to deal with this issue, is a generic answer.  There is a huge room full of people protesting because they want their common right; a clear water supply so they know they can turn their taps or shower on in the morning or get an animal a bit of water. It is very basic. That is being denied to the people of Adrigole right now. I ask the Minister whether we can have a meeting with Uisce \u00c9ireann and what the plan for Adrigole is. I pray to God the Minister of State here has an answer and that it is not the generic one we got because it was the most crazy answer. It was all about the dry summer and the floods and then Adrigole, was dropped in. It just alters the answer and throws in \"Adrigole\" because it has thrown in hundreds of other communities up to now. That will not work. It is like an AI-generated answer but it will not work. I sincerely hope the Minister of State has an answer for me and that she gives me a good, clear answer in her four minutes, so I can go back to west Cork and say that things are going to be sorted and we are all working together on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  The Deputy will be glad to know I will not say \"dry summer\" or \"flooding\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. It is obviously a really important issue for the people he represents and it must be very frustrating for them. The Deputy will appreciate the supply of public water and the provision of water services in general are, as the Deputy alluded to, matters for Uisce \u00c9ireann in the first instance. Uisce \u00c9ireann has statutory responsibility for all aspects of water services planning, delivery and operation at national, regional and local levels. The Minister has no function regarding the specific Uisce \u00c9ireann\u2019s operations in Adrigole to which the Deputy referred.  To be helpful, the Department has made inquiries to Uisce \u00c9ireann on the Deputy's behalf and has been informed that there were 18 bursts recorded in Adrigole between May and 31 October of this year. For unforeseen unplanned outages, it is not possible to provide advance notice to customers. When these occur, Uisce \u00c9ireann immediately mobilises repair crews to investigate the source of the burst and works as a matter of priority to repair the water main and restore normal water supply to impacted homes and businesses as quickly as possible. Uisce \u00c9ireann does that for exactly the reasons the Deputy outlined because coffee shops, farmers, families and everybody relies on clean, accessible water.  When an unplanned outage occurs and repairs have been undertaken, typically, it takes three to four hours for normal supply to be restored to all customers affected. However, it may take longer for normal supply to be restored to customers at the end of the network or on higher ground as the system recharges. Uisce \u00c9ireann has informed the Department that the situation in Adrigole has stabilised since 31 October, and I hope that has been the Deputy's experience and the experience of his constituents. It said there has been a noticeable easing off in the frequency of bursts.  Uisce \u00c9ireann has given a commitment to continue to monitor the area, mobilise repair crews promptly and provide updates to elected representatives, including Councillor Danny Collins, and the community as more information becomes available.  Similar to other townlands across the country facing comparable challenges due to weather-related pressures and ageing infrastructure, Uisce \u00c9ireann is working through these systematically. The frequency of bursts is taken into consideration when prioritising water main rehabilitation projects. However, they are limited in what can be rehabilitated each year.  A case for mains rehabilitation works for the Adrigole area is currently under consideration by Uisce \u00c9ireann. I presume this was one of the suggestions the Deputy mentioned came out of the public meeting he attended. As the process is only in the initial stages, it is too early to confirm a timeframe at this stage. Uisce \u00c9ireann has committed to me that it will share further updates with elected representatives and the community in this regard once available.  Our water and wastewater infrastructure requires substantial and sustained investment over a number of investment cycles to bring the systems up to the standards required of a modern service and to provide for population growth and to build resilience in the face of climate change. That is why this year the Government provided record funding to Uisce \u00c9ireann under the national development plan to ensure that we continue to prioritise these types of infrastructure upgrades and new developments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I will break the reply down to the basics. The Minister of State said, \"A case for mains rehabilitation works for the Adrigole area is under consideration by Uisce \u00c9ireann. As the process is only in the initial stages, it is too early to confirm a timeframe at this stage.\" It has admitted there have been 18 bursts since last May. How can be \"in the initial stages\"? People have been without water 18 times since May. I hate making comparisons, because we must represent the people of Dublin, but that would not happen in Dublin. There would not be 18 disruptions without something being done immediately and without an answer being given. I would plead with the Minister of State if she has not got that answer. I need that answer immediately. For three or four weeks, I have been asking then those works are going to start.  There has been a temporary solution. There is talk about a temporary water pipe up on the ditch, as happened in other communities. It worked out. I have no issue with that but I would rather something more permanent. The community has come back to me recently with a more permanent solution. Councillor Danny Collins is working on that as well to make sure we maybe lay the pipe opposite to where the pipe is laid already. The bottom line is that works need to commence, we need a date for the works but that is not happening.  The Minister of State can only read out the reply she got. I respect her for that. The bottom line is I cannot go back to the community with that reply because it is going to go nowhere. That will not ease the worry of the cr\u00e8che owner, the school owner or the Airbnbs. They know there will be a lot more breakages and I am going to be back in the D\u00e1il in 12 months talking about it.  The Minister of State said, \"The Minister has no function ...\". Good God almighty, the Government is giving \u20ac13 billion of taxpayers' money to Uisce \u00c9ireann. Surely to God somebody has responsibility for it because it has given up being responsible. At one time, you could sit around the table but it was only a short amount of time. Now we cannot even sit around the table.  All I am asking the Minister of State is whether she can give me a date as to when it will meet or a date as to when works will start in Adrigole in west Cork. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I cannot because the process is only at the initial stages. A case for the mains rehabilitation works in the Adrigole area is currently under consideration by Uisce \u00c9ireann. It has not made a determination on that. Only when it makes a determination on that will it be possible to move forward with a timeframe. The frequency of bursts is taken into consideration when it prioritises water main rehabilitation projects. We have outlined that there have been 18 bursts in a short period of time. That will be taken into consideration.  It also needs to be taken into consideration that Uisce \u00c9ireann has said that this situation has stabilised since 31 October and there has been what it describes as \"a noticeable easing off in the frequency of bursts.\"  From an initial perspective, we want to reduce and mitigate bursts and Uisce \u00c9ireann is working to do that. Taking a longer term approach, it wants to do rehabilitation works on that line. That is something it is now considering doing. When it has made a decision that, it will come back and let public representatives, including councillors, know it had made that decision. I am sure I will be in a position to update the Deputy on timeframes at that point.  The Deputy stated in his initial remarks that the county council has said that it is not possible to take motions that refer to Uisce \u00c9ireann and I am quite surprised by that. That is not the standard approach in local authorities up and down the country. I would certainly encourage the Deputy to speak to Councillor Collins and maybe suggest that he take that up with one of the representative bodies, Local Authorities Members Association, LAMA, or the Association of Irish Local Government, AILG, as that needs to be sorted as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  The pipe is in an awful way. It is creaking at the seams. We need a meeting and we need the new water works to be commenced there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Jen Cummins)  The Deputy's time has passed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Water Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_49","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Renewable Energy Generation","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  In my constituency, we have a huge number of energy developments at various stages of planning and development, between wind energy, solar farms, gas plants, etc. These are causing a lot of concern. I have raised this previously. It is important for me to say at the outset that my constituents are not against renewable energy. They fully understand the importance of energy security but they want it to be done right.  Today I am glad to get the opportunity to focus on solar energy developments, including battery energy storage, in two projects, in particular, that have brought to my attention by my constituents. In Monivea and Abbeyknockmoy, the proposed Belleville solar project, led by Power Capital Renewable Energy, PCRE, is planned to cover approximately 1,000 acres within the community across multiple different sites. This is a small rural community that would be left totally unrecognisable should the development go ahead in its current form. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  Where? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  Belleville in Monivea and Abbeyknockmoy. In Grange and Gregmore, the Ballymoneen solar project, also led by PCRE, is currently under construction. I am from the local area. The construction has caused enormous disruption locally between damage to roads, road closures, noise and consistent breaches of planning conditions. Local residents have been informed in recent days that the developer now intends to expand the development and it has a number of new sites identified locally.  People have serious concerns around safety, health and well-being, the impact on their homes, property values, the quality of life, the local landscape and environment, whether their children will be able to build there in the future, what the future of farming will look like in the area - this is prime agricultural land that has been taken up - where all of this end, whether the developers will keep expanding and whether vast swathes of the countryside will ultimately covered in these farms. There has been no clarity provided to people on these issues.  There was no public consultation initially in terms of the Ballymoneen development. The consultation for the Belleville development was seriously lacking. Most people were uninformed. The reality is that the concerns being expressed by local people are not being taken into account and the questions they have are not being answered. The core of this problem is the legislative vacuum the Government continues to tolerate. Due to the lack of clear mandatory national guidelines on solar development, the system is rigged in favour of developers. Our countryside is like the wild west at present. It is open season for these developers to come in, to land these proposals right on top of homes and to change local communities beyond recognition with no real input from the people who live in those communities. These people are being treated with contempt and it is completely unacceptable.  I am fully committed to climate action. I recognise the importance of meeting our renewable energy targets but climate action cannot be delivered by corporate land grabs that destroy rural social fabric and undermine our food security. I am calling on Government to end the unacceptable delay in bringing forward specific planning guidelines on solar energy developments. We need guidelines that will protect communities, ensure appropriate land use, ensure safety, and ensure proper set-back distances and real community consultation. If the Government is serious about a just transition, it will introduce these protections immediately. If the Government fails to act, it is endorsing the industrialisation of rural Ireland one community at a time. The people I represent and people right across rural Ireland deserve better than to be sacrificed for corporate profit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage. I welcome the Deputy's remarks at the start of his contribution that he is not against renewable energy measures. As he will be aware, the Programme for Government 2025 - Securing Ireland\u2019s Future has reaffirmed Ireland's targets of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewables in the near term, with plans to move to net zero by 2050. The deployment of renewable electricity, including solar energy, is vital for Ireland to meet its ambitious domestic targets and international commitments.  Solar energy is already a growing source of electricity with approximately 2.1 GW of solar power capacity currently installed in Ireland. However, there is no doubt that further solar capacity is required for Ireland to meet its domestic and international targets.  In this regard, the programme for Government reaffirms Ireland\u2019s ambitious targets of 8 GW of solar capacity connected to the grid by 2030. From a planning perspective, the programme for Government contains a commitment to introduce new planning guidelines for solar energy development, which the Deputy called for without delay.  An important development in this regards is that chapters 1 through 4 of Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act of 2024 came into effect on 2 October. As the Deputy may be aware, this provides the statutory basis for the national planning framework and the regional spatial and economic strategies, and introduces provisions for the new national planning statements that will replace section 28 planning guidelines. Therefore, the solar guidelines, once finalised, will issue as a national planning statement under the 2024 Act. This will ensure enhanced clarity and increased consistency across the planning systems at all tiers.  The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently undertaking a scoping exercise - it is at an early stage - to identify the component factors relevant to the preparation of this national planning statement, including any appropriate environmental reporting and public consultation requirements, which the Deputy called for. This includes our European obligations such as the renewable energy directive, battery storage facilities and the possible timeframe for publication of the national planning statement. In line with EU directive requirements, a strategic environmental assessment will be carried out on any draft national planning statement regarding solar energy development. The Department intends to undertake a public consultation on the draft statement before it is finalised to give the individuals, communities and organisations the Deputy referred to the opportunity to submit observations on this draft statement. Consequently, any draft national planning statement will be prepared following detailed analysis and consideration of the submissions received during the consultation phase. The finalised draft will be subject to Government approval. In the meantime, public participation remains a cornerstone of all substantial decision-making processes in planning legislation. It is of course open to any member of the public to make an observation or submission on a planning application including in relation to solar energy developments. The planning authority is statutorily obliged to consider such submissions before making a decision on the application.  The programme for Government also contains a commitment to a land use review to ensure that optimal land-use options inform all relevant Government decisions. The second phase of this review, which is under way, will seek to identify the key demands on land both public and private to inform policies for land use across key Government objectives, improving socioeconomic, climate, biodiversity, water and air quality outcomes. The conclusions of this review will be factored into any draft national planning statement on solar energy development. Until the finalisation of the national planning statement, it will remain the case that, as with the large majority of development types, there are currently no specific planning guidelines that deal with solar energy development.  The Deputy mentioned planning conditions not being adhered to. I highly recommend that he get in touch with planning enforcement in the relevant local authority. In the short to medium term, the planning system provides a sufficient, robust policy and legislative framework in this regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  The Minister of State said the scoping exercise for the guidelines and the land use review are under way. Can we get clarity on the timelines for the finalisation of those exercises? That was missing from the response. These applications are coming thick and fast across the State. We know these companies have their sights set on expanding their operations where it is profitable for them to do so and where they can get access to land. That is why it is important that the can is not continually kicked down the road. If possible, will the Minister of State provide timelines for all of this? When it comes to large-scale developments, the social fabric of communities also needs to be considered, which I also ask the Minister of State to acknowledge.  These projects are proving very divisive in communities. Neighbours and families are falling out with one another over land and access. My fear is that this will end up like the wind energy guidelines saga whereby the Government put a commitment in place for guidelines but the matter drags on for years and the can keeps being kicked down the road. Ultimately, communities are left facing these developments with no protections in place whatsoever. The Government's performance when it comes to the wind energy guidelines certainly does not inspire confidence in how it will deal with this issue.  There is a similar issue around solar energy developments. It is my firm view that the Government is failing communities with the absence of a plan-led approach to such developments. Communities have genuine concerns. They are reasonable and just want clarity on the key questions they have. We all understand and support the development of renewable energy but the Government needs to get a grip on the situation. Protect communities and get guidelines in place as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I take this opportunity to reaffirm to the Deputy that the Government and, in particular, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage are absolutely committed to working towards the publication of a national planning statement on solar energy development. That is in line with our programme for Government commitments. We are currently undertaking a scoping exercise in that regard. It is at an early stage, but work is under way. This work will include all the appropriate public consultations and the need to ensure the finalised national planning statement is fit for purpose, given the evolving and reforming planning policy context. I take on board the Deputy's point in relation to the social fabric, which is important. That is why public consultation will be at the heart of this too.  The forthcoming national planning statement will enhance existing policy and legislation around the governance of solar energy developments and provide additional measures and guidance for the ongoing development of solar energy while ensuing compliance with existing and future national, EU and international renewable energy policies and targets. In the interim, which I know the Deputy is concerned about, the existing planning system, supported by Government policy more generally, provides a sufficient, robust policy and legislative framework to facilitate the roll-out of solar energy developments in a sustainable manner and to assist with meeting our renewable electricity requirements. We need to balance the perspectives of local communities and our renewable electricity suppliers. That is what we are trying to do to allow for public and stakeholder engagement. It is a balance, but it is something the Government is committed to achieving. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 5.07 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 5.10 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 5.07 p.m. and resumed at 5.10 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Renewable Energy Generation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-04\/debate\/dbsect_50","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/110","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/110\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Just Transition (Worker and Community Environmental Rights) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Just Transition (Worker and Community Environmental Rights) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":6},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I really welcome the opportunity to bring the Just Transition (Worker and Community Environmental Rights) Bill 2021 to Second Stage and have it debated here in the Chamber. As we move closer and closer to the 2030 and 2040 targets, as our world becomes more vulnerable and we can see much more clearly the impact of climate change and the need to change how we are operating, this Bill is becoming increasingly important.  This Bill provides for the establishment of a body to be known as An Coimisi\u00fan N\u00e1isi\u00fanta um Thrasdul C\u00f3ir, or, in the English language, the National Just Transition Commission, to oversee the bringing together of workers, communities, employers and government in social dialogue to drive the plans, policies and investments needed for a fair transformation to a low-carbon economy; to require the preparation, by certain prescribed bodies, of just transition plans; to provide for the conferral of other functions on the said body; to amend the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015, as amended; and to provide for related matters.  What do we mean when we talk about just transition? I do not particularly like the term \"just transition\". Many people do not understand it or know what it is about. It actually puts a lot of people off. What we really mean when we talk about it is ensuring that as we move to a more sustainable way of living, no one is left behind and we do not disadvantage anybody by the transformation. It is a really important principle of climate action and climate justice. The Paris Agreement recognised that workers are at the interface of the upheaval that climate change threatens to impose and that states need to adopt a just and fair transition to a zero-carbon economy.  It is a quite technical term and when you start trying to work out exactly who it should be for and what it should mean, you find it gets quite technical. Technically, it means that people, workers and communities who may face significant changes to their lives as a result of the need to move to a zero-carbon society are supported in making those changes. It means a fair deal for workers, farmers, fishers and communities and it means protecting their rights. We cannot have a successful transition without buy-in from all these workers, including those who produce our food, catch our fish and work and live in urban and rural communities. They must feel secure and supported as things around us change. The just transition needs to be across society.  To date, we have had work on a just transition but it has focused primarily on the midlands. It was important to ensure those who worked in Bord na M\u00f3na or on the bogs were supported in making the transition. However, what is entailed is so much broader than that area and that cohort of workers. We need to recognise that moving to a more future-proofed economic model will impact everybody in different ways and we have a responsibility to ensure that no one is left behind and that all members of society are in a position to grasp the opportunities a just transition will bring.  Our just transition needs to apply to our farmers as we move away from intensive practices. It needs to apply to our fishers as we implement marine protected areas and better stock management. It needs to apply to our industrial base and our businesses, including those of the mechanics. As we move to a position where we have more electric vehicles, the whole motor industry needs to change, including in respect of workers such as mechanics. Just transition also needs to apply to people who are vulnerable or at risk of energy poverty.  At present, we are seeing huge problems and vulnerabilities when it comes to energy and pricing. We see many families struggling and energy prices going up exponentially. This is not going to go away as we move further into a situation in which we are trying to move away from fossil fuels. People are vulnerable but there is a genuine opportunity to make households more resilient and more self-sufficient when it comes to energy usage.  The Social Democrats have always been very strong proponents of solar power. Solar is one way we can assist in making homes more resilient. There are many changes we can make that would benefit people and our environment at the same time. People need assistance to make the changes and we want and need the Government to step up.  Part of the just transition is providing a mechanism for workers and their communities to hold to account the Government, including its Departments, State agencies and other bodies, in the development and implementation of climate action plans and mitigation and adaptation strategies that underpin our national response to climate change. At present, there is no legal mechanism for workers and their communities to hold just transition policies to account.  The Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, is available to workers, as are the courts, but neither specifically deals with the disruption caused by the transition to a zero-carbon economy and the implications of this for workers\u2019 rights and employment issues. The programme for Government commits to establishing a just transition commissioner on a statutory basis; however, unfortunately this has not been carried out to date.  I welcome the fact that the Government set up a just transition commission. I was very pleased to see that and that its members are very good and strong in their expertise. While it is a very valuable commission, it is not on a statutory footing and so needs a legislative framework. This Bill could lay the foundation for that legal underpinning.  The just transition commission proposed in this Bill would be similar to the WRC. It would bring together workers, communities, employers and the Government into a social dialogue that would drive climate action plans, mitigation plans, adaptation plans, and the policies and investments needed for a quick, fair and just transition to a zero-carbon economy.  If we look to our neighbours across the channel in Scotland, we see a great example to follow. Scotland established its own just transition commission in 2018 with the intention of centring its just transition plans on partnership between those impacted most by the transition to net zero, with co-design and co-delivery at the core. At the start of each year, Scotland\u2019s minister for just transition writes to the commission to inform it of planned government work that can help inform the development of the commission\u2019s work plan. It publishes an annual report on Scotland\u2019s progress and is available to all Scottish ministers who seek its advice and support.  Legislating for the just transition commission in Ireland now would demonstrate a long-term, cross-Government commitment to fairness that survives political cycles and changing Ministers and their respective agendas. We have an opportunity to show that Ireland is serious about a fair transition, not just reacting to the pressures of 2025 but also building a durable structure for the future.  We all know we have significant changes to make, and we all know we have major targets to meet. There is a general acceptance that we will strive to do our best to meet those targets. However, the question of how we meet them is fundamental. We must meet them in a fair and just manner and this must be driven by the Government.  Crucially, this Bill also amends the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act 2015 to include, for the first time in Irish legislation, a definition of just transition and its principles. Unfortunately, this was left out of the legislation when we debated it and passed it in the last D\u00e1il. It is a fundamental piece of the information that people need and it needs to be in the legislation to ensure a just transition.  This Bill\u2019s explanatory memorandum defines a just transition as \"a transition that ensures the economic, environmental and social consequences of the ecological transformation of economies and societies are managed in ways that maximise opportunities of decent work for all, reduce inequalities, promote social justice, and support industries, workers and communities negatively affected, in accordance with nationally defined priorities, and based on effective social dialogue\".  It defines just transition principles as being the importance of taking action to reduce net Irish emissions of greenhouse gases in a way which supports environmentally and socially sustainable jobs, supports zero carbon investment in infrastructure, develops and maintains social consensus, creates decent, fair and high-value work in a way which does not negatively affect the current workforce, and contributes to resource-efficient and sustainable economic approaches which help to address inequality and poverty.  Centring climate action on a just transition approach is a unique opportunity to deliver climate solutions that not only cut emissions but also improve lives by creating better jobs, warmer homes, cleaner air and a more resilient and self-sufficient society. Ultimately, change is scary, and this is a change that is happening to us in Ireland and globally. People are afraid. When we talk about climate change, it is often framed in the negative. When we talk about climate action, people think it will be punitive, will cost them more and will be socially difficult. Ultimately, though, if we get our just transition right, it will lead to a much fairer society where people's homes are warm, there are buses they can take and they work in jobs where they also have a good work-life balance. This is about moving to a much better, much fairer way of living.  Without stronger commitment from Government and a clear strategy for just transition, the potential for an unjust transition in Ireland will continue to grow. Since 2021, just transition has become central to national and international climate governance. The case for embedding fairness into climate action has never been stronger. In the coming years, we will be asking a great deal of society in order to meet our climate targets and to respond to the realities of climate change. Public awareness of inequality and vulnerability linked to climate policy is at an all-time high, creating political and social momentum for action. With major climate policies, change is being rolled out across energy, transport, buildings and agriculture. This is our chance to ensure that fairness is built in from the get-go. Ireland has an opportunity to show that climate action can improve lives, strengthen communities and build a fair economy, rather than deepen inequality. As Ireland makes the shift from planning to implementation, it is crucial that we embed fairness into the foundation of Ireland's climate response and see ambitious, science-based targets and social justice not as competing priorities but, rather, as two sides of the same coin.  There is no reason that the Government should oppose the progression of this Bill. I hope the Minister of State will be able to support it. I acknowledge the work of Sin\u00e9ad Mercier, who worked with me on this Bill in the previous term. I know she worked with Eamon Ryan on this Bill. I acknowledge the unions, which contributed greatly when we first developed this Bill. This is important legislation and I hope the Minister of State gives it full consideration. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I congratulate Deputy Whitmore on bringing this Bill to the floor. It is well researched, well prepared legislation that allows for the establishment of what should be and must be a core part of the infrastructure that shapes Ireland's response to the climate crisis. As Deputy Whitmore described, we have two choices in how we face the climate crisis. We can see it in a way that allows us to flounder, to see the negatives and everything else, or we can see the opportunity that presents itself when we think about our response. For me, this Bill sets on a clear, statutory footing the important dialogue that needs to happen so that communities and workers are protected throughout the climate crisis.  I want to introduce a couple of ideas within this concept. I believe that another crisis we are facing is the automation crisis that is coming about through AI. Automation is something we have to grapple with as a society. AI is currently proving to be a catalyst for labour displacement across multiple sectors, so it really is going to be disruptive in a way that we have not thought about as a society and that we are certainly not facing up to as a society or dealing with in any helpful way. I believe the just transition needs to deal not only with the challenges that the climate crisis presents to us but also those that are presented by automation.  Another point I would add is that if we have learned anything from the Covid pandemic, it is that there is as much impact from a crisis that presents itself to society as there is from the State's response to it. We saw during Covid the way that certain cohorts of society were disproportionately impacted by the restrictions that were placed on society compared with the mainstream population. For example, we know that all children were affected by having to learn remotely, but those kids who were in care had a whole other suite of supports that were no longer available to them, including key workers, psychologists and so on. They had a very different experience of the effect of the Covid restrictions on them compared with the other children in society. It is important to recognise that Covid was a short, sharp crisis, compared with this, which is a much longer running crisis. We need to make sure, however, that the State's response to this crisis does not disproportionately punish any particular group in society. Well done to Deputy Whitmore and I welcome this Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I acknowledge the work of Deputy Whitmore in bringing forward this Private Members' Bill on the subject of just transition and her and her party's commitment to this topic. I also commend Sin\u00e9ad Mercier and the unions, which I know worked with Deputy Whitmore on this. I thank Deputy Gibney for her intervention. This time three weeks ago, I was the Minister of State with responsibility for digitalisation, so I am particularly interested in what Deputy Gibney said about AI.  In line with the national climate objectives, the Government is fully committed to a just transition to a climate-neutral economy by no later than 2030. There have been significant developments relating to just transition since the Private Members' Bill was presented to the House in 2021. These include both policy and legislation changes, as well as the establishment of, as Deputy Whitmore said, the just transition commission of Ireland on an administrative basis last year. It is on the basis of these developments, which provide an established approach to just transition within climate policy, that the Government is opposing the Bill.  The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 provides for a just transition to a climate-neutral economy which endeavours, insofar as is practicable, to maximise employment opportunities and support persons and communities that may be negatively affected by the transition. To operationalise this provision, the Climate Action Plan 2021 introduced a just transition framework which guides the integration of just transition into climate policy. Just transition, as Deputy Whitmore said, probably is not the most obvious name, so let me outline for viewers watching at home what that framework looks like and means in practice. It consists of four principles focusing on the need for an evidence-based approach to plan our response to just transition requirements. It is about equipping people with the right skills to participate in the future economy. It is about ensuring that the costs are shared so that existing inequalities are not exacerbated, and it is about social dialogue to ensure impacted citizens and communities are consulted and empowered. All relevant Ministers are expected to formulate and implement their climate policies through the lens of this framework so that policies are informed by the need to ensure a just transition.  The just transition commission of Ireland, as the Deputies will be aware, was established last year as an independent advisory body. A key focus of the commission is to support the Government in its responsibility to provide that Ireland's transition to the national climate objective has regard to the requirement for a just transition to a climate-neutral economy. The mandate of the commission is to prepare and analyse strategic research in relation to a just transition; evaluate, advise and comment on sectoral climate policies; provide strategic advice and engagement on just transition; undertake proactive engagement with communities, sectors or regions facing challenges arising from the transition; and listen to and channel the public voice on just transition.  The Private Members' Bill before us today proposes the establishment of a just transition commission on the legislative basis with a focus on workers and communities. However, the existing commission's remit goes wider than this. While it accounts for the need to ensure a just transition workforce, its programme also includes the assessment of the implementation of the just transition framework into climate policy; strengthening engagement with vulnerable cohorts on climate matters; and recommending indicators to support the measurement of our progress as we continue to transition. The commission has made really significant progress in its work programme and it has already published its introductory report. This report provides some early reflections and recommendations on the implementation of just transition across climate policy.  The commission points to the need to develop a just transition strategy and the need for stronger governance, monitoring and evaluation of the implementation of the just transition framework in climate policy. The Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment will develop a just transition strategy as a key deliverable under its 2025 to 2028 statement strategy. The just transition strategy will set out a clear vision for a just transition to a competitive, affordable, secure and climate-neutral economy and society.  My colleague the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment has assured the commission of the Government's ongoing support for its work through his engagement with both the chair, Ms Ali Sheridan, and members. It was very heartening to hear Deputy Whitmore commend the talents of the people involved in the commission and the good work that they are doing on behalf of Ireland.  In conjunction with its introductory report, the commission has also explored two key sectoral areas, transport and agriculture, and the cross-cutting topic of finance. In conducting its review, the commission has engaged with over 60 representative groups, officials and academics. It has conducted engagements with farmers, agricultural students and representative groups in Glasnevin's Wayfinding Centre. The commission is now preparing a report to reflect and provide recommendations on the respective sectors. In addition, the commission continues to develop links with similar bodies such as the Climate Change Advisory Council.  As noted earlier, the current just transition commission was established on an administrative basis. This followed on from the work of the just transition task force, which was tasked with seeking consensus on a long-term structure for the just transition commission. The task force convened in 2023 and was chaired by Mr. Kieran Mulvey. It consisted of representatives from the five pillars of social dialogue and senior officials from the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment, the Department of the Taoiseach, the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and the NESC. Their recommendations included that the commission should be established on an administrative basis to ensure timely establishment but that it would quickly move to a statutory basis. In approving the establishment of the commission, the Government noted that a review of the operation of the commission should be undertaken before moving it to a statutory basis. This will allow the commission to establish itself and for learnings on its current structure and remit to be reviewed and refined. That review is planned for the middle of next year.  In these circumstances the Government believes it would be premature to consider moving the commission to a statutory basis in advance of the review. It would also distract the commission from completing its work programme, which is the most important thing. We know that that transition will have different impacts on different people, communities and regions. The Government acknowledges this and has been investing significant resources into supporting the midlands, as the Deputy noted in her own contribution, because the midlands communities are most impacted by the transition away from peat.  One of the first measures that was introduced was the National Just Transition Fund 2000 to 2024, which provided over \u20ac16 million to the region. The EU just transition fund, which runs to 2027, remains active in the midlands, with up to \u20ac169 million available in the region. Since the launch of the programme in 2023, 15 calls for funds have been run and 172 projects under grant agreement have been approved in the sum of \u20ac121 million. The EU just transition fund is co-funded through the EU just transition mechanism and national co-financing.  As demonstrated, significant work is already under way to underpin the just transition through legislation, the implementation of the just transition framework, investment in the midlands and institutional arrangements. The commission and colleagues can be assured of the Government's ongoing commitment to a just transition as we continue to embed it in our policymaking. On the basis of these significant developments the Government has decided to oppose the Bill.  I note the Deputy has not been given a copy of my speech, so I will provide her with this one. We might see if we can get it photocopied. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  Is the Second Reading of the Bill being delayed or is it being ruled out? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  The Bill is being opposed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  That is a pity. Ba mhaith liom an Teachta Whitmore a mholadh as an mBille seo a chur os comhair na D\u00e1la. Molaim an Dr. Sin\u00e9ad Mercier freisin. Is bean iontach \u00ed. It is essential that we talk about climate action and a just transition. When the climate committee was working on the climate Bill, we were desperately trying to get a proper definition in that. People did not feel that a just transition was in order or that it was actually about climate action through justice for people and workers.  The climate and biodiversity crisis that we face across this State and worldwide is existential. We need a radical change in how we do business if we are to reach any of our short- or long-term climate goals. It will require buy-in from everyone if we are to collectively reduce our emissions and convert to a greener, cleaner and more just future. To get that we really need universal buy-in and equality of outcome. Putting a just transition i l\u00e1r gach aon rud is essential if we are to achieve this. People should not be punished for doing the right thing.  It is clear that there is an appetite for ambitious climate action in Ireland across different regions and life stages. That means that we have a unique opportunity to engage and empower communities to shape, lead and benefit from the transition. It should be seen not as a hindrance but as a golden opportunity. We can deliver climate solutions that not only cut emissions but also enhance people's lives, by creating better jobs, warmer homes, cleaner air and a more resilient society. We cannot wait until after communities or sectors are impacted to talk about fairness.  Engagement and planning must happen before the transformational changes arrive. Engagement here is key because we live in a different world from did five years ago. I was on the climate committee with Jennifer Whitmore in the last D\u00e1il. We were never looking for Senators to come in to have a quorum. It was the one committee that worked really well across all the parties. It is completely different this time. It is not because there are fewer Green Party members on it, but because there is less interest.  While we want climate action, the world has not been so receptive because the world has changed. We only have to look at America. The President of America is anti-climate and anti-science. He has talked about climate change as a scam. These are really easy lies to peddle because people will always look for the easy option. It might be easier to just say it is not true, but we have to contradict that. The Government has to counteract that by including workers and communities in the green revolution now, not later. We know the climate transition will impact every community and every sector and each of our lives and livelihoods. We know it will affect countries and cause increased migration, an issue that is very topical now. I believe that everybody loves their own homeland and would prefer to stay at home. We need to do what we can in the developed world to make sure people can stay in their own homes if that is what they want.  There is now a need for a national just transition strategy, a clear actionable plan that shows how climate will benefit every community and every worker, especially those at risk. If we can build a consensus and bring communities with us on this climate journey now and for generations to come, the world will be a better place. I believe this is the moment for Ireland to show it is serious about a just transition.  I disagree with the Government opposing the Bill. It is a good Bill that would show communities that climate action can make their lives better. It can result in cheaper electricity. It is a real pity the Government is opposing the Bill outright. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I welcome the reintroduction of this just transition Bill. I thank Deputy Whitmore for doing so. I thank her for recognising those who worked on this legislation, including my party colleague Eamon Ryan, Dr. Sin\u00e9ad Mercier and the trade unionists who have been involved in the past. Since this Bill was first proposed by the Green Party in 2018, much has changed in the legislative agenda and the policy direction of this country and indeed in the world as a whole.  The just transition has been recognised as absolutely essential. It is referenced in our own domestic institutions, it has been adopted within EU frameworks and it is included within the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, UNFCCC, commitments as well.  Deputy Whitmore made the point about the use of the technical terminology \"just transition\" sometimes hiding or disguising what is being attempted and how that lack of clarity sometimes contributes to lessening support for the steps we need to take. Let us just remind ourselves what the intended outcome is here. The just transition is about improving people's quality of life while tackling the greatest threat in our lifetime, namely, climate change. That is what it is in a nutshell. It is about recognising that the workers who are employed in the parts of our economy that create a large amount of carbon will need the greatest amount of support. Not only the individual workers, the individual business owners, the individual farmers who are in carbon-intensive industries, but also the wider communities that depend on these people for their living. The just transition sees that people who are already vulnerable in our society, who already face poverty or relative poverty, will need the greatest support. We should always keep in mind that the impacts of climate change are going to be felt the most by the least well-off in our society, be that globally or in Ireland. It is the poor who suffer the most if rains fail in Ethiopia or when hurricanes are more severe in the Caribbean because of climate change. It is the poor who suffer the most from the energy price spikes we have seen here in Ireland. They are the ones most at risk of energy poverty.  Over the summer, I met the minister for climate action from Vanuatu, Ralph Regenvanu. He was visiting Dublin. Vanuatu is a small Pacific island nation on a range of islands. It has a population of just over 300,000 people. It is hugely at risk to natural disasters. It is hugely at risk to sea-level rise. Its very physical existence as an independent nation that is present is put at risk by climate change and by sea-level rise. For me, hearing from him about what his country is doing was a very real-world, tangible illustration of the existential threat that climate change represents for millions, and ultimately billions, of people living on our planet.  A number of Deputies referenced the 2025 report from our current Just Transition Commission of Ireland. I want to focus on three elements of that report. I note that, in this most recent report, the commission really focused on the fact that, to date, our approach to the just transition has been piecemeal. It has been too reactive and we have not adopted that all-of-society approach. It recognises that steps have been taken but it also strongly recognises that the communities I spoke of earlier that are most at risk of this transition feel left behind and that not enough has been done for them.  The second point it makes is that creating a better Ireland goes hand in hand with a just transition. Climate action at its core is not only about cutting the carbon emissions, but it is also about building a country where people can live secure, dignified and healthy lives. It is about improving things in all senses, for all people.  The final point I will raise about that report is the importance of faster climate action. At the Bel\u00e9m COP in recent weeks, we saw the huge preponderance of fossil fuel lobbyists who were there and who were able to influence the outcome of that COP to ensure the reference to the transition away from fossil fuels was not actually mentioned in the final text of the Bel\u00e9m declaration. The outcome of that in the medium-to-long-term is going to be more people in Ireland, more people across Europe and the world, having to experience the risk of energy poverty because of their dependence on fossil fuels.  I urge the Government to do more. As a country, we must choose courage over delay, we must choose fairness over fear and we must choose the opportunities that exist from this transition over obstruction. If we work and commit together to a just transition, that not only confronts climate change but ultimately builds a fairer and more just society for all of us in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I thank the Deputies for their feedback. As set out in my opening statement, the reason the Government is opposing this Bill is due to the fact that we have already set up the commission on an administrative basis, and we want it to get on with the work we have tasked it with and we then want to review that to see whether it is working. At that point, once we have the review, we will be making a decision around a statutory footing. Also, the landscape in which we are making this decision has seen significant developments around the just transition policy since this Bill was tabled in 2021.  The Climate Action and Low Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021 and the Climate Action Plan 2021 set the legislative and policy direction for just transition, with the just transition framework outlining the broad nature of a just and fair transition. The just transition framework recognises that people need the right skills to participate in a climate-neutral economy, but it also recognises the need for evidence-based climate policy, the need to ensure that costs are shared equitably and the need for social dialogue with impacted citizens and communities. The overarching nature of the framework is reflected in the existing Just Transition Commission's mandate and work programme. The Just Transition Commission will examine the workforce implications of the transition but also has the remit to evaluate sectoral climate policy, proactively engage with impacted communities or sectors, and provide strategic advice and analysis in relation to a just transition.  The existing commission is providing impartial advice to the Government and is doing so to support a just transition to climate neutrality. While the commission was established on an administrative basis, the just transition task force recommended that the body be moved to a statutory basis. The Government is committed to reviewing the operation of the commission in a manner that allows the commission to establish itself and for learnings on its current structure and its remit to be reviewed and refined. Any decision on moving the commission to a legislative basis before this review would be premature.  As previously noted, under the commission's recommendation, the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment will develop a just transition strategy, which will set out a clear vision for a just transition to a competitive, affordable, secure and climate-neutral economy and society. The commission's forthcoming report on agriculture, transport and finance will further its guidance and support to the Government and the respective Departments.  The Government feels that moving to establish the commission on a legislative basis at this point could distract the commission from its current work programme and hamper the momentum it is building as a new body.  Finally, I reiterate that the Government is committed to a just transition and a climate-neutral economy by no later than 2050. However, due to legislative, policy and institutional developments since 2021, the Government is opposing this Private Members' Bill on the basis of the progress since then. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I thank everybody for their contributions this evening. It is a very important issue and debate. I take the Minister of State's point in relation to the current commission and the work it is doing. I understand that the Government is afraid that legislating for this now may distract from its current work programme but I ask that the Minister of State or the Minister go and discuss this with the commission. When we look at its first report, it is very clear about what needs to be seen. This is a really positive message when it comes to just transition. According to the commission: \"A just transition offers a powerful opportunity, not only to manage the risks of the climate transition but to reimagine and reshape Ireland\u2019s economy and society to be more inclusive, resilient and sustainable.\" That is from the Just Transition Commission's press release about its first report. It also says that Ireland must move much faster. So, the Government's fears about taking this too fast are misplaced. The commission says:  Ireland must now move much faster and with much more ambition if we are to keep the people and places we care about safe from the effects of climate change, and to seize the unprecedented opportunity that a just transition offers to build a fairer, more inclusive, and resilient society.  It also made the point that Ireland's approach since 2021 has been piecemeal and reactive, rather than a whole-of-society approach and that the just transition framework the Minister of State spoke about is in place but is not being utilised. It is very clear that just transition must be embedded structurally and that is what I am attempting to do with the Bill. The Bill would embed it in the legislative framework so that it is in place going forward and is not reliant on a favourable Government or Minister. Rather, it would work for the people across the country. It would be consistent, clear and cannot be removed at the whim of any Minister or Government.  The first report rings an alarm bell. It states that the current approach leaves Ireland on a trajectory towards an unjust transition. While I can understand the rationale that the work is ongoing, and we do not want to slow that down or distract from it, what the commission has said is different. From what I have read in its report, its reaction is different. I ask that before we vote on the Bill the Minister of State discusses this with the commission. The just transition commission would appreciate having that legislative framework available to it.  The Government has put a 12-month timeframe on the latest few Bills that have gone through the D\u00e1il. I would be okay with that. It would be a much better result than plainly saying \"No\" to the Bill. I ask the Government consider putting in place a 12-month timeline and using that 12-month period to work with the commission and ensure that the Bill or principle of just transition and the commission are put on a statutory basis. That is what we need to see.  The risk of not getting this transition right cannot be understated. Ireland is not immune to this. Many countries have been torn apart and societies and communities fight each other when it comes to the impacts of climate change and biodiversity loss and the approach of Governments to managing it. It is important that we are very strategic and proactive in how we deal with this so that we provide supports before people are afraid and start thinking that they are being left behind. When people feel like they are being left behind, that is when the trouble will start.  I ask the Minister of State to speak to the Minister and ask him whether he would consider putting in place a 12-month timeframe. That would be a welcome result. I ask the Government to not say a blanket \"No\" to this; it is too important. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Acting Chairman (Deputy Grace Boland)  In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time next week. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 5.54 p.m. go dt\u00ed 2 p.m., D\u00e9 M\u00e1irt, an 9 Nollaig 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 5.54 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 9 December 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Just Transition (Worker and Community Environmental Rights) Bill 2021: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-12-04"},{"contextDate":"2025-12-03","debateRecord":{"house":{"committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","chamberType":"house"},"counts":{"questionCount":23,"billCount":8,"debateSectionCount":35,"contributorCount":162,"divisionCount":8},"debateType":"debate","date":"2025-12-03","lastUpdated":"2026-04-10T03:11:31+01:00","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/main","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"topical","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_4","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Health Services Staff","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_5","counts":{"speechCount":14,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Disability Services","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_6","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Mental Health Services","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_7","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"School Accommodation","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_8","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Child Abuse","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_9","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":66,"speakerCount":24},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Trans Healthcare: Motion [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":75,"speakerCount":14},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":69,"speakerCount":20},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_14","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","containsDebate":false,"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_15","counts":{"speechCount":70,"speakerCount":11},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Official Engagements","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_16","counts":{"speechCount":22,"speakerCount":11},"debateType":"question","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Regulatory Reform","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14"},"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_17","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_19","counts":{"speechCount":48,"speakerCount":35},"debateType":"statement","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Energy Costs: Statements","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_20","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_21","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_22","counts":{"speechCount":61,"speakerCount":41},"debateType":"statement","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Housing Plan: Statements","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_23","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Arrangements for Parliamentary Questions: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_24","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_25","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Meastach\u00e1in i gcomhair Seirbh\u00eds\u00ed Poibl\u00ed 2025: Teachtaireacht \u00f3 Roghchoiste","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58\/dail\/4_sub","isBillStage":false,"stage":"4_sub"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_26","counts":{"speechCount":23,"speakerCount":7},"debateType":"billReport","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/65","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/65\/dail\/4_sub","isBillStage":false,"stage":"4_sub"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_31","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"debateType":"billReport","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_32","counts":{"speechCount":38,"speakerCount":14},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Planning and Development Act 2024 (Modifications) Regulations 2025: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_33","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_34","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Credit Institutions (Financial Support) (Revocation) Scheme 2025: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_39","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Credit Institutions (Eligible Liabilities Guarantee) (Revocation) Scheme 2025: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_44","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025: Referral to Joint Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/29","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/29\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_45","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/75","event":{"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/75\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_54","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_54","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_59","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_59","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Services: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}},{"debateSection":{"bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-03\/debate\/dbsect_68","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":1},"debateType":"motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_68","containsDebate":true,"showAs":"Trans Healthcare: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[]}}]}},{"contextDate":"2025-12-02","debateRecord":{"lastUpdated":"2026-03-12T03:10:39+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"house":{"committeeCode":"","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34"},"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_2","bill":null,"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","showAs":"Comhshu\u00ed de Dh\u00e1il \u00c9ireann agus de Sheanad \u00c9ireann - Joint Sitting of the Houses of the Oireachtas","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_3","bill":null,"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","showAs":"Address by H.E. Volodymyr Zelenskyy, President of Ukraine","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_4","bill":null,"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[],"debateType":"orderofBusiness","showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":5}}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_5","bill":null,"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_6","bill":null,"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[],"debateType":"billCommittee","showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Instruction to Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/75\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/75"},"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","showAs":"Remediation of Dwellings Damaged by the Use of Defective Concrete Blocks (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":47,"speakerCount":25}}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-12-02\/debate\/dbsect_8","bill":null,"containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[],"debateType":"motion","showAs":"Irish Coast Guard Search and Rescue Services: Motion [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":29,"speakerCount":18}}}],"counts":{"questionCount":0,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":7,"billCount":1,"contributorCount":148},"date":"2025-12-02"}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-17T02:09:33+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-11-27","counts":{"contributorCount":133,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":46,"questionCount":31,"billCount":2},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Ukraine War","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  First, I want to take the opportunity to wish the Minister, Deputy McEntee, the best of luck in her new role. I look forward to working with her on issues of concern to Ireland and our interests.  The question relates to our engagement with the Government of Ukraine and to the ongoing conflict and the efforts made to reach a ceasefire. Unfortunately, some of the discussions in recent weeks and some of the proposals on the table are rather partial and, unfortunately, undermine the position of the Government of Ukraine. That is regrettable, but ultimately we are all hoping for a peace that is sustainable and just. I look forward to hearing the Minister's response to the Irish Government's assessment of the situation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Helen McEntee)  I thank the Deputy. I look forward to working with him and our colleagues on many matters.  At this critical juncture for Ukraine, after almost four years of brutal Russian aggression, I want to emphasise Ireland\u2019s unequivocal support and solidarity with Ukraine. This something I have emphasised a number of times, most recently when I attended the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council on 20 November where Ukraine\u2019s foreign affairs minister, Andrii Sybiha, spoke about recent Russian attacks against Ukraine.  A meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council which took place yesterday was also addressed by the foreign affairs minister.  I welcome the ongoing efforts of President Trump and the United States to end Russia\u2019s war of aggression against Ukraine and to achieve just and lasting peace and security, not just for Ukraine, but for the EU and Europe more widely. It is more important than ever that Europe and the United States continue to work together to achieve this. The emerging US proposals, as well as plans for further negotiations, represent a step forward. I welcome the progress made at Sunday\u2019s meeting between the US and Ukraine in Geneva. We look forward to these talks continuing in a positive manner and to further progress being achieved.  Ukraine is engaging positively and constructively in these discussions despite the ongoing Russian military assault on its towns, cities, ports and critical energy infrastructure. It is crucial that any agreement upholds Ukraine\u2019s sovereignty and independence based on respect for the principles of the UN Charter. The fundamental principle that borders cannot be changed by force must be upheld.  Any agreement must also protect Ukraine and Europe\u2019s vital security. That means strong, credible guarantees that ensure Ukraine can defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity to avoid a repetition of the past. As the Deputy said, while the proposals in the plan put forward by the United States are welcome, there are very clearly areas that need further work. I am sure that is exactly what is happening at the moment. This is not just vital for Ukraine, it is also vital for the European Union and all member states, including Ireland. It is welcome that assurances have been given that the EU and Europe will be involved in discussions on issues that directly affect us, including enlargement and immobilised assets.  The Taoiseach and I remain in close contact with our European and Ukrainian counterparts. The Taoiseach took part in a meeting of the European Council on 24 November and attended a meeting of the coalition of the willing on 25 November, which was on the margins of the EU-African Union Summit. I will revert to the Deputy on further engagements. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I think it was last week that we had statements on Ukraine. They are now an annual occurrence. Every time they occur, many contributors reflect that they hope the next time such statements happen, there will be a ceasefire. Unfortunately, the war and assault on Ukraine continue unabated. In recent weeks, we have seen some appalling attacks, including on Ternopil, with civilians and civilian infrastructure being targeted. In that context, it is very difficult and almost near-impossible to see that Russia's interest in peace is in any way sincere. For a long time, it has been merely paying lip-service to that.  It is unfortunate the confusion that exists in relation to the role of the United States in mediating. If it is taking on a role in mediating peace, it is welcome. Clearly, it has the potential to play a leadership role. Unfortunately, what has emerged is somewhat confusing in terms of what is being said by Marco Rubio on the one hand and by Steve Witkoff on the other. I think this has made the position of Ukraine difficult. What is the Government's assessment of what is currently being proposed by the US Government? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I agree with the Deputy's initial comments. My own view, and I think that of many member states, as was reflected in our recent meeting, is that the actions of Russia indicate that it is not a country that is seeking peace. That is very clear, not just from the fact that innocent civilians have been killed in recent days and weeks but also the fact that there continue to be persistent hybrid threats to neighbouring member states. Our friends in Poland told us very clearly of the blowing up of a trainline and only for one device not detonating, there would have been significant casualties. Similarly, hybrid threats are happening at airports in nearby countries, such as Lithuania and others. These are not the actions of a country that wants peace.  I genuinely welcome the engagement of the United States and its efforts to bring forward a peace agreement. Again, I have to stress that the 28-point plan that we initially saw over the weekend very clearly had elements that needed further work. The engagement of EU member states, the United States, Ukraine and the EU institutions in discussions is welcome, as is the clear indication from President Trump more recently that the deadline of today is no longer a deadline. I think it shows a clear commitment on all sides, separate to Russia, to reach that agreement. We need to make sure all sides are putting pressure on Russia to come around the table to realise that long-lasting peace and to make sure that it is a peace that will not just have strong implications for Ukraine, but for the EU and the European region in general. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Arbitrary deadlines are challenging at the best of times, but arbitrary deadlines when the goalposts keep shifting are even more challenging. It is important that time be taken to properly calibrate realistic proposals. This is about justice, but it is also about sustainability and ensuring a sustainable peace. A peace that is unjust and does not reflect the rights of the people of Ukraine will ultimately fail to be sustainable and will only embolden Russia.  The work that the Irish Government and other governments have done in relation to the several thousand abducted children is very important. I hope they will continue that work. It is a profound crime and a crime against humanity. It is hard to imagine the pain and grief this has caused for individual families. It is also an assault against the Ukrainian people. Will the Minister outline how the Government intends to advance that particular work and ensure that there is justice and accountability for that crime? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We will continue to support all efforts towards a peaceful resolution. In the meantime, and separate to and in conjunction with that, there are other ways in which we can provide support and assistance.  In relation to the forcibly transported or deported Ukrainian children, we will continue to raise this at every avenue possible. We have been clear in condemning what is the absolutely horrific crime of taking young children from their families. We are engaging with UN agencies to try to find other solutions to this issue and I will consistently raise it with my colleagues at the Foreign Affairs Council, through our UN agencies and with the High Representative.  In terms of other ways in which we are providing support, we will continue to provide financial support, making sure that we provide the humanitarian aid needed in Ukraine. We will also provide the non-lethal support that is needed. We are also being very strong in our support for Ukraine's accession. It is really important that Ukraine and others see its pathway towards membership of the European Union. From the outset, we have been very strong in providing that support and we want to make sure that continues. It is something that we will be focusing on very strongly throughout our Presidency. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ukraine War"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Middle East","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I genuinely wish the Minister, Deputy McEntee, all the best in her new role. I am sure the experience gained in her previous Ministry in European affairs will be a great grounding for the work she has ahead.  My question is seeking an update on the prohibition of settlement goods Bill, which has been the primary Bill in terms of the public's attention during this calendar year. It has been on the books for seven years in some form. I would love an update to see how it is progressing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I propose to take Questions Nos. 2 and 4 together.  In June, the Government approved the general scheme of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (prohibition of importation of goods) Bill. The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. The Joint Committee on Foreign Affairs and Trade held a number of hearings on the general scheme and received submissions representing a range of views and perspectives.  Pre-legislative scrutiny is an important part of the legislative process and the T\u00e1naiste thanked the committee for its report on receipt. Detailed work to analyse the report and its recommendations is well underway. The regulatory impact assessment is also currently being finalised by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and will be available on the Department\u2019s website when completed, which I hope will be soon. The next steps in the process, including the timeline for the progress of the Bill, are being considered by the Government.  The general scheme fulfils our commitment in the programme for Government to prohibit the import of goods from settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory. Trade in services is considerably more complex than is the case with goods and there remains considerable legal uncertainty as to whether the inclusion of services is permissible under EU law. Legal clarity is needed on this point. This is something that I want to receive, but I made it very clear at the very outset when being appointed to this role that I intended to fulfil our commitment in the programme for Government to enact this legislation. We must also take account of practical issues with regard to the implementation should services be included in the scope of the Bill.  It remains the Government\u2019s preference that collective action would be taken at an EU level and we continue to pursue this. In this context, Ireland has welcomed the announcements by the Dutch, Spanish, Slovenian and Belgian Governments regarding the banning of the importation of goods produced in illegal Israeli settlements.  We obviously know that those measures were introduced prior to the ceasefire, but those announcements by the Dutch, Spanish, Slovenian and Belgian Governments were welcome. We are working with all of them.  Notwithstanding the positive and welcome developments with regard to the ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, Ireland has also made clear its view that the EU must keep the package of measures proposed by the Commission in response to Israeli human rights and other breaches on the table. It is an issue that Ireland raised and led the charge on. We want to ensure a significant response and to keep those measures on the table. They are very much firmly on the table.  The primary focus at EU level right now is ensuring the success of the ceasefire and peace deal, and of making a contribution to international efforts in this regard, as well as making sure that the humanitarian aid that is so badly needed does not just continue to flow but increases. There are significant concerns about the number of young people who will face starvation if the number of trucks does not increase significantly. It is essential that peace be given a chance to succeed. It is essential that the humanitarian aid and assistance that are needed are allowed to enter Gaza. The Government in Ireland will do everything in our power to ensure we support both of these objectives. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Pre-legislative scrutiny ended on 31 July and a report was delivered. On 2 October in this Chamber, the previous Minister for foreign affairs said it was his expectation that the Bill would be before the D\u00e1il by the end of November. Today is the last sitting day of November, so that is obviously not happening. Between 2 October and now, what has happened and what has changed?  The Minister said in her initial contribution that there remained legal uncertainty. What work is the Attorney General doing to unravel that legal uncertainty? Has the Minister set a deadline for when she wishes to receive legal certainty on services? We believe there is legal certainty, and this was well-aired and demonstrated during the pre-legislative scrutiny stage. This feels as if it is being delayed unduly.  On the economic impact side, we are awaiting a report from the Department of foreign affairs. Has the Minister set a deadline for when that report will be delivered to her? What pressure is she putting on the Department of foreign affairs in that regard? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The occupied territories Bill still matters. It has always mattered. It mattered long before the last two and half - almost three - years of slaughter in Gaza. It was all the more important during that period. It is important that every state that wants to stand against a genocide uses whatever leverage it can. It mattered before that and it still matters because my position and that of the Irish Government and many other people is that we want to see a sustainable two-state solution. The Israeli Government is continuing its actions, even now, against the backdrop of a ceasefire. It is difficult to call it a \"ceasefire\" when hundreds of people have been killed by Israeli forces in the period. We have seen attacks on people by settlers. We have incursions and continued undermining of the two-state solution. It cannot be that we freeze here with the ceasefire, insofar as it is a ceasefire, and leave it at that. Clearly, we need to see pressure put on Israel to ensure that the two-state solution is made sustainable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Government's position has been clear that our overall objective is a two-state solution. We have been working towards that for some time and not just in recent years. It has always been our goal and objective. That is why we recognised the State of Palestine. It is why we are doing everything to ensure that this peace is lasting. It is why we will be hosting a global alliance summit in January, bringing together Heads of State to show how we have, on our own island, progressed a peaceful resolution to what was a long-lasting conflict. We want to do everything in our power to ensure the territorial integrity of Palestine is upheld. That will be our continued goal and objective.  In terms of the legislation itself, I, as Minister, have in the past week given a clear commitment that we will fulfil our commitments in the programme for Government. Deputies will appreciate that I have only been in the Department for a week. I am looking for the advice of the Attorney General on services. We have always been clear that enacting the legislation in terms of services is more complex. I await the advice of the Attorney General. I have not received the draft Bill but anticipate I will receive it soon. I expect the work that is being carried out on the impact assessment to be ready soon.  The Deputies will appreciate that I have only been in the Department for a week. I want to ensure that I have all of the information available to me to be able to progress this legislation. I will work with colleagues on all sides of the House. I am absolutely clear that as a country, we need to do everything in our power to bring what is a very fragile ceasefire to a more permanent ceasefire. We need to ensure that we continue to use whatever levers are available to us to hold people accountable. I acknowledge that, since the ceasefire, there have been killings of innocent civilians. That is why the measures against the EU-Israel agreement are firmly on the table. This issue was raised at the most recent meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council. I am pleased to say that it is still firmly on the agenda. Other colleagues and I made it clear that it needed to remain on the agenda because we cannot have a situation where the ceasefire is broken on either side. Deputies can be assured of my commitment to making sure that we make progress and continue to support the Palestinian people in what is an absolutely dire situation at the moment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Notwithstanding the short time she has been in the job, this is the only new legislation that has come through the foreign affairs brief this year. It is not a small Bill. It has been well aired. The Minister spoke about it in the national media this year as a member of the Government. At this stage, the people of Ireland and Opposition TDs need more certainty in respect of timelines. It is not good enough for the Minister to say that the legal advice is going to come soon. We would like timelines for where it is going to happen. What are the issues in relation to the legal uncertainty?  The Minister mentioned last week that she may have to have discussions with American politicians. I would like more clarity on her plans in that regard. It feels as if this legislation is being delayed unduly, with a wall of silence at this point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Following on from that, I think communication with any politicians in America or anywhere else must make clear exactly what this legislation does. It is squarely within the footprint of international law. It is targeting the occupied territories and nothing else.  I will make a couple of points on the legal side of things. I find this debate rather frustrating. We have been told there is legal uncertainty. It is difficult to understand how it was possible to ensure there was an effective ban on trade in goods and services in response to the situation in Ukraine. The fact that it originated at European level does not make a difference to how it is implemented at a domestic level. If it is initiated domestically, the functional way in which it is implemented is much the same. What legal obstacles did not exist in the other case that exist in this one? It is very hard to understand.  I made the point that the Minister was new in the brief. I hope a change of course can happen. It seems to me that the Government has been stuck between deciding to drop the Bill, slow-pedal it or water it down, and has decided to do all of the above, to date. It is hard to justify, given the way it has been articulated for so long, how it has taken so long to get to this point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I do not think it is any secret that our colleagues in the United States of America do not support this legislation. It is no secret that many states have anti-boycott legislation and have been clear about how this would be enacted. I do not think we should ignore that. At the same time, Ireland has always done what is the right thing in terms of----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  We should be clear about what it is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Ireland has always done what has been the right thing to do, including in recognising Palestine and encouraging other member states to do so. I am pleased that so many other member states have done that. We have provided financial assistance. We were one of the first member states to support the South African case. We have ensured that at every step of the way, we have done the right thing. We will consistently continue to do the right thing.  I intend to write to my colleague, the High Representative, the chair of the Foreign Affairs Council, in relation to humanitarian aid. Given the update I received this week, I am not happy that we are doing enough to ensure more aid is getting to those who need it the most. There is more we can do, and can continue to do, to ensure that those who need our help the most get it immediately and that our actions have an impact.  The Government has not been shy about saying that collective responses have a greater impact. We have been working with our European colleagues to ensure there is clearly an item on the table to remove preferential tariffs from Israel if it continues in the same vein. That needs to remain on the table. Ursula von der Leyen's most recent comments expressed that it was something that must remain on the table.  In terms of the legislation, there are certain things that still need to be completed. I assure Deputies that once I have the legal advice from the Attorney General and the results of the work being done to look at the overall regulatory impact assessment, and once I assess that and the huge body work that was done by the committee - I acknowledge that, and my colleagues who put considerable work into pre-legislative scrutiny - we will be able to work collectively to bring forward legislation and ensure that our overall commitment to support Palestine and a two-state solution, and to bring about a lasting solution, can be front and centre in what we do here. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Middle East"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Conflict Resolution","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The scenes we are seeing in the media on our phones and televisions from Sudan are horrific. They are redolent of the kinds of scenes we saw in Rwanda 30 years ago. People are being cut down in the street and being slaughtered indiscriminately and unfortunately it seems to be escalating. Tens of thousands of people in Darfur are unaccounted for. We do not know where they are or whether they have got out of El-Fasher. We will have a debate on it later, but it is vital that we keep focus on this issue. I look forward to hearing about the Government's position. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Neale Richmond)  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Deputies Duncan Smith and Heneghan have asked similar questions and we will have a longer debate on it this afternoon.  The conflict in Sudan has resulted in the world\u2019s most severe humanitarian and protection crisis, with more than 150,000 deaths, over 2 million forcibly displaced and more than 21 million people facing crisis levels of hunger. Following the appalling recent attacks against civilians by the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, in El-Fasher, violence continues to escalate in north Darfur and the Kordofan regions. Large-scale, ethnically motivated atrocities, including summary executions, civilian detentions and rape and starvation as weapons of war, are unfortunately widespread.  The Government has consistently highlighted the scale of the humanitarian crisis and the urgent need to act to ensure the protection of civilians, particularly women and girls, and safe passage for those fleeing. Also critical is the need to ensure unimpeded humanitarian access in line with international humanitarian law to reach those must in need. This year, Ireland has provided \u20ac14.3 million in humanitarian assistance to support the people most in need in Sudan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. This assistance is channelled through trusted UN, Red Cross, Irish NGO and local partners to provide life-saving assistance. We are committed to further increasing our assistance in 2026.  At EU level, Ireland has taken a leading role in initiating discussions on Sudan, including on the establishment of the EU sanctions regime and, most recently, in calling for the implementation of the October Council conclusions. The November EU Foreign Affairs Council, which the Minister, Deputy McEntee, attended, adopted restrictive measures against a senior RSF commander. We are gravely concerned by reports that arms continue to reach parties to the conflict, despite existing UN and EU embargoes and sanctions. Along with our EU and other partners, we have called on all external actors directly or indirectly supplying arms and funds to the parties to cease their support immediately. Ireland, with the EU, will continue to advocate for the expansion of the arms embargo to the whole territory of Sudan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I welcome the statement. It is perhaps more robust than the statements made previously, in the latter part. The people of Sudan have suffered for a considerable period and unfortunately the hope they had a few years ago that a democratic settlement would emerge has not materialised. This appalling conflict is now happening. It is important that all parties to the conflict, the government forces and the RSF, seek peace to the greatest extent possible. The Government just made a good statement about the flow of weapons. It has been widely commented on and is widely believed that the Government of the United Arab Emirates is one of the surrogates. The Irish Government seems to be reluctant to identify that. Has the Government raised directly with those governments that are escalating the conflict our concerns about the flow of arms? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  On discussions, as I mentioned, the Government has raised this at EU and UN levels, where appropriate. I have also personally discussed it at a political level with senior officials and ministers from the UAE. That happened at a meeting in Dublin a number of months ago, meetings held in Abu Dhabi and Dubai and at High-Level Week of the UN General Assembly, and I will be meeting the UAE ambassador in a few hours.  We have made it clear to all parties that we do not believe there should be any breaches of the arms embargo. Any allegations of that have been consistently denied by the UAE, as the Deputy will appreciate. However, the UAE, alongside the USA, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, is a member of the Quad, a group formed with the aim of resolving the conflict and we have encouraged all parties with influence to advocate for a peaceful resolution to the conflict and an end to the suffering of civilians. However, substantive political engagement and co-ordination is also needed between the EU, the African Union, the Quad and other international and national actors on de-escalation and mediation efforts. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  I appreciate that it is denied. Whether those denials are credible is another question. I welcome that the Minister of State will meet the ambassador later. It is important that this issue is on the agenda. Unfortunately, it seems that the people of Sudan are to some extent pawns in a struggle for regional influence and they are paying a very high price for it. The other humanitarian element of it is the huge refugee crisis. The neighbouring countries, particularly Egypt and perhaps Chad and others, have significant numbers of refugees. I understand from what the Minister of State said that the Irish Government will continue to support investment in ensuring those refugees are supported. It is the largest movement of people in the world at the moment. Literally millions of people are looking for refuge. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  Let there be no underestimation. This is the worst humanitarian crisis happening in the world at the moment and it has been for a considerable time. It is the largest displacement of people, and Ireland will not be found wanting.  As I mentioned, so far this year, we have allocated \u20ac4.3 million in humanitarian assistance. That included an additional \u20ac3 million announced by me and the T\u00e1naiste in September at the UN and we are committed to increasing that in 2026 as needed. We also made sure our payments to UN agency partners were brought forward this year due to the liquidity crisis, to make sure refugees from this conflict and others were not victims of a liquidity crisis. I intend to visit Uganda, which is home to a lot of refugees, particularly from South Sudan, in February next year and will continue to make sure our support is known about and felt. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 4 taken with Question No. 2. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Conflict Resolution"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"European Union","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  Ar dt\u00fas b\u00e1ire, d\u00e9anaim comhghairdeas leis an Aire ar a ceapach\u00e1n mar Aire Gn\u00f3tha\u00ed Eachtracha agus Tr\u00e1d\u00e1la. Go n-\u00e9ir\u00ed l\u00e9i ina post nua.  My question concerns the significant opportunity Ireland will have this year to help to shape the cl\u00e1r, or agenda, of the European Council. Will the Minister outline the preparations currently under way in her Department? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy. As he outlined, Ireland will hold the EU Presidency in the second half of 2026. This is an important opportunity and, as the new Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, I am looking forward to engaging actively on our policy and operational preparations. My engagement with officials in the Department has already started. I am determined that we will make the most of our Presidency to shape the EU agenda. The priorities and policy programme for our Presidency will take into account the EU\u2019s strategic agenda for 2024 to 2029 and the legislative work programme of the European Commission. They will also be shaped by our own priorities across an array of areas, including but not limited to, the protection of EU values at home and abroad, the enlargement of the Union, European security and the competitiveness and simplification agenda, which covers a wide range of areas including housing, the delivery of infrastructure, agriculture and many other areas. It is important to stress, however, that our policy programme will only be finalised and published shortly before the start of our Presidency term in June 2026. The Deputy will appreciate that many things change, many issues come off the agenda because they are concluded and other issues need to be further addressed. We need to take that into account in setting out our final priorities.  I recognise the importance, in particular, of ensuring that stakeholder groups also have their voices heard. We need to make sure that everyone in Ireland feels they have an opportunity to have their say and be part of the overall discussion and work. A series of consultation meetings with stakeholders from across business, civil society, trade unions and other interest groups has recently taken place.  A call for written submissions on the development of Ireland\u2019s policy priorities, hosted on gov.ie , launched on 5 November and will run until 12 December. I encourage anybody who wants to have their say to take part in that online consultation. Work is also under way to prepare for more than 250 meetings that will be hosted in Ireland during the Presidency. These will include a summit of the European Political Community, an informal meeting of the European Council and up to 22 informal ministerial meetings. The Government has made a firm commitment to resource and deliver a successful Presidency. I am confident that in 2026, Ireland will be able to make a significant and positive contribution in leading the EU\u2019s agenda. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  It is clear that there is a lot of work already under way on planning. I welcome that. There will be over 250 meetings in Ireland over a short period of time. It is going to be intense, as we saw before, in 2013. It is an opportunity for the country as we take a leadership role in steering the EU agenda for that period of time and dealing with some of the challenges that confront us collectively across the EU bloc. The Minister mentioned stakeholders. At the climate committee yesterday, the question was raised as to how members of the committee could in some way help shape the agenda of those six months from a climate, energy and environmental perspective. The current US Administration has unfortunately turned its face against renewable energy but, in the long term, the European Union could take a leadership position in an area like that. How could an Oireachtas committee or other groups feed into that agenda? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  There is still significant time to be able to shape that agenda because we will not have our final policies set out until June. We have six months to make sure that we are clear as to what we want on the agenda and that we are following on from items that are currently being discussed. There have been in-person meetings to date. For example, the T\u00e1naiste had a large meeting with IBEC where there were representatives from climate and sustainability organisations and individual Ministers. The Minister for climate is having meetings and discussions. I have no doubt that each individual committee will be able either to make a submission or have a face-to-face engagement with the relevant Ministers to make sure that, as we develop our policy priorities, the elected representatives in this House have their voices heard clearly on the agenda. Again, I encourage those who perhaps are not in this House to make sure their voices are heard through the online submission process. I will make sure that in my work in my Department - we are co-ordinating all of this - as many opportunities as possible are made available to everyone to be able to shape the overall agenda, including when it comes to climate and sustainability. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  We would appreciate that opportunity from the committee's perspective. I will pass that onto the committee. To come back to the matter of the United States, the US is a long-term ally of Europe and Ireland. Irrespective of what Administration is in place in the United States and the coming and goings of individual Administrations, that relationship is important for Ireland and Europe in the long term. When it comes to formulation, engagement and leadership in the coming period, I ask that Ireland try to take a leadership role in making sure that relationship with the US are maintained and strengthened, so that we continue it long term into the future and the partnership between the US and Europe flourishes once again. The current Administration has changed certain priorities. That is fair enough; it is democratically elected. However, in the long-term that relationship needs to endure. What are the Minister's views on that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I assure the Deputy and others that we will always work hard to maintain, enhance and grow what is a strong and important relationship to us, namely, the Irish-US relationship. We see in that an opportunity to strengthen and grow the EU-US relationship as well. Only this week, at the European Foreign Affairs Trade Council, we had a visit from Ambassador Greer and Secretary Lutnick and there were warm discussions and engagement, despite the fact that we have had a challenging number of months in our trade and in the overall position we find ourselves in now. What is clear from that engagement is that the relationship between the US and EU is a lasting relationship and one of the most important relationships. Within that, we see our relationship with the US as being a vital support to that and vital for us, not just in economic terms but in cultural terms and in so many other ways as well. Whether it is through the US trade council or our engagement on climate, cultural affairs or other areas, we will ensure that, through the Presidency and at every other stage, we are prioritising and working on that relationship, irrespective of who is in the US Administration. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"European Union"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Foreign Policy","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I thank the Deputy for his timely question. Ireland's diplomatic priorities are set out in the Department of Foreign Affair and Trade's statement of strategy for 2025 to 2028, which includes active diplomatic engagement in promoting peace, security and the protection of human rights abroad. We pursue these objectives against the backdrop of a changing geopolitical landscape and a wide range of challenges that require global solutions. In this context, the Government prioritises reinforcing the multilateral system and the international legal order with the UN Charter at its heart. The Government also prioritises developing and maintaining strong and wide-ranging bilateral relations with key international partners.  Our membership of the European Union, the world's longest and most successful peace project, is central to how we ensure our security, prosperity and well-being as a country. As the Minister outlined to Deputy \u00d3 Muir\u00ed, our preparations to hold the Presidency of the Council of the European Union in the latter half of next year are well under way.  Ireland is actively engaged in international efforts to bring an end to Russia's illegal war of aggression against Ukraine. The Government is committed to providing continued political, humanitarian, economic and non-lethal military support to Ukraine. Responding to conflict in the Middle East is also a priority. The Government consistently advocates at EU and UN level for the two-state solution and the equal right to self-determination, peace and security for Palestinians and Israelis alike, as well as full adherence to international law and international humanitarian law.  Ireland continues to prioritise to the promotion of human rights in a period where human rights norms are facing considerable pushback. Reflecting our commitment in this area, Ireland's campaign for the election to a seat on the Human Rights Council from 2027 to 2029 was launched last week in New York. Ireland prioritises engagement in support of a stable and secure international environment through conflict prevention, peacekeeping and peacebuilding, disarmament and non-proliferation, and promoting the resolution of disputes through multilateral diplomacy based on the principles of the UN Charter. The Government also makes sure that we have a full focus on foreign and security policy and common security and defence policy in a range of multilateral institutions, including the UN, Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe, OSCE, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, OECD, and the Council of Europe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  The Minister of State mentioned Ireland's commitment to peace and human rights. Given that negotiations between Russia and Ukraine are now under way, can Ireland use its strong reputation for principled diplomacy to support these efforts? Does the Minister of State see a role for Ireland within the EU, UN or OSCE in helping to reinforce the conditions for a credible, just and durable peace, including humanitarian protections and respect for international law? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  There are a couple of elements to that. The negotiations under way in Geneva between the US and Ukraine are welcome, but Ireland is not a direct party to them. One issue that came up at the Foreign Affairs Council, which I attended virtually yesterday, was the need for there to be an EU track to the negotiations. While there are three European countries around the negotiations, we want to make sure there is a real EU voice. Within that EU voice will be Ireland's voice. Ireland is clear that we want a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, one that is based on international law and respecting the territorial sovereignty of the people of Ukraine. To be blunt, there can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. Equally, there can be nothing about Europe without Europe. Ireland will continue to push at UN level the need to respect international law. There are a number of cases before various international courts that Ireland will be a party to, highlighting concerns in relation to human rights abuses and, as the Minister alluded to, in relation to the forced abduction of children from Ukraine. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tony McCormack","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tony-McCormack.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tony McCormack  Ireland's own peace process culminating in the Good Friday Agreement was built on dialogue, patience, international support and the difficult work of building trust between communities. With negotiations now taking place between Russia and Ukraine, does the Department see scope for Ireland to share the lessons we learned from our experience in areas like mediation, inclusive dialogue, confidence building and reconciliation?  Is the Government prepared to offer that expertise through purely civilian and diplomatic channels to international partners supporting this peace process? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  Yes, absolutely. When there is a ceasefire and a peace agreement in Ukraine, Ireland is fully prepared to play a real part in that. Just two weeks ago, I was in Colombia, one of 13 Irish Aid countries, and our programme work there is solely in relation to peace. The experience of Ireland has been put into action to uphold the 2016 peace agreement. I visited projects with decommissioned FARC guerillas who were being supported by the Irish Government to turn their backs on violence, engage on peace and lead far better lives. This is the sort of thing that we can offer to the world. Deputies in this Chamber regularly refer to this in the context of the situation in the Middle East, and that is true too. There are lots of Irish NGOs working in places like Ramallah in this regard.  Ukraine offers us a great opportunity but, first and foremost, let there be no equivocation about our support for the people of Ukraine. We want to make sure that real peace comes to Ukraine and that this happens through an absolute ceasefire as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Foreign Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"International Relations","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  Has the Minister, her immediate predecessor or anyone in her Department engaged with the UK authorities regarding the Palestine Action group, which was proscribed as a terrorist organisation by the UK Government in July? The group was blacklisted for instigating a number of direct action protests against weapons manufacturers involved in selling arms to Israel in the context of its campaign of genocide and ethnic cleansing in Gaza against the civilian population there since October 2023. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Ireland maintains regular and constructive dialogue with UK authorities at all levels on a wide range of matters. In the last week, I have engaged with my UK counterpart since taking up office and I look forward to meeting with the UK's Foreign Secretary, Ms Yvette Cooper, shortly to take forward our co-operation on a range of foreign policy issues.  An important area of engagement between the UK and Ireland is on Middle East policy, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. I particularly welcome the British Government's decision in September to formally recognise the State of Palestine and its active engagement in the 20-point peace plan to end the conflict in Gaza, which was endorsed by the UN Security Council on 17 November.  I welcome the ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza as an important step on the road to peace. Our focus is now on preserving the ceasefire and ensuring that humanitarian aid flows into and throughout Gaza. Ireland has been clear that all parties must adhere to their commitments in full, desist from any actions inconsistent with what has been agreed and continue to negotiate in good faith to ensure full implementation.  In respect of the British Government's decision to designate Palestinian Action as a terrorist organisation under its Terrorism Act, I understand that this decision is subject to judicial review and is currently before the High Court in London. The Deputy will appreciate that I cannot comment on a live case that is before the British courts, in the same way that I would not comment on something that is before the Irish courts. More broadly, though, the Government remains committed to upholding human rights, including those pertaining to freedom of expression and the right to peaceful protest, both domestically and internationally. These fundamental rights are enshrined in international human rights instruments to which both Ireland and the United Kingdom are signatories. These are issues that would regularly be discussed as part of overall political dialogue between Ireland and all of its partners, including the UK.  My Department will continue to monitor developments in this area, including in respect of any cases involving Irish citizens. The provision of consular assistance to Irish citizens is an important element of the work of my Department. Consular assistance is provided in a strictly confidential manner and, as with all cases, my Department does not comment on the details of individual cases. That said, we are there to support any Irish citizens. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  The UK Government has, in an Orwellian inversion of truth, conflated protest against genocide with terrorism through its proscription of the Palestine Action group, placing it, absurdly, on the same blacklist as organisations such as al-Qaeda and ISIS. Since the Palestine Action group has been designated a terrorist organisation, at least 2,300 people have been arrested according to the group Defend Our Juries, and a large proportion of these arrests took place at peaceful, sit-in protests in public areas across August and September of this year. Those arrested have included young students, teachers, pensioners and even an 83-year-old retired vicar.  The United Nations human rights chief, Mr. Volker T\u00fcrk, said that the UK Government\u2019s designation is \u201cdisturbing\u201d and \u201cdisproportionate and unnecessary\u201d, while the Council of Europe, Europe\u2019s human rights watchdog, criticised the \u201cexcessive limits\u201d it places on the right to protest. Does the Minister plan to raise the protection of the right to protest when she next engages with her UK counterpart? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Again, as I said already, as this is before the courts, I will not specifically reference what the Deputy has outlined. What I will do is restate and emphasise Ireland's absolute support for and commitment to a person's right to peacefully protest, which is extremely important. We also place a very strong emphasis on making sure that any Irish citizens abroad who find themselves in difficulty, whether relating to something like this or otherwise, would have consular assistance. Again, I stress that if any citizens need that assistance, it is there and available to them. Of course, in my engagement with Ms Yvette Cooper or anyone else in the UK Government, I will stress that this is an area that Ireland is very clear and very strong on. Individuals have a right to peaceful protest on matters that are concerning to them. Obviously, where that crosses the line and there is violence and use of force, we move into a different space, but we uphold every individual's international right to peaceful protest. That is certainly something that I can and will raise with my counterpart when I meet her, hopefully in the weeks ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  The acclaimed and best-selling Irish author, Sally Rooney, was unable to collect her recent Sky Arts award for literature in person as she did not feel safe entering the UK due to the risk of arrest for her public support of Palestine Action. She has even had to cancel all future public engagements in the UK and has expressed concerns that because of her intention to support Palestine Action financially, the availability of her books in the UK could be affected. One of the leading Irish authors of our time does not now feel she can enter the UK because of her support for a group protesting genocide. This is just one example of how the UK\u2019s designation of Palestine Action as a terrorist organisation begins to seep into every corner of society and constrains the right of Irish citizens as well as British citizens to speak the truth at this darkest time in our history.  What meaningful engagement does the Minister plan to have with her UK counterpart about the UK Government's treatment and prosecution of members of Palestine Action? Will the Minister push for the UK Government to end its designation of the group as a terror organisation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Again, as this is currently before the courts, it is not an issue I can raise with my UK counterpart or discuss here today. What I can and will say to my colleague when we meet is that there is an absolutely necessity to uphold the individual's right to peaceful protest. This is something that we cherish in this country. More broadly, in terms of our support for Palestine, there has been unanimous support for the need to reach a ceasefire. I very much welcome the ceasefire that has been reached, albeit that it is very fragile and difficult. I also very much welcome the fact that hostages have been released and that humanitarian aid has started to flow into Gaza, albeit, again, not at the level that it needs to be. We need to make sure that every single one of our actions now cements and upholds the ceasefire that is currently in place. I have no doubt that citizens in Ireland will continue to raise their voices, to make sure their concerns are heard and to work collectively continue to do everything we can to ensure that the ceasefire holds. For any citizens of Ireland in the UK or anywhere else who need consular assistance, it is there and available to them. We need to make sure that as a country we reiterate and stress every individual's human right to peaceful protest and that is certainly something I will do with my UK colleague. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"International Relations"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"International Relations","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I will avail of this opportunity to congratulate the Minister on her appointment. Foreign affairs has always been an important brief but at this time of international geopolitical flux or chaos, it is a particularly important role to play. Working with the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, I am sure the Minister will do a very fine job for us on the international stage.  My question relates to the situation in Afghanistan and whether the Minister has yet had the opportunity to, or will in the future, engage with her counterparts on the situation there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I am very grateful to the iar-Cheann Comhairle for raising this important issue. Afghanistan was not discussed at the meeting of the Foreign Affairs Council which the Minister, Deputy McEntee, attended on 20 November. However, the Minister and I believe that the current dire human rights and humanitarian situation in Afghanistan clearly warrants a political level discussion within the Foreign Affairs Council, given that the last such discussion took place in March 2023. Ireland will continue to advocate for this within the relevant Council bodies.  We will also continue to fully support the role of the EU, through its special envoy for Afghanistan, in working to address the human rights and humanitarian situation within Afghanistan, including through the UN-led Doha process. The EU special envoy has recently briefed our ambassador to the EU peace and security committee on the current situation. In line with the commitment in Securing Ireland\u2019s Future, we will continue to play an active role in seeking to maintain EU and international attention on the appalling human rights situation in Afghanistan and, in particular, the unacceptable restrictions imposed by the Taliban on Afghan women and girls. Along with other EU partners, Ireland played a lead role in pressing for the establishment of an independent investigative mechanism on Afghanistan at the most recent session of the UN Human Rights Council. This represents a significant milestone in the pursuit of truth, justice and accountability for the people of Afghanistan.  The Department also continues to support the Afghan people through the provision of urgent humanitarian assistance, which is principally channelled through the UN, its agencies, and trusted international partner organisations. Since January 2020, Ireland has provided over \u20ac20 million in humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan through the Irish Aid programme, including almost \u20ac5 million in humanitarian funding this year to respond to needs in Afghanistan and among Afghan refugees in the region, including the specific needs of women and girls. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I thank the Minister of State for that response. I am sure we all remember some years ago when America withdrew from Afghanistan and the Taliban began to march on Kabul. When Ashraf Ghani ran away and left his people to the fate that awaited them under the Taliban, many of us hoped there might be a more moderate regime than had been feared but it is quite clear from the most recent report from Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur, that the situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate. One of the reasons for my question is that the two most recent statements from the Council of Ministers came in August 2023 and September 2024. While I know it is inordinately difficult, given the number of conflicts there are in the world at present, we cannot let the real tragedy that is happening in Afghanistan become a forgotten one. It needs to be continuously kept on the agenda. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I fundamentally agree with the Deputy. Although I do not know if the words \"moderate\" and \"Taliban\" can ever be used in the same sentence, I understand the point he is trying to make. I absolutely agree that the attention needs to be continued. That is one of the main reasons that there is a specific reference in the programme for Government to protecting women and girls in Afghanistan. We believe we have a responsibility to make sure that Ireland, as a country that has a vested interest in the future of that country, continues to state that. I will undertake to see, along with the Minister, Deputy McEntee, if we can get this on the agenda of the next Foreign Affairs Council meeting, even as a sub-item for discussion. Indeed, we can continue to look at other forums for ways that we can raise this, most particularly through our current campaign for election to the UN Human Rights Council that will sit from 2027 to 2029. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I thank the Minister of State for that response. It is particularly positive. I am very proud of my own local community in Kildare where people came together to welcome two Afghani families into the local community. They have settled in very well but they continue to fear what is happening in their home country. We hear from them of the disasters that are taking place for women and girls - their exclusion from society and relegation to a form of subhuman living. We are also conscious of the situation developing between Pakistan and Afghanistan, how the Pakistani Taliban is becoming ever more active and the loss of life that is happening in the conflict between those two countries. We should also acknowledge the number of individuals, schools and agencies in the country that are trying to provide educational services remotely to women and girls in Afghanistan. We should use whatever resources we can to assist them in that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  One of the things that was often lost in the public mindset around this discussion is that level of compassion - perhaps eclipsed understandably by the sheer scale of compassion needed after the Russian invasion of Ukraine that led to over 110,000 people coming to this country. However, before that, after the fall of Kabul and the return of the Taliban, that level of community-level, driven compassion was there. I know the cases in Kildare referenced by the Deputy. I think of my own sister and my parliamentary assistant, ironically both called Emma, who were very involved in the campaign to bring the Afghani women's hockey team here. We were able to get the entire team out of Afghanistan. Women playing sport is a crime under the Taliban. That is just a particular reference. Obviously, Ireland has a new embassy in Pakistan and we continue to use our resident ambassador to make sure we advocate for peace in that region and ensure Ireland's voice at a community level is heard on an international level too. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 9 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"International Relations"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Middle East","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I simply want to ask the Minister her views, and those of her EU counterparts, in relation to the post-ceasefire attacks in Gaza. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Achieving a just and lasting settlement of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has been a priority for this Government, with Ireland\u2019s foreign policy on this issue clear and consistent and grounded in the commitment to upholding international law. The agreement on a ceasefire and the hostage deal represents welcome progress. It has brought desperately-needed respite to Palestinians in Gaza and relief to the people of Israel, although we all know it is a very fragile ceasefire and something that needs to be worked on. I commend the efforts of the US, as well as Qatar, T\u00fcrkiye and Egypt, in securing this much-needed agreement. I also commend efforts to progress implementation of what has been agreed. The international community, Ireland included, must play its part if these efforts are to succeed.  In this context, the adoption of a resolution on Gaza by the UN Security Council, the first in many years, is a further step towards implementation of the peace plan. The ceasefire is nevertheless fragile, as I have mentioned, and must be preserved. All parties must adhere to their commitments in full. It is clear that this is not happening, given the fact that many innocent civilians have been killed, even in recent days. All parties must desist from any actions inconsistent with what has been agreed and continue to negotiate in good faith to ensure full implementation. Our current focus is on supporting efforts to build up this fragile ceasefire and we call on all parties to work to ensure peace efforts are successful and to refrain from further violence. The primary focus at EU level right now is ensuring the success of the ceasefire and the peace deal and on making contributions to international efforts.  We also must urgently address the humanitarian situation on the ground in Gaza. I mentioned this before. We had an update at the Council earlier last week where we were told that over 40,000 young children are still at risk of starvation. While there is a significant increase in the number of humanitarian trucks allowing aid to flow into Gaza, it is nowhere near enough. I reiterate that I intend to write to the EU High Representative to see what further political pressure Europe and all of our counterparts can put on Israel to make sure it lifts the significant blockade on some of the aid that is due to get in. These were among the issues discussed at the most recent Foreign Affairs Council in Brussels last Monday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  One could not but be quite surprised at what has happened. We welcome the ceasefire, although it is a ceasefire of sorts, that has happened in Gaza but we are aware of the fact that slaughter of the innocents still continues and we do not, in truth, have a full and total ceasefire. Gaza's health ministry reported that more than 300 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli fire and nearly 900 injured since the ceasefire agreement came into effect on 10 October. The situation needs to be continuously monitored. I mentioned surprise. I refer to surprise that the Trump involvement achieved welcome progress in this particular matter, while the international architecture we have put in place to deal with conflict had failed and failed abysmally. Instead, we see the Trump regime, with all its weaknesses and peculiarities, achieving something in Gaza. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Deputy is right to highlight the fact that the ceasefire at the moment is very clearly being breached in some instances but we also need to make sure our focus does not get averted from what is happening in the West Bank. I raised with colleagues last week that the number of people who have been killed in the West Bank in the last two years alone is almost as many as those who have been killed in the last 20 years. There has been an escalation of violence within the West Bank and we need to consistently call this out and do everything in our power to make sure this can be responded to adequately. The suspension of preferential tariffs via the association agreement is still on the table because Ireland and other member states have pushed for that to be the case.  We cannot allow either side or party to the peace agreement to breach that in the way they are consistently doing, so we need to make sure that there are levers still available to us to respond to these changes. Of course, from our perspective, we will continue to provide aid that is very much needed, not just in terms of humanitarian aid and the trucks that are flowing in, but also other financing that is now going to be needed to rebuild Gaza. We must make sure that we can focus on that and that it is a priority when we talk about a ceasefire and a lasting peace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  The question of aid is of vital importance. We cannot ignore the fact, for example, that the Israelis have not yet agreed to open the Rafah crossing, and that the aid is accessing the Palestinian people via a variety of much smaller entry points.  Irish people would like to know if we can be confident that the aid we are providing is getting to the people of Gaza. Irish people have been very generous in their support of the people there and they want to be confident that the aid is reaching those who so desperately need it.  In terms of the pursuit of a long-term solution to this particular problem, it is obvious that the war - the murder and mayhem - has claimed the attention of all entities dealing with this, but how far are we from sitting down internationally to begin to engage on a long-term solution to the problems? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  I spoke previously about the fact that I flew to Egypt and met people on the ground. I have kept in touch with these people, including in recent weeks. I am very concerned about the word \"ceasefire\" because that is not the feeling on the ground.  I have two huge concerns. The first is the level of aid getting through. The second is the rebuilding process. What is the plan to rebuild? We must also look at the rebuilding of the people - the young people - who have gone through this horrific war. We must look at the build-up to this before October. These kids have grown up with the sound of bombs in their ears. If we do not do something about the rebuilding of the young people, we are going to have a major issue around the world. They will be angry young men and women. They will be unleashed on the world unless they get help. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The immediate challenge is that there are tens of thousands of children who will starve to death if we do not increase the number of aid trucks that are flowing through. It is important to say that Irish aid trucks are getting through. Our officials have been on the ground and have been able to verify that, whether it is tents, food or medicine that is being provided, but we need substantially more. There are blockages being put in the way by Israel and we need that to change. I will do everything that I can and use my voice and work with colleagues to ensure that the aid increases.  In terms of the rebuilding of Gaza, in my meeting last week, we also had the first meeting with the Palestinian Authority and the Prime Minister and members of the Palestinian Authority who attended, with members from the Middle East, Europe and beyond. I specifically raised the fact that \u20ac3 billion in tax revenues are being withheld by Israel that should be going directly to Palestine, which would significantly help with the rebuilding, the investment in hospitals that is so badly needed and support for schools and young people. I will continue to raise this and many more issues, but we will also continue to ensure that aid is provided. Once the ceasefire agreement was reached, \u20ac6 million was committed by this Government to provide aid directly to Palestinian people. That aid is getting through, albeit, again, not at the rate we want it to. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Middle East"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Ukraine War","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I want to return to the question of Ukraine and to ask the Minister if she agrees that there can be no peace agreement imposed on Ukraine without its support and the support of the European Union generally. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  As the Minister of State said in reply to an earlier question, there can be nothing about Ukraine without Ukraine. That is something that has consistently been said at a European level. At this critical juncture for Ukraine, after almost four years of brutal Russian aggression, I want to again emphasise Ireland's unequivocal support and solidarity with Ukraine. I welcome the ongoing efforts of President Trump and the United States to end Russia's war of aggression against Ukraine and to achieve a just and lasting peace and security for Ukraine but also for the wider European region.  It is more important than ever that Europe and the United States continue to work together to achieve this as it can only happen with the support of Europe as well as the US. The emerging US proposals, as well as plans for further negotiations, represent a very welcome step forward. I also welcome the progress made at Sunday's meetings between the US and Ukraine in Geneva. I welcome the fact that EU institutions and member states were also present. We look forward to these talks continuing in a positive manner and to further progress being achieved.  Ukraine is engaging positively - we can see that from the commentary and President Zelenskyy himself. They are engaging constructively in these discussions despite the ongoing military assault on their towns, cities, ports and critical energy infrastructure. I do not believe the actions of Russia are the actions of a country that wants peace. However, we have to work towards that sole objective and goal.  A massive attack on Kharkiv on Sunday resulted in the loss of more innocent lives. This follows an appalling attack on Ternopil in recent weeks that killed 34 people, including six children. It is crucial that any agreement upholds Ukraine's sovereignty and independence and is based on respect for the principles of the UN Charter. The fundamental principle that borders cannot be changed by force must be upheld. Any agreement must also protect Ukraine's and Europe's vital security. That means strong, credible guarantees that ensure Ukraine can defend its sovereignty and territorial integrity to avoid a repetition of the past.  This is not just vital for Ukraine - it is also vital for the European Union and all its member states, including Ireland. It is welcome that assurances have been given that the EU will be involved in discussions on issues that directly relate to it, such as enlargement and immobilised assets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  I am not sure that I agree with the Minister in welcoming the nature of the American involvement in this particular situation. It has been characterised as being on Putin's side, appearing to be on Ukraine's side, and now being back on the Putin side again. Some people think that the current peace plan was written in Russian and translated via Google Translate. I am deeply concerned about many of the provisions in that plan, which seems to have the enthusiastic support of President Trump. One could believe, given recent statements, that Secretary Rubio is perhaps more realistic in his approach and is trying to inject a level of realism into the debate, but the bottom line is that Europe must be involved so as to ensure that, as the Minister quite rightly says, nothing is done about Ukraine without Ukraine's full involvement and without Ukraine being able to benefit at the end of the day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We have to acknowledge that there are very clear efforts on the part of the US to try and bring about a ceasefire, while at the same time acknowledging that elements of the 28 point plan that we saw put forward very clearly need further work. We cannot have a situation where land is ceded by force. That simply cannot be the basis for any type of ceasefire. We cannot have a situation where a country cannot in the future be able to defend itself should something like this happen again. Likewise, we cannot have a situation where Europe is committed to certain things without Europe being around the table. It is really important that Europe is part of the conversations, negotiations and discussions and that Ukraine agrees to whatever is put forward.  There is a recommendation or a proposal for an unconditional ceasefire that has been on the table since March. Ukraine has been very clear that it will sign up to that. It would ensure that all lines as they currently stand would be frozen, that people would come around the table and that negotiations on many of the matters that we have seen in the 28 point plan could be discussed at that stage. I would encourage that it would be something that is still on the table. We need to make sure that we support any discussions and negotiations but that our absolute commitment and priority is that Ukraine is supported and that it agrees to whatever is on the table in the proposals. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-\u00d3-Feargha\u00edl.S.2000-06-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n \u00d3 Feargha\u00edl  We all want peace, but what is certain is that Russia cannot be rewarded for its crimes. It should not be readmitted to the G8 or reintegrated into the global economy.  The plan, for example, demands Ukrainian denazification, effectively validating Russia's absurd narrative that Ukraine is riddled with Nazis. I have been there, as have other Members of this House, and I do not think there is any evidence available to that end.  There have been war crimes committed in Bucha, Irpin and other places, forced relocations to Russia of children, repeated strikes on apartment buildings, most recently in the western city of Ternopil, and the torture, abuse and execution of Ukrainian prisoners of war. Despite all this, the plan, as it currently stands, grants the Kremlin full immunity from prosecution. Does the Minister agree that whatever agreement might be reached there can be no normalisation of EU relations with Russia while the monster Putin is president? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  I welcome the Government providing over \u20ac100 million in non-lethal military support to Ukraine. I welcome 116,000 Ukrainians here under the temporary protection directive, with it being estimated that some 80,000 will stay. I have a huge concern, though, over the peace process itself and the role Europe has played in it. The 28-point plan was made up without the involvement of Ukraine, and that is so wrong. Additionally, could the Minister give us an update on President Zelenskyy's outstanding invitation to Ireland? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy. I again stress that there are very clearly elements of the plan put forward that are not realistic, not credible and will not be accepted by Ukraine and will certainly not be accepted by the EU. We must, though, use this as a framework and basis for discussions, which, to date, have not taken place. It is very clear that this is an illegal war, very clear that Vladimir Putin is responsible for war crimes and very clear that these are continuing as we speak, so we need to make sure that Ireland's voice is strong. We must continue to put pressure on Russia. In our conversations last week at the Foreign Affairs Council - and the 19th sanctions package is currently under way - there was a proposal and suggestion on a 20th package of sanctions. It is about how we can make sure we impose as much pressure on Russia as possible to try to bring it to the table, so that any negotiations around a peace process and a ceasefire are fair and balanced. It is important that Russia does feel pressure because, to date, for a lot of this ongoing war, Russia has not felt the pressure that it needs to. In Europe, we need to do everything we can through sanctions, diplomatic channels and our work with the US to make sure we can bring about a lasting peace. Again, this is not just about Ukraine, albeit that country is front and centre. This is already starting to seep into the security of European member states and we need to make sure it does not go any further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  With the agreement of the House, I will go back to Question No. 10. Is that agreed? Agreed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ukraine War"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"EU Agreements","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Go raibh maith agat. I ask the Minister to provide an update on any engagement at EU level on the EU-Israel agreement. We all know the humanitarian conditions that unfortunately have never been employed. We know what Israel has done. We know that maximum pressure and leverage need to be applied. We know that is probably the only reason we have a peace plan, if we can call it that, at this point in time.  I would also like to get an update, and I understand the Minister did speak about this earlier, in relation to the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (prohibition of importation of goods) Bill. Again, however, it is not much good unless we do the job properly and that it happens quickly, with services included as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy for the question. On 14 February 2024, the then Taoiseach, along with Prime Minister S\u00e1nchez of Spain, wrote to the President of the European Commission requesting an urgent review of whether Israel was complying with its humanitarian rights obligations under the EU-Israel Association Agreement. Furthermore, the letter requested that the Commission propose appropriate measures for the consideration of the Council, should it find that Israel was in breach of its obligations.  A review of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, initiated by the Foreign Affairs Council in May 2025, found that actions taken by the Israeli Government represented a breach of essential elements relating to respect for human rights and democratic principles. The European Commission subsequently put forward a number of proposals, one of which was to suspend the core trade-related provisions of the Association Agreement. Ireland has welcomed the Commission proposals and encouraged other member states to support them. Notwithstanding the positive and welcome recent developments with regard to a ceasefire and hostage release deal in Gaza, Ireland along with other member states, has made clear our view that the proposals should remain on the table. In her state of the Union address, the President of the European Commission was clear on the rationale for tabling the package, which remains valid, as we discussed last week.  The Government has always been of the view that the EU-Israel Association Agreement must be interpreted and applied in accordance with the obligations of the EU and its Member States under international law. In June, the Government approved the general scheme of the Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory (prohibition of importation of goods) Bill. The main purpose of the Bill is to prohibit the importation of goods into the State from Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. It remains the Government\u2019s preference that collective action would be taken at EU level and we continue to pursue this. At the EU level, the primary objective right now is ensuring the success of what is a very fragile ceasefire and peace deal.  In addition, the T\u00e1naiste, in his capacity as the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, wrote to High Representative Kallas in advance of the June Foreign Affairs Council to ask how the Commission assesses the impact on the EU-Israel Association Agreement of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, advisory opinion of July 2024. The High Representative responded to his letter on 17 October, indicating the Commission\u2019s view that the EU\u2019s current approach is in line with the spirit and letter of the ICJ advisory opinion. Our assessment is different, so we are currently studying the detail of the response provided by the High Representative and considering next steps. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Go raibh maith agat, agus comhghairdeachas leis an Aire ar a post nua. Straightaway, we can all see there were particular issues in relation to the EU-Israel Association Agreement, and not only in the sense of the particular deal that was really sweet from the Israeli point of view. We talk of these humanitarian conditions but obviously there was absolutely no power in relation to enforcement. Unfortunately, there was also a lack of will across the European Union. I welcome that we and others have pushed in relation to this matter. I do not think it is an issue we can let slide.  While we have a peace plan, it is a peace plan in which Palestinians will suffer. We have seen that the Israeli regime is absolutely determined to ensure there is no two-state solution. As much as we need to push the EU, we also have to do the work we can do ourselves. Even though it is not everything, it would be good if we could publish the Attorney General's advice, so we could end that particular argument. We really need to see the occupied territories Bill enforced in full. As much as it might not have the impact that people talk about, in terms of it not having an absolutely spectacular impact, it is part of what Spain and Slovenia are doing, and it is similar to what happened with South Africa. I doubt that the action of the Dunnes Stores workers had a real financial impact but it was part of something wider and it made a huge difference in the long term. We need to be part of doing this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy. I do acknowledge that other colleagues have made progress in terms of implementing legislation. Some of it did not have to happen in the same way that we have to progress our legislation. I stress also that it happened prior to the ceasefire. I think what is really important and what our focus and priority need to be on, not just at home but at an EU level and internationally, is making sure that ceasefire holds. It is very clear breaches are occurring. It is very clear more humanitarian aid needs to be let through. This is why it is absolutely essential that in the context of the EU-Israel Association Agreement, the proposal that has been put on the table that would remove those preferential tariffs remains on the table. Ireland is the country that pushed for and initiated that process. I again reiterated the need for it to remain on the table at the Council meeting.  I will not lie. There are other member states and individuals who think we should take it off the table and that that would allow for further progress to be made. While there continue to be persistent breaches of the ceasefire by Israel, however, we need to make sure that every lever available to us is very firmly on the table.  In terms of the legislation, again I have given a very clear commitment that we will uphold our programme for Government commitment that we will progress it. I am waiting on further information and advice, and once I have that, we will be able to make further progress. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Not only do we need the maintenance of the ceasefire and to make sure there are no breaches but we also have to maintain whatever leverage we and the wider international community can on Israel. At this moment, we are somewhat glad it is not engaged in genocidal action but let us be absolutely clear it is determined, at least the regime at this point is, to make sure nobody can deliver justice, freedom, self-determination for the Palestinian people and a two-state solution. The fact is this is one of the few things we can do. We need to make sure we maintain whatever pressure we can. The EU-Israel Association Agreement is a blemish and a further disgrace in relation to how the European Union has dealt with this whole genocidal nightmare for the Palestinians.  Equally, we need to move on the occupied territories Bill. It is the one thing we can do.  We need to end this argument in relation to legal matters. As I said, it is about the fact that we are doing this alongside others. This will have an impact. The reason there is a peace plan is that even Donald Trump did not like the idea of what the Israelis were doing, and the killing children and innocent people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We need to acknowledge and look to the fact that the peace plan, although a lot of work still needs to be done, made reference to a pathway for a two-state solution. That is something Ireland has consistently called for and supports and that many other member states are now supporting. It is something we need to work towards in making sure we have a pathway towards a two-state solution. First and foremost, our priority needs to be ensuring the ceasefire, which is extremely fragile, can hold and that the thousands of malnourished and starving children and citizens more broadly who need aid get access to that aid, and that we ensure that what the Palestinian Authority needs to rebuild Gaza can be provided to it. At the meeting we had only recently, the first meeting of the Palestinian Authority with member states as well as countries in the Middle East and beyond, I restated Ireland's call for Israel to release over \u20ac3 billion of funds it is withholding in taxes. That would go a long way towards helping to start rebuilding, whether it is investment in hospitals and schools or shelter for those who need it most, particularly coming into what is going to be a cold winter period. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"EU Agreements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Conflict Resolution","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Question Nos. 13, 35 and 97 are grouped and Deputy Smith is in the House, so he can lead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I thank the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach. I am very thankful we are having statements on Sudan this afternoon. This question was submitted in advance of knowing that. I am looking for any update or information to the Minister can provide the House with in regard to what we are doing as a State in humanitarian terms to help alleviate, tackle, better understand or deal with the genocide, travesty and violence that is taking place in Sudan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I propose to take Questions Nos. 13, 35 and 97 together.  I thank Deputy Smith, as I did Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire, for raising this matter consistently. It is going to be a very important debate this afternoon. The Government remains deeply concerned by the devastating conflict in Sudan, which has led to the world\u2019s worst humanitarian and protection crisis. More than 150,000 people have already been killed, some 12 million are forcibly displaced and over 21 million people face crisis levels of hunger, including famine. This is a man-made famine. I am appalled by the targeting of civilians by all parties to the conflict. I condemn the atrocities committed in El Fasher by the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, and the escalating violence in North Darfur. Large-scale, ethnically motivated atrocities, including summary executions, sexual and gender-based violence and the detention of civilians are part of a widespread pattern, including the use of rape and starvation as weapons of war.  These actions are unconscionable and must stop. There must be accountability and justice for such atrocities. Ireland, together with Germany, the UK, Netherlands and Norway, succeeded in ensuring the adoption of a resolution on the situation in El Fasher at a special session of the Human Rights Council on 14 November. The resolution requests the independent international fact-finding mission for Sudan to conduct an urgent inquiry into the violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in and around El Fasher. The environment of impunity in Sudan simply must end.  Ireland has taken a leading role within the EU on the establishment of the EU sanctions regime. The EU Foreign Affairs Council in October adopted Council conclusions strongly condemning the ongoing conflict. Ireland successfully called for Sudan to be placed on the agenda at this month\u2019s EU Foreign Affairs Council, which adopted restrictive measures against a senior RSF commander.  The international community needs to exert greater pressure on the parties to return to the negotiating table and to engage in dialogue. I welcome the ongoing work of the Quad, including efforts to negotiate a three-month humanitarian truce. It is vital that there is substantive political engagement and co-ordination between the European Union, the African Union, the Quad and other international and national actors on de-escalation and mediation efforts. We will continue to work internationally with our EU and other partners to call on all parties to adhere to their obligations to protect civilians and aid workers, and to ensure immediate, unconditional and unhindered humanitarian access in full compliance with international humanitarian law.  In June, I signed a joint statement by 30 donor countries condemning attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers. I also joined an Australian-led declaration for the protection of humanitarian workers at the UN General Assembly in New York in September. Ireland has provided \u20ac14.3 million in humanitarian assistance so far in 2025 to support people most in need in Sudan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. This assistance is channelled through trusted UN, Red Cross, Irish NGO and local partners to provide life-saving aid. We are committed to further increasing our assistance in 2026.  Ultimately, an agreement on a cessation of hostilities must be reached in order to end the suffering of the Sudanese people. This must be followed by a negotiated, permanent, peaceful and civilian-led political settlement that respects the territorial integrity of Sudan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I thank the Minister of State for his response. It is clear to me that Ireland is taking this very seriously and is acting in our capacity, as much as we can, to support what is a very complex situation. I read one article that said the history of war in Sudan has both a long history and a short history, and both are very complicated. The numbers the Minister of State articulated in his response are absolutely astronomical. The velocity of violence taking place there is almost beyond comprehension. We have spent the last hour and a half here talking about, among other things, the illegal war in Ukraine and the ongoing tragedy and crisis in Palestine and Gaza, which are not insignificant by any means, but we need to do everything we can with our partners in the EU and the United Nations to ensure Sudan gets the attention it needs and deserves to bring the war, violence and killing to an end. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  The history of war in Sudan is awful and bloody. It is also complex with regard to the parties to the war. We can talk about the RSF and the Government but we can also talk about various tribal militias who are agnostic with regard to who they side with in pursuit of their bloody aims.  This conflict is of a scale that is perhaps unfathomable to this House, to be honest. It is as bad as anything the continent has seen and while we are living in really difficult geopolitical times, it is no underestimation to say this is possibly the worst conflict but certainly the worst humanitarian disaster happening in the world at the moment. It is a humanitarian disaster that is awful but it also having a real impact, materially, on the daily lives of the people who the Deputy and I represent in our constituencies. We should never lose that focus in regard to why it is not only the right thing for Ireland to be involved in this and provide that support but it is also the sensible thing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  That is a really good assessment. It is unfathomable and difficult. As complex as any conflict is, sometimes such as in relation to Russia and Ukraine, it is clear who the aggressor is. It is clear who we are supporting and what side we are on. It is far more complex in Sudan with the nature of the belligerents, both the short and long history of conflict there and the nature of the type of violence itself. There are no easy answers here and Ireland certainly does not have the capacity on its own to solve this humanitarian crisis and bring it to an end. We must ensure that people in Sudan and the Sudanese people who are here know that the Irish Parliament, Government and State are doing everything we can with our allies and partner states to try to end the violence and the humanitarian disaster taking place. I thank the Minister of State for his response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Neale Richmond  I am very grateful to the Deputy for raising the very large Sudanese population that lives here in Ireland. When we see things in the abstract and we look at news reports and everything else, we forget that these are people's family members and friends. These are people living in our constituencies who are worried about their family and friends and not knowing what the future holds.  In regard to Ireland's role, there are three major things we will continue to press. One is a call, with our partners, for an immediate cessation of the violence. Second, it will be for the real enforcement of the arms embargoes that have been place. Third and most importantly, it is the maintenance of our humanitarian support. As I said, we have allocated \u20ac4.3 million this year. That will include an additional \u20ac3 million announced by the T\u00e1naiste and I in New York in September at the UN General Assembly but also real pressure to make sure humanitarian corridors are maintained. I have said it before in the House that 2025 is the most dangerous, deadly year to be a humanitarian aid worker in the world. The deaths of humanitarian workers in Gaza, Sudan and Ukraine are unfathomable. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Conflict Resolution"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Northern Ireland","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The family of Michael Leonard have now waited more than 50 years for the truth about how Michael was killed by the RUC on the Donegal-Fermanagh border in 1973. New evidence contradicts the original account and raises serious questions. We now have a change of landscape in Britain. The old legacy Act is being dismantled and new legacy structures are being put in place. In light of these developments, has the Minister raised Michael Leonard's case with the British Government or does she intend to raise it in a timely fashion? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The case of the person in question, Michael, and the family's desire for answers have been raised on a number of occasions at ministerial level with the UK Government. As the Deputy mentioned, following new evidence unearthed since the dismissal of the initial inquest in 1973, the Attorney General for Northern Ireland ordered a fresh inquest into the person in question's death on 30 April 2024. Unfortunately, this new inquest was never commenced due to the UK legacy Act, introduced in May 2024.  The joint framework on legacy, announced on 19 September by the two Governments, fundamentally reforms the 2023 UK legacy Act. It aims to provide a pathway to truth and accountability and, to the extent possible, justice for those most affected by the violence of the Troubles. It lifts the ban on inquests and provides a way forward for those inquests, such as the inquest of Michael, that were ordered but not commenced before the 2023 Act.  Once the implementing UK legislation has been passed and enacted, Michael's case will be independently assessed by the UK Solicitor General to consider whether it would be most appropriately dealt with by the reformed legacy commission or via the coronial system. This assessment will be carried out on the basis of specific criteria set out in legislation, including the views of families and the next of kin.  Too many families in Northern Ireland have waited for far too long for truth and accountability. My focus is now on making sure that the processes established by the joint framework are up and running as soon as possible. I have already engaged with Mr. Hilary Benn MP on this particular issue but also more broadly on ensuring that we can continue to strengthen and evolve relationships North, South, east and west. I look forward to, hopefully, meeting Ms Yvette Cooper MP soon and to making sure that those relations are strong and all matters can be discussed. I look forward to working with victim and survivor groups closely over the coming months, as well as with political parties in Northern Ireland, to ensure that the reformed legacy commission, once set up, has the ability to command the confidence of victims and survivors of the Troubles. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I thank the Minister. She may be aware that I have raised this issue countless times with the Government and her predecessor. I am sure she is aware of the circumstances of the case. She says she has raised this with Mr. Hilary Benn MP. I think she will agree that it is worth raising again. Michael was a 24-year-old Donegal man. He was shot in the back and killed by the RUC on the Border at Brookhill in Fermanagh near Pettigo. For decades, the official narrative was that he was shot by a single shot that was fired accidentally by the RUC. New evidence uncovered in 2023 in British army logs by researchers has since exposed that at least three shots were discharged by a member of the RUC, contradicting the original account and raising profound questions about the circumstances of his death. At that time in 2023, the Leonard family came here to Leinster House to ask for help from the Government. They deserve to finally have answers to their questions.  I welcome that the Minister says she has raised the case with Hilary Benn. What are the next steps she will take on behalf of the Government in respect of the case of Michael Leonard? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  This is a case that has been ongoing for some time. It is important that families, and Michael's family in particular, get answers. Once the commitments in the joint framework are translated faithfully into legislation, the legacy commission will look and feel somewhat different from what we have had in the past. The governance and oversight structures will be much clearer and stronger. They will hopefully lead to greater independence, and then investigations can be carried out to recognised standards with statutory conflict of interest provisions to address real and perceived conflicts of interest. Importantly, a statutory victims and survivors advisory group will be established, ensuring that their voices are heard and they remain very much front and centre in this overall process.  The publication and the second reading of the Bill and the amendment to the legacy Act are moving forward. I welcome the speed at which the British Government has brought forward the Bill. It demonstrates the seriousness with which the secretary of state and his colleagues are approaching this absolutely essential work. The test will be to see if it faithfully reflects the agreement that was reached in September. I have every confidence in my initial engagement with Mr. Hilary Benn MP and others that they are working to ensure that this reflects faithfully the agreement that was put in place. Most important is that we can progress with the elements of the legislation that will hopefully give answers to Michael's family and to many others as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  As the Minister is aware, the legacy Act that came into existence in Britain on 1 May 2023 shut down an inquest into Michael's killing, incredibly, just hours after it was granted by the Attorney General. The case was an example of the cruelty of Britain's legacy Act writ large. As well the new evidence, the Attorney General granted the inquiry on the basis that the original inquest did not receive oral evidence from any of the RUC officers involved in the killing. Given the circumstances that this new evidence came too late before the cruel legacy Act was enacted, it is vital that the inquest into Michael's death be reopened. It is important that whatever happens in relation to the negotiations and phases of the framework for dealing with these matters, the inquiry into the killing of Michael Leonard be reopened. As the Minister knows, the family is not looking for special treatment but what they do deserve are answers and justice for Michael.  I welcome the fact that the Minister has raised this and I am asking her to continue to raise it. There are far too many cases where families have campaigned for decades, in this case for half a century, for the truth and justice. I am asking the Government to support them in their quest. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  In any engagement with our counterparts in the North or in the UK, we must focus on the fact that these are families and these are tragedies that we have not got answers for. That needs to be front and centre in everything we do. We have turned a corner in our own relations with the UK and I can see that clearly over the last number of years, through my time as Minister for Justice, in the councils I sit on and my engagement to date, in particular with the secretary of state, Mr. Hilary Benn MP.  I stress that the joint framework removes the legacy Act's prohibition on inquests. This will utterly change the landscape that we have been working with and that has prevented so many of these inquests from taking place. Inquests that were halted by the legacy Act will recommence. Inquests that had been ordered but had not begun, such as that into the death of Michael Leonard, will be subject to a further decision by the UK Solicitor General on whether they would be appropriately dealt with as an ordinary inquest, as I mentioned earlier, via the coronial system or via the inquisitorial mechanism, which will sit under the reformed legacy commission. The important thing now is that the legislation is enacted. We will obviously follow through and enact our own legislation here once that is the case. It is about getting those bodies and institutions set up so that we can provide answers to families. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Northern Ireland"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Message from Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  The Select Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach has completed its consideration of the Credit Review Bill 2024 and has made amendments thereto. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Message from Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  The Select Committee on Education and Youth has completed its consideration of the following Supplementary Estimate for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2025: Vote 26. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Duncan Smith has given notice that he will take Question No. 99. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Forestry Sector","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Healy-Rae)  I recognise the impact that Storms Darragh and \u00c9owyn have had on the forestry sector throughout the country. This presents significant challenges for the forestry stakeholders. I also welcome the positive progress that has been made by the forestry sector on the mobilisation of windblown materials in forests.  The volume of timber normally felled over a 2.5 year period was blown down overnight during storm \u00c9owyn. The latest damage assessment maps show that over 27,000 ha of forests were windblown, with 11,400 ha impacted in private forestry. Following the storms, I quickly established the forest windblow task force and delivered an action plan, created in conjunction with relevant stakeholders, which focused on the mobilisation and processing of windblown timber. To further speed up the process, my Department has allowed the use of both thinning and felling licences in removing storm damaged trees, and our data now shows that over 77% of windblown trees already have a felling licence issued by the Department. All this means is that more than 90% of the harvesting capacity in the country is now working in windblow areas. My Department is currently finalising negotiations of the administration of a reconstitution scheme, which is expected to provide supports to those affected by windblown sites, and I will make an announcement on this matter in the coming weeks. I would like to confirm again that all forest owners who have been affected will not be disadvantaged by undertaking works to clear windblown material, and if they do not currently have a felling licence, they should consult with a registered forester as soon as possible.  The answer to this is that it was a bad story but it has been dealt with adequately. If it was not, I would tell the Deputy. There is a reconstitution scheme. It is going to be in place. It will be implemented and delivered in the coming weeks. People will know exactly what they can get. However, in terms of going ahead now and working on their forest, the Deputy knows from his time in local authorities that a person should never engage in any work without getting approval. The senior Minister and I have stated clearly and publicly that people can come along and carry out the necessary works but they should do so in a safe fashion, and they will get their reconstitution scheme after. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I thank the Minister of State for his detailed and very clear response in relation to this. As he articulated, the storms caused unprecedented damage, felling tens of thousands of hectares, wiping out years of growth and inflicting huge economic losses. There is encouragement in the Minister of State's response. An estimated 26,000 ha of forest has been felled or destroyed, impacting the long-term investment income retirement security of many foresters. They have been severely eroded. The Minister of State can understand that many of them are looking for urgent clarity. I know he said it will be in the coming weeks. I am not trying to pin him down too much because his response was detailed, and I think it will give an awful lot of encouragement. However, does he think there will be greater visibility on how that scheme will look maybe this side of Christmas or are we looking at the first few weeks of January? That is my follow-up question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Healy-Rae  I love straight questions, and I like giving straight answers. Yes, absolutely, before Christmas, people will know exactly how much they will be able to receive per hectare to reconstitute so, again, there is no reason in the world anybody should not go ahead and carry out their works. The one thing I would advise people on the record of the D\u00e1il is to please deal with registered people. As the Deputy knows, if someone is selling an animal tomorrow morning, he or she wants to do it in a proper way to make sure he or she will be paid. We have a template for people who are selling and engaging in clearing timber from their forests to make sure they are dealing with reputable people and that they will get paid and, again, carry out their work in a safe fashion. Unfortunately, farm deaths have increased. This is also a type of activity on the land. I just want to make sure because sometimes the forest can be dangerous, so it is to make sure they are dealing with proper registered people and get paid. They will have their reconstitution scheme, and they can have every confidence.  I thank my staff in the Department, the head of forestry, Mr. Barry Delany, and all the others who worked so diligently in this reconstitution scheme and, of course, the co-operation of the Minister and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in ensuring we are able to deliver this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I have no more to add. I brought this up on behalf of my colleague, Deputy Robert O'Donoghue. I thank the Minister of State for his detailed response. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Forestry Sector"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Fisheries Protection","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  The Minister of State knows that the Irish fishing fleet took a huge hit as a result of Brexit, and the EU\u2013UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement resulted in a huge loss of fish, but it is about to get a whole lot worse with the imminent cuts to the mackerel quota. Mackerel is a prime fish species, which is really critical to so many jobs in Ireland. I want to get a sense of the Government's plan on how to mitigate this and also to ensure that those who are recklessly overfishing are stopped urgently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I thank Deputy Mac Lochlainn for raising what is a really significant and very important issue. At the outset, I would like to acknowledge the challenges facing the seafood sector in 2026, and the concerns felt across the industry arising from the scientific advice for 2026 for some of our most important fish stocks, particularly mackerel, as Deputy Mac Lochlainn outlined. I am aware of the seriousness and impact this advice will have on the sector.  Ireland has repeatedly raised the overfishing of mackerel by some coastal states outside the EU over recent years. We raised the issue under any other business, AOB, at the October Council of Agriculture and Fisheries Ministers, calling for urgent action at EU level to protect our key pelagic stocks. I reiterated this again last week at the November AGRIFISH Council meeting. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, and I will continue to highlight this critical issue for our fishers and engage intensively with the European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans and other member states on possible actions to protect our stocks. At that November Council meeting, I also confirmed Ireland\u2019s intention to invoke the Hague Preferences at the appropriate time along with the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley. The Hague Preferences give Ireland an increased share of important fish stocks, as the Deputy knows, when total allowable catch, TAC, levels reduce below a specified level. It was made clear to member states at the November Council meeting that the Hague Preferences are a fundamental part of relative stability and have been recognised as such in the legal framework of the Common Fisheries Policy since 1983 when the CFP was established.  Most of the EU fish stocks for which Ireland has quota are shared with third countries. The European Commission has sole competence to negotiate with third countries on behalf of the EU and our priority is that the EU secures the best possible outcome for the Irish fishing community. That is why we continue to advocate. The most important thing we do is use every channel diplomatically open to us to advocate but also explain the impact previous fishing activity has had and what the implications of that are for our fishing industry into next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  The difficulty is that there are corporations based in the European Union that have invested in the fleets in Iceland and the Faroe Islands that have been recklessly overfishing. My concern is that there has been a lack of political will as a result of their lobbying skills over the last number of years. We have been watching this slow-moving car crash. Mackerel is a precious species. It is a migratory species. It spawns off the west coast of Ireland and works its way up to those northern waters. To see it recklessly overfished to the point where we could lose it very soon is utterly heartbreaking. There are hard-working people who took chances in this country and who built up a pelagic industry, and they have been betrayed by this failure to deal with this issue. This is a matter of great urgency, and it goes to the heart of the need to really have a Common Fisheries Policy that is just and fair to our people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I absolutely understand. The Deputy articulated quite clearly the sense of injustice and the upset and concern. What we do is use our voice within the EU because the EU is the competent negotiator in terms of that trade, and there are a lot of negotiations going on with third countries. The EU-UK negotiations began on 4 November and will continue until the first week of December. The EU-UK-Norway negotiations began on 27 October. The second round took place on 17-20 November, and the third round is scheduled for the first week in December. The EU-Norway negotiations began on 3 November, with the second round on 24-27 November in Oslo. At the coastal states consultation on the TAC setting for mackerel, the EU, Norway, Iceland and Greenland were prepared to set the 2026 TAC in line with the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea, ICES, advice of 174,357 tonnes. However, the UK and Faroe Islands indicated that they needed more time. Therefore, there currently is no agreement for a TAC agreement for mackerel. The coastal states also agreed the TAC for blue whiting and Atlanto-Scandian herring in line with the ICES advice. That is all ongoing, and our job is to input into the EU the very significant impact this is having in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  I do appreciate the fact that we have a dedicated Minister of State for fisheries, which has been a welcome development, who is engaging and listening to our communities. We now need to use that resource with all the knowledge, working hand-in-hand with the Irish industry, to confront this injustice once and for all and to say to the European Commission that what happened with Brexit was so wrong.  We did not have burden sharing and we carried so much of that weight. I am glad the Minister mentioned the UK. It is a party to this recklessness. It benefited from Brexit. It got an agreement that was not based on relative stability or track record. It was based on what is called zonal attachment and those communities closest to the fishing waters. This is what we would love to have in Ireland. It is what Britain got and it cannot have its cake and eat it. This is about countries which I respect, such as Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland. I have nothing against their people or the British people but this is reckless behaviour. It is unjust and unfair. We have to call it out and it has to stop. We need to have fairness and justice. We need to protect jobs in our vulnerable coastal fishing communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The Commission has indicated its intention to conclude the consultations in time for the AGRIFISH Council on 11 and 12 December. It has yet to be seen whether it will be successful in this. As we move towards the finalisation of setting 2026 fishing opportunities, my focus, and that of the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, over the coming weeks will be to continue to work towards the best possible outcome for Ireland's seafood sector in 2026, one that ensures the sustainability of the stocks and a level playing field for our fleet. It is also important to recognise the resilience and determination with which the sector has addressed challenges in recent years. The Government recognises that resilience and determination, and funding opportunities for the sector will continue to be delivered in the lifetime of Ireland's \u20ac258 million seafood development programme, EMFAF.  I will also continue to work with ministerial colleagues across government to assess what supports may be available to the seafood sector in the context of EU state aid rules, and within the constraints of national and Union funding, to support the sustainability of the sector in 2026 and beyond. To address the core point, I absolutely accept that fishers want a fair deal. I agree that having a Minister of State dedicated to this area is positive. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, has my full backing. We work hand in glove, and we will both be out in Brussels together, to make sure we articulate very clearly the impact of ICES on our fisher communities and to get the best deal possible. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Fisheries Protection"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Food Safety","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  As the Minister is aware, there is great concern about the Mercosur trade agreement. Even before it comes into place, tens of thousands of tonnes of Brazilian beef are being imported into the European Union. Much of this beef has been produced using hormones and antibiotics that are banned in the European Union and in Ireland. The Irish Farmers' Journal and the Irish Farmers Association did great work going out there to investigate this and they have reported on it. Have we done similar investigations in Ireland into beef that has been coming into this State from Brazil and other Mercosur countries and the levels of antibiotics and hormones that are used? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy Kenny for raising this point. Reports of the Irish Farmers' Journal investigation into the sale of hormones and antibiotics in Brazil raise important issues and merit careful examination. We know that Brazilian beef already enters the EU market and it is, therefore, important to ensure that none of the unregulated products referenced in the investigation are used in its production. While there is no evidence that this is the case, these reports reinforce the need for continued vigilance.  According to Central Statistics Office data for the last number of years, Ireland has not imported beef product in any significant quantities from Brazil. In 2024, imports from Brazil amounted to 97 tonnes of a total of 34,000 tonnes imported. Beef imports from other Mercosur countries were virtually nil. The EU has very stringent standards, known as SPS, sanitary and phytosanitary, standards, to protect human, animal and plant health. These are among the highest standards in the world and the European Commission has insisted they are not negotiable. These SPS standards remain unaltered, regardless of any trade agreement concluded by the EU.  This is something that came up during my trade mission to America in April, when the insinuation was made that our blocking of hormone-fed beef into the EU was a non-tariff trade barrier. It is not. We do not want hormone-fed beef in Europe, European consumers do not want it and the European Union is opposed to having it in here. America has access to supply 35,000 tonnes to the EU, which is a small amount relatively, but it is not filling it because it is not interested in the difficulty in supplying it. It just goes to show the context of SPS standards, which are different from environmental standards. They are non-negotiable and the Government is very firmly of the view that these EU SPS standards must continue to be rigorously upheld for the benefit of European consumers. It is also important that the European Commission continues to engage with the Brazilian authorities to ensure this is the case. We will continue to make that point with officials across the EU. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I thank the Minister. I am aware there are very small amounts of Brazilian beef coming into Ireland, of course, but quite large amounts are coming into the European Union as a whole. As the Minister said, the standards we expect Irish and European farmers to meet are not being met by the Mercosur countries, in particular Brazil, in respect of beef. We also have a problem with chicken and other products. To focus specifically on the beef issue, the reality is that Irish farmers and Irish consumers will be put at risk if we have a food safety issue whereby the beef and products coming in from these countries are not to the same standards and are using hormones, pesticides and antibiotics that are banned in the European Union.  There is a great deal of evidence, and not only from what has been uncovered by the Irish Farmers' Journal and the IFA. For a long time, it has been widely known there is no traceability, there is widespread mass vaccination of animals in these countries, and there is no way they can possibly meet the same standards that European consumers expect for their food. In this context, will the Minister ensure the Irish Government blocks the trade agreement at the European Council meeting and forms a minority there to do so? France is already interested in doing this, as is Poland. I understand that Hungary announced this morning it will do so. If Ireland is on board with this, we are very close to a position where we can block this agreement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I am happy to discuss the proposal on the trade agreement. I have held the Government position, as outlined in the programme for Government, to work with like-minded countries, as I have done since 23 January, which share similar concerns about the Mercosur trade deal and the impact it could have on trade. It is a different point from the question. The Mercosur trade agreement is about tariff rates. It is about the point at which it comes in and whether it gets preferential tariff rates. SPS standards and food safety standards are non-negotiable. For product coming into Europe already, and Deputy Kenny made the point that very little of it comes into Ireland but plenty of it comes into the EU, it is a non-negotiable standard.  I do not accept that it has been known for a long time that there are lower standards there. No more than we do not get hormone-fed beef from other member states, we do not accept it into the EU from Mercosur countries either. There are very clear audits. We need to double down with the European Commission to make sure the audits, checks and testing of product coming in are rigorous, and that the tests in Mercosur countries and here are rigorous, because this is non-negotiable. The concerns I have on the trade side are about environmental standards but they are very different from SPS standards. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The Minister's answer is concerning. Basically he is saying he wants to shift the responsibility over to trade, and that it is a trade negotiation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I will answer on the trade agreement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The reason I asked the question in this context is that I was afraid if I tabled it to the Minister as a trade question, I would be told it should go to the Minister with responsibility for trade. This is why I asked it in the context I did, as the Minister will understand. The Minister mentioned the programme for Government and working with like-minded countries. There are already at least three, and maybe more, like-minded countries that are prepared to form a blocking minority. Is Ireland prepared to be part of that and to block the trade deal, not only to be there to stand firm for Irish farmers but also for European consumers faced with the huge negative health consequences of importing very dangerous product into the European Union, which is produced using products that are banned in the European Union? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I was answering the specific point on SPS first and I am happy to discuss the trade agreement also. Throughout the EU Mercosur negotiation process, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, who has lead responsibility for trade agreements policy, and I have actively engaged with the European Commission and other member states to voice Ireland's concerns about the EU-Mercosur agreement. While I am not the Minister with lead responsibility for this, the impact of it would be greatest on our beef farmers so, of course, I have an interest. That is why, since my appointment as Minister in January, I have raised these concerns at every AGRIFISH Council I have attended. Trade is on the agenda of every meeting and I have raised our concerns about Mercosur at every meeting. I have also raised them with like-minded counties through bilateral meetings on the margins of these Council meetings. In recent months, I have met with my French, Italian, Austrian, Latvian and Polish counterparts to exchange views. Most recently, I have met with my Italian and French counterparts en marge of the November AGRIFISH Council meeting in Brussels, which was only ten days ago. We continue to engage and share these points, for the very reason Deputy Kenny has outlined. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Food Safety"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Nitrates Usage","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  A week is a long time in politics and it seems my question could be out of date. It is on whether the Department has developed a contingency or plan B in the event that Ireland is not granted a further extension of the nitrates derogation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The nitrates derogation has been my number one priority since I was appointed Minister at the beginning of this year, and for very good reason. Our derogation farmers are making great efforts and strides around improving water quality, operating to a higher standard of conditionality. Our pasture-based system is very different from the rest of Europe. These have been very challenging and sensitive negotiations and there has been much at stake.  We have had three meetings of the nitrates technical committee so far this year, in March, June and September, and Ireland has been on the agenda and presented at each of them. I have dealt with and met Commissioner Roswall on several occasions. At a meeting in Brussels in September, I invited the Commissioner to visit Ireland, which she did, with her officials, in recent weeks. I met her again subsequently in Europe as we continued to engage back and forth. Throughout that time, we have sought to have the Commission put forward a proposal for implementing a decision to the next meeting of the nitrates committee, on 9 December, giving us an extension. The Commission wrote to us in June, highlighting the need for us to address the habitats directive as part of this process. This placed a significant extra burden on us to work through a process as to what that would look like and to have a negotiation in that regard.  I can confirm to the House today that the Commission has finally agreed to put a proposal to the nitrates committee for an extension of the existing derogation. It is not a new derogation; it has different terms and conditions around time and conditions. These have been very sensitive negotiations. The proposal is that the nitrates derogation extension will be for a three-year period, with new conditionality. I have worked very closely with many key stakeholders on this but it is sensitive issue. This is still only a proposal going to a technical committee that has a vote on it. We will not have a derogation on 1 January unless that committee votes to approve this proposal from the Commission. In the intervening period, my focus has been to continue to work with member states to make sure we get the result we need for Irish agriculture and our overall economy on 9 December. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  The Minister mentioned the habitats directive has been a key part of these negotiations and that he had discussions in the summer with the Commissioner regarding incorporating the habitats directive into the plans. Can he give more information on exactly what that will mean for farmers, and what supports will be provided to ensure they can comply with that? The habitats directive is a robust compliance measure, so this is going to be very hard. This has been one of my arguments all along. We have had the derogation for 20 years but we have never once met any of the environmental conditions placed by Europe. Our water quality has never improved. Certainly, in the last report from the Environmental Protection Agency, they had not improved. What conditions will be placed on us as regards the habitats directive? What will that mean for farmers? How will the Minister support them in meeting hose conditions? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Farmers are on that journey already in a variety of ways, particularly in the area of water quality. Requirements include the need for Ireland, as outlined during the summer, to conduct environmental assessments to address the habitats directive at catchment level in order to demonstrate compliance with the directive. This is a massive undertaking. It will require significant investment of time and resources to complete these assessments for all 583 catchments. That is why the Commission has agreed to propose a three-year derogation to facilitate the completion of this work. The issue with time was something I continuously raised. Four years is the maximum time allowable under that, and we looked for the maximum. There was very much a desire for much less time to be given but we had to clearly outline, based on the science, how much time the process would take, both to be fair and to allow our farmers to work through that process and to allow the Department to assess those 583 catchments. That is very onerous and there are other conditionalities too. I want to be fair to all stakeholders and Government colleagues by briefing them properly. The stakeholders have been very constructive in their engagement throughout this process. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  My understanding is the nitrates action plan has screened out appropriate assessments. Is that correct? How does the habitats directive fall into that action plan? The Minister is saying appropriate assessments may be part of this for farmers. I do not know whether that is on a catchment level or an individual site level.  Our concerns have always been that farmers were being led to a cliff and there was a level of uncertainty for them. There is now a three-year gap but, unfortunately, I imagine we could be back into this situation again in three years, where farmers are at the end of their tether and wondering what will happen in a number of months. I ask that the Minister completely avoid this.  It is also interesting that when the nitrates directive is mentioned, whether it is the Taoiseach or the Minister's colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Healy-Rae, the immediate response is to deflect to Mercosur. It seems there is a conflation of Mercosur and nitrates in the minds of some Government TDs----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Where did the Deputy get that from? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  The Minister of State, Deputy Healy-Rae, was asked about Mercosur on the TV during the week and he immediately went to the nitrates derogation. Can the Minister confirm there has been no deal done in Europe that the nitrates derogation would be given, contingent on his support for the Mercosur deal or not fighting or opposing it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I am happy to confirm all my engagement with Commissioner Roswall has been around the substance of the nitrates derogation. It has a very important role here and the Commissioner saw that first-hand when she visited. The Deputy will forgive me in not taking her direct advice because if I had taken that earlier in the year, the Social Democrats and the Deputy would have had us wave the white flag and concede the nitrates derogation. We have a strong case, based on science, that we have a very different farming system here.  This is a sensitive topic. There are other countries in Europe that would like to have a proposal for a derogation and are looking at this. For this reason, I commend farm organisations, the industry and key stakeholders impacted by this across the board on their patience and trust in allowing me to work through this process. My hope had been to bring this to Cabinet and to engage with stakeholders in a way that allowed me to continue to engage with other member states, which will vote on this proposal on 9 December. The technical committee will vote on it.  All our focus has been on the habitats directive and water quality. The nitrates action plan 6, which is currently out for public consultation, has new conditionality on water quality. We had to make a detailed proposal on assessments to address the habitats directive, outlining the time they will take. It is not practical to talk about doing that on a farm level, and we have always been clear on that. That is why I am talking about it on a catchment and sub-catchment basis. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Nitrates Usage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Water Pollution","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Senator Noonan and I have raised the environmental damage at Lady's Island Lake on several occasions in both Houses. I welcome the recent announcement of funding by the Minister for housing, Deputy Browne, for Wexford County Council to help tackle the issue. What is the Minister's Department and the agencies associated with it doing in response to the report of the joint committee regarding the pollution in Lady's Island Lake. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy O'Gorman for raising this point.  I am aware of the joint committee's report regarding Lady's Island Lake and I am working closely with my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy O\u2019Sullivan, who is leading the Government's engagement in this area. My Department, along with Teagasc experts, are centrally engaged in the interdepartmental Lady\u2019s Island oversight group led by Wexford County Council, which also involves the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, the local authorities waters programme, LAWPRO, and the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS.  Wexford County Council, with the guidance of the interdepartmental group, has developed a site-specific action plan to address the challenges faced by Lady's Island Lake within the framework and mechanisms of the water action plan 2024. The recent announcement of funding by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to support this work aims to support development of the Lady\u2019s Island Lake sustainable farming and communities water quality management plan, which will facilitate a holistic approach to improve water quality in this coastal lagoon.  In the Lady's Island Lake catchment, my Department, along with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage, is funding free confidential advisory support for farmers through the agricultural sustainability support and advisory programme, commonly known as ASSAP. Under that programme, ASSAP advisers are working in the lake's catchment to identify appropriate on-farm measures to address the challenges faced by the lake. The farming for water European Innovation Partnership, EIP, led by LAWPRO, is working in partnership with Teagasc and Dairy Industry Ireland in the lake's catchment area. Through this EIP, my Department is providing \u20ac50 million nationally in funding for specific targeted on-farm actions which go beyond regulatory requirements.  A significant number of farming for water EIP applications have already been completed in the lake's catchment area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  The problems in Lady's Island Lake are not new. The reports of pollution there go back as far as the early 1980s. Every few years it seems the problems get so big that there is a call for action and that is usually dealt with through the breaching of the sand spit at the southern end of the lake. The EPA report from January, which the Green Party would credit with sounding the alarm, could not have been clearer about what is needed, namely, enforce existing regulations on agricultural nutrients entering the lake, help farmers change practices and improve the buffer zones around the water sources that flow into the lake. Will the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan, be taking a leading role in engaging with local farmers? I was glad to hear the Minister mention the European Innovation Partnership. This was quite successful nearby, at Duncannon beach, in dealing with pollution. I ask the Minister for some detail about the innovation project that is being designed to support farmers specifically around Lady's Island Lake? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Yes, I can confirm that the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, is taking the lead on this but we are working closely in consultation. I am not deflecting in saying this, but it will be worth raising this point with the Minister of State as well because he is dealing with it on a day-to-day basis. We are providing, as I said, financial support of \u20ac50 million through the ASSAP programme. I agree with the Deputy that it is a really positive programme. It is leading to great work being done, not just in the Lady's Island catchment area but by thousands of farmers all over the country taking on voluntary additional conditionality.  In addition, EU and nationally funded schemes, such as the agri-climate and rural environmental scheme, ACRES, and the targeted agricultural modernisation scheme, TAMS, are available to farmers in the catchment. Again, these benefit water quality by incentivising farmers to go above and beyond regulatory requirements. We see the demand for TAMS, with 6,100 applications in the most recent tranche, which is double the number traditionally. Farmers are investing in water quality, increased nutrient storage and low-emission slurry spreading, and we are supporting them to do those things through TAMS. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  I just would like to bring the discussion back to Lady's Island Lake specifically because there is a real opportunity here to take measures that will restore the lake to a functioning ecological system. We are still in the dark about some of the specific details about what is happening. Have farming inspections around Lady's Island Lake increased? Have there been inspections of septic tanks? Has there been engagement with Irish Water about the treatment plant at the lake? I know people are concerned about that as well. Local campaigners are worried that in a couple of years' time, we will be back here making the same points across the floor. We have a model that works, the innovation partnership model funded by the EU. It has worked in other areas, and it also is effective in that it does not scapegoat farmers. It recognises that they are stewards of the land and it helps them to adapt without risking their own livelihood. We have the willingness to draw together the relevant actors here, but we need clarity on the steps that have been taken so far. If the Minister does not have all that information here, he can come back to me in writing with the extra detail, which would be appreciated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I will do so. I agree with the Deputy that this is about partnership. As with all areas related to addressing environmental challenges, the partnership approach is what works really well. As I stated, Wexford County Council, with the guidance of the interdepartmental group, has developed a site-specific action plan to address the challenges faced by Lady's Island Lake within the framework and mechanisms of the Water Action Plan 2024. The recent announcement of funding by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to support this work aims to support the development of Lady's Island Lake sustainable farming and community's water quality management plan. That is the very specific approach the Deputy is talking about. Separate from that, my Department is working closely with the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage to develop Ireland's next nitrates action programme, which is due to apply from January 2026, with the objective of reducing and preventing water pollution caused by nitrates from agricultural sources. These proposals for the next nitrates action programme are currently out to public consultation and that is due to be completed on 1 December. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Water Pollution"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"EU Meetings","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy Burke for raising this important issue. Once a month, I go to Brussels to meet the other 26 ministers for agriculture at what is known as the AGRIFISH Council. The most recent meeting took place in Brussels on Monday, 17 November. With Ireland's Presidency of the EU commencing in less than eight months, I took the opportunity to continue my proactive engagement with ministerial colleges to ensure that Ireland delivers an impactful Presidency for all of the EU. At the Council, I took the opportunity to raise a number of important issues for Ireland. In the round-table discussion regarding the post-2027 CAP, I stressed the importance of the CAP continuing to remain a fully funded policy capable of delivering a viable income for our farmers, as well as ensuring food security and promoting rural resilience. The future of the CAP is extremely important in safeguarding the viability of our farmers and rural communities. It is, therefore, important that the specifics of the CAP are provided for the next EU budget, our multi-annual financial framework, MFF, and the CAP is sufficiently visible as a discrete entity within the overall budgetary structure.  Challenges facing EU trade were also on the agenda and I raised a number of important issues in this regard. Regarding the carbon border adjustment mechanism, known as CBAM, I stressed the real challenges that this regulation poses in the context of its potential impact on the fertiliser costs for EU farmers. I highlighted the importance of working together to provide certainty for affected operators and to monitor closely any impacts on the Irish and EU agricultural sectors.  I have also raised Ireland's concerns regarding preferential EU market access being given to Mercosur countries if South American farmers are not subject to the same sustainable farming standards as our own farmers, particularly when it comes to the beef sector. I also reiterated Ireland's unwavering support for Ukraine.  In relation to fisheries, I outlined Ireland's concerns and priorities regarding ongoing negotiations on fishing opportunities for 2026. I will continue to work with the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, to articulate the importance of supporting our fishers at this difficult time of negotiations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  Where are we with the Mercosur issue? The Minister outlined that the same level of regulations do not apply. We in Ireland have strict protocols and regulations in place, yet we are allowing products to come on the market that will not necessarily have the same level of scrutiny. If this goes ahead, we will be in a situation where there is an unfair set of regulations for Irish and EU producers compared to producers from outside the European Union. Are we satisfied with that? Is enough analysis being done on the regulations in place for those countries? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  As a proposed trade agreement, Mercosur is the responsibility, first and foremost, of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade. As Minister for the agriculture sector and farmers, I continue to highlight the sensitivities of this trade proposal for our beef sector in particular. I believe strongly that Ireland and our agriculture sector benefit greatly from our open trade policy and from being part of the EU, including, in general, the trade agreements it concludes. This does not mean we have to support every single trade deal. In alignment with the programme for Government, we work with like-minded countries because we have those concerns and sensitivities. We have also analysed the safeguards that have been put in place by the EU. The proposals around how they would be implemented and interact with the legal instrument is a really important consideration as well. To stop this deal would require a blocking minority of at least four member states, with at least 35% of the population. That is why I have engaged with key colleagues. At the most recent meeting, I met my French and Italian counterparts, continuing the commitment in the programme for Government to work with like-minded countries that share those concerns around the proposal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  The Minister referred to the period post-CAP 2027 and the challenges there. CAP has given support to farmers in Ireland and across the EU. The question now is what will happen post 2027. There is also a scenario arising with those involved in farming. We have an older age profile. What is being done to try to keep people in the sector across Europe? This is not just an Irish problem but one right across Europe. The issue is that if we do not have people involved in agriculture, we then have a difficulty with food security. Is enough being done at European level to make sure we have a sufficient number of people producing the goods in order that we have food security for all member states? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  These are the pertinent points for all the negotiations on the new CAP. We are aligning that discussion on what the new CAP will look like with the proposals around the multi-annual financial framework at the same time.  Ultimately, at the heart of what the CAP can deliver beyond 2027 is the question of how much money is in the pot for it. We know Commissioner Hansen secured a ring-fenced commitment of 80% of the existing budget. That is not enough; we need more. Ireland has a key role to play in the Presidency from July of next year for six months. It is 13 years since we had this role. What I am doing at present at AGRIFISH council level is building that engagement with other member states, colleagues and counterparts, and, through bilaterals, understanding what their priorities are for the CAP.  From my perspective, the EU is a very successful peace project. The Common Agricultural Policy was one of the first initiatives at the heart of the then EEC and this was because it was recognised that hunger was one of the biggest causes of conflict. No more than we have become a bit complacent about peace in Europe, we have become complacent about food security as well. That is why we argue really strongly that while there are new demands for increased spending on defence, climate and different areas, and that will put the budget under strain, they cannot come at the cost of investing in the Common Agricultural Policy and in our farmers who produce the top-quality, safe and nutritious food that is needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Byrne. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  I am still to come back in. To come back to the issue of the age profile of the people in farming, I am not sure at European level we are doing enough on that. From an Irish point of view, this is a huge challenge. I was talking to someone recently who lives in an area where there are four major dairy farms within a mile of one another and all of them will be gone within the next five years. I am not sure we are doing enough forward planning on that area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Very quickly, Commissioner Hansen has expressed in his draft proposals really strong ambition on the area of generational renewal. I want to be able to design approaches in the new CAP that address the issue of generational renewal. However, what I have just talked about in relation to my efforts and the ongoing efforts across the Department of agriculture to retain the nitrates derogation is key for generational renewal and giving certainty and confidence to young farmers. My new bovine TB action plan, funded to the tune of \u20ac157 million next year, gives certainty to young farmers who are thinking of investing but are afraid of getting a breakdown in their herd. My support for the tillage sector is about giving certainty----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Generational renewal is at the heart of everything we do and will be at the heart of negotiations for the new CAP as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"EU Meetings"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Tillage Sector","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this point because under the current proposals for CAP post-2027, there is a mandatory requirement for member states to put in place risk management tools. Risk management tools were optional in the current CAP strategic plan, running from 2023 to 2027, and the case for inclusion of crop insurance was examined in its preparation. However, its inclusion was not supported by stakeholders. The issue of risk management has since been discussed by the Food Vision tillage group, which included a recommendation in its final report to promote existing risk management tools and examine opportunities for an Irish model of crop or price insurance. My Department will consider potential risk management measures as part of the strategic planning for the next CAP strategic plan.  In recognition of the tillage sector\u2019s importance, my Department provides substantial direct support to tillage farmers. In 2026, \u20ac50 million will be made available through the protein aid scheme, the straw incorporation measure and a new tillage support scheme. Having secured this additional funding in budget 2026 to further support the sector, I intend to consult stakeholders on how this funding will be utilised. My Department has also provided significant direct supports to tillage farmers in recent years. This year, the budget for the protein aid scheme is \u20ac10 million, having increased from \u20ac7 million to \u20ac10 million annually from last year. Applications for approximately 66,000 ha of cereals and oilseed rape straw were submitted for chopping and incorporating under the straw incorporation measure this year. I made the decision to pay all eligible applicants under the scheme.  In February of this year I announced \u20ac32.4 million of payments under the tillage and horticulture support scheme, which was the Government\u2019s response to the difficult position tillage and horticulture farmers found themselves in due to exceptionally poor weather and continued high input costs in the spring of 2024. The tillage sector is also being supported under other schemes, including the tillage capital investment scheme, ACRES and the organic farming scheme and, indeed, tillage farmers have availed of the water quality EIP, with significant areas committed to cover crops, which are a really effective tool. I will continue to work with the tillage sector and provide targeted support where possible given the strategic importance of this sector to the wider agriculture community. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I thank the Minister. He and I do not need to discuss the challenges facing the sector; I know he is very much aware of them. What farmers are looking for is a guarantee of a basic income. Obviously we already have the BISS scheme in place. I welcome the fact that as part of the CAP negotiations the Minister is looking at trying to provide some floor for farmers. It is not just important for the sustainability of farming, as the Minister mentioned, it is also important to us being able to tackle climate change and meet our environmental obligations. It is critical to be able to support farmers in those areas. We can certainly look at linking payments to food security and sustainability goals. That would be a very positive measure. It is critical that guaranteeing a basic level of income to tillage farmers is core to the CAP negotiations the Minister will enter in Brussels. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  There are many different tools in our armoury to be able to support the tillage sector as part of the CAP negotiations. I attended a meeting with the Irish Grain Growers and the IFA in Killashee Hotel to which more than 1,000 tillage farmers turned up. Deputy Byrne and I know tillage farmers do not protest much or in those kinds of numbers but they did on this occasion, such is the level of desperation after three really difficult years. After that meeting, it was very clear to me that there was a need for short-term financial support to give farmers the confidence to put seed in the ground again next year. That is not the long-term solution, however. The long-term solution is the value-added piece. The dairy industry has been very successful in identifying product such as whey proteins as the value-added piece. Unfortunately, our tillage sector is currently at world market prices and that is really hurting it. What we need to do, while having the short-term financial support I have committed to for next year and on the design of which I will work with farming organisations to make it most targeted, is to work on the value-added piece around our native grains, which I am happy to expand on in my next answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  The Minister is aware that in the US there is a federal crop insurance programme which was introduced during the time of the depression. I was with the Canadian ambassador when he spoke to the IFA about guarantees, insurance and a basic income scheme that operate in Canada. It continues to be a concern that 1,400 tillage farmers have left the sector in recent years. I know the Minister is committed to this and I very much welcome his support for flour production in Ireland, bringing that back and diversifying markets. There are all of those measures. However, until we can guarantee our tillage farmers that if they plant in the autumn, they will get a reasonable income when they reap in the spring, it is going to be a big challenge for the sector. I know the Minister is aware of this but it is critically important to address it as part of the CAP negotiations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  We absolutely need to design this scheme and make sure the \u20ac30 million I have secured for budget 2026 is targeted at the farmers. I want to do this differently from the last scheme. The last scheme provided a much-needed \u20ac100 for every hectare that had seed in the ground, with no capping or conditionality around it. We can be more targeted with this \u20ac30 million, get it to those who need it the most and increase the value of it for those farmers as well. That scheme will buy us some time.  The broader issue is that I want to work with the farm organisations and industry to identify how we get that value-added piece. There are things we can do in respect of native grains in our feed. The Irish whiskey file needs to be examined in terms of how we use our native grains in that or what its requirements are. The use of quality assurance schemes in other sectors has been really successful. It is challenging, it is not simple and it requires leadership from stakeholders. I want to work with people on that. We will get certainty into the sector in the medium term and beyond by moving to a value added-piece and not being dependent on world market commodity prices, which is a very vulnerable position for our tillage sector to be in.  Finally, as to the efforts I am making on nitrates and other issues, land availability is a key issue, as is the price of rented land for tillage farmers. It is not an island or a silo. Irish agriculture is all interlinked. The success of how I get on with nitrates will determine and have an impact on the tillage sector as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tillage Sector"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Animal Diseases","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  With the increasing incidence of bird flu in the wild bird population and, more recently, a fourth turkey farm, it is a concern for flock owners and people who have an interest in wildlife.  Will the Minister give an outline of the level of testing that is being conducted and the support that will be there for people whose livelihood has been impacted by the restrictions and the outbreaks? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important point. Since early November, there have been four outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza, HPAI, caused by the H5N1 virus in turkey flocks in counties Carlow, Meath, Monaghan and, most recently, unfortunately, Laois.  My Department has been implementing disease control and eradication measures in line with the EU animal health law provisions and national legislation. This includes the placing of 3 km radius protection zones and 10 km radius surveillance zones around each holding where an outbreak has occurred, and implementing surveillance and disease control measures within these zones. Prior to this, an outbreak of HPAI occurred in a confined establishment in Cork in October. That establishment was closed while disease control measures were implemented in line with the legislation.  The H5N1 virus has been circulating in wild birds throughout the country during 2025, as we know, creating a serious and ongoing risk of infection to poultry and captive bird flocks. My Department's laboratories have completed 821 avian influenza PCR screening tests for suspected HPAI, H5N1 in poultry, captive birds and wild birds, since 1 September. Of the samples tested, 199 tested positive for some form of avian influenza.  My Department carries out avian influenza surveillance testing throughout the year in targeted dead wild birds to understand if avian influenza is circulating in the wild bird population. Strict biosecurity measures remain the best way for poultry and captive bird keepers to protect their flocks from the disease. Flock owners should remain vigilant of any signs of the disease and report any suspicion to their local regional veterinary office without delay.  I work closely with the Minister in Northern Ireland, Andrew Muir MLA. This is one epidemiological island. The virus does not recognise invisible borders. Introducing a housing order and strict biosecurity measures together is important, particularly when we consider the importance of our commercial poultry flock in the Border regions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  Poultry farmers are obviously concerned. Where there are outbreaks, even where there are restrictions, it is challenging and very difficult for poultry farmers. There needs to be a realistic support or compensation package in place.  As the Minister said, Fota Wildlife Park has been closed since October. It is losing out on income. It has also lost some of its birds. The impact on staff, people around there and the wildlife is significant. Has the Minister engaged with them? What kind of support will be available and relevant to the likes of the wildlife park? I know that a lot of the emphasis on compensation packages up to now has been on situations where a cull has taken place in a commercial setting. What level of engagement has the Minister had? What opportunities will be there for the likes of Fota Wildlife Park? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  In terms of compensation in general, the Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 provides that compensation to owners of animals may be payable if a cull of those animals is directed by the Department of agriculture in the event of an outbreak of highly pathogenic avian influenza. The compensation may relate to the animal that is culled, or to an animal product, animal feed or similar item that is destroyed in relation to the outbreak. The compensation may not exceed the open market value of the animal or item. My compensation scheme is very much targeted towards the commercial sector. My responsibility is for the commercial sector. We monitor the wild bird population, but it is the responsibility of the National Parks and Wildlife Service.  The Deputy asked a specific question about Fota Wildlife Park. I share great sympathy with those involved and the impact this has had on them. This virus is obviously very easily transmitted. We could not possibly have members of the public walking into an area where the virus has been and taking it out on their shoes or whatever else. When we talk about strict biosecurity measures, this has been reflected in the process across government.  Since 2017, my Department has employed the services of an external consultancy firm with specialised knowledge of the poultry industry to develop valuation tables relating to the most common species and types of poultry in Ireland. As I say, compensation, from my perspective, is for the commercial and forestry side. The Government is, however, very much aware of the challenges for Fota. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  The compensation package is very focused on the commercial sector where a cull has taken place. The example I outlined of the wildlife park does not fit neatly into that situation. Thankfully, a minimal number of birds will be lost there. However, there are many other instances where the restrictions themselves are putting a cost on the likes of poultry farms. They have to keep a house warm when they do not know how quickly a new flock will be coming in. There are costs associated with the restrictions. The Minister needs to look beyond the immediate package that is there for compensation where there is a cull.  Four instances have emerged on turkey farms. There is the obvious question that so many people want the Minister to reassure them about. Will there be turkey available for Christmas? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I confirm it is very possible that the Deputy will be able to eat turkey on Christmas Day. I very much hope that will be the case. We all know how important that is. I do not jest. This is important to our turkey farmers. I have huge sympathy for the four flocks that have been impacted. It is a devastating blow to an individual flock owner. On the broader scale, it is important to reiterate to the public that it is safe to eat properly cooked poultry and egg products. The measures being taken are to stop the spread. I commend the four flock owners because their actions and those of the affected owners in the surveillance zones and restriction zones are for the greater good of the country so we can get back to disease-free status as soon as possible. We in the higher-risk period and there is no doubt about that. It starts in November with migratory birds coming in. This has been a bad start to what is a high-risk period that will run until approximately next April. Through the enhanced mandatory biosecurity measures, the implementation of the housing order, which helps, and the strong vigilance of our industry and flock owners, in close consultation with my regional veterinary officers, we can stay on top of this so fewer people are impacted into the future. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Animal Diseases"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Agriculture Industry","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I offer the Minister my best wishes for his role, which is not so new anymore. His is a very important role, particularly at this critical time. We are in different constituencies but are near neighbours where south Kildare meets west Wicklow.  Agriculture in Ireland is ageing fast. Currently, the average age of a farmer in Ireland is 59. Only 4% are under 35. This imbalance poses risk to long-term food security and to this important sector, which exports 90% of what it produces. The programme for Government commits to a farm succession scheme. Is there a strategy for succession planning for farmers? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy for raising this point. While he is in a different constituency, he is the TD who lives closest to me, as we straddle the border between Kildare and west Wicklow.  The challenge of generational renewal in farming has been widely recognised at both national and EU level. The programme for Government prioritises supporting intergenerational farm succession. Food Vision 2030, our shared strategy for the agrifood sector, states that generational renewal in farming is critically important to ensure the future viability and social sustainability of the Irish agrifood sector and of rural Ireland.  Ireland provides a range of supports, including initiatives under the current CAP strategic plan, a suite of strong taxation measures and access to finance, as well as advisory and education and training supports. Despite this support, the average age of farmers continues to rise. The most recent figures show that only 4.35% of farmers are under 35 years of age and some 37% of farmers are over 65.  In September, I launched the report of the commission on generational renewal in farming. Generational renewal, including farm succession, is a complex issue and there are many factors involved. The commission on generational renewal in farming was established to examine this issue and has produced a thorough analysis and made 31 recommendations across a wide range of areas, including CAP supports, pensions, taxation, access to finance, access to land, collaborative arrangements, advisory services, education and training, the important issue of gender balance and the overall attractiveness of the sector. These recommendations will be carefully considered. They are contained in a report that runs to 180 pages. The recommendations will be considered by an implementation group in my Department who will engage with agricultural stakeholders and the relevant public bodies. While some recommendations are for consideration in the context of the next CAP, it is hoped that others can be progressed in a shorter timeframe. Some of the taxation recommendations have already been considered and progressed in budget 2026, with those extended for a longer period than had been requested or anticipated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I have read most of that document and most of those 31 recommendations are very worthy.  I would like to see a lot of them being implemented.  On a slightly related matter, I worked most of my life in small and medium sized businesses. The thing that strikes me most about farming is the huge fluctuation in prices from year to year. Most businesses face increases in costs or sales prices in single digit percentage changes. It is not so in farming. This makes it difficult to plan and means people have to build up large reserves to be confident of being able to continue to trade or else they will run out of cash. We need to take measures to make it financially attractive to run a farm business. We need to reduce red tape, which is a turn-off for many farmers, and make all schemes much simpler. Many of the recommendations of the commission on generational renewal in farming will help. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I agree with the Deputy in many ways. The question I am most often asked about generational renewal is whether there will be a scheme in the next CAP or what it will look like. I want to be able to develop a succession scheme and I hope to have the resources to do that, but young trained farmers will not make life-long decisions based on whether they get one grant in 2028 and put everything on hold until then.  Generational renewal gets to the heart of everything I do. The efforts we are making to try to ensure we have a derogation for nitrates for the next few years is critical to giving certainty to young trained farmers to invest and take the plunge into full-time farming. My new bovine TB plan is a massive issue for the Deputy's constituents in west Wicklow, as it is in Kildare and across the country. Having certainty that we will get on top of that perennial issue, which has been around for 75 years, with a new approach is a key measure. My support for the tillage sector is a key measure in giving confidence for generational renewal, as is making sure farmers have a good solid income. When we talk about sustainability as a three-legged stool, the economic sustainability is every bit as important as being able to deliver the environmental and societal sustainability. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I bring the Minister's attention to another matter related to generational renewal. I will highlight an unfair flaw in the operation of the fair deal scheme relating to land transfer, for example to a grandchild, which is causing huge financial hardship for families. I will explain how it operates. This rule must be changed. If a family transfers land within five years of the owner entering a nursing home, this land is valued. If the recipients lease the land, they must pay the nursing home 7.5% of the value of the land on an annual base, with no three-year time limit like there is for the family farm. This could go on for 14 years until the total value of the land is paid over. This is completely unfair.  There is no possibility of deferring the payment, as there is for the family home. It is therefore a huge financial burden. Where is the family to get the funds? I know of a case in which a family or young person is being assessed to pay \u20ac23,000 per year and the income the person is getting from leasing the land is only \u20ac5,000. The person has nowhere to find the cash and it is putting them under huge financial hardship. I am sure the Minister will agree that this is totally unfair. I would like it to be looked at and changed immediately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  The fair deal scheme has had a specific impact on farmers. While it is not under my remit or that of the Department of agriculture, I have engaged with previous Ministers for Health on it and I would be happy to work with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, on this area as well. The last Government made changes around it and we want to be able to give certainty, clarity and comfort to people who are planning the transition of land in the most difficult of circumstances. We want to make sure the fair deal scheme is fair in how it does it. I will be happy to work with the Deputy and colleagues across the House on that issue, because how it affects farmers and how it affects small businesses more broadly is a key consideration. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Agriculture Industry"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Food Safety","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I am taking the question on behalf of Deputy Carthy.  This goes back to my question at the beginning about food safety and public health. The Mercosur deal is at the core of this but it is broader than that. We have an issue across Europe in that we are importing a lot of product from different parts of the world. In particular, the question about grain earlier was interesting because a lot of feed comes into the country from tropical climates. A situation could happen in the future - it is one of the things we need to be vigilant about - where we could bring in a parasite, or whatever it is, that causes a problem for our native species of grain or other products. That is one example. There are a lot of other examples of it.  It is important that the Minister reassure the public that the quality of food we get in Europe is up to the standard and is not being contaminated by food from other countries that is of a lesser quality. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy Kenny for raising an important point. It gets to the heart of what we do. From a food safety and public health perspective, a lot of the conversation in Ireland has tended to be about sustainability in recent years, what our farmers are doing, producing food sustainably and profit. When we travel abroad on a trade mission, the first thing that is mentioned, particularly in places like Asia and beyond, is our safety credentials. They are second to none and it is something the Department never takes for granted. However, as farmers we might. We almost never mention it any more because food safety is not an issue unless there has been a scare. In countries that do not have confidence in food safety, it is the number one priority. That is why we will never be complacent about this. It is the number one selling point of Irish agrifood products and as a country we export 90% of the food and drink we produce.  Food safety and public health are fundamental to Ireland's agrifood industry, as I said, and to the protection of consumer health and safety, but also consumer confidence. My Department plays a central role in implementing and enforcing EU food safety rules across primary production, processing, official controls, imports and exports. As Minister, I routinely attend the European Council in its agriculture and fisheries formation to engage directly with my European counterparts on food safety, public health and other issues. My Department also regularly attends EU meetings on issues regarding food safety and public health to present the Irish position on the legal and technical issues under discussion. This ensures that Ireland remains compliant with and, in co-operation with other member states can shape, European Union legislation in this area.  Reports of the Irish Farmers' Journal investigation into the sale of hormones and antibiotics in Brazil raise important issues and merit careful examination, as I said previously. Brazilian beef already enters the EU market, and it is therefore important to ensure that none of the unregulated products referenced in the investigation are used in its production. While there is no evidence that this is the case, these reports reinforce the need for further vigilance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The Minister mentioned in a previous reply that quite a small amount of beef from Brazil comes into Ireland and that there is no evidence of this issue. Is the evidence being looked for? What kind of investigations are we carrying out into that, from an Irish and European perspective? Similarly, we have a large amount of poultry coming in under the Mercosur deal. I think it is 180,000 tonnes. We need to be vigilant in respect of that. We have a large poultry industry in Ireland and we eat a lot of poultry so we need to ensure it is of the highest quality.  I will go back to the issue raised earlier about feedstuffs. A lot of feedstuffs are imported into this country from Latin America and other tropical climates. That is displacing Irish grain and feed and if we are to be authentic about the quality of our food, we need to ensure that the authenticity can be stood over. For example, people were before the committee recently to speak about growing grain and, in some cases, the only thing that is Irish in Irish whiskey is the water. That is a very bad situation. We need to be authentic about the products we produce and to do so not only from the point of view that they are what they say on the label, but also that we can guarantee their quality. The only way we can guarantee their quality is if we produce the ingredients as well as the finished product here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  Trade is two-way. In response to the Deputy's original question, I said clearly that we are in a space where we need to have absolute confidence that any food that comes into the EU meets our standards. Our sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, food safety standards are non-negotiable. They are the standards to which we expect our farmers to produce food in the EU and we do not accept secondary standards for anything that comes in from outside the EU. Should we produce everything here? That is a different argument in a way. We could get very protectionist. There was a time when Ireland tried to be self-sufficient in its food production system. We were a poor country back then. The highly integrated nature of trade around the world is here to stay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  It is balance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  It is about balance but we benefit largely from it because we export 90% of the food and drink we produce. We absolutely need it to be a level playing field. We need to make sure those standards are there, that there is confidence in our products, whether the food is produced in Europe or comes in. We will reiterate those points, but the checks and balances are there. This is non-negotiable for the EU. It is strong on that and we will look for further assurances to make sure our consumers, as well as our farmers and primary producers, can be reassured about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I accept that. I understand the point that we cannot produce everything in Ireland. That goes without saying. However, there is an issue regarding the authenticity of the product that we produce if we are labelling it and selling it as Irish and as having that authenticity around it, yet everything that goes into it is coming from somewhere else. We need to find that clear balance in respect of that.  Regarding Mercosur, safeguards have been put in place. They have been voted through. There were no amendments made to those safeguards, yet a lot of countries, including Ireland and others of like mind, have expressed sincere difficulties with how far those safeguards go. That raises a red flag for a lot of people out there. How genuine is this Government and the other governments that it is meeting with around Europe in making sure that we block this trade deal and find a way forward to protect consumers and farmers in Europe? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I cannot be any clearer than I have been. At every AGRIFISH Council meeting, I have raised Mercosur and our concerns about it. I am not the lead Minister with responsibility for that; it is the responsibility of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, who has that key consideration. I take my role at the Cabinet table seriously. I use my role as a representative and custodian of our farmers and food producing industry to highlight points. I recognise that the vast majority of trade deals benefit Irish agriculture, our farmers and our rural economy, but that does not mean we have to accept every single part of every single trade deal that is put forward. We have continuously highlighted and raised our sensitivities around the Mercosur trade deal. In line with the programme for Government, I have continuously worked with like-minded countries. Most recently, on 17 November, I had bilateral meetings with the French and Italian ministers for agriculture. Previously, I have met the Austrians, Latvians, Polish and many others. I continue to have that level of engagement where we discuss our mutual concerns and engage in the process as it is ongoing. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Food Safety"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Animal Diseases","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Cleere is taking this question on behalf of Deputy Brabazon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. Unfortunately, there have been four outbreaks of highly pathogenic avian influenza in turkey flocks since early November, one each in counties Carlow, Meath, Monaghan and, most recently, Laois. I express my sympathy to the flock owners concerned. I acknowledge the worry this situation is causing to all those in the poultry industry in Ireland. These outbreaks follow the detection of the H5N1 avian influenza virus in wild birds across the country throughout 2025. It is this ongoing circulation in wild birds that is posing such a risk to poultry and captive birds. Biosecurity is the most effective way to prevent the virus infecting flocks, and this is why I implemented mandatory poultry biosecurity regulations on 1 November and a housing order for poultry and captive birds from 10 November.  The Animal Health and Welfare Act 2013 provides that compensation to owners of animals may be payable if a cull of those animals is directed by my Department in the event of an outbreak in that herd or flock of certain diseases, including highly pathogenic avian influenza. The compensation may relate to the animal that is culled, or to an animal product, animal feed or similar item that is destroyed in relation to the outbreak. The compensation may not exceed the open market value of the animal or item. Since 2017, my Department has engaged an external consultancy firm with specialised knowledge of poultry to develop valuation tables relating to the most common species and types of poultry in Ireland to be used to determine compensation payable in the case of an outbreak of poultry disease that necessitates a cull. These valuation tables are updated on a six-monthly basis.  It is important that this be taken on a case-by-case basis because no two cases are the same. The impact on the financial viability and valuation of the birds at a set time is continuously upgraded. It means that, where a flock owner enters the worst case imaginable of having to have their entire culled, there is a process there for them to engage with that is fair and up to date. My Department is engaging with owners impacted by recent poultry outbreaks in assessing the compensation due to them where depopulation of their flocks and destruction of related material has been directed to control the spread of highly pathogenic avian influenza. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  The Minister will be aware that the financial loss will not just be limited to those farmers who have unfortunately had their flocks culled. As these outbreaks are confirmed to be highly pathogenic avian influenza, there are restrictions on poultry, poultry products and eggs from within the 3 km restriction zone and 10 km surveillance zone in respect of both the EU and UK markets. A total of 94% of our poultry exports by value - around \u20ac280 million - are to the EU and UK markets. Will the Minister make provision for compensation to be payable to farmers who lose access to their export markets in this current outbreak? The currently held advice is that consuming poultry or eggs from an infected animal once cooked does not pose a risk to public health. That said, consumers may now be reluctant to buy poultry products, given what has been said in the media.  Has the Minister considered that there may be a decline in the number of consumers buying poultry or a fall in the numbers of Christmas turkeys ordered this year? Will the Minister consider a compensation scheme for those farmers who are impacted by this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  To reiterate, the Animal Health and Welfare Act provides that compensation to owners of animals may be payable if a cull of those animals is directed. It is specific. It has clear criteria, and rightly so. If a flock owner or farmer is being asked to remove their entire herd or flock for broader national reasons in the best interests of stopping the spread of disease, that is the most important thing. We do all of that as well as a mandatory biodiversity measures and housing measures to get ourselves back to a disease-free status as soon as possible. The 3 km restriction zone and 10 km surveillance zone remain in place for three months after a positive case. At that point, we can get back to having disease-free status in that area. We are lucky that the vast majority of our product that is exported goes to countries that accept regionalisation. They will only ban the export of product from that restriction zone and surveillance zone, not for the whole country. Some markets ban it for the whole country and do not differentiate. That is a broader challenge. The compensation model that is set out in the Act from 12 years ago is very much targeted at those flock owners. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  This morning, I was fortunate to have the opportunity to meet Commissioner McGrath. I welcome the positive news that the European Commission has recommended the extension of the nitrates derogation. I acknowledge the Minister's role in fighting for Ireland. I said numerous times that we as a country were going to have to go into the trenches on the nitrates derogation, and we did. The devil will be in the detail. That will be made available over the next couple of weeks. However, this gives a bit of clarity and certainty to farmers. We do not know the specifics yet. It has been well received out in the community and by farmers whom I spoke to this morning. It is important to acknowledge the Minister's role, the Commissioner's role, the T\u00e1naiste and the Taoiseach. It has been a united effort. Everybody has been on the same page. This is a positive day for Ireland. Hopefully, we can get it through in the next couple of weeks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy for his remarks. Ultimately, it is an important step in a process. The process now is with the technical committee that meets on 9 December. It was always our intention and ambition in all of our negotiations to get the best possible proposal agreed by the Commission and then put that on the agenda for the 27 member states and that technical committee to hopefully vote on. We still do not have a derogation. As of now, we do not have a derogation on 1 January. It is in the hands of that committee. I negotiated in good faith. There was detailed engagement between my officials and EU officials. I pay tribute to Commissioner Roswall, who came over at my invitation to visit an Irish farm - the Durkin's farm just outside of Kilcullen in County Kildare - to see at first hand the intergenerational work that was at play. The engagement of her officials who have been over here and I have met in Brussels numerous times has been important. It is fair to say that their starting point and our starting point were two different positions.  We have a proposal now that I have confirmed to the House is for an extension of the existing derogation for a three-year period, with other new conditionalities that I will confirm closer to the time. All of my focus now is on engaging with colleagues across the member states so that if there are any concerns or issues ahead of that vote, we give ourselves the best chance possible. This is not done yet. It is at a sensitive point. I look forward to the engagement.  I also recognise the constructive role that the stakeholders, farm organisations and industry have played throughout this process and their patience at a stressful time for everybody involved. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Animal Diseases"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Environmental Schemes","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank the Deputy for raising the important matter of the agri-climate rural environment scheme, ACRES, which is the flagship environmental scheme provided under the 2023-27 CAP strategic plan, with \u20ac1.5 billion in Exchequer and EU funding allocated over the course of the scheme. There are currently just under 53,700 participants in ACRES.  ACRES payments issue on a scheme year basis, with 2023 being the first scheme year for tranche 1 participants and 2024 being the first year for those who are in tranche 2. Almost \u20ac250 million has issued in respect of the 2023 scheme year, with over 99% of participants paid. A total of \u20ac268.4 million has issued in respect of the 2024 scheme year and over 98% have now received the payment. Finally, 2025 advance payments have now commenced, with \u20ac179.6 million issuing in the first two payment runs. These payments will bring the amount paid in respect of ACRES since its commencement in 2023 to almost \u20ac700 million. This reflects the Government\u2019s commitment to achieving a range of environmental, biodiversity, water quality and climate objectives by supporting farm families in their environmental journeys.  ACRES is an ambitious and complex scheme, and there have been challenges as a result. We are overcoming those challenges through the commitment of all those involved in the scheme, including farmers themselves, ACRES advisers and the ACRES co-operation project teams. The main issues that have impacted on the making of payments have been identified and they include contract and ownership or partnership issues, issues with scorecards and the alignment of ACRES data with basic income support for sustainability, BISS, scheme information. My Department is actively resolving the remaining issues through, for example, the development of the required IT functionality and the investigation of issues associated with specific contracts.  In cases such as change of contract, my Department is unable to progress the payment claim until the legal requirements have been resolved. We are working through these issues. We have identified and addressed the issues that arose at the start and the system is functioning much better now. I am happy to expand further in my supplementary response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I thank the Minister for his continuing engagement on this matter. As he knows, a lot of farmers in Cork North-West are involved in ACRES. I know the Minister inherited a lot these issues when he moved into his new role but he has made great strides to ensure that we are now up at over 90% in terms of payments for many of the schemes from 2023 and 2024.  ACRES is not just a scheme but a partnership between farmers and the State to protect our environment, enhance biodiversity, improve water quality and ensure that sustainable farming remains at the heart of rural Ireland. Across the country, farmers are delivering real, measurable benefits, planting hedgerows, restoring habitats, managing grasslands, reducing emissions and protecting our natural heritage for future generations but for farmers to continue this essential work, the Government must ensure that ACRES payments are made fully and on time each year. Farmers plan their finances around these payments. They rely on them to meet costs, invest in their holdings and deliver the environmental measures expected under the scheme. Delayed payments can create uncertainty, cause cash flow pressures and undermine confidence at a time when farmers are already facing rising input costs and increased regulatory demands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I completely agree that it is important to get this right. When I got this job on 23 January, there were 14,500 farmers who had signed up in good faith but had not been paid. The problem was on my Department's side through systems failures that had happened. We worked really hard and put extra staff on it. I visited the team in Wexford. We looked at the systems and tried to change them around. There was a lot of overtime and a lot of people put their shoulder to the wheel to get the momentum back up.  At that time, no regular payments were being made but the issuing of payments has gathered considerable momentum this year, as knowledge and experience of the scheme has improved and as functionality has been deployed to address the challenges that were encountered. I appreciate the patience that has been shown by participants as we resolved these issues.  My Department has been developing solutions to solve issues permanently rather than applying quick fixes. It is really important that any solutions developed avoid the same issues and the very concerns that the Deputy has outlined. ACRES has paid out almost \u20ac700 million to farmers in this country since 2023. It is a really positive scheme that has delivered massively for our environment and that is what I want to get back to focusing on. We are in that space now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Paul O'Shea","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Paul-O'Shea.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Paul O'Shea  I very much concur with the Minister on the importance of having permanent solutions in place rather than temporary measures. That is very important. A few prepayments were made previously but getting permanent payments is what it is all about. Timely ACRES payments are not a luxury but a necessity. They uphold trust, recognise the efforts of farmers and allow the scheme to achieve its full environmental and economic potential. There is strong support for the scheme in the farming community of Cork North-West and I will continue to work with the Minister to push for a system that delivers payments swiftly, efficiently and predictably each and every single year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputy O'Shea and colleagues across the House for their support as we worked through the challenges on ACRES. I am committed to having permanent fixes in place so that we can get back to talking about the good things that ACRES is delivering for our environment. More than 54,000 farmers are delivering more than 9,000 km of watercourse protection through buffer strips on areas adjacent to rivers, streams, lakes and wetland riparian zones. More than 500,000 native trees and more than 2,300 km of new hedgerows have been planted. The scheme has seen 14,000 barn owl nest boxes installed and 57,000 hectares of grassland left undisturbed to support overwintering geese and swans. These are the types of measure that are having a real impact and 54,000 farmers put their hands up for that additional environmental conditionality, proving that they can continue to produce top-quality food and supplement their incomes by taking measures that have made a real difference to their areas. That is what I want us talking about and focusing on in ACRES from next year onwards.  Again, I thank the Deputy for his support in this area. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Environmental Schemes"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Common Agricultural Policy","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Farmers are extremely worried at this time and believe that the Minister is going to cut the CAP budget by up to 25%. I ask for reassurance today that the Minister will not do that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I propose to take questions Nos. 110, 130, 146 and 164 together.  I thank the Deputies for their questions. If what Deputy Bennett talked about is done, it will not be me who does it. I am fighting to try to avoid that happening. I am working really closely with the EU institutions and my counterparts in other member states to influence the negotiations for the next CAP and the next Common Fisheries Policy, CFP. I am continuing to meet my counterparts at monthly meetings of the AGRIFISH Council and having bilateral discussions on the sides of those meetings as well as separately with individual ministers in order to understand their priorities for the next CAP and to explain Ireland's priorities. It is important to note that there is a long way to go in these negotiations and the Commission proposals published in July are a starting point only. There will be ongoing, regular engagement with the Commission and with other member states as the negotiations progress.  My priority is for a CAP that provides stability, fairness and predictability for farmers and rural communities and one that simplifies rather than complicates. At the most recent AGRIFISH Council meeting, held in November, I took the opportunity to underline the importance of a strong CAP budget in delivering on economic, social and environmental objectives and expressed my concern about the proposed degressivity measures. I emphasised that the CAP must remain a policy that balanced fairness and competitiveness, thereby ensuring adequate support for smaller farms while sustaining viable production at all levels. I also highlighted the need for the careful design of possible measures to address food security risks and the need for reserves to be designed carefully and to remain exceptional, transparent and market oriented. Finally, I sought further clarity on the proposed integration of CAP within a wider national and regional partnership plan structure and expressed my concerns on the level of the CAP budget.  The CAP must remain a distinct, fully funded policy with clear governance, capable of sustaining farm incomes, food security and rural resilience. That requires an adequate and fully funded budget. On the margins of the Council, I have held many bilateral meetings with my ministerial counterparts and have engaged with nearly all member states at this point. These discussions have provided a valuable opportunity to exchange views on the Commission\u2019s proposals and to emphasise our shared priorities for a strong, well-funded and workable CAP that supports farm incomes, food security and rural resilience. I am having all of these bilateral meetings and engaging with colleagues to explain Ireland's priorities as well as to understand theirs. From 1 July next year, Ireland will have the Presidency of the EU and if I am still in this role, God willing, I will be in the chair and have the Presidency of the AGRIFISH Council, which will give us an opportunity to really shape this.  At the same time as these discussions are happening, discussions are happening around the overall budget, the multiannual financial framework and where that is at. I am working with colleagues across all levels of Government to make sure that we get the best possible return. The CAP is critical for our overall economy, our farmers, our rural economy and beyond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  Our farming families produce the highest quality food in the world while also adhering to some of the highest environmental and animal health standards in the world. If there is a proposal to reduce the CAP budget, I ask that the Government fill in the vacuum. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I thank the Minister for his reply. It goes without saying that in the negotiations on the multi-annual financial framework, we must ensure that there is robust and ring-fenced CAP funding. As we all know, this is essential for farm incomes. It is essential for investment in rural Ireland and it is also essential for food security. Far too often, we do not talk about protecting food production in western Europe. As the Minister referenced earlier, the Common Agricultural Policy was devised to ensure the citizens of Europe had a secure supply of safe food. We should never lose sight of that aim and that strategy. That is the reason we need a CAP that is properly funded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I took the opportunity yesterday to meet with Macra na Feirme to discuss its concerns around the new CAP and the impact it would have on farmers and on rural communities. Its members were particularly focused on generational renewal and knowledge transfer, and the CAP was key for funding generation renewal plan. Will the Minister give members of Macra na Feirme assurance that funding will be available for generational renewal and that action will be taken on implementing that plan? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Will the Minister give a short reply? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  I thank Deputies Bennet, Smith and Moynihan for raising what gets to the heart of the CAP - having enough money it in. What has been ring-fenced is 80%. It is not enough. I agree with Deputies Smith and Moynihan in terms of the importance of generational renewal, the next generation and certainty for all farmers. In direct answer to Deputy Bennett's point around the NRPP and the national regional plan, what Europe is saying is that it has less money than it had the last time and we should go back to our country and fight it out over here. We are all saying there is not enough from Europe. I have sharp elbows and I can assure everyone in the House that when the time comes to fight the corner of agriculture at the Cabinet table, I will do that. However, if I do that now, Europe will say we are grand as we got the money locally. We get as much out of the pot in Europe as we can for our farmers because Ireland is a net contributor to the overall multi-financial annual financial framework. Some 75% of our receipts for the entire Exchequer come back through the Common Agricultural Policy. If we allow that to be reduced, the overall economy, urban dwellers as well as rural dwellers across Ireland, suffers.  Therefore, I am continuing to fight. It is really important that the CAP negotiations continue in line and in tandem with the multi-annual financial framework negotiations as well. We will continue to work across government, as will the T\u00e1naiste as Minister for Finance, the Taoiseach and everybody, to get the most into the Common Agricultural Policy as we can because that matters to Ireland overall. Then discussions at national and regional levels will be down the line. I will do everything in that regard at that point but right now, it is about getting Europe to recognise the importance of food security, as Deputy Smith has said. It is an integral part of everything we do. The EU was a peace project. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  At its heart was food security. The Common Agricultural Policy has been really successful and we cannot lose sight of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  So the farmers have no need to worry. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Common Agricultural Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":8},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I understand the Chief Whip intends to move a proposal in relation to the adjournment of the House this evening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  It is proposed, notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders, that the D\u00e1il on its rising today shall adjourn until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 2nd December, 2025. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Is that proposal agreed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Not agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  What is the purpose of that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Sorry, Deputy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  On a point of order----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  We are entitled to know. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  -----there is a motion before us, so can I just address it? The Government Chief Whip cannot say the normal sitting of the D\u00e1il will not happen on Tuesday without any explanation as to why this will happen. Does this mean Leaders' Questions will not happen on Tuesday again? The Taoiseach was not here this Tuesday. He seems to be evading accountability all the time. What is the rationale behind it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  I have just left the Business Committee where this has been agreed with all Whips. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  You could have let us know. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I want to make the point that there was a discussion on this at Business Committee and all parties were involved. That meeting has just finished. Therefore, we do not have any objection to it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Same. I was at the Business Committee meeting too, which just ended a while ago, and there was full agreement at it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Given there has been full agreement at the Business Committee and the Chief Whip has announced the proposal----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  T\u00e1 an Government as l\u00e1thair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  Is Santa Claus coming? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I ask that Members agree to the proposal. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mattie McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Mattie-McGrath.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mattie McGrath  Is Santy coming early or something? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The proposal is agreed to.  I ask colleagues to join me in extending a very warm welcome to our Commissioner, Michael McGrath, who has joined us in the Distinguished Visitors Gallery today. Commissioner McGrath, in his role as European Commissioner for Democracy, Justice, the Rule of Law and Consumer Protection, has just come from a meeting with the Oireachtas Joint Committee on European Union Affairs and is visiting Leinster House today with a delegation that comprises his Cabinet officials and Mr. Peter Power, head of the European Commission representation in Ireland. The Commissioner is very welcome. We were delighted to have him here for the part of the debate with the Minister for agriculture on our fight in Europe. He is very welcome to a gathering with which he is very familiar. I thank him very much. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":78,"speakerCount":10},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I welcome Commissioner McGrath back to the House. I also welcome the women's Shankill group who are here with us in Leinster House. They are very welcome here today.  Dearbha\u00edonn figi\u00fair\u00ed \u00f3n mBord um Thion\u00f3ntachta\u00ed C\u00f3naithe inniu an rud at\u00e1 ar eolas ag tion\u00f3nta\u00ed cheana f\u00e9in. Is \u00e9 sin go bhfuil c\u00edosanna as smacht agus iad ar si\u00fal suas 5% ar\u00eds le bliain anuas. Is polasaithe an Rialtais at\u00e1 freagrach as seo. Today's Residential Tenancies Board figures confirm what renters already know and that is that rents are out of control and it is the Government's policies that are responsible. This is not something abstract. I spoke to a couple last week who are renting. They both have good jobs. The plan was simple. They were going to save hard, buy their own home and one day start a family here in Ireland. However, they could not take the rent increases any more and they knew more were coming. Last week, they were left with no other option but to move back into his parent's homes, back into his childhood bedroom. Now their plan has changed. Their plan now is to save money, book flights and head to Australia. This couple are 26 and 27 years of age. This is what non-stop rip-off rents have done to their future and it is a direct result of Government policies over decades that have driven this rent crisis to boiling point.  This crisis has now resulted in 5,400 eviction notices being issued in the last quarter alone. The Government's policies are not getting young people out of boxrooms; it is putting them back into them. In the past year alone, both new and existing rents have risen by 5% across the State. In some counties, the increases have been truly shocking. In Leitrim rents are up 16%, in Carlow they are up 15% and in Longford the are up 14%. The average new rent in this State is now \u20ac20,000 a year. In Dublin, the picture is even more brutal. The average new rent in Dublin stands at \u20ac27,000 a year.  This is not an accident. This is the direct result of Fine Gael's approach to housing and to renters, letting the market run wild, protecting profits and abandoning ordinary people. Average rents were less than \u20ac1,000 when the T\u00e1naiste became a Minister and took up his position in Cabinet. Now, they are nearly double that. That means that people are now having to pay over \u20ac9,000 more a year in rent than when he took office, and almost \u20ac10,000 more a year in Dublin for new rents.  The Government is going to make matters worse. From March of next year, tens of thousands of renters will see their rent reset to the very top of the market. For some, this will mean a doubling of the rent. How high is the T\u00e1naiste willing to let rents go before he intervenes? Is it \u20ac3,000 a month? Is it \u20ac4,000 or maybe \u20ac5,000? What is his cut-off point? Young people cannot take this pressure any longer. The Government is pricing them out of homes, out of family life and out of their futures. What did renters get in this year's budget? They did not get the promise the T\u00e1naiste made to them that the Government would increase the renter's tax credit. They did not get that but landlords are going to get an increase. They will get \u20ac1,000 tax break next year. Workers get no tax cut at all but developers get \u20ac250 million of a tax break for apartments that are already under construction. Once again, the Government made clear political choices. It chose landlords and developers over renters.  Our position is clear and simple. The Government needs to end the rip-off. It needs to get rents under control and it is needs to make housing affordable. That means cutting rents and freezing any further rent increases for the next three years to give renters breathing space and to stop this relentless upward spiral.  Here is the question: is the Government going to finally act by cutting rents and introducing a real and meaningful three-year rent freeze - yes or no - or is it going to continue with Fine Gael's failed approach that has already driven rents through the roof? While the T\u00e1naiste sits at the Cabinet table, rents have gone up, on average, by \u20ac1,000 a month to the point that it costs \u20ac27,000 for a new tenant in this capital. It is shameful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  First, I join with colleagues in welcoming our former colleague, Ireland's friend and our Commissioner in the European Union, Commissioner McGrath, and thank him for the job he is doing in the European Commission on crucial areas at this time. I also join with Deputy Doherty in welcoming the group from the Shankill Shared Women's Centre to the Public Gallery. I thank him for the important work he is doing also.  On behalf of Deputies right across this Chamber and the people of Ireland, I send our solidarity and support to the people of Hong Kong and to all of the families affected by the horrific apartment block fire last night. It was truly devastating and is deeply disturbing. We think of all of those impacted at this very difficult time.  There is a kind of rhythm to Deputy Doherty's questions these days, whereby he selectively quotes from publications that have just come out. He may not have had a chance to fully read it yet, but the RTB report out this morning does show something that he chose not to share with D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann or with renters, which is that the ESRI's individual property level analysis shows that 62% of properties nationally saw no change in rent year on year. That number is up by 4.8 percentage points compared with the previous year. We have a real challenge in terms of housing - indeed it is an emergency - but we are now seeing a situation where the number of rental properties not seeing an increase has increased further on last year and now stands----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The law will change in March. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Deputy Gould should hang on a second and give me a chance. It now stands at 62% of properties, which affects more than six out of ten people. It also finds the benefit of the rent pressure zones because it finds that, where rents have increased, it is disproportionately in areas not covered by rent pressure zones.  Deputy Doherty likes to talk a lot about what has happened since the election. What has happened since the election is that this Government that was re-elected and reformed took a decision to extend nationwide the rent property zones, including, in the Deputy's own county, Carndonagh, Buncrana, Lifford, Letterkenny, Milford, Glenties and Donegal town, areas that were not covered by rent pressure zones until we brought in those measures in recent times. I have no doubt that is also going to provide much assistance and protection.  I accept we are seeing a churn in terms of landlords coming into the market and landlords leaving the market, but we are actually also seeing more tenancies than before. Nationally, approved housing bodies have seen their registered tendencies grow year on year and quarter on quarter. Private tenancies have also grown annually to 240,751. In Dublin, an area where there is often particularly acute housing pressure, registered private tenancies rose by 4.3% annually to 108,174.  Deputy Doherty says his position on rent and rental protections is clear. I am not sure it is because I genuinely do not know today whether or not Sinn F\u00e9in supports rent pressure zones. Deputy \u00d3 Broin did not support them. He said Sinn F\u00e9in would get rid of them and replace them with a reference system that the Housing Agency and the ESRI, both independent of Government, said would not work. They said it would be extremely complicated and it would not work. I believe it would have actually pushed up people's rent. Yet, I heard Deputy Doherty's leader say on national radio that scrapping RPZs would remove the only modest protection. I am not sure if that is discontent within the Sinn F\u00e9in party. Is Eoin telling the truth or is Mary Lou telling the truth? Which is the policy of Sinn F\u00e9in when it comes to renters?  Deputy Doherty mentioned the rent tax credit. When this Government was returned to office, the rent tax credit was due to expire. We took a decision not just to increase it for a year but to increase it and keep it there for the next three years. It was going to go to zero euro and zero cent until we took the decision to put hundreds of millions of euro of taxpayers' money into the rent tax credit. Sinn F\u00e9in's position when it comes to rent pressure zones is truly Jekyll and Hyde stuff. We are bringing in a series of rental protections. I want people listening into this debate to know that on 10 June, we brought in a series of new rights and protections for both new and existing tenants----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The rents are going up though. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----including ending no-fault evictions for larger landlords with four or more tenancies, and bringing in rent controls and extending them nationally through the RPZs for the first time ever, from 20 June. We are already seeing the benefit of that. There is a housing emergency, but there are some signs of encouragement in terms of the number of properties now that are not seeing an increase in rents this year. That is up on last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  It will be gone in March. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  In his heart of hearts, does the T\u00e1naiste believe that is the case for young people who are listening to him? The couple I was speaking to last week, a 26-year-old and a 27-year-old, are back in the box room of their family homes, back in their childhood bedrooms. They were supposed to build a house, start a family and live here in Ireland but they are heading to Australia. The T\u00e1naiste is trying to deny the reality that is out there. The RTB is very clear. Rents are going up. They have gone up over \u20ac1,000 in the last year. New rents and existing rents have gone up. Every year since the T\u00e1naiste has been in the Cabinet, rents have gone up by an average of \u20ac1,000. They are the bare facts, not my facts but those of the RTB, which has told us very clearly that renters have to find \u20ac9,000 more for the average rent now since he took office in the Cabinet. In Dublin they have to find \u20ac10,000 more. Does the T\u00e1naiste think it is appropriate that new renters have to pay \u20ac27,000 a year in rent in Dublin? Our position is very clear - ban rent increases. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Stop filling the pockets of landlords. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The T\u00e1naiste should maybe tell the truth. Fine Gael made a solemn promise to the public that if they got re-elected, they would increase the renter's tax credit. They broke that promise, like so many others, because Simon says----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank Deputy Doherty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  -----on one hand and Simon does on the other hand. The election is over and Simon does not care. He has prioritised landlords and developers and he has abandoned renters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Doherty should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  That is the reality of it. Every year, rents are going up and the Government has no plan to fix it. Indeed, it is going to make it worse because it is going to allow landlords to reset the rents right across the board in March next year. It is appalling. That is why young people have decided to abandon this country in search of a different future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Would Deputy Doherty allow the T\u00e1naiste to respond, please? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I will take the same latitude on the clock as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Of course you will. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Thank you, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I do not understand a Sinn F\u00e9in policy that opposes every single support for small landlords to try to keep them in the market and then ones to make sure we have more rental properties available. How does Sinn F\u00e9in wish to have rental properties without landlords, yet it demonises small landlords across this country and opposes every single measure? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Mom and pop landlords - people in my constituency and Deputy Doherty's - who rent out one or two properties are demonised. We need them to stay in the market. Deputy Doherty wants to drive them out and increase rental property. It does not make sense. It is probably why he is celebrating his 15th anniversary as the Opposition spokesperson on finance. Five finance Ministers later, he is still sitting in the same seat because the people of Ireland do not trust him when it comes to the economy. They know the angry jack-in-the-box routine does not build homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Does the Government build homes? Seriously. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Fourteen years. The T\u00e1naiste fairly put his foot in that one. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Angry Pearse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Take your foot out of your mouth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  In the extra time available to me that was available to Deputy Doherty, can I point out there is only party in this House that receives very significant financial funding from builders and construction companies? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Fine Gael. Thanks for admitting it, fair play to you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The published accounts of Friends of Sinn F\u00e9in in the United States of America show that of its \u20ac366,000 in donations----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  What about the renters? "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  They are back in the box room. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----the bulk of them came from construction companies and builders. Do you know where the biggest donation from? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It came from one construction company in America that gave Sinn F\u00e9in $20,000. Sinn F\u00e9in tells the young people of Ireland it is on the side of the working people and Mary Lou----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  This is the lack of substance from our new finance Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----flies out to America to take the dollars from the big businesses, big companies and big builders. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Sinn F\u00e9in is the party that takes big money from big American building companies. Deputy Doherty is a hypocrite. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The T\u00e1naiste has got his time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  I am sure even Michael McGrath is blushing up there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Funny boy, Pearse. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  At this embarrassment from a finance Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Funny boy, Pearse. Happy anniversary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Has the T\u00e1naiste nothing to say to the renters of Ireland? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Fifteen years of shouting and roaring, offering nothing positive to anybody. That is you, Pearse. Happy anniversary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  The renter's tax break would not exist if it was not for me. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  When the two of you are ready, we can continue. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The rent tax credit and RPZs are benefiting people in Donegal for the first time ever. You are welcome. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Deputies very much. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  It will be gone in March. Does the T\u00e1naiste not understand the legislation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I reassure the T\u00e1naiste and anybody else in the House that where they interrupt and the clock goes on, I am fair in relation to compensating on the other side. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  You are very fair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is very difficult at times----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  You can say that again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  -----because, well, the show goes on. I call Deputy Cian O'Callaghan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I join others in welcoming the group from the Shankill Shared Women's Centre. It is great to see them. I welcome also Commissioner McGrath. I join the T\u00e1naiste in saying our thoughts are with all those affected by the devastating fire in Hong Kong.  The cost-of-living crisis may have ended for Fine Gael but for ordinary families it is getting worse day by day. Food, heating, electricity, rents and college fees are all more expensive than they were last year. The CSO found recently that food prices alone are up 4.5% in the past 12 months. People are paying more, getting less and wondering how they will stretch their wages to the end of the week. Everybody outside of the Government can see what is happening. The fact the T\u00e1naiste cannot see it is astonishing, so let me spell it out for him.  Pricewatch compared 25 supermarket staples over three years. In 2022, a basket of everyday items cost \u20ac87. The same basket now costs a whopping \u20ac135. That is a 55% jump in just three years. The price of bread is up, the price of eggs has increased by 50% and chicken has more than doubled in price. These are not luxuries; they are basics. Ireland now has the second highest prices in the eurozone, 12% above the EU average. Families are being fleeced.  The skyrocketing cost of food is not just visible in euro and percentages. We can see it in the stress and anxiety etched into people's faces when they are at the supermarket till. People are wondering how much further they can stretch their pay packets. What was once the simple routine of the weekly shop has now turned into a painful choice between essentials, between putting food on the table and heating the home. Impossible choices are being faced daily.  The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, and the Central Bank have found that food prices are increasing way beyond the costs of producing food. In other words, price gouging is taking place. Somewhere along the supply chain, someone is pocketing the difference and people are left to carry the burden. We have a food regulator whose job it is to shine a light on this but the T\u00e1naiste's Government has tied its hands. Right now, it can only ask for information. It cannot compel supermarkets or processors to hand over data. Dunnes Stores has already refused to co-operate with the regulator's investigation on the price of eggs, fruit and vegetables. The regulator's chair, Mr. Joe Healy, has pleaded with the Government for stronger powers since last year. He is still waiting. Families are still waiting. We in the Social Democrats are not prepared to wait any longer. My colleague, Deputy Jennifer Whitmore, will be bringing forward a Bill to give the regulator the power it needs. I urge the Government to support this Bill.  Parents are eating less and skipping meals so their children can eat. Pensioners are cutting back on heating and living in fear of the weekly shop. They deserve answers and transparency. Will the Government stop protecting profiteers and start protecting the public? When will the food regulator be given the powers it needs to stop price gouging? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy. I am very much aware that the cost-of-living crisis is still real for very many families across the country. The Deputy has asked me a specific question, so I am going to spend the time on it. I do want to acknowledge that and I also want outline why the Government has taken a number of measures to protect the most vulnerable, including a very significant increase in the working family payment, an expansion of the fuel allowance and the permanent reduction of the VAT rate on energy bills. There is also the fact the Christmas bonus, which is paid to pensioners and people with disabilities, factually the most vulnerable people from an income point of view, will also be paid in the coming days. I know this makes a real difference to people at this time.  The Deputy has asked a very specific question. I acknowledge the work of my constituency colleague, Deputy Whitmore, in relation to this issue as well. As the Deputy said, an independent Agri-Food Regulator was established back in 2023 under the Agricultural and Food Supply Chain Act 2023. It has two key functions. One function is to enforce the law on unfair trading practices while the other is to perform price and market analysis and reporting functions. The Agri-Food Regulator has reported to my colleague, the Minister for agriculture, Deputy Heydon, that it does require more enhanced powers to compel businesses to provide information not in the public domain. I believe this relates specifically to the price and market analysis function. The Deputy referenced some examples where there has been a real challenge or inability to do that so far. The regulator does already have extensive powers to compel information when pursuing complaints under unfair trade and practices legislation but this aspect is more about the broader price and market analysis element as well.  Before I talk about expanding the powers of the regulator's office, I should also acknowledge that it has successfully secured a conviction under the Act. I acknowledge the regulator's work in relation to that. I know the Minister, Deputy Heydon, is fully committed to ensuring the regulator is equipped with the necessary powers to fulfil its statutory function. He has had to go through a consultative and now a legislative process. This is required to ensure the additional powers granted are proportionate. This is somewhat novel, and I only mean novel in a legal sense in terms of trying to get this right, seeking legal advice and making sure whatever we put in place stands up to the scrutiny of the law.  I know the Department of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, has engaged with key stakeholders in the supply chain, whether these are representatives of farm bodies, industry, retail, Departments, State agencies and, of course, the Agri-Food Regulator himself as part of a detailed consultative process. There has been legal scrutiny now of a draft statutory instrument. As I said, the legislation is novel. It does exceed the requirements under European law. That is not a reason not to do it but it does. Therefore, it is essential that anything we do does stand up to robust legal scrutiny.  I am pleased to assure Deputy O'Callaghan today that the process to deliver on this commitment is significantly advanced. I understand that my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Heydon, expects to be in a position to sign that draft statutory instrument in the coming weeks and no doubt will engage constructively with the Social Democrats and Deputy Whitmore on their proposals. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  The food regulator asked for these powers over a year ago. Why is it taking the Government so long to give it the powers it needs to do its job? When we go into a supermarket, we see people at the checkout not being able to buy items and having to return them or leaving the supermarket stressed and worried about how they are going to meet their other bills during the week. This has gone on for well over a year without the T\u00e1naiste's Government acting. Is the Government going to sign these extra powers in this year? Is it going to happen in the next couple of weeks in this year? Will the T\u00e1naiste give us the detail on this? Are all the powers the food regulator needs to compel supermarkets, processors and anyone else in the supply chain to hand over the data required going to be in place to allow it to do its job? Are all those powers going to be in place in the next couple of weeks? Why has the Government delayed on this? Will the food regulator get the full powers? Will the food regulator now start going after price gouging? There is clear evidence of price gouging and profiteering taking place and of food prices increasing way above input prices. When is the Government actually going to act on price gouging? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I tried to largely agree with the Deputy on this occasion too. I accept it has taken a period of time since the regulator said it needed these new powers to get to this point we are at today where we have a draft statutory instrument. I would genuinely point out that those reasons are valid because this is a novel area. We are going beyond the requirement under European law. What we do has to be proportionate. We want to avoid any unintended consequences. In fairness, I know the Deputy wants to avoid that too. There is a whole supply chain here and we need to consult with all parts of it, including with representatives of the farming bodies, industry, retail and relevant Government Departments. We have increased the budget and the Minister, Deputy Heydon, secured this funding for the Agri-Food Regulator in the last budget, which enables it to prepare for and begin the process in terms of those new significant powers and hire the staff necessary to implement them. It is our expectation that this should be signed by the end of the year but I do want to give the Minister the space just to get this right. He is certainly working to try to get this done in a very short period of time. He will engage and keep in touch with the Deputy and his party colleagues on this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  Yesterday, we had the publication of the National Development Plan Review 2025 - Securing Ireland\u2019s Future Sectoral Investment Plan: Transport. A number of bypasses are needed in County Laois but it looks like the whole county was bypassed for funding. The T\u00e1naiste was down there this week last year, exactly 52 weeks ago, canvassing for the general election. Huge housing developments are needed in Laois. There has been rapid population growth in the county. It has been one of the top three counties in terms of population growth in the last three years. There is huge pent-up demand for housing and for infrastructure but we cannot have the housing without the infrastructure. Throughout the county, there is a need for roads, water services, wastewater services, sewerage services and electricity services to be expanded. The national development plan review published yesterday has approximately \u20ac202 billion in capital funding between now and 2030. On 22 July, the T\u00e1naiste said we were prioritising investment in water, energy and transport and laying the groundwork for 300,000 new homes. That is 50,000 a year. The Government will not be able to do it. It prioritised Laois but I will come back to that.  The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage has set out in its recent national planning framework document the projected need for 1,244 additional houses per annum in County Laois, on top of what is already being provided. This is a huge expansion in population. A 35% increase in population over the next nine years is what is being projected. This comes on top of five years of very rapid growth. As I said, the county is in the top three in terms of population expansion. Now, the local authorities are being asked to zone huge tracts of land. Without it being serviced, this land will be useless. People will have to get in and out by helicopter because there will not be roads. The infrastructure is required or it will stall these housing projects. It is not possible to build 1,200 or 1,300 houses per year unless these projects go ahead.  The roads that are critically needed are the Portlaoise northern orbital route and the Mountmellick relief road, which is critical, as the T\u00e1naiste saw himself when he was down last year. To open up all that land, particularly across the north and west of Portlaoise, the northern orbital route is required. Water services need to be expanded according to Uisce \u00c9ireann and the document I have here. All the red lines in this document show where they are needed throughout the county. Graiguecullen, Borris-in-Ossory, Ballinakill, The Swan and Timahoe need wastewater improvements, while Portarlington, Durrow, Mountrath, Stradbally, Rathdowney and Ballylinan need expansion in water supply. It is critical that we have this infrastructure for the council and private developers to be able to provide the housing.  Will the T\u00e1naiste go back to the drawing board with this review and ensure that Laois receives some funding, particularly for the Portlaoise northern orbital route and the Mountmellick relief road but also for the expansion of wastewater and water services? We cannot have houses unless we have services. It cannot be done. We also need to relieve the congestion on the N80, and that can only be done by the Mountmellick relief road and the northern orbital route in Portlaoise. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Stanley for raising these matters. I was indeed in Laois canvassing during the election. I was delighted that my new colleague, Deputy Willie Aird, joined the Deputy in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  There were big promises made. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  They are promises that Deputy Aird is going to keep and he will work with the Deputy constructively in relation to that as well because we have a lot of work we need to do to deliver for the people of Laois and the midlands. The Deputy makes constructive and fair points. We obviously have to put the infrastructure in place to enable the housing capacity to be delivered. That is a statement of fact.  What the Deputy saw yesterday was another piece of the jigsaw in terms of approval for a sectoral investment plan for transport under the national development plan, NDP. This is a very significant increase with regard to a number of projects. We will be in a position to deliver approximately \u20ac9.7 billion in investment in roads, protecting and renewing existing roads, delivering many new national road projects, trying to mitigate seasonal and climate-related impacts, rolling out electric vehicle, EV, charging infrastructure and delivering new strategic regional roads.  The Minister for Transport was at pains to say yesterday and on many other occasions - the Ministers of State, Deputies Buttimer and Canney, are here with us also - that this list is not exhaustive. It lists a number of projects that will be delivered. There will also be an annual Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, capital plan and we expect that plan to come early in the new year. There will also be opportunities, specifically in relation to the housing point, to look at how we can work with the likes of the housing activation office. I see this in my constituency where, if key infrastructure is funded through the housing activation office or other structures, it opens up opportunities to develop and deliver further housing supply and crucial infrastructure.  I know that when you publish a list it very quickly becomes about not just what is on the list but what is not on it. That is why I know the Minister for Transport, while welcoming the sectoral investment plan, was clear, as is all of the Government, that this is not exhaustive but it is about moving forward with some degree of clarity. There will be many further opportunities, including in relation to the TII capital plan. We will work very constructively with Laois Deputies in this House and also with the local authority.  Specifically on the issue of water and wastewater, my officials in the Department of Finance met with Uisce \u00c9ireann last week, or in the last couple of days anyway. I am certainly very satisfied from my conversations that capital funding is not now the constraint in relation to Uisce \u00c9ireann. We have provided Uisce \u00c9ireann with billions of euro in additional funding. The capacity constraint here is the planning and regulatory systems and how we can actually get things done more quickly. I will work constructively in relation to the water and wastewater projects that are needed in Laois. I also look forward to next February when the rules change to finally bring a bit of common sense and allow developers on small-scale or relatively small-scale housing developments to put in their own wastewater infrastructure. I believe this will open up huge housing opportunities in many rural towns and villages. I am happy to continue to engage and I will send on the specific projects the Deputy referenced to the relevant Ministers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I thank the T\u00e1naiste. There is no point in the Department of local government, under the Minister, Deputy James Browne, publishing lists like this and projecting huge growth for a county unless the infrastructure goes in along with it. I did not mention the need for health centres, schools - the courthouse in Portlaoise as well, by the way - and many other things, such as flood relief schemes, that are needed in the county. If we are going to have sustainable development, we have to take transport into account. At the moment, with regard to the N80, trucks from the west and everywhere else have to wind their way through the narrow streets of Mountmellick and around the junction at Pearse Street, Patrick Street and Market Square, which the T\u00e1naiste saw for himself. In Portlaoise, they have to go in under the railway bridge, which they sometimes get caught under, and in by the roundabout in the centre of the town. The road from the Mountmellick Road across has to be connected with the motorway on the north-eastern side of Portlaoise.  I appeal to the T\u00e1naiste to go back to the drawing board with this. I heard him say there may be other measures to come. There is a list on the back page of this document and, as he knows, when something is not listed on that, it is going to be a battle to do it. I ask the T\u00e1naiste to make sure that happens and that the promises made before the election are kept. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  They certainly will be. When I look at the budget that was introduced just across the Irish Sea yesterday, I am very thankful to be the Minister for Finance in a country where we are able to dramatically increase our capital investment. That did not happen by accident; it happened due to the hard work and ingenuity of the Irish people. It also happened as a result of the policies that my party, Fianna F\u00e1il and others have delivered in government over the past several years, which have resulted in us being able to run budget surpluses, put money into future funds, increase our social welfare payments to look after pensioners, older people, carers and people with a disability, and make real differences in regard to public services too.  I note that in the Deputy's second question he expanded, understandably so, the area of projects across his county to other areas, as is appropriate. We have taken a decision to roll out a series of investment plans so there will be, in the coming days, a number of further capital plan announcements in relation to health and disability and, today, in relation to childcare. There is a very significant amount in public capital funding for State-led public childcare. This is something I talked about a lot in the election and we are determined to deliver it. We will keep in touch on Laois. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The greater Dublin region is grinding to a halt. If you stand on any bridge on the M50 in the morning and look north or south, a stationary line of cars stretches out as far as the eye can see. The cost of congestion is going to reach \u20ac1.5 billion by 2040. Dublin is ranked the worst capital in Europe in terms of time and money wasted because of traffic congestion. Incredibly, studies show that the average speed of a car is now 12 km\/h. That is slower than the horse-drawn carriages of the 19th century, believe it or not.  Hundreds of thousands of people in this region are living in a commuter hell. Many parents are leaving before 6 a.m. and are not back until 7 p.m. in the evening. They are lucky if they get time to even put their kids to bed. I have no doubt this is leading to the anxiety that many children are experiencing because they are separated from their families for so long. Volunteerism is also dying in many of the commuter hell areas because people have so little energy when they come back from their commute to be able to help in community activities.  Traffic congestion in the greater Dublin area is grinding people down. A return journey for tens of thousands of people in Meath is taking four and a half hours daily, and it is approaching five hours. If we think about it, that is 20 hours a week commuting for a 40-hour working week. Meath is the biggest commuter county in the country, the only county in the country where the majority of workers leave the county every day to go to work. There are 90,000 commuters, 60,000 of whom are forced to use cars because of the lack of public transport. Navan is the biggest town in the country without a rail line.  In 1994, Fianna F\u00e1il's Noel Dempsey promised to build the rail line from Navan to Dublin. Now, Deputy Aisling Dempsey, his daughter, is promising the rail line. The promise is now intergenerational. It is incredible. The current delivery, from concept to completion, is 42 years. That means that a person starting work in their early 20s, when it was announced, will have retired and be drawing the pension before it is actually delivered. In 1862, the same rail line was built in a matter of three years with picks and shovels.  Yesterday, we saw the launch of the national development plan review. There was one mention of the Navan to Dublin rail line, with no mention of any development that would progress it faster and no ring-fenced funds for it. Bizarrely, there was a mention of building the stations on a line where it has not even been decided what direction the line will go.  On Thursday, 4 December, there will be a public meeting of the Meath on Track campaign in Meath. All I am asking the T\u00e1naiste to do at this time is to ask the senior transport Minister to listen to the people of Meath and the frustration in the country around this issue and to attend that meeting and listen to exactly how it is affecting so many people in Meath. Will the T\u00e1naiste commit to that here today? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  If I start making diary commitments for the Minister for Transport on the floor of the D\u00e1il, I will find myself in a peculiar situation.  I will certainly pass on the Deputy's request as I am sure the Deputy will be in touch with the Minister's office also. I live in a county not too dissimilar to the Deputy's in relation to commuter issues. I do take the point that far too many people are spending far too long sitting in traffic. I take the societal points the Deputy makes about the impact it is having on quality of life, childcare arrangements and a whole variety of other things, including emissions in terms of people sitting in traffic. I want to directly address the transport issues but we also need to have a really integrated conversation around work in the 21st century. It is why the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, are leading the consultation on remote working. There is this idea that people have to sit in their car five days a week and travel for hours on end. Not everybody, but some people can successfully work in their community in remote working hubs, connected hubs or indeed in their homes. This can work for some businesses and some public services. I look forward to the outcome of that consultation.  Yesterday the Ministers with responsibility for transport announced the Department of Transport capital ceilings for 2026 to 2030. The Deputy will acknowledge that by any yardstick it is a very significant increase in investment. There is a breakdown in that for active travel, public transport, road networks, road safety, civil aviation, maritime transport safety and ICT. The Deputy will also note that in that, the largest budget for 2026 is in respect to \u20ac1.6 billion for the road network, closely followed by \u20ac1.4 billion for public transport, rising to \u20ac2 billion in 2027, \u20ac2.5 billion in 2028, \u20ac2.3 billion in 2029 and \u20ac1.9 billion in 2030.  Specifically on the issue of the Navan rail line, which I know is very important in the Deputy's constituency, the NTA's transport strategy for the greater Dublin area does set out a framework for transport investment over the 20-year period from 2022 to 2042. The issue of a rail connection between Dublin and Navan was re-examined as part of the development. The re-examination supported the development of a rail line from Dublin to Navan so it is a fact that it is required. The final strategy includes delivery of the line subject to the various planning and funding approvals. In 2024, the NTA did allocated funding to Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann for the establishment of a design team to commence work on the Navan rail line project. This work involves route option selection, and planning and design phases of the project. Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann commenced the procurement process for the pre-construction phase of the project and issued a tender to pre-qualified consultants at the end of May of last year. In November of last year, about a year ago, multidisciplinary consultants RPS were appointed by Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann for the duration of the project to work with the rail company's in-house project team. It is anticipated that a public consultation on the route options will now take place next year. That process will ultimately recommend the defined route and then allow the project to move forward to the business case stage, which will require it being approved in line with infrastructure guidelines as well. As the Deputy said, the Navan rail line is mentioned in the NDP, under a sectoral implementation plan. We had a debate earlier about what is and is not mentioned. This is mentioned in the plan. We are committed to the delivery of it.  I make one final point. The Deputy refers to times gone past and I know he has a view on this too. In times gone past, I do reckon there was an awful lot less around regulatory, planning, delays and likes as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  No landlords. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We do need to see how we streamline that for important capital projects. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The T\u00e1naiste mentioned a number of stages in a multi-stage process. Each of those stages is taking longer than it actually took to build it in the 1860s with picks and shovels. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  By the landlords. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The national development plan review means very little. At best it is talking about the rail line being delivered by 2036 but there is already a landowner talking about taking a judicial review against it, which is going to blow that out of the water. This project is in reverse. We were told we were going to have the railway order in 2026 and now it is being pushed back to the end of 2027. The Government has increased the budget, I agree, but those come after this country being second from the bottom in Europe for ten years in terms of infrastructural spend. All the money the Government pushes on this does not matter unless it fixes the disaster in terms of infrastructure builds. Under this Government, we have the slowest planning, permitting, licensing, tendering and judicial review systems in the European Union.  The response to the workers who are stuck in traffic is to hike up their tolls and fuel taxes. Some people in Meath are suggesting a toll strike, refusing to pay tolls on the roads. Some are suggesting they block traffic in Dublin in the same way traffic is being blocked for them on a daily basis. I am against that disruption. Rather than going to those lengths, the T\u00e1naiste must do his best to see if he can get a senior Minister or public servant in the room in Navan on Thursday week, to listen to the people on the crisis they are going through. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I generally believe it is very important for public officials to listen and engage, including those who have responsibility for the delivery of the projects in terms of the various agencies. I am sure if the Deputy reaches out to the Minister's office, he can engage with him. I am sure he has done so. I will certainly pass this on as well. I am in a point of agreement. First, I disagree with the idea that the project is going backwards. I very much believe it is moving forward. That is why it is in our national development plan, and the investment plan of yesterday. We will go to consultation on the preferred route in 2026. I think that is progress. I agree with the Deputy on the diagnosis of the challenge in terms of how we streamline infrastructure delivery. The Deputy will remember from our debates on these issues that I ran an election campaign where my party heavily advocated for the need for a Department of infrastructure in our programme for Government. We got a division in the Department of public expenditure and reform on infrastructure delivery. We are going to see the outworkings of that, probably next week and certainly within the next two weeks in terms of how we can streamline processes. As Minister for Finance, I believe funding will not be the major challenge in the delivery of those capital projects. It will be timelines and making sure we can look at running some processes in parallel rather than waiting meekly for this to end, and then this and so on. There are more gates here than you would see in many country estates. We need to look at how we can reduce that as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  It will be a year to the day this Saturday since the general election. One of the crucial areas that came up time and time again on the doors in Kildare North was the lack of social infrastructure keeping pace with the new houses being built. I am sure the T\u00e1naiste has experienced this as well in his own constituency, the neighbouring constituency of Wicklow. What I would like to raise today is school admissions, particularly for secondary schools. In Maynooth, Celbridge, Leixlip, Clane, Kilcock, Naas, Prosperous and every town in the constituency, we have children in sixth class who have not been guaranteed a place in secondary school. They have applied to and are on waiting lists for numerous secondary schools. This is causing natural worry and fear, particularly running up to Christmas. No child in sixth class should be worrying about where they are going to school in September next year.  It is clear to me that there is a lack of future planning and forecasting when it comes to school places in areas of high growth like north Kildare and indeed the T\u00e1naiste's own constituency, where Greystones Community School has had a particular issue in terms of its expansion. I am thinking particularly of the principals who are trying to tackle this issue and find capacity. I have spoken with Siobh\u00e1n McCauley, principal of Maynooth Community College, and Johnny Nevin, principal of Maynooth Post Primary, about trying to facilitate the amount of admissions they are getting. Naturally, it happens every single year. Time and again, the Department comes back with \"increase enrolment\". By increasing enrolment, we are essentially increasing class sizes when we have committed to reducing them. As well as that, we are looking at a capacity issue. These are two new schools, Maynooth Community College and Maynooth Post Primary. It was the largest investment by the State of \u20ac30 million at the time, with a capacity of 1,000 pupils per school, and it is far exceeding that.  One method the former Minister for Education, Deputy McEntee, introduced, was a pilot scheme for admissions. I welcomed it at the time. I think it is a great idea in principle, a type of CAO process. Unfortunately, that has not worked in Celbridge. We have Celbridge Community School, Salesian College Celbridge and St. Wolstan's Community School. In those schools, the pilot scheme has not been working as intended. It has created extreme frustration, particularly when the ethos of the schools are different. Salesians' is an all-boys school, St. Wolstan's is an all-girls school and Celbridge Community School is a mixed school. We need to look at capacity planning linked to demographics, not just based on the census but particularly on cases where we know there are planning applications going through for 500 or 600 houses in locations, to ensure that we have the places at primary and secondary school. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy is right. I have a note here. I am only going to read this bit out to show how frustrating what we receive sometimes is. The note is saying that for 2025, it is estimated that there are around 4,200 first year places available in County Kildare, with 3,794 sixth class pupils in the area, and on this basis the officials estimate a surplus capacity of around 400 places. Whoever wrote that note in the Department of Education and Youth could not be further from living in the real world. That is not the reality we experience in our constituencies in commuter land. It might work on a spreadsheet - there are this many places and this many children. It does not factor in what the Deputy referred to, parental choice and ethos.  A parent is the primary educator of their child. A parent has the right to decide the type of ethos they want in a school. We should not have any homogeneous view on that; it is about the parent's choice. As the Deputy said, we can also have a whole variety of different mixtures of schools and differences in population. What the Minister, Deputy McEntee, was trying to do, and I thank the Deputy for acknowledging her work on this, is a reform that he and I welcome. There is a reason it is done on a pilot basis, and it is the very reason Deputy Whitmore and I have seen in Greystones where, quite frankly, there have been real issues with it as well. It is a good idea, and we can see why it was run on a pilot basis. It is so we can actually get the roll-out of this correct. The Deputy has obviously seen that in Celbridge. We have seen it in Athenry, Clonakilty, Greystones and Tullamore. We do need to get to this system. The Government is very committed. The new Minister for education committed to building on the work of the previous Minister, Deputy McEntee, as well.  We have seen and will see a very significant increase in capital funding for education. In fairness to Department of education officials, the Minister for education and successive Ministers - the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is in the Chamber - there have been real demographic pressures and challenges, including trying to quite rightly meet the needs of people with additional educational needs. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, is doing excellent work on that too. We will see a very significant increase in capital funding for the Department of education.  However, the Department and the Government have to listen very carefully to communities on this too. We can have all the offices and all the spreadsheets we want but, generally, the local school principal will not be out too far. We should not have to have a battle every year to convince the school principal that he or she is wrong only then to admit a couple of weeks later that, actually, maybe the school principal was right. It does cause too much stress. I join the Deputy in acknowledging the work of school principals - the likes of Ms McCauley, Mr. Nevin and others across the country.  Demographics cannot be seen as one kind of homogeneous thing right across the country. There are certain parts of our country where there are specific demographic pressures and bulges. The Deputy represents one such county; I represent another. We are absolutely committed to working with the Deputy on this. We are committed to learning the lessons of the pilot and how we can actually get that to the place we all want to get it to. I will ask that the Minister for education work closely with the Deputy in relation to the specific school projects he mentioned today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  One frustration of school principals as well is that when the Department comes out looking for more spaces, it looks at communal spaces or an office and tries to say they could be classrooms. We have to protect those communal spaces for students as well. Whenever I speak in this Chamber, I always try to come with solutions rather than just raising issues all the time. I have some solutions that I would like the T\u00e1naiste to take back to the Minister. As I mentioned, one is the capacity planning linked to demographics, particularly in the commuter area. A lot of us living in the commuter area experience it. The second is to introduce preference ranking, particularly on that admissions system, with a first, second and third preference. Third is to harmonise admissions criteria. We see different criteria for admissions policies in schools, which can really complicate admissions to most secondary schools and, indeed, primary education as well. There is also the issue of transparent oversubscription management. Anonymised data on applications, offers and waiting lists for each school should be published in order that we can know more. Finally, we need a feedback loop on the likes of this pilot and others to report on their success and, indeed, opportunities and challenges from that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  As the Deputy approaches his first anniversary in the D\u00e1il, he has definitely learned how this place works. I think he named every town in his constituency through the two contributions. I hear him. I also want to acknowledge and thank him for the constructive suggestions and solutions he has brought here on behalf of the schools, communities, parents and students he is dealing with in his constituency. They are sensible suggestions that I will feed back directly to the Minister, Deputy Naughton. The Minister of State at the Department, Deputy Moynihan, is also here today and will feed them back. Most particularly, that feedback loop is really important. Principals, parents, schools and everyone else are engaged with this in good faith. Those of us whose areas were chosen to be the pilot towns are all happy, but there is real learning from this to try to get it right. Having that feedback loop so the Department can hear that directly would be a good idea. I will certainly pass on the Deputy's solutions and keep in touch with him on it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":53,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-O'Connor.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"James-O'Connor.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Later today, thousands of taxi drivers will take part in a slow drive protest against Uber's new maximum pricing feature. Taxi drivers say this move is a blatant attempt to undermine the National Transport Authority, NTA, regulations and that it will be absolutely devastating to their incomes and for the future of the industry. They also tell us, and we know from other places where Uber has introduced this model, that it has resulted in a bad deal for taxi drivers, who end up being forced to pay much higher commission, and also higher prices for customers as choice dries up. Taxi drivers have been left with no option but to take to the roads of the capital to confront what they see as a big threat to their livelihoods. They are calling for the NTA regulations to be updated to capture the impact of dispatch apps on the industry and on income of taxi drivers. The Government needs to get involved now and sort this out. This is a serious issue for taxi drivers right across the State, but it is also a very serious issue for customers who could see higher prices as choice dries up, as we have seen in other jurisdictions where this happened. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Doherty. I am aware of this issue and the significant concern of taxi drivers in relation to this. The factual position given by the Department is that dispatch operators are required to provide bookings to small public service vehicle, SPSV, licensed drivers using SPSV licensed vehicles only. Where taxi drivers choose to affiliate with a dispatch operator, they are free to contract with a dispatch operator of their choice. However, I do understand there is genuine concern and worry in relation to this. The Minister for Transport did issue a letter to the NTA on 19 November asking it to engage and clarify the regulatory position for SPSV operators. I will certainly take the Deputy's request back to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  It is my first opportunity to wish the T\u00e1naiste well in his new role. I wish to speak on the secretaries and caretakers talks, which have broken down again, in relation to their pension entitlements and leave entitlements. Mr. Andy Pike from F\u00f3rsa said:  The Department\u2019s refusal to table a constructive proposal on this point has now brought the process to an impasse. School secretaries and caretakers have shown extraordinary patience. Their determination to secure a just and long-overdue resolution remains unwavering. But if progress continues to be blocked, we cannot \u2013 and will not \u2013 rule out further strike action.  We do not want to see more secretaries and caretakers outside our door. We do not want to see schools operating with no secretaries and no one at the front door or to do the maintenance work in the schools. This is now an opportunity for the Government and the T\u00e1naiste, as the new Minister for Finance, to step in and make a clear indication to all secretaries and caretakers across this country that he will stand up for their entitlements and give them those entitlements. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for his good wishes. I congratulate him on his first year in the D\u00e1il. I think I heard him say the other day that he is the first TD born in the 21st century----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  Absolutely. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  -----which is a significant milestone. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  We got elected at the same age. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Did we? There you go. Well, comhghairdeas, and----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  Maybe I will be T\u00e1naiste some day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Maybe you will. I would highly recommend it most days. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  At the rate this Government is going, yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  We will have a discussion offline about that. We used to be in government with the Labour Party. You have to be careful not to get too close to that crowd - I jest.  I thank the Deputy for raising what is a really serious matter because school secretaries and caretakers are the beating heart of our community. We know them; we know them by name. We all want to see this issue resolved. Conscious of my new position, I do not want to over-comment on discussions between parties that remain confidential other than to say that this matter has been referred to the Labour Court. A resolution needs to be found. I understand the Department and the Government remain committed and ready to engage with F\u00f3rsa to reach a resolution to this important matter, which, as I said, has been referred to the Labour Court. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I am hugely concerned about the lack of ambition in the national transport plan that was issued yesterday. Luas Finglas, which received planning permission this month, will not start construction until 2029. This is not a complicated project; it is a 4 km extension. Earlier this year, the Taoiseach promised to accelerate the Cork Luas. There is no funding for it in this plan. Similarly, DART+ South West is also now on the long finger. That has had full planning permission but it will not start construction until 2030. There is no funding for Luas to Lucan, Poolbeg or, indeed, Bray in our constituency. There is no funding for the reopening of the Waterford to Rosslare rail line, which is a critical project for the development of the south east. That has been ignored.  Incredibly, funding for active travel is not inflation-proofed in this plan, which really just amounts to an effective cut across the next five years. This failure to prioritise public transport means increasing gridlock, longer commutes and higher emissions. We all know why this is happening, and it is primarily so that money can be given to roads over public transport. The last Luas project was delivered in 2017. It will now be at least 13 years before there is a new one, and that is the short extension. How can the Government stand over this plan while claiming it wants to prioritise public transport? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  There have been eye-watering amounts of public funding allocated to capital, including to the Department of Transport.  I would make the point, as I made earlier but I want to make it again, there are lots of projects that will be advanced over the lifetime of this Government and beyond that are not included in yesterday's sectoral investment plan. They are generally projects of below \u20ac200 million and TII will publish an annual capital plan, likely in and around January, and the Minister will be in a position to publish this also. I know I am being argumentative but I would make the point that I am a big believer in building roads. Public transport needs roads, there are road safety issues, and the electric vehicles we are trying to get people to switch to need to drive on roads. Far too many road projects, including the N11 in our constituency----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  The N81 did not get a mention. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  A minute ago you did not want to spend the money on roads and you criticised us for spending too much money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  That is a safety issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Exactly. Roads funding is important and I agree with Deputy Whitmore on this. This is why we have made sure the N11 will advance and I assure Deputy Whitmore that the N81 will too. The N81 is not a project that is expected to reach the threshold there would have been in the sectoral investment plan. I have discussed this with the chief executive of Wicklow County Council also. My broader point is that I will ask the Minister to come back specifically on the public transport projects, including the Luas projects, to which Deputy Whitmore referred. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  School secretaries and caretakers are at the heart of all school communities up and down the country. In September, 2,600 secretaries and caretakers were forced to take industrial action to deal with long-standing inequities, whereby they are excluded from pension parity with other school-based public service staff, including teachers and special needs assistants. They have shown extraordinary patience. They agreed to suspend their strike action and enter talks at the Workplace Relations Commission on the basis of assurances that they would receive pensions comparable to other public sector workers. The Departments of public expenditure and education have now reneged on these assurances and have failed to engage in any meaningful way with the workers' union, F\u00f3rsa. The talks have now broken down and schools up and down the country face further strike action and, indeed, closure. We have heard statement after statement from the Government, and from Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Deputies, in support of school caretakers and secretaries but talk is cheap. I ask the T\u00e1naiste today to instruct the negotiators to honour the commitments given and grant the comparable public service pensions to school secretaries and caretakers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Healy for raising a very important matter. Sometimes when you are in my position talk is not cheap and it can be detrimental to very important processes that need to be followed in our labour relations and industrial relations mechanisms in the country. I agree with Deputy Healy's analysis on the hugely positive contribution our school secretaries and caretakers, and the SNAs he referenced in an earlier discussion, make. On Friday, 5 September we had constructive engagement under the auspices of the WRC and agreement was reached that the Department and F\u00f3rsa would engage in a process to resolve the issues in dispute. Officials from the Department engaged several times with F\u00f3rsa under the auspices of the WRC. The matter has now been referred to the Labour Court. From my experience, in this House and in public life, I hope both sides can get into the Labour Court and engage in a meaningful way to try to find a resolution to this dispute, which we all want to see resolved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Two weeks ago hundreds of people peacefully protested outside D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann against CPOs being used to force greenways and walkways through the middle of their farms and property. They included people from Galway, Kinsale and Cooley in County Louth. The Oireachtas transport committee meeting heard evidence from TII, which admitted it was not aware CPOs were being forced on landowners to take their land from them for greenways or walkways for recreational use. At this meeting TII promised a review will take place on the roll-out of greenways for the thousands in Ireland affected. For those affected throughout the country, living in fear that lands would be taken from them, this was some relief. Fast forward a week later, and much to their horror more than 500 landowners on the Cooley Peninsula in County Louth received the dreaded letter through the letterbox stating the greenway was railroading through their ground. Is Ireland losing its democratic status as TII and the local authorities give themselves ever-increasing powers over the land and property rights of private citizens? Will the T\u00e1naiste communicate with TII and local authorities, especially regarding Cooley in County Louth, on stalling progress on walkways where there is no agreement until the review TII is commissioning is completed and CPOs are taken off the table? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am sympathetic to some of the points the Deputy makes. I have had discussions with colleagues on this also. CPO is a very important tool but it should be used in very specific instances. I am not certain I am comfortable with its use in relation to greenways. The State should not overcomplicate the situation in relation to greenways. They are good things, and they are things that communities generally want, but there does need to be a bit of common sense in terms of the routes. There has been a degree of complexity, perhaps, injected into it. Greenways are great and they have transformed many parts of our country but we do not want to see them become in any way divisive. I will seek an update from the Minister on where the TII's review of the use of CPO is at. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  We have heard all the talk about a 12-month anniversary for many TDs but I would like to talk about a 64-year anniversary which was commemorated yesterday. A group of us met the Irish Thalidomide Association in Leinster House. It was a cross-party meeting with Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael, Sinn F\u00e9in, the Social Democrats, the Labour Party and Independents all represented, and they universally acknowledged the hurt and pain those survivors have experienced for 64 years. I spoke here last year and asked for a State apology. A State apology was given by the British nearly 15 years ago and by the Australians in a similar timeline. For the life of me, I will never understand the legal jiggery-pokery we hide behind inside here and, specifically in this case, in the State Claims Agency. It is universally acknowledged that what happened was wrong and deeply regrettable. To forego the pain the few remaining survivors are experiencing, I am begging again today and pleading with the T\u00e1naiste. A meeting is coming up on 9 December between the T\u00e1naiste and the Taoiseach and the survivors and their legal representatives. I ask the T\u00e1naiste for once and for all to bring it to a head. Do what is right and do what is expected. I could not attend the funeral of 95-year-old Peggy Murphy earlier this year because I felt ashamed as a public representative. I beg the T\u00e1naiste, with the Taoiseach, to bring this to a conclusion once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is genuinely what I want to happen and I know it is really what the Taoiseach wants to happen. I acknowledge and pay tribute to him for the work he is investing in this personally. He and I had a meeting circa three weeks ago, maybe four, and we are due to meet with the representative group again very shortly. It will be either next week or the week after but it is in the month of December. A huge amount of work is under way to try to get this where it needs to get to. I thank many of the people we know for coming around here, all too frequently, and feeling they have to come around here, such as Finola and others, because this has dragged on a long time. I also want us to get to a point where an apology can be offered in the House. We have seen ways it has been done in the past for a lot of issues and it would be entirely appropriate. I know the Taoiseach is working very intensively on this. I am very eager to work with him on it. We are both directly engaging on it and I really do want us to make progress on this for once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy William Aird  Rathdowney fire station has been waiting for more than two decades for a replacement. A site was acquired in 2003, Part 8 approval is complete and Laois County Council has prioritised Rathdowney for the 2026 to 2030 fire service capital programme. The current station is outdated, overcrowded and lacks proper facilities for female staff, despite having the largest number of female fire fighters in the county. Rathdowney crews continue to provide an excellent service to a wide area of homes, schools, farms and businesses. A new station is essential to provide proper training conditions, adequate facilities and a stronger response capacity. Will the T\u00e1naiste commit to prioritising and funding the construction of the new Rathdowney fire station? Will he provide a clear timeline for when its long overdue funding will be released? The T\u00e1naiste mentioned that today is our first anniversary of being elected. Would it not be lovely for him to stand up in his response to say \"Yes\" to me and that he has a clear timeframe for doing something? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  No pressure, T\u00e1naiste. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Aird for all the work he has been doing over the course of the past year, keeping us under pressure in terms of many projects that are important to the people of Laois, who gave him such a resounding mandate a year ago and I acknowledge this. I thank him for raising this important matter with me. I know it is an issue he has been campaigning on, not only as a TD but during his time on Laois County Council. As Deputy Aird knows, Laois fire service indicated that a new fire station at Stradbally was the council's number one priority, and a replacement fire station for Rathdowney was the second priority. This is the factual position. We saw a situation where the Stradbally fire station project was progressed and has now been approved to tender for the construction phase, and it will have a closing date for submissions on 20 January 2026.  The reason I say that is it now means Rathdowney has become the number one priority in this regard for Laois County Council and the Laois fire service.  I am pleased to say that Laois County Fire and Rescue Service has now identified a proposed site that it believes is ideally situated with regard to the road network, traffic flow and central location. Here is the rub, though. The fire service capital programme 2026 to 2030 is being finalised and once it is, we will have a better idea of the timeline. Let me be clear, though. We are absolutely committed, as are the Department of housing and Laois County Fire and Rescue Service, to progressing the proposed new Rathdowney station. The next time we are in Laois, perhaps we will visit it and talk about timelines and moving that forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy William Aird  And the T\u00e1naiste will be able to make an announcement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Bh\u00ed s\u00e9 geallta go dtabharfa\u00ed cumhachta\u00ed nua d\u2019\u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta. Bh\u00ed s\u00e9 geallta \u00f3 2021 go bhfoilseofa\u00ed treoirl\u00ednte plean\u00e1la do thithe sa Ghaeltacht chomh maith. D\u00faradh linn ag an am go raibh na treoirl\u00ednte sin beagnach r\u00e9idh, ach f\u00f3s n\u00edl siad ann. N\u00edl ceachtar de na gealltanais sin comhl\u00edonta agus t\u00e1 muintir na Gaeltachta th\u00edos leis d\u00e1 bharr gan tith\u00edocht do l\u00e1n\u00faineacha n\u00f3 clainne nua. C\u00e9n f\u00e1th ar g\u00e1 d\u00fainn fanacht go dt\u00ed 2027 ar r\u00e1iteas n\u00e1isi\u00fanta phlean\u00e1il Ghaeltachta? C\u00e9n uair a bheas C\u00e9im na Tuarasc\u00e1la don Bhille um \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta (Leas\u00fa), 2024 againn? An mbeidh cumhachta\u00ed breise aige maidir le ceist na tith\u00edochta sna Gaeltachta\u00ed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I will have to check with the relevant Minister on the status of that and will revert to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  The alignment of route 80 away from the quays on O'Connell Bridge has been identified as the cause of many of the operational issues affecting the operation of that route and the commuters who use it, including my constituents in Palmerstown. While I understand from the belated statement from the NTA yesterday that a review of the route is now underway, something that has been called for by elected representatives for some time now, it may take months. We need to arrive at a sustainable solution much faster, which is something the T\u00e1naiste and the Minister for Transport will support.  This goes to the heart of an issue we have correctly identified in the programme for Government. We have promised to review the structures and operation of the NTA to strengthen its engagement with local authorities, communities and stakeholders. This now needs to happen as a matter of urgency, as it has come to a head in light of the reaction and the way in which the issues around route 80 have been dealt with. While I have engaged with individual operators on individual service matters, I understand that they operate within the parameters set by the NTA.  We need to build confidence in our public transport system. The NTA's statement yesterday that operational data for route 80 showed no major issues did not match the experience of commuters in Palmerstown and Chapelizod, who have been let down in recent weeks. Does the T\u00e1naiste agree that we should make more granular performance data on our public transport systems available for all routes in order to build that public confidence and, as I have previously suggested, enable a traffic light system to show daily performance of individual bus routes around the country? That transparency can only build confidence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is a very good idea because we need to do two things. As the Deputy has rightly said, for his constituents in Palmerstown, Chapelizod and in general, we need to build the confidence he has talked about but we also need to be able to track performance in terms of return of investment. We have just announced as a Government a major increase in public transport funding and a major increase in capital funding in general. It is right and proper that agencies of the State are able to account not just to their elected representatives, but also to the people on how they are performing in return for that capital. That level of data makes sense.  I will specifically talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, in respect of the issues the Deputy has raised regarding the review of the route and the need to arrive at a sustainable solution. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  I wish to raise the issue of the upcoming DEIS plus programme that has been announced. I am fearful that it will just be for the major cities. I want to highlight a number of schools, particularly those in Longford town. I ask that schools in towns like Longford, where there are many issues on the ground, are prioritised for the DEIS programme, particularly the national schools of St. Joseph's, St. Michael's and St. Emer's.  Another issue I have raised previously is the lack of special school places. We have several families who have been on a waiting list for nearly 12 months due to the lack of places in the special school within Longford town, which covers not just the town, but the whole county and the counties surrounding it. I ask that we prioritise special school places being made available immediately for those families who do not have them and but badly need them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Carrigy for raising this issue. The roll-out of DEIS and DEIS plus, as we have committed to in the programme for Government, is linked to an educational measure but also a child poverty measure. We all know one of the best ways of lifting people out of poverty, including intergenerational poverty, is through our education system. Tackling educational disadvantage moves children out of poverty in the short, medium and long terms. I am determined, as is this Government, that the roll-out of DEIS plus is based on need, evidence and analysis, not just picking certain parts of the country. Absolutely, Longford will be considered in that context.  As the Deputy will know, there are already 23 schools in Longford in the DEIS programme, with six urban band 1 primary schools, one urban band 2 primary schemes, ten rural DEIS primary schools and six post-primary schools. My understanding is that schools in Longford are now participating in the consultation process to inform the development of a new strategy, and this report will be published shortly. Regarding the special school places issue, I will specifically ask the Minister, Deputy Naughton, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to look at the issues in Longford and link with the Deputy to try to make progress on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  The T\u00e1naiste's colleague, the Minister for housing, James Browne, has pulled the plans to build nearly 500 units within the Dublin City Council area under public-private partnerships. A total of 1,000 new homes have already been delivered under public-private partnerships and a further 3,500 were in the process of being delivered across the country. However, the Minister pulled the plug on the delivery of these additional homes. These units will primarily not be built because of opposition from the Department of public expenditure two days before construction on the project was to commence. Companies had already put substantial investment into the project in terms of both staff and resources.  We have a lame duck Minister. We need to now redirect moneys to the local authorities, which will deliver housing more cost-effectively than the public-private partnership schemes. Local authorities need to be the lead developers in delivering these badly needed homes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Let me correct the record: we have an excellent Minister who is working very hard but housing is also a whole-of-government issue. The Minister, Deputy Browne, recently published, with me, the Taoiseach and the Minister of State, Deputy Cummins, a new national housing plan that involves every part of the State, realising everybody has a role to play in the housing emergency, including our local authorities and State agencies.  On this specific project, I am not familiar with it but I will speak to the Minister----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  It is being pulled. It does not make sense. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I will speak to the Minister because we all want to see more supply and I will ask him to revert to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  In the bigger picture, the NTA is not fit for purpose. We have heard about route 26 turning into the route 80 disaster that is affecting Palmerstown and especially Chapelizod. This may be reviewed, but I did a survey of 2,700 bus users who were all wary of it from day 1. I had a meeting with the chief executive but nothing was done at the time. The C2 bus spent so long down a temporary route that all the new houses were built alongside it and a new route is needed that incorporates the L25. The abolition of route 13 in Clondalkin is causing major concerns for certain estates, especially for school kids.  It goes on and on but the big picture is the NTA has absolutely no accountability. You raise an issue with the Minister for Transport, who says it is an operational matter for the NTA, but if you are trying to have political input and do not want political patronage, you need an input and an NTA that listens to the elected representatives who are representing the people on the ground and makes changes. However, it is not making the changes and it is not listening. There is an arrogance there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for highlighting that. Ultimately, State agencies must always remember that they are agencies of the State. The people in this building and those in local authority chambers are the democratically elected representatives of that State. I am sorry to hear the Deputy is highlighting a real issue in terms of a lack of engagement on this. I will certainly take this back and discuss it with the Minister for Transport more broadly and I will ask him to revert to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  The T\u00e1naiste has a pensions double-header coming up from the Labour Party here.  I will be returning to the issue of the An Post pensioners. The T\u00e1naiste will be aware that, in September of this year, An Post management agreed with the Communications Workers' Union, CWU, an increase of pensionable pay by 7%, with 6% backdated to 1 January and 1% to 1 June. The current code of practice for the governance of State bodies requires An Post to obtain ministerial approval before paying the increases mandated by the superannuation scheme rules and for Ministers to consider a review by NewERA before approving the increase. This completely unnecessary review process has been underway since 23 October. As Ministers and NewERA have no authority to disregard the rules of the scheme, why is it taking so long to approve the increases and will the T\u00e1naiste give an unequivocal undertaking that pensioners will receive their increases before Christmas? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I will not give any undertaking until I get on top of the facts of it. I will certainly get on top of the facts now and will revert to the Deputy on the issue. I can only imagine the frustration of those An Post pensioners. Allow me to seek the latest update and I will revert to the Deputy on it in writing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"George Lawlor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"George-Lawlor.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy George Lawlor  I want to raise the issue of pension abatement. Quite a number of retired public servants who were encouraged back into the service following their retirement are now in receipt of rather large pension abatement bills, so to speak. Retired public servants who had already earned their pensions were basically told that if they worked a certain number of hours, cumulative over the full year, they would not be penalised in any way. However, one man showed me a bill for \u20ac18,000 and said that a colleague of his had a bill for in excess of \u20ac40,000. These are people who were encouraged back into the service and, to be fair to them, came back into the service at a time when we were really under pressure, which is often still the case. The irony of it is that, if he went to work for an agency supplying work to the public service, there would be no implication for his pension. This is on foot of Circular 24\/2022 from the Department of public expenditure. I urge the T\u00e1naiste to intervene with the Department of public expenditure to realistically look at this and to ensure that people who have come back in to give their service to the State again are not penalised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Lawlor for highlighting this issue. Anecdotally, I have come across this as well. We are asking people who have accrued significant experience and expertise to come back and help out with a specific project, maybe when there are particular times of pressure, such as during Covid and many other occasions. Often, it can be quite a challenge to get people to come back, not necessarily because they do not want to, but because of that interplay in relation to their pensions and pension abatement. It is a complex area, as the Deputy knows, but I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Chambers, in relation to it and ask him that he revert to the Deputy on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-O'Connor.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"James-O'Connor.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James O'Connor  The Irish Fiscal Advisory Council, IFAC gave a very stern warning to the Government yesterday about our level of expenditure. What I want to raise is an important project that the Government could get behind to try to grow our domestic enterprise and entrepreneurial activity in Ireland. I gave a presentation to our parliamentary party in relation to having a national, fully supported accelerator grown and developed in a newly redeveloped IFSC. The country needs this to happen. Given my own party leader's disinterest in it, maybe it is something the T\u00e1naiste might take up. It is important because it could grow our tax base in Ireland and support young entrepreneurs, and we could be proactive about how we grow our domestic tax base. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank the Deputy for his constructive contribution and the idea of an accelerator project for the IFSC. If the Deputy sends me on the details of it, I will be very happy to engage with him on it. I suggest that my colleague in the Department of Finance, the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, who has responsibility for international services, and I could have a discussion in relation to that. I would be happy to facilitate that.  IFAC has a really important role today. Groupthink brought us to a moment of economic ruination before. It is important to have critical voices but the big learning from IFAC is the need to get the medium-term fiscal framework nailed down before Christmas so that we anchor our spending and taxation plans for the next number of years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  I want to raise the issue of building childcare facilities, which are conditional on a lot of planning permissions, especially in major developments. We are finding that facilities are not being built. Even if they are, the rent being demanded for them is too high for people to go in and for it to be viable. It is time now that we looked at this as a Government to see what can be done to make sure we have adequate childcare facilities built, especially in new housing estates. Where planning permission is granted for 40 or 50 houses, there should be co-ordination about putting in place adequate childcare facilities because parents are now finding it extremely difficult. They cannot access childcare facilities, and people who want to provide childcare cannot afford the rents that are being demanded. We need to tackle this immediately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  As is often the case, Deputy Burke is correct on this. There is a real blockage here, which is that it cannot all be left to the market. I meet people in my constituency and around the country, often young professional people, who they want to open a childcare facility. They are well up for it, ready and qualified but they gave to face upfront costs, startup costs, rents and capital costs. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Foley, to specifically consider the Deputy's comments in the context of the new action plan on childcare that will be published early next year. Today, the Minister has, or is about to, announce our capital funding plan for childcare, which will see very significant funding, for the first time really at scale, for State-led childcare facilities. Perhaps we can fold the Deputy's comments into that conversation as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  I want to raise the crisis facing families seeking special class places in Kildare South. Cian attends St. Conleth's Infant School in Newbridge and ready to start primary school in a special class. His family applied everywhere - Newbridge, Kildare, Kilcullen and Naas - but were refused in all. Harry is 12 years old and despite his family applying to every available ASD class in the Newbridge-Kildare area, he has no suitable secondary school place. Last week, I heard the case of another young boy, 15 years of age, who has never been able to attend a secondary school. His family told KFM that they were heartbroken and felt that they had exhausted every option. The young boy himself has said he feels useless and wants to die.  These children are simply asking for the right to education alongside their peers. South Kildare is clearly and seriously underserved when it comes to ASD provision. Will the T\u00e1naiste ensure that these young people have appropriate school places for September and will he engage with the NCSE to urgently expand capacity in south Kildare? I find it very insulting to these parents that the NCSE is out there practically boasting about the number of free spaces it has when this does not match the reality on the ground. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I try to stop myself doing it as well, because I can stand here and point to there being X number of more places. That might be true, but it is also only a cause of frustration for a parent who does not have a place. I take that point, which is a fair one.  In relation to the three specific cases the Deputy raised, I will notify the Minister for education and the NCSE of her intention to follow up on those. On the broader point in relation to the capacity in Kildare South, I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, to revert to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  On Monday night, Fine Gael, Fianna F\u00e1il, Labour, the Green Party and right-wing Independents all voted to raise rents on the poorest households in Dublin city. These are council tenants, AHB tenants, HAP and RAS tenants who do not even get any maintenance from the council and who are all set to have their rents increased from April. There are plans to do the same across the country. This is pointed towards in the Government's housing plan, including in South Dublin County Council. The rent is being increased for cold, damp, uninsulated and overcrowded homes. This is forcing families with adult children trapped in their childhood bedrooms to pay higher rents. Some 43% of council tenants and almost 60% of HAP and RAS tenants already live in poverty. These increases will put them over the edge. The T\u00e1naiste could stop this. He could talk to his councillors across the country and tell them not to vote for these rent increases. The Government could properly fund our councils. If it does not, it will face a mass campaign of resistance to this. The issue of the rent hikes will become a central issue and the by-election in Dublin Central will potentially become a by-election about these unfair rent hikes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this matter. These are always sensitive and important issues to try to get right. I know local councillors try to grapple with what the right approach is on this. I note that different parties, including some Opposition parties, have voted in different ways on this on different councils. I think the lead Opposition party voted one way on South Dublin County Council and voted a different way on Dublin City Council. I am not sure what the policy difference was in terms of why it voted in two different ways. We are trying to get the balance right. We are taking a number of measures to try to assist people with housing and poverty. We will continue to trust our councillors to monitor this on a case-by-case basis per local authority. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/73","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/73\/dail\/1","houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Sanctions against the State of Israel Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Sanctions against the State of Israel Bill 2025: First Stage","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I move:  That leave be granted to introduce a Bill entitled an Act to prevent and address the commission of the international crimes of genocide and apartheid by the State of Israel, by providing for the establishment of economic sanctions.  This Bill, in line with our moral and legal obligations under the Genocide Convention, international conventions on apartheid and international law, calls for a complete boycott of all economic relations with the State of Israel for the crimes of apartheid, ethnic cleansing, genocide and the ongoing persecution and oppression of the Palestinian people.  There is a narrative that Israel's only crimes are illegal settlements on the West Bank or that the genocidal slaughter we have seen over the past two years in Gaza is simply the outworking of the extremism of Netanyahu and a few individual ministers. The truth, of course, is something very different. The truth is: Israel is not now or never has been a normal state. The State of Israel is a death machine directed at the Palestinians and whose sole purpose is the ethnic cleansing of the Palestinian people from their lands. This has been the case since 1948 and the genocidal slaughter we have witnessed over the past two years is simply the outworking of that horrific reality.  It is the failure of the world - the international community, including our own Government, the EU and other governments - to acknowledge the genocidal nature of the Israeli regime and the fact that it is based on apartheid and ethnic cleansing. The continued extension of political cover, arms, economic support and favoured trade status has actually emboldened Israel to commit the genocidal crimes of the past two years.  I have not got time to go into the evidence, but if one looks at the statements of ministers, members of the military and the Israeli Knesset, what one sees again and again are clear statements of genocidal intent. Netanyahu has publicly declared his intention to erase Palestine from the map and that history goes back for the entire history of the State of Israel. Just as we did with apartheid South Africa, the time for treating Israel as a normal state has to an end. It must be isolated from the international community as we did with apartheid South Africa. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  We are introducing this Bill today because the Government has failed to put its money where its mouth is. On Palestine and Gaza, it is all talk and no action. Sanctions by Ireland on Israel would make a real difference because, shamefully, Ireland is now the world's second largest importer of Israeli goods. During the genocide of the past two years, trade between Ireland and apartheid Israel has exploded from \u20ac198 million in 2020 to \u20ac3.24 billion in 2024. These are not consumer goods. If they were consumer goods, then the Irish people who have stood steadfast with Palestine, marched week after week and taken direct action would have boycotted these goods. Over \u20ac3 billion, or 92%, of this trade is in so-called electronic integrated circuits and micro-assemblies. An excellent investigation by Uplift into Ireland's trade with Israel finds that it is most likely funnelled from Intel's facilities in Israel through Ireland via transfer pricing for tax benefits. There we have it. Just like with the Central Bank's shameful facilitation in the selling of Israeli war bonds, Ireland's complicity in genocide is due to our role as a tax haven for international finance and US multinationals.  The same report provides numerous other examples of this disgusting complicity. One is that Israel's Unit 8200 uses Microsoft's Azure cloud platform, with data stored in the Netherlands and Ireland, for a mass surveillance system that collects recordings of millions of Palestinian phone calls, daily information used to prepare air strikes. This is information held in Ireland in our data centres. UN special rapporteur Francesca Albanese said that US multinationals were embedded in an economy of genocide, and so are we.  The Uplift reports says that the benefits of foreign direct investment, FDI, revenue are achieved at the cost of direct complicity in genocide and human rights violations. These are the wages of FDI, the political and moral price Ireland is being asked to pay for its economic prosperity.  A US secretary of state once said that the deaths of half a million children in Iraq was a price worth paying for US objectives. Our Government is making the same genocidal choice. By refusing to implement sanctions on Israel, it is deciding for all of us that the price is worth it. It is selling our souls for US investment. This Bill would put an end to that by imposing comprehensive sanctions on the State of Israel. It is the minimum we should be doing under the Genocide Convention and it should be done now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Is the Bill being opposed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Frankie Feighan)  We are not opposing it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Since this is a Private Members' Bill, Second Stage must, under Standing Orders, be taken in Private Members' time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I move: \"That Second Stage be taken in Private Members' time.\" "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.35 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.15 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.35 p.m. and resumed at 2.15 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sanctions against the State of Israel Bill 2025: First Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Sudan: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":18},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Mark Wall)  We now have statements on Sudan. I call on the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, Deputy McEntee, to make her statement under Standing Order 56. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Helen McEntee)  I welcome this opportunity to provide an update to the House on the devastating conflict and humanitarian crisis in Sudan, and to hear the views and concerns of Deputies. Many have described the conflict and its impact as a forgotten crisis. In truth, it is has at times been an ignored and sidelined crisis. It is, as we heard this morning, the worst humanitarian catastrophe happening on our planet at the moment. It is welcome that we are having these statements and this prioritisation here today.  I sincerely welcome the sustained interest shown by Members of the Oireachtas. It sends a very important message that this crisis and the plight of the Sudanese people cannot be ignored. It also reinforces the Government's commitment to keeping Sudan on the international agenda at EU level and at the United Nations. It has been over four years since the Rapid Support Forces, RSF, and the Sudanese Armed Forces forcibly halted Sudan's democratic transition and more than two years since conflict erupted, in April 2023, after a brutal power struggle between them. Sudan's conflict is labelled as a civil war, yet the millions of civilians caught between the parties to the conflict, including breakaway armed groups, did not choose to fight each other. Instead, they have been forced to bear the cost of this violent power struggle.  In reality, this has always been a preventable crisis. The conflict has been significantly inflamed and prolonged by foreign interference. It is causing a humanitarian catastrophe exacerbated by the restrictions imposed on humanitarian access to people in need by the parties to the conflict. The conflict has resulted in untold suffering for the Sudanese people, with more than 150,000 people already dead. This is the world's worst humanitarian and protection crisis, with over 12 million people forcibly displaced. Over 21 million people, a shocking 45% of the population, are facing crisis levels of hunger. Famine, which was declared in parts of Darfur in 2024, has now been confirmed in El Fasher and Kadugli, with over 20 other areas across greater Darfur and greater Kordofan also at risk.  Women and girls have been disproportionately affected. There has been an alarming spike in sexual violence in recent weeks as civilians have fled El Fasher, with egregious accounts of rape, human trafficking, forced marriage and sexual slavery. Sexual assault has been very much weaponised in this instance. These numbers are staggering, but it is important to remember that behind every statistic is a person, a family and a community. These are real people whose suffering cannot be captured by statistics alone. As my colleague reiterated this morning, there are many people in this country whose family members and communities are caught up in the ongoing conflict.  I am appalled by, and strongly condemn, the targeting of civilians by both parties to the conflict, particularly the recent horrifying and brutal atrocities committed by the RSF following its takeover of the city of El Fasher on 26 October. The RSF systematically targeted civilians during the siege and after the city\u2019s fall, committing large-scale, ethnically motivated atrocities, including summary executions, the arbitrary detention of civilians and the use of sexual and gender-based violence and starvation as weapons of war.  Too many of those who were trapped in El Fasher are still unaccounted for. Ireland's humanitarian partners, including the International Committee of the Red Cross and the International Rescue Committee, are on the ground and reporting regularly to us on efforts being made to support the population. Our Irish NGO partners are also supporting people in need in Darfur with essential life-saving aid. Many Deputies will have seen or read shocking accounts of those who did manage to flee and the violence which they experienced or witnessed in their flight to safety. The scale of violence is unimaginable and, unfortunately, part of a widespread pattern of harm against civilians in this conflict. These actions are unconscionable and we must do everything in our power to ensure that they stop.  The capture of El Fasher, the last stronghold of the SAF in Darfur, consolidates the RSF's control over that region.  This increases the risk of Sudan's fragmentation between east and west and the potential for the partition of the country. The territorial unity and integrity of Sudan must be respected and partition must be avoided. Currently, the SAF holds Sudan's central and eastern regions, while the RSF controls Darfur and most of the Kordofans, which now form the conflict's new front line. Alarmingly, violence continues to escalate in north Darfur and the Kordofans, further exacerbating an already dire humanitarian crisis. The cities of Kadugli and Dilling in South Kordofan are currently under siege by RSF forces and El Obeid in North Kordofan is at risk of an all-out assault. Reports indicate that civilians along these emerging front lines are subject to similar horrors as those experienced during the battle for El Fasher. Throughout this war, control of territory has shifted repeatedly and with each shift, we witness a familiar pattern of widespread human rights and humanitarian abuses and violations, mass displacement and a rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation.  We in the international community cannot stand back and watch as the suffering of the Sudanese people continues. We have witnessed the shocking and deliberate targeting of humanitarian workers, which is a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law. In addition, both warring parties are shrinking the humanitarian space further by imposing bureaucratic impediments in an attempt to assert authority and consolidate control. This puts humanitarian actors in a difficult position, as compliance with one party can jeopardise operations in the other\u2019s territory.  I acknowledge the local responders on the ground who are operating in hard-to-reach areas, often at immense personal risk. They form the backbone of aid efforts. They have shown unwavering courage and selfless dedication in serving their communities. Local community groups, often led by women, have carried on traditions of supporting one another even in the darkest times. We in turn are doing what we can to support their efforts. There are extensive and well-established rules on the protection of civilians and civilian infrastructure, humanitarian access, the protection of humanitarian personnel and the protection of the sick and wounded and those caring for them. Yet we have seen time and again a blatant disregard for these international and legally binding humanitarian norms in this conflict.  A dangerous technology and arms race is intensifying the conflict between the SAF and RSF, with dire consequences for Sudanese civilians. Both sides are employing increasingly sophisticated drone strikes to target civilian areas and infrastructure, a direct violation of international law. For instance, the RSF launched drone attacks on Khartoum and Port Sudan earlier this year. The SAF has similarly used drones to hit targets in Darfur, resulting in civilian deaths and casualties and causing damage to critical civilian infrastructure. The extensive destruction of civilian infrastructure, including energy, food, water and sanitation systems, deprives people of the services essential to their survival. This is why we fully support the critical infrastructure initiative, led by the EU and the EU special representative for the Horn of Africa, Annette Weber. Ireland has consistently highlighted the scale of the humanitarian crisis, the critical levels of hunger and famine, the need for unhindered humanitarian access, and the profound impact of the conflict, in particular on women and girls. It is vital we continue to shine a light on this crisis. It must not slip back down the international community\u2019s agenda until the next El Fasher occurs.  On support to address the crisis, Ireland's sustained and substantial humanitarian assistance to the people of Sudan remains at the core of our response. We have provided \u20ac14.3 million in humanitarian assistance to support civilians in Sudan and those in neighbouring countries displaced by the crisis. In the current global crisis of funding cuts to humanitarian aid budgets, I assure the House that Ireland will remain steadfast in maintaining our focus on reaching the furthest behind first. Our assistance is delivered through a range of international, Irish and local partners, providing urgent humanitarian relief to the most affected communities and those forced to flee across borders. Many of our multilateral partners, including UN agencies and global funds such as the Central Emergency Response Fund, CERF, to which Ireland provides core, pre-positioned funding to enable swift action, have provided significant funding to Sudan this year. UN CERF has provided $47 million in 2025 to support the people of Sudan. Ireland is the seventh largest donor to the CERF and has provided \u20ac15 million this year alone. Ireland is known for its strong and principled tradition of humanitarian assistance, its sustained support for less visible crises and its track record of providing steadfast, quality funding, with a focus on reaching the most vulnerable. This matters to our partners as it supports effective delivery of aid to those who need it most in Sudan, its neighbouring countries and in other crises where conflict and climate have taken their toll.  On the political track, Ireland has taken a proactive stance within the EU and has consistently advocated for Sudan to remain high on the European agenda. We played a leading role in initiating discussions on sanctions in 2023, which led to the establishment of the EU sanctions regime, and in securing strong EU Council conclusions on Sudan in October this year. We also successfully called for Sudan to be placed on the agenda at this month\u2019s EU Foreign Affairs Council meeting, which I attended last Monday, with a focus on the implementation of the Council conclusions. The Council adopted restrictive measures against a senior RSF commander. We would welcome discussions on further sanctions in line with the Council conclusions, which state that the EU will continue to employ and, where possible, intensify the use of the full range of foreign policy instruments at its disposal, including, where appropriate, targeted restrictive measures to achieve a peaceful resolution to the crisis.  We are clear on our immediate priorities. Civilians must be protected, particularly women and girls who remain at grave risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Safe passage must also be provided as a matter of urgency for those fleeing violence. All parties to the conflict must uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law, including the protection of front-line humanitarian actors and local responders. We need to do everything possible to ensure the protection of principled and depoliticised humanitarian space so that humanitarian assistance and services reach those in dire need. The parties to the conflict must facilitate rapid, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access, particularly in the greater Darfur and greater Kordofan regions.  Another key priority for the Government is ensuring accountability and justice for the atrocities committed. It is crucial that we, the international community, collectively support efforts to document, investigate and address these crimes. To this end, Ireland continues to support the important work of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission on Sudan, IIFFM. We welcome the recent extension of its mandate and underline the need for all parties to the conflict to provide unhindered access to the fact-finding mission. Ireland supports expanding the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court, ICC, to the whole of Sudan, as recommended by the fact-finding mission. This is to ensure the perpetrators of international humanitarian and human rights violations and abuses across the country are held accountable and brought to justice. Ireland works closely with like-minded states to promote accountability for violations of international human rights and humanitarian law, and to ensure that those responsible will be brought to justice. As a member of the Sudan core group in Geneva, Ireland led on the adoption of a resolution on the situation in El Fasher at the special session of the Human Rights Council, HRC, on 14 November. The resolution requests the fact-finding mission to conduct an urgent inquiry into the violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in and around El Fasher. The fact-finding mission must be fully supported in carrying out this vital work. We remain committed to ensuring that Sudan is consistently raised and addressed within the Human Rights Council and other multilateral forums. The environment of impunity in Sudan must end.  On the issue of conflict-related sexual and gender-based violence, there is a responsibility to prevent and investigate, and to hold perpetrators accountable for all forms of gender-based violence in conflict. There can be no impunity for these crimes. All justice and accountability processes must be survivor-centred and survivor-led. A survivor-centred approach must guide us. It must be one that listens to survivors, takes their experiences seriously and upholds their rights and needs. If we are to take seriously the fact we are on day 13 of 16 days of activism, when all individuals across the globe can highlight, raise and put a focus on domestic and sexual violence, we need to make sure, when we respond to incidents and atrocities like this, that we are taking serious action and putting survivors' needs front and centre.  Ultimately, there must be a durable peace if the humanitarian crisis and the immense suffering of the Sudanese people are to end. There has been renewed momentum internationally to push for a solution to the conflict, which is welcome. The Quad, comprising the USA, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and the UAE, released a joint statement in September, following visits by the US President\u2019s special adviser, Massad Boulos, to key countries in Africa. This created the impetus for a recent meeting in Washington focused on reaching agreement on a humanitarian truce. The RSF released a statement on 7 November agreeing to the proposal, although there appears to be a lack of any meaningful implementation thus far. Meanwhile, the SAF has rejected the proposal, vowing to continue its military campaign against the RSF.  We welcome the ongoing work of the Quad, including these efforts to negotiate a three-month humanitarian truce. Resolving this conflict requires significant and sustained political will. It is incumbent on all of us to redouble our efforts in support of the Sudanese people. There must be substantive political engagement and co-ordination between the EU, the African Union, AU, the Quad and other international actors on de-escalation and mediation efforts.  For this conflict to end, external interference and the provision of military support to the parties to the conflict must also cease. This was raised earlier this morning. The conflict would not have persisted if it was not being fuelled by arms and fighters from outside of Sudan. At the May 2025 meeting of the EU-Gulf Co-operation Council political committee, Ireland, speaking on behalf of the EU, stressed the need to use every influence to prevent external actors from providing arms to combatants and to unite in favour of peace. In the statement by the EU's High Representative for foreign affairs and security policy released this month, the EU reiterated the message set out clearly in the October Council conclusions on Sudan and called on all external actors to take the necessary measures to end the sale or supply of arms and related material to all parties, in accordance with the UN arms embargo. Ireland, with the EU, will continue to call for the expansion of the UN arms embargo on Darfur to the whole territory of Sudan.  Ireland remains committed to working with our EU partners and the international community to bring decisive pressure to bear on the warring parties to engage in genuine dialogue and agree to a sustained cessation of hostilities. This must be followed by a negotiated, permanent, peaceful and civilian-led political settlement that respects the territorial integrity of Sudan. This must include full, equal and meaningful participation of women, young people, marginalised groups and Sudanese civil society actors in the political process. Ireland and the EU are supportive of the African Union high-level panel and the Intergovernmental Authority on Development, IGAD, in facilitating a number of meetings of Sudanese civilian actors, providing that vital platform for civilian dialogue. I fundamentally believe that to have a stronger, more inclusive and more durable peace, a broad range of civil society actors must be meaningfully involved. Therefore, Ireland fully supports a continuation of this vital dialogue and any other efforts that aim to include a diverse range of civilian voices in discussions on ending this devastating conflict. Once peace is restored, we are committed to supporting a robust, Sudanese-led post-conflict recovery to ensure a peaceful, stable and prosperous future for the people of Sudan.  However, we cannot wait for peace to act when it comes to addressing the humanitarian needs of Sudanese civilians. In the short to medium term, irrespective of any progress in peace negotiations, Ireland will continue to advocate for the de-politicisation of humanitarian assistance, the lifting of restrictions to allow for humanitarian access to reach those most in need, the safe passage of humanitarian workers and the protection of humanitarian space. Reaching those furthest behind first will continue to be our core guiding principle in providing humanitarian assistance to civilians in Sudan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. Sudan must not be forgotten, condemned to rise and fall on global news cycles, gaining visibility only in moments of catastrophe. We will continue and I, as Minister for foreign affairs, will continue to play a proactive role on the international stage, including at the EU level, in raising the plight of the Sudanese people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  T\u00e1 m\u00e9 ag roinnt ama le mo chomhghleacaithe. I thank the Business Committee and the Minister for agreeing to these statements. Some other parties and I have been looking for it for some weeks. The Minister made reference to it not getting the attention it deserves. That is undoubtedly true. It is probably true in this country too. The situation the people of Sudan are facing does not bear thinking about. One of the journalists perhaps best known for reporting on the conflict in Sudan is an Irishman, Declan Walsh. I read a piece by him in late September or early October. It was before the fall of El Fasher. He interviewed a man, Dr. Selik. He spoke about the things he had seen. He spoke about seeing a pregnant woman bleeding to death for the want of simple medicine. For his lunch that day, the only food he could put his hands on was a lumpy brown mush. It was some type of animal fodder normally fed to camels and cows. Several days later he was killed in an attack on a mosque by a drone. We can multiple Dr. Selik by 100, 1,000 or 10,000 because that is the scale that we are talking about. The number of people who have been killed is unclear. It is difficult to establish exactly. Some estimates have put it up at 150,000 people in the past two years.  The scenes we saw from El Fasher were perhaps the moment that maybe the world began to pay attention but it is far from the first or the only place that this is kind of slaughter has taken place. The scenes are redolent of Rwanda. They remind one of that kind of genocidal behaviour. That is what is going on. People - men, women and children - were being cut down on the street by gun and blade for their ethnicity indiscriminately. That is the situation we are talking about. It has gotten worse; it is escalating. After Rwanda and much the same as after the Second World War, people said that this must never be allowed to happen again. The international community must never turn its eyes away again. Yet, this is what has been happening. To some extent, unfortunately, it is being encouraged by external forces. We have talked about some of them, such as the United Arab Emirates. These are powerful countries with connections to the West. There are others encouraging it as well but it is important that we use our influence with those whom we have influence. Ireland is not a major country but we must use whatever leverage we have. Unfortunately, Europe, the United States and the western world as a whole have not prioritised this appalling stuff. This is the biggest conflict on the face of the planet at the minute.  A total of 12 million people are refugees who have been dislocated from their homes, many of them in neighbouring countries, in other parts of Sudan, such as South Sudan, in Egypt and so on. That is twice the population of this whole island who are after being dislocated and removed from their homes by this conflict. They are very often under the threat of death and fleeing for their lives. There are tens of thousands of people who are believed to have left El Fasher. It is not known where they are. They have not reached a safe place. We do not know the full picture of what has happened to all those people. I cannot imagine what it must be like for the Sudanese community here in Ireland, across the world and in other parts of Sudan trying to establish what has happened to their loved ones and wondering if they are safe. In many instances, it has been unmitigated indiscriminative killing.  It remains the world's worst humanitarian and displacement crisis because of the ongoing conflict. A total of 21 million people - 45% of the population - are currently facing acute food insecurity. Famine has been confirmed in areas of North Darfur, including in El Fasher, Kadugli and South Kordofan. The intensifying violence and associated issues of concern across Sudan means that the true scale of the food insecurity crisis and the potential famine is likely far worse than reported. Widespread human rights violations are contributing to the severity of the protection crisis in Sudan. Woman and children, in particular, are bearing the brunt of the conflict and have been significantly impacted by the use of conflict-related, sexual and gender-based violence. Women and children are being targeted in a way that is vicious and deeply traumatic. Some of the stories coming out of Darfur and El Fasher have been truly appalling and blood chilling.  In addition to the significant food insecurity and displacement, children are at heightened risk of recruitment, trafficking, child marriage and family separation. The OCHA estimates that 10 million children are out of school as of 31 October. I have been raising concerns for a number of weeks and months in the D\u00e1il with the T\u00e1naiste and former Minister for foreign affairs, Deputy Simon Harris, about the situation in El Fasher and the inability to get humanitarian aid into the city and our concerns for the civilian population. Unfortunately, the situation since I first began to raise it got far worse as El Fasher fell and the RSF carried out these appalling crimes against humanity. We can no longer avert our eyes from what is happening in Sudan. This is the largest humanitarian crisis in the world. More than a year and a half of siege warfare made El Fasher one of the most horrific places to live in the world in a war that the UN has labelled as the worst humanitarian crisis.  Reports from the UN and humanitarian organisations indicate that the RSF is effectively instrumentalising and manipulating humanitarian aid in an attempt to maintain control. The flow of weapons into Sudan continues with the complicity of the UAE and possibly other countries, such as Russia and neighbouring countries. All of them must stop the flow of weapons that is escalating and adding fuel to the fire of this conflict. Whatever leverage Ireland has must be used. Ireland, the EU and the United States all have strong connections and ties to the UAE and every pressure must be put on that country to try to stop the flow of weapons that is adding fuel to the fire.  Realistically, it seems that we are a long way off peace talks, unfortunately. While I welcome any efforts that are taking place, it seems that both sides to the conflict have ambitions to control Sudan so realistic peace talks are a considerable distance away. Even if that is the case, we must do whatever we can to push for a ceasefire. If the international community stands up, as it ought to, then the greatest pressure can be brought to bear in that regard. The enormous flow of sophisticated weaponry to the conflict is very dangerous and a matter of huge concern. The takeover of El Fasher was marked by the use of very sophisticated military technology, clearly well funded, including unmanned aerial vehicles for both surveillance and strikes on civilian areas and infrastructure, jamming technology and more. The Irish Government must continue to call on all external actors directly or indirectly supplying arms and funds to the parties to cease their support immediately and to restrain from any actions that could fuel further violence.  There is deep concern at the lack of clarity on the huge numbers of people deemed to be missing. It is believed that the RSF is responsible for terrible atrocities and is currently working to hide and cover them up before international observers can get to El Fasher. Both the SAF and RSF must ensure access for humanitarian aid and international observers. The Government must work with its EU partners and the international community to bring decisive pressure to bear on the warring parties to engage in dialogue and to agree to a sustained cessation of hostilities. I echo the point made by the Minister that partition is something that we would not wish to see. We need to see a civilian-led political settlement that respects the territorial integrity of Sudan.  In the short to medium term the Irish Government must advocate for the depoliticisation of humanitarian assistance, the lifting of restrictions to allow humanitarian aid to reach those most in need, the safe passage of humanitarian workers and the protection of humanitarian space. The attacks on civilians that have been taking place are crimes against humanity and must be condemned profoundly. There is no place for the kinds of scenes that we have seen in El Fasher and Darfur. The influence of those powerful actors, including the UAE, who have been fuelling the conflict, needs to be called out. Pressure must be brought to bear and ultimately, we must support the people of Sudan, who desire peace, a ceasefire and a political settlement that ensures a civilian government. In the first instance, we must do all we can to force the conflict to a close. Ireland must use its voice, combined with the much larger voices of the EU and USA, to deliver a ceasefire and peace for the people of Sudan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  There is going to be a lot of commonality in what we are saying here but the main message is that action is needed. I spoke at the OSCE conference in Istanbul recently about the ongoing global refugee crisis, with millions of displaced people fleeing conflict zones such as Sudan, Gaza, the Democratic Republic of Congo, DRC, and Yemen. It is a stark reminder of the consequences of the developed world allowing, and even enabling, conflicts in its zones of influence. The global powers have not only failed to prevent the escalation of these crises but have actively facilitated, or ignored, the conditions that led to the deaths of thousands and the displacement of millions.  The conflict in Sudan has escalated dramatically since April 2023. Former allies in the 2021 coup are now at one another's throats and it is the civilian population of Sudan that is suffering. Deep-seated rivalries over power and control of resources triggered a full-scale civil war, leaving the country in a state of chaos. Tens of thousands of people have been killed and millions have been displaced, both internally and to neighbouring countries. The Sudanese civil war has the potential to escalate into a genocide that would dwarf that of Rwanda. As violence intensifies, targeted killings, mass displacement and ethnic cleansing are beginning to ramp up in the most distressing manner. The very real threat of famine would devastate the internally displaced population. There has been an ongoing massacre in El Fasher since its takeover by the RSF last month. An 18-month siege has seen a city of 250,000 inhabitants fall and a drawn-out bloodbath has ensued. At least 2,500 are dead but, with a communications blackout and a civilian population fleeing for their lives, it is impossible to tell how many are dead. Without urgent intervention Sudan could see even more widespread violence and genocide, leaving countless lives destroyed.  The world seems increasingly unmoved by genocide, as tragic events unfold with growing frequency but often receive only fleeting outrage. The global community's response has been marked by political apathy, diplomatic powerlessness and a media cycle that quickly moves on to the next crisis. The normalisation of violence on such a grand scale, coupled with the failure of international institutions to prevent, or effectively intervene in, atrocities has desensitised us to such an immense loss of human life. Instead of provoking widespread action, genocides are often met with brief condemnation, leaving victims to endure suffering while the world moves on, leaving justice and accountability lagging far behind.  While the conflict in Sudan may have started off as a domestic affair, external powers have played a significant role in aggravating the situation. One of the most harmful external influences has been the intervention of the Gulf states, particularly Saudi Arabia and the UAE. This has made western powers reluctant to involve themselves in a peace-building effort for fear of offending their strategic regional allies. These countries have been engaged in an almost colonial, imperialist exploitation of the resources of Sudan, particularly its gold. Both the SAF and RSF have received financial support from these Gulf states at one time or another and the chaos of civil war has made it all the easier to extract the mineral wealth that belongs to the Sudanese people. The RSF in particular has benefited from UAE backing, largely because of its involvement in the war in Yemen, where it provided mercenary support for the UAE-led coalition. This one group has been instrumental in the brutal oppression of civilian populations on two separate continents. The UAE has been involved in facilitating the illegal export of gold, with the RSF controlling much of the mining operations. This illicit trade has enriched UAE-linked companies, further entrenching the power of the warring factions and prolonging the conflict for the UAE's gain.  Another malign influence in the country is Russia, through its private army, the Wagner group. This interference has further entrenched the power struggle between the rival factions as both vie for favour with Russia to gain military and economic advantage. It is plain to see that this is not just a civil war. It is a war that has opened the door for outside actors to interfere, influence and exploit events. This external involvement has not only prolonged the fighting but has made peace efforts even more challenging as western powers stay away because of Gulf state involvement. The Sudanese people who have long suffered under authoritarian rule find themselves caught again in a vicious cycle of violence and instability, with little hope of a peaceful resolution in sight.  The international community cannot afford to ignore the potential for further atrocities. The risk of ethnic cleansing and of the mass atrocities seen in Darfur in the early 2000s remains a haunting possibility. Western nations with their political and economic leverage must prioritise a robust, co-ordinated diplomatic response. This must include enforcing an immediate ceasefire, supporting Sudanese-led peace initiatives and pressuring external actors such as the UAE and Russia to halt their destabilising support for the warring factions. Western powers also have the responsibility to impose targeted sanctions on individuals and entities fuelling the conflict, particularly those involved in war crimes or genocide. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Sudan is a very large country with huge natural resources. It has some of the richest agricultural land in Africa running along the edge of the Nile. It has huge natural resources, particularly gold, and it has been long held that much of this conflict is about those natural resources. Indeed, the influence of outside powers in that and the attempt to try to plunder the wealth of that nation to the detriment of its people, is one of the age-old stories of conflict around the globe. Unfortunately, that is the same situation we have unfolding here. The RSF, backed by the United Arab Emirates, back in 2003, I think, when it was then called the Janjaweed, ran through Darfur and burned, pillaged and murdered. It was an absolutely catastrophe. For people to get it into their heads, that region of Dafur is the size of France. We are talking about a very large scale. For the people who live there, this has been a tragedy that is going on for decades. Unfortunately, we all watch our televisions every night and see different conflicts in different parts of the world. Unfortunately, many of these conflicts, particularly when they are in Africa, do not get the attention they should get. Many of us meet people from Sudan. There are a number of people I know such as Yousif, a friend of mine, who is from Sudan. There are two families living in Sligo who have family in El Fasher in Sudan and they cannot contact their families. They do not know what has happened to them, where they are or what the situation is. This is a real human tragedy for all of those people. A big part of that tragedy has been the treatment of women and girls in this conflict. When El Fasher fell, the maternity hospital was attacked and 460 women and girls were murdered. That is just one example. Internationally, this has not been given the level of attention it deserves to get. I worry and I am very concerned when we look at the peace programme that has been put in place. When people are talking about peace, we always accept that and want to see that happen. However, when we hear that it is Trump's United States, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia, countries which have been up to their necks in this conflict, which are the ones proposing a peace agreement, it should raise concerns. There is a real need here, particularly for the United Nations but also for the European Union, to become involved on a much higher scale. We need positive international influence to bring peace about, not the negative international influence that has been there up to now to try to take advantage of the situation that is to the detriment of the people who live in this magnificent and beautiful country.  The thousands of tonnes of arms that have gone into Sudan over the past number of years is something that has also fed an arms industry that has backed both sides in the conflict. This is also part of the age-old story we have about conflicts around the globe. We recognise something which is a very common story but on which we have a responsibility to stand very firm. The people of Ireland have a great affinity with many countries in Africa, particularly as many of our missionaries in the past went there and were such a positive influence there. We now have an opportunity to be a positive influence again.  I welcome the words of the Minister earlier when she said that Ireland wants to play its part in that. We certainly need to be a loud and solid voice for the ordinary people of Sudan to find a peaceful way out of this conflict and to bring to bear positive international pressure to make that happen. We also have to bring to bear positive international pressure for the malign influence of other countries from outside of Sudan, which have been detrimental to this conflict, to pull back and allow a proper peace process to be established in Sudan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  I am glad to finally, a year in, have the opportunity to speak on the unbelievable atrocities happening in Sudan. The degree, scale and intensity of the violence taking place in the territory is unfathomable. Since the civil war broke out in 2023, over 12 million people have been displaced and, it is estimated, another 150,000 killed. Last month, satellite images showed blood-stained streets and bodies piled high after the city of El Fasher finally fell to the Rapid Support Forces after an 18-month siege. The siege created gruelling famine conditions for the innocent people living inside the earthen walls built around the city by the paramilitary forces. The violence unleashed by the RSF when they finally beat the Sudanese army and took the city, was even worse than anticipated. There were killing sprees, summary executions, rapes, and civilians shot dead in the street. Some 460 people, including patients, healthcare workers and loved ones, were murdered in cold blood by the RSF fighters. At the main hospital in El Fasher, mere days after the city was captured, the medical facility turned into a human slaughterhouse. This particular tack by the RSF fits as part of a broader strategy of the group since the beginning of the war to target healthcare. Weaponising medicine as a terror tactic, 1,204 health workers and patients were killed and more than 400 were wounded.  The affront on humanity in Sudan knows no bounds. UNICEF released figures in March this year recording 221 rape cases against children since 2024, many of whom were under the age of five and some as young as one year old. These statistics represent only a fraction of the reality. We cannot turn away from what is happening in Sudan. The ongoing humanitarian calamity, the scenes of horror worse than any movie, have become a reality for too many innocent people. We cannot become complacent in the face of war crimes so sinister. Part of the reason this conflict has been so protracted is that it has been eclipsed by the genocide in Gaza and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Despite the enormous complexity of the situation, a peaceful solution is still possible. With enough international attention, both sides can be pressured to accept a sustainable ceasefire agreement. Let this be a forgotten war no longer. I urge the Minister, as she continues in her new role, to dedicate diplomatic resources to this cause to keep it on top of the agenda. Let us not be complicit in these catastrophic war crimes either. We know the UAE is pouring arms into Sudan, to the RSF specifically. Smuggled via basis in Chad, these include sophisticated Chinese drones that can strike from hundreds of miles away; artillery; and Columbian mercenaries recruited and on the UAE payroll. The UAE is actively trying to back a winner in this war in allowing these horrific acts to unfold. Who is Ireland's new best pal and trading partner? None other than the UAE. Over the past decade, exports of goods to the UAE have grown by 127%, with imports increasing by 3,094%. The total bilateral trade is now valued at more than \u20ac2.25 billion annually. We are exponentially increasing trade ties with this country and there appears to be huge oversight when it comes to human-rights due diligence.  I will end with the words of a 14-year-old constituent of mine, Holly, from Newbridge in Kildare. Holly has written to me many times on Palestine, and she is an avid campaigner. I was delighted to receive a handwritten letter from Holly last week. I encourage her to continue in her activism. Holly writes: \"Please consider calling Ireland\u2019s business and economic ties with the UAE into question, this cannot be swept under the rug.\" "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  The Labour Party was calling for this debate for the last few weeks through the Business Committee, along with others. I am happy we are having it today. I also commend the majority of the Minister's statement on this. It was detailed and contained more additional policy coherence in relation to Sudan than we have seen to this point. In that regard, it is interesting to note that the European Parliament today adopted a joint motion for a resolution on the escalation of the war and the humanitarian catastrophe in Sudan. The Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group, of which my party is a member, voted in favour of this resolution giving the need for a strong message to the Sudanese people condemning the violence in El Fasher and across the country and urging robust action to stop the war. However, the text omits some of the key reasons and actors responsible for this conflict which have been deliberately left out by the European People's Party - a fraternal group of the Minister's party in the European Parliament - and the far right. Again, unfortunately, we see the main grouping in the European Parliament, the grouping of which Fine Gael is a member, again finding themselves in problematic, to say the least, positional, policy and moral territory when it comes to humanitarian rights, conflict and war.  Our group deplores that the resolution fails to explicitly mention the United Arab Emirates and its role in fuelling the war in Sudan. This is a crucial demand of the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats group, as credible investigations have indicated that external actors, notably networks operating from and through the United Arab Emirates, have supported the RSF through financing and arms supply, thereby violating the UN embargo and EU restrictive measures. This is not unimportant. In her statement, the Minister spoke a number of times about the Quad as a group of states that are trying to broker a peace here, but the United Arab Emirates are part of the Quad and, as such, are a barrier to providing a trusted solution that can deliver peace. It feels as if we are a long way from peace at this point, as the conflict is escalating. The scale of conflicts happening all over the world at this moment is simply horrific.  I was taken with something the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, said this morning during foreign policy questions on Sudan. He said that this had been the worst year for humanitarian aid workers in terms of deaths and violence against them. It is no coincidence that the politicisation of humanitarian aid and its delivery go hand in hand with ensuring safe conditions under which humanitarian aid workers operate. We know those conditions have deteriorated to the point where too many are losing their lives or finding themselves caught up in warfare. That is a key part of the Minister's statement with which I fundamentally agree, namely, the need to depoliticise humanitarian aid and provision of humanitarian support.  That is nowhere more the case at this precise moment in time than in Sudan, where millions of Sudanese civilians are facing starvation, disease and relentless violence. To cite a research group from Yale, the violence is at a velocity not seen since Rwanda. Those of us in this country who are old enough to remember the genocide in Rwanda in 1994 will recall the work of Ireland and our amazing transformative President, Mary Robinson, at that time who highlighted what was going on in that country. It sends chills and shivers down my spine that, in 2025, we are seeing similar levels of catastrophic violence against all civilians, but in particular the impact on women and young girls, who suffer most in all conflicts. That is another point on which I agree with the emphasis of the Minister and the previous speaker from Sinn F\u00e9in. The violence, including sexual-based violence, is of such an horrific degree in Sudan that the suffering is at a level that is almost unimaginable. That is why we in the global north need to react in the strongest possible terms. For that reason, it is disappointing that the motion agreed in the European Parliament did not include the calling out of the UAE's role. I ask the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, to bring that back through his line Minister to their party group in the EU.  Ireland has long stood for the rule of international law, strong humanitarian principles and the protection of civilians in conflict. Those values cannot and should not be selective. They cannot apply in some regions and not in others. The people of Sudan deserve our solidarity as much as the people who are suffering in Gaza, Ukraine and all over the world do. That is the bargain with which the Irish people stand and it cuts through geography, colour and creed. If you are suffering, dying or the victim of war, then the Irish people will stand with you and the Irish Government needs to back that up.  Analysis shows that roughly 21.2 million people are living in Sudan and 45% of the population are facing high levels of acute food insecurity. Famine conditions are ongoing in El Fasher in North Darfur and Kadugli in South Kordofan. Humanitarian access is being restricted or, indeed, weaponised, which brings us back to the point about the politicisation of humanitarian aid delivery. Disease is spreading rapidly. In just one area of the capital, more than 5,000 cases of malaria, typhoid and dengue fever occurred just a short few weeks ago, accompanied by dozens of deaths. Cholera, measles and other very preventable diseases are now commonplace due to the lack of clean water and the collapse of sanitation and basic healthcare systems. The situation is beyond dire.  While we are getting some images out of Sudan, we are not getting enough. We are getting satellite footage of mass graves and intelligence reports of what is going on but such is the constrictor-like grip that these forces have over their areas, we are not seeing what is actually going on. We can take it that the numbers are being underreported and that the conflict and violence are at a level that is much worse than we are seeing.  The conflict has destabilised the Horn of Africa and threatens to destabilise regions far beyond. Sudan sits at a strategic crossroads politically, geographically and economically. We know all that, but that is not at the core of why we need to act now. We need to act because millions are starving and the violence is growing. When the state collapses, extremism spreads, and that is what we are seeing.  What can we do? First, we must support a substantial increase in humanitarian assistance and work out ways in which we can deliver it. I welcome the funding that we have already given, which amounts to a total support to the people of Sudan in 2025 of \u20ac14.3 million. Ireland stands apart and separate - proudly so - from an awful lot of our European Union partner states, who are either freezing foreign aid or reducing it. The common narrative here is that Trump's America is the only state in the developed world that is cutting overseas development aid. However, in Trump's shadow, so are a lot of our European allies. We are not, nor should we, and we should be commended for that, but we should also be striving and pushing forward. The recent allocation of \u20ac3 million in funding, from which \u20ac1.5 million was reallocated to the Sudan humanitarian fund, which is managed by the UNOCHA, again shows our commitment to the United Nations, and \u20ac1.5 million to support the work of the UNHCR is an acknowledgement of the need for decisive action, but it should also be a step on which further steps should follow. Ireland has a respected voice in humanitarian aid. It is often trotted out that we punch above our weight, but that is because it is true. We can lead.  Second, we must firmly and consistently call for a ceasefire - not a temporary or symbolic cessation of hostilities, but a sustained and monitored commitment to end this conflict. Every day we delay, lives are lost in a conflict that has already claimed 150,000 victims. That is a conservative estimate. A ceasefire is essential to help create humanitarian corridors to allow agencies to reach those who are starving and to provide civilians with the opportunity for safety and stability. Ireland must work with partners in the region, and support partners in the region and the broader international community, to help build diplomatic pressure on the warring parties. A fragmented approach will fail, as we have seen time and again.  Third, we must push for accountability. The world has seen too many conflicts where atrocities are committed without consequences. We see too many conflicts happening today. Violations of international human rights law occur when civilians are targeted, aid is blocked or weaponised, and entire communities are uprooted or massacred. Those responsible must know that they will be held to account. The ICJ has already ruled that war crimes have taken place. How many times will we allow the perpetrator of war crimes to escape the consequences?  Fourth, we must raise public awareness. The Sudanese community in Ireland is demonstrating on O'Connell Street and on the streets of other cities and towns where they live, highlighting what is going on in their country. They are our fellow citizens here - for those who have taken citizenship - and they are sharing our space. They are sharing our towns, contributing to our communities and working in our hospitals and communities, and they deserve our support. We should listen to what our neighbours are saying. Crises that are invisible to the world become impossible to solve. Sudan has suffered from a lack of global attention. It has been overshadowed by other conflicts and political priorities.  The reality is the lack of scrutiny on what has happened in Sudan does not make its suffering vanish, it only facilitates its growth. Everyone in this Chamber needs to speak with greater clarity and urgency. It is welcome that Ireland successfully called for Sudan to be placed on the agenda at this month\u2019s EU Foreign Affairs Council where restrictive measures against senior RSF commanders were adopted. The role we played in the formulation of the EU 27 statement issued by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy on the atrocities perpetrated by the RSF, including following the seizure of the city of El Fasher, is also welcome.  While I was unable to make this morning\u2019s briefing from the Department of foreign affairs, to my regret, due to commitments at the Business Committee, I was glad to read of the Government\u2019s commitment to pushing for peace in the region. Our work as a member of the Sudan core group in Geneva, which succeeded in ensuring the adoption of a resolution on the situation of El Fasher at the special session of the Human Rights Council on 14 November, which requested the fact-finding mission to conduct an urgent inquiry into the violations and abuses of international human rights and humanitarian law committed in and around El Fasher, is a positive step. It is also a very real example of our diplomats and our diplomatic power at work. We can effect change through our diplomatic corps. Its members do an amazing job. They are anonymous to the public and to many of us in this Chamber but they are the ones who exercise Ireland\u2019s real soft and deliberate power in this area.  However, it is just one step of many more we must continue with. Millions of people are fighting for survival. Children are dying before their parents' eyes and families are fleeing or attempting to flee besieged cities and towns with just the clothes they have on their backs. Entire communities are being erased by violence, starvation and disease. Despite the efforts taking place, the world is not doing enough and not acting with the urgency this crisis demands. Ireland's voice, people in this House, our diplomatic corps, every sinew we can strain diplomatically and internationally must be calling for a durable and just peace in Sudan. Ultimately, resolving the conflict requires significant and sustained political will and a clear voice for peace. The people of Sudan need that voice now. I hope the D\u00e1il will commit today to continue to work and support our diplomatic corps in doing what it can in the EU, United Nations and beyond. The Sudanese people deserve peace, dignity and the chance to rebuild their lives and to know the world has not abandoned them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  It is good to see Deputy Feighan here as Minister of State. I thank him for being here for this very important debate. I pay tribute to my colleague, Deputy Shane Moynihan, who has been raising this issue during Taoiseach's questions since the beginning of the year. Barry Andrews, MEP, raises it regularly in the European Parliament. This is a very important debate. As colleagues said, it has perhaps been overshadowed by conflicts in Gaza and the Middle East and Russia\u2019s ongoing campaign of aggression against Ukraine and its other neighbours.  The scale of what has happened in Sudan, however, is horrific. Just looking at the number of displaced persons, 8 million people have fled from Venezuela because of the economic regime there and 11 million people have been displaced in Ukraine, but over 12 million people have already been displaced in Sudan. It is the largest displacement crisis in the world. This is before we even come to talk about those who have been killed, the tens of thousands of people who have been killed, and those who have had their families taken away from them. Colleagues have also mentioned the horrors of the gender-based violence since this war erupted in April 2023. We have seen gang rapes, sexual slavery and abductions, and UNICEF has reported young children being subjected to sexual violence. All war is horrific but the more I read about what has happened in Sudan, the more inhuman it is. The fact that, as a planet, we have allowed this and, indeed, other conflicts to continue is a stain on all of us.  There are certainly questions for other powers in the region. They will have to be involved in any peace agreement and I am glad they are now coming to the table. We know neighbouring countries, like Chad, Egypt and Ethiopia, are under pressure because of the refugees that have fled Sudan. We need to provide support to those countries as well in assist with their refugees. We do, however, need to call out global actors, and, yes, the United Arab Emirates, UAE, is among them. Unsurprisingly, Russia, which is again supplying arms, is among them. Indeed, Wagner mercenaries have been deployed in the area. China\u2019s role in Africa also needs to be examined. While it may not be directly involved in war, China has certainly been involved in economic colonialism in Africa. There is a broader question here, then, than just Sudan. It is about the question of our approach in Ireland and the European Union to Africa and particularly concerning is how we can support Africans being able to make decisions for themselves about their future.  For us, I think it is critical, more than ever before, that Irish values around human rights, the rule of law and accountability are to the fore in any discussion. We also need to insist that it is the Sudanese people themselves who make a decision around their future. I refer to what more we can do, and colleagues have certainly mentioned humanitarian assistance. In Ireland we are right to be proud of the support we have provided. I know an additional package has now been agreed at EU level. This is critical in terms of support for families there. There are also long-term challenges, however, around sanitation and water supplies, for example. We need not just to provide money but to support Sudan with expertise. We are going to need to invest heavily in providing support for the clearing of mines. Even though conflicts end, problems with mines mean that thousands of people for years afterwards potentially face very serious injuries. We also need to address, as I mentioned, the gender-based violence that has gone on, some of which is particularly horrific.  I pay tribute to the team within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. I think we should always be very proud of our diplomats, who are sometimes working in very difficult circumstances. It is why I have never believed in the idea of expelling diplomats or ending diplomatic relations, even with countries with which we very strongly disagree. The role of diplomats is to engage and try to ensure there are still doors open, so people can talk rather than engage in conflict.  We again need to look at the issue of accountability. Too often in all these conflicts, even though peace is finally obtained, those responsible for horrific war crimes are not held to account. There are targeted sanctions against certain individuals in Sudan. I think we need to go further than that. When this war is finished, those who have committed war crimes need to be held to account to ensure the victims see that justice has been done and to demonstrate an example to others in other conflicts that they cannot get away with it. I believe that for too long this has been a problem with many of the conflicts we have faced around the world.  Finally, this is one of those issues we need to talk about more. This issue will not get a lot of media coverage. It will not get the media attention other conflicts rightly get. Given the scale of depravity, though, it is something that we, right across this House, need to ensure we talk about in our own political parties and communities. The values I believe are dear to all our hearts, those Irish values, need to inform everyone in the State and we need to be aware of this conflict. I welcome the statement from the Minister for foreign affairs today. I know she comes from a very good place and any efforts she and the Government can make to end this horrific conflict should be supported. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  Today, like many of my colleagues, I would like to raise one of the most important ongoing humanitarian disasters, the unfolding civil war in Sudan and the sheer amount of civilian death and tragedy unfolding in its wake.  The war in Sudan is not a simple conflict. It is a catastrophe causing the slaughter of innocent women and children and the starvation of millions. It is a conflict that strikes at the very heart of human dignity and the rights we have fought for for so long and so hard are now under threat. The fear is that we will not be able to uphold them.  Sudan has been marred by decades of war. In recent weeks, the city of El Fasher has been subjected to a siege that has claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people. Reports from the city are showing evidence of mass killings, sexual violence and vital infrastructure and lifelines for civilians being destroyed. Harrowing and gruesome videos have been doing the rounds but the level of documentation of this ongoing tragedy does not end there. We have now seen satellite images in which the trail of blood from the ongoing slaughter in the city is clear to see. These are war crimes so terrible that they are visible from space. It is truly one of the world's most severe ongoing humanitarian catastrophes.  In the midst of these horrors, I ask that we not forget those who are most vulnerable. I ask that we not forget those women who are victims of this violence and subject to rape and sexual abuse. I ask that we not forget the children who are starving and on the sides of the streets, their bellies swollen from the denial of food and basic humanities. I ask that, as a humanitarian nation, we continue to persevere through the barriers to aid set by conflict and deliver food to those children and assist those vulnerable women.  A primary access point for our aid to Africa hinges on supports for maternal health. Ireland has championed and led the way on maternal health and sexual and reproductive health rights through our aid to Sudan and other countries such as Ethiopia, Liberia and Gambia. We fund Maternal and Childhealth Advocacy International and work with nurses and midwives to reduce maternal and neonatal deaths across ten countries. Recent aid to Mozambique, for example, has been used to treat conditions like pre-eclampsia, a pregnancy complication that, if untreated, is deadly. An investment there for \u20ac4 million was used to train 450 maternal health workers and screened 115,000 pregnant women. One project under our aid for maternal health in Mozambique has saved the lives of 5,000 mothers in one year alone. These are lives saved because we chose to act.  Similar projects in Sudan go against the unfortunate tide of death ripping through that country and give the invaluable gift of life and youth to a nation when it needs it the most in such horrific and tragic times. Access to safe childbirth is one of the primary guarantors for a nation to survive and recover from a terrible tragedy. The ongoing conflict threatens to overturn the progress we have made so far. In Sudan, mothers and pregnant women are under siege. Their survival is threatened and their freedoms are restricted and denied. These freedoms should never be denied and we should always endeavour to ensure they have the aid so that, in the coming years, not only will this conflict end but Sudan can recover and actually hope to be able to rebuild.  As it stands, pregnant women cannot reach clinics. Sexual violence is rampant. Abuse of women is becoming just another everyday occurrence throughout the country. Therefore, I implore the Minister of State to continue to aid these women and to focus on these issues so lives may be saved and further tragedies prevented. Our Government continues - I am very grateful for this - to assist in countries in humanitarian need. Even in times of crisis, we do our best to find ways. Sudan should not be any exception. It desperately needs our help. It is, therefore, imperative that we continue to fund and get these supports through so that these projects can thrive and allow our humanitarian aid to preserve life in war zones and promote peace across the globe.  If our neutrality allows us to afford prosperity, it should also allow us to afford generosity. Humanitarian aid is not just a charity. It is a projection of our values an ideas as a people and a nation. Our opposition to violence and tragedy must be acted upon in ways that have a material effect. Very often, words are not enough. Token gestures do not save lives. Helping hands on the ground are what make the difference and our humanitarian aid is our vessel for supplying that. As Martin Luther King once said, \"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.\" If we are serious about our commitment to being a bastion of humanitarianism and an example to nations turning ever more inward, we must become an enemy of injustice through our kindness and help. We must become a friend to the suffering through our assistance. We must become a foundation for humanitarian values through our generosity and we must become a contributor to the future of fragile nations through our commitment to peace, equality and respect.  This is a call to conscience and a call to action. We cannot look away. We cannot let fatigue or infighting dull our sense of urgency and duty. If we fail, it is not just Sudan that loses. It is we and society in general that will lose. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Ar dt\u00fas, ba mhaith liom comhghairdeas a dh\u00e9anamh leis an Aire St\u00e1it as an bpost nua at\u00e1 aige. \u00c1dh m\u00f3r air.  Unfortunately, too many times, we have been in this Chamber while speaking about what we would have assumed was almost in the rear-view mirror of history. However, it seems that whether you look at Gaza, the Russian invasion of Ukraine or what is happening in Sudan, it is geopolitical chaos and could be the annals from the worst parts of global history. The fact is we have seen a move away from multilateralism, international law and the righteousness of international law. At some point, we will need to see the pendulum come back to a more sensible place but at the minute, the people of Sudan cannot afford to wait on that.  Straight away, it is a necessity that we play our part in ensuring that aid workers and a sufficient amount of aid gets to people who are starving at this point in time. We need the SAF and RSF to facilitate this and to allow UN observers in. It is beyond a disgrace what is going on, if we are talking about the year-and-a-half siege of El Fasher. It is like hell on earth and as bad as any place you can think of since the Second World War after what has been done. The UN has rightly labelled it one of the worst humanitarian cases. Just look at the news. How bad does something have to be? We are talking about one of the worst humanitarian crises.  We are talking about a war, a situation and a circumstance that we have been dealing with since April 2023. An awful lot of the time, there have rightly been eyes on some of the other conflict zones but this has been missed out on. It is the depth, magnitude and size of the horror and chaos. What are we talking about? Some 12 million people have been forcibly displaced and 150,000 people have already been killed. Think about that and the impact on that part of the world. Think of the chaos that has been caused. Think of the individual lives that have been lost and the families that have been destroyed.  That is before we get into the crimes that have been committed, particularly against women. I do not know how many times in history people said \"never again\", but unfortunately \"never again\" seems to actually mean \"again and again and again\", whether it was Rwanda 30 years ago, the Balkans, what Russia is doing in Ukraine or the genocide in Gaza.  As to the absolute size of this, we have a considerable number of people who will talk about the issue in relation to migration. We have all spoken about the fact that we need systems that work, but just think about 12 million people forcibly displaced. How will that not have an impact in relation to the rest of the world? It is a very much connected world.  As we all know, the United Arab Emirates has been engaged in supplying weapons that have played a major part in the RSF's capacity and in its destruction of human lives and all the other horrors alongside that. This is a proxy war. There are supporters on both sides. I listened earlier to Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire's interaction with the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, on the need to see pressure being put on the United Arab Emirates. I can accept that in public, the Government cannot say all that needs to be said. Whatever about in public, we must make sure that in private, in every corner where we have an ear that will listen to our voice, it is known that this is not acceptable. It is not acceptable to be facilitating the sale of gold, mining and human misery.  I agree with an awful lot of what my colleagues have said. This will finish, and we need to ensure that those who have been engaged in this horror, this absolute butchery, are held to account. We need to make sure that whatever leverage we have is brought to bear on those powers that have facilitated this and on anyone else who will listen to us in the international community. We need to do this because these people have been through what none of us can imagine. We need to make sure we are not back here at a later stage this year or next year, talking about numbers that are scaled up from what is abject and absolute horror. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Satellite images taken by the humanitarian research lab at the Yale School of Public Health show numerous clusters of ground discoloration across Darfur, consistent with the presence of human bodies. The blood spilled in Sudan is now visible from space. Let us think about that for a moment. The scale of killing is so vast, unrestrained and utterly unhidden that it is visible from orbit. Nobody, no government, institution or leader, can pretend that they do not know what is happening. The horror is in full view of the world. What is unfolding in Sudan is not a distant conflict we can categorise as another human tragedy of the global south. It is one of the most horrifying humanitarian disasters of our time. More than that, it is a moment that exposes something very dark about the direction global politics is taking.  At the heart of this war are two military forces, the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces, neither of which can decisively defeat the other. Into that stalemate has poured a global foreign policy environment that has abandoned principle entirely. Where decisions once relied, at least in part, on diplomacy, pragmatism or moral pressure, what we now see in the governments across the world is the naked self-interest of powerful states pursuing business, resources and influence however they see fit. The consequence of this change of tone for Sudan has been catastrophic. Tens of thousands are dead. Over 13 million people have been driven from their homes. Hunger and famine stalk communities already shattered by violence. The very basics of human survival - hospitals, water and sanitation - have collapsed. Civilians are dying, not only from bullets but from starvation, disease and abandonment. In Darfur, long marginalised communities now face a brutal campaign of execution, displacement and terror. The RSF, emerging from the same Janjaweed militias responsible for earlier genocides, now controls cities through fear, violence and mass atrocity.  This is often called a civil war but that phrase hides the truth. This is not a war between communities or opposing cities. It is a war on civilians, a war in which foreign actors have found opportunity rather than obligation. To the fore is the United Arab Emirates with its complicity in this brutality. We know who is funding and arming these groups. We know how gold, oil and geopolitical leverage have turned Sudan into a marketplace for influence. Yet, despite crimes visible from space, the global response has been silence, sidestepping and selective outrage. We have seen the commentary that Sudan does not get the attention Palestine or Ukraine gets. I understand the frustration deeply but I reject the idea that we must choose which horror deserves our outrage. Humanity is not a competition. When a child starves in Sudan, it demands the same moral response as a child bombed in Gaza or displaced in Ukraine. The new world order, this transactional, self-interested, \"not my problem\" foreign policy, is a terrifying indicator of how the world will respond to the millions of Sudanese who are fleeing in search of safety. If powerful governments can watch atrocities from space and simply shrug, what hope do displaced Sudanese families have when they come knocking on the doors of nations that now treat asylum and poverty as just an inconvenience? That is exactly why our role matters here, why scrutiny matters and why calling out cruelty matters. Challenging self-interested decision-making matters, every single time it appears, no matter how exhausting it becomes. The moment we stop holding governments to account, the moment we stop naming injustice for what it is, we become part of the silence that lets these horrors continue.  We should continue to demand better - and I urge every Member of the House to continue to do the same - and to demand humanitarian corridors, a ceasefire and an end to the arms flows; to support the Sudanese diaspora and refugee pathways; and to refuse the idea that Sudan's suffering is simply part of the turbulence of our times. This is about more than international solidarity. It is about moral consistency and deciding whether human life actually matters or whether we only defend it when it suits our political convenience. The scale of the crisis is almost unfathomable but silence is not an option, not now when an entire nation is being fractured, starved and terrorised in full view of the world. We owe it to every family torn apart, every child displaced and every community destroyed. If we fail to speak for Sudan now, when the evidence of atrocity is literally visible from space, we are not just failing Sudan; we are failing the very idea that human life has value at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  I offer comhghairdeas to the Minister of State, Deputy Feighan, formally on the record of the House.  I welcome the opportunity to speak on Sudan. It is very important and my colleague, Deputy Shane Moynihan, and others have raised it several times. It is very important that this discussion happens. The ongoing situation in Sudan is one of the gravest humanitarian emergencies in the world. It is a conflict defined by mass displacement, famine conditions and systematic attacks on civilians. It is a crisis that demands far more international attention and co-ordinated action than it has received to date. Sudan is now the largest displacement crisis in the world, with millions of people forced from their homes and millions more living in conditions of acute hunger. Entire regions have been devastated, most starkly in Darfur, and there are credible reports of ethnically targeted killings, sexual violence and deliberate obstruction of humanitarian aid. The images and testimonies emerging from El Fasher and surrounding areas are harrowing. They point to widespread breaches of international humanitarian and human rights laws, including acts which, if verified, amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.  Ireland has played an important role in ensuring these crimes do not go unnoticed. As part of the Sudan core group, we helped secure a human rights council resolution establishing an urgent fact-finding mission for El Fasher and expanding the international investigation of violations. That work must continue because without documentation and accountability, the cycle of violence will persist. We have also supported the EU's targeted sanctions regime, including the recent restrictive measures on senior Rapid Support Forces leaders. That is a necessary step; those fuelling atrocities, whether through command responsibilities, illicit finance or arms flows must face consequences.  However, while accountability matters, it will not in itself feed a starving population.  The humanitarian situation in Sudan is catastrophic. Over 20 million people face crisis levels of hunger and aid agencies are warning of famine in several regions. Access for the UN and NGOs remains dangerously restricted. Bureaucratic obstacles, insecurity and deliberate interference continue to choke off life-saving assistance. Ireland has responded, however. This year alone, we have provided significant humanitarian funding to Sudan and to neighbouring states hosting large refugee populations. Our diplomats, particularly in Geneva and New York, have worked tirelessly in pressing for humanitarian access and a sustained international response. It is clear, however, that other EU member states and global partners must scale up their contributions too.  UN appeals for Sudan remain critically underfunded. Until the gap is closed, conditions will worsen. That is why the commitment made at the recent G20 Summit in South Africa is so important. I welcome the Taoiseach\u2019s engagement at that summit, at which he highlighted Sudan directly and joined leaders in calling for a just and lasting peace. International political focus is essential. When the G20 speaks with one voice it strengthens the hand of the UN, the African Union and mediators who are trying to secure a humanitarian ceasefire. A ceasefire is urgently needed. It is clear that the primary responsibility for ending this conflict rests with the leaders of the Sudanese Armed Forces and the Rapid Support Forces. External actors have influence, however, and influence must be used to bring pressure to bear. We know that foreign arms and money have sustained both sides in this war. We know that Russian-linked networks, including successors to the Wagner Group, have profited from Sudanese gold and helped fuel instability. We also know that without co-ordinated diplomacy, outside powers will continue to hedge their bets, prolonging the conflict rather than helping to resolve it.  The EU must, therefore, intensify its work to enforce the UN arms embargo, curb illicit financing and press regional actors, particularly in the Gulf and across the Red Sea, to end support that enables further violence. This is also important for Sudan\u2019s neighbours because this conflict is not contained within its borders alone. South Sudan, Chad, the Central African Republic and Egypt are all under immense strain as refugees flee the fighting. Supporting those states is not an optional extra; it is central to preventing further destabilisation. The EU should front-load assistance for food, shelter, education and local infrastructure in host communities so that the arrival of large numbers of refugees does not spark new crises.  This debate comes in the same week that we learned of another appalling incident in Africa, namely, the mass abduction of schoolchildren and teachers in Niger State in Nigeria. Over 300 people were taken and while many escaped, more than 260 children remain missing. I raised this issue on Tuesday with the Taoiseach, who expressed his concern for the safety of the children and their teachers. I would welcome confirmation from the Minister that her officials are raising the issue at the EU and UN and, indeed, will raise the issue of religious persecution generally. This issue reminds us that insecurity in one region of Africa can quickly have consequences for its neighbours. Ireland should support efforts to secure the safe release of those children. At EU level, we must continue to back programmes that strengthen school safety, community protection and early-warning systems for violence in Nigeria and the wider region. It is only by supporting stability, from Sudan across the Sahel and into West Africa, that we can prevent these kinds of horrors from recurring.  Sudan is a crisis of unimaginable scale. If the world turns away now, famine will take hold, atrocities will continue and the conflict will spill further across a fragile region. Ireland must continue to play its part by pressing for a humanitarian ceasefire, demanding accountability for those committing violations, supporting UN and African Union efforts to secure access for aid and urging our EU partners to match the ambition and leadership that Ireland has shown. Above all, though, we must ensure that the people of Sudan and the millions displaced across its borders are not forgotten. Their survival, and their hope for peace, depend on sustained international action. Ireland has been a strong voice on this issue. We should continue to be so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I start by sending my solidarity to the Sudanese community here in Ireland, many of whom are doing amazing work in so many spheres of life, particularly our health services. They are doctors, engineers and so on and many have lived and contributed here. I send them solidarity because of what they are dealing with, hearing about the absolute horror that has happened at home.  I spoke on Sudan in 2019. It was just after a revolution had taken place to throw out the despot al-Bashir. Unfortunately, that revolution was drowned in blood, and the partners in crime in drowning that revolution in blood were the RSF and the army. The two so-called warring parties were once brothers-in-arms. We have to analyse why this has happened, who is complicit in it and how it can be ended. The genocide in Sudan is still ongoing despite the RSF agreeing in principle to a ceasfire put forward by the US. It is unlikely the peace deal will end the hostilities because the UAE, which is helping the RSF, is very involved in the talks as well.  The World Food Programme has noted that 21 million people face acute hunger, and many of them face catastrophic hunger. The genocide has killed 150,000 people and displaced 13 million people, but many more deaths are probably hidden at this point. The figure is likely to be far higher.  I want to call out the role of the EU in contributing to the problems because it is kind of kept under the carpet. The Save the Children charity has criticised the EU specifically for aiding and abetting the genocide, or allowing the genocide, with its strict border controls, which drives children into the hands of traffickers and smugglers and back to unsafe countries. Some 10,000 refugees from Sudan arrived in Europe and it seems that a minority have been accepted in the EU. However, the EU is also responsible for the crisis by giving support to the RSF and money to assist in holding people in their migration. These are the butchers who have been carrying out these horrific attacks and the sexual violence, and who have been using children - I have seen this in videos - to torture and kill people.  We have also seen that Bulgarian, French and British arms have been found in Sudan. They are wielded by the RSF, probably via the UAE, which is supporting the RSF. France has sold \u20ac21 billion worth of weapons to the UAE. These have ended up in the hands of these butchers.  The EU has specifically entered into a financial relationship with Egypt, paying it \u20ac7 billion over two years for migration management. The Irish Government has classed Egypt as a safe country to send people back to. Egypt is a brutal dictatorship and it is playing a key role in all of this as well. It has tightened up residency permits and restricted people from entering. This is causing huge problems.  Ireland has a role as well. Ireland has \u20ac2.5 billion in trade with the UAE, which is directly assisting the RSF right now in carrying out these atrocities, and the Government is seeking to expand that trade after establishing a joint economic mission. As I said, it classed Egypt as a safe place, providing legitimacy for that regime which treats refugees so deplorably. The EU has tried to make a point that it is an outside viewer on this, but it is complicit, having boosted and assisted the RSF in the past and also allowing the arms sales I mentioned.  I want to mention briefly what lies behind this and why Sudan is of such interest. Sudan is strategically important because of its access to the Red Sea - it is a vital shipping route - its agricultural land and, of course, its gold. That is what is fuelling all the outside colonial forces that have backed side one or other side, and sometimes both sides, in order to have influence in this region. However, an absolutely crucial reason for UAE involvement is that it does not want to see a democratic regime in this area, one that would expose and give an example throughout the Arab world to overthrow despots, as the Sudanese people did successfully.  For more than a decade, the UAE has been a key sponsor of the counter-revolutionary forces in the Arab world and in many other countries as well.  We need to assist the Sudanese people to get rid of the internal despots and outside influence, and let them enjoy, use, democratically control and own the wealth and resources they have. Hopefully, the revolutionary fervour that was so important among young people and doctors across the whole population can be reinstated. Let us support the Sudanese people in any way we can to do this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard Boyd Barrett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Richard-Boyd-Barrett.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard Boyd Barrett  I do not often thank the Government but I will do so for facilitating this important debate on the horror that is being inflicted on the people of Sudan. The genocidal horror they are enduring at the moment has led to at least 150,000 people being killed, more than 21 million people, which is 45% of the population, facing hunger and famine, 12 million people being forcibly displaced, and the horrific scenes involving the RSF in the siege of El Fasher, to name some of the atrocities that have taken place.  This is complex and, like Deputy Coppinger, I remember speaking about it. At that time, I had been briefed but, unfortunately, I did not have a chance to talk to Sudanese people before this debate. I had been briefed by people from Sudan before the previous debate, which was at the time of the revolution by the people of Sudan. That was a revolution not based on siding with either of the two factions responsible for this horror; it was a grassroots rebellion of people against the austerity and poverty being imposed and backed by institutions such as the International Monetary Fund, our friends in the IMF, the purveyors of austerity across the world.  There are layers and layers to this but, in essence, it is the old divide-and-rule tactic being used by different factions in the Sudanese ruling class fighting over power against a population that was rising up against them and, in turn, the alignment of both of these factions, which are guilty of the genocide, with external powers which, ultimately, are tied up with big western powers. They are armed, financed and supported by big western powers.  I heard some people say those who are campaigning and advocating for the people of Palestine are not speaking about Sudan. We were, back when the revolution was happening, and we are now, but there is a connection between these two things. The connection is very important and brings it into sharp focus. What is the western agenda in this region and in the wider Middle Eastern region? In the popular narrative purveyed by western leaders over the years, including the US, the European Union and so on, it is to support democracy and be supporters of democracy. In actuality, the entirety of western foreign policy, that is, US and European foreign policy, has been to prevent democracy, back dictatorships and divide and rule the population to ensure we do not have successful democratic revolutions in places such as Sudan, where ordinary people might take control of their resources and of strategically important areas. Some of the strategically important resources have been mentioned, including gold. The UAE is involved big-time. We have trade relations with the UAE, and it is armed by France and the United States. Europe and America are backing these regimes.  The Egyptian regime has its interests, in terms of plans by Ethiopia to build a dam that will impact on the movement of the Nile and who gets what share of the Nile and so on, so it is backing other forces and particular factions. There is also the question of access to the Red Sea and various battles going on between different states, in turn backed by western governments. Let us remember the el-Sisi dictatorship in Egypt, which brutally crushed the Arab Spring in Egypt. It is backed by the United States and western governments and treated like a normal government, when the people who led the democratic uprising in Egypt are all languishing in jail being tortured, yet we pretend the Egyptian regime is somehow normal.  The policy was summed up by the first governor general of Jerusalem, Ronald Storrs, in 1936, when he was asked why the British were backing Zionism and what would later be the Nakba and the destruction of Palestinians. He said they wanted to create a loyal little Jewish Ulster in the Middle East to guard against a potentially hostile sea of Arabism. It was divide and rule. They did what they did in Ireland, setting the Catholics against the Protestants, in order to make sure they controlled the region and that the people of the region did not democratically control their own resources. This is the same playbook that has been playing out in Sudan and the entire region. They back dictatorships, and back this faction against that faction, as long as they control the resources or their allies get what they want, or Red Sea routes, or whatever it is. Of course, on top of all of this, they are backing governments that are imposing brutal austerity on an incredibly poor country. It is complicated, and too complicated to discuss in the time available, but the hypocrisy and double standards of some of the external players, including western governments here, is stunning. Often, they have done it precisely because some of these disgusting factions were willing to police the migration from these countries of desperate people trying to flee an horrific situation. Honestly, you could not make up the hypocrisy and double standards around this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  Today, the BBC reported on an interview it had with a man who escaped the last functioning hospital in the Sudanese city of El Fasher before a reported massacre by paramilitary troops. Abdu-Rabbu Ahmed, who was a laboratory technician in the maternity hospital, told the BBC, \"I have lost my colleagues\". He said, \"I have lost the people whose faces I used to see smiling\" and that it \"feels as if you lost a big part of your body or your soul\". Other Members have addressed what is happening in Sudan today, which is without doubt one of the gravest humanitarian crises of our time. It is a catastrophic conflict. More importantly, it has been easy to think of it as a distant tragedy but it is not. If anything, it is a moral imperative for all of us who believe in human dignity and international law. Sadly, it is one of many conflicts taking place around the world today that need to be front and centre in our minds.  As other colleagues have noted, the situation in Sudan is the world's worst humanitarian and protection crisis. The numbers have been rehearsed a number of times in the Chamber, with more than 150,000 lives lost, 12 million people forcibly displaced and 21 million facing crisis levels of hunger, including famine. These numbers represent families torn apart, communities destroyed and people's futures eradicated and disappeared in front of their very eyes. In an age when there is a constant information flow to our phones, sometimes I believe there is a perception that our human sensibilities can become desensitised to unspeakable horror and the inhuman practices and behaviours that seem to be endlessly documented, not least those reported and shown to us from Sudan.  On a personal level, I am sure I share with all colleagues the absolute disdain, distaste and horror at the deliberate targeting of civilians by all parties to the conflict. In El Fasher, across north Darfur and in Kordofan, we have seen appalling atrocities, including ethnically motivated killings, systematic sexual and gender-based violence, and starvation used as a weapon of war. Most chillingly, there is the obstruction of humanitarian aid. These acts are clear breaches of international humanitarian and human rights law. They are war crimes and crimes against humanity and must be called out as such.  Accountability must be at the heart of our response. I am proud to have raised this matter in the Chamber a number of times over the past year. I am happy to see that Ireland, alongside the UK, the Netherlands and Norway, succeeded in ensuring the adoption of a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council earlier this month. This resolution mandates an urgent inquiry into these violations through the independent fact-finding mission in Sudan.  The impunity that seems to exist must end.  As a country, we have taken a leading role internationally. We were the Government that initiated the discussions which led to the EU sanctions regime and we successfully called for Sudan to be placed on the agenda of the EU Foreign Affairs Council. Last week, the EU adopted further restrictive measures against Abdul Rahim Hamdan Dagalo, the RSF's second in command. I am enthused by the fact the EU stands ready to impose further measures on all actors responsible for destabilising Sudan and obstructing its political transition, but sanctions alone are not enough. We need to ensure unhindered humanitarian access. I am proud Ireland has provided over \u20ac14 million in humanitarian assistance this year to support communities in Sudan and those displaced in neighbouring countries. This funding, which is being channelled through UN agencies, the Red Cross, Irish NGOs and local organisations, delivers the food, medical supplies and lifesaving aid that is pivotal to these communities. I am pleased we are committed to continuing this assistance in 2026.  The protection of civilians cannot wait for a ceasefire. Humanitarian and medical workers must be safeguarded and civilians who wish to leave besieged cities must be granted a safe passage. There are obligations under international law and they must be respected and upheld. In the longer term, only a Sudanese-led political process that is inclusive can address the grievances that have led to this conflict. I am sure the EU, with Ireland playing its part, will continue to support the dialogue among Sudanese civilian political groups in close collaboration - and this is important - with the African Union and other partners.  The sovereignty, unity and territorial integrity of Sudan, like any nation state, must be preserved. Attempts not to address or undermine this will only deepen the crisis, and without doubt, external interference must end. However, this is also the moment when the institutions established to stop this ever happening again must step up. The rules of our international order and our common humanity need to be vindicated and the guardians thereof need to be bold in that vindication. This is not just about Sudan, it is about the values we stand for: human rights, justice and solidarity.  I am sure Ireland will continue to speak out, to act and lead, to work with our EU and international partners to demand an end to the violence, to ensure accountability and to deliver hope to the people of Sudan in a Sudanese-led process. The violence must end, the suffering must end and we need to make sure we play our part to make that happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  T\u00e1 \u00e1thas orm an deis seo a fh\u00e1il labhairt ar an topaic seo agus ar an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 ag baint leis an gcogadh cathartha i Sudan.  What is happening in Sudan is hell on earth. Last year, Aid to the Church in Need released its report on Christian persecution around the globe. Sudan is an area plagued by this issue. I will quote extensively from that report as it specifically deals with some of the desperate problems ongoing for those living in Sudan, especially Christians:  The civil war that broke out on 15th April 2023 unleashed a wave of violence and displacement affecting all communities across Sudan. Several significant churches were among religious buildings targeted in the war's opening weeks. Many churches in the Khartoum area and elsewhere were immediately seized by military forces. By mid-May, this included the Virgin Mary Coptic Orthodox Cathedral and All Saints' Episcopal Cathedral ...  [..]  Many other churches in the capital were seized on the first day of the conflict. That same day, bombers attacked the Catholic Bishop's house ... The bishop took refuge in the neighbouring cathedral.  [...]  In the following months, up to 165 churches were closed and others destroyed.  By early 2024 human rights observers began describing Sudan's internal displacement crisis as \"the highest in the world\" - with the UN stating record levels of children were suffering malnutrition due to food scarcity. By that time, the Church, which had been 5 percent of the population (2.4 million) before the conflict, was \"shrinking away.\" While many Christians migrated to their ancestral homelands in South Sudan, Church sources reported that the faithful made up the majority of the 750,000 or more people who took refuge in the Nuba Mountains.  In the two years leading up to the civil war, the regime that came to power in a coup in October 2021 began reversing a process towards \"liberalisation and religious freedom\" undertaken by the transitional government. The transitional government (2019-21) had restored Christmas Day as a public holiday, issued an apology for the country's long record of persecution against Christians and abolished the death penalty ...  It is clear from those quotes that the scale of the challenges facing Sudan and its traumatised people are almost too enormous to contemplate or imagine. I accept Ireland is doing incredible work among its overseas aid partners. I note a recent reply from the Minister of State, Deputy Richmond, to a parliamentary question I tabled. The reply confirmed that since the outbreak of conflict in 2023 Ireland has consistently highlighted the scale of the humanitarian crisis, with a particular focus on the levels of acute hunger and famine, large-scale displacement and the impact of the conflict on women and girls. The reply further stated that the provision of humanitarian assistance was a major priority for Ireland and that, in 2025, the Government has confirmed \u20ac14.3 million for the Sudan crisis. Some \u20ac10.3 million is committed to support humanitarian work in Sudan and \u20ac4 million to support the humanitarian response for displaced populations in neighbouring countries.  I can only add my agreement and support to what the Minister has said regarding the conflict in Sudan being a human catastrophe which risks wider stability in the region, and that Ireland will continue to work to keep Sudan on the international agenda. That is certainly welcome. However, I specifically ask the Minister to ensure the Department will do all it can to protect Christians of Sudan, who are undergoing a living nightmare. Christians are the most persecuted believers in the world. In addition to the report published by Aid to the Church in Need, data from the Pew Research Center has shown that Christians suffered religiously motivated harassment, ranging from verbal abuse to killings, in more countries than ever before, 160 in total, which is a rise of 50 countries since 2012. Not only were Christians experiencing fundamental human rights violations in more countries than any other faith group, the gap between them and the next worst-affected religious group had significantly widened. That is deeply alarming. As I am sure the Minister will agree, perhaps we should have a debate on this specific issue in the near future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  The war in Sudan is the forgotten war. It is just like the conflict; it has slipped from public consciousness. I am really grateful we are doing these statements today as it is something we should be focusing on. The Minister of State has been giving his attention to this and I have spoken to him about it. I am very happy he has been addressing it in the way he can but this is one of the worst humanitarian disasters occurring at the moment, in line with the genocide in Palestine. A total of 13 million people have been displaced, 25 million people are facing hunger and famine and 4 million children are malnourished. I welcome that the Minister of State's Department is looking at this and I look forward to him addressing this afterwards but the genocide is visible from space. Satellite images show entire communities erased, villages burned, blackened earth where families once lived and developed and communities once stood. The ethnic cleansing of local populations is systematic, and we are seeing this across the globe.  We must confront the truth of what is fuelling this horror. External actors are driving this conflict. Such conflicts have been massively expanded through weapons, funding and logistics funnelled from outside states. These interventions are about influence and obtaining critical mineral resources, including gold. Where foreign governments arm militias, civilians always pay the price.  Ireland may be small but our voice, values and political strength are how we show our humanitarian leadership. I welcome that the Minister of State has been addressing this in his travels around the globe and I thank him for that. Sudan cannot be allowed to disappear from global attention. Again, I welcome the fact that we are having statements on Sudan in this House. If the world continues to look away, millions more will suffer. We must keep pushing for a humanitarian ceasefire to end all the suffering. Ireland must keep speaking out, it must keep pushing for Europe to act and it must keep standing with the people of Sudan who are fighting for survival, dignity and peace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Paula Butterly)  I call on the Minister of State to make his concluding statement which shall not exceed ten minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Neale Richmond","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Neale-Richmond.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (Deputy Neale Richmond)  I will try my best with ten minutes but I might ask for a little bit of latitude from the House, given that we are ahead of schedule. A number of pertinent issues were raised by Deputies and by the Acting Chair that I will try to address. I want to address a couple of points raised by Deputies who are still in the Chamber as I think they merit the response. A lot of what Deputy Boyd Barrett raised stuck with me. I want to provide an element of reassurance on how we approach our work in this region from the Irish Government point of view and from an Irish Aid point of view. We have a development programme that is based on values. We have a development programme that is flexible, local led and is enshrined by our document. There is a shift, quite clearly, at a European level by other member states to move to a far more transactional approach to development, similar to the lines historically and in other ways the Deputy referred to. I want to assure him that Ireland is going to make sure that our development programme maintains a very clear path and, equally, we are going to be a very strong voice within the European Union for a values-based development programme that reaches the furthest behind first and that seeks peace, democracy and local empowerment.  I appreciate that Deputies Heneghan and Shane Moynihan have regularly raised this issue, particularly in oral parliamentary questions, along with Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire, with whom I had a lengthy debate on this issue this morning. I want to assure the Deputies that the Irish Government will continue to raise this issue at every European and United Nations forum.  I would say to Deputy Nolan that everyone in Sudan is persecuted or is liable to be persecuted at the moment. I note the point the Deputy makes in relation to Christians. I met the Church in Chains organisation in a personal capacity in my parish a couple of Sundays ago and I had a lengthy discussion with its director. I am more than happy to discuss the persecution of any minority in any jurisdiction in this Chamber. If the Deputy would like to put forward a debate on the persecution of Christians, I would be more than happy to provide a full response from a Government point of view. We had a similar debate in the Seanad this morning. Senators Mullen and McCarthy raised it in relation to a very worrying attack on an Irish missionary nun and her congregation in Nigeria two weeks ago. Perhaps the Deputy might consider putting forward a Topical Issue matter or seeking a debate. I thank the Acting Chair for her indulgence.  It has been more than two years since the war in Sudan erupted. We are all agreed that the need for international attention and action is more critical now than ever. I want to thank everyone present for their engagement on this important issue and encourage them all to continue to highlight the plight of the Sudanese people wherever possible in this Chamber, in the other Chamber, at local authority level, within party groupings, within European party collectives and beyond. Our collective commitment as a Parliament is vital in this regard. We cannot let this tragedy fade from the international headlines until yet another massacre like that in El Fasher forces the conflict back onto the agenda or into our timelines.  The humanitarian displacement and protection crisis in Sudan is catastrophic in scale. As has been highlighted here today, the level of suffering is beyond measure and it is difficult to imagine or capture. I will attempt to put it starkly. The number of ordinary people experiencing crisis levels of hunger in Sudan is four times larger than the population of Ireland. Those who are currently displaced due to the conflict represent more than twice the population of Ireland. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, has rightly emphasised that these figures are not just statistics. Behind every number is a person, a family, a community whose lives have been shattered by this war. Many of us represent the Sudanese diaspora in our constituencies and who are living in the horror that it is their family that they are waiting on news from.  I am particularly concerned that women and children are bearing the brunt of this crisis, including 12 million at risk of sexual and gender-based violence. Rape is being used as a weapon of war on a daily basis in Sudan. These numbers and each individual story represent the devastating social and economic costs of conflict, the deliberate targeting of civilians, the obstruction of humanitarian assistance and the constriction of the humanitarian space by the parties to the conflict. They have demonstrated a blatant and outrageous disregard for international human rights and humanitarian norms and obligations. In their blood struggle for power the parties to the conflict have imposed a preventable and man-made crisis on the population. This is a man-made famine. The parties to the conflict are responsible for large-scale attacks on civilians, described by the UN as amounting to war crimes and crimes against humanity, as I said, including using starvation and sexual and gender-based violence as weapons of war.  We cannot omit the significant role that external actors have played, including in the provision of military and other forms of support to the parties in the conflict, as Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire and I discussed this morning. I have heard the views of the Deputies in this debate and this morning very clearly. The actions of other states have prolonged the conflict and have fuelled further violence. Too many states are providing arms to the parties and sponsoring fighters from outside Sudan. We will continue to make clear in our multilateral and bilateral engagements that external interference must end and that every available diplomatic lever is utilised to bring the parties to the negotiating table with a view to ending this devastating conflict.  The world in which we find ourselves today is growing ever more complex, more fraught and at times more fragile. Around the globe we are witnessing an increasing number of conflicts, yet, despite this difficult landscape, Ireland remains steadfast in its commitment to addressing the world's most pressing issues through a strong multilateral system and a rules-based international order. Our approach is people-centred, with a firm commitment to human rights and humanitarian assistance for those most in need. To this end, in June, I signed a joint statement by 30 donor countries condemning attacks against civilians and humanitarian workers. I also joined an Australia-led declaration for the protection of humanitarian workers at the UN General Assembly in New York, where I signed it last September. We will uphold these core values and continue to pursue a multilateral approach.  To this end, Ireland will continue to call for greater attention on the conflict in Sudan, ensuring it remains on the international agenda; continue to leverage multilateral bilateral forums, particularly at the EU and the UN, to highlight the urgent humanitarian protection crisis; provide ongoing support to accountability mechanisms for international human rights and humanitarian abuses and violations; continue to provide funding for humanitarian assistance in response to the Sudan crisis - we will increase our funding in 2026; support de-escalation and mediation efforts together with our EU partners, ensuring there is substantive engagement and co-ordination between the various international regional and state actors involved; and advocate for a political process that is inclusive and civilian-led and support efforts such as by the African Union that encourage civilian engagement and dialogue.  While I welcome efforts by the international community to bring pressure to bear on the parties to engage in dialogue and agree to a cessation of hostilities, it is equally critical that we address these immediate and urgent priorities, regardless of the progression of these mediation efforts. Therefore, Ireland will continue to engage with our EU partners on the effective implementation of the humanitarian aspects of the Council's conclusions.  Accountability and justice remain core tenets of our support. We will continue to offer our unwavering support for international accountability mechanisms, such as the fact-finding mission and the International Criminal Court. We will continue to actively engage with the UN Human Rights Council on this issue. This includes supporting all efforts to thoroughly document, investigate and effectively address these grave concerns. Considering the scale of atrocities committed and the environment of impunity, it is vital that perpetrators are ultimately held accountable and brought to justice.  In a world where conflict and displacement are a daily reality for millions of people, and at a time when official development assistance is being reduced globally, I am proud that Ireland continues to increase its investment in development and humanitarian assistance. Even in such trying times, there are always opportunities to save lives and reach the furthest behind first. Our humanitarian funding is flexible and predictable, enabling partners to respond quickly to sudden and evolving needs. In 2026, we are committed to maintaining a needs-based approach with a focus on the most severe and forgotten crises, and we are firmly committed to increasing our funding to Sudan.  The international community must do more to exert greater pressure on the parties to return to the negotiating table and to engage in dialogue. Crucially, there must be substantive political engagement and co-ordination between the EU, the AU and the Quad and other international and national actors on de-escalation and mediation efforts.  In terms of the peace process, we cannot allow the exclusion of the Sudanese people to occur. When the fighting ends, it is often women who step forward to reconcile, to organise and to restore hope. Civil society actors and local humanitarian workers are vital throughout all stages of conflict, before, during and after. Recognising this, Ireland will continue to call for any negotiated political settlement to be permanent, peaceful, inclusive, civilian-led and one which respects the territorial integrity and unity of Sudan.  Looking to the longer term, we will stand ready to support the Sudanese people in their post-conflict recovery. There will be immense humanitarian and development needs. Fragile state institutions will need to be created and strengthened and the nation's economy and infrastructure rebuilt. Crucially, the social fabric must be repaired and a process of reconciliation initiated. This will be difficult, but it is essential. Sustainable peace depends on these efforts.  In conclusion, Ireland remains steadfast in its commitment to keeping this crisis on the international agenda and urging immediate meaningful action from all regional and international partners and actors. We remain sharply focused on our immediate priorities. Civilians must be protected, with urgent attention paid to safe passage for those fleeing violence and to the protection of women and girls, who remain at grave risk of sexual and gender-based violence. The protection of front-line humanitarian actors and local responders must be guaranteed in line with international law. This year is the most dangerous year in history for humanitarian workers. Between this conflict and the conflicts in Gaza and Ukraine, more humanitarian workers have been killed than ever before. It is not acceptable and we, the global community, must intensify our diplomatic and humanitarian efforts to bring these conflicts to an end, but also to protect humanitarian workers. I sincerely thank the Chamber for the range of Members' contributions this afternoon and the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach for her latitude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Paula Butterly)  That concludes statements on Sudan. I thank the Deputies and the Minister. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sudan: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Paula Butterly)  The Select Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage has completed its consideration of the following Supplementary Estimate for Public Services for the service of the year ending on 31 December 2025: Vote 34. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Paula Butterly)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Conor Sheehan - To discuss punctuality issues on the 304A bus service in Limerick city.  Deputy Keira Keogh - To discuss establishing an NCT centre in Erris, County Mayo.  Deputy Mark Wall - To discuss the lack of school places in Scoil Mhuire, Allenwood, County Kildare.  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the lack of respite beds available 24-7 to families of children and-or adults with special needs in County Kerry.  Deputy John Lahart - To discuss the need to strengthen taxi legislation and regulation.  Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty - To discuss funding for Deansrath Family Centre to build an early childhood and family centre.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss overcapacity and reliability issues on the E1 and E2 bus routes operated by Dublin Bus.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the continued closure of Dunguaire Castle, Kinvara, County Galway.  Deputy Colm Burke - To discuss supports for HSE workers with long Covid.  Deputies Louise O'Reilly, Martin Kenny - To discuss the limits of carer's allowance for carers resident in the North of Ireland caring for residents of the Republic of Ireland.  The matters raised by Deputies Louis O'Hara, Mark Wall, Paul Nicholas Gogarty, John Lahart and Louise O'Reilly and Martin Kenny have been selected for discussion "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Heritage Sites","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  Dunguaire Castle is an iconic cultural and heritage landmark in Kinvara on the Wild Atlantic Way. However, it remains closed off to the public and stuck in limbo. The castle was a real asset and a significant benefit to the community. Its continued closure is a real missed opportunity for the village of Kinvara and the region as a whole. The castle is on the edge of the village, within walking distance from it. Its closure is most definitely impacting on footfall in Kinvara. Throughout the summer months, and even today, we have busloads of tourists driving past the site and they can stop and take photos but that is it. They cannot enter. In the past there were tours, banquets, performances and so on. It really enhanced the tourism offering of the local area and provided a lot of employment.  The fact is that Galway County Council is willing to take ownership of this castle from the Shannon Group, and wants to do so, but requires significant funding to bring the castle up to a safe standard. The council has gone to the Government with a request for the necessary funding but so far it has been turned down. There have been rubbish excuses from Government about there being no specific funding stream available from any of the Departments. The reality is that when Clare and Limerick county councils were acquiring sites from the Shannon Group, they received significant support from Government. In the case of Clare County Council, it received \u20ac6 million. Why then are the people of Kinvara and County Galway being treated as second-class citizens in this regard? Why is one of our most cherished heritage assets being left to crumble? Providing the funding to Galway County Council is not an expense; it would be an investment in Kinvara - in local jobs and businesses, tourism and preservation of a heritage site. Can the Minister of State give a commitment today that the necessary funding to reopen Dunguaire Castle will be provided to Galway County Council? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Niamh Smyth)  I thank the Deputy for his question and the discussion we are going to have on a much-loved and treasured architectural building in his own county of Galway.  In 2020, the Shannon Airport Group informed Government that it was necessary to consider a comprehensive readjustment to its structure in order to ensure the long-term future of the Shannon Heritage business. A number of challenges had presented themselves, including a lack of capital investment and the essential expertise required to maintain the heritage sites. As a consequence of these challenges, the Shannon Airport Group engaged extensively with the relevant local authorities on the transfer of its heritage sites. For instance, King John\u2019s Castle was successfully transferred to Limerick City and County Council in April 2022 and the Shannon Heritage business and four sites in County Clare transferred to Clare County Council in May 2023.  Dunguaire Castle is now the only remaining site under the ownership of the Shannon Airport Group, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, understands that Galway Country Council has had engagement with the group in relation to a possible transfer of the castle. A funding request was received by the National Monuments Service of the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage from Galway County Council in November 2024 in relation to the castle, wherein the local authority sought funding to acquire the castle. The National Monuments Service wrote to the CEO of Galway County Council in December 2024, advising that a voted funding stream to facilitate the purchase of heritage sites by local authorities is not available. The National Monuments Service offered to meet with relevant officials from the local authority to explore options that might be available to secure funding to acquire the castle. However, this offer has not yet been availed of.  As Members may be aware, the Department funds a range of relevant grant schemes intended to support local authorities and other owners in respect of the repair and conservation of archaeological and built heritage sites. Where the structures concerned are protected or within a designated architectural conservation area, the built heritage investment scheme and the historic structures fund can provide support for repair and conservation works. The built heritage investment scheme provides grants of between \u20ac2,500 and \u20ac50,000, while the historic structures fund offers funding of between \u20ac50,000 and \u20ac200,000 for works on larger scale projects. Where the structure in question is an archaeological monument, the community monuments fund can provide grants of up to \u20ac100,000 for conservation works, where eligible. In 2025, the community monuments fund awarded 122 projects a total of \u20ac7.5 million in funding.  The community monuments fund supports a range of initiatives to conserve, maintain, protect and promote local monuments and historic sites. Such investment benefits communities and the public by future-proofing and safeguarding monuments through the funding of conservation works and repairs, building resilience by protecting monuments from the effects of extreme weather and climate change, in addition to supporting public access to monuments and improvements in the presentation of local monuments. These grants help owners and custodians of archaeological monuments and built heritage assets alike to safeguard them into the future. Over the past number of years, these conservation schemes have allocated in excess of \u20ac50 million for works to archaeological monuments, historic buildings and public realm schemes. This is a testament to the dedication and hard work of all involved, including local authorities, community groups, private owners, the professional heritage sector and officials in the Department to ensure the ongoing protection, conservation and maintenance of our heritage sites for the continued enjoyment of generations to come.  In addition to the conservation schemes described above, local authorities seeking funding should, depending on the exact circumstances of the structures and buildings in question, engage with the urban regeneration and development fund, the rural regeneration and development fund, the LEADER and Thrive programmes, and \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta funding schemes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I cannot emphasise enough that this castle is an iconic cultural and heritage landmark and it cannot be left closed any longer. The Government has to recognise the importance of this site to the local community in terms of heritage, tourism and employment. When the Minister of State talks about grant schemes in the region of \u20ac50,000, \u20ac100,000 or \u20ac200,000, those are going to come nowhere near meeting the cost of what is required.  The Minister of State's response is not based in reality. She said there was no voted funding stream available from the Department. That is absolute rubbish. The Government can get these things done if it wants to. That is the reality and people know it. The Minister of State's response is very disappointing.  Representatives of Galway County Council will meet the Department in the coming weeks. They have a specific request for \u20ac5 million. They have put together a strong business case. The ball is in the Government's court. It needs to step up to the plate. This is a huge blow to Kinvara. It is very damaging to our tourism reputation locally.  The question that people in Kinvara and across County Galway have is why funding can be made available to other local authorities to allow them to take control of the Shannon group's heritage assets but not to Galway County Council. It is absolutely outrageous. Our local authority is totally underfunded as it is. This is a further insult to the people of County Galway.  People in Kinvara feel neglected in the context of the castle. They have been waiting for years for road safety improvements, including very basic things such as pedestrian crossings. There is very little housing and the local school needs improved facilities. The boardwalk has been held up for a very long time. Our Government needs to start delivering for Kinvara. I ask the Government and the Minister of State to stop the excuses and deflection and to give Galway County Council the capital funding it requires to bring Dunguaire Castle back into use. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. As noted by the Government in its decision of January 2021, the Shannon Airport Group operated Shannon Heritage on a commercial basis, in line with its commercial mandate, meaning that sites were only likely to open on a seasonal basis and where a commercial business case existed. Dunguaire Castle was operated by Clare County Council on a goodwill basis for the summer 2023 season. The group has advised that, given its commercial mandate, it was not feasible to reopen the castle in subsequent seasons.  As discussed today, a wider range of supports is available to assist and support local authorities and private owners to discharge their responsibilities in respect of archaeology and building heritage sites. Investment in our heritage sites delivers broad public benefits by enhancing the character and amenity within our towns, villages and landscapes, bringing back into use buildings and other assets which currently lie vacant and closed.  On a more human level, I appreciate what the Deputy is saying. I appreciate that he feels the community of Kinvara feels alienated over this particular issue. I will convey the Deputy's thoughts and views to the Minister, Deputy James Browne. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Heritage Sites"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I want to talk about the village of Allenwood, which is in my constituency in County Kildare. It is a beautiful village, not far from Naas, Clane and Rathangan. It is right in the middle of the county. It is a country village, or perhaps I should say that it was a village in 1991, when 303 people were living in it. The latest census, taken in 2022, showed 1,685 people living in the village of Allenwood.  The reason I have raised this Topical Issue is to talk to the Minister of State about Scoil Mhuire Allenwood, an amalgamation of two primary school schools, that opened in 2017. The census taken in 2022 told us there were 142 children in the village of Allenwood between the ages of zero and four. The problem we have with Scoil Mhuire Allenwood is that there are 42 applicants for a school place in September next year but only 28 places available. Unfortunately, that leaves a deficit for a number of families. We have spoken previously about the stress that many of those families are under. Many of them also have a child - a sibling of the applicant child- already in the school. That is causing distress for parents. Where will their second child go to school?  The school is trying to do everything it can to facilitate new children and to facilitate those who do not have a school place at the moment. It previously put prefabs onto the school grounds. It is using every part of the existing school to accommodate children. There are waiting lists for every class in Scoil Mhuire Allenwood.  The school was granted an extension, which was announced a number of years ago. We have been told lately that the process is at stage 2b. That is where it sits at the moment. That leaves us with a deficit of school places for next September. It leaves us with problems for all those families. At this stage, Scoil Mhuire Allenwood is getting up to 40 applications for primary school places per year. That has been the case for the past four to five years and it has created a problem for the school management. The school management wants to work with the Department of education and the local community to ensure that no child who lives in the Allenwood area is without a school place this coming September.  The school also applied for a prefab to allow it to accommodate those children without a place in September while the new extension is being built or when construction starts. My request is for the Department to allow that prefab to be placed on the grounds. The management will work with that. A prefab would allow those children without a place to have a much-needed place for September while we still wait for the various stages of the new build to go ahead. I ask the Minister of State, on behalf of the Minister for education, to confirm that the Department will allow that prefab to be placed on site to allow those children to have places and to take the stress off working families who do not have that place at the moment and are contacting me and, indeed, every public representative in south Kildare. As the Minister of State knows, the most important thing for children is that they know what school their friends are going to come next September. At the moment, there is too much stress on families in Allenwood and too many families do not have a school place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. It gives me the opportunity to set out for the House the position with regard to school places in Scoil Mhuire Allenwood, County Kildare. The Deputy is aware that Scoil Mhuire Allenwood is a coeducational primary school with a Catholic ethos under the patronage of the Bishop of Kildare and Leighlin. The school had an enrolment in September 2025 of 263 pupils. This represents an increase of 7% in the past five years.  I can confirm that Scoil Mhuire Allenwood recently submitted an application for temporary accommodation under my Department's additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme. This application is currently under assessment by the officials in the Department. I know the Deputy wants a concrete answer today, but I can tell him that the application is certainly under consideration.  I am pleased to confirm that the Department approved funding in 2022 to provide three mainstream classrooms, including two replacement classrooms, two special education classrooms and the reconfiguration of four undersized rooms to create two larger mainstream classrooms. This project is currently devolved to the school authority for delivery and approval was given for this ASA project to progress to stage 2b, planning, in November 2024. The Department now awaits a post-planning developed design report from the school for review. The school also received funding in 2022 to purchase a modular classroom to accommodate the 11th mainstream post. In 2024, funding was approved to repurpose a mainstream classroom to accommodate the opening of a special educational needs class, pending delivery of the permanent build project.  Scoil Mhuire Allenwood is located in the Prosperous-Clane school planning area. The Department's projections of primary school place requirements for that area indicate that enrolments at primary level peaked in 2019 and are decreasing, year on year. Given the general downward direction of overall enrolments in the area, the Department's focus for the assessment of such additional accommodation applications will be to analyse the extent to which enrolments at this school and neighbouring schools are serving the local area in the first instance. This will identify if some of the pressures on local capacity are arising from the enrolment of pupils from outside the local area where there may be other school provision opportunities available to them. That is the information I have been provided with. I am sure the Deputy will have more to say. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State for the reply, with which I do not agree and with which the school management will not agree. I have talked in the Chamber previously about schools in south Kildare. As we know, it is one of the fastest growing areas in the whole country. Sometimes, I wonder what statistics and census the Department is looking at. I have just told the Minister of State what has happened in Allenwood over the past four to five years. There have been 40 applications for school places each of the past four years.  That is the difference when it comes to what is happening in Allenwood where the population has increased to the extent it has. It is not a downward trend; it is an upward one. I am sure the Department is receiving emails, because I have seen it copied on the emails I am getting from stressed parents and the school management . The latter does not know where to turn next because it is also getting the calls from parents who do not know where their children will go to school next September. Will the Minister of State bring my request back to the Minister for Education and Youth? I intend to follow up on this matter again - as I am sure, will every public representative in Kildare - namely that the prefabricated building requested, which the Minister of State said is under consideration, be allocated to Scoil Mhuire in Allenwood. We cannot have the number of children involved not having school places in September.  As stated previously, families meet up with other families whose children have school places. Children are in GAA clubs. There are excellent ones in Allenwood and the surrounding district. The children speak to one another. One child says they are starting in September and the other, as I have stated in this House on other occasions, says they are not. That causes a serious problem for families.  The statistics I have, which were provided by the school management, tell me the school averaged 40 applications for primary school places per year for the past four years. That is not a downward trend. We all welcome the fact that a new school building is on the way, but that will take a number of years. In light of that, will the Minster of State bring back to the Minister the request to allow the provision of this prefabricated building in order to ensure that those who need school places will have them and that the stress of family life will not come down to the fact there are no school places for many families in the Allenwood area? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I am slightly concerned about the difference between the information the Deputy has and the information the Department has, because the figures do not lie. Enrolments are either increasing or decreasing year on year. I do not for one minute question the Deputy's bona fides regarding the information he has brought to the D\u00e1il today, so I ask him to liaise directly. I will reflect what he said today to the Minister for education because the facts are the facts in terms of enrolments. If the facts show that there is an increase in the enrolment and it is not that there is a duplication of applications going into a lot of local schools, that should certainly make a strong case for the school to get the building - the bricks and mortar - it deserves in order to be able to accommodate students and make sure they have school places. We do not want to see parents under the stress of having uncertainty about whether their children will have places in schools.  The Department is aware of enrolment pressures and demand for additional school places in some areas. It is important to note that enrolment pressures can be driven, as I said, by duplication of applications, applications from outside a catchment area and school-of-choice factors. Notwithstanding that, in some areas the demographic pressures and other factors are driving a requirement for additional school places. Major new residential developments - perhaps that is happening in the Deputy's area - have the potential to alter the demand for school places at local level. That can happen quite quickly. In this regard, as part of the demographic demand analysis, the Department monitors planning and construction activity in the residential sector in the local area. This involves the analysis of data sources from local authorities and the Central Statistics Office, alongside engagement with local authorities and the construction sector. In this way, up-to-date information on significant new residential developments is obtained and factored into the analysis that is conducted by the Department. It is necessary to ensure that school infrastructure planning is keeping pace with those changes at local level in circumstances where it is a consistently evolving picture in the context of planned new residential developments.  I appreciate what the Deputy said and will reflect it to the Minster for education. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_44","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Family Resource Centres","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Deansrath Family Centre has been serving children and families in Clondalkin and beyond for more than 20 years. It is located in an area of ongoing socioeconomic disadvantage, characterised by high levels of unemployment and poverty, a lot of single-parent households and lower than average levels of education. The centre has evolved over time to cater for these needs and has expanded from solely providing childcare to delivering a range of services under the general headings of prevention and early intervention. It has built up a lot of experience in identifying needs in families early and providing co-ordinated support before problems become more complex. It is the living epitome of the research done in the Highscope\/Perry Preschool Project, which showed that for every \u20ac1 invested there is a \u20ac7 return. The centre focuses on targeted responses at an early stage and is doing a good job.  Families can access a range of services and supports alongside the early childhood care and education programme, which caters for children, including those with special educational needs. There are parenting programmes, child therapeutic interventions and a range of wraparound supports which ensure that families receive appropriate supports to help to improve outcomes. The centre is not just totting up figures; it is doing something of value and adding value to the community. It has grown substantially over a 20-year period. It is a victim of its own success in one sense. It has consistently adapted its response to the increasing socioeconomic challenges. A greater number of parents have benefited year on year from the centre because of the excellent levels of care it offers and the education, counselling and support that are available for children. The key challenge now is that it has insufficient physical space to accommodate the increased number of families going to the centre, in a single location. It has had to spread out and that involves long walks so it urgently needs adequate premises to extend service provision. Although it does a good job, the service is fragmented.  The centre put in place a plan to enable it to maintain a consistent level of support and increased on-site service provision going forward. South Dublin County Council has provided land for a new centre in the St. Cuthbert's Park area. The park has been separately upgraded by South Dublin County Council. It is a fantastic resource on which to locate such a centre. The centre has been designed to accommodate needs well into the future. At 500 sq m, it would be three times the size of the existing premises and would provide an excellent amount of space to facilitate the delivery of supports and enhance the supports already provided. It would get rid of the need for families and staff to travel to and from other venues. In some cases, these families do not have cars and the bus service is not reliable. It is a long walk. The centre would have additional supports for early years care, family support, staff rooms and a multipurpose recreation and family-focused space. It is a fantastic plan for a one-stop shop of supports. There would be a large early years facility, dedicated rooms, including parent and baby, child and parent, and teenager rooms, therapy rooms, family-staff consultation rooms, family spaces and child cooking facilities and communal areas where families with young children can meet and connect with others. There would be stuff like CoderDojo, an academy space, a staff training room, a parent outdoor space and an outdoor playground.  The centre has written to various Departments looking for funding. That is why I originally put this question to the Department of the Taoiseach. I believe channels of funding may be available through various Departments, but there is no one-size-fits-all scenario. The centre has not been able to get access to someone who will tell the centre how to get the various channels together to provide the funds for the centre. Is the Minister of State in a position to identify credible channels of funding today? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I am familiar with the family resource centres the Deputy spoke about in my constituency. They are a valuable gem in any community. They take a holistic approach. They think of every demographic in a family and are a huge resource to have in an area.  The building blocks extension grant scheme was launched in late 2024, and successful applicants are working with the Department in delivering their projects. An application for funding under the scheme was received from Deansrath Family Centre and subsequently that application was deemed ineligible on the basis that the proposed project did not fall within the scope of the building blocks construction strand, due to the value of the project being significantly in excess of the allowed maximum.  As announced in the context of budget 2026, \u20ac36 million will be available next year for early learning and childcare capital programmes. This will include acquisitions of new buildings through the State-led early learning and childcare programme, investment in expansion of existing early learning and childcare operators through the building blocks scheme and a number of quality initiatives, including supports for childminders. The Department is currently examining options for future building blocks schemes and the Minister expects to announce details of that in early 2026. The family resource centre programme is a community development programme that is financially supported by many State agencies in a partnership approach. The programme for Government commits to increasing funding and expanding the capacity and network of family resource centres over the Government's term, given the important role these centres play in local communities.  Recent developments in respect of the family resource centre programme include the Department\u2019s securing of additional funding of \u20ac800,000 in budget 2025, to allow for an expansion of the programme from 121 members to 126. In this context, we have recently welcomed five new members to the programme. Additionally, neither the Department or Tusla currently have capital funding to support the building of new or refurbishment or extension of existing family resource centres. Tusla does not have a dedicated budget for capital or building works for third-party organisations, such as family resource centres. This is the situation where these third-party organisations are members of the national family resource centre programme, or an organisation, such as Deansrath Family Resource Centre, which is not a programme member and separately funded. I hope that answers the Deputy's question in some way. It may not be favourable, but it in some way answers it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  It is partially answered but the Departments still does not have the big picture because those behind the centre need funding to build a model of excellence in what will be a first of its kind family and early childhood centre. It will be the first whole-of-government strategy for babies, young children and their families, which is in the State's long-term programme. So far, their vision has been enabled through the land disposal agreement with South Dublin County Council, a bequest of \u20ac200,000 from a deceased chairperson of the board of management and some fundraising, including support by the architect who continued to work pro bono to secure the planning permission, which has been secured. It is a fantastic plan but it only remains a plan until funding is provided.  Page 147 of the National Development Plan 2021-2030 states that a funding route needs to be found for building like this, which epitomises the first five early childhood and family centres. The build cost was estimated at \u20ac4 million last year. They have been able to indicate that they would get some funding. They were informed that the building block strand 2 extension fund has a maximum grant of \u20ac650,000 for an individual organisation. That leaves a huge deficit. The services at Deansrath are resourced through service level agreements largely with Tusla, but also through the HSE and Pobal early years funding. The services are spread across quite a number of buildings. They need to find out where they can get that several million euro. While applying to one channel is welcome, I would like the Minister of State to pass on her colleagues the need to create a pathway because there are similar groups around the country who have similar problems. Can the Government identify a pathway where they can apply for the funding through various Departments and channels because of the multifaceted aspect of the work? They are coming up against a brick wall. They need help from Government sources. I would appreciate if they could get that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  In my limited knowledge on the funding streams that are available to the centres I know in my constituency, the model is that there is a maximum of what the Department can fund towards it. Any of the projects I am aware of they have had to source other funds. In the Border region, we have had the opportunity to source PEACE and local authority funding. There has always been a jigsaw approach to it to have that overall figure that the Deputy referenced. Was it \u20ac4 million? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  That was last year. It has probably gone up slightly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I appreciate the request for a pathway to be put in place whereby other agencies can contribute to the overall cost. The Deputy can be sure I will reflect that to the Minister. I thank him again for raising this important issue. It is a priority for the Minister and the Government. The programme for Government commits for the first time to providing capital investment to build and purchase State-owned early learning and childcare facilities to create additional capacity in areas where unmet needs exist. State ownership of facilities is a substantial and significant development and offers the potential for much greater scope to influence the nature and volume of provision available and to ensure better alignments with estimated demand. This work will be supported through our capital investment under the revised national development plan. As part of the recent NDP review, published in July this year, the allocation for the Department has increased to \u20ac795 million over the next five years. This increased funding will be used in part to provide additional early learning and childcare places through future capital programmes, including potentially operating a further scheme similar to building blocks to support the expansion of provision by existing operators as well as implementing the commitment to capital investment in State-owned facilities. Once details of the future capital schemes are finalised, the Minister will communicate them with the sector. I will reflect the Deputy's request in finding that multiagency approach to funding projects at the scale he referenced. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Will the Minister of State ask the Minister to try to give me a written response on that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I will, of course. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Family Resource Centres"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_45","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Taxi Regulations","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  I thank the Minister of State for her presence. I raised this issue with the Minister for Transport last night. I understand that at short notice he cannot be here, but I would be very much obliged if the Minister of State can convey the importance of this issue, which I know he is aware of. There is going to be industrial action by taxi drivers or as close as they can get to it today either outside at Merrion Square and at the airport on an issue they feel strongly about. I support them on this. I hate to see Dublin city disrupted. I hate to see people who are going about their work, trying to their travel and get home after a busy day disrupted in this way. It is a pity that it has had to escalate this quickly without them being met. The issue is a just issue.  The National Transport Authority, NTA, reviews fares for taxis every two years roughly. Those fares are reviewed and a new fare is brought up relating to the type of car, the cost of the car and those kinds of issues. The NTA arrives at a figure and the taxi meter is recalibrated accordingly. The taxi drivers pay a fee for that. I welcome the apps we all have access to now, including Freenow and Uber, particularly in cities and urban areas. They provide security, a certain amount of predictability and certainty, identification for the drivers and security for vulnerable users and women, especially younger women passengers. They know who their driver is. There is a record kept of the journey. Freenow guesstimates a fare. A person orders a taxi. If he or she wants to go from Rathfarnham to Leinster House, Freenow offers them a guesstimate of how much that will cost, which is useful because passengers the know roughly how much it will cost. They also know that if there is congestion or something like that it is going to cost more than that. Uber wants to move to an accurate fee. If I order a taxi from Knocklyon to Croke Park, it will outline a fare and come what may, it wants me to pay that fare. It means that if the taxi is delayed in traffic or if there are some other circumstances that cause a delay, the taxi driver is not getting paid for that They want to dictate the fare and circumvent the existing agreement that has been arrived at between the NTA and taxi drivers.  At the moment, Freenow has a taxi saver. If I order a taxi, I pay a \u20ac3 fee between the time of ordering and the time it takes for the taxi to come to my house. That into account the distance the taxi driver has to travel to arrive. I may cancel. There is time and fuel used. Through this app, the taxi driver gets \u20ac3 before the pick-up. However, now the customer can choose not to pay the \u20ac3 fee. They can choose a discount to discount the fare by that \u20ac3. This is not part of the deal that was negotiated between the NTA and taxi drivers. We can give out sometimes about the cost of them but we all know traditionally that a taxi fare is about time, distance and pick-up cost. What the taxi drivers are justifiably exercised about is that the new system was introduced, if it can be called a system, without the agreement of taxi drivers. It has caused widespread anger within the industry. Taxi drivers feel that is a kind of divide and rule approach. Under this model, Uber pays the lower of the metered fare or the company's preset fixed price. This means that if there are delays, diversions or traffic issues, the driver loses income even though the meter reflects the legally regulated fare. That is the bones of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I thank Deputy Lahart for raising this important issue and will certainly reflect his observations to the Minister for Transport. The Deputy will be aware that neither the Minister for Transport nor his Department are involved in the day-to-day operation of the small public service vehicle, SPSV, sector. The National Transport Authority, NTA, the independent transport regulator, has responsibility for setting taxi fares under the provisions of the consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016.  On 3 November 2025, Uber Ireland introduced a new option on its platform providing its customers with a single maximum price for a trip before requesting a taxi. This option is referred to on the platform as a \"tax fixed price\u201d. Usually, when booking a taxi with Uber or other dispatch operators a price range of the approximate cost of the journey is shown, but the Minister understands that with the Uber taxi fixed price option, the customer is now provided with a maximum guaranteed price upfront. If the final price on the taxi meter is less than the initial maximum price provided, users pay the lower price on the meter. If the final price on the taxi meter is greater than the maximum price, users pay the maximum price.  From a legislative perspective, section 24 of the consolidated Taxi Regulation Acts 2013 and 2016 empowers the NTA board to make a maximum fares order fixing the maximum fare that may be charged by the driver of a taxi for any journey. The current maximum fares order took effect in December 2024 and a maximum fare review is carried out approximately every two years. The NTA has conducted these reviews since 2011. Hackneys and limousines agree their fares in advance and do not use a meter. The NTA's most recent fare review was undertaken between November 2023 and March 2024. During this review, the NTA took account of the most significant economic issues that were relevant to the SPSV sector, which included inflation, the cost of living, fuel prices, energy supply, geopolitical uncertainty and increased public transport availability. Following this review and a public consultation on the matter, the NTA introduced the Taxi Regulation (Maximum Fares) Order 2024, which increased taxi fares by an average of 9%. This came into operation on 1 December 2024 and ensures that taxi fares continue to reflect the rising costs associated with operating a taxi in Ireland. This increase includes a special rate for the weekend peak from 12 midnight to 4 a.m. on Friday night into Saturday morning and Saturday night into Sunday morning, year round, to incentivise more drivers to service the night-time economy. This followed on from the 2022 order in which a 12% increase on fares was introduced.  As set out in the legislation, charging more than this maximum fare can lead to a prosecution. However, charging below the maximum fare is permitted. The Minister understands that the Uber fixed price offer does not breach the maximum fare regulatory provisions for taxis or constitute an offence associated with the misuse of taxi meters. SPSV operators are self-employed and may decide whether to sign up with a licensed dispatch operator such as Uber. They are not obliged to be affiliated with any dispatch operator but, where they choose to do so, taxi drivers are free to contract with a dispatch operator of their choice. Unfortunately, neither the Minister nor the NTA is a party to the commercial or contractual arrangements between SPSV drivers and their dispatch operators. Accordingly, the Department and the NTA have no role in the approval of such matters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  The piece of the reply that the Minister of State did not reach states that the Minister for Transport issued a letter to the NTA on 19 November last asking it to clarify the regulatory position on the Uber fixed price fare for the information of taxi operators and public representatives alike. We await that clarification because the taxi drivers who have been in touch with me and with colleagues across the House and who have come to my clinics do not recognise the part of the reply which asserts that there is a maximum price that cannot be exceeded. Their interpretation of this is that if a price of \u20ac23 for a journey is sent through the app as a guesstimate, that is what the customer will pay, even if the journey is delayed or diverted, resulting in an increase in the fare. In other words, the taxi driver cannot claim that but the answer the Minister of State has given seems to suggest the opposite. However, it is only referring to Uber. It is not referring to Freenow, for example, another app that is very widely used.  The NTA needs to move very quickly. Another part of the ministerial response states, with reference to the Uber taxi fixed price option, that the Minister understands that the customer is now provided with a maximum guaranteed price upfront. That seems to be the case with one of the apps and while obviously I am in favour of value for money for customers, taxi drivers also need to make a living. Customers are guaranteed a maximum price upfront, and that is fine, but as taxi drivers point out, it does not take into account delays in the journey or other issues.  The Minister is very clear in his reply that neither he nor the NTA is a party to the commercial or contractual arrangements but it is impossible for a taxi driver in Dublin to avoid using the apps now. Otherwise, they will just disappear as taxi drivers, so perhaps the NTA needs to get involved in that. The big piece that is exercising taxi drivers is that this was not negotiated. This has been foisted on them. That is why they are going to be outside the gates at 4.30 p.m. and blocking Dublin Airport as well, creating a bit of a fuss to bring this to the attention of the public. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  As I said, I will certainly bring the Deputy's views to the Minister. As Deputy Lahart quite rightly said, the Minister issued a letter on 19 November to the NTA and we await its response. He also met this morning with the advisory committee on SPSVs, whose role is to provide advice to the Minister and the NTA in relation to issues relevant to SPSVs and their drivers, where the matter was discussed. I have no doubt that meeting will have given the Minister cause for concern and perhaps fuller engagement on the issue is needed to see if it can be resolved. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Taxi Regulations"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_46","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  Deputy Smyth is a representative of a Border constituency, the same as I am, so she will very much understand this particular issue. A constituent of mine called Majella contacted me. She was born in Leitrim and lived there practically all of her life. She started her career working in the health services. Then she married a man from Fermanagh and moved six miles up the road. She continued to cross the Border every day to work and worked all her life. Now her mother has become ill towards the end of her life and needs care. Majella got carer's benefit based on the stamps she had accumulated during her working life. However, after 104 weeks she was told to apply for the carer's allowance, which is not stamps based but assessed. When she applied she was refused because of the habitual residency condition as she does not live within the State. This is very unfair. It is an anomaly that comes up for a tiny number of people in certain circumstances who are living in the Border area. People in these circumstances are not travelling 50 or 100 miles to care for somebody. It is only people in a small corridor that this would affect. In that context, resolving this issue would not result in a big cost to the State. This needs to happen as quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I agree with my party colleague that given the Minister of State's position as a representative of a Border county, she will be more familiar with this issue than some in the House. Not that one would guess it from listening to me, but I also grew up in a Border town and I know that people who live along the Border do not recognise it in the same way as those who live elsewhere because they go back and forth across the Border all of the time.  In response to a parliamentary question, I was told that there are only three people resident in the North who are in receipt of carer's benefit at this point. We are not talking about massive numbers here. There are no floodgates opening or anything like that coming down the line. This is also about the fact that the people taking on caring responsibilities are saving the State an absolute fortune. This woman is caring for her mother and then going home to where she lives, which is only up the road.  I am interested in hearing what the Department is prepared to do about this. In our view, it is amenable to resolution by statutory instrument. I ask the Minister of State to request this of the Minister for Social Protection, Deputy Calleary, who is aware of this issue. As I understand it, there is no hostility towards resolving it; the question is whether we can. As it stands, people who have worked all of their lives and paid stamps are now falling foul of the habitual residency rule. It is very simple. For the purposes of habitual residency, the island should be regarded as one. I am not trying to make a massively political point but it would make sense to regard the island as one.  However, there is also a need to resolve these individual cases as well as getting the resolution for us into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I thank the Deputies. I am delighted, as Deputies Kenny and O'Reilly are, that when we live in a Border county like Monaghan and Cavan, we can cross over the jurisdiction. That invisible crossing happens many times. A person could be living 1 mile up the road and be in a different jurisdiction. Deputy Kenny was quite right when he said carers are never going to be living a million miles away from the person they are caring for. I would imagine it could be easily managed. I take the point. I understand the Minister, Deputy Calleary, is very familiar with this and is open and compassionate about the issue. He will certainly be open to trying to resolve this.  I thank both Deputies for raising this important issue. The Government acknowledges the vital role that family carers play in Irish society - that goes without saying - and remains fully committed to supporting them in the role they do. This commitment is reflected both in the programme for Government and in the recent budget, and the Department of Social Protection provides a comprehensive range of income supports for family carers. In 2026, spending on these supports is expected to exceed \u20ac2.2 billion, with almost 104,000 carers currently receiving carer's allowance payment.  Carer\u2019s allowance is the main scheme through which the Department provides income support to carers in the community. There is no money that would pay them enough for the work that they do. It is so valuable. The allowance only acknowledges, in some small way, how valued they are. It is a means-tested social assistance payment for people on low incomes who are providing full-time care to someone who requires ongoing support due to age, disability or illness. The person being cared for must require full-time care and attention. As part of budget 2026, we are increasing the income disregard for a single person to \u20ac1,000 per week and for a couple to \u20ac2,000 per week. These are the largest ever increases to the carer\u2019s allowance income disregard and will mean that even households with relatively high incomes will qualify for a carer\u2019s payment for the first time.  Like all social assistance schemes provided by the Department of Social Protection, carer\u2019s allowance is subject to a habitual residency requirement, which requires the carer to have habitual residence in the Irish State. Where a carer resides in Northern Ireland, they cannot qualify for the carer\u2019s allowance because they do not meet that particular condition or tick that box. Carers residing in the North of Ireland may be eligible for the non-means-tested carer\u2019s allowance payment but in the particular case Deputy Kenny quite rightly mentioned, the carer has already exceeded that. This scheme is payable to carers over 16 who are providing full-time care of at least 35 hours per week to someone who is in need of care and is in receipt of a specified payment.  To answer the Deputy's question as directly as I can, he has referred to a very specific case. Deputy O'Reilly has a given very low number in terms of the number of people it affects. As I said, my understanding is that the Minister is open to providing a way to give that allowance and to seeking a resolution to this. I will reflect the case study the Deputy has presented here and ask the Minister to consider it further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  I thank the Minister of State. I am aware of all of these circumstances. Yes, there is a payment in the North but the person who is living in the North and can apply for the carer's benefit in the North has to be caring for a person in that jurisdiction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  It is the same problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  The fact that they live in two different jurisdictions, although they are only a couple of miles apart, is what gives rise to this peculiarity. This is a carer's case. There are other similar cases where habitual residency comes into play which may affect people's pensions and things like that on both sides of the Border. These are small numbers. We are talking about dozens of people in total. It is something that should be looked at across the whole social welfare code to see if a number of small statutory instruments or amendments can be put in to deal with these circumstances and to sort them out for the people involved. As I say, they are very small numbers. We are talking about people who have, generally, paid into the State because they have been working on this side of the Border. As we know, many people live in the South and work in the North, or live in the North and work in the South. It happens all the time up and down across the Border region. Sometimes, people have two jobs - one in the North and one in the South. It depends on those circumstances. In all of those situations, all we need to do is put something into the regulation that takes care of the problem we have and deals with it efficiently and effectively. This can be done very speedily. I ask the Minister to look at it between now and Christmas and come up with something to resolve the situation before the new year. Go raibh maith agaibh. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  Very briefly, to echo the sentiment expressed by my colleague, this impacts a number of social welfare payments but in real life the numbers are tiny. I sent in a parliamentary question about it. I did not expect the numbers would be big. I did not think they would be as low as three but that is where we are at. We are not talking about big numbers but these people are paying into a system. If this cannot be facilitated, then the mother does not get to be cared for by her daughter, which is her choice, and then someone is going to have to care for her. At the end of the day, a bill is coming one way or the other. It strikes me that the person themselves, the elderly person in this instance, has a right to chose their carer. The carer is available and the only crime that anyone has committed is living 3 miles or 4 miles up the road. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  She married the wrong man----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I am not getting into that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  -----on the wrong side of the Border. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  She married a Fermanagh man now so that is where she is at. In all seriousness, it is something that will not take the Minister a long time. These are cases that are very real and very live now so I would appreciate if, when Deputy Smyth brings this back to the Minister, she could emphasise that we are talking about small numbers, statutory instruments, co-operation from the Opposition and possibly getting this resolved by Christmas if we could. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niamh Smyth  I will not commit to it being resolved by Christmas but as we all work and strive towards a united Ireland, this is a very pragmatic request and we should take a very pragmatic approach to it. As I said, I will certainly reflect the views of the Deputies, the particular instances they have outlined today and the facts they have to back them up regarding the small numbers in question that we have to address. Going back to Deputy Kenny's point, we need to look at this broadly in terms of social protection. There are probably a number of payments that are affecting a very small number of people. As we work towards that united Ireland, we should certainly look at this in a pragmatic way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Paula Butterly)  I thank the Deputies. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Payments"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-27\/debate\/dbsect_47","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/29","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/29\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":13},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sean Fleming","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  On a point of order, where are the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, and the Minister for the environment, Deputy O\u2019Brien? Neither of them is in the Chamber. That is no disrespect to the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, who is here and is fielding a lot of issues. It is disrespectful to the Chamber that neither Minister is here for an issue as important as this, but that is where we are at. I wanted to express that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Paula Butterly)  I ask the Deputy to move the Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time\".  The absence of guidelines or regulations for wind turbines is absolutely scandalous. We have been relying on outdated guidelines from 2006 for over a decade and a half. The Bill is about putting a proper planning framework in place.  It is not about stopping the utilisation of wind but having wind turbines in the right place and at the right scale. Four governments have come and gone. We are on government No. 5 and no action has been taken. We have had paralysis by the Government on this issue for over a decade and a half. This is what Miche\u00e1l Martin said on the matter in the D\u00e1il in 2013:  There is a fundamental absence of transparency governing these developments. There is an absence of consultation with local residents and communities. [He said this was a scandal] Above all, there is an absence of a legislative framework to deal with the step change in technology and scale of development.  He cited concerns about the health impacts of shadow flicker, noise, and so on. I could keep quoting from his speech from that day, but that is what he said. The replies I am getting here for 13 years are the very same. The most recent one I got from the Minister stated that his \"Department is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 Wind Energy Development Guidelines\", which is looking at a number of key issues including the noise aspect of the guidelines, which is highly technical in nature. That is the same reply I have been getting for the last 12 years.  Meanwhile, these giant turbines have sprung up all over the country, particularly in the midlands and especially in Laois and Offaly. They cover huge tracts of land and their scale has massively increased since the 2006 guidelines were put in place. At that stage, turbines were 30 m or 35 m in height but they are now multiples of that and reach 185 m in height. Some are located only metres from rural homes. They are mainly owned and directed by large foreign investment funds, which are riding roughshod over local communities. Where they meet opposition, they will often bribe or try to bribe a section of the community and use their clout to browbeat the remainder of the community. They are taking advantage of the absence of regulations or even guidelines. They behave as if it is the gold rush and grab the opportunity. Of course they are going to do that.  This is a huge problem for rural communities. I mentioned Laois and Offaly in particular. At the moment, a huge number of wind turbines are planned right across the area of the south Laois-Kilkenny border. These turbines can be put up in close proximity. People have to put up with the noise, shadow flicker and the sterilisation of surrounding lands. Once the wind turbines are erected, even on their own land a son or daughter cannot get planning permission to build on the family farm because of the proximity of the turbines.  Along with inaction from the Department and the Department of local government, all three of the largest parties have sat on their hands. While the Government has been in a state of paralysis, the largest Opposition party has not moved on it either. When I tried to introduce a similar Bill nearly five years ago, time was allocated on a Wednesday, but it was stopped at that time by the leader of that party. I hope Sinn F\u00e9in is able to do better than that today. I hope they can support this Bill. I was told at the time that it was due to the fear of media reaction. It is the people who elect us, not the media and they are who we need to represent.  The Irish Wind Energy Association, which represents wealthy investors, has done an excellent job. The association is regularly in and out of these buildings. The propaganda is all persuasive until we dig deeper. A lot of people seem to be taken in by it. Planning is a balance. As I said at the outset, this is not about stopping it; it is about having a balance in the planning system which is not there at the moment.  Many constituents have asked me who exactly is in charge. That is an interesting question. Wind energy is important, but we must use utilise it along with other renewable sources. The Government has focused almost exclusively on wind. While it is a good source of clean energy, it is intermittent. That can lead to surges on the grid when there is plenty of wind and turbines have to be shut down. More than 10% of electricity is unused but it has to be paid for and the cost amounts to billions. If we look at the figures for what has been paid over the last five years, it was \u20ac263 million in 2021 and last year it was \u20ac251 million. It is a sizeable amount of money that is being paid out.  Little effort has been made to develop solar, anaerobic digestion, hydro, hydrogen, or offshore energy. They are only in their infancy, and some have not even started. Regulation for solar energy is being drafted and while that needs to be done, what is happening in terms of wind turbines? At times we were told that the delay in the guidelines or regulations is due to difficulty sorting out the appropriate level of noise to be allowed, but it has been a full decade and a half.  In terms of Ministers, I remember debating this with Phil Hogan in this Chamber, and Alan Kelly, Denis Naughten, Richard Bruton, Eamon Ryan and now Darragh O'Brien. Six Ministers have come and gone and we are on the fifth government and still there are no guidelines. This is inexcusable.  It is fine if people want to amend the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025 that I am bringing forward. I am not saying it is exactly what we need, but a good bit of work has gone into it and it would certainly put some shape on this and go a long way towards what we need.  Section 3 deals with the location of wind turbines. It must be consistent with local county development plans. Despite what Ministers say, that is not happening at the moment. Wind turbines are being put in areas that are not designated under county development plans. Indeed, these companies are riding roughshod over the county development plans. That must happen because as Members know, those plans are made by democratically elected local councillors and it is important that local democracy is upheld.  Section 4 sets out in detail the need for public consultation and a number of measures to be taken in terms of public notices, providing for a non-technical assessment to be made available, the potential impact of the proposed construction on the host community, the measures to prevent and to reduce that effect, the length of time of the construction and the planning gain for the local community. Section 4 sets out in great detail that there must be greater consultation.  Section 5 deals with noise and shadow flicker. This is very important because we know it is a real problem. At the moment there are houses where shadow flicker passes over them. This is unfair to residents. The Bill clearly sets out that they need to be located far enough from dwellings but that is not happening. We must protect the residents.  Section 6 specifies that any turbine over 30 m in height can only be located a distance of not less than 7.5 times the height of the turbine. It is really important that we set that down because that is not being complied with in any way at the moment. It is really important that what is outlined in section 6 is put in place.  Section 7 deals with transitional matters in terms of the duties of planning authorities. It sets out their responsibilities, including An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la. Section 8 sets out penalties that can be set by the Minister. That is important. The Minister would do that by way of statutory instrument, in terms of setting the level of responsibility.  Section 9 sets out that companies must provide financial evidence in terms of being able to put up bonds. Section 10 deals with responsibility for decommissioning. Very importantly, section 11 provides for co-ownership. Wind turbine developers shall provide an opportunity for local residents to purchase up to a 10% stake in wind turbine developments as part of a community co-operative model of wind turbine. The initial development has to be offered to residents who live within a 4 km radius of the turbines. After that, they can be offered to people outside that radius. It is really important that it happens.  The Bill provides for a number of measures to give people the necessary protections. I will deal first with the noise issue. The World Health Organization, WHO, has guidelines on international best practice. This is the crux of the matter and what is holding things up. In 2017 we had the launch of the preferred draft approach. In 2020, the Government set a target that 40% of renewable energy would come from onshore wind. That is very doable. We could probably do even more than that. In 2021, the Government doubled that to 80% and stated that 80% of all renewable energy would come from onshore wind. That is not doable and it would require standing proper planning on its head.  That is what is happening. The casualty there has been the noise limits set by the World Health Organization, WHO, which have been shredded. They could not be allowed to get in the way of totally unrealistic targets. If we were in any doubt about this, we have a letter here from the HSE that set this out very clearly to the Minister of State, Deputy Niall Collins, on 20 November 2025. The letter sets out very clearly what it means.  I also have an exchange of letters between the then Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Darragh O\u2019Brien, and the then Minister for the environment, former Deputy Eamon Ryan. In a letter of 18 November 2021, it is stated that these noise limits, the WHO ones, were agreed in the context of 2020 targets to generate 40% of electricity from renewable sources. It went on to say that as in so many other cases of public policy, the current context was fundamentally altered in the light of our ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 51%, which we all support, over a period from 2018 to 2020. It further set out that to achieve this, the greenhouse gas emissions reductions target we have through the national development plan set out a quota to generate 80% of our electricity from renewable sources. This means that because we have not developed the other sources I mentioned earlier, we are relying almost totally on onshore wind. The correspondence continues by stating that to achieve this target, the 2021 climate action plan set an indicative target of 8 GW for onshore energy by 2030, and that it had to be doubled. This is the crux of what is going on here.  The Government and senior officials in the Department have been hopping from one foot to the other for the last 14 or 15 years on this issue, but particularly in the last five years. Deputies from the Government benches need to take this on board. We have to make a decision on it. When there are no guidelines, never mind regulations, these companies behave as if it is a gold rush. If we have a situation where no system is in place, then anything goes. What is there at the moment is as weak as dishwater. Do not let anyone ever tell you anything else. These companies, their solicitors, their planning experts and all the consultants they have hired are on top of this game. There is big money in this and big investment firms behind it. Bord na M\u00f3na has been somewhat better in taking the concerns of local communities into consideration. Some people might dispute it, but that has been my experience. Deputy Nolan might have a different experience in County Offaly, where some may not have been happy with it. Generally, though, Bord na M\u00f3na works better with local communities.  This Bill is what we need to do. If we do not have legislation, we need to put a moratorium on developments until we do have proper legislation, regulations and guidelines in place. I appeal to the Minister of State and the Government to grasp the nettle on this issue once and for all and stop chasing something it cannot do, namely, providing 80% of renewable energy through onshore wind. We need to bring on solar power, hydrogen, anaerobic digestion and all the other methods that can be used. The Government will not be able to achieve its aim without getting the backs up of local communities right across the country, including in County Cavan, where the Minister of State lives. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Niamh Smyth)  I move amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"That\" and substitute the following:  \"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann resolves that the Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025 be deemed to be read a second time this day twelve months, to allow for further consideration of the Bill.\".  This is to allow for sufficient time for full consideration of the Bill and for the development of Government proposals before the end of 2026, specifically the finalisation of the national planning statement on wind energy. I thank Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this Private Members\u2019 Bill regarding the regulation of wind turbines. He spoke with passion and a real depth of understanding of the topic itself. This Bill is no doubt well intended and aims to regulate wind energy development by addressing a number of key issues. However, I am this evening proposing a timing amendment as I believe that many of the matters raised in this Bill would be better addressed as part of an ongoing review of the existing 2006 wind energy development guidelines and our intention is to publish a national planning statement on wind energy as part of that process. I am concerned that key provisions set out in the Bill are inconsistent with the State\u2019s energy security objectives, climate obligations and the commitment in the programme for Government to accelerate the delivery of renewable electricity.  First, it is necessary to set out the wider context of the issue, which many Deputies here will be more than aware of. The programme for Government has reaffirmed Ireland\u2019s target of 80% of electricity demand to be met by renewables in the near future, with plans to move to a net-zero situation by 2050. The speedy deployment of renewable electricity is our energy insurance policy and the foundation for Ireland\u2019s transition to a low-carbon, sustainable economy. The accelerated delivery of infrastructure is a major Government priority and our renewable energy programme is central to that.  Regarding the role of wind, we have a target of 9 GW of installed capacity provided for in the climate action plan and the national planning framework to be achieved by 2030. Ireland is a world leader in the deployment of wind energy, and its integration into our grid and the continued delivery of wind energy onshore and offshore is essential to safeguarding energy security and to supply affordable energy to our homes and businesses. Through the accelerated renewable electricity task force and the offshore wind delivery task force, the Government is committed to a strong delivery programme for onshore and offshore renewables and to supporting infrastructure to ensure there is a clean and flexible energy supply that keeps pace with economic growth and meets growing demand for electricity from new homes, the electrification of heat and transport and from large energy users.  We are committed to the continued sustainable deployment of onshore wind across our region in line with the allocations set out in the national planning framework and supported by strong community engagement, community benefits and planning guidance through a national planning statement. I will explain the planning context more fully in a moment. As Deputy Stanley and many Members of the House will be aware, the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is currently undertaking a focused review of the 2006 wind energy guidelines, which will inform a new national planning statement under the new Planning and Development Act 2024. The review is addressing a number of key aspects of the guidelines, including setback distance, as well as in relation to noise, shadow flicker, community obligation, community dividend and grid connections. The aim of the review is to strike an appropriate balance between addressing the concerns of local communities by ensuring greater and earlier community engagement by wind energy developers while maintaining Ireland\u2019s ability to deliver on its binding climate and renewable energy policy obligations.  While the review of the guidelines has been ongoing for a number of years now, which the Deputy eloquently outlined too, significant progress has been made towards concluding the review process. Chapters 1 and 4 of Part 3 of the Planning and Development Act 2024 came into effect on 2 October 2025, which provided the statutory basis for the national planning framework and regional, spatial and economic strategies and introduced provisions for the national planning statement. The national planning statement replaces section 28 planning guidance, which the previous wind energy guidelines issued. Therefore, the revised wind guidelines, once finalised, will issue as a national planning statement under the 2024 Act. Further to this, in light of the evolving policy and legislative framework, there is a need to ensure the national planning statement is fit for purpose while having appropriate regard to the impacts of wind energy development, including in relation to matters raised by Deputy Stanley\u2019s Bill.  Since the conclusion of the public consultation in February 2020, work on the technical noise elements of the revised guidelines has caused a delay in their finalisation. Ongoing work in relation to the noise elements of the draft guidelines has necessitated a substantial rewrite of the noise guidance issued for public consultation to both simplify the approach and to present it in a manner that is more easily understood and implemented by developers and planning authorities. In this regard, the Department of housing, in conjunction with the Department of Climate, Energy and Environment, in the context of its environmental noise, climate and renewable energy policy remit, has been working to advance guidance on the noise aspects of the guidelines, which is highly technical in nature.  This work is substantially completed.  In addition to the work on the noise aspect of the draft national planning statement, the changing and continuously evolving policy and technical context, including the 2024 Act and the revision of the national planning framework, NPF, reinforces the need to ensure that the finalised guidelines, once issued, are fit for purpose. Both of these contain important changes that wind policy must be cognisant of, as well as European obligations such as the renewable energies directive and other environmental considerations. Work is under way to formulate wind guidelines into the draft national planning statement, which will then be environmentally assessed and informed by a public consultation that will inform the final version submitted to Government for approval and implementation across the tiers of the planning system. It is imperative that a robust and up-to-date policy is provided that will take account of the evolving policy and legislative context of the technological progress of the past decades and of the informed decisions of stakeholders and the public itself.  To conclude, Ireland currently has over 5 GW in onshore wind generation with a target of 9 GW provided for in the climate action plan and national planning framework by 2030. Meeting our national targets for wind energy will require further integration of renewable technologies in an appropriate manner and in full consultation with local communities. The forthcoming national planning statement, NPS, will provide the processes and policies that provide for appropriate regulation of new wind energy development proposals as well as compliance with existing and future national, EU and international renewable energy policies and targets. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  To start, I commend Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this Bill and the huge work that has gone into it so far. The current wind energy guidelines date back to 2006 and in my view, they are, put simply, not fit for purpose. In 2006, wind turbines were 80 m high. Today, in Carlow and Kilkenny, communities are fighting applications against 180 m industrial structures using rules from almost 20 years ago. To put this size in context, it is the equivalent of four Croke Park stadiums stacked on top of each other. Four Croke Parks stacked on top of each other. These are absolutely massive, monstrous structures.  It does not make sense to me that the Department is applying rules from 20 years ago to 2025 technology. To put it another way, 20 years ago, there was no such thing as Facebook. It was just after being launched. There was no such thing as Instagram, WhatsApp or TikTok. Technological advancements have rocketed in this time but the wind energy guidelines have stayed static and have not evolved. We cannot lose sight, or ever forget, that communities are at the heart of this. In towns and villages like Kilmanagh, Tullaroan, Ballycallan, Castlewarren, Dungarvan, Castlebanny, Ballynalacken, Ballyfasy, Oldleighlin and Seskin, all in my own constituency, the people of those communities are all seriously worried and concerned.  My view is simple: the guidelines must protect families and communities, first, through strictly increased setback distances; second, through noise regulation; and third, through the flicker regulation. Only then can we provide the renewables. We cannot continue to regulate modern monsters with obsolete laws. We need to update them and we need to do it now.  This Bill demonstrates that renewable energy can be developed in a way that protects rural Ireland, strengthens public trust and delivers real benefits to those living closest to the turbines. It balances Ireland's climate goals with the rights of communities to fair treatment, meaningful involvement and proper consultation. This Bill is not about stopping wind energy but it is about doing it right. Communities deserve protection, transparency and a fair share of the benefits. Supporting this Bill means supporting rural Ireland, local democracy and responsible renewable development. I am happy to stand with and I fully support communities around the country and in particular, those I have mentioned in my own constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, who want renewable energy done but want it done fairly and want it done right. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Louise O'Reilly)  I remind Deputies present that if everybody takes ten minutes - and I know Deputy Cleere has not - we will not get to everybody. I ask Deputies to be mindful of their time. You are entitled to the ten minutes but that might knock someone else out so keep an eye on the time if you can. The next speaker is Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  First, I welcome the Bill and I support it. What we heard from the Government side is just the usual palaver. I remember Sinn F\u00e9in bringing a Bill forward on the Shannon, to have one body over it. It was kicked down the road for nine months and we never saw it to this day. That is the reality of what is going on here and I think the people out there should understand this. We are after listening to Deputies speak about places right around this country, in Laois or wherever, where people are in trouble with wind turbines.  The facts are that unfortunately, when what I call vultures come to an area, some people will make money because they will offer \u20ac30,000 or \u20ac40,000 for the turbine. Undoubtedly, people will accept it but the consequences of what it is doing to communities around this country are unforgivable. I see it in Clonbern and all parts of County Roscommon, where there are 11 different applications in at the moment. We get calls from all over the country. There is a corridor, you could say, from above Tuam and Belclare right down Lavally, Clonbern, heading to Glenamaddy and heading on. What is it doing? Communities that worked together, put football pitches together and helped elderly people together are being split down the middle. Those are the facts of what is going on in every community around this country.  I am here since the end of 2014. I have listened to people say wind guidelines are going to come and come. Let nobody tell me that the Bill that Deputy Brian Stanley put in - I do not know how many years ago it was when he put it in - could not have been looked at since then in order that we would know the types of guidelines, regulations or whatever we are going to do. What we will do now again is say we will have another look at it. The facts are - and people should understand them out there - that the commitment is not in this D\u00e1il to make sure that wind turbines are far enough away from people's houses. I believe in turbines offshore - 100%. There is a huge opportunity but, of course, that opportunity was where the designated maritime area plans, DMAPs, for the west coast were not done, so we cannot kick off the whole process. The former Minister, Eamon Ryan, who was supposed to be a Green Minister, was over it at the time. For four years, those DMAPs were left there and never done. That is the first part of the jigsaw in getting it going.  The sad reality is - and let people out there looking in tonight understand - there is only one way you can do it. You have to, as a community, get together, which is a sad thing for a politician to have to say. Unite as a group in your area. You have to put in objections and do you know what? With the way An Bord Plean\u00e1la is granting these turbines or wind farms, as they are called, the only solution people have, which is a sad reality, is try to raise money together and try to fight it in the courts. That is some statement coming from people who are supposed to be legislators. We are supposed to be here to listen to the people and to support them but instead of that, we will kick the ball down the road another bit and sure look it, something else will crop up then and we will kick it another bit. It is nearly like that game they play in Kerry where they throw the ball down around bends and sure, we will never find it.  Then we have another situation that has developed and is happening in parts of Roscommon. People gave up their bogs to Bord na M\u00f3na years ago. Bord na M\u00f3na was set up for proper reasons and I have no problem with that. They are going in now and digging up massive areas of bog and are putting up turbines. They do not even want to be talking about how they once used to be at turf or the bog or anything. They are the clean, green company now. The number of turbines they are putting up around the country is phenomenal. In parts of Roscommon, I see some of the crowds that put them up. It is like turning money. They put it up, roll it going for a few years and sell it on. How many of our turbines and wind farms are owned by foreigners at the moment? That is the one thing we need to look at. To people tonight who are looking in, I support the Bill. I ask the Deputy to put it to a vote. Amendments do not wash. The fight will have to go on. The commitment is not there to resolve this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  Energy is not just about power; it is about sovereignty, security, just transition, the future we leave to our children and fairness to communities. I come from the county of Kerry, which has 15% of the turbines with only 8% of the land mass. I saw the troubles over the years when what Deputy Fitzmaurice described as vultures came in and there was a lot of division in communities. In Sinn F\u00e9in, we stand for ending the rip-off and cutting household energy bills, for delivering true Irish energy independence and not a system that currently prioritises the corporate bottom line over the needs of the people. We want to do it in a different way from the Government. Under successive Governments we have had an energy system that treats energy as a commodity, that is, a product to be bought and sold for profit rather than a public good and that is wrong. Energy is essential for every home, business and community. It should serve the people, not shareholders. We have a clear vision that our vast natural resources should create a national wealth for all. We are fortunate in this country that we have some of the best offshore and onshore wind resources in Europe. That means public and community ownership, proper consultation and fair democratic decision-making. It means reforming the energy market so that Government and regulators hold companies to account, not the other way around. It is a far cry from where we are currently. The Government has failed to plan and to provide the clear rules mentioned so many times by other speakers. A vacuum has been created by its complete dereliction of its duties on wind energy guidelines. As the current guidelines are from 2006, they are nearly 20 years old and in 2013, it was recognised that they were out of date. In 2019, updated guideline were produced but where are they now? They are still sitting on a shelf gathering dust. This is unacceptable to communities that deserve clarity. Wind energy providers also deserve certainty and guidelines to level the playing field. Without them, we have ambiguity, frustration, distrust and division. The Government and its supporters, some of whom were the loudest critics of these delays, cannot continue to leave everyone down. The updated guidelines must be published as soon as possible. To have a level playing field, we need proper rules and clarity.  Sinn F\u00e9in recognises the uncertainty this situation has created for local communities. I do not think this Bill is the answer. In fairness to Deputy Stanley, he has himself said that he is not saying it is exactly what we need. It could halt the development of renewable energy or risk Irish energy security and could push bills up even higher at a time when Irish households already pay the highest energy prices in Europe. It could also block Ireland's energy independence and damage our ability to cut emissions and meet climate targets. We are committed to a different path that delivers Irish energy independence, cuts costs, reduces emissions and supports fairness for communities. We believe in renewable energy but it must be done right. It must be done democratically and for the people. The first step is the publication of the guidelines. I hope the Ministers will take that back to Cabinet and make sure they are delivered as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  It is important to be absolutely clear that a wind farm is no small undertaking. These are vast developments that have an enormous impact on communities and the local environment from the moment construction begins throughout their entire lifetime up to the day they are decommissioned. It is beyond me that for projects of this scale we have no up-to-date regulations or guidelines. Frankly speaking, it is an insult to communities across Ireland that have been left high and dry by the Minister of State and her colleagues. I am talking about communities like Oldleighlin, Castlewarren, Durrow, Kilmanagh, Tullaroan, Ballycallan, Ballyhale, Inistioge, Thomastown, Ballyfasy and many more. These communities have been left to deal with these developments by themselves, all too often at the mercy of a developer whose interest is in profit first and foremost.  Sinn F\u00e9in's position on this has been clear for years. We believe energy is a public good. It should strengthen our national wealth, not just line the pockets of overseas investors who have little to no regard for our local communities. We are committed to putting communities at the very core of developing wind energy in Ireland, and to ensuring that this area is properly regulated, not left to those seeking profit at any cost. One recent proposed development in south Kilkenny would not even hold a public consultation in the local community. The meeting was held outside of the area by appointment only. Talk about putting hurdles up for people who just want to have their say. I recently raised with the Department the urgent need to publish updated regulations. I have asked for a timeline but time and time again, all I get back from that office is waffle. These communities are not anti-wind. They simply want adequate guidelines to ensure that the wind turbines are not constructed on top of people's homes. I struggle to see how that is too much to ask for. It is worth remembering that the Minister of State's colleagues sat on these Opposition benches and raised these very same concerns. They called for the same actions and many of the Government's backbenchers still do, both here and at local meetings. It certainly does not appear to be a concern for the Cabinet.  Then we have the other elephant in the room, namely, the utter scandal of curtailment payments. People are stunned when they hear about this. It is another clear example of the public being forced to foot the bill for years of under-investment in vital infrastructure like the national grid. We are building wind turbines at such a rate that the grid cannot cope with the supply. Here we are again with the Government putting the cart before the horse. These profit-driven projects are then told to switch off or reduce their generation and they are paid to do it. Last October, that bill hit \u20ac115 million, a cost the public had to pay as part of their monthly bills. It is not unique to wind. Solar curtailments in Ireland have increased sevenfold since 2022. We are taxing the public to build infrastructure that works part-time while charging them full-time prices to cover the waste. This is not a green strategy. It is a gold-plated waste of public money. Just like with housing, this developer-led agenda is not for the benefit of consumers nor for the public good. It is designed to ensure high profits for private investors. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  I commend Deputy Stanley on bringing forward this very important Bill and for all the work that went into it. It is imperative that we get action and that there is real and true balance for communities. Currently there are no protections for any communities throughout my own county of Offaly or the neighbouring County Laois. It is very unfair. Communities have no say whatsoever and these monstrosities of structures are imposed on them. As I will be discussing, there are serious health concerns and effects from the infrasound. All of this needs to be investigated thoroughly and there needs to be fair play.  In terms of consultation and engagement with communities, it cannot be a tokenistic tick-the-box exercise. That is what I have seen happening. We are not fools. We can see what is happening. I know from my extensive engagement with communities from north Offaly right down to south Offaly that this is what is happening. It is a tick-the-box exercise and there are bribes thrown out to people in the community to try to divide it. That is what is happening. Meanwhile, as I said, these monstrosities are imposed on communities. It is my firm belief that issues such as this need and command cross-party support, with everybody working together regardless of political allegiances. This is an issue affecting all of our communities the length and breadth of the country.  For the past number of years, I have been engaging first-hand and directly with so many communities throughout my constituency of Offaly and I am very frustrated and disillusioned by the lack of action. I, like many others and like Deputy Stanley, have called for the publication of those guidelines. I was elected in 2016, and I started calling for them to be published at that time. We only have draft guidelines. There are loopholes and there are companies running amok. They are absolutely taking advantage of communities. Are we here to serve those corporate entities that profiteer or are we here to serve our communities? I am elected, and I want to serve my community as do many others here, but it is about time we to started listening and acting and not giving the usual waffle that we are in agreement. People do not want sympathy. They want action, and they want proper protections. I will certainly continue to call for those protections. Again, it is rural communities that are being treated so unfairly by Government, which is just not listening and taking action. How long is it going to take? How long more? We all know that the Government can bring in legislation when it so pleases. We all know that because we were locked down more than we should have been in County Offaly. We were subjected to a third lockdown during Covid-19. The Government was able to do that, so why can it not bring in legislation to protect communities? It could be done quickly if the political will was there. I certainly will continue to call for it. In communities like Lemanaghan, where there is a heritage bog with monastic links to Clonmacnoise, we have Bord na M\u00f3na coming in and trying to impose a wind farm on that community. There is a community in Stonestown in Cloghan which is suffering terribly from the health effects of turbines that are very close to their homes. I am calling for action. There is a wind farm in north Offaly, and I have had farmers tell me that it is affecting the livestock. The livestock had to be moved from one field into another field well away with the wind turbines. It is affecting everybody. It is not just in one particular area.  All of those communities cannot be wrong. They are not wrong. We need solid actions. As I said, communities are right to be disillusioned, frustrated, angered and, indeed, ignored because there are no protections and their rights are being trampled on. Communities like Lemanaghan, which I mentioned earlier, strongly object to the wanton destruction of their bog, not just from a heritage point of view but also because of the fact that habitats, flora and fauna will also be considerably destroyed. The fact that the 2006 wind energy guidelines remain in force pending finalisation of the review, which has been ongoing since 2016, is nothing short of farcical and, indeed, borderline contemptuous of communities which have clearly expressed the gross inadequacies of the current regulatory regime.  This is why I recently called again for all wind energy and wind turbine developments to be halted until the guidelines are produced. As I said, why are we just letting these companies trample over communities? I have raised this matter repeatedly through parliamentary questions and most recently with the Minister with responsibility for the environment, Deputy O'Brien, when I asked him if he would provide information regarding the reports on wind turbine noise. I also asked him to clarify his support for increased protections for persons adversity affected by the noise. Again, I want to mention the community of Stonestown, Cloghan, in County Offaly. They informed me that 250 complaint records were submitted in regard to two Statkraft wind farms. They have been lodged with the county council. There does not seem to be anything happening. Again, their concerns are being ignored. As I said, there has to be action.  I also agree with the residents who say it is high time that the Department of Health got involved. I have submitted parliamentary questions to that effect. I want to end to give others time, and I will do so by quoting the following email I received from a resident summing up the nightmare that they are going through with these wind turbines being close to their home. The constituent wrote:  Another two nights from hell here the last 2 nights [were also hell]. Awake all night again, child here crying with frustration as am I, the embarrassment of having to put this down on another email again. The fact that the solution ye see fit is a simple reply email and no action just fills me with anxiety about another winter of this. The house is vibrating here again, I've damage all over the house from the vibrations as well as all my family being sick ... [over the period of time. This is something] ... we didn't ask for or [something we didn't] want in our lives and [we want for nothing more other than to be respected].  This person goes on to say:  It is just so unfair to expect us to continue to live through this nuisance every day and [every] night, it's depressing as depressing can get and still no help. I've to try and work another day tomorrow on empty and I am expected to provide for my family with no energy and eyes falling out of my head. It's just not good enough for ... [us to have this] forced upon us here, trapped under the control of this crap and not being in any control, it's like living with an abuser daily wondering if tonight is ... [another] night again ... [that I will] lay awake. We're being traumatised every minute every day and no one seems to care, or do you have a duty of care [to us communities] at all?  That should give the Minister of State a flavour of just exactly what people are dealing with and the way it is affecting their mental health and well-being and their lives in general. This is not a policy issue that can simply be ignored. It is having real-world consequences of the most awful kind, and I am very concerned about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this Bill and giving us the chance and opportunity tonight to discuss the wind turbine regulations.  There is obviously an urgent need to update these regulations. At present, as has been said numerous times tonight, we are operating off guidelines set in 2006, and things have definitely moved on considerably since then. There have been significant advances in technology and so on, but also in the urgency with which we need to decarbonise and transition towards clean renewable energy. That has become a far greater need for the planet on which we live. Put simply, we need to generate a hell of a lot more renewable energy than we do at present, and wind is probably one of the best resources in that regard. Equally, and most importantly, is the fact that communities are brought along with us and, in the context of this Bill, those communities that are playing host to these onshore wind farms.  A basic principle cleared up on just transition is that climate action is something that should be done with people rather than to people. It is important that community voices are heard and that their genuine concerns are addressed. Over the past number of weeks, I have had a number of people and groups getting in touch with me in anticipation of this Bill. They told me about issues affecting them, be it noise pollution, shadow flicker, biodiversity effects and so on. I know exactly the impact that is having.  I have been working closely with the community of Kilberry next door to where I live just outside my hometown of Athy. For decades, members of the Kilberry community have worked in the local Bord na M\u00f3na facility, which is now closed, unfortunately, and is to be replaced, be it in part, by a wind farm. There are many genuine concerns about this proposed facility, and the community deserve to be heard and listened to. Likewise, my colleague in County Louth, Deputy Nash, has spoken to me about the widely held concerns in his community over the planned Kellystown wind farm. For years now, he, like me, has been pressing successive Ministers to update and modernise the setback guidance. Many of these rural villages have gotten little support from the just transition fund. That is very important to state tonight.  They have done their bit for Bord na M\u00f3na and the whole rural economy over the years but they have seen very little payback from the just transition fund.  We are here tonight and the Government obviously recognises the need to update guidance, given that we have had draft proposals sitting idle since 2019. Assuming we are all in agreement on this need, we must ensure that community concerns are heard and addressed. Deputy Stanley has provided a great framework for community consultation, including early structured engagement. It is a very sensible approach. Developers cannot be allowed to treat community engagement as simply a box-ticking exercise, as many of them do at the moment. In many cases, it is a polite announcement of what has already been decided. Communities deserve to be treated as partners and not as obstacles. I have attended so many of these community consultations over the years, and when I left, the box was ticked.  Similarly, I welcome the provisions on community ownership or shared benefit structures. Where renewable projects make tangible contributions to local development, be it through funding amenities, supporting co-operatives or offering community shares as the Bill states, it strengthens the local social licence for a renewable strategy. The Bill also deals with the element that has caused so many communities over the years to struggle, namely, the setback distances. This issue is about finding the balance and bringing the communities with us.  I commend Deputy Stanley for putting this issue on the agenda. He has been talking about the need for this Bill for years. It is important that communities are engaged with in the process and they are brought along in our energy transition. They have to have a seat at the table. We obviously need to have minimum setback distances. Let me be absolutely clear about this - we also desperately need to update the guidelines on wind turbine development. I encourage the Minister and the Department to engage with Deputy Stanley on the Bill. I will work closely with my Labour Party colleague, Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern, who is our climate and energy spokesperson and a member of the climate committee.  Crucially, and what is the heart of the Bill, is that the Department and other relevant authorities must engage with communities that host or will potentially host wind farms. It is incumbent on us all to find the appropriate mechanism or formula to ensure we can ramp up our onshore capacity in a way that abides by the principles of just transition and does not leave any rural community behind.  In his contribution this evening, Deputy Stanley said he was willing to change and extend the Bill and work with the Government. He does not deserve to have the Bill kicked down the road for 12 months. Unfortunately, as has been said by many contributors, having a wind farm on your doorstep is a daily reality for many communities, as developers bring forward wind farm after wind farm without proper regulation or guidelines. Will the Government consider existing proposals for wind farms without first considering the guidelines we all seek this evening? This simply cannot continue. There is a time and need for proper regulations and guidelines. Each community that has been spoken about during this debate needs a seat at the table. They must be considered first before any wind farm. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  In my constituency, and particularly in the north Galway area, we are facing a tsunami of wind energy developments. These are in communities such as Killimordaly, Clonberne, Barnaderg, Shancloon and Laurclavagh to name but a few, and there would be in excess of 150 turbines if all of the various projects at various stages of development go ahead. It is safe to say that north County Galway would be totally unrecognisable if this were allowed to happen. These are turbines that are 185 m high. The 2006 wind energy guidelines were brought forward when turbines were a fraction of that size. They are totally out of date and do not protect communities from these industrial-sized developments.  My constituents are having their lives turned upside down with these developments being landed on their doorsteps. It is important to say they are in favour of renewable energy but they want to see it done right. The Government has done nothing. It has sat on its hands for years. The failure to bring forward updated guidelines to protect communities has been shameful. We do not have adequate setback distances, noise protection, environmental protection or consultation. The Government has allowed a developer-led free for all, whereby they can land these developments wherever they want with no regard whatsoever for local communities. There is no meaningful consultation, engagement or consideration for the impact on the communities that will have to live with these developments. It is an absolute dereliction of duty by the Government. It is the same with solar energy. There is a very large project in Monivea and Abbeyknockmoy in my constituency. We do not have solar guidelines. There are also large gas plants proposed, and it is the same story for communities in Athenry and Portumna.  Sinn F\u00e9in has continuously demanded and campaigned for the Government to produce guidelines that would ensure these developments were not landed on top of people's homes. Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and, in particular, the former regional Independents, who were some the loudest critics of this in the previous D\u00e1il but seem to have gone silent now, cannot continue to let everybody down.  The Government is going to kick this to touch for 12 months. Obviously, there are flaws in the Bill, and Deputy Stanley has acknowledged this, but my fear is we will continue to hear excuses as to why new guidelines are not being brought forward. How many years has it been? It is almost 20 years since the 2006 guidelines. We continue to see grandstanding from Government TDs slamming the very same Government they are part of. It is time for the Government to stop abdicating its responsibilities, step up to the plate, stop hiding and get new guidelines in place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sean Fleming","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Fleming.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sean Fleming  In my role as a TD, I have had direct involvement on behalf of local communities in respect of the location of wind turbines in various locations throughout County Laois, and some of those developments also impacted on neighbouring counties such as Kilkenny and Carlow. Many years ago, the first involvement I had on behalf of a community was regarding a wind farm called Gortahile in Rossmore, which is overlooking County Carlow but very much in County Laois. When that application came through, the developer was proposing to put a wind turbine within 300 m of the nearest house. I objected very strenuously, and the community and I were united at that time. We met the developer and told it two words: \"Go away\". It went away and came back a year and a half later, by which time it had moved the turbines to well over a kilometre away from any house. It dropped a few of them. It listened and now we have seven or eight turbines in the place, working and generating good renewable energy. The turbines are well over a kilometre from houses. I stress these wind turbines are much smaller as the ones we have now. The community was satisfied and it is working satisfactorily. The developer listened to the local community and is to be commended. This is the only good success we have had with wind turbines in County Laois. It is on the Carlow border and overlooks County Carlow, and I am happy to acknowledge the work Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor from Carlow has done in this regard.  In more recent years, we had a big application for an area called Coolglass, which is between the back of The Swan, up to Wolfhill and across to Timahoe. After a lot of public consultation, it was agreed by the executive and Laois County Council that the area where the application was submitted and other parts of the county were not areas for consideration for wind farms. The regulator looked at the plan, made no comment and was happy with this inclusion. The Minister looked at the plan when it went to the Department and said there was no problem with it. However, a developer came along and made an application for an area that was specifically marked as not for consideration. This shows how little regard there is for local democracy, when this was approved at local level and all the way up the line.  I have noticed something that is a very bad precedent that we have to watch. If a development in future is quite small, it can go through easily but if it is of a particular scale, it might be considered strategic infrastructural development, which involves a different process. I have an example of a number of turbines in one location that were joined by one cable to a number of turbines in another location and they are now considered one application. If this trick is done by the developers, they can have small clusters, link them all with a cable and say those are national strategic infrastructure. They would then be able to go through a different planning process. This is not satisfactory and we have to be watchful of this.  The public consultation for the wind farm proposal I mentioned was a leaflet drop to some houses in the area.  There was no public meeting. No one ever came to a meeting, so they have shown contempt. At that time, I objected strenuously, as did the whole community. Laois County Council refused the application. I went to An Bord Plean\u00e1la, which is now An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la, which also turned it down, and rightly so. The developer went for a judicial review. In the court, the judge told An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la - which had refused the application - to go reconsider its decision. He did not overrule it, but told An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la, in the clearest way possible, to reconsider its position. That left An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la in an awkward position because it did not know whether what it came back with would stand up in court, and rightly so. The matter was then referred to the Supreme Court. This is going to set the precedent for all of Ireland in the context of what local authorities and An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la should do in respect of these cases in the future. There will be certainty - that might be good or bad, we do not know yet - once the Supreme Court makes its decision on this application. An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la will know how to proceed in the future. This is a very important case that is before the Supreme Court. We all have to watch the outcome of that very closely. Let us hope that it will be in line with what An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la did in the first place by not granting the application.  The most recent case in County Laois relates to the Laois-Kilkenny border. It is called the Seskin application. A great deal of work has been done in that area. Again, my principal objection to this application and all the others relates to the fact that they involve the net export of energy out of Ireland. It is not the function of any local authority, An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la or the Government of Ireland to directly facilitate private investors - Irish, English or those from Hong Kong or wherever - in order that they can make profits on the backs of people in Ireland. The export of energy through the Celtic interconnector to France and Europe is purely for the profit of the developers. There is no gain in this for Ireland. We are talking here about surplus energy that will be exported and that will not be produced for the benefit of Ireland.  This reminds me of what is happening in some places in China where people are working for little or nothing to produce the clothes many of us here are wearing. Those people are being abused, many individuals are making a profit and we are getting the benefit of the cheap clothes. That is the exact situation in this instance. The investors to whom I refer are going to sell a product cheaply into France on the backs of the Irish people who are going to have to tolerate wind turbines, shadow flicker and everything that goes with that. We have to be careful in that regard.  After the 45-year period - ten years for planning to get it directed and a lifetime of 35 years - who is going to guarantee where the turbines are going to go? They will be left like a blight on the landscape for generations to come, and people will be amazed that we facilitated this.  There is a proposal for community ownership of this. There should be a community gain and a community benefit. It should not just be a case of buttering up the local people. I would be concerned that if there is something left in 40 years' time, whoever the trustees or the local investors are could be held liable for the clean-up costs. If you are an owner, you could be caught for costs. Things can go wrong over the years. I would like to see a community gain rather than community ownership.  All in all, I welcome this debate. We have a long way to go. We are not here to facilitate people in benefiting from putting wind turbines in our areas too close to our houses. I am all for turbines in the right locations. To those who say that we are going to have offshore generation, I heard at my committee meeting that it will be 25 years before offshore energy is produced by wind farms. Do not listen to any guff saying that this is a real option in the near future. We have to make sure we have sustainable energy for ourselves. We are not here to export cheap electricity to other countries from which we will get no gain, other than having to tolerate wind turbines, shadow flicker, the noise and everything else. We are not here to allow some people to make a fortune on the backs of the Irish people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I acknowledge Deputy Stanley for bringing forward this Bill. It is constructive legislation that seeks to strike a balance. As other Members stated, delivering clean, renewable energy will ensure fairness.  As I was sitting here, I heard a Deputy say that the regional Independents are against renewable energy. I was in negotiations for Government. We secured key steps for private wires and renewable developments relating to data centres. As a qualified engineer with a master's degree in sustainability, while we were in negotiations, I pushed for this. In the context of people saying that the regional Independents are against this , when I was at a committee meeting I heard a member of one party state that residents are worried about boiling their kettles. If you do the calculations, you will find that it costs five cent to boil a kettle. I am not here for sound bites; I am here for actual engineering being put down.  Wind energy must be part of our future, that is clear. In that context, however, local communities cannot be an afterthought. I commend Deputy Stanley on bringing this Bill forward.  With regard to onshore and offshore wind, it is a strategic choice. It is very important that the public know the difference in size of offshore and onshore wind farms. It is colossal. In the context of onshore generation, as other Deputies have said, turbines can be 165 m in height Offshore turbines can be 260 m high. The efficiency is what we should be focusing on. Onshore is, on average, 2.5 MW while offshore can get up to 12 MW, which is huge for Ireland in the context of energy generation. If any other country had the capability Ireland has, it would be seizing upon it. If this was Germany, this would have been done years ago. When I looked back through the D\u00e1il records, I discovered that we had plans for this before the crash. Sadly, the economic crash happened and we were left on the back foot. We did not set up a national fund like other countries, such as Denmark or Norway, built on the basis of publicly owned success stories that create wealth. We are now reliant on foreign direct investment. We cannot change the past, but we can change legislation to make onshore and offshore benefit the Irish people as much as possible. We cannot repeat the mistakes of the past.  I am on the climate and energy committee. We have had many groups in. I feel like a broken record talking about this because everyone agrees with regard to what we should do in the context of long-duration energy storage, creating a grid that is decentralised and protecting from curtailment and dispatch down. When you hear stories to the effect that \u20ac2.7 million worth of electricity is being lost every day due to dispatch down and our grid not being able to carry the load, it is absolutely heartbreaking. When I knock on doors in my constituency and talk to young mothers and parents who are struggling with the cost of electricity, I come to the conclusion that it makes no sense that we have the second or third highest energy cost per kilowatt hour in Europe when we have the capability of generating so much energy on our little island.  Deputy Fleming mentioned the sale of energy to France. Solar farms and wind energy facilities - and I have heard other Deputies mention this - are turning off their renewable projects because the grid cannot take the energy. When representatives from EnergyCloud came before the energy committee, they proposed that this wasted energy be used to heat up boilers and be given to areas affected by disadvantage and socioeconomic difficulties. That is something we need to push for, because wasting this energy is absolutely ridiculous.  One of the things I mentioned securing in the context of the programme for Government was private wire legislation. Germany has done it, Denmark has done it and the UK has done it. We clearly do not have the capacity to reach what the grid demands. We need to allow private wire legislation to be fast-tracked. I welcome the work the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and his Department have been doing on this. I look forward to the legislation coming before the House in the new year. What I would focus on when it comes to private wires are quasi-local projects and eco-villages that could benefit from offshore renewable energy.  Deputy Stanley has made provision in his Bill for community benefit, community ownership and a fair share. This is one of the most important parts of the Bill, and I commend the Deputy on it. As I was reading it, I was very impressed with provision relating to the purchase of 10% of projects. Trust is built, not by ignoring people but by sharing benefits. As I have always said, if you put out a contract to the public and stick by it, they will not break that contract.  The public needs to know that this Bill is not about blocking wind energy - far from it. The Bill would create the conditions for sustainable growth and community partnerships. Climate change demands action, but climate action must be taken in conjunction with people. We saw how people reacted when the previous Government brought in stuff without listening to them. An entire party was decimated. We cannot allow that to happen with the current parties and Independents here. We need to listen to the Irish people, conduct surveys and have community engagement. This is about fairness, planning and sense. It is also about ensuring Ireland leads. We did not lead when it came to our oil and gas.  We now have a potential with our offshore renewable energy to use the curtailment to make green hydrogen, sell it to the growing market and make it benefit the Irish people. I will say this again, if any other country had this potential, it would have been done 20 years ago. I look forward to this Bill progressing and I look forward to working with colleagues to refine it further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niamh Smyth","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Niamh-Smyth.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment (Deputy Niamh Smyth)  I thank the Deputies for their contributions. It has been a very thought-provoking, pragmatic and respectful debate and I very much appreciate that. I commend Deputy Stanley on raising the matter and the work that he has put into this Bill. I appreciate that it is an area that generates a lot of interest and debate across the country. The Government believes in the importance of public participation within our planning system. Any draft national planning statement, NPS, will be put out to public consultation, whereby all interested parties will have an opportunity to submit observations. The finalised NPS will be prepared following detailed analysis and consideration of submissions received during the consultation phase. The Government is confident that, while the review is being finalised and the planning system is capable of assessing applications for wind for wind energy development, connection proposals for wind energy development are subject to the same statutory requirements as other forms of proposed development. In making decisions on planning applications for any type of development, including wind energy development, any planning authority or board, as appropriate, must consider the proper planning and sustainable development of the area.  The 2006 wind energy guidelines remain in force and planning authorities and the board must have regard to these guidelines in the performance of their functions. As such, it is considered that the planning policy and the legislative framework is in place to enable planning authorities and the board to make decisions on planning applications in respect of wind energy developments, in line with our planning and sustainable development, pending the finalisation of the revised national planning statement.  The Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage is satisfied that the existing and evolving planning system, supported by the Government policy more generally, provides a sufficiently robust policy and legislative framework to facilitate the roll-out of renewable energy development in a sustainable manner and to assist with meeting our needs of renewable energy requirements while balancing the perspective of local communities and allowing for public and stakeholder engagement. There is a need to develop as much onshore renewable energy capacity as possible in the coming years. The proposed restrictions in the Bill are also inconsistent with the work being undertaken by the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation on accelerating infrastructure delivery and the expected report with recommendations on same that is due to be brought to Government shortly.  There is an increasingly urgent need to accelerate the delivery of infrastructure, including to ensure that our energy supply and networks can support the additional demands placed on them by the State's continued economic growth. It is important to recognise that there has been opposition to wind energy developments from some communities due to concerns in relation to the scale of proposed developments and the perceived potential impacts. The updated national planning statement will aim to adopt a more balanced approach to addressing local community concerns while also facilitating the roll-out of wind energy development to assist in meeting Ireland's renewable energy targets. This balanced approach is considered more appropriate given current climate concerns and the approach outlined in the Bill.  In conclusion, as my colleague outlined in his speech, many of the provisions in the Bill are already being addressed in the context of the ongoing review of the existing wind guidelines. I also have significant concerns that the key measures within the Bill would jeopardise the State's ability to roll-out renewable energy and meet its legally binding targets in that regard. Accordingly, I wish to confirm that the Government proposes a timed amendment of 12 months. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I thank everybody for their contributions. I have listened very carefully to what people have had to say. The debate has been constructive but we need to move from discussion and debate to action. I will be pressing the Bill because I think we have kicked to touch too many times on this already. The Minister of State mentioned that significant progress has been made; it has not. She mentioned that the noise issue is causing the delay. I do not have the exact wording but it is in the script. That is the issue. Are we going to ignore World Health Organization guidelines so as to allow these international investors to plant turbines to export energy overseas? I do not have a problem with exporting energy. If we have a surplus, then by all means we should. I fully supported the Celtic interconnector. I remember going to France seven or eight years ago about it, as part of an Oireachtas delegation, to meet the electric company over there. Representatives from Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and I went there. It is a great idea, but the problem is we just cannot keep putting this back.  The Minister of State mentioned that the 2006 guidelines are still there, but they include a 400 m setback. We are now getting to a point where if one of these turbines fell, it would nearly hit a house because they are so high. This is causing real problems.  The reason we have to get this 80% from onshore wind, and I remember arguing this with Phil Hogan in this Chamber, and he is gone out of here a good while, is because we have not developed the other sources. Offshore has not happened, except for the Arklow one, which is there a number of years. The amount of solar is minuscule, and with anaerobic digestion we are only in the thought process part of it, and we have a huge problem with animal waste. The Minister of State knows that from being in government. We have a huge problem. What do we do? We have a very strong agricultural sector and that is good, but we have a problem with agricultural waste. A lot of that waste can be utilised for biogas. That is what they are doing in other countries and we should be doing the same. We have not even really got going with hydrogen yet. Solar, as I said, is really only starting. The top boys and girls in the Department have dismissed hydro over the years, yet we built Turlough Hill in the 1970s and had to pump water up to it, and it provides peak electricity. My point is that we are in a situation where all of these sources have to be used and that is why we have boxed ourselves into a corner where we are being told that, to meet our obligations, we have to produce 80% from onshore wind. That is actually questionable. A lot of this is being done to export.  Deputy Heneghan mentioned how a lot of the excess generation is being wasted when all the turbines are going and the grid cannot take it. That is the nature of the wind: it is intermittent. It is a brilliant source of energy. I support it but it has to be done with other sources. We cannot put all of our eggs into one basket and that is what Government has done. Communities in Wolfhill, Spink, Timahoe, Ballinakill, Durrow and Cullahill and right across north Kilkenny are now facing into these situations. Some communities had to take judicial reviews, costing \u20ac60,000 or \u20ac70,000, which they had to raise. People had to go to the Four Courts, and that is not a planning system we should have. When we have to go there, it is all over. That is not what we should have to do. We need to have a better system in this country.  If we do it in partnership with people, they can be brought along. If they have a stake in things, it is different. Deputy Fleming mentioned that there may be difficulties regarding the 10% ownership. I take on board what he is saying, but I would also point out that Templederry in County Tipperary is completely community owned. They are not worried about that. They are doing very well out of it. There are 28 shareholders, including the local GAA club and other clubs in the area. The rest of them are local people who invested in it. They are not bothered about that. They know that this is a good bet and it is working out for them. They got in at a time when wind turbines were not as efficient as they are now. They are even more profitable now that the Chinese manufacturers have really upped the game, as they have done with solar panels.  We have not even started with the whole issue of biogas from farm waste. We have not even started to get that now. Farming organisations and the Department are now starting to look at it and I welcome that, but we are coming late to all of these things. These trains were coming down the track at us, and what did we do? We did nothing and the Government is moving too slow on a range of things. The pace is glacier-like.  That is the one thing I find frustrating. As a member of a county council, which I know is on a smaller scale, but I could get things done in a week sometimes, or a month or year. In here it sometimes takes forever and a day to get things moving. That is not the way it should be. One of the Sinn F\u00e9in speakers mentioned that it would put up the price of electricity but did not explain how. I support the idea mentioned by Deputy Heneghan. Like a lot of other countries, if we had a national energy company, we would be trying to utilise this. Some 40 years ago, 95% of our electricity was in public ownership. My understanding is that is down to 25%. We had one of the lowest electricity prices in the European Union 40 years ago when 95% of electricity was in public ownership. We now hover in the top three or four highest electricity prices in the EU. That has not been very good for customers and householders.  I fully support using renewable energies. I fully support using wind. One speakers said I stated there were flaws in the Bill. I did not say that; I said people might want to amend this Bill. Some Members might have misunderstood what I was saying. No legislation, including what comes from Government is ever perfect on the first draft. However, a lot of work has gone into it. It is not something that was put together in a week or a month or even six months. If Government or Opposition Members want to amend it, I am open to working with them but we have to try to change this and put a system in place.  I cannot figure out what has happened to the Taoiseach. Reading a transcript of his from 2013, he said many of the things I and other speakers, such as Deputies Nolan and Fleming, have said today. As Taoiseach, he has a special responsibility to drive this and push it on.  Local groups have not been a bunch of NIMBYs. Most of the people involved just want a little bit of fair play. Many of those groups have spent nights researching information and putting legal cases together, which they should not have to do. They network and try to fundraise and everything like that. They put in huge work and I want to recognise that. We need to have people spending their time doing better things than that. Guidelines can be twisted and moulded. Stronger, newer, updated guidelines that take account of the advances in the scale and ginormous size of these turbines and the technology available now would be better. The issue of solar regulations came up at a meeting of the Joint [ Committee on Housing, Local Government and Heritage ] the other day. If we are going to regulate solar farms, which are less intrusive, why are we not doing it for these enormous turbines?  The Minister of State said she wants me to kick the Bill down the road for 12 months but I am not agreeing to that. I am pressing this Bill. I believe we need to move on it now as we have been dancing around it for long enough. As I said in my opening contribution, what is delaying this is how Government, senior officials and industries are going to explain to communities that they are going to have to scrap the World Health Organization guidelines. That is not good enough. The first job we have here every day is to protect the health and welfare of the people who send us here. We are all Teachta\u00ed D\u00e1la, whether we are Ministers, the Taoiseach, backbenchers, in opposition or whatever. That is our first job.  The WHO guidelines are the standard. That is what we should be achieving and we should not be afraid to stick by them. I appeal to Deputies on all sides of the House to work together. If they want to amend the Bill, I am open to doing that. This is my first crack at it. I do not have the resources of a Department to draft this but I think most people will admit it is the best stab at one that has been made here in the past 15 years. Do not kick to touch. I am pressing the Bill to a vote. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Louise O'Reilly)  In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time next week. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 6.45 p.m. go dt\u00ed 6 p.m., D\u00e9 M\u00e1irt, an 2 Nollaig 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 6.45 p.m. until 6 p.m. on Tuesday, 2 December 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Wind Turbine Regulation Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-11-27"},{"contextDate":"2025-11-26","debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/main","date":"2025-11-26","lastUpdated":"2026-02-27T03:08:47+00:00","house":{"committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"counts":{"questionCount":35,"billCount":11,"contributorCount":161,"divisionCount":15,"debateSectionCount":28},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_4","showAs":"Road Projects","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_5","showAs":"Coast Guard Service","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":27},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_6","showAs":"Schools Building Projects","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":7},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Agriculture Schemes","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":12},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Hospital Waiting Lists","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":10},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Strengthening Whistleblower Protections, Enforcement and Accountability in Public Administration: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":23,"speechCount":69},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_10","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Messages from Select Committees","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_11","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":14,"speechCount":60},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":21,"speechCount":80},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/72","event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/72\/dail\/1","showAs":"Electricity Regulation (Climate Action and Connection to Distribution and Transmission Systems) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_14","showAs":"Electricity Regulation (Climate Action and Connection to Distribution and Transmission Systems) Bill 2025: First Stage","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","containsDebate":false,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Cabinet Committees","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":15,"speechCount":98},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"speakers":[],"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_17","showAs":"Departmental Programmes","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":10,"speechCount":38},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"speakers":[],"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_18","showAs":"Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2025: Motion","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":17,"speechCount":39},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2021: Motion","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":8,"speechCount":21},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_20","showAs":"Transfer of Passenger Name Record Data: Motion","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":5},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"EU Regulations: Motions","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":13,"speechCount":19},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Messages from Select Committees","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/68","event":{"stage":"finance_res","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/68\/dail\/finance_res","showAs":"Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025: Financial Resolution (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025: Financial Resolution","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"financialResolution"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/68","event":{"stage":"3_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/68\/dail\/3_sub","showAs":"Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_24","showAs":"Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":4},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60","event":{"stage":"4_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60\/dail\/4_sub","showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":19,"speechCount":229},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"billReport"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_54","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/13","event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/13\/dail\/2","showAs":"Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_54","showAs":"Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_59","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_59","showAs":"Strengthening Whistleblower Protections, Enforcement, and Accountability in Public Administration: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_68","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_68","showAs":"Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2025: Motion (Resumed)","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_77","bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/dbsect_77","showAs":"EU Regulations: Motions (Resumed)","containsDebate":true,"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":3},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"speakers":[],"debateType":"motion"}}],"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-26\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"debateType":"debate"}},{"contextDate":"2025-11-25","debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Resignation of Member","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":11,"speechCount":46},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_3","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":24,"speechCount":85},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_4","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Se\u00e1n Lemass Dublin International Airport Bill 2025: First Stage","bill":{"event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/71\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Lemass Dublin International Airport Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/71"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_10","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Standing Committee of Selection: Motion","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":2},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_11","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Planning and Development Act 2024 (Modifications) Regulations 2025: Motion","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_12","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Financial Resolutions 2025","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"financialResolution"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":7,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_13","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 1: Value Added Tax","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"financialResolution"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_18","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 2: Value Added Tax","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"financialResolution"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_23","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Messages from Select Committees","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":11,"speechCount":113},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":18,"speechCount":31},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_25","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","bill":{"event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/68\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Health Insurance (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/68"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":26,"speechCount":29},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_26","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","showAs":"Victims of Sexual Violence Civil Protection Orders Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","bill":{"event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/38\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Victims of Sexual Violence Civil Protection Orders Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/38"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_27","containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_28","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","showAs":"Housing Schemes","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":11},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_29","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","showAs":"Derelict Sites","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":35},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_30","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Rental Sector","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_31","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Housing Schemes","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_33","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Approved Housing Bodies","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":7},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_34","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","showAs":"Housing Provision","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_34.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_35","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Housing Provision","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_35.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_36","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Housing Schemes","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_36.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_37","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","showAs":"Childcare Services","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_37.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":7},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_38","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"Renewable Energy Generation","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_38.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_39","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Vacant Properties","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_39.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":10},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_40","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Vacant Properties","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_40.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":7},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_41","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Wind Energy Guidelines","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_41.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_42","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Defective Building Materials","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_42.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_43","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":38},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_45","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Bus Services","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_46","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","showAs":"Vehicle Testing","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_47","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","showAs":"Hospital Waiting Lists","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_48","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","showAs":"Parking Provision","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/dbsect_49","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","showAs":"Wastewater Treatment","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate"}}],"debateType":"debate","formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-25\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-24T03:14:20+01:00","date":"2025-11-25","house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34"},"counts":{"contributorCount":171,"debateSectionCount":36,"billCount":3,"questionCount":22,"divisionCount":3}}},{"debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/main","house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34"},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"questionCount":31,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":48,"billCount":2,"contributorCount":131},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-23T03:11:20+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Message from Select Committee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Messages from Select Committees","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","showAs":"Sports Organisations","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_4","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","showAs":"Online Safety","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_4","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"question","showAs":"National Cultural Institutions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_4","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"question","showAs":"Sports Events","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_4","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","showAs":"Artists' Remuneration","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","showAs":"National Broadband Plan","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","showAs":"National Cultural Institutions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","showAs":"Arts Funding","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","showAs":"Sports Events","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","showAs":"Film Industry","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":5}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","showAs":"Arts Funding","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"question","showAs":"Sports Funding","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","showAs":"Sports Organisations","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","showAs":"Cancer Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","showAs":"Covid-19 Pandemic Supports","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","showAs":"Hospital Waiting Lists","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","showAs":"Addiction Treatment Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","showAs":"Health Strategies","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","showAs":"Cancer Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","showAs":"Dental Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","showAs":"Departmental Data","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","showAs":"Mental Health Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","showAs":"Medicinal Products","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","showAs":"Ambulance Service","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"question","showAs":"Health Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"question","showAs":"Hospital Facilities","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"question","showAs":"Hospital Equipment","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_34.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":60,"speakerCount":14}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":56,"speakerCount":18}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/69","event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","isBillStage":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/69\/dail\/1","showAs":"Dog Welfare (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"statement","showAs":"Haulage Costs for SMEs: Statements","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":25,"speakerCount":21}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"topical","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateType":"statement","showAs":"Haulage Costs for SMEs: Statements (Resumed)","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateType":"topical","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_44","debateType":"debate","showAs":"School Costs","debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_43","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_45","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_43","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_46","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Public Transport","debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_43","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_47","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Antisocial Behaviour","debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_43","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_48","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Road Network","debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_43","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-20\/debate\/dbsect_49","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/13","event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/13\/dail\/2","showAs":"Building Energy Rating (BER) Standards for Private Rented Accommodation Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":6}}}],"date":"2025-11-20"},"contextDate":"2025-11-20"},{"debateRecord":{"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"lastUpdated":"2026-02-21T03:11:02+00:00","counts":{"contributorCount":171,"billCount":6,"divisionCount":4,"questionCount":31,"debateSectionCount":32},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","houseNo":"34","chamberType":"house"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/main","date":"2025-11-19","debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","containsDebate":false,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Housing Provision","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_4"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Housing Schemes","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_5"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Disability Services","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_6"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Swimming Pools","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_7"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Health Services Waiting Lists","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_8"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion","counts":{"speechCount":33,"speakerCount":26},"showAs":"Israeli Settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory (Prohibition of Importation of Goods) Bill: Motion [Private Members]","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Visit of Chinese Delegation","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Appointment of Ministers and Ministers of State","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":110,"speakerCount":19},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":71,"speakerCount":17},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"showAs":"Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee [Private Members]","bill":{"event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/5\/dail\/motion\/referral","showAs":"Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","stage":"motion","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/5"},"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","containsDebate":false,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_16"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":32,"speakerCount":14},"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_16","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_17"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":38,"speakerCount":13},"showAs":"Cross-Border Co-operation","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_16","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_18"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_19"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_20"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"statement","counts":{"speechCount":65,"speakerCount":17},"showAs":"Post-European Council Meeting: Statements","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_21"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_22"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"statement","counts":{"speechCount":31,"speakerCount":28},"showAs":"Paediatric Spinal Surgery Waiting Lists: Statements","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_23"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_24"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"billCommittee","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Health Information Bill 2024: Instruction to Committee","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_25"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"billReport","counts":{"speechCount":22,"speakerCount":4},"showAs":"Health Information Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages","bill":{"event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/61\/dail\/4_sub","showAs":"Health Information Bill 2024: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)","stage":"4_sub","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/61"},"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_26"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"showAs":"Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages","bill":{"event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/64\/dail\/3_sub","showAs":"Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)","stage":"3_sub","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":false},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/64"},"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_27"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_28"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Supplementary Estimates for Public Services 2025: Leave to Introduce","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_29"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","bill":{"event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/53\/dail\/2","showAs":"Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","stage":"2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/53"},"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_30"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"Cost of Motoring: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_39"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"showAs":"An Bille um an Aon\u00fa Leas\u00fa is Daichead ar an mBunreacht (An Aois V\u00f3t\u00e1la a Laghd\u00fa go S\u00e9 Bliana D\u00e9ag), 2025: An Dara C\u00e9im (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) [Comhalta\u00ed Pr\u00edobh\u00e1ideacha]","bill":null,"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","containsDebate":false,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_44"}},{"debateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"showAs":"Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","bill":{"event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/22\/dail\/2","showAs":"Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","stage":"2","houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/22"},"speakers":[],"parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","containsDebate":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-19\/debate\/dbsect_45"}}],"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"}},"contextDate":"2025-11-19"},{"debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/main","house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34"},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"questionCount":15,"divisionCount":2,"debateSectionCount":31,"billCount":0,"contributorCount":169},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-23T03:11:12+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":9}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"motion","showAs":"Nomination of Member of Government: Motion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Visit of Icelandic Delegation","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"motion","showAs":"Nomination of Member of Government: Motion (Resumed)","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":50,"speakerCount":19}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"statement","showAs":"Ukraine: Statements","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":47,"speakerCount":24}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"motion","showAs":"Mercosur Trade Agreement: Motion [Private Members]","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":126,"speakerCount":35}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","showAs":"Transport Infrastructure Ireland","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","showAs":"Transport Policy","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","showAs":"Electric Vehicles","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","showAs":"National Development Plan","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","showAs":"Public Transport","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","showAs":"Air Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","showAs":"Public Transport","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","showAs":"Bus Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","showAs":"Bus Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","showAs":"State Bodies","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","showAs":"Transport Policy","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","showAs":"Rail Network","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","showAs":"Road Projects","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"question","showAs":"Transport Policy","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"question","showAs":"Rail Network","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"topical","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"topical","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Taxi Regulations","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Bus Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Aquaculture Industry","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Scoileanna Gaeilge agus Gaeltachta","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Urban Development","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-18\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}}],"date":"2025-11-18"},"contextDate":"2025-11-18"},{"debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/main","house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34"},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"questionCount":24,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":40,"billCount":2,"contributorCount":138},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-23T03:11:04+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"question","showAs":"Company Closures","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","showAs":"Visa Applications","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","showAs":"Artificial Intelligence","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","showAs":"Company Closures","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"question","showAs":"Business Supports","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","showAs":"Artificial Intelligence","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","showAs":"Tourism Promotion","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","showAs":"Small and Medium Enterprises","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","showAs":"Regional Development","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","showAs":"Business Supports","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","showAs":"Foreign Direct Investment","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","showAs":"Small and Medium Enterprises","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"question","showAs":"Pension Provisions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","showAs":"Fuel Poverty","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Benefits","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","showAs":"Pension Provisions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Payments","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Eligibility","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Schemes","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Appeals","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Eligibility","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Appeals","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","showAs":"Social Welfare Eligibility","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","showAs":"Pensions Reform","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":86,"speakerCount":10}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":68,"speakerCount":21}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"statement","showAs":"Science Week: Statements","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":18,"speakerCount":18}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"debate","showAs":"An Bille um an Aon\u00fa Leas\u00fa is Daichead ar an mBunreacht (An Aois V\u00f3t\u00e1la a Laghd\u00fa go S\u00e9 Bliana D\u00e9ag), 2025: An Dara C\u00e9im [Comhalta\u00ed Pr\u00edobh\u00e1ideacha]","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/22","event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/22\/dail\/2","showAs":"Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"counts":{"speechCount":30,"speakerCount":22}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"topical","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"topical","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Postal Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Library Projects","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Schools Building Projects","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Animal Welfare","debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-13\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}}],"date":"2025-11-13"},"contextDate":"2025-11-13"},{"debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/main","house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34"},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"questionCount":49,"divisionCount":1,"debateSectionCount":35,"billCount":2,"contributorCount":168},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-23T03:10:59+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":99,"speakerCount":17}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":5}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"orderofBusiness","showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":97,"speakerCount":22}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Message from Select Committee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Horse and Greyhound Racing Fund Regulations 2025: Referral to Joint Committee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Supplementary Estimates for Public Services 2025: Leave to Introduce","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","showAs":"Cabinet Committees","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":48,"speakerCount":16}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","showAs":"Cabinet Committees","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":43,"speakerCount":16}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/65","event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/65\/dail\/2","showAs":"Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"counts":{"speechCount":41,"speakerCount":23}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/65","event":{"houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","isBillStage":false,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/65\/dail\/motion\/referral","showAs":"Social Welfare and Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"}},"counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Message from Select Committee","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"motion","showAs":"Cost of Motoring: Motion [Private Members]","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":46,"speakerCount":29}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","showAs":"Disabilities Assessments","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","showAs":"Childcare Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","showAs":"Childcare Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","showAs":"Child and Family Agency","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","showAs":"Early Childhood Care and Education","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","showAs":"Family Resource Centres","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"questions","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","showAs":"Child and Family Agency","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","showAs":"Childcare Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","showAs":"Childcare Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","showAs":"Childcare Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"question","showAs":"Departmental Data","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"question","showAs":"Disability Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"question","showAs":"Childcare Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"topical","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"topical","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"speakers":[],"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Health Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Dental Services","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"debate","showAs":"School Accommodation","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","showAs":"School Facilities","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Agriculture Schemes","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-12\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}},"speakers":[],"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3}}}],"date":"2025-11-12"},"contextDate":"2025-11-12"},{"contextDate":"2025-11-06","debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/main","lastUpdated":"2026-02-20T03:12:44+00:00","counts":{"contributorCount":126,"questionCount":31,"billCount":4,"debateSectionCount":44,"divisionCount":0},"house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","committeeCode":"","chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_2","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_3","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":20},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_4","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":7},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Naval Service","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_5","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_6","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_7","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh \u2013 Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Cybersecurity Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_9","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":7},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Military Neutrality","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_10","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_11","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Cybersecurity Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_12","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Weather Events","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_13","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Naval Service","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_14","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_15","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Defence Forces","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_17","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_18","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Land Issues","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_19","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Conservation","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_20","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Prices","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_21","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":10},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Wind Energy Generation","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_22","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Wind Energy Generation","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_24","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Prices","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_25","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Conservation","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_26","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":11},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Fisheries Protection","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_27","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Infrastructure","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_28","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Renewable Energy Generation","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_29","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Recycling Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_30","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_31","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":2},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Energy Prices","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_32","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":2},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Wind Energy Guidelines","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_33","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","counts":{"speakerCount":12,"speechCount":94},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_34","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_35","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","counts":{"speakerCount":20,"speechCount":44},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_36","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/66\/dail\/1","showAs":"Emergency Inspection of Dublin Zoo Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/66"},"showAs":"Emergency Inspection of Dublin Zoo Bill 2025: First Stage","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_37","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","counts":{"speakerCount":8,"speechCount":9},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/64\/dail\/2","showAs":"Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/64"},"showAs":"Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_38","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":2},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/64\/dail\/motion\/referral","showAs":"Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/64"},"showAs":"Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_39","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_40","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_41","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_42","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Public Services Provision","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_43","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Homeless Persons Supports","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_44","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Disability Services","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/dbsect_45","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","counts":{"speakerCount":9,"speechCount":12},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/53\/dail\/2","showAs":"Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/53"},"showAs":"Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage [Private Members]","debateType":"debate"}}],"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-06\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"date":"2025-11-06","debateType":"debate"}},{"contextDate":"2025-11-05","debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/main","lastUpdated":"2026-02-20T03:12:42+00:00","counts":{"contributorCount":161,"questionCount":10,"billCount":7,"debateSectionCount":27,"divisionCount":4},"house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","committeeCode":"","chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_2","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_3","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_4","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Dental Services","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_5","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Drug and Alcohol Task Forces","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_6","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Wastewater Treatment","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_7","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Water Services","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_8","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Driver Test","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_9","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","counts":{"speakerCount":25,"speechCount":33},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Decriminalisation of People Who Use Drugs: Motion [Private Members]","debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_10","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","counts":{"speakerCount":15,"speechCount":61},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_11","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_12","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","counts":{"speakerCount":22,"speechCount":72},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_13","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_14","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"National Development Plan","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_15","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":12},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Public Expenditure Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_16","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"EU Programmes","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_18","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":7},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Office of Public Works","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_19","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":8},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"National Development Plan","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_20","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Capital Expenditure Programme","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_21","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Public Procurement Contracts","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_22","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Flood Risk Management","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_23","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Public Spending Code","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_24","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","counts":{"speakerCount":47,"speechCount":71},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"International Protection Processing and Enforcement: Statements","debateType":"statement"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_25","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"4_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/10\/dail\/4_sub","showAs":"Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/10"},"showAs":"Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025: Report and Final Stages","debateType":"billReport"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_26","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":10},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"3_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/63\/dail\/3_sub","showAs":"Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/63"},"showAs":"Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_35","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/dbsect_36","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Education (Affordable School Uniforms Bill) 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","debateType":"debate"}}],"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-05\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"date":"2025-11-05","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-05-12T02:08:21+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"date":"2025-11-04","counts":{"contributorCount":165,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":31,"questionCount":14,"billCount":3},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Toghadh Uachtar\u00e1in - Election of President","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before we proceed to Leaders' Questions, I have a short announcement to make to the House. It is the first time since 1973 that a sitting TD has successfully contested a presidential election and it is the first time in the history of our Constitution that a sitting female TD has successfully contested a presidential election. In accordance with the Presidential Elections Act, I have received formal communication from the Presidential Returning Officer confirming to me that he had, on 25 October, declared Catherine Connolly to be elected President of Ireland.  Members are also advised that, pursuant to Article 12.6 of Bunreacht na h\u00c9ireann, the President-elect ceased to be a Member of the D\u00e1il on her election and a vacancy now exists in the constituency of Galway West, to be filled in accordance with law.  President-elect Connolly is the first sitting TD since Erskine Childers in 1973 to be elected Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann. On behalf of the House, I wish the President-elect every success in her new role as Uachtar\u00e1n. Gu\u00edm gach rath uirthi. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Members applauded ."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Toghadh Uachtar\u00e1in - Election of President"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I would also like to take this opportunity, and I am sure Members will join me, in extending condolences on the death of Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy yesterday. We all know what an extraordinary impact Sr. Stan had on Irish society. She led a life dedicated to the service of those in need. I offer my condolences to her family on behalf of Members and many friends. Thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":77,"speakerCount":13},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Brady","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  D\u00e9anaim comhghairdeas \u00f3 chro\u00ed len\u00e1r gcara, an iarTheachta Catherine Connolly. It is a truly historic achievement. Our warmest congratulations go to our Uachtar\u00e1n-elect, Catherine Connolly.  I would like also to pay tribute to Sr. Stanislaus Kennedy, who passed away yesterday. Sr. Stan championed social justice, advocated for the homeless and spent her entire life standing on the side of those in need. She gave gentle yet powerful voice to the voiceless. She never stopped working for a fair and equal society. She leaves an incredible legacy of compassion, activism and hope. Ar dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a hanam.  The Government's energy task force published its interim report yesterday, confirming people's worst fears. Households will be hit with massive electricity bills this winter, with average yearly bills approaching \u20ac2,000. The barrage of electricity price hikes from big energy companies puts people under huge pressure in the run-up to Christmas.  Three hundred thousand households are unable to pay their electricity bills. Household energy arrears have almost doubled in the last four years. Many more will now be pushed into this awful situation. The Government's decision to strip away energy credits was a terrible call in a terrible budget - a budget of \u20ac9.4 billion that has left working people worse off. That is some going.  While people are so brazenly ripped off, what is the Government's big idea? It is a promise to make an announcement of a plan sometime next year, with action to follow God knows when, if at all. Households are being fleeced, right here and right now. These huge bills are already landing and yet the Government pretends like it is not happening.  Government failure to tackle energy rip-offs leaves people in desperate situations, with families using prepay meters going days without electricity and households relying on organisations such as the Society of St. Vincent de Paul to keep the lights on. The Government sits back and allows big energy companies to rip people off at every opportunity. Now, as the days get darker, families will be forced to cut back on necessary electricity use, counting the cost every time they use the washing machine and feeling pressure every time they flick on the light switch because they know it is costing them a fortune. Is that an acceptable way for people to live?  The big question for me is this: how many wake-up calls does the Government need before it acts? Four energy companies announce big electricity price hikes but the Government does nothing. The International Energy Agency reports that energy companies are fleecing Irish households but the Government does nothing. The CSO releases figures proving that people are being ripped off but the Government still does nothing. Now the Government's own task force confirms that households will be hit with massive electricity bills over the coming weeks but the Government still does nothing. Worse still, the Government actually has the neck to tell people to wait until next year for some pie-in-the-sky plan. Not alone is this Government inaction woefully out of touch, it is downright lazy.  This is a lazy do-nothing Government incapable of understanding how these huge bills impact on people's lives so it does not even muster up the effort to do anything about it. That is not good enough. The Government's job is to stand up to those companies, to end this energy rip-off and to support households mar t\u00e1 geimhreadh l\u00e1n de bhill\u00ed leictreachais r\u00f3dhaor in ann do theaghlaigh. Caithfidh an Rialtas seasamh suas in aghaidh na comhlachta\u00ed m\u00f3ra fuinnimh agus tac\u00fa le teaghlaigh. Given the scale of this crisis, will the Government now act to reinstate energy credits to help households and what action will the Government take to reign in energy companies and to put an end to the scandalous rip-off? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Jack Chambers)  On behalf of the entire Government, I sincerely congratulate and offer my best wishes to President-elect Catherine Connolly following her election victory. It is an enormous victory for her, her family, all of her supporters and many people across County Galway and beyond. Catherine commanded a huge vote following a really successful campaign.  President-elect Connolly served with distinction in these Houses as Leas-Cheann Comhairle. In all her contributions, she demonstrated enormous integrity and professionalism. When I previously held the brief as Minister of State with responsibility for the Gaeltacht, she was someone who was always constructive in her contributions. She will be a President that we can all unite behind and I wish her well as she commences her new role in the coming days.  I will speak to the loss of Sr. Stan, who had such a positive impact on so many people for so long. Sr. Stan dedicated her life to working with care and compassion on behalf of the poor and the vulnerable across the country. She showed that innate desire and unflinching determination to support those who needed the most help. Hers was a voice of charity, of care, of compassion and of devoted service to people and our thoughts are with her family on her loss today.  On Deputy McDonald's question, this Government did take action in the budget when it came to the issue of energy. That is why the work the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, did in keeping the 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity is a significant part of our overall tax package.  The fuel allowance being increased by \u20ac5, and expanded for those in receipt of the working family payment, made it a targeted approach to those who are feeling the pressure of energy prices across our economy. As a result of another Government intervention, an additional 50,000 households will be eligible for fuel allowance, which will mean that 460,000 households, or 26% of all households, are now eligible for fuel allowance. We have made wider interventions in supporting children and families, including the increase in the child support payment, and there are other measures in the context of the Department of Social Protection. Next year, that Department will have an overall allocation of over \u20ac28 billion. On our overall broader spending across our economy, this Government made a \u20ac2 billion package in social protection in budget 2026 to respond to the pressure many households face and target it to those most in need. That is the context in which we set about trying to help to mitigate the impact of energy prices.  The Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien, has done extensive work as part of the national energy affordability task force. That has set out a number of recommendations in the context of the programme for Government, where we have set out changes in assessment of the overall regulatory model for energy prices in our economy. That is work he will undertake. In the national development plan, there is our continued investment in the warmer homes scheme, with hundreds of millions of euro to support families, and many other interventions to support low-income households.  We made significant interventions in the budget as part of our social protection package, including the retention of the 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity. We made a decision not to continue one-off temporary payments because we have to be honest about managing the overall budgetary parameters and the need to manage expenditure policy out to the medium term. We want every decision we make to be sustainable, affordable and permanent. It is not sustainable to continue one-off payments over the existing allocations. That is why we made specific and targeted interventions in the context of our social protection package. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I will tell the Minister what is not sustainable. It is not sustainable to tell families that are struggling so badly now that his only response is to refer them to the national development plan, budgetary parameters and whatever other political jargon he has got written down and has placed on the record of the D\u00e1il. Does he understand how widespread this experience is? He keeps talking about targeted measures. Does he understand how widespread the experience is now for households that cannot make their bills? I have told him already, and he knows, that 300,000 households are already in arrears. I have told him that energy companies have hiked their prices upwards and upwards with no real substantive challenge from anyone in the Government. They can do what they want. I have told him that in the run-in to Christmas, families now - not next year but now, in November and December - cannot make it and the Government simply sings dumb. I find it astonishing that the Government is so out of touch. We need action now. We need the energy credits as an immediate response, but the Government needs to take on these energy companies and face them down. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I fully understand the issues and pressures families face. I reject the Deputy's assertion of jargon and waffle talk. We absolutely understand the pressure. That is why the social protection package was significant in this budget when it came to fuel allowance, the changes in rates we made and the changes the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, made when it came to the 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity. I will not take lectures from the Deputy on the economy. A magic money tree----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I am talking to you about families. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  -----does not work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I am talking to you about families. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  The Deputy's alternative budget amounted to nearly \u20ac16 billion. Her party's economic approach would wreck our economy, lose jobs----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  That is your answer. Wow. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  -----and deplete our country of resources. Its false promises and its reckless approach to economic management would not provide any future for any family and would seriously exacerbate poverty for many people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Brady","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Brady.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Brady  The Minister is not representing part of his party when it comes to taxes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I will not take any lectures from Deputy McDonald on economic management. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Minister should take the lecture from someone. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  We will not take it from Fianna F\u00e1il. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  We make changes that are progressive, fair and targeted at the lowest income households and the social protection package reflects that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  That is lamentably out of touch. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I extand a comhghairdeas m\u00f3r to our new Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann, Catherine Connolly, on her historic landslide win. I know as President she will do us proud just as Michael D. Higgins has done.  I also want to acknowledge the loss of the great Sr. Stan. She did the State immense service through her work on social justice and she leaves a truly remarkable legacy. May she rest in peace.  I condemn in the strongest possible terms the attack on an IPAS centre in Drogheda on Friday. The lives of children were seriously endangered in the setting of a deliberate fire. Two babies, including one who is only 20 days old, were hospitalised in what was a hideous criminal attack. I know my colleagues in Drogheda, Deputy Ged Nash and Councillors Michelle Hall and Pio Smith, are working to support all those affected. I pay tribute to the courage of the firefighters who saved lives on Friday night.  In the context of that horrific attack and the awful riot in Citywest, I want to raise two matters today. The first is how we stamp out racist violence and the second is the way in which Government policy and rhetoric emanating from Members of this House can stoke anti-immigrant sentiments that form the thin end of what is a wicked, violent wedge.  More than 300 IPAS and Ukraine accommodation centres operate across the country. They are people\u2019s homes. Dozens of times in recent years, residents have faced attacks and violence in what are modern-day pogroms. In my own constituency, I work with volunteers who are dealing with knife attacks on men who are forced to sleep in tents due to the Government's failure to house them. The State must step in. The Government must now undertake an urgent security review of all centres where refugees or people seeking asylum are living. Completing this work in advance of the second anniversary of the Dublin riots would be an appropriate deadline.  We also need a reflection on and a review of the language used and policies implemented by the Government. The conflation of immigration with criminality in rhetoric can contribute to an environment where violence can develop. So too can irresponsible rhetoric that blames the housing crisis or the lack of public services on immigrants.  Regrettably the three largest parties in this House, Fianna F\u00e1il, Fine Gael and Sinn F\u00e9in, have recently issued communications that have leaned into anti-migrant sentiment. These are not comments from rogue Government Members, in the case of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, either. This week, the T\u00e1naiste said that our migration numbers are too high. He implied that people facing deportation make up a significant proportion of Ireland\u2019s inward migration. Of course, this is wrong. However, it was not a slip of the tongue. His Fine Gael colleagues have since repeated it, and the Minister's party leader, the Taoiseach, has backed him.  Minister, you are in Government. Any flaws in the asylum system are your responsibility. Your party colleague holds the justice and migration brief. Any blame for the failure to provide fair and effective procedures lies not at the feet of people seeking asylum but with your Government and previous governments. Will you undertake a safety audit of accommodation? Will you now advance a public information campaign on the benefits to this country of inward migration and the facts about immigration? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  The shocking and disgraceful recent attacks, including in Drogheda over the weekend and in City West before that, should serve as a stark reminder to everyone in this House how careful and responsible we must be when discussing and debating immigration policy. These disgraceful attacks are not reflective of the views of the overwhelming majority of our people whose first instinct is one of compassion for those people being subjected to intimidation and of revulsion towards those carrying out these attacks. People across our country are proud that Ireland is a tolerant multicultural and diverse country. They recognise how reliant our economy, our public services and our communities are on the contribution of those from migrant backgrounds. I see it in my constituency, which is one of the most diverse constituencies in the country. I thank the many people who have come here for the enormous contribution they make to our economy, our communities and our society. We need to be clear on that in all of our discussions when it comes to migration.  Today the Minister, Deputy Donohoe, is publishing the Future Forty report, which speaks to the huge contribution that many people from the migrant community make to our economic growth. Our continued success as an economy is dependent on attracting the talent and the people who make that contribution.  It is also important to be clear that everybody in this House should be able to have a broader debate on what system of migration we have. Everyone on this side of the House shares the Deputy's view that we should have a compassionate, caring approach to anyone who comes here and treat them with humanity and dignity. We should be clear that many of them come from places where they would be vulnerable. In his remarks, the T\u00e1naiste said migration is a good thing, but he was just making broader remarks on the system we have. We should be able to have a mature debate about the type of system we have. We are clear that it should be a rules-based system with enforcement. It is important that we have that in the context of managing a complex issue globally. That is why there is constant evaluation of the various factors that are contributing to overall migration into our country. The Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, is being proactive across a number of measures he has introduced, while also sending a strong message on the contribution that many people who have come here make to our economy.  On the Deputy\u2019s question, there is a security review, and that is part of the wider work that goes on with any centre that becomes applicable under IPAS. To be clear, this Government shares the Deputy\u2019s perspective on how we treat people, but it is important that we can also have a debate on how we can have a balanced approach that is fair and also manages the consequences for those who are not given status. There need to be consequences for those who are not given status. If they have appealed and are not allowed to stay, they need to be managed in the context of a functioning migration system. That is the broader context in which this debate should be had. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I thank the Minister for his careful and responsible words in his response. He is absolutely right that people must of course be able to debate migration policy, but let us do so in a fact-based manner. Let us use careful and responsible language. I certainly do not think the T\u00e1naiste\u2019s conflation of all migrants with a tiny number of people facing deportation orders was responsible. The Minister has acknowledged the reality that the vast majority of people who have migrated to Ireland are here to work and that our schools and hospitals are staffed by people who have come here to provide an essential service \u2013 people who are propping up our creaking healthcare, education and nursing-home systems. That is what we all know to be the case, so why is there a focus in Government rhetoric on scapegoating those who come here seeking asylum and somehow conflating them with the vast majority of migrants, who come by different means entirely?  Just this week, the Cabinet has agreed a mean-spirited rent payment for people who have been fleeing Putin\u2019s brutal war in Ukraine. It is not a revenue-raising measure; rather, Fine Gael sources have admitted, it is designed to disincentivise people fleeing war from coming here. Could we have a fact-based information campaign to provide an evidence basis for the debate on migration, please? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  The Deputy is conflating lots of different things----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I am not conflating them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  -----unfairly and inappropriately. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  The T\u00e1naiste was inappropriate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  It is important that everyone in this House be able to have an honest, open debate about migration policy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Fact based. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  The Government needs to examine incentives, disincentives and push and pull factors in the context of migration policy in Europe and internationally. Every policy should be evaluated and recalibrated to manage the various factors that contribute to the overall level of migration to an economy, while also acknowledging the huge contribution people continue to make to our economy and communities. It is just unfair to take a particular sentence and try to conflate what has happened, in a shocking manner, in certain instances. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  He knew what he was doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  The rest of them were. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  That is why the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Callaghan, is correct in continuing to evaluate our migration policy and examine the wider factors contributing to significant increases. Those who are working and in centres should make a contribution. That is fair and proportionate, and that is the right policy approach. Anyone in this House would agree that if you have income and the means to make a contribution, you should make a contribution. Most people across the country would support that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  For decades, Sr. Stan was a campaigner and advocate for the most marginalised in our society. We could all learn from her. Our thoughts are with her family today.  I congratulate President-elect Catherine Connolly. She will be a President for all and will be missed in this House, but we know she will serve with the same integrity, diligence and compassion she served with here.  \u201cThe house is on fire ... Please answer\". This is what a terrified 12-year-old child texted to her mum on Friday after an arson attack on her home, an IPAS centre in Drogheda. In total, 28 people lived in that IPAS centre, the majority of them women and children. Four children, including a two-week-old baby, had to be rescued from the top floor of the building. Little children who came to this country seeking sanctuary are now terrified, traumatised and living in fear. This is where anti-immigrant and racist rhetoric has led us - a violent attack on vulnerable people that could easily have led to children being killed.  I commend the emergency services in Drogheda for their quick action. I also acknowledge that the majority of people in Drogheda and across the country are disgusted by what happened, because this attack is a new low, but is anyone surprised it has come to this? There have been 30 arson attacks on IPAS centres, or proposed centres, in recent years. We have witnessed rioting on our streets and there have been numerous public order incidents and protests outside IPAS centres.  What has the Government's response been to this increasingly volatile atmosphere? It has been to ratchet up its use of inflammatory language and stoke further fears. Mere days after rioting broke out in Citywest, Simon Harris suggested migration numbers, including the number of people here on work permits, were too high. Then, after the despicable arson attack on Friday night, the Government moved immediately to talk about charging those in direct provision for accommodation. You could not make it up. That is not to mention that a callous proposal to reduce accommodation entitlements for people from Ukraine to just 30 days has also just been signed off. Where is the emergency stand-alone meeting on safety concerns for people in international protection? Where is the emergency meeting about increasing levels of violent hate in our communities? Where is the emergency meeting to discuss how to counter the dangerous lies being peddled by far-right agitators online?  This Government has failed miserably to deliver on its own commitments on housing and critical public services. Instead of taking responsibility for that, however, it is now pointing fingers at immigrants----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  That is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  -----State agencies and the latest fall guy, EU red tape. This is straight out of the Farage playbook and it is deeply concerning the Government is taking this approach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  Stop. That is ridiculous. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The reality is the numbers seeking international protection are way down this year----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Minister to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  -----and people remain trapped in the system for too long because of the Government's mismanagement of it. Is the Government reflecting on its communication----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, you are way over time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  -----around this? Has the security audit of IPAS centres started? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I think Deputy Cairns heard me respond to Deputy Bacik in the context of the shocking and disgraceful attacks that have happened in Drogheda and Citywest. I am very clear to anyone listening about the positive contribution that many members of the migrant community make to our country, economy, society and communities. That is the position of this Government, and all members of this Government, in terms of wider integration and migration policy.  To the Deputy's question, the Cabinet committee considers wider matters. That is why, and this goes to the point I raised to Deputy Bacik, we should be able to assess overall migration policy continuously and evaluate it to look at European norms. The Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is constantly doing that in his engagement with colleagues across the European Union to look at the wider incentives and disincentives and the push and pull factors. That is a normal part of migration policy across Europe. We should be able to have a separate, honest evaluation of that continuously so that we are able to manage the overall numbers that are coming into our country. That is not dismissing the need for migrants and their ongoing contribution to our economy, but we need to be able to have an honest debate about that.  I am clear in my absolute condemnation of what has happened. The Garda did an excellent job. There is constant community engagement happening on the ground across many of these centres.  If you take the response in Citywest and in Drogheda, the garda\u00ed did an excellent job. The Taoiseach, the T\u00e1naiste, the Minister for justice and others were universal in their condemnation of what happened in these recent attacks. Deputy Cairns did not say that in her opening remarks. She ignored that in her opening remarks and sought to cloud this issue----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  The T\u00e1naiste said nothing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  -----trying to conflate two separate----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  The T\u00e1naiste said nothing about Drogheda. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  He was on Instagram all weekend and said nothing about Drogheda. He did not condemn it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  Everybody in government condemns what happened in Drogheda. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  The man with no thought that goes untweeted said nothing. It is my hometown. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  That is very unfair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  It is true though. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  Everyone in this Government and in this Parliament should be able to have an overall assessment of migration policy. That is what I am saying. We need an honest debate about that continuously because there are various factors which contribute to a surge in applications and we need to be able to evaluate that.  I reject what the Deputy has said in trying to conflate these issues. It is unfair. The work the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is doing is as focused on community engagement through An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the various supports that we have on the ground as it is the wider issues in terms of migration policy. The attacks have been disgraceful. I reiterate my view and acknowledge the ongoing contribution that many people continue to make in communities across our country. We value their contribution and their continued work and presence in our country. They need to feel safe and welcomed. We will be doing everything we can to protect that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The Government cannot stoke fear in one breath, then condemn attacks in another and come into the House and seek credit for doing that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The Social Democrats have been pleading with the Government for weeks to moderate its language, to ensure what it is saying is accurate and that tensions are not further enflamed. Instead, the inflammatory language from the Government has increased. Shamefully, the T\u00e1naiste chose to amplify half-truths to paint migrants in a negative light. He made those comments fully conscious of the volatile atmosphere that is out there. It is not just irresponsible; it is reprehensible. Now we see where rising hate naturally leads - a man pouring petrol on the stairs of an IPAS centre in the hopes of burning women and children alive. If this horrific event is not enough to prompt the Government to engage in some reflection, then I do not know what is. The Government now has a deliberate strategy of depicting international protection applicants as scammers gaming a lax system----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  That is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" A Deputy","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" A Deputy  That is so far from the truth it is actually ridiculous. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  This is not leadership; this is leaning into a toxic far-right narrative. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Cairns. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  Withdraw that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  People have a right to come here and to make an application for international protection. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  Withdraw that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The Government has a duty to assess those claims fairly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Minister to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  Will the Government show leadership on this issue and deliver that clear and unambiguous message? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I reject that completely. If the Deputy listened to what I have said, I have rejected the politics of the far-right, of Farage----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  ----- and of anyone who gives an inflammatory response or weaponises this issue to divide people. Our focus is on community, on building harmony between people and on supporting and investing in communities while also ensuring that we have a migration system and policy which works. That is why we should have an ongoing evaluation of it. It is unfair to continue to conflate this, as the Deputy has. The experience of the women and children in that house and the threat that was brought on them is shocking and is universally condemned by this Government. That is why the work the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, is doing in terms of the Garda's security reviews, which happen for IPAS centres, is really important. It is why community engagement is centrally important. I am disgusted, as everyone is, with what has happened.  Even over the summer, there were some the attacks on certain members of the Indian community as well. In my community in west Dublin, there was fear among many of the migrant members of our community. We need to reinforce the need to support them and promote safety in all aspects of our response. Community is at the centre of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Ba mhaith liom ar dt\u00fas mo chomhghairdeas ollmh\u00f3r a ghabh\u00e1il le Catherine Connolly ar an mbua iontach a bh\u00ed aici an tseachtain seo caite. Gu\u00edm gach rath uirthi. D\u00e9anaim comhbhr\u00f3n le Sr. Stan. Laoch ab ea \u00ed a d'oibrigh go d\u00edograiseach ar son iad si\u00fad a bh\u00ed gan d\u00eddean sa t\u00edr seo. Ar dheis D\u00e9 go raibh a hanam d\u00edlis. D\u00e9anaim c\u00e1ineadh orthu si\u00fad a chur an teach IPAS i nDroichead \u00c1tha tr\u00ed thine. Ba bheag n\u00e1r bhfuair p\u00e1ist\u00ed agus tuismitheoir\u00ed b\u00e1s sa teach sin ar an o\u00edche.  This morning, commuter traffic on the M3 going to Dublin was backed up well into County Meath. The journey for tens of thousands of people took two hours. Meath is the biggest commuter county in the country. It is the only county in the country where the majority of workers leave the county to go to work every single day. Some 90,000 people in Meath commute to work on a daily basis and 60,000 of those are forced to use cars due to the lack of a rail line. Navan is the biggest town in the country without a rail line at the moment. In 1994, Fianna F\u00e1il's Noel Dempsey promised to build a rail line between Navan and Dublin. The delivery date slipped and slipped. We were promised to have it in 2015 but it was never built.  I am the chair of the Meath on Track campaign and the people of Meath have campaigned strongly for this over the years and yet we still do not have that rail line. In 2021, it was promised to us again. We were told that the building of the rail line would start by 2030 and it would be built by 2036. This promise was met with derision in County Meath, to be honest. It is typical horizon politics - so far in the distance that it never gets done. In 2036, it will be 42 years since the rail line was first promised by Fianna F\u00e1il.  In 1862, the original Navan to Dublin rail line was built in three years with picks and shovels. Despite all the technology we have now, the wait for the project is now heading towards 42 years. It is incredibly glacial in its delivery.  The economic cost of congestion in the greater Dublin area is incredible. Some \u20ac336 million was the cost of it in 2024, according to the Department of Transport, and it is estimated that by 2040, congestion in the greater Dublin area will cost \u20ac1.5 billion. Studies have been done on congestion in European cities and Dublin is the worst in terms of time and cost. There have also been studies of the speed of traffic in Dublin at the moment. The average speed eight years ago was 12 km\/h. The average speed of horse-drawn carriages in Dublin in the 19th century was 16 km\/h. We currently in an incredible crisis in terms of infrastructure in the Dublin area.  Why is it that this Government cannot deliver infrastructure on time? Why is it that we have the slowest planning, permits, judicial reviews and tendering in the whole of the European Union in terms of such projects? When will the Navan to Dublin rail line be built? What will the Government do to change the glacial pace of infrastructure in this country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank the Deputy. What I would say about transport specifically is that there has been a big uplift in the transport allocation for the next five years. Some \u20ac22 billion of the over \u20ac100 billion being invested in the next five years will be in transport, specifically to build more roads and ensure our public transport objectives are delivered. There is going to be a serious transformation of transport investment over the next five years.  The Deputy is correct in saying that additional allocations in themselves will do very little to change how we deliver infrastructure across our economy. That is why over the coming weeks we will publish a series of actions, to be implemented in 2026, which will accelerate the delivery of infrastructure across our economy. It means rebalancing regulation in our economy and reassessing a lot of the rules, processes and structures that are not working and are delaying decision-making and adding cost, rather than value, to the cost of projects when they come to be delivered and procured. We will introduce reforms from a legislative perspective on critical infrastructure and on trying to advance that in a greater and quicker way.  We will also be examining the roles of our regulators and ensuring there is a duty to co-operate across many of our regulators, which at the moment are a part of the sequencing of delays that undermine the delivery of infrastructure across our economy. I will, in the coming weeks, be able to show the difference that will make to the delivery of infrastructure.  The Deputy referenced the Navan rail line. There was a reduction in capital expenditure when the economy contracted and that contributed to delays for many of the projects the Deputy referenced. That was a part of the previous national development plan. Part of what we are trying to do now is to match sectoral investment plans in transport and other areas with new short timelines so we can better deliver transport infrastructure. The Minister for Transport, Deputy O'Brien, is working with the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, on a sectoral investment plan for transport in our economy. That will seek to match this very serious allocation. Nearly \u20ac1 of every \u20ac4 we will spend on capital over the next five years will be spent on transport, which is one of the biggest investments in public transport and our road network for many years.  Part of that is to try to match that with a credible pipeline of projects which we can deliver over a period of years while also trying to set out a new delivery mechanism into the early 2030s for projects that needs to go through planning and procurement. He will be able to set out further detail in terms of the transport sectoral investment plan. This new approach to infrastructural delivery is about rebalancing risk. The Deputy is often in here attacking public servants, politicians and others. People have a role in ensuring accountability where there is excessive spend on particular projects but it is also important we rebalance the risk appetite so that we address risk aversion in decision-making. That means we have to take extra----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  -----risks when it comes to delivery of infrastructure and other projects across our economy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Minister. Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The problem is that if one takes the future tense out of the Minister's statement there is very little the Government can say. The Minister has been in government for so long at this stage and these particular problems in planning, judicial reviews and tendering have not appeared out of nothing. They have been as a result of the Government's implementation.  One of the big frustrations that exists among commuters in this country is that, on one level, they are getting the stick of extra costs. Last year, commuters paid \u20ac1.9 billion in motor tax and VRT and they contributed \u20ac4.1 billion in fuel taxes. Just last week the Government put up the cost of tolls again on an M50 that commuters have paid \u20ac2.2 billion for already. Mind you, those two bridges cost \u20ac53 million to build in the first place. Those commuters have paid for those bridges over and over again and yet the Government is using this stick on those commuters by putting up that price again instead of using the carrot of providing the necessary public transport they want to be able to use. That is where the major frustration is. On one level, the Government cannot introduce and cannot develop infrastructure because the systems are grinding to a halt with bureaucracy and red tape----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  -----while on another level the Government is using a stick to try to get people out of cars and that stick is impoverishing many people. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I acknowledge that in some instances there is excessive bureaucracy and red tape and we need to cut it, remove it and reform it. That is central to my work beyond what is happening in the national development plan. The Deputy is correct that we do need to radically reduce the timelines it takes to deliver critical projects and housing across our economy. There are too many layers and too many barriers to the delivery of that, and I acknowledge that in many of the commuter counties. I work with my colleague, Deputy Dempsey, on this, when it comes to the Navan rail line, and work on other priorities in Meath, Kildare, Wicklow, Louth and other commuter belt regions where many people have a long commute to work. Part of the transformation of our transport system in the next five years will be to ensure the project pipeline gets delivered more quickly because we have put a record level of allocation beside transport when it comes to the prioritisation we have given it.  When it comes to tolls, the contribution tolls make is to the maintenance of our national road network. Our national road network needs to be maintained to a standard and there is a cost to doing that. That is part of the position when it comes to the toll rates TII sets every year. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"orderofBusiness","bill":null,"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":8},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel Grealish","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  Tuesday's business shall be:  - Finance Bill 2025 - Financial Resolutions (without debate) (to be moved together and decided by one question; any division claimed to be taken immediately)  - Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (to conclude within 3 hours and 34 minutes, with any division claimed to be taken immediately prior to Committee Stage on Wednesday)  Tuesday's private members' business shall be Second Stage of the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025, selected by Sinn F\u00e9in.  Wednesday's business shall be:  - Statements on International Protection Processing and Enforcement (not to exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes)  - Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 (Report and Final Stages) (to be taken no earlier than 7 p.m. and to conclude within 60 minutes)  - Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 (Committee and remaining Stages) (if not previously concluded, to conclude either at 12.10 a.m. or after 4 hours, whichever is the later)  - Motion for Further Revised Estimate for Public Services [Vote 33] (without debate) (back from committee) (any division claimed to be taken immediately)  Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Decriminalisation of People who use Drugs, selected by the Labour Party.  Thursday's business shall be:  - Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025 (Second Stage) (if not previously concluded, to adjourn after 3 hours and 24 minutes)  Thursday evening business shall be the Second Stage of the Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024, sponsored by Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh.     Proposed Arrangements for this week\u2019s business:     In relation to Tuesday\u2019s business, it is proposed that:  1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  (a)\tthe D\u00e1il may sit later than 10.48 p.m.;  (b)\tParliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall not be taken, and Government business shall commence at the time when Parliamentary Questions to the Taoiseach would normally be taken; and  (c)\tprivate members' business may be taken later than 6.12 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of Second Stage of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025, with consequential effect on the commencement time for Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Education and Youth, and on the commencement time for topical issues;  2. the following arrangements shall apply to the proceedings on the Motions for Financial Resolutions for the Finance Bill 2025:  (a) the motions shall be moved and decided together by one question which shall be put from the Chair;  (b) the proceedings thereon shall be taken without debate; and  (c) any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately;  3. the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall be brought to a conclusion after 3 hours and 34 minutes and the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) on the conclusion of the first speaking round or where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes, whereupon proceedings shall be brought to a conclusion; Provided that any division claimed on the Second Stage proceedings shall be taken immediately prior to Committee Stage on Wednesday; and  (c) members may share time; and            Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20       4. notwithstanding anything in Standing Order 177(2), the proceedings on Second Stage of the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 2 hours.  In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:  1. the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  (a) the D\u00e1il may sit later than 9.30 p.m. and shall adjourn on the conclusion of the weekly division time, which may be taken later than 8.45 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Motion for Further Revised Estimate for Public Services 2025 [Vote 33];  (b) pursuant to an Order of the D\u00e1il of 21st October, 2025, Parliamentary Questions to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) shall be taken immediately following the SOS, with consequential effect on the commencement time for Government business;  (c) in the event that the Statements on International Protection Processing and Enforcement conclude before 7 p.m., the sitting shall stand suspended until 7 p.m.; and  (d) any motions to be taken without debate shall be taken on the conclusion of proceedings on the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025;  2.\tthe Statements on International Protection Processing and Enforcement shall not exceed 3 hours and 32 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (a) the arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (b) following the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (c) members may share time;          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    35    25    15    15    5           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    15    15    5    12    15           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    5    12    15    5    8     3. the proceedings on Report and Final Stages of the Employment (Contractual Retirement Ages) Bill 2025 shall be taken either at 7 p.m. or on the conclusion of the Statements on International Protection Processing and Enforcement, whichever is the later, and shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion after 60 minutes by one question which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment;  4. the proceedings on Committee and remaining Stages of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 shall, if not previously concluded, be brought to a conclusion either at 12.10 a.m. or after 4 hours, whichever is the later, by one question, which shall be put from the Chair, and which shall, in relation to amendments, include only those set down or accepted by the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment; and  5. the proceedings on the Motion for Further Revised Estimate 2025 [Vote 33] shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately.  In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that:  1. (a) the ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that topical issues may be taken earlier than 7.24 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the adjournment of proceedings on Second Stage of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, or where those proceedings conclude within the allotted time, on the conclusion thereof, with consequential effect on the commencement time for Second Stage of the Arts (Recognition of Comedy) (Amendment) Bill 2024 and on the time for the adjournment of the D\u00e1il; and  (b) the D\u00e1il on its rising shall adjourn until 2 p.m. on Wednesday, 12th November, 2025; and  2. in relation to the proceedings on the Second Stage of the Courts and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, the following arrangements shall apply:  (a) subject to subparagraph (ii), the proceedings shall, if not previously concluded, be interrupted and stand adjourned after 3 hours and 24 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  (i) the arrangements for the first speaking round shall be in accordance with those contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  (ii) where speeches conclude before the 3 hours and 24 minutes have elapsed and no other member is offering, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a speech in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  (iii) members may share time; and  (b) the proceedings shall not be resumed on Thursday.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    20    20    20    12    4           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    20    12    4    20    12           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    4    20    12    4    20      "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the proposed arrangements for the week's business agreed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Not agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy McDonald. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Under Standing Order 35(3), I propose an amendment to the Order of Business. The current nitrates derogation expires in a matter of mere weeks and the Government's handling, or mishandling, of the issue, leaving negotiations with the EU to run down to the wire, means farmers face a possible serious cliff edge in January. I ask that time be allocated in this week's schedule to debate this crucial issue for the future of Irish agriculture. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Since the Business Committee last met the company, Fastway Couriers, has gone into receivership resulting in the loss of 1,000 jobs in almost every constituency in the country. We need urgent statements because, as tragic as every job loss is, there are a number of competing factors here which point to huge gaps in our workers' rights legislation that need urgent debate. When will these workers, many of whom are on unusual franchisee contracts, get compensation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Families up and down the country are struggling with energy affordability. Despite the fact this Government and the previous one failed to act on that and failed to invest in the grid and in renewable energy, what we saw yesterday was a report from another toothless task force telling us it will put forward recommendations next year. We need statements this week to discuss what action can be taken to provide targeted measures that will support people now and help them to survive this winter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I wrote to the Business Committee seeking a debate on safety for asylum seekers after we saw the horrific attack and what seems to be attempted murder with the attempted burning alive of a baby and children in Drogheda. This was not an isolated incident but one of over 30 arson attacks on asylum centres in what we are seeing as a campaign of far-right terror in this State. We need to be debating it. There is a direct line between the dog-whistling of Government leaders and the scapegoating of asylum seekers based on misinformation and the creation of a hostile environment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Next week sees the inauguration of our new President and I wish Catherine Connolly the very best in her presidency. This will mean a by-election in Galway West. We in Independent Ireland strongly believe that this by-election should take place immediately. To facilitate this we have already put forward our candidate Councillor Noel Thomas who is working on the ground as we speak. Can we debate----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Noel Grealish","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Noel-Grealish.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Noel Grealish)  We will expect his posters the very next day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Can we debate here this week as to how soon the writ will be issued so that the people of Galway West will get the representation they fully deserve? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  I commend the Deputy on not missing an opportunity. I have taken notes on all the issues that were raised. I believe that what Deputy Murphy has raised is covered under tomorrow's statements on international protection processing and enforcement. That debate will be on for three and a half hours and will be taken by the Minister for justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan. The Deputy will have the opportunity to raise his concerns about safety then. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Could we add \"safety\" to the title rather than it being about \"enforcement\"? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, this is not a back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  No. There is no need to. The Deputy can still raise it under that.  I have taken on board what has been asked in relation to energy, Fastway Couriers, and the nitrates derogation, on which we had a lengthy discussion this morning. All are important and will be considered at the Business Committee meeting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Chief Whip. Are the proposed arrangements for the business agreed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  They are not agreed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and declared carried."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Reachta\u00edocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":37,"speakerCount":17},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We are now moving on to Questions on Policy or Legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Nearly 1 million hospital appointments have been cancelled since 2022 under Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, and the crisis deepens by the year. This is according to new HSE figures released to Teachta David Cullinane. This is a damning indictment of the Government's failed health policies. Hospitals are understaffed, overcrowded and overstretched because the Government has built in recruitment restrictions that strangle the system. The Government promised 3,000 new beds in 2024. The funding has not materialised. The Government promised four new elective hospitals by 2027. They are stalled and will not reach planning until 2031. It is failure on every front. Behind every cancelled appointment is a person left waiting, worrying and suffering because the Government refuses to act. It is time to get real. Where is the plan to deliver the staff, the beds, and the investment needed to fix this broken system? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  The Deputy is simply ignoring the record level of investment in our health service, which is \u20ac27.4 billion in funding in 2026. If she compares 2020 to July 2025, there are over 29,000 more staff, which is a 28% increase in staffing across our health system. There are over 10,000 more nurses and midwives, 5,000 health and social care professionals, 1,400 consultants and over 2,000 doctors and dentists, all of whom are making a really positive contribution with changed demographics, increased demand and pressure across our health system.  Even with that occurring, we have had a 12% reduction in patients on waiting lists exceeding 12 months and a reduction in the average waiting time from 7.2 months to 6.5 months, and that is against a backdrop of a 9% increase in outpatients and a 5% increase in inpatient and day case attendances.  I regret whenever there are cancelled appointments for anyone across our hospital system but we are staffing and resourcing our public health in an unprecedented way----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Minister. I call Deputy Bacik. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  -----to respond back to the pressure and the changing demographics we are seeing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  About 300,000 households are behind on their electricity bills and household electricity bills have jumped by more than \u20ac320 in a year. My colleague Deputy Ahern has been working hard to stop the greed that is driving this awful inflation and really making things so difficult for so many struggling households. Deputy Ahern has called on the Government to use the EU electricity and gas directives to introduce price regulation in these exceptional circumstances, namely, the complete failure of competition in the energy sector and the failure to protect vulnerable customers.  There are other mechanisms. Section 10 of the Electricity Regulation Act 1999 allows the Minister to issue policy directions to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities. Indeed, the interim report of the national energy affordability task force recommended that the regulator conduct a probe on price gouging following the patent failure of providers to pass on cuts in wholesale costs to hard-pressed consumers. The Government could also threaten greed-driven firms with a levy on their profits if they do not cut prices. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  The winter is upon us. People are already struggling. What will the Government do to help people from struggling even further with their energy bills? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  That is why we took measures in the budget to support families and households. As I said, the response around the VAT on gas and electricity was a measure that came with a cost. It was important to prioritise that in the context of the tax package. In addition, as I said, the social protection package we introduced will mitigate costs in the context of the changes we have made to the fuel allowance. Increasing the eligibility for households will help to support families most in need.  The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, is examining the overall regulatory framework as it exists for energy providers. We need broader reform of regulation across our economy in energy and in other areas. There is a need for this to be seriously reformed in the interests of affordability but also in the interests of having balanced regulation and quicker decisions in terms of driving wider economic growth, which is something we are all working on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Thousands of farmers met in Cork last night and they are really angry. They are correct in being angry because the Government has put its head in the sand and pretended that business as usual will be able to continue and that Ireland will be able to retain its nitrates derogation. That is looking more and more unlikely. The reality is we have had the nitrates derogation since 2006. We got it on the basis we would improve our water quality but we have not done it in 20 years. The EU is probably going to tell us the derogation is gone and we will not be able to retain it. Where is the Government's plan B for these farmers? It has led them to a cliff on the nitrates derogation and there will be nothing in place for them come January if that derogation is not retained. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I thank the Deputy for raising this point. We in government fundamentally believe in the importance of the nitrates derogation. Our 7,000 derogation farmers are operating to a higher level of environmental sustainability and with a higher level of conditionality to meet that point. We know the economic value it has for our country, with 49% of our dairy herd in derogation and producing 65% of our milk. The majority of the \u20ac6.3 billion worth of exports from our dairy sector, which is so important to our rural economy, comes from that area.  That is why it is a top priority for me that I continue in my engagement with the Commission. Commissioner Roswall will visit Ireland later in the week. I addressed the meeting in Cork last night that 2,000 farmers attended looking for the retention of the nitrates derogation. I stand full square with them, as does the Government, in doing everything we can to retain the derogation beyond the end of this year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Over 1,000 workers have been left in a desperate situation by Fastway Couriers going into receivership. These are direct workers and workers from franchisees. They have all been left being owed back pay or a back month of pay.  They are owed wages. They should be owed redundancy. They are now struggling to pay bills and mortgages. However, they have been told they are effectively locked out for a month from accessing social welfare. They have been told they are still legally working for Fastway for 30 days from the point at which the receivership was announced but they will not get paid until the new year. The kicker is they cannot claim social welfare benefits in those 30 days and if they seek to claim social welfare benefits or they even start new employment, they would lose any redundancy entitlements.  They are left in a terrible limbo situation in the run up to Christmas. They want the Government to intervene. The first ask is whether the relevant Ministers will meet with those workers and then work with the Department of Social Protection to ensure they get what they need. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank Deputy Murphy for raising this issue. My thoughts are with all those workers affected by this receivership. I know how concerning it is for each of them. As the Deputy knows, a receiver is individually appointed by a lender to take control of a company. Its role is to secure the assets in that respect. The receiver is independent in its role and the Government cannot intervene in how the receiver approaches the position.  However, I understand the Department of Social Protection is engaging directly with the receiver and the affected employees in this case to provide the necessary information and support during this time. There are robust protections in place for employees of an insolvent employer and the receiver submitted a collective redundancy notification to the Department of enterprise on 31 October. It is currently undertaking the 30-day consultation with the employees' representatives. I will reflect the concerns the Deputy has raised. I know there are significant concerns across the House for all of the employees involved but there is a formal legal mechanism in how this operates from a legislative position. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Every now and again, I raise issues on behalf of constituents relating to dodgy, unscrupulous landlords who are not registered with the Residential Tenancies Board. In some cases, they are also exploiting their tenants. In other cases, they are not planning compliant and operate in a very dangerous way. However, when I ask for an update from the Residential Tenancies Board, it says it cannot update parties who have made referrals, it would not be appropriate to do so given the fact the RTB may be pursuing a criminal prosecution and it might prejudice the case and if it is updating any person other than the non-compliant landlord, it could be dangerous and there are also data protection issues.  Can this be looked at? Is there a middle way where there could be a ticket-based system where it says: \"under investigation\", \"processing\", \"completed\" or \"no issue found\" because it goes into the ether and no one knows what is happening with that landlord? Sometimes it can go on for two years and it is as if they are just getting away with it. We need some sort of transparency as to whether criminal proceedings are being proceeded with. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank the Deputy. I know, as constituency TDs, it can be difficult to get particular feedback from some State bodies and they reference GDPR or ongoing formal or legal proceedings. I will ask the Minister for housing, who obviously oversees the RTB, to reflect on what the Deputy has said and if there is a way of providing some level or layer of communication so people have a sense of where something is within a particular process. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aisling Dempsey  People in Clonard and Enfield in my constituency of Meath West are very angry about their water supplies or lack thereof. Abbeyfields and Meadow View in Clonard are home to about 150 houses. They have not been served properly by a proper water service for over 30 and 40 years, respectively. Finally, in August, Uisce \u00c9ireann confirmed a new bore hole would be dug there and that it was imminent, along with an improvement in communications but neither has happened. Machinery is on-site but again, no one is quite sure what is happening.  Improvements have happened in Enfield over the years and we have finally secured a new reservoir there but once again, residents have endured 14 nights out of a recent 16 without a drop of water. Communications from Uisce \u00c9ireann are abysmal, inaccurate and often arrive after the fact. It is not good enough. There are businesses, delis, butchers and caf\u00e9s that have to close when they have no water. Schools, nursing homes and people's lives are disrupted and negatively impacted. There is no tankering, there is no proper communication and there is no accountability from Uisce \u00c9ireann. It has to stop. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank the Deputy. I regret that Irish Water has not properly communicated with her constituents, businesses and critical services in Enfield and beyond.  When we are investing in Irish Water, there will be a focus on the importance of public service performance. As \u20ac12 billion is allocated to it over the next five years, it needs to ensure that customer service, communication and engagement are critical parts of its wider investment programme. When it is doing overall capital investment in the community, there will be disruption at times. It is important that it can be planned for and that there is much better engagement. We will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to engage with Irish Water and properly respond to it to ensure there is better engagement going forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Clendennen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Clendennen.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Clendennen  On 12 January 2022, which will forever remain one of the darkest days in the history of County Offaly and indeed Ireland, a young woman, Ashling Murphy, had her life taken in the most brutal and senseless way in the cold light of day. Since this House last sat on 22 October, the courts have delivered their verdicts and sentences. However, there remains a deep sense of unease and dismay among many that the punishment did not reflect the gravity of the crime. Ireland is and must always remain an open and welcoming country, a place of compassion, fairness and opportunity. However, that openness does not come at the expense of safety. We need measures that send a clear signal that while Ireland welcomes those who contribute positively to our economy and our society, we simply will not tolerate those who abuse our hospitality or endanger our citizens. Will the Government commit to ensuring that foreign nationals, including EU citizens, who serve prison sentences for serious offences in Ireland are deported to their home countries immediately upon the completion of their sentences? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  At the outset, I commend the family of Ashling Murphy and everyone in the community in County Offaly who have shown such incredible resilience, strength and dignity while dealing with the most horrendous circumstances that any family could ever experience. Ashling's murder shocked the nation. Everyone in this House and throughout our country offers them nothing but our love, support and deepest sympathies.  Regarding the Deputy's question, from a policy perspective the removal from the State of convicted criminals and those who are a danger to public safety is a priority for the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and for the Government. The removal of individuals is actively managed by the Department of justice in close consultation with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and the Irish Prison Service. There has been a large increase in the number of removal orders under the freedom of movement directive, from 24 in 2024 to 99 so far this year. Under the 2015 free movement regulation, orders can be made for the removal and exclusion of European Union citizens, or their family members, in certain circumstances. There is a particular threshold, grounds and a bar upon which that is set. That is the basis. I cannot speak about particular people other than to say that is how the directive works. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  A local headline in Drogheda today reads, \"28 people could have died\", following the horrific arson attack on the George's Street IPAS accommodation centre. If it had not been for the swift intervention of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and Drogheda fire services, families and children, including a three-week-old baby, would not have escaped with their lives. One family had no way out of the top-floor room in which they were trapped other than by going down the stairs that were ravaged with flames. Concerns have been raised about safety standards in this building and indeed about the private operators. We have here a rogue landlord prioritising profit over duty of care and human life, aided by the Government not meeting its obligations. There are no published reports of inspections of direct provision or EROC centres in County Louth, including this building, for 2025. The Government has paid millions of euro for asylum seeker accommodation to a company which is owned by a man who has been linked by the Criminal Assets Bureau to the Drogheda gang feud. Recent media reports suggest that the owner of this company, Secure Accommodation Management, has been paid \u20ac10.2 million since it was set up in September 2022. Indeed, the then Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth highlighted its huge profits for 2023. It terrifies me that gangsters named by CAB are securing contracts and profiteering on public money. As a result of this, 28 people could have died on the Government's watch. What is the Minister going to do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  As I have said to a number of colleagues today, I am shocked and appalled by what happened in Drogheda. I heard many people from the Deputy's community express how appalled they were about that particular incident. We all condemn it.  To the Deputy's question, I am not aware of the particular circumstances in which the contract for this property was entered into. Perhaps the Deputy can provide the details to the Department of justice or to the Minister, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, and he can assess that.  Because of the changes in the wider migration pattern into our country across the last number of years, there has been a response to try and find accommodation for people under particular criteria who have come here. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Callaghan, and the Department of justice to respond to the Deputy\u2019s particular concerns. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I wish to raise an issue with regards to the lack of funding coming from Transport Infrastructure Ireland, TII, for rehabilitation works on our national routes, particularly in east Galway and works such as overlays, drainage and pavement improvements. Funding over the last couple of years has been drastically reduced. Any time representations are made to the local area engineer, the cry from TII is that there is no funding available for such works. In this instance I want to reference a particularly challenging issue where floodwaters are constantly challenging a private home on the N63, just outside the village of Abbeyknockmoy, where emergency drainage works are required. That poor widow has to ring family when there is any forecast of heavy rain. It is not fair or right. A small investment would rectify that for her benefit. It is essential TII continues to fund the restoration works. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank Deputy Roche. I am familiar with the funding needs of many roads and the road network across east Galway. One thing the Minister, Deputy O\u2019Brien, is doing as part of the sectoral investment plans for the road network and investment in public transport is to give better funding certainty to TII. As we know in recent years there was a difficulty in funding certain roads projects and maintenance, which the Deputy has referenced. The overall distribution of the \u20ac22 billion is being developed as part of the sectoral investment plan in transport. That is due to be agreed by Government in the coming weeks and will set out the broader trajectory of funding for transport infrastructure, and indeed better funding certainty for TII when it comes to responding to the needs of projects the Deputy has referenced in east Galway. I will ask the Minister to reflect on what the Deputy has said today in the context of the work he is doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  A few weeks ago I stood here and highlighted the fact that whilst An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la has much expertise in the realm of planning, it has no in-house expertise when it comes to aviation. I flagged that here in the D\u00e1il and an upshot of that in the days that followed was we were notified that Sagentia, a British company, has been taken on as an independent consultant. Why is it that the Irish Aviation Authority, the taxpayer-funded State body for aviation safety on D'Olier Street, is being overlooked and undermined by An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la? It is the authority for air safety in this country. I have asked An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la this and await a response. I want to know what was the cost, due diligence and procurement process and whether there were any conflicts of interest. This needs to be laid bare because we have a State body. Why should we go outside the country and take on private contractors? Why would we overlook the HSE or any State body? Why would we overlook the Irish Aviation Authority when it raises red flags for aviation concern? Why would we go beyond our jurisdiction and pay a lot of taxpayer money to bring in a private contractor? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank Deputy Crowe. I am not familiar with the contribution he made a few weeks ago but what I would say is An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la is independent in its functions and around its assessment and evaluation of planning considerations and decisions. I do not know the direct circumstances the Deputy has referenced, but there may be difficulty in taking someone out of the Irish Aviation Authority and bringing them into An Coimisi\u00fan Plean\u00e1la if it is doing an independent evaluation or assessment of a particular planning matter. The priority we have in the context of investing in public services is to support recruitment across our public service. That is reflected across our agencies, regulators and Departments in building expertise and that is reflected in the growth of public sector numbers in recent years. There may be a particular case where contracts have to be entered into if temporary expertise is required in a particular regulator or agency for a temporary period. I will ask the Minister, Deputy Browne, to assess what the Deputy has said, respecting the fact An Coimis\u00fan Plean\u00e1la has to operate independently and separately to all of us to uphold the integrity of the planning system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  In three successive elections Fianna F\u00e1il engaged and paid for media coaching services provided by broadcaster Ivan Yates.  He coached six Fianna F\u00e1il Ministers, including the Taoiseach, yet you failed to disclose this relationship even though there was a clear conflict of interest. You knew Ivan Yates was playing for your team, contributing to Fianna F\u00e1il election strategy and then presenting himself as an independent commentator in the national media, yet you said nothing.  Fianna F\u00e1il already attempted to engineer a situation in this D\u00e1il whereby Michael Lowry's crew could sit in government and opposition at the same time. Now, you think there is no problem with a consultant working for your party and then working for the media whose job it is to hold you to account. Of course, Ivan Yates should have disclosed his working relationship with Fianna F\u00e1il. The Minister, Deputy Chambers, was the director of elections for Fianna F\u00e1il during the presidential election. Did he not see a responsibility to publicly declare this relationship? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I absolutely refute and reject what you are after saying there. All political parties and many politicians who are not part of one receive media training. It has been a matter of public record that Ivan Yates was providing media training to various politicians within Fianna F\u00e1il over a series of years. Fianna F\u00e1il has every right to hire contractors or media trainers as it sees fit. It is a matter for Ivan Yates to disclose any potential or direct conflicts of interest in his interaction with or contribution to media organisations or as a commentator. I am sure Sinn F\u00e9in hires media trainers. It spends a lot of time hiring expert lawyers down in the High Court when it comes to defamation actions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  We are talking about a person who presents himself as independent. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  Something you prioritise around your funding is to take defamation actions against many members of the media. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  It is a totally different matter. It is a matter of an analyst presenting as independent while playing for your team. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  That is how you prioritise your resources. We are able to hire media trainers and we have every right to do that. It is for Ivan Yates to respond to any issue in terms of his own conflicts of interest. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Last night, businesses and residents were once again flooded in Bantry after a night of heavy rain. Since I came into the D\u00e1il in 2016, I have raised this issue monthly - the latest was two weeks ago. The answer I got a couple of weeks ago from the Minister was that a flood relief scheme would be delivered to Bantry in 2031. The people of Bantry have been destroyed by floods last night and for decades. The Southern Star carried a story last week which recalled that in 1983, people had to sit up in businesses in Bantry and put their feet up in the air as the businesses were surrounded by floods. The time for talking is over. The time for Ministers of State with responsibility for the OPW coming to Bantry time in and time out to talk to residents and businesses is over. All Bantry wants is a flood relief scheme, not promises of compensation packages that cannot be delivered. Bantry has had enough. Throughout these decades of flooding, Fianna F\u00e1il or Fine Gael has been in government. Will they fast-track the flood relief scheme, deliver it in 2026 and not kick the can down the road as they have done for the past 50 years? Councillor Danny Collins told me this morning that there is great anger in Bantry and that there needs to be a meaningful compensation package for businesses and residents. Will that happen this week? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank the Deputy. I know from engaging with the Ministers of State, Deputies Christopher O'Sullivan and Moran, how seriously they take the issue of flooding in terms of capital allocations for the OPW. I will ask the Minister of State, Deputy Moran, to respond directly to the Deputy. He wants to accelerate many flooding schemes and, as part of his capital settlement for the OPW, has prioritised flood relief schemes across the country. Uplift for the OPW is being prioritised to respond to the needs across communities. I will ask the Minister of State to respond to the Deputy on the timeline and the urgency in terms of Bantry. I appreciate the Deputy raising the issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  Four survivors of our hellish industrial school system remain on hunger strike outside Leinster House in an effort to obtain very modest financial and medical assistance for a cohort of about 4,500 people who have been profoundly harmed and neglected by the State. They have been left without written confirmation of what was agreed in a meeting with the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy McEntee, last week. I understand a meeting with an intermediary has been postponed until tomorrow. Meanwhile, they are into the 45th day of their hunger strike. Their physical health is in serious peril. One of the hunger strikers \u2013 Mary Dunlevy Greene, originally from Kilteely, County Limerick - told me the main aim of the supports they are seeking is to be able to die with dignity as most survivors are already advanced in years and are suffering with health conditions related to chronic childhood adversity. You cannot get more stark than that. Will the Minister assure us that we will see those agreements confirmed in writing with the utmost sense of urgency? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. The Taoiseach met with the survivors. I understand there was a plan to have a mediator in place. Due to the personal circumstances of the mediator, that was not possible today. The mediator who was due to be in place has recommended an alternative. I understand the intention is that the meeting could go ahead as proposed and an email will issue to that effect. That is the latest update, as of the past couple of hours. I understand the sensitivity and urgency of having engagement on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  The Minister will know from his time on Fingal County Council that Donabate-Portrane is one area where the State is delivering houses at scale. Despite the population increase, there is only one direct bus service to Dublin city centre, the 33D at 7.20 a.m., and one back at 5.45 p.m. I have a sheaf of emails from the NTA and Dublin Bus that committed to one extra bus service in the morning and one in the evening, to start in October or by 3 November. Last week, the NTA pulled the rug. People are left behind on the platforms because trains are overcrowded. We only have one direct bus service from Donabate-Portrane. Dublin Bus is willing to do it. I remind the Minister that this is in the transport Minister's constituency. Can we please cut through the red tape and deliver an extra 33D service at peak time in the morning and the evening? Will the Minister do everything to ensure that is the case? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jack Chambers","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Jack-Chambers.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jack Chambers  I thank the Deputy. I go out to Portrane-Donabate and know the area very well. There has been a wonderful transformation in terms of housing, construction and work happening across the community. I will ask the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, to respond directly to the Deputy on the increased demand for public transport and, in particular, the bus service that has been mentioned. I understand the acute need and demand in that area. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Reachta\u00edocht a Gealladh - Questions on Promised Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"financialResolution","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60\/dail\/finance_res","houseCode":"dail","stage":"finance_res","isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Financial Resolutions (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Financial Resolutions","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paschal Donohoe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paschal-Donohoe.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Paschal-Donohoe.S.2007-07-23","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paschal Donohoe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paschal-Donohoe.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Paschal-Donohoe.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Finance (Deputy Paschal Donohoe)  I move:  1. THAT section 531AM of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which contains the main charging provisions for Universal Social Charge (USC), be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution, to include a reference to Section 847AA which provides for a scheme of tax relief for donations to certain National Governing Bodies (NGB) where the donations are used to fund certain projects. The amendment provides that a donation to an NGB is not deducted when calculating an individual\u2019s USC liability. This follows similar treatment for donations under section 847A TCA (donations to certain sports bodies) and section 848A TCA (donations to approved bodies), whereby such donations are exempt from Income Tax but are not exempt from USC.  2. THAT section 14 of the Finance Bill, which relates to section 14 of the Finance Act 2024 through which the taxation measures for the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System into the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) were inserted, is repealed, in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  3. THAT Part 30 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which relates to Occupational Pension Schemes, Retirement Annuities, Purchased Life Annuities and Certain Pensions be amended to provide for the tax treatment of the Automatic Enrolment Retirement Savings System, including the taxation of payments from the scheme, in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  4. THAT section 16 of the Finance Bill, which relates to section 15 of the Finance Act 2024, through which a number of necessary auxiliary amendments consequential to the insertion of Chapter 2E into the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) were inserted, is repealed, in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  5. THAT the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) be amended by the insertion of a new Section 1009A to provide that foreign body corporates which are substantially similar to partnerships formed under the law of the State and their members shall be chargeable to tax in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  6. THAT section 731 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which provides for tax exemptions for a unit trust which neither is, nor is deemed to be, an authorised unit trust scheme, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  7. THAT section 291A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which provides relief from corporation tax for capital expenditure incurred on specified intangible assets, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving rise to this Resolution.  8. THAT section 400 of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which contains provisions for the corporation tax treatment of certain company reconstructions, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving rise to this Resolution.  9. THAT Section 481A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which contains provisions in relation to relief for investment in digital games, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  10. THAT section 891H of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which contains provisions in relation to country-by-country reporting, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  11. THAT section 71 of Finance Act 2010, which provides for relief from natural gas carbon tax on natural gas used for certain purposes, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  12. THAT section 82 of Finance Act 2010, which provides for relief from solid fuel carbon tax on solid fuels used for certain purposes, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  13. THAT section 6 of the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 (No. 31 of 2010) which relates to persons not accountable persons unless they so elect be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  14. THAT Schedule 3 to the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 (No. 31 of 2010), which relates to goods and services chargeable at the reduced rate of value-added tax, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  15. THAT Section 96 to the Value-Added Tax Consolidation Act 2010 (No. 31 of 2010), which relates to waiver of exemption under old rules, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  16. THAT Part 7 of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 (No. 31 of 1999), which provides for exemptions and reliefs from Stamp Duty to apply in certain circumstances, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  17. THAT section 126AB of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 (No. 31 of 1999) be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution to provide for a stamp duty to be levied on certain financial institutions.  18. THAT section 125A of the Stamp Duties Consolidation Act 1999 (No. 31 of 1999), which provides for a stamp duty to be levied on health insurance contracts that are entered into or renewed between authorised insurers and their customers in each quarter, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  19. THAT section 41 of the Capital Acquisitions Tax Consolidation Act 2003 (No. 1 of 2003), which contains provisions relating to gifts and inheritances of life assurance policies, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  20. THAT the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997) be amended by the amendment of section 811C(4)(a) to provide that a tax advantage arising from a tax avoidance transaction can be withdrawn in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  21. THAT the provisions contained in Part 4A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which provides for the implementation of Council Directive (EU) 2022\/2523 of 15 December 2022 on ensuring a global minimum level of taxation for multinational enterprise groups and large-scale domestic groups in the Union, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  22. THAT the provisions contained in section 638A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which provides for the liabilities and obligations of, and the requirement of things to be done by, a successor company in relation to a merger or division pursuant to the Companies Act 2014, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  23. THAT section 959AA of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which relates to time limits on assessments made or amended by a Revenue officer on chargeable persons, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this resolution, to provide that a Revenue officer may make or amend an assessment on a chargeable person outside the normal four-year period to give effect to a Mutual Agreement Procedure reached under a limited scope treaty which is given the force of law by virtue of section 826(1B) of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997.  24. THAT Section 959AU of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which deals with the date of payment of tax for amended assessments, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this resolution, to clarify that where an assessment is amended more than once, the date for payment of tax arising from a second or subsequent amended assessment is determined in isolation from the due date for tax arising from the first amended assessment.  25. THAT the provisions contained in section 840A of the Taxes Consolidation Act 1997 (No. 39 of 1997), which provides for a restriction on the deductibility of interest on loans for certain purposes, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution.  26. THAT section 100 of the Finance Act 1999, which provides for mineral oil tax reliefs for certain fuels, and qualifying uses, be amended in the manner and to the extent specified in the Act giving effect to this Resolution. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Finance Bill 2025: Financial Resolutions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/63","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/63\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","counts":{"speechCount":33,"speakerCount":26},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Alan Dillon)  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I am pleased to address the House on the Second Stage of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025. The Bill will provide the legal mechanism for the payment of \u20ac1.5 billion of equity investment in ESB, as committed to by the Government under the national development plan. I will set out the broader context for why Government equity investment is required, before outlining the subject matter of the Bill.  As Deputies will be aware, Ireland\u2019s electricity demand will grow significantly over the coming decade. It is estimated that electricity demand will double by 2035; this is in addition to the 25% growth that has taken place over the past ten years. The International Energy Agency has advised that expanding and modernising electricity grids is essential for a secure, affordable and sustainable electricity system. It has expressed concern that globally, investment in grids is failing to keep pace with spending on generation and electrification. In Ireland, every five years our electricity network companies, ESB Networks and EirGrid, present their five-year forecast investment plans to the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU, which then approves the revenues allowable for their operating and investment programmes.  These revenues are charges to electricity customers known as network tariffs. This process is known as a price review.  The next price review, PR6, covers the period 2026-2030. The CRU published its draft determination for PR6 in July of this year. As part of the draft determination, an overall network expenditure programme of between \u20ac14.1 billion and \u20ac18.1 billion is being considered for the period 2026-2030. A final determination will be made by the CRU later this year.  The level of investment being considered under PR6 marks a significant step change. The current price review, PR5, which spans the period 2021 to 2025, will see an investment of at least \u20ac7.6 billion. PR6 will more than double that.  This unprecedented package of investment will enable the network companies to support Ireland through this period of change in terms of our use and demand for electricity. It will support key priorities in infrastructure, housing, competitiveness, investment, growth and climate action.  It is a critical period for Ireland in terms of improving security of supply, realising targets and ambition around decarbonisation, expansion of renewables and development of the offshore grid.  The benefits to extending and reinforcing the grid are many, including: improving the resilience of Ireland's electricity system and future-proofing it for generations to come; ensuring that every home and every business has a reliable and secure source of electricity, including the 300,000 new homes we have committed to build by 2030; safeguarding against damage from future weather events and storms; and accelerating the connection of new sources of renewable electricity which contributes to Ireland's transition to greater levels of renewable energy and the achievement of our climate goals.  The investment also has huge importance for our economy and will be key to ensuring that the State can increase the critical infrastructure it needs to ensure continued economic growth and employment in our economy, in addition to continued foreign direct investment. The investment will ensure we can support the expected 50% growth in electricity by 2035 and deliver on Ireland's energy needs.  The scale of the increase, however, means that both companies need financial support to deliver the ambitious infrastructure investment programmes. In July of this year, as part of the national development plan, Government agreed the investment of up to \u20ac3.5 billion in additional equity to support the PR6 grid investment programmes over 2026-2030 and beyond. This represents the largest single investment ever made in Ireland's electricity network. Some \u20ac2 billion will be invested in EirGrid to support the financing of its offshore grid investment plans and \u20ac1.5 billion will be invested in ESB to support the financing of its onshore grid investment plan.  In respect of the equity investment mechanism for EirGrid, it is to be noted that this will be agreed and legislated for separately. Investment by EirGrid in offshore grid will begin next year. However, the majority of its investment will not occur until later this decade. The \u20ac2 billion Government investment will be allocated over the next five years to support EirGrid access the capital markets and fund its investment.  In terms of the investment in ESB, this Bill has been progressed as matter of priority. The equity investment in ESB is required by the end of this year to ensure payment from the Central Fund of Government approved NDP funding in the 2025 budget and to ensure ESB is sufficiently financed to deliver the ambitious onshore grid investment programme, continuing and expanding its existing investment in our grid. As such, the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, and I sought a pre-legislative scrutiny waiver from the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy. The waiver was granted following a technical briefing on the Bill being provided to the committee by officials from my Department.  The \u20ac1.5 billion equity investment in ESB is to support ESB's ability to finance the overall investment plan for 2026-2030 as part of PR6. This overall investment plan will be financed by debt issuance on the bond market, supported by Government's equity investment and ESB Network's regulated income, as approved by the CRU. It will see delivery of over 500 capital projects across transmission and distribution networks. This includes 181 km of new overhead lines, 319 km of new underground cables, nearly 70 new and upgraded substations across the country and 50,000 pole replacements.  ESB Networks will expand, modernise and reinforce our onshore electricity network infrastructure. Without Government equity investment, ESB would be unable to deliver such an extensive and rapid programme of work in the five years to 2030. The Government equity injection into ESB will support the strength of its balance sheet and ultimately assist in it maintaining excellent credit ratings.  While the investment does not directly lower current customer electricity bills, maintaining strong credit ratings ensures that ESB can borrow at the most competitive interest rates which ultimately lowers the impact of network charges on customer bills. The equity investment by Government sends strong market signals and demonstrates shareholder support at a time when credit rating agencies have noted general market concerns in relation to the high levels of capital expenditure required in electricity infrastructure across Europe. In fact, since announcing the Government equity investment, Standard and Poor's rating agency has announced an improvement in its credit opinion for ESB, upgrading ESB's issuer credit rating to A from A minus. It is important to note that the State will receive an increased stock holding in ESB in return for this investment. The State will continue to receive dividends in proportion to its shareholding.  I will now turn to the Bill's subject matter. I will begin by providing a brief overview of the most important measures the Bill addresses before providing a section by section summary of the Bill. The legislation before the House today has two main objectives. The first is to increase the statutory borrowing limit of ESB from \u20ac12 billion to \u20ac17 billion to finance the delivery of the PR6 investment programme. This increase is necessary to support the potential \u20ac15.2 billion expenditure by ESB Networks in the 2026-2030 PR6 period. The second objective is to provide for the issuance of capital stock by ESB in return for payment up to the value of \u20ac1.5 billion. The stock shall be issued to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.  Issuing capital stock which will be fully subscribed to by the State allows importantly for Government to attach the condition that the \u20ac1.5 billion investment be used specifically for grid infrastructure projects carried out by ESB Networks. It also ensures that the investment is reflected in the shareholding percentages of the company.  At present, the State's shareholding in ESB stands at 97.4%, whereas the employee share ownership plan, ESOP, holds 2.6%. Employee shareholding ownership came about in 2001 when stock was granted to employees of ESB as part of an overall cost and competitiveness review agreement with the ESB group of unions.  It is important to note that the Bill has been drafted to also enable ESB to issue stock to the ESOP in return for payment, should it choose to also invest in ESB to maintain its current shareholding percentage. The ESOP will have a period of up to 12 months following Government investment to make its investment. Should the ESOP choose not to participate in the equity investment, the State's shareholding will increase.  An independent valuation is currently being carried out by EY for ESB and the shareholders, which will provide a valuation range for ESB.  The valuation determines the price per stock and, therefore, the number of shares the Government will receive from its \u20ac1.5 billion investment and its final percentage holding in the company. ESB management has advised my Department that ESB employees are supportive of both the equity investment by Government and the ambitious PR6 investment programme. On a separate but important note, legal consideration has determined that the equity investment does not give rise to any issue of state aid.  I will provide a section by section summary of the Bill, which has five sections. Section 1 provides for the relative definitions of the Bill. Section 2 amends section 4 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1954 to provide for the increase of the statutory borrowing limit of the ESB from \u20ac12 billion to \u20ac17 billion.  Section 3 amends section 2 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 2001 by inserting new subsections. The new subsection (5) provides for the issuance of capital stock by the ESB in return for payment up to the value of \u20ac1.5 billion; that 90% of such stock shall be issued to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation; and 10% of such stock shall be issued to the Minister for Climate, Energy and the Environment.  The new subsection (6) provides for the procedure for the Minister for Finance to make payment to the ESB up to the value of \u20ac1.5 billion for the capital stock from the Central Fund; and the new subsection (7) enables the ESB to make a concomitant capital stock issue to the trustees of the employee share ownership plan, should the trustees choose to participate, to maintain their current shareholding percentage.  Section 4 amends section 11 of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 2001 to insert a reference to the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation in relation to expenses incurred in the administration of the Act. Section 5 contains standard provisions outlining the Short Title of the Bill and its collective citation.  I commend the Bill to the House and I look forward to the debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I did not get a chance earlier to pay tribute to and congratulate Catherine Connolly. I also pay tribute to Sr. Stan who was a Listowel woman and a Kerry woman. In a week when we saw the outrageous attack on the house in Drogheda and convictions for racially motivated murders, I would love to know what she would have thought about the way the country is going. I pay tribute to her for all of her work with immigrants and the homeless over the years.  Due to decades of underinvestment, bad planning and mismanagement by successive Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments, Ireland's energy system is not fit for purpose. Alongside rip-off costs and a deeply regressive approach to financing, our electricity grid is another example in a long line of Government failures. Due to paralysis, it is plagued by critical infrastructure deficits - we all saw this in the storms of last winter - that not only result in hundreds of millions of euro in wasted renewable energy every year, driving up the cost of energy, but have already stopped people moving into their own homes. The need for urgent action and significant investment in our grid is clear. As the Minister of State said, we need to future-proof it for generations to come, but in doing so it must be fair and just to the generations to come.  While it is essential that we take a determined and ambitious approach, it is equally critical that the Government does not repeat past mistakes. The choices must shape Ireland's energy future in a way that delivers first for ordinary people and not for corporate interests. We all saw that when we had total control and State ownership of our energy markets, we had some of the lowest prices in Europe. Now, we have some of the highest. The Government must ensure there is no return to the snail's pace, stop-start approach of successive Governments. It must be subject to sufficient scrutiny and safeguards so that the public good is prioritised rather than treated as collateral damage. This is why the legislation is so important.  The Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 legislates to allow for the \u20ac1.5 billion Exchequer investment in the ESB and furthermore to allow the ESB Group to increase its debt ceiling to \u20ac17 billion. It is important and necessary but how the money is spent really matters. The Bill mirrors the same strategic errors of previous Governments in potentially repeating our mistakes. For example, just like the summer economic statement, the revised national development plan and budget 2026, it is not only devoid of detail on the infrastructure the investment will deliver, but there is also no guidance on what projects should be prioritised. That is important and I will get to it. There is no mechanism for Oireachtas oversight, accountability or independent audit. As a result, this important investment of taxpayers' money will be vulnerable to waste and exploitation. It could fail to deliver the critical infrastructure that we need now and into the future. Ramming this Bill through without addressing these shortcomings will not undo the decades of failures. We should be careful not to repeat them.  Let us look at the position we have today. Ireland is massively over-dependent on expensive imported fossil fuels leading to some of the highest energy prices in the EU. I do not think anyone will disagree with that. Ordinary workers and families are being ripped off because the energy bills they are charged here are, on average, \u20ac300 to \u20ac500 more than other countries. Unsurprisingly, the number of households in energy debt is at a record level having doubled in four short years. There are now 300,000 households that cannot afford to heat their homes or turn the lights on. The crisis will only deepen further following the impact of another round of energy price hikes combined with the cruel decision to withdraw and rip away the energy credits this winter.  The constraints on our grid do not just impact energy affordability. In fact, grid constraints are placing urgently needed housing under threat. We saw that 80 families were prevented from moving into their homes last summer due to the lack of an electricity connection. They remain locked out. Recently, at an Oireachtas committee hearing, the ESB itself warned that limited capacity was placing new housing at risk. Grid constraints also place our vast potential for renewables and energy independence in jeopardy. Ireland saved \u20ac1.2 billion last year but we lost nearly a further \u20ac500 million in wasted energy. Ireland's crippled grid acts as a barrier to a thriving economy and balanced regional development, not only with electricity connections but wastewater treatment systems as well. All of this means progress is at a standstill when the reality is we need to be going a lot faster.  Sinn F\u00e9in recognises the damage that has been caused by the failure to deliver on our grid and the results of that. Sinn F\u00e9in would mandate the planning, oversight and accountability that has been missing in the past, including a new responsibility for the ESB to provide a report on not just where the money has been spent, but where it will go in the future. This is the type of much-needed detail that has been missing, which is essential for credibility and certainty. To ensure this Government can no longer continue to treat energy affordability as an afterthought, our amendments will require the impact on consumer prices to be made clear. This will help to tackle the regressive nature of the current funding model because ordinary households should not continue to shoulder a disproportionate burden, while those who are causing energy surges, such as data centres, are left relatively off the hook. These reports should be laid before the Oireachtas initially within six months of the Act passing and then annually. We would also address the mismanagement of grid expansion to date. Successive Governments have rolled out the red carpet for data centres, while other essential infrastructure, such as housing, has been overlooked.  Sinn F\u00e9in is not the only one sounding the alarm bell on this. The energy regulator recently highlighted the fact that the ESB Networks substation at Castlebaggot, which was initially intended to support new housing, was handed over to data centres. Even the Government's own officials have issued stark warnings about a business-as-usual approach. In May, the Secretary General of the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment warned the Government that it must make a political choice between new homes and data centres. Similarly, officials in the Department of public expenditure also warned that Ireland's rapid growth in data centres is driving up household bills and gobbling up our energy capacity. All of the renewable energy increase that we will get will be taken by data centres. That is not right.  While increased investment is essential, it must deliver for ordinary workers and families. We hope our amendments will address those concerns ensuring that the ESB's investment is directed towards the right political choices of public good rather than the corporate balance system. This Bill is an opportunity to address the failings in our current system. We believe the amendments are required to ensure we do not fuel them.  I use this opportunity to call on the Government to address the deep unfairness in the cost, and to maintain and upgrade the grid. Data centres consume 22% of Ireland's energy demand, up from 5% in 2015.  EirGrid projects will rise to one third by 2034. A single data centre can use as much electricity as Kilkenny city. However, under the current model a disproportionate burden falls on ordinary households. We have repeatedly urged the Government to restructure network charges and correct this inequity. However, not only have these calls fallen on deaf ears, but the draft decision on price review, PR6, which the Minister of State mentioned in his speech, will only further ingrain this unfairness. Under the CRU's draft price review, households and SMEs will see their network charges increase while large data users like data centres will see reductions of up to 18%. It is not just unfair; it is scandalous. The very companies that have driven up demand have been asked to pay less and ordinary people to pay more. This is a political choice and we believe it is the wrong one.  I emphasise the very real crisis faced by ordinary workers and families when it comes to heating their homes this winter. Over 300,000 households are in debt and there has been another round of crippling energy price hikes but the supports to ordinary people have been ripped away. The Minister of State said that this Bill will not reduce energy bills and will have no influence on that, which is a pity. When the gap between Irish retail prices and wholesale prices is one of the biggest in the world, energy companies have serious questions to answer about price gouging. We have repeatedly provided the Government with measures that would hold the energy companies to account, but they have been ignored. We deserve much better than what the Government is willing to give. We certainly need more than an interim report that only diagnosed some of the problems but delivered no solutions.  The Government should provide \u20ac450 in energy credits on electricity bills now and not merely announce that it will publish an energy affordability plan in 2026 with action to follow God knows when. We want investment in the grid to be prioritised and delivered urgently. The stakes are high. This cannot be another blank cheque for Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael to repeat their failures. The Bill must look at and deliver for housing, for renewable energy, for affordability and for ordinary householders. It cannot be another missed opportunity. We will continue to fight for a fair energy system and one that works for people and not for profit. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  Investment in our electricity grid is essential for Ireland's future. For many years, successive Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments have failed to invest in adequate grid infrastructure, which has resulted in constrained housing development, major outages during storms and high electricity prices. Without a grid built for the 21st century, we will continue to see housing targets being missed. We will continue to see major outages during storms and rip-off electricity prices will not be addressed. While Sinn F\u00e9in supports the intent of the Bill, ramming it through without the necessary safeguards in place will not undo decades of under-resourcing and lack of delivery.  This Bill provides an opportunity to deliver clear oversight into how billions of euro are directed into our electricity grid and yet Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have decided not to engage with our amendments. We have proposed amendments that would ensure that this investment is geared towards the public good rather than serving corporate greed. We will continue to insist that this public investment prioritises transparency, accountability, fairness and affordability.  This investment comes at a time when almost 300,000 households are in arrears on their electricity bills. This week we saw the first analysis from the Government's energy affordability task force. The task force report illustrates the depth of Ireland's energy price crisis and outlined that more than 60% of electricity arrears are now long term. This highlights the lived reality of many households, who face significant difficulties in paying their bills and continue to see energy prices rise. Despite knowing this reality and knowing the positive impact electricity credits have had in previous years, the Government decided not to include energy credits in the recent budget. This is a clear slap in the face to households struggling with the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and the many people who simply cannot pay their bills.  Storms over the past year have shown the fragile nature of our electricity grid infrastructure. In the last year alone, over 300,000 customers lost power after Storm Darragh, 700,000 customers lost power after Storm \u00c9owyn, and just last month nearly 50,000 customers lost power after Storm Amy. Many households lost power in all three of these storms for long periods of time. As we enter the winter storm season this year, there is real fear among many households about the potential for serious outages. With any increase in investment, there needs to be a serious focus on grid resilience.  At this crucial time when we must invest in our grid, Government must ensure that this investment prioritises the public good. This is an opportunity to address issues such as energy affordability, grid availability and grid resilience. To do this, however, there must be appropriate transparency and accountability that public money and public investments are used effectively. There is a clear lack of transparency and accountability in the current form of this Bill. I call on the Government to work with us to ensure that Ireland's grid infrastructure is fit for the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"R\u00e9ada Cronin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"R\u00e9ada-Cronin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy R\u00e9ada Cronin  The current state of our country's grid and infrastructure more broadly has been a direct result of years of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael neglect. Decades of under-resourcing, bad planning and mismanagement by successive Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments have left us in the mess we are in now, with the crises in housing, education and health among a slew of others. Our grid infrastructure is the energy giver to our economy. It is the lifeblood of our country and it has not been recognised as such by this Government. I welcome that after many long years of neglect, it now recognises its importance and the role it plays in the everyday operation and future development of the State.  However, that does not mean that we should just ram this Bill through without proper safeguards in place, as without necessary scrutiny and amendments the Government is doomed to repeat the mistakes of the past. We need proper transparent planning and full accountability on the delivery of grid infrastructure to ensure we are achieving housing targets and meeting our renewable energy ambition. These are the critical projects that we need immediately to ensure our future. Instead, however, the Government has prioritised the building of data centres, which are devouring our grid capacity and directly impacting our ability to build homes. Data centres now consume over a quarter of our energy demand, according to the CSO. This is why Sinn F\u00e9in has demanded that any borrowing by Government to invest in projects must exclude grid infrastructure for connections to data centres.  We have also highlighted the impact that any new investment will have on electricity prices for families. We are currently paying the highest prices in Europe for electricity and very little is being done by this Government to address this. People have now endured decades of inaction and of rolling over for energy companies, which is at the heart of this crisis. Over the last few months, Energia, Flogas, Bord G\u00e1is Energy and SSE Airtricity have all announced double-digit increases in the cost of electricity. We are all hearing it in our constituency offices, as I am sure the Minister of State is in his. Workers and families are being hammered with soaring prices at every turn. Now they are being forced to fork out hundreds of additional euro on their bills. On top of this, the Government has cut the electricity credits that were helping many families to get over the line at Christmas. Thousands of families are now facing into a bleak winter with no respite in sight.  We need to ensure that the ESB will submit annual reports detailing borrowing, project allocation and consumer price implications. If we do not, we will find ourselves in the same situation down the line without grid capacity to build the infrastructure and homes that our country desperately needs. I know we will be discussing this in the D\u00e1il tomorrow night and I hope the Minister of State really looks at some of the amendments that Deputy Daly and I have put forward. I ask him to accept our amendments and to invest today in our future. T\u00f3gfaimid le ch\u00e9ile \u00e9. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Ireland's electricity grid is not fit for purpose. It is holding back housing delivery across the State. It is stalling renewable energy projects and limiting development in towns, villages and rural areas. It did not just happen by accident and it did not happen overnight. It is the result of years of underinvestment, poor planning and mismanagement by successive Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments. For too long, they have treated the national grid as something to be managed around rather than something to be built up for the future, and now we are paying the price. Builders cannot build homes. Families cannot move in. Businesses and communities cannot grow. The grid simply does not have the capacity. This failure to plan and invest properly has become a brake on the entire economy and especially on our ability as a society to tackle the housing crisis.  The Bill before us provides for \u20ac1.5 billion in investment in ESB Networks between 2026 and 2030. While that level of investment is very welcome and very necessary, we wait to see if it turns out to be more than pie in the sky and if the delivery on the ground will be felt, because we have heard it all before.  Government press releases have never been in short supply but they have been like confetti in the past few months. What is missing in all of this is consistent delivery, transparency and fairness.  We do support investment in the grid. We see it as essential but we have concerns about the way the Government is going about this. Ramming a Bill through without proper safeguards, accountability and a clear focus on the public good will only repeat the mistakes of the past. Sinn F\u00e9in wants to see a grid that serves people, not corporate interests. We have submitted amendments to guarantee proper parliamentary oversight of ESB borrowing, to ring-fence investment for housing and community needs, to protect consumers from higher prices and to ensure independent auditing of how this public money is spent.  We also need to think about this moment in a broader and historical sense. In the 1950s, the State undertook the rural electrification project, which was a national effort that transformed every parish and townland in Ireland. It was driven by determination, ambition and a simple principle, namely, that no community should be left behind. That same drive is needed again today. If we applied the same vision and determination that our grandparents\u2019 or great-grandparents\u2019 generations once did, we could end the housing crisis that is hollowing out the social fabric of our towns and villages and driving young families from rural communities.  The investment must be about connecting homes before data centres, building fairness into the system and ensuring that no community is locked out because the grid cannot cope. It must be about energy independence, affordable electricity and balanced regional development and growth. The grid we build now will shape the kind of country we become. It must be built for homes and the communities they sustain, and for the future we hope to deliver for our children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  I congratulate our former colleague Catherine Connolly on her inspiring win after her presidential campaign. I wish her all the very best in her upcoming term as Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann and our tenth President.  I welcome the opportunity to speak about this Bill. It is one of significant consequence, not only for our energy system but also for our economy, environment, society and country more broadly. It deals with one of the most crucial challenges we face now and in the near future, namely, how we generate, deliver and pay for the energy that powers our homes, schools, hospitals, businesses and industries. How do we keep the lights on, and how do we do so in a fair and sustainable manner that ensures affordability for Irish consumers? Ireland\u2019s energy landscape is being reshaped more dramatically now than at any point in our history, or at least since the ESB was established. We are living through a profound transition, trying to decarbonise our electricity system, at a time when the UN is saying we are on track to miss our target of limiting the rise in the global temperature by 1.5\u00b0C. We are trying to decarbonise while electrifying heating and transport and integrating massive new volumes of renewable generation, all while maintaining security of supply and trying to ensure sustainability and affordability for Irish households are paramount. This is no small task, and in that context this Bill has an important role. However, the Bill also has serious gaps in oversight, fairness, environmental protection and, crucially, managing the enormous energy demands from data centres that we need to address. I will return to those topics.  The Bill amends the 1954 Act to give ESB Networks greater borrowing and investment capacity, increasing the statutory borrowing limit from \u20ac12 billion to \u20ac17 billion. It also authorises \u20ac1.5 billion in direct Government equity investment over the next five years, between 2026 and 2030, which is of course very welcome. The Government\u2019s stated aim is to provide the legal and financial framework for upgrading and reinforcing Ireland\u2019s electricity network to support the roll-out of generation, new housing, electric vehicles and climate adaptation works, particularly to ensure resilience against storms and other severe weather events.  We have seen the huge damage that storms have caused in recent years. Quite frankly, we were not prepared for them. They have been hugely disruptive, particularly in the case of Storm \u00c9owyn. As we all know, lives have tragically been lost in recent memory. All this is happening at a time when electricity demand is growing rapidly. By 2030, Ireland\u2019s total demand could rise by as much as 40%, driven by the electrification of heat and transport, population growth and, as I will emphasise later, the astonishing surge in data-centre consumption.  This is not a minor technical amendment; it is a strategic investment Bill that will determine where the State places its financial and infrastructural priorities for the rest of this decade. Therefore, it deserves a high level of scrutiny. I will begin with the positive elements. The Bill is an acknowledgement that our electricity grid is under severe strain. Much of our network was designed for a very different era, namely, one of predictable demand and centralised generation. Today, we have decentralised renewables, fluctuating generation and new kinds of load. Our grid was never built for this complexity. By increasing ESB\u2019s borrowing limit and providing direct equity from the State, this Bill allows essential investments in transmission and distribution. That must include the construction of new substations, the upgrading of lines and the replacement of tens of thousands of poles and cables. It is not necessarily the most glamorous of work but it is critical to keeping our energy system reliable.  I believe we will have separate legislation dealing with storm resilience. After Storm \u00c9owyn, when over 750,000 customers lost power, it became clear that we could not continue to rely on a brittle network, dominated by overhead lines. I know we are not necessarily dealing with that issue today, but provisions for better vegetation management, undergrounding key lines and improving emergency-response capacity will be welcome and are necessary.  In principle, we also support the aim of giving ESB Networks the financial capacity to invest at scale. Grid constraints are now one of the biggest barriers to renewable energy projects. Developers of wind and solar farms across the country are waiting years for connections because of bottlenecks. Without new investment, Ireland will simply not meet its renewable electricity targets for 2030.  The Bill is timely and motivated by legitimate needs and recognises that grid infrastructure is essential to the green transition. However, a Bill that controls billions of euro in public funds should also control how that money is used, who benefits and what kind of system it builds for the future. On that front, the Bill is somewhat incomplete.  First, there is the question of cost. This Bill involves investment at an enormous scale. Billions in new borrowing and billions more for capital works are required, yet nowhere in the Bill or its accompanying documentation does the Government specify what this means for the ordinary household\u2019s electricity bill. The Department\u2019s press statements refer to competitive borrowing rates and long-term benefits but, in plain English, that means the ESB will take on more debt, and that debt will ultimately be serviced through network charges \u2013 charges paid by households, schools, businesses, hospitals and so on. Some analysis has suggested that the proposed upgrades could increase bills by approximately \u20ac80 per household per year. That may sound modest to some, but for families already having to choose between heating and eating, it is not so modest at all. What are households getting for the extra charge? They are not getting cheaper electricity, at least not in the short term. They are being asked to fund long-term infrastructure that will primarily enable new industrial and commercial growth. At a time of record energy poverty, where over a quarter of households have fallen into arrears in the past two years, that is deeply problematic. A modern electricity system must be just as well as sustainable.  We need to consider establishing more explicit consumer-protection mechanisms that may include, for example, mandating the CRU to publish an annual affordability impact statement outlining the cost effects of this investment and requiring measures to offset any regressive impacts.  More broadly on the issue of consumer costs, we need to seriously consider ways of reining in energy companies and rethinking the deregulation of the energy markets. I have spoken about this previously. There are ways of going about it, such as carve-outs and EU rules, that I have outlined in this House previously. The ESB is in a somewhat unique position given it is a State asset and a former monopoly provider. Under section 21 of the 1927 Electricity Supply Act, which established the ESB, the ESB\u2019s obligation was to charge at \u201csuch rates and on such scales that the revenue derived in any year by the Board from such sales and services together with its revenue (if any) in such year from other sources will be sufficient and only sufficient (as nearly as may be) to pay all salaries, working expenses, and other outgoings of the Board properly chargeable to income in that year\u201d. In other words, the original mandate of the ESB was non-commercial, and it remained so for over 70 years. That provision was repealed by section 9 of the 2001 Act, which gave the ESB its commercial mandate. Can anyone really argue that there has been a step-change improvement for customers as a result of this commercialisation?  There are also the issues of accountability and oversight, or the lack thereof, in the Bill. The Bill substantially increases the ESB\u2019s borrowing powers but adds no new reporting requirements. That is not particularly good legislative practice. If a private company raised its debt ceiling by \u20ac5 billion, shareholders would demand rigorous scrutiny, yet here the shareholders, so to speak \u2013 the people of Ireland \u2013 are being asked to sign a cheque and just hope for the best. We need clear lines of accountability that could include annual reporting to the Oireachtas, for example, not necessarily just vague assurances from press releases. We need independent audit mechanisms that track project performance, delivery timelines and cost efficiency. There are over 500 capital projects planned under the investment programme. Which will be prioritised? On what basis? Who decides?  How will we in the D\u00e1il be informed if projects go over budget or fall behind schedule? We have seen in other instances, like the new national children\u2019s hospital, that we only learn of budget overruns and delays because they appear in the headlines. The Bill should, and could, include a new statutory duty on ESB Networks to provide quarterly performances reports to the Minister and the relevant Oireachtas committee outlining progress, expenditure and projected completion dates for all major works above a certain value. That is the level of transparency the public deserves when billions of euro in public money are at stake.  Any investment in our energy network and systems going forward must have decarbonisation and sustainability as its foremost considerations. It is worth pointing out that under the Climate Action and Law Carbon Development Act 2015 and the Climate Action and Law Carbon Development (Amendment) Act 2021, the ESB, as a public body, is required to perform its functions in a manner consistent with our statutory climate objectives. However, in a position paper back in February, the CRU reported its opinion that the current provisions under the climate action Act do not provide a sufficient legal basis to allow it to explicitly mandate specific emissions reductions and offsetting measures, such as requiring that connection applicants put in place arrangements to ensure that emissions associated with the demand connection are fully abated from the time of that connection or on a set trajectory. That position might be unique to the CRU as a regulator in terms of the compliance obligations it can impose on third parties, or there may be similar problems with the enforceability of the climate change objectives as it applies to other State agencies and bodies. I hope this is something the Minister will check. In any case, given the salience of decarbonising our energy system in our fight against climate disaster, there should be the strongest obligations on the ESB to live up to its requirements under the climate Acts. I tabled an amendment to that effect but unfortunately, it has been ruled out of order. Nonetheless, I will reiterate that the ESB\u2019s paramount consideration must be the performance of its functions in a manner consistent with the climate Act.  As with all matters relating to our energy supply and national grid, perhaps the most urgent issue, and the elephant in the room, is data centres. This Bill completely ignores the single biggest driver of electricity demand growth in Ireland today. It is silent on the issue of data centres despite the fact that their impact is overwhelming the very grid this Bill seeks to reinforce. That is pretty unbelievable. Last year, data centres accounted for 22% of Ireland\u2019s entire electricity supply. EirGird projections suggest that, without intervention, this figure could rise to 30% by 2030. To put that into perspective, one sector, serving a few dozen multinational corporations, could soon consume nearly one third of our national electricity output. This is not demand that can easily be curtailed. Data centres operate 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. The consumption is constant and inflexible. It does not dip when the wind stops blowing or shift when the grid is strained. The result is immense pressure on network infrastructure, particularly in the east of the country where these facilities are concentrated. Dublin, already one of the most data centre-dense cities in Europe, is approaching the limits of its transmission capacity. That congestion means a couple of things. First, renewable projects elsewhere struggle to connect because capacity is consumed by non-flexible industrial demand. Second, ordinary consumers face higher costs as new infrastructure is built primarily to serve that demand.  When data centres disconnect from the grid and use their own back-up generation, this back-up is almost always fossil fuel-powered. It is simply not a sustainable solution. Let us be honest: the bulk of this \u20ac1.5 billion investment will go towards meeting the needs of large energy users, not households. Yet, the costs are socialised across all consumers. That is not sustainable or fair. If we are serious about a just energy transition, we cannot ignore the imbalance created by this sector. We have to ensure that large-scale users contribute proportionality to the infrastructure costs they generate. The de facto moratorium on new data centre connections in the Dublin region, introduced in 2021, was a necessary stopgap and should be introduced nationally. We in the Labour Party have consistently called for a moratorium on all new data centres but clearly the Government intends on ploughing ahead and green lighting more and more of them.  That being the case, new or expanding data centres should be able to demonstrate access to renewable, self-generated power sufficient to meet their operational load. I have drafted a Bill, which I intend to introduce shortly, to give effect to such a provision. We should also be looking at requirements for all large energy users to participate in demand response programmes, installing on-site storage or flexibility technologies to ease strain on the grid. In addition, we need to explore the introduction of a large-user capacity levy, earmarked specifically to offset household and small business network costs. In our alternative budget, the Labour Party proposed a levy of \u20ac20 per MWh on data centres, which would raise over \u20ac140 million, and a reform of the PSO to ensure they contribute equitably. If they use disproportionately more energy, they should pay proportionally more. That is basic fairness.  Furthermore, we should be looking at the wider planning framework. I am yet to be convinced that the national energy demand strategy is robust enough in setting out clear criteria for where and how high-energy use facilities can connect. We are essentially building infrastructure blindly without any demand side governance. If we continue on the current path, yes, we might end up with a grid that is stronger but it will be one that is more unequal, carbon intensive and dependent on the very industries that make decarbonisation harder.  I wish to touch on the issue of delivery. The targets are laudable, such as 50,000 pole replacements, 319 km of new underground cables and 70 new or upgraded substations. Targets alone do not deliver progress, however, as we are all too aware. We know from recent experience that large infrastructure programmes often face cost overruns, planning delays and procurement challenges. Global supply chains remain fragile and skilled electrical engineers are in short supply across Europe. If the ESB cannot deliver these works on time and within budget, the benefits to consumers and renewables developers will be delayed and the costs will inevitably rise. It would be prudent if annual delivery plans were required and perhaps an independent mid-term review in, say, 2028 to assess whether the investment programme is meeting its objectives and to allow for adjustments if it is not.  Beyond delivery, we need to ensure we are building the right kind of grid. The 21st century grid must be smarter, not merely bigger. It must be capable of real time balancing, integrating distributed renewable generation and enabling households and communities to produce and store their own electricity. If this Bill becomes only a programme of steel and concrete, with more poles, lines and substations without a parallel investment in smart technology, we will have built yesterday\u2019s grid for tomorrow\u2019s challenges.  There is one other matter I wish to raise. This is more of a procedural matter rather than one relating to the substance of the Bill. It is an insight into how I spent my Sunday night. It is about the lack of a consolidated version of this legislation. The Law Reform Commission, as the Ministers of State might know, does great work in consolidating a lot of our laws, but its resources are limited and it does not provide a consolidated version of the electricity supply Acts. Ideally, all of our legislation would be published in a consolidated format rather than leaving it up to individuals to piece together amendments that may have be enacted separately, sometimes over decades, to understand the current state of the law. The Government should publish consolidated laws for everyone\u2019s benefit, as is done in the UK. It is extremely difficult, even for someone like me who is legally trained, to decipher which parts of an amended Act are being changed for the purposes of reviewing and analysing this legislation. Every Department when proposing amendments to existing legislation should at least provide legislators with that Department\u2019s unofficial consolidated versions of Acts so that we can fully and fairly scrutinise them.  I will provide one small example. The explanatory memorandum states this Bill will amend section 4(4) of the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1954, which sets the ESB\u2019s borrowing limit. We are told that this limit is being changed from \u20ac12 billion to \u20ac17 billion. All of this fine, but the limit set under section 4 in 1954 was \u00a325 million. This was amended by a 1982 amendment Act to a limit of \u00a31.6 billion, but how did it get to the limit of \u20ac12 billion? Where do I see that so I know that it is changing? It turns out that the limit in the 1954 Act was amended again and increased to \u20ac12 billion under section 22 of the Climate Action and Low Carbon Development Act (Amendment) 2021. All I am saying is that, as legislators, we should be able to focus our efforts on looking exactly at the substance of changes to our laws, but we cannot be sure exactly what our existing laws are saying in the first place because they are made up of this mishmash of amendments that have been passed over 70 years. This needs to be made clearer for us as legislators. Aside from us, ordinary citizens should be entitled to see easily and in an accessible and transparent manner what our laws actually are and what their right and entitlements are. This in so many respects is an access to justice matter. There is a need for reform in how we publish our laws. This is something I will raise with the Minister for justice and pursue separately.  This Bill has merit. It recognises real challenges and it provides a framework for investment that Ireland desperately needs, but legislation of this magnitude should be judged not only by what it enables, but what it neglects.  We need to ensure balance between public and private interest, between environmental protection and infrastructure speed, between affordability and ambition and between power for profit and power for people. This Bill will shape our grid for decades to come, so let us not build a grid that serves Silicon Valley better than the homes of counties Dublin, Clare or Donegal.  We must build a system that delivers clean, reliable and affordable electricity for every household, every business and every community in Ireland. That means stronger oversight, explicit and robust consumer protection and respect for the environment. That also means a clear, enforceable plan for managing industrial electricity demand, particularly from data centres. If we make these changes, this Bill can become a cornerstone of a just, resilient and sustainable energy future. If we do not, we risk locking ourselves into a model that is unfair, unsustainable and politically untenable. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Michael-Healy-Rae.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Michael Healy-Rae)  I am thankful for the opportunity to provide an update to the Chamber on the progress being made with responding to the significant damage caused by last winter's storms, particularly in forestry. The volume of timber normally felled over a 2.5-year period was blown down overnight during Storm \u00c9owyn. The latest damage assessment maps show that 27,000 ha of forests were windblown, with 11,400 ha impacted in private forestry. This equates to approximately over 40 million trees blown down by that storm. Counties Leitrim, Roscommon and Cavan were worst affected, where 48% of the windblow occurred. Considerable damage was also caused to electricity lines and other infrastructure by the storms. Immediately after the storm, I established a windblow task force, which has since finalised an action plan to guide our response, identify bottlenecks and rectify them. I thank the people from the different sectors and the officials from my own Department who really worked diligently with regard to putting all of this in place and getting things going. There was an awful volume of work to be done.  Considerable damage was also caused to electricity lines and other infrastructure by the storms. To further speed up the process, we have allowed the use of both thinning and clear-fell licences in removing storm-damaged trees. Our data now shows that 77% of windblown trees already have a felling licence issued by my Department. My Department also continues to progress the introduction of a reconstitution scheme for storm-affected forest owners. As I have said previously, I will ensure that forest owners that carry out clearance or replanting now will not be disadvantaged when the scheme will be introduced. That is very important for those forest owners to know.  I acknowledge the contribution Coillte has made to helping home and farm owners who are impacted by storms to have their power restored. Coillte's staff and contractors were immediately available. They worked tirelessly and in hazardous conditions to clear trees and open road access immediately after the event. Coillte has also laid the satellite mapping of the storm damage and I have worked with it in close co-operation with my Department to establish the impact across all counties that were affected. Since then, Coillte has moved on to prioritising the salvaging of the storm damage material. This includes the corridors along ESB lines where possible. This includes a detailed assessment of areas of potential risk through drone images. Coillte is working closely with the ESB. I have been informed that power lines adjacent to trees are a priority for tree-felling works for energy reasons. Based on this information, Coillte has developed a programme of works to incorporate these prioritised power line clearance works into its own harvesting programme. Work is well under way in that regard. Both Coillte and the private forestry industry have undertaken huge efforts to deal with the damage. Currently, more than 90% of the harvesting capacity in this country is working in windblown areas. Again, that is very important. A total of 90% of the machinery involved in harvesting is working on windblow sites. It is important to emphasise that the clearance of windblow areas is a complex, slow, difficult and dangerous process.  As the Minister of State with responsibility for farm safety and for safety in general in those type of hazardous conditions, I am placing a big significance on the importance of the work, the protection of our power lines, keeping energy going to people's homes and the protection of the people doing that hazardous work. That is also very important. That is a top priority for all of us. Both my Department and Coillte are continuing to engage with the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment and the ESB on the forestry corridor working groups. I thank the Minister, Deputy Darragh O'Brien very much for his work. As part of this co-operation, my Department has contributed to the winter resilience plan 2025, which has been finalised by ESB Networks earlier this year. My Department has also inputted extensively to the framework for the draft legislation being discussed. It is my intention to ensure that the ESB will be fully empowered to better manage this issue in the future. To be clear, we have in place long-standing forest corridor requirements in legislation to protect the electricity network where it interacts with forestry land. In fact, the ESB and its representatives are empowered under current legislation to lop or cut any tree, scrub or hedges which obstructs or interferes with electric wires. Such works are a matter between the ESB and anyone acting on its behalf and the landowner in question and do not require a felling licence from my Department.  The proposed Bill, however, aims to enhance the resilience of the electricity grid and therefore provides additional, proactive measures that allow for the establishment and maintenance of designated forestry corridors within existing forestry and the maintenance of clear land around existing infrastructure, which, of course, is very important. When debating the Bill, I would like to ensure that the new legislation provides the protection needed for the public, but it also has to be proportionate for the forest owners in the State who will also be affected. I thank everybody for their work on this. I acknowledge the work of the Minister and of all the other people. The people who are a lot more important in this debate are not the people in this House in suits, with all due respect; it is the people who had to go out at night, working to clear the lines and trying to restore power in bad and dangerous conditions. They are the people who we all want to thank and we want to say how grateful we are for them. There is no worse place a person could be than inside a forest with trees criss-crossed every way and dangerous power lines knocked and understanding and knowing how important it is to get the power going to those homes and people. We had them throughout County Kerry. We had them throughout the country and in the counties I have referenced. People had no power or heat. It was horrendous for everybody.  I sincerely thank the workers and the people who strive so hard and put so much effort into trying to clear the lines. That job of work was done. It is now up to all of us from a political point of view to make sure the strengthening legislation is there to help this work to be carried on in the future and to protect the property rights of the people who will be affected. I thank everybody. This is not an us-and-them situation; this is all of the people inside of this House. All we want is safety, power going to homes, heat going to homes, the continuity of supply and being fair to the people who own the land. That is all we are trying to achieve. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  There is a major wind farm just above my hometown in Buncrana. Recently, I drove up the hill and observed that half of the turbines were actually turned off. When I made inquiries as to why that was the case, apparently the electricity infrastructure just is not there to take the power from them. It is absolutely extraordinary. These wind turbines are there a very long time. I just have to ask: what the hell is going on? Apparently, a significant percentage of the wind turbines that are dotted all across County Donegal do not actually feed into the grid. This is just crazy. Then there is a direct link between this failure to plan properly in terms of infrastructure and in terms of what people pay. People are being crippled here. The Government knows this. Homeowners and small businesses are being absolutely crippled with electricity costs. We know that wind energy plays a critical role in reducing those costs.  It is important the amendments to this legislation put forward by Sinn F\u00e9in are taken on board by the Government. We need full accountability here. We need a direct link between investment from the State into the ESB infrastructure and reduced costs for homeowners. People are being fleeced. We used to have the cheapest electricity in Europe. That was when we owned our own infrastructure and the company that charged the bills. We handed it over and wrecked the model we had. What is worse is that the wind turbines we have put all across the country are not feeding into the grid. We are not getting the full benefit of them to reduce costs. This investment has to be real, with real accountability and a real plan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I stress that the waiving of pre-legislative scrutiny, PLS, is never a good idea. I do not know what the Government has against transparency and accountability. I welcome the fact we opposed the waiving of PLS. I also welcome the fact the Government is finally acknowledging the need to invest in our grid infrastructure. It is long past time. This Bill provides for investment in energy infrastructure but it does not provide details about how this will happen. Who will be responsible for managing and ensuring value for money? The Minister of State will, I am sure, forgive us if we look at the record of the Government, its wasteful habits and capacity to spend taxpayers' money without a single care, or indeed without any attempt to inject value for money.  I will talk about families in my constituency who have experienced huge delays, running to years, in moving into their homes in P\u00e1irc Na Blathanna because of the failure by the Government to invest in energy infrastructure. They were forced to couch surf. They were overholding. They put their lives on hold. They simply could not make that move into homes that were built and ready for them to move into. They will ask what is in this legislation for them. How will this improve their lives? The simple fact is that because the Government has waived PLS, we are not going to have a chance to discuss it.  I hope the Minister of State will take on board not just the intention but the substance of the amendments tabled by my party colleague, Deputy Pa Daly. We also note that the energy regulator has told us that the substation at Castlebaggot, which was initially due to support new housing, has been handed over to data centres. We also note that the ESB has concerns about sustainability in north Dublin and the area I represent. That the Government has not allowed for proper discussion under PLS for this Bill means I have no answers for my constituents. They simply look at the Government's record with their heads in their hands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I echo the comments about PLS. Unfortunately, during the previous term the Minister for energy got into a really bad habit of rushing Bills through the committee without proper scrutiny and it looks like the Minister of State is taking up that mantle and doing similarly. As a principle, all Bills should go through PLS unless there is an urgent or emergency reason not to. I do not think that is the case in this instance and it certainly was not the case previously. I ask the Government to stop using that mechanism. The Government members within the committee will always have the majority vote so I ask the Government to please allow Bills to go through the proper process. It will mean a much more robust debate and better legislation at the end of the day. It is not wasted time but very much valuable time. I ask the Government to do that.  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this Bill. It is not just a technical debate about infrastructure. It is a discussion about the changing economic climate in Ireland, the changing environmental framework we are dealing with and how we prepare for those different changes as we go into the next decade. It is also a question of fairness and who we are building out our energy systems for. That needs to be a large part of the discussion here today.  It is nearly a year now since January 2025 when Storm \u00c9owyn tore through Ireland, leaving 768,000 homes, farms and businesses without power. It was the worst storm that ESB Networks and the country have ever faced. Poles snapped, lines were down and entire communities were cut off from heat, light and communication for weeks on end. In the aftermath, emergency centres were set up, international crews were flown in and thousands of families were left in the cold. However, it was not a freak event. The unfortunate reality is that we----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Alan Dillon  It was the worst in history. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  We will potentially see more of those storms. That is the reality we face because of climate change. We will see more frequent and more severe storms. We cannot look at what happened during Storm \u00c9owyn and consider it as a very difficult period in time. It is something that we need to learn an awful lot of lessons from and we need to see it as a wake-up call. The reality is that our grid is not resilient enough and our infrastructure is not ready. Indeed, our emergency services were stretched to their limits in their response. I welcome the Bill because I believe it can play a part in getting us onto a proper footing to deal with similar instances. I hope we do not have to deal with too many but we need to be ready and prepared to deal with them if they do happen.  I welcome the Bill and the \u20ac1.5 billion equity investment for ESB Networks. I also welcome the fact the increase to the ESB's borrowing limit will unlock over 500 capital projects, including 181 km of new overhead lines, 319 km of underground cables, 70 new and upgraded substations and 50,000 pole replacements. Reading out those figures, you realise that the scale of the job ahead of ESB Networks and the teams, the workers on the ground to whom the Minister of State referred, is enormous. It is important that we invest in the ESB to help us achieve that modern and resilient electricity system. We saw an awful lot of gaps in the legislation and the different frameworks when we saw what Storm \u00c9owyn did, particularly to forestry corridors. It is important that we manage the vegetation around the grid to stop these kinds of outages.  This is all positive. This is a positive step from the Government. However, there are certain aspects that we need to consider. One is that while we are putting in this investment, we must consider the costs and how people are going to pay for that grid infrastructure. Care needs to be taken to ensure we are not disproportionately impacting people who cannot afford any higher costs on their bills. It is important that we also ensure there is prioritisation of those resources, particularly for residents, people who are vulnerable and, indeed, small businesses. What we are seeing at the moment is, unfortunately, investment in a grid that will ultimately benefit large corporations through the supporting of the whole data centre industry. I will come to that shortly. We need to make sure that if the lights go out, we can assist the people who are most vulnerable and most at risk. We must ensure that if the lights go out, we can make those homes resilient and not focus our efforts on those corporations.  The Minister of State talked about PR6. As I have raised at the committee, PR6 will only invest in the grid to support the current level of data centre applications. It is not for any future data centres. According to the affordability task force, we will see an increase of 45% in electricity demand over the next decade. There is a real worry that even with this level of investment and the investment being given under PR6, if we continue to allow increases in the electricity used by data centres and this proliferation of data centres, the grid will still not be sufficient. It is only going to shore up the grid and secure the issues for the current level of data centres and not any future ones. That is a risk and I ask the Government to look at it.  When I became a TD six years ago, one of the first motions I brought forward was on data centres and seeking a moratorium on them. It was not that the Social Democrats were against data centres per se - there was not a blanket objection in principle to data centres - but we wanted to see strategic management of data centres because it was clear, even back then, that this was not happening. We were seeing projections that were forecasting that by 2030, 30% of our electricity demand would be coming from the data centre industry. When we look at what actually happens in Europe, where the relevant figure is 2% to 3%, we see that Ireland is being disproportionately impacted by the demand from data centres on our electricity grid.  Over the past few years, we had instances where there were risks of brownouts and blackouts because the grid was not sufficient and was not able to deal with the demand, primarily from data centres. What did we have to do? The Government had to rush out and purchase generators that cost hundreds of millions of euro to ensure the data centres had access to a grid. It is really important that when decisions are being made about data centres, we know how many we can afford in this country from a climate perspective, from an energy security perspective and from an energy pricing perspective. The more pressure and the more demand that is put on a commodity such as electricity, the higher the price goes. Over the past few years, we have seen so many prices skyrocketing. Ordinary individuals are unable to keep on top of that. I believe a large part of that is down to the demand that is being placed on the trading and use of electricity. I ask the Minister of State to look into that and not ignore it.  We are not saying there should be absolutely no data centres; we are saying there is a need to put in good data centres that are efficient, can work in a complex electrical environment, can actually act as storage and can perform a function as part of that whole system. Do not just roll out planning permissions or approvals for them or roll out the grid because it is very costly to do that.  I also want to make the point that when the Government invests in the grid, it puts additional costs on consumers. There is an economic reality there. I was interested to see in the report by the affordability task force that it stated that, essentially, the network charges from the CRU's recent decision will put an increase of approximately \u20ac29 per year onto a typical customer bill. I want to raise this issue with the Minister of State because I am quite concerned about it. I raised it with the CRU over a month ago. It must be six weeks since I raised it with the CRU at a committee meeting, but it appears that nothing has been done. The Government needs to ensure that when it is making investments in the grid and when additional charges go onto consumer bills, there is transparency about these charges and the energy companies do not use the Government's investment in the grid to hike up prices, because that is exactly what we have seen.  In September 2025, Energia announced an increase in its energy prices. I think it was going to add an extra \u20ac200 or so onto people's bills. Energia stated that these price changes are \"now unavoidable\" due to \"ongoing, substantial increases in electricity, system operator and network charges\" and \"that these costs are required to recover the costs of ensuring security of supply, addressing network constraints and investing in the electricity grid.\" That is incorrect. That is misinformation that is being put out to hundreds of thousands of Energia customers. I raised this with the CRU representatives at a meeting of the energy committee six weeks ago and asked them to look into it, but that press release is still on the Energia website. It has not been amended at all to reflect the reality that the \u20ac200 it is putting the bills up by every year is not down to grid improvements, security of supply issues or network charges. Energia is putting the price up because it is gouging. It will blame the Government, and investment in the grid, for doing this. I ask the Minister of State to raise this matter. I have serious concerns that the CRU has not addressed that issue after six weeks. It is the CRU's job to protect customers and to ensure there is transparency in the information provided to it, but it is not doing its job properly.  Another area I want to raise in regard to the CRU is arrears. A report from the affordability task force yesterday mentioned that in June, 13% of electricity customers and 27% of gas customers were in arrears. It is crazy that the CRU has not published the most recent data and that we are still working from the June figures. When CRU representatives came to the committee meeting six weeks ago, I asked them what the latest figures for arrears were, but they could not tell me. They said they would publish them shortly and still have not done so. That information should have been available in the context of last month's budget. When the Minister of State is making policy decisions, he needs to know how many people are in arrears and how many the numbers are going up by each month. The Minister of State needs to have that information to hand because otherwise he will not be able to identify the scale of the problem. Again, the CRU is responsible for this. I have sent two or three emails to the CRU during the past six weeks asking for that information but it is not being provided. Obviously, the CRU is not listening to me. I ask the Minister of State to raise this issue with it because it is the body that is meant to be protecting customers.  There is a lot here. We will have an opportunity to discuss this important legislation over the coming days. There needs to be a short-term focus on how we can protect people this winter if there are more storms, how we can get ready and how households will be resilient not just to price increases but also to any disturbances because of storms coming in. It is really important but we will have further opportunities to debate that. I ask the Minister of State to talk specifically to the CRU about the points I have raised because I think they are important. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  I welcome Freddie Wasson from Leixlip, a transition year student who is working with me this week. He lost the county final last week and is very disappointed. I hope that working here in the D\u00e1il will improve his mood before he heads back to school next week.  I welcome what we are discussing and I welcome this Bill. As a TD and someone who was elected as a councillor numerous times, I have always called for investment in infrastructure, especially, with my local hat on, in the Leixlip and Celbridge areas where we have had electricity outages. Since I was elected as a TD, we have seen outages in Kildare and nationally as a result of the storms of last winter.  Ultimately, anything that brings extra investment in our electrical system, such as the \u20ac1.5 billion we are talking about today and the ability to seek the additional loans required, has to be welcomed. I thank the Minister and his team for their foresight and belief in this. I thank the Minister for Finance for putting this forward on budget day ahead of time, considering the demands.  I am a member of the infrastructure committee, which will meet tomorrow with the housing bodies and the large developers in Kildare, Ballymore and Glenveagh. Their representatives will come to the committee meeting. I know one of the key issues they will be talking about will be Uisce \u00c9ireann and the challenges they have with water, but the electricity supply will be a key focus as well.  I have met many developers, no more than other Deputies, and I understand the sorts of issues they face. When houses have been built across north Kildare and elsewhere, we have not been quick enough to get the electricity supply in. That is one of the issues. I hope this legislation will go towards putting in the infrastructure in time to ensure we do not have those delays. My only fear is this: will \u20ac1.5 billion be enough to continue with that? I am sure there will be a multi-year approach whereby we will continue to have investment in our electricity system.  Obviously, from a national perspective one of the key items we are looking at changing is how we do our electricity and how we work at electricity. Renewable integration is key. We are talking about offshore electricity, solar electricity and getting everybody on board in that regard. This is key but to do that we need to update our grid. With this extra money coming into the system, we will be able to invest to ensure we can avail of solar power units.  I do not wish to go off topic - perhaps it is in keeping with the topic - when I mention that Freddie and I were lucky enough to be in the new Lidl net-zero shop in Maynooth. We got a tour and we saw how a new development in a new shop with solar panels will be able to be cost-neutral from an energy perspective. I think we have to go that way. As our previous speaker outlined, we have continuing new demands on our system. This is where we have to talk about supporting our economic and digital growth. We all know that data centres will be required. The Social Democrats were talking against data centres and about moratoriums, potentially, being put on them. At the same time, we cannot ignore the reality of the future demand that may be coming with the technological changes we have seen in recent years and continue to see, especially in the new realm of AI investment across the world. We can talk about moratoriums but we need to ensure Ireland is not left behind. This legislation will go towards that. We need to ensure we have an electricity system that is able to keep up with the best of other countries. Countries like Denmark and England have faced many of these challenges. It has been less of an issue in France, which has the nuclear energy option that many other countries do not have and we do not have. Ireland is in a different space but we need to ensure that with this investment we are able to open the opportunities where possible and where we are best placed to do so, and that includes data centres.  As I said at the outset, we need to be conscious of one-off events when we reflect on whether our system will continue to be fit for service in the future. We have climate change and increased storms. There are weather systems that come across, and are probably coming across in the next couple of months. The Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, knows this better than anyone given that his own area was probably one of the hardest hit by the storm earlier this year, and indeed by the outages that were in his area. I know the Minister of State will be looking for this sort of investment to ensure we are in a more robust and better place in order that we can get things back on track sooner, if possible, and in order that networks would not be out any longer than necessary. We can talk about the upfront \u20ac1.5 billion investment but by giving the ESB more flexibility to finance its own investments, we can ensure we have the best network possible over the coming years.  This Bill is about building a secure future and a secure electricity system. Once again, I welcome the Government's initiative on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  I welcome the Bill before the House. While it includes technical measures to increase the actual borrowing limit for the ESB and to provide for additional share capital to be issued, in essence it is about making an additional investment in our electricity supply. This is incredibly important in an Ireland that is growing and will have additional demands in the future. Even in today's market, there are communities in my district that are experiencing difficulties because of issues with electricity supply capacity, with appliances being damaged in their homes and so on. I welcome the additional investment.  I also welcome the investment in the provision of interconnectors, particularly the North-South Interconnector. The investments here will be an important tool in order to deliver that. The interconnectors are really key because while they increase Ireland's electricity security, they also give us an opportunity to export renewable energy, an area where I believe we are going to be world leaders. We have already made great strides. The passing of the Maritime Area Planning Act 2021, which the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and I soldiered on at the committee, is having an impact but we need to do more and the Government needs to do more.  The provision of renewable energy is something that we could see being implemented very quickly now. One of the issues with the renewable energy system, particularly wind energy, relates to surplus wind energy that happens at night. When energy is not able to be used by the grid, it is effectively earthed into the ground. This is the reason I brought forward the Energy Poverty Reduction (Use of Surplus Renewable Energy) Bill 2025. The idea is that we come up with a national strategy for that surplus energy. Energy that is otherwise being wasted or earthed into the ground every evening could be a digital or virtual district heating system right across the country. It could be heating the hot water tanks of many people across the country. It could be charging electric car batteries and so on. Having a national strategy for surplus wind energy is really key. I urge the Government to consider my Bill and to put every effort into bringing forward a strategy in this respect. I know the Ministers are supportive of it and I look forward to progress on this. The idea is that we can use surplus wind energy to tackle fuel poverty.  The work we have done includes the fuel supplement scheme, which has been massively expanded. If I am right, I think I heard a Minister say this morning that 26% of homes now are included under the fuel supplement scheme. That happened because we significantly expanded eligibility for people over the age of 70. These are people who worked hard all their lives, who bought their home and who own their home. They are now eligible for the fuel supplement. This also makes them eligible for the better energy warmer homes scheme, which allows them to get a full wraparound insulation system. This has a massive impact on their energy bills. There is a lot of connectivity between the different schemes we currently have. The measures in this Bill add to the overall investment.  With regard to the budget, there were targeted measures and there were general measures, as there have been in past budgets. The Opposition criticised us for not introducing more targeted measures in previous budgets but they seem to have forgotten that this time around when we made more targeted decisions. The 9% VAT rate was really key in keeping energy prices low. If that not had been done, people right across the country would have been paying significantly more for their ESB bills. That is really important but it does nothing to address the issue around energy prices. Energy prices in Ireland are too high. There are lots of reasons for that, some of them structural and some of them to do with our connectivity to the rest of Europe and so on. We have to make sure the energy companies know that their feet are being held to the fire on the issue of price.  I agree with other speakers about the CRU. It needs to do more to make sure consumers are getting the lowest possible price, given the mandate of the CRU. It is incredibly important. When people in our constituency offices say they are afraid to turn their heating on because they are not sure what the impact will be, or when people on a pay-as-you-go scheme cannot shop around to avail of different providers, we know how important the issue of energy prices is. While I welcome the Government's measures on the 9% VAT rate, which is really important, and on the fuel poverty schemes, I believe we need to do more on energy prices. I welcome the Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  I support the intent of this Bill but it cannot be pushed through without the necessary safeguards. People in counties Kilkenny and Carlow are paying a heavy price for the consecutive failures of the Minister of State, Deputy Dillon, and his colleagues to invest in our energy infrastructure. It is an issue my constituents continually contact me about. There is a question I would love to see answered. Is your top priority for energy residential housing or is it data centres? Which of these is at the top of the Minister's priorities? We all know it cannot be both. When I see the waves the Government has made to support the building of more and more data centres, putting immense pressure on our national grid, it makes me wonder.  I find it staggering that a single data centre can use as much energy as the whole of Kilkenny city. There are now nearly 100 data centres across the State. The Government's own experts have warned it about the risk this poses to building the homes we desperately need. We are now seeing that families across Ireland cannot move into new homes because they cannot get connected. I find it astounding that in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, data centres are set to see their energy bills drop by 18%, while families and workers across Ireland are facing the most expensive winter they have ever seen for energy bills.  I accept that many data centres are providing vital data storage, but a line must be drawn. Data centres storing unnecessary data about what type of advertisements to hit us with do not contribute positively to our society. It is the people of Ireland, not data centres, who contribute positively to our society. It is the people of Ireland, not data centres, who need to see their energy bills drop. The public cannot be expected to foot the bill for the data centres. It is simply not right and it is deeply unfair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  I welcome the Bill. The Minister of State will be familiar with the impact of Storm \u00c9owyn and how it hit the west of Ireland in particular. Any investment in ESB Networks that helps to build resilience for the future is to be welcomed. I am fully supportive of it. Over the coming years, the ESB's investment plan will see the delivery of more than 500 capital projects - a huge number - including 181 km of new overhead lines, underground cabling, upgraded substations, new substations and 50,000 new poles. It is really important that this investment is made. We do not want to be dealing with another Storm \u00c9owyn in the future without having the necessary resilience in the network.  As the PR6 strategy paper outlines, by 2030 millions of devices, including heat pumps, EVs, battery-storage renewables and smart meters will all be coming onto the electricity distribution grid network, in line with the climate action plan. There is an immense opportunity here but it requires investment. The ESB and EirGrid will need to work together to ensure the network can be built, can accommodate all these devices and can manage renewable power, with all its spikes, and all the different complex flows of electricity that arise across the system.  Communities are looking for certainty in the years ahead and we must provide that certainty in whatever way we can. Keeping the electricity grid and infrastructure up to date and fit for modern society is one way in which the Government can and will provide that certainty, and I support it in so doing. This Bill is a practical measure and an investment measure. It will afford progress for people across the length and breadth of the country and give strength to our economy. It will work with us to further our climate ambitions, in which the climate committee is very interested, and to prepare our country for the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  This Bill will allow the ESB to access more funding and do more in terms of investment in improving infrastructure. As the majority shareholder in the ESB, there is a real onus on the Government to ensure people feel the benefit of that extra funding and investment. This is especially important for areas like mine across Roscommon and Galway that were hammered by Storm \u00c9owyn earlier this year.  Proceeding with projects and more investment is key, of course, but security of supply is absolutely critical. In January, Storm \u00c9owyn left some people without power for more than a fortnight and, in some cases, without heating as well. In my area, people went 17 or 18 days without power. It was a horrendous experience for families. All those people who lost power had to pay their ESB bill like it never happened. That is unacceptable and it must be addressed.  Forestry was a significant issue across Roscommon and Galway, with trees collapsed on lines and poles. Huge damage was done. Last month, once again, people were left without power for days, and some up to a week, following Storm Amy. The men and women working locally in the ESB and in tree service companies were back in some of the same forestry once again. It is absolutely unacceptable that forestry continues to be such an issue in terms of the ESB and power supply. Where there are issues with access, they must be dealt with quickly.  I hope the ESB will also use this investment to look at its vulnerable customers register, which needs work. We must look at what more can be done for people, especially where they are reliant on medical devices to live. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I have just come from a meeting of the foreign affairs committee where we engaged with American Chamber of Commerce Ireland. We talked about geopolitical circumstances and the situation in Gaza. It is fair to say there was disagreement on the occupied territories Bill. I believe we, like many other states, are on the right side of that argument. We also spoke about the current uncertainty and all the other issues caused by the US Administration, the Trump tariffs and the question of where negotiations will go. However, the witnesses said the issues their members are dealing with at this time relate to the infrastructural deficits we still see. It is not a major shock that housing is a particular issue. We all understand the societal impact of that but, as well as the huge impact on families and individuals, we also know there is a huge impact on businesses and on our future growth.  As we discuss almost every week in this House, without seeing any major plan in terms of delivery, a particular issue is that we have an energy grid that is not fit for purpose and has not received the resourcing required to ensure delivery of improvements. We all know this is happening in the same context as the issues in relation to our water infrastructure, which is not where it needs to be. Unfortunately, not only are we failing in regard to long-term delivery but we are doing so during a cost-of-living crisis in which we are failing miserably to look after those who have to pay, especially those at the lowest end. I ask that we proceed with a view to delivering a fit-for-purpose grid while also ensuring we look after those people who live and work in Ireland and need the supports that have not been provided by the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  This Bill has been fast-tracked as an attempt to cover up decades of underinvestment in our energy grid. I absolutely agree that we need a modern, fit-for-purpose grid but it must be done with the required Government accountability. Sinn F\u00e9in has four constructive amendments we are asking the Minister to consider. They include proposals for greater transparency, fairness in pricing and the prioritisation of projects. Data centres cannot be given the same priority as hospitals. This is an issue on which we see bad Government policies leading to priorities not being delivered.  The Bill should have included actions to ensure consumers are not forced to pay increasing energy costs while energy companies see soaring profits. There are people struggling with the cost of heating. As we face into winter, hundreds of thousands of people are in arrears on their electricity bills. With prices having gone through the roof, more and more will join them. The Government must do more to tackle the energy companies. With the removal of the energy credits, the Government itself has increased people's energy costs this year. People were dependent on those energy credits. They were their hope of being able to pay bills and keep the heating and lighting on during winter.  There are families sitting right now in cold homes. There are parents who feel like failures because they are not able to look after themselves and, in particular, their children the way they should be. There are older people - I have spoken to them in areas I represent, including Madden's Buildings in Blackpool, Roche's Buildings and Barrett's Buildings - who are terrified by the cost of electricity and how they are going to get through this winter without the support of the payments that were made last year.  Will the Government ensure that energy companies are not making horrible profits on the backs of ordinary people who are really struggling? Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il have for too long cowardly not tackled these companies and their major profits. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  We believe that price legislation should work for the ordinary person and our amendments look to deliver on that. This is about people's quality of life. This is about people not being afraid. Can the Minister of State imagine being afraid to turn on the electricity or the heating? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  This Bill allows the ESB to borrow up to \u20ac17 billion and issue \u20ac1.5 billion in capital stock, much of it going to two Departments. It is framed as a step towards modernising our grid and preparing for future demand. Yes, investment in infrastructure is always vital but, let us be clear, the people of Ireland are already paying the price - literally. Electricity bills have soared. The average household now pays over \u20ac1,800 a year for electricity. Some suppliers have increased prices by up to 13.5%, adding \u20ac18 a month for an already stretched family. We are told this is due to network charges and wholesale price volatility but that is cold comfort to families who are choosing between heating and eating.  Families were given two \u20ac125 energy credits, both issued early in the year, and nothing since. Budget 2026 has no new energy credits, no targeted reliefs and no plan to support more than 300,000 households now in arrears. Where is the fairness in this? Where is the urgency to protect the vulnerable? We are investing billions in the grid, yet schools are fundraising just to pay their ESB bills. Principals are forced to choose between heating classrooms and buying basic supplies. That is not sustainable. It is not fair and it is not the Ireland we should accept. If we can find \u20ac1.5 billion for capital stock, surely we can find the resources to restore energy credits and provide targeted supports for those most affected by energy poverty.  I support investment in our energy future, but I cannot support a system that asks ordinary people to foot the bill while removing the very supports that helped them survive in the past few winters. We also need to acknowledge the people who are doing everything they can to keep the lights on, such as the ESB crews who go out in all kinds of weather, often in dangerous conditions, to restore power to homes and businesses. Their dedication deserves our thanks and our respect but they too need a system that works, one that is properly resourced, well planned and future-proofed. The recent storms have shown just how vulnerable our infrastructure is. Trees falling along roads have knocked out ESB poles, causing widespread outages. This is not just bad luck; it is a sign of poor planning and underinvestment. Red tape and outdated systems continue to hold us back.  That is why I welcome the appointment of our Galway West councillor, Noel Thomas, as our spokesperson for planning reform. He has already raised important concerns with me, including the need to simplify claim forms for those affected by storm damage in Galway West and in other areas affected by the serious storms that hit. These forms must be easy to understand and quick to complete, especially for older people and those under pressure. Councillor Noel Thomas told me that Storm \u00c9owyn caused unbelievable damage in his own constituency, as it probably did in the Minister of State's constituency. That is a very serious concern for the constituents of Galway West and it is an issue the Government needs to take up. It is fine to say we are investing in infrastructure, but the companies themselves are making a fortune out of ordinary, everyday people who work hard in this country and the Government does not seem to understand or sympathise with that, as can be proven by the last budget.  We must act now to strengthen our infrastructure, cut through bureaucracy and ensure people can access support when they need it most because this is not just about energy. It is about dignity, fairness and whether we are building a country that works for everyone or just those at the top. I still ask the Government to reconsider the decision it made in the budget not to give energy credits to customers. These people come into my clinic every weekend. They are suffering in every way they can be hit by the Government with extra taxes. This was one little bit of relief they got just before the previous election, with the promises and all of that. That was great, but now the election is over and it is time for people to suffer. That is not good enough. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  Once again, we are asked to hand the Government and the ESB a blank cheque of \u20ac5 billion in borrowing authority and \u20ac1.5 billion more in taxpayer capital, with no plan, no accountability and no guarantees of benefit to the Irish people. Let us be honest in this House: the Government record on energy policy is a record of failure. Ireland now has the second highest household energy prices in the entire European Union. Eurostat confirms we now pay around 48 cent per kilowatt-hour, compared with 31 cent across Europe, 27 cent in France and 30 cent in the Kingdom of Spain. Ireland is an energy-rich island paying poverty prices, but the only constant has been Government complacency.  Ordinary people are being crushed. This winter, working families - not just the poorest of working families but working families who are doing everything right, paying their bills and getting up early in the morning, going to work and putting in their shifts and time - are choosing between heating their houses and what they are purchasing in Lidl, Aldi, Dunnes or SuperValu. The are picking between whether they can afford this or that for the child or how merry Christmas will be because they have to heat the house as well.  Last week, I met with a pensioner and sat in his home, a cottage in Rathcooney in County Cork, wrapped in a blanket with one heater going and a hot water bottle. That gentleman finds it so difficult to find the money to pay the electricity bills coming into his house because it is an old property. He does not have the money to do the property up, despite what is available from the Government in terms of grants. I have spoken to small business owners from Ballincollig to Little Island who are telling me they are closing early or closing one day a week just to save on energy and lighting costs. That is not progress. It is an absolute scandal. What has been the Government's response? It has been to let the ESB report profits of \u20ac868 million. While the State dividend rolls in, the households of Ireland have to tighten their belts, are told to put on an extra jumper or, as the Minister of State's predecessor suggested, share the heating with their neighbour and go from house to house. That is not an energy policy. It is daylight robbery, dressed up as climate virtue.  I support the investment in the grid but, let us be clear, the failure to build proper infrastructure lies squarely at the feet of this Government. Every builder, developer and employer in Ireland can tell you the same thing. The biggest barrier to growth is not the planning red tape; it is the supply of power and water. Projects have been delayed because there is no grid capacity, factories are stalled because there is no connection to take them and housing estates are refused planning because the system simply cannot cope, in respect of both energy and water. That is not the fault of the planner, the engineer or the local authority. It is the failure of national leadership. It is a failure of plans and a failure to invest in the future and think ahead.  Ireland has some of the highest taxes in Europe and the largest budget surplus in the history of the State, yet the State cannot guarantee enough electricity or water to build homes or businesses. That is the definition of incompetence on the Government's side. If this Bill is to mean anything, it must mark the end of complacency and the raising of the ESB borrowing limit to \u20ac17 billion must come with strict conditions. There must be full transparency around the borrowings, an independent audit and legally binding timelines for the grid expansion. Timelines for grid expansion are vital. Every euro must go on real infrastructure, stronger cabling, faster connections, rural upgrades and modern sustainability.  No more can we have the day of the consultant and report after report. No more can we have bureaucracy and another round of self-congratulating Ministers who have failed to deliver. Ireland deserves an energy system that works and fully supports families, industries and home building. The people who are paying the bills deserve answers, not excuses. I say clearly to those on the Government benches that before they lecture us on public sustainability, make sure people can afford to turn on the lights. The Government is not addressing that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The two biggest problems this Government has are the delivery of infrastructure and rip-off Ireland. The two elements are inextricably linked. The inability to deliver on infrastructure is hammering families throughout the country. It is adding to massive misery and difficulties for so many families in so many areas in terms of housing, electricity, water and transport. One of the reasons that is happening is that in this State at the moment, Government inaction around planning, permits, tendering, etc., has allowed that aspect to delay projects. Right now we have some of the slowest planning permissions delivered, the slowest permitting, the slowest licensing and the slowest tendering in the whole of the EU. Judicial reviews go on for years. As a result, key infrastructure gets snarled up in a process. None of that is by accident. It has not evolved by itself but as a result of legislation that the Government has been involved in for the past 15 years.  The second issue relates to the fact that electricity is holding up so many other aspects of infrastructure delivery. Right now, hundreds of homes in this State are not being built or are not connected and not lived in as a result of that lack of electricity. The lack of electricity infrastructure is slowing down the building of homes. That is an incredible indictment on the Government. In terms of price, spiralling costs are currently affecting families. There are 412,000 households in this country in fuel poverty. It is incredible that nearly half a million households in this country are in fuel poverty. The prices of electricity are extremely high. Energy prices in Ireland are three times the wholesale prices. That is one of the biggest gaps in the world. The Government often tells us there are lots of reasons we have higher electricity prices than anywhere else in the world. However, the fact is that those reasons all lie under the wholesale price. Electricity prices here are three times higher than the wholesale price. The gap between the retail price of electricity and the cost of producing it is one of the highest in the world at the moment.  Electricity companies are failing to pass on the profits they are involved in. Why would they not? The ESB is a semi-State company. It is delivering Government policy. It is salting the people. It is involved in super-normal profits in terms of its revenue. The ESB made \u20ac706 million profit last year in a cost-of-living crisis. That is an incredible situation.  Even the pricing of electricity happens within this State as a function of the dearest element of the production of electricity. The Government is artificially increasing the price of electricity to make sure it is being priced at the dearest element, which is often gas. The Government's legislation is allowing for that.  In regard to retrofitting, about which I have heard people talk, only 22,000 homes reached the gold standard of B2 retrofitting last year. That is well short of the half a million households that are in the target for 2030. In terms of any retrofitting, only 54,000 homes were retrofitted at any level last year. There are 1.6 million homes in need of retrofitting. That means it will take 50 years to get to a retrofitting situation where families have a comfortable home with low energy costs.  The issue of data centres messes with my mind. We are told that we have to do so much to reduce the level of electricity usage and that we have to do our best to make sure we are a low-carbon economy. At the same time, the Government is flying high in terms of the increasing number of data centres coming into this sector. Data centres use 22% of all metered electricity in this State. That is way out of kilter in terms of the European Union which is about 3% or 4%. That figure is likely to reach 30% by 2030. There is one rule for the small family dealing with electricity but a different rule for the large multinationals. AI is going to drive that through the roof.  In terms of Storm \u00c9owyn, two weeks after that storm  13,000 homes were still without electricity. Most of those homes were in the west or the midlands, showing again that this Dublin Government is forgetting about the west of Ireland in terms of infrastructure. One of the reasons it was hit so hard was that so much of our infrastructure is overground. Yet, this Government wants to proceed with the EirGrid north-south interconnector which is overground. We have been waiting for this infrastructure for 15 years. A bull-headed instinct by the Government to overground it is delaying it. Only 15% of homes, families and farms are going to allow EirGrid onto their property to build it. Some 85% of farmers are not going to allow it. It is going to remain in limbo for years as a result of this Government's instincts to force it overground.  We need a situation where we have investments but we have to free up the process, the red tape and bureaucracy that has been added on to the system by years of Fine Gael Governments that are slowing down the delivery of much-needed infrastructure. Unless we get to that we are just pouring that money into a bottomless pit. I see no real evidence that this Government means business when it comes to getting rid of the bureaucracy and red tape that are slowing down infrastructural development in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  This legislation is welcome, if modest. As others have mentioned, it is a response to disruption caused by Storm \u00c9owyn. It will allow for the creation and maintenance of forestry corridors and vegetation management, subject hopefully to environmental obligations under the Habitats and Birds Directives. I have no problem with the legal mechanism to make an additional \u20ac1.5 billion equity investment in the ESB to part finance the PR6 energy grid investment programme. However, I am more interested in the larger scale investment required. Obviously, we note the proposal to raise the statutory borrowing limit from \u20ac12 billion to \u20ac17 billion to help to finance proposed future capital projects, including the new lines, the underground cables, the upgraded substations and the 50,000-plus electricity poles. It is a massive investment that is needed but we need to see the detail of what is coming to modernise and future-proof the grid.  We are talking about a potential \u20ac10 billion to \u20ac13 billion investment plan up to 2030. However, a couple of things need to go alongside this. I note a private wires policy statement was published in July that outlined scenarios whereby private developers can build and own electricity lines to connect generators to customers. I do not have an issue with that in principle but I do have an issue if it is purely to allow companies to create their own private sections that will impact on the grid. My definition of private wires would be more about an area like a housing estate that has a wind turbine beside it or an array of solar panels where people can be offgrid in a situation like a storm so they are able to switch over to their own group generator. I would like to get more information on that type of thing.  I agree that data centres need to be able to produce their own energy and feed into the grid rather than taking out of what we already have.  To be positive, I notice the microgeneration support scheme and the clean export guarantee tariff already in place for exporting excess renewable electricity to the grid. On a massive national scale in terms of having the potential to be exporters, we have to first of all make sure that we are efficient in our usage. In that context, I agree with colleagues in terms of subsidising the bills people are facing right now. It does make sense to continue it. I welcomed the continuation of the 9% VAT on electricity but I do not see anything going towards getting people to reduce their energy consumption. Back in the 1970s, we used to hear about closing doors and switching off all plugs because there is seepage from leaving on Wi-Fi at night-time or from leaving USB chargers plugged in. There is not enough information out there to help people to reduce their bills. I have noticed that constituents, especially older ones, do not change over their tariff after a year has elapsed. They are stuck in an overpriced standard tariff when they could be saving money. I agree that the Government should be helping people during these tight times. However, we should also provide people with more education about how to reduce bills themselves.  I have mentioned in previous contributions that the visionary aspect should be that we should be a net energy exporter, assuming we have capacity for ourselves. To get to that, we need to have more consistency and more clarity on the energy storage policy framework, for example, which has an immediate procurement target of 500 MW for the transmission system and 500 MW for demand flexibility for the distribution. However, there are criticisms about this. There is no long-term concrete mechanism or any example of urgency. I would like to see clarification in terms of long-duration energy storage.  That would be beneficial, as would conversion to green hydrogen. We also have a lack of cohesion between the stakeholders in terms of the planning, EirGrid and the Commission for Regulation of Utilities, CRU. I do not see the joined-up thinking to meet our climate action targets or our energy production targets. If we want to get to net exporter status, we need to fast-track our investment in the grid. While this \u20ac1.5 billion is welcome, we need a tangible \u20ac13.5 billion-plus investment to happen in the next three to four years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I welcome this Bill. It is a hugely important piece of infrastructural progress. I welcome the fact it has come to us as quickly as it has, making good on a commitment in the programme for Government. I recognise that the Bills Office and the Minister of State\u2019s Department turned it around in quite a short period of time. I also recognise the pre-legislative scrutiny done by my party colleague Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed and his committee. I welcome the fact the Bill has progressed quickly and is here. It does some important things.  I have listened to the debate and heard the criticism from many colleagues, but let us get down to brass tacks. This Bill is about providing the electricity infrastructure that we need to build houses to start to erode the deficit in housing provision. If we do not do this, we will not be able to do it. It is that simple. This is an absolutely necessary measure to allow the ESB to put in place the electricity infrastructure that is going to allow houses to come on stream faster and across the whole country. If there was no other reason to welcome this Bill, that would be a good reason to welcome it. I hope the ESB and EirGrid will be able to do that as fast as possible.  I listened to the debate and heard the criticism of, for example, electricity prices. I join with those Deputies. I do not understand why the Commission for Regulation of Utilities has allowed electricity prices to go up as far as they have. I understand there was a peak in generation costs at the time of the outbreak of the Ukraine war. That is no longer there. In fact, with 40% of our electricity generation coming from renewables, I do not understand why we have not dealt with that problem.  We talk about it in the context of the budget and whether or not we should have targeted measures or ongoing supports. Leaving that debate entirely to one side, there is a simple solution to this, and it is to tackle the energy companies about the cost of electricity. It is unjustifiable. Maybe I do not understand and there may be a perfectly good reason, but I have not heard it yet. In the absence of such a reason, we should be going back to the CRU and asking it to explain why it has allowed electricity prices to become as inflated as they have, particularly in the context of our European neighbours. I do not really understand why we have allowed ourselves to become an outlier in that regard. The cost of electricity is something that I hope can be addressed when the infrastructural deficit is addressed by this investment.  Mention has also been made of microgeneration, something that Ireland has been absolutely behind the curve on. Households all over this country are willing to use solar panels or other ways of microgeneration including geothermal, but they are not facilitated by the network to do that in real terms. While it may be technically possible to put electricity back into the grid, there is no real incentive to do it. The unit price that a householder gets for putting it back is negligible even compared with the wholesale price of electricity. That is not going to encourage people to use the facilities at their disposal to feed the electricity generated within their homes, farms, businesses or wherever it might be back into the network to contribute to the overall amount of electricity available.  The other issue I have heard people refer to, including Deputy Gogarty, is long-duration energy storage. That is something that could definitely be a target of infrastructure spending. When we put the target together for the number of electric vehicles on the road, one of the big pluses for me was that we would have cars charging overnight, drawing electricity from the grid and essentially being a national battery for electricity that could then be used during the day when there is a greater demand on the grid. These mobile batteries would be there, having absorbed the excess energy available overnight. I do not know what plans the ESB has for large-scale long-duration electricity storage, but where we have good renewables, particularly in wind, we should be taking that energy and making sure it is there when there is a need for it on an ongoing basis. I would welcome any news the Minister of State might have on the plans within this infrastructure development to increase long-duration electricity storage.  The other issue raised was data centres. I join with my colleagues in their concern about the extent that data centres are gobbling up electricity. I do not agree that we should have a moratorium, but I do not understand why every data centre in this country is not covered in solar panels to begin with. To the greatest extent possible, they should be doing what they can to ensure they are using renewable electricity. I recognise that when they take electricity from the grid, it might be renewable electricity, but they are using electricity that could be used by somebody else, who is then relying on electricity that is not renewable. The greatest concern I have about data centres is that when they do not get enough electricity from the grid, they are relying on on-site diesel generators to feed their electricity needs. That has to be worst possible way to generate electricity, particularly on the small scale of a data centre. We need to take steps as a Government to ensure that data centres are ideally not doing that at all, but certainly to the very minimum extent possible.  Finally, I will make a point on the construction of this Bill. The principal Act referred to in the Bill is the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Act 1954. As I understand it, that Act has been amended 20 times since then. When you pick up the Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025 and look at it, it is illegible. Section 2 will say that section 4 of the principal Act is amended by amending the reference to \u20ac12 billion to a reference to \u20ac17 billion. When you are reading the Bill, that means nothing. It means nothing in isolation. Section 4 has been amended over and over again. In order to understand what this Bill actually says, you have to go back and dig up 20 different pieces of legislation to actually understand section 4 of this new amendment Bill. Why do we not take the original section 4, repeal it or restate it in the new Bill so that somebody reading the legislation can know what it does? Of course, you can read briefing documents, but legislation should be accessible to people. They should not have to trawl through years and years of legislation to find out what it means. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John McGuinness  There will be many families and community groups in my constituency that will listen to this debate and wonder how quickly this Bill has come before us here in the D\u00e1il and note how well supported it has been across all parties and groups. They will then look at the regulations for windfarms. There was a debate here in 2013 and the then Minister was asked for regulations, to level the playing field and to ensure that the voices of communities and individuals were heard. To this day, we do not have the regulations that are necessary to protect local communities and to set out the criteria for the development of these large-scale windfarms. There are problems with these issues in Kilkenny, Carlow and into Laois. Families were here with us in the audiovisual room setting out their positions. They told us some distressing stories and yet there is no regulation.  I asked the then Taoiseach if he would consider a moratorium on the applications that were there so that the regulations could be introduced and applied to any development taking place. I also asked that the huge windfarms, the new technologies and new sized blades and towers could at least be discussed in this House. That did not happen.  Deputy Stanley has a Bill on this issue. I ask the Minister of State to take it and use it on Second Stage to bring about a debate on this issue so that we can come to some conclusions on what needs to be done and plan for the future. We also need to reach out and help the individuals and communities that we represent. It is not just Carlow, Kilkenny and Laois; it is right across the country.  If you drive along the road from Kilkenny to Durrow, you will find that the local communities have windmills behind them, and there are plans for windmills in front of them too. No consideration is being given to their difficulties. In fact, I would say the system is stacked against them because the big companies involved have no problem paying for submissions. However, communities have to pay for the submissions that have been forced upon them. It is dividing local communities and causing mayhem between neighbours. I ask the Minister of State to look at the different options that are there.  Why not look at the nuclear option? Small nuclear plants are being built all over France and Germany. They are not at all the way they used to be. They are an option. We import electricity generated by nuclear plants while we hold the moral high ground and say, \"Oh my God, I wouldn't have those in this country.\" We should stand up, take our responsibility seriously and bring about the change in policy that is necessary to deal with these issues.  I draw the Minister of State's attention to the big energy companies and I will give an example. The energy companies are not treating their customers with respect. They are not showing any degree of compassion. People cannot get in touch with them unless they use the freephone line and queue forever. They could be cut off in the middle of their conversation. If they send an email of complaint, God knows what will happen to it. I followed up one of them today in my constituency office. The phone was cut off. I could not get through on the email and when I finally submitted a third-party authorisation, it was sent back to me because the man signed his name as \"Ger\" followed by his second name, when his name is \"Gerard\". They asked me to get the man to sign the full name, \"Gerard\". These are vulnerable customers who are appealing to big energy companies making huge profits to sort out a meter or help them to pay a bill, or they are asking why a single man in a house would generate electricity up to \u20ac3,000 of a bill. There is something wrong. They will not reach out to the customer, as any other company should and would, to help them resolve the issue and get paid.  Accountability and reporting oversight are critical to this Bill and the money involved and I do not see enough in it to convince me there are conditions that must be met by the companies and that we are serious about value for money and oversight of taxpayers' money.  I turn to the domestic and commercial cost to SMEs. Farmers who pay their bills, in particular dairy farmers, have come to me and said that, in the middle of milking, down goes the electricity. They have a power failure. When they report it to the energy company, they get absolutely zero traction to sort it out. Small businesses are closing because of the cost of electricity and nobody seems to be reaching out to stop companies charging them far too much for electricity.  The number of domestic and commercial customers waiting to be connected is truly shocking. They are getting no respect or response from the big companies. I had an experience on the Hebron industrial estate with a commercial operator. It is impossible to get the answer so that a supply can be arranged and housing provided for those on waiting lists. There is so much to be done. I ask the Minister to please take note of what is being said by me and other speakers, and to act on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Ba mhaith liom comghairdeas m\u00f3r a dh\u00e9anamh le Catherine Connolly, an Uachtar\u00e1n-elect. What I say in this contribution is not directed at the Minister of State; it is directed at the entire system I have been facing ever since being elected to this House. I welcome the Bill and the opportunity it provides. The billions of euro in investment in ESB Networks are badly needed. I am a member of the climate and energy committee and we are constantly discussing how Ireland's electricity system will be developed over the next four years we are in government. This is essential infrastructure. It underpins huge issues we face across Departments, from the housing crisis to economic growth gridlocks and the renewable energy transition. I love how we call it a transition; it is not a transition but the complete scrapping of our current energy system and the building of a new one. We are changing, like the entire world is. This scale of investment, with the hundreds of projects and the substations, has been needed for years. I welcome the funding and the fact the ESB is getting reduced rates. It is helping to secure Ireland's energy future.  We will face huge fines running into billions of euro regarding our energy. That is not 100% confirmed by the EU but if it is the case we need to do everything now. I have spoken about this in the House multiple times. That is why we cannot ignore the wider truths. It is a fact that our energy system is not keeping pace.  I recently visited multiple solar farms across Ireland during the break. The owners and engineers told me they are turning off solar farms because the grid cannot take it due to curtailment. I understand the Bill is trying to tackle that but it needs to be fast-tracked because it does not make sense that we are turning off Irish solar farms to then import, as the previous Deputy mentioned, electricity from the UK that is from nuclear plants and other projects that they have, and buying off them when we have our own solar farms. It does not make sense to the public or to me. It is just bureaucracy and outdated policy. We saw this before with the North-South interconnector. It was identified in 2008 and is still not built. That critical infrastructure is delayed not by technology but by indecision.  When I entered this House, one of the reasons the Ceann Comhairle ruled I was not a Member of the Opposition was that I claimed private wire policy was a win for me and my team. That policy is something I have been working on since January and I met with the OPLA today to review the Bill I am working on. The Bill is for small-scale local issues, to help eco-villages and small industry; it is not going to help big industry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  These small local issues will be the things that help. At the moment, it is not only that there is a housing crisis. Where somebody is waiting for a connection to build houses, if someone else can easily build a solar farm and have a direct line link to those houses, it will speed up everything. Germany, the UK and Denmark are doing it. I understand the Government is bringing forward a policy and I welcome the fact the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, announced that, but it needs to be fast-tracked. When I knock on doors in my constituency, I find people are struggling with energy bills. Private wires will reduce bills because of the demand on the grid being used by big energy. If they can take that off, this will reduce the demand and the cost per unit.  We constantly discuss in the climate and energy committee the curtailment we will face with the ORE being built across Ireland at the moment. It is great to see. There was a \u20ac90 million investment in Cork Port. It was great but many experts say we need to put more than \u20ac90 million in for when these large vessels come in to develop offshore renewable energy projects. To make it as effective as possible, more needs to be going in. I asked two weeks ago for the maritime law to be changed so the Department could put this on. It would be very good if this could be looked at and fast-tracked. If we could build infrastructure at our ports in the west using offshore renewable energy off the coast of my constituency, we could tackle the curtailment, take in the surplus energy, build electrolysis centres with private wires and have long-duration energy. The end goal is being as efficient as possible. No other country has the potential we have on our coasts to build our grid. With this great Bill, which I welcome, it needs to be done correctly. We need experts there. It cannot be brought down by inertia and indecision.  Private wires can play a major role in reducing emissions, cutting connection delays and supporting economic activity. Eco-villages across the country help us decarbonise the data sector while allowing it to grow responsibly. I am well aware 53,000 jobs are directly or indirectly linked to the data centre industry in this country. I will not say the industry needs to be removed. I understand the FDI that comes from it but we need to mitigate the damage it is causing. That is something we can do right now.  Solar farms across the country are waiting 18 to 24 months, on record, for a connection. It is ridiculous that they are built, sitting there and not supplying homes.  I urge the Minister of State and his Department to look into fast-tracking private wires as a simple win for the Government and for our climate, our housing and our entire grid system. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  I very much welcome this Bill, given the urgent need to take active steps towards financing and upgrading our creaking energy grid. If that requires amending an outdated series of rules around ESB borrowing, we should get on and do exactly that.  Clearly there is a need here, if the existing laws and limits go back to the 1950s or the 2000s.  The Bill deals with the current ESB fund of \u20ac13.4 billion for the PR6 investment programme and the construction of the North-South interconnector, which is a critical piece of infrastructure, but my concern is more on the micro level than on the macro level. It is all well and good investing in the grid and energy infrastructure, but what good will that do if we continue having homes in entire communities, and indeed businesses, living with blackouts. If we do not do the simple things right, like cutting back trees that knock down power lines, we are missing the point entirely. A reinforced grid is one thing but maintaining continuity of supply often comes down to the small, local and practical details. Given that the State will grant an additional \u20ac1.5 billion in shares or capital stock in ESB, we also need firm assurances that this level of taxpayer investment will be protected.  I have major concerns around the persistence of moving towards such levels of so-called renewable energy for our grid. I am not at all convinced that the economic, environmental or infrastructural arguments relating to wind energy, for example, are as credible as people think, and I am extremely concerned about the lack of protections for many communities throughout the State. In my constituency of Offaly, I have constituents complaining about infrasound from a wind farm. They are not being listened to. We have no guidelines and we have absolutely no protections for those communities. I have called time and again for a moratorium on wind farms until the guidelines are published but, more importantly, until the guidelines give balance to this whole debate and argument and protect communities and their rights and so far that is not happening. It is shocking to see wind farms being imposed on communities that are completely opposed. I have also had an issue with farms in Offaly where it is affecting animals. Not alone is it affecting the residents, but it is affecting the animals in the fields. I have had reports of livestock having to be moved when a wind farm went into north Offaly. That is not fair. We need a balance between communities and corporate entities.  I will end on electricity prices. As I have stated here previously, giving energy credits, which were welcomed by many struggling households around the State, was letting the energy companies off the hook. Why are the energy companies allowed to continue to profiteer? I call on Government to tackle that issue head on. It has to be tackled. We are all elected here to represent communities throughout the State, not to represent the energy companies. That needs to be tackled and there needs to be fairness.  I ask again for the energy companies to be brought in before the Oireachtas committee on energy and climate. That needs to happen quickly. I have had constituents, including pensioners and ordinary hard-working families who are stretched trying to pay bills and, indeed, businesses, into my offices and I know for a fact that many small businesses have closed because they just were not able to meet the high energy costs.  It is wrong that Government is continuing to sit back and allow the energy companies to profiteer when people and small businesses are struggling. Are we not here to represent the ordinary people and the small SMEs around the State who create huge employment? Is that not our purpose here? My understanding was that was why we were all elected here. It was not to represent corporate entities; it was to represent communities and our constituents. I am calling for Government to tackle this issue of extortionate electricity prices once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am glad to get the chance to talk about this serious and, for some people, emotive matter here this evening.  I welcome the investment by Government in the ESB. It surely needs to improve when we see communities left without electricity for days and weeks in places such as Cordal, Brosna, Gneeveguilla, Glencar and Knocknagoshel earlier in the year because of a storm. I have to mention one aspect of that operation. I want to thank all the workers that put their lives in danger trying to restore the lines, day and night, to get the power going. I have to commend them very highly. ESB management, who were overseeing this and ensuring the workers were out there, refused to make drones available to them to find the outages in dense forestry and terrain that was hardly traversable. If they had the facility of having a drone to go out, check the line and see where it was broken down, it would have saved hours, days and weeks of time for those poor men working hard on the ground trying to rectify the situation. I want the Minister of State to ask why that did not happen in Kerry and why drones were not made available to the crews on the ground. That is one of the questions.  The other problem I have is that we hear this massive sum being invested in the ESB, but what are we doing for our consumers that have to pay so much? I see here a list. Energia imposed a 12.1% increase from 9 October last. Bord G\u00e1is raised its electricity unit rates by 13.5% and its standing charges by 12%. SSE Airtricity prices rose 9.5% and those of Flogas 7%. Why is there such a difference in the first place? Flogas's increase is just half what the others are. There is no law or order, or control, at all here. Pinergy had an increase of 9.83%. Do we have a regulator? Where is he? Did he ever open his mouth? Is he asleep all the time? What is happening the regulator or is he there at all? That is what I am asking. This is the only sector where companies seem to get what increases they want and the poor consumers have to suffer these massive charges.  Many people are cajoled and forced into this situation that they have to use so much electricity. They were told to do this. The building energy rating, BER, rating was forced upon thousands of people that have built new houses by the banks and other lending institutions. They have to have the lowest BER rating and to do that means they cannot have a chimney with an open fireplace or whatever form of heating they desire. This is why they have been forced into electricity only. The Government then will find that when the power goes out, there is no one to help them. Two council houses that I pass every morning when I leave Kilgarvan have been unoccupied for over a year. There was people living in them up until then. The reason is they were selected for complete retrofitting at a cost of over \u20ac100,000. There was nothing wrong with the houses only to paint them up and do a few jobs to them, not to take off the roofs and take out the chimneys which is what is happening. They are gone at 18 occupied houses over in Rathmore now, trying to force people into taking out their little stoves and fireplaces. I had an elderly lady bawling crying on the phone to ask Kerry County Council not to take out her little stove. That is what is happening. There are vacant houses around the place that are not being got ready for reuse or to leave other tenants into them, and they have no place to live at the present time.  Many farmers and others are generating electricity themselves. They were encouraged to produce enough that they could sell it and now we find the grid is only going the one way, bringing electricity to them. The infrastructure is not there to sell the electricity to the ESB. The ESB, in some cases, will only take one third of what they can produce. There is something wrong here and I ask the Minister of State to look at that. It is very serious.  Hundreds of people have been on to me that their power is being turned off and that they cannot pay the bills.  This is what they find when they have these heat pumps that are running all the year round. They were able to carry on themselves and get a few bags of turf or a bag of coal. We appreciate the fuel allowance, but it is not going as far as people need it to go with these exorbitant electricity bills.  I was amazed, when it was made known at the agricultural committee meeting last week, that some of these people who are building commercial anaerobic digesters can get a grant of up to \u20ac5 million from the State. Imagine that. What this is about is meeting our 2030 targets for generation of energy. This is being paid for by taxpayers. It is everything and anything just to meet our targets, regardless of what it will cost. Can you imagine what a \u20ac5 million grant would do for people who are trying to pay the electricity costs they have? In the first place, I think I was the only one who voted against the timing for the 2030 emissions target deadline. I was the only one in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann. Every other man, woman, party, Independent and individual voted for 2030. I did not. I know a lot of people will get hurt and squeezed in between.  I mentioned retrofitting new and occupied houses against the wishes of tenants. I go back to the way people are being forced and encouraged to use electricity. When we realise that the power can go out at any time, we hope that the ESB and Ministers are ensuring that we will not have outages like we had before, when trees were left too close to wires. What has happened until now, whether it happens all the time or not, is when the ESB is told about trees rubbing off wires, it is only allowed to cut them back a metre from the lines. That is not good enough. That is not adequate because tall trees fall the length of themselves onto the wires. I ask for that to be reviewed to ensure no tree is left standing. They should not be left standing along any road either because we see people in cars being killed. These trees are overshadowing wires and roads. That should not be happening.  I again go back to the exorbitant costs and the regulation, which is not there. It is immaterial. While we support the investment, I do not support what is happening to customers. We do not have a regulator. He is not doing his job. It is the Ministers' duty; this is their time in position. They are the Ministers of today. They should ensure the energy regulator gets out and does his job, and gives clarification and transparency to what is happening. Are the energy companies entitled to these increases or are they not? I feel they are not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Alan Dillon)  I also warmly congratulate our President-elect, Catherine Connolly. I wish her the very best in her appointment. Leaving Mayo-Galway rivalries aside, I know she will do a tremendous job. I wish her the very best.  I thank all the Deputies for their engagement in respect of this very important Bill. I appreciate the general support right across the Chamber in that regard. The fact that many Members have contributed to the debate demonstrates the importance and relevance of energy issues. I welcome the broad range of contributions on such wide-ranging issues. I will, most importantly, keep my comments focused on the content and purpose of the Bill.  It is perhaps worthwhile to begin by restating the purpose of the Bill. It is very much focused on creating capital stock in the ESB in return for payment. This will be the mechanism by which the Government will provide the \u20ac1.5 billion investment in the ESB to support critical development of our electricity and grid over the next five years, as committed to in the updated national development plan. This investment will be crucial, as many Deputies said, in modernising, building that resilience and reinforcing our electricity network infrastructure. It will also support the Government's key priorities in infrastructure, housing, competitiveness, investment growth and climate action.  Within that, there will be a robust accountability and oversight mechanism for the expenditure by ESB Networks. Indeed, that will increase significantly in price review 6. The company will be obliged to report to the CRU, on a programme by programme basis, on cost, performance, delivery and the timeline for delivery. The Minister will also require ESB Networks, as part of this investment, to report quarterly on network expenditure, network financing, delivery and debt, which is very important. There will be a clear and transparent reporting mechanism for the Minister. That has been an important theme that needs to be emphasised as part of this. It is also important to recall that the State itself will receive, on a receive-return basis, a return on its \u20ac1.5 billion investment and, as the major shareholder, on ESB profits via payment of dividends. The Government's investment will be complemented by additional privately sourced debt, funded by the ESB, to finance the delivery of the overall price review 6 investment programme. The Bill will ensure that it also provides for the increase in the ESB statutory borrowing limit from \u20ac12 billion to \u20ac17 billion.  This large-scale investment in the grid as part of PR 6 will deliver energy security into the future for Irish families and communities right across the country. It will significantly improve network resilience and future-proof it for generations to come. It will enable the connection of hundreds of thousands of new homes - as I said, we have an ambitious target of over 300,000 homes over the term of this Government - improve connectivity and accelerate the connection of new sources of renewable electricity. It is another important piece of legislation that demonstrates the Government's commitment in meeting our critical infrastructure needs as a State and balancing the needs around housing, economic growth and employment in our economy in delivering the key infrastructure we require.  I will respond to some of the key themes and questions raised by many Deputies. One related to high energy prices. Many Deputies raised their concerns around the impact of these high prices on households and businesses. We fully understand these concerns. Many Deputies will be aware that a number of factors give rise to higher energy costs right across Ireland. One of the principal factors is our current reliance on fossil fuels, in particular, imported gas. We are very much reliant on imported gas, which is particularly vulnerable to price volatility in the international wholesale gas market. We are very much focused on building a more renewable base. Electrification provides a route not just to decarbonising our energy system but also reducing our dependency on imported gas. We, along with many of our neighbours, very much feel the impact of our vulnerability to reliance on gas as our main energy source. We are making great strides in substituting our fossil fuels with indigenously generated wind and solar energy. This journey to a clean energy source is very much part of this programme. Electrification can only be achieved through investment in our electricity grid. That is what we are focused on through this Bill.  In addition, the \u20ac1.5 billion investment in ESB, which the Bill we are discussing will facilitate, will help keep consumer costs associated with the PR6 infrastructure programme to a minimum by ensuring the ESB maintains a high credit rating but also can borrow at low interest rates.  In terms of supporting householders and businesses on the more immediate basis, I again highlight some of the key measures Government is progressing to help current energy costs, including the extension of the reduced VAT rate of 9% on gas and electricity. We also increased the weekly fuel allowance by \u20ac5 from January 2026. That will provide an additional \u20ac140 to over 400,000 households during the annual fuel allowance season. We are extending the \u20ac400 tax exemption from profits from micro-generation of electricity to 2028. We are also providing a range of grants to include solar PV on homes, businesses and farms to make it easier for people to improve their energy efficiencies and produce their own energy. We have also received confirmation from the main energy suppliers that the hardship funds for those struggling to meet their energy costs will also be made available to households over the winter.  Deputies asked how much investment has been allocated in facilitating new data centres. I assure them that price review 6 takes many Government targets into account including the connection of up to 50,000 new homes a year, up to 1 million electric vehicles and currently contracted data centre demand. The programme for Government commits to developing a comprehensive plan to accelerate energy generation connectivity and the planning process. That plan will be guided on the approach around data centres, which provide huge importance within our enterprise system, but we need to provide certainty to the industry when making short- to medium-term investment.  Regarding future grid investment and ESB profits, a number of Deputies asked about grid investment. To date Ireland has invested in the grid at a similar pace to our EU peers, maintaining and upgrading EirGrid as required. Ireland needs to go through a period of change in the use and demand of electricity. Adapting our grid for this increased demand for energy is critical in order to progress our decarbonisation.  I am confident that the legislation before the House today is an important step in future-proofing our grid for generations to come. I acknowledge the significant work of the Attorney General, his officials, and officials from both the Department of Finance and the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation who have worked with my departmental officials here today in drafting this important legislation. I also thank the members of the Joint Committee on Climate, Environment and Energy for meeting officials for a technical briefing in advance of granting a waiver on the pre-legislative scrutiny. I also thank Deputies from all sides of the House here today for their interest and contributions. I look forward to the early consideration of the next Stage of the Bill taking place tomorrow. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Electricity (Supply) (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/54","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/54\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":23,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I will be sharing time with colleagues.  It is clear that the cost of sending children school is rising and pushing more and more parents into significant financial hardship. Budget 2026 has failed to deliver the investment and vision which our education system so desperately needs. The Irish League of Credit Unions has reported that the cost of sending children back to school this year has increased since last year. It says that the costs often reach up to \u20ac1,560 for secondary school students and \u20ac1,450 for primary school students, increases of \u20ac154 and \u20ac364, respectively. These costs are putting extreme pressure on families who are already struggling with the spiralling cost-of-living crisis. Some 27% of secondary and 14% of primary school parents say they have had to use savings while 15% and 8% respectively had to take out a loan or borrow from family or friends to cover the cost of so-called voluntary contributions.  Schools have been left short in terms of an increase in the capitation grant called for by teachers' unions. I am sure the Minister of State is aware that the cost of insurance, heating and energy and the day-to-day running costs of schools across the State have increased significantly. The insufficient increase in capitation funding will leave schools struggling to keep up with their bills. There is no doubt that parents will be relied on to try to make up the difference, to try to subsidise what is supposed to be a free education system. The Catholic Primary School Management Association has warned that parents will face a hike in voluntary contributions to plug funding shortfalls. It estimates that \u20ac54 million would be needed from so-called voluntary contributions to subsidise so-called free education.  Parents also face new expenses for digital devices. The Minister of State will be aware that one in four secondary schools have moved to using digital devices rather than traditional textbooks. One digital device costs an average of \u20ac430 per child. Some parents who cannot afford to pay for the device up-front then pay what the Society of St. Vincent de Paul has dubbed a poverty premium as instalment payments can add up to a higher price. This is pushing those struggling most with their finances into greater debt. Like Terry Pratchett's boots, it is expensive to be poor. To add to this, this year the Government has decided to reintroduce the State exam fee, leaving parents with yet another expense.  In this context of ever-increasing cost to families, we bring forward the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill for Second Stage debate this evening. The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission says that restrictive school uniform policies are stifling competition and driving up costs. In short, it says the Minister's 2017 circular is not working. Our Bill would address this. It would mandate all schools to adopt a cost-conscious uniform policy ensuring clear labelling of optional versus mandatory items to prevent unnecessary spending; multiple retail options for uniforms allowing parents to shop around for best value; minimal use of expensive branded items such as embroidered tracksuits to avoid excluding students from activities; stability in uniform policies so items can be reused or passed down to siblings; support for second-hand uniforms through swaps or sales; and compassionate enforcement of uniform rules where financial hardship is suspected.  Barnardos, the Irish League of Credit Unions, the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and others say costs for parents are increasing and that specific new measures are needed to help them. This legislation will be a good step on that road and the Minister should support it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  We all see it every year: the proud photos of our little ones in their school uniforms standing tall and smiling on the first day back. Those bright faces fill our social media feeds but what the photos do not show are the stress, the struggle and the sacrifice of the parents or guardians behind the camera, the sleepless nights worrying about how to afford it all. For far too many families, 54% of them, going to school is not a joyful occasion; it is a financial burden. Some are forced to cut back on essentials, even food, just to make sure their child has a uniform or a pair of shoes that fit. This is shameful in a so-called modern state.  Uniform costs alone are spiralling. Hundreds of schools have a uniform policy that requires crested uniforms often with only one supplier meaning parents have no choice but to pay whatever price is set. We all know how fast children grow.  Jumpers shrink, jackets get lost and the bills keep piling up. On top of that are the so-called voluntary contributions, estimated at over \u20ac54 million this year, forced on parents because this Government has failed to properly fund our schools. One parent of a child in a secondary school has paid \u20ac272 so far this year for mocks fees, study blocks, lockers and career outings, and that is only by the start of November. This is before uniforms or digital devices are taken into account.  Inequalities keep growing. The Government\u2019s plan for leaving certificate reform risks creating a system where well-funded schools pull further ahead while other schools, starved of investment, fall behind. Even the so-called hot-meals scheme is a postcode lottery. Parents in Clare are calling it a scheme of frustration with poor-quality food. Some schools in Clare are unable to afford even the electricity to heat the meals, and others are unable to access the scheme at all due to procurement and supply issues. Therefore, once again families are left to fork out for packed lunches on the back of empty promises.  Teachers\u2019 unions and parents have been clear: schools need proper funding and increased capitation grants. However, this Government has not listened. Budget 2026 once again fails our parents, our teachers and our schools. When will we see the day when back-to-school photos show not just the smiles of children but also the relief of parents who no longer have to struggle or sacrifice to give their kids a fair start? Let us make that day come sooner rather than later. Let us end the yearly cycle of stress and financial strain. I urge the Minister to support this Bill, stand with children, parents and schools, and support families. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas le mo chomhghleaca\u00ed, an Teachta Darren O'Rourke, as an reachta\u00edocht th\u00e1bhachtach seo a chur chun cinn.  Families right across south Kildare are at the pin of their collar. Week after week, my office receives emails from people who have to choose between heating and food. Scores of working families across the county are at risk of homelessness from rising housing costs because of new Government legislation. Costs keep rising, yet the Government decided to make families even worse off in this year\u2019s budget. On top of rip-off electricity, insurance, food shopping and medical costs, school-related costs represent just one more area where families are being fleeced. Eighty percent of schools ask for voluntary contributions. Many schools are forced to pass the cost of facilities on to parents due to inadequate capitation. Families increasingly have to pay out for digital devices. According to the Irish League of Credit Unions, back-to-school spending is \u20ac364 more expensive this year than last year for primary school and \u20ac169 for secondary school.  Uniforms remain a huge cost for families. We know that certain schools still have uniform policies that require several crested and embroidered pieces, not only on the jumpers, pants and polo shirts but sometimes even on sports clothes and rain jackets. Frequently, a sole local provider has a monopoly over these, and this drives up the price. Schools also need to be directed not to change their uniform policies unnecessarily \u2013 a measure that would help to keep costs down over time.  We also need to consider second-hand schemes and have centralised guidance and support for such initiatives, as provided for in this Bill. Ireland is the second-largest producer of textile waste in Europe after Belgium. We consume 53 kg of textiles per capita per annum, according to www.changeclothes.org , which is more than double the EU average. We have a serious problem with consumption patterns and waste management systems in this country, and there is no doubt that school uniforms represent a chunk of that problem. Anyone with children will know they often need a new uniform every year, sometimes twice in a year, which leads you to wonder what happens to the outgrown uniforms of children who do not have siblings to hand them down to or who simply cannot pass them down due to crests. Chances are they are not recycled. I see real opportunity under this Bill for the Government and schools to take leadership on this issue and allow schools to institute a sustainable model and a mini-circular economy and mindset at community level. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  People across the State have faced successive years of profound financial hardship. In recent years, families have faced significant increases in the cost of the weekly shop, excessive increases in the costs of necessary utilities such as electricity and gas, increases in rent, and \u2013 every August \u2013 the high cost of returning children to school, with school uniforms being one of the biggest costs. The cost of a uniform is not just once off; it is yearly for most families. Children, particularly teenagers, grow out of their uniforms each summer, requiring further investment by parents.  The Irish League of Credit Unions has noted that compared to 2024, costs have increased by \u20ac364 for primary students and \u20ac169 for secondary students. Generally, students wear the uniform four days a week and a school-labelled tracksuit once a week, so parents must buy a tracksuit, at least two school jumpers, two school shirts and two pairs of pants or skirts.  A constituent I spoke to who has one child in secondary school in Limerick outlined the amount he had to spend on school uniforms this August. The school opted this year to redesign the school tracksuit, adding more cost for parents. The father I spoke to advised that he had purchased two school uniforms at \u20ac31 each and one school tie at \u20ac8. He opted to purchase school shirts and grey trousers but not from the recommended provider. He paid \u20ac50 for a school tracksuit top and an additional \u20ac36 for the school-labelled tracksuit pants. He advised he spent nearly \u20ac200 on school attire this year. He remarked that he was fortunate to have only one child in the school at the moment, but that child is a growing teenaged boy, so next year, if this Bill is not introduced, the family will face the same costs again. With the cost of everything in the State spiralling out of control, this is just not sustainable for working families anymore. Parents face high uniform costs and not long after their children return to school, they face the so-called voluntary contribution that schools seek. I do not blame the schools for this; they are cash-strapped themselves.  I was also contacted this morning by a parent of a child who attends primary school in Sixmilebridge, County Clare. The school, she advised, is holding a fundraiser not for anything new and shiny but just to afford day-to-day costs. Parents are worried. Fifty percent of them say they are worried about back-to-school costs, with many relying on loans or savings to purchase essentials. Our Bill provides that only iron-on or sewn-on crests should be required for school attire and that the monopoly in the supply of school uniforms should be ended, allowing parents to purchase required clothing from an expanded number of clothes shops.  The Government has failed to address the funding crisis across schools. It did not increase the capitation grant by \u20ac75, as recommended by unions and other stakeholders, but by just \u20ac50. The burden falls on cash-strapped parents to make up the difference. I ask all Members to support our Bill and provide some alleviation to those families struggling to meet ever-rising school costs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (Deputy Michael Moynihan)  I move amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"That\" and substitute the following:  D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:  notes that the Government:  \u2014 recognises that the cost of preparing children for school each September can be a cause of financial difficulty and worry for many Irish families;  \u2014 is committed to ensuring that schools will adopt measures to reduce the cost of school uniforms and other costs in line with Programme for Government Commitments; and  \u2014 has commenced work to review Circular 32\/2017 which sets out the measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the costs of school uniforms and other costs as noted in Education Plan 2025, and this includes:  \u2014 the establishment of a working group, which includes representatives from the National Parents Council and from the education partners;  \u2014 planned engagement with parents as well as with children and young people to obtain their views; and  \u2014 work to promote uniform swap shops in all primary schools, thereby making uniforms more affordable and supporting sustainability, as committed to in the Programme for Government;  recognises that while decisions on school uniforms are a matter for individual schools and Boards of Management, Circular 32\/2017 already sets out the principles of cost-effective practice to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of returning to school, including:  \u2014 schools are advised that they should select school uniform items which are generic and can be purchased from a range of retailers;  \u2014 only 'iron on' or 'sew on' crests should be used;  \u2014 schools should provide parents with a list of all required items and indicate the likely costs of these required items at best value stores;  \u2014 where an exclusive supply arrangement applies, it should be tendered for regularly; and  \u2014 schools should also consult with parents as to their views on how to reduce costs;  further recognises that the Government has introduced a number of measures to alleviate the costs associated for schools including:  \u2014 \u20ac170 million allocated to provide free schoolbooks for some 940,000 children and young people enrolled in schools in the Free Education Scheme, from the start of the 25\/26 school year;  \u2014 \u20ac39 million secured in Budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding for primary, post-primary and special schools to provide additional financial support towards their running costs;  \u2014 over \u20ac69 million of additional funding allocated to school transport services as part of Budget 2026, and this is to provide for the additional demand for pupils with special educational needs on school transport services and increased bus contractor running costs; and  \u2014 additional funding of \u20ac58 million allocated under cost-of-living measures to the School Transport Scheme, to allow for continued reduced transport fees in 2025;  further notes that the Government is progressing the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill, which will strengthen engagement between schools, parents and students, including on issues such as school costs and uniform policies; and  accordingly declines to give the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025 a second reading.  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in, including Deputy O\u2019Rourke, for introducing this Bill. The Deputy\u2019s motivation is clear and sincere and shows genuine concern for families facing the very real costs that come with the new school year. I share that concern. I am aware that for many parents, the start of the new school year can be financially stressful, with new uniform and transport costs arriving all at once. This is why the Government has made affordability a central focus of our education policy. However, I cannot accept this particular Bill today. This decision is not about rejecting its intent; it is about recognising that we are already taking significant, evidence-based steps to achieve the same goals in a more comprehensive and sustainable way.  As colleagues will know, school uniform policy has traditionally been a matter for each board of management, reflecting local needs and traditions. However, since the publication of Circular 0032\/2017, the Department of education has made clear that schools should take steps to ensure uniforms are affordable and accessible to all families. The circular sets out clear and practical guidelines for schools: uniform items should be generic and available from a range of retailers, not tied to just one supplier; iron-on or sewn-on crests should be used instead of embroidered ones; parents should receive a full list of required items and their likely costs at the best-value stores; exclusive supply arrangements must be subject to regular tendering; and schools should consult parents on how best to reduce costs. These measures aim to make a real difference but we recognise that more can be done. That is why a working group, including representatives from the National Parents Council and education partners, is reviewing Circular 0032\/2017 to strengthen and update it. The group will engage directly with parents, children and young people to ensure the voices of those most affected are heard.  We are also commencing work to promote uniform swap shops across primary schools, helping families to save money while contributing to our wider sustainability goals. This is in line with our commitment in the programme for Government.  The central piece of our education policy is that the school always needs to engage openly with parents and students to listen as well as to inform them. That is the principle at the heart of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill, which is progressing through the Oireachtas and expected to go to Committee Stage before the end of this year. When enacted, this legislation will require every school to consult parents and students on key policy issues and activities. It also sets clear expectations with regard to communications, transparency and respect between schools, parents and students. It will ensure that families are genuine partners in decisions about their children\u2019s education, including how schools manage costs. This is a collaborative approach rooted in trust and responsibility which will achieve far more than issuing a set of prescriptive guidelines.  In respect of broader Government measures to reduce costs, uniforms are one part of the cost burden families face. This is why the Government\u2019s strategy is comprehensively tackling the full range of expenses that come with schooling. This year marks an historical milestone in Irish education policy. From September 2025, all students in the free education scheme, consisting of almost 1 million students and young people, will receive free books and core classroom resources. This represents an investment of over \u20ac170 million and a full delivery of the programme for Government commitment to provide free school books for every child. Schools will manage the provision directly, ensuring resources are used effectively and sustainably. This is one of the most significant steps taken to remove cost barriers in the Irish education system.  In the context of capitation funding, we have also taken major steps to support schools with their running costs. In budget 2026, the Department of education secured \u20ac39 million to increase capitation funding, giving schools greater flexibility to cover running costs and reducing reliance on parental contributions. This includes an increase of \u20ac50 per pupil in primary school and \u20ac20 per pupil in post-primary school. There are additional supports for DEIS and special schools as well. Over the past three budgets, capitation funding has increased by nearly 50% at primary level and 28% at post-primary level. This is a significant uplift in capitation funding.  We also maintain our commitment to affordable and accessible school transport. The school transport scheme, which Bus \u00c9ireann operates on behalf of the Department of education, has expanded significantly over the past six years. The number of children and young people using the service has grown from under 120,000 pupils in 2018 to over 178,000 pupils in 2025, which equates to an increase of close to 50%. Of those 178,000 pupils, over 100,000 mainstream pupils who are eligible for transport are facilitated, as well as more than 49,000 pupils who are receiving concessionary tickets. In addition, in excess of 23,000 pupils are travelling on dedicated school transport services for children with additional needs and more than 5,500 pupils from Ukraine are also facilitated on these services.  Investment in the school transport scheme has more than doubled from \u20ac200 million in 2018 to \u20ac512 million in 2024. This investment is extremely welcome as the scheme and associated costs continue to grow. Deputies will be aware that there have been many discussions on school transport here, at the committee on education and in the Upper House. We are committed to ensuring a further expansion of services in the years to come. In budget 2026, there is an extra \u20ac69 million to meet demand, especially for students with additional needs, and to offset rising operational costs.  The Department of Social Protection issues a back to school clothing and footwear allowance. Payments totalling \u20ac47.5 million to over 126,000 families in respect of over 221,000 children were issued in July 2025. These payments were issued automatically to eligible families who are in receipt of certain social welfare payments. Families who do not receive the payment automatically can apply directly to the Department of Social Protection. The allowance supports eligible families with the cost of school uniforms and footwear ahead of the upcoming school year. It provides \u20ac160 per child aged between four to 11 and \u20ac285 per child aged 12 years and over in second level education. Eligibility for the back to school clothing and footwear allowance was extended in 2025 to include foster care families. The total budget allocated to the scheme for 2025 amounted to \u20ac54.4 million.  This is a Government that acts on the evidence, in partnership with the education community, students, parents and education partners. I thank Deputy O\u2019Rourke and Sinn F\u00e9in for raising and keeping this issue to the fore. Their concerns reflect the concerns of families right across the country and I share those concerns deeply. We are working with schools, parents and students, not around them. I believe the path we are on, through sustainable investment, ongoing collaboration and legislative reform, is the right one. While I cannot accept the Bill, I want to be clear that my Department is working hard to deliver on the Bill\u2019s core intent in a way that is coherent, system wide and enduring. Our aim is simply that no family in Ireland should ever struggle to meet the costs of sending their child to school.  The review of Circular 0032\/2017, the enactment of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill and our measures to provide free schoolbooks, increased capitation for schools and ongoing investment in school transport all form part of a coherent, evidence-based strategy to make education genuinely affordable for all. For that reason, I am asking the House to decline to give this Bill a Second Reading, but I do so while affirming my Department\u2019s total commitment to tackling back to school costs and supporting families in every community in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  I wish to start by saying that I am a strong supporter of schools having uniforms. It takes a lot of pressure off families and it keeps the fashion shows and the competition out of schools. It is a leveller. Every time parents are asked about school uniforms, survey results always say they support a uniform. We are in a cost-of-living crisis and everything is getting more expensive, however. Every September, parents are worrying about the cost of getting their kids back to school. They are using their savings and, in some cases, they are borrowing to ensure costs are covered.  In some schools, we have a situation where there is no competition when it comes to a parent buying a school uniform. We all know the story. Parents get a letter from the school telling them that the uniforms have to come from a specific shop and that no other brand or version is acceptable. That is the case for secondary school uniforms in particular. Parents with a daughter \u2013 I am speaking for myself in this instance \u2013 have to buy a skirt, blouses, jumpers, PE tracksuit and school coats, which are all branded. This costs big money. The Minister of State will understand that these costs add up for parents who have two or three children in that school. That is before we even talk about schools where students need iPads or tablets.  The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, CCPC, looked at this earlier in the year and found that three quarters of schools had branded items that could only be bought from a recommended retailer. The Minister of State and I know that leads to higher costs. A simple way to reduce costs for parents is through giving them more choice when it comes to buying school uniforms. We need to switch to generic jumpers and make iron-on or sew-on crests the norm. Back in 2017, the then Minister issued a circular addressing some of these issues, looking for iron-on crests and generic items, etc. I am absolutely surprised to say that the Minister of State is not supporting the Bill that actually details what was said in 2017. Here we are seven years on and nothing has changed and there is still a massive cost on parents buying school uniforms. This Bill we are debating is very clear. Schools needs to have it written down. It needs to be a proper policy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The report of the Barnardos 2025 back to school survey indicated that the average price of uniforms was \u20ac126 for a primary school uniform and \u20ac119 for a secondary school uniform.  Many parents have just paid out for these uniforms, but they are facing additional costs as well in January. Children grow and play and a lot of the time, these uniforms have to be replaced. That is an additional cost.  I know parents who have had to go to the credit union to get loans to send their kids back to school. They had to borrow money off family or friends to get their kids back to school. I know parents who have had to go to money lenders to get money to get their kids back to school because things are so tight now with this current cost-of-living crisis that every penny or euro counts for the vast majority of people. Think of the parents who are living in overcrowded emergency accommodation. How are they going to wash uniforms? I raise the pressure that is being put on them to get their kids out the door every morning in the proper attire. There are some shops with a monopoly. Parents are paying out vast sums of money when they should have more choice. There should be more flexibility. It should be easy for people to buy uniforms for their children, not putting a barrier of costs in the way. What we are looking to do is to support parents, families and children.  The Competition and Consumer Protection Commission recognises that there is a monopoly and it is costing parents money. Barnardos found that 54% of parents were worried about the cost of their children going back to school. At the same time, schools are worried about their heating bills. Parents are paying out for everything, for example, school transport and iPads that are not being covered by the Government. That was an easy way to take pressure off parents. We are coming forward with solutions for people. The Government should be backing us. We should be working together here. Why does it always put barriers in place when we are trying to support ordinary people? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Denise Mitchell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Denise-Mitchell.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Denise Mitchell  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Every year, families across the State face a financial cliff when the school term begins. Parents are being forced into debt. They are dipping into savings and turning to credit unions just to send their children to school. As we have just heard, they are going to money lenders, unscrupulous ones at that, and getting themselves into huge unsustainable debts. One of the biggest drivers of these costs is school uniforms. In Waterford, parents are telling me the same story each August and September. They are stretched to breaking point. In many schools, families have no real choice when it comes to uniforms. Branded or crested clothing is required, extended even to PE wear and jackets. That includes primary school, driving costs up year after year. This Bill is about tackling that head on. The Bill will place an obligation on the Minister for education to make regulations ensuring every school has an affordable uniform policy, one that recognises the financial pressures facing families. It is about fairness, choice and common sense.  The Irish League of Credit Unions has found that the total back-to-school spend this year rose by \u20ac360 for primary, and \u20ac170 for secondary students. More than half of parents have gone into debt to meet these costs. It is not just uniforms; it is books, digital devices, transport and the voluntary contributions that are anything but voluntary. I have spoken to parents in my constituency clinics this year who are paying hundreds of euro for a single digital device because their child's school has moved away from textbooks. Families with two or three children simply cannot keep up. Others are paying for fuel or taxis because they are excluded from the school transport scheme - a scheme that is supposed to ensure equal access to education but instead leaves rural families in particular footing the bill for long commutes.  For families of children with disabilities or additional educational needs, these costs are multiplied. Between therapy appointments, sensory equipment and specialist materials, they are already carrying a heavier load. School costs should never add to that burden. All of this is happening against the backdrop of a deepening cost-of-living crisis. Groceries, rent, energy, fuel - everything is going up, while wages and supports fail to keep pace. Families are being pushed to the limit and the Government's response has been piecemeal and reactive. It is the same story in every part of the State. People are working hard and doing their best but are struggling to stay afloat.  Schools are feeling that same pressure. They are being asked to do more with less, to fundraise for basic materials, to rely on voluntary contributions to keep the lights on, to keep toilet paper in the toilets because the so-called increases in capitation funding announced in budget 2026 will not take effect until January. Teachers and principals have been very clear. They have been clear with us, and I have no doubt they have been clear with the Government. They need proper funding now, not next year. Tonight's Bill is a modest but meaningful step. It will not solve every problem, but it will make a real difference to families and parents who are struggling. It would ensure schools adopt uniform policies that are affordable and accessible, policies that treat parents with fairness and respect. Families in Waterford and across the State do not need a Government press release about free education. What they need are decisions that actually lower costs, take the pressure off the kitchen table and make schooling genuinely affordable for all families. The Minister of State indicated the Government will not be supporting this Bill, but supporting it would be a really good place to start. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  We are all aware that families are struggling with the cost-of-living crisis. Between spiralling rents, mortgages, energy, food and fuel, the list of ever-increasing bills is growing longer and longer. Each bill puts further pressure and stress on working families. When it comes to their children's education, parents are being forced into more debt in order to cover back-to-school costs. Barnardos carried out a back-to-school report, noting that 54% of parents are worried about costs, as families dip into savings where they have some, get loans and apply household budget cutbacks to pay for uniforms. The Irish League of Credit Unions report highlights that there is a 5% increase on last year in families that are sacrificing food in order to cover costs. That is an absolute disgrace.  I have seen the effects of these bills on families. In my own constituency, a family with both parents working, but with mortgage, food and fuel costs, is still struggling to pay their bills. The added cost of a uniform is even more pressure. When asked about the cost of uniforms, the Minister for education said it was up to schools to offer crests parents could buy and then buy the uniform separately. This is not practical or workable. PE gear adds to the bills. The polo shirt costs \u20ac15 when crested, yet a parent can buy a three-pack with no crest for about \u20ac8 - the same colour as what the school demands but it just has no crest on it. A mother told me:  ... we did have to buy 2 crested t-shirts at a total cost of \u20ac30 and in winter my son will wear the cheaper one when there's no fear he has to take his tracksuit top off. The school jacket which is not even heavy is another \u20ac39 as its crested. It's just a rip off. I hope your party eventually takes power and you might listen to the ordinary person who works, pays taxes and are then fleeced.  These are the words of ordinary working families. A lone parent is being crippled by back to school costs. She wants to know why the Government does not introduce regulations that will ensure uniforms are standardised and made affordable. Sinn F\u00e9in has introduced legislation to place an obligation on the Minister for Education and Youth to introduce regulations governing the implementation of an affordable school uniform policy in school. This is what people want; a Government that is on their side, that cares for working families and will give a helping hand when people need it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for putting this Bill forward. The Labour Party is very happy to support it. For many years, the Labour Party has championed the serious effect that back-to-school costs are placing on families across the country and the serious need to implement concrete support measures. Every family is affected by this, not just the chosen few. However, we stand and debate another topic that has a significant effect on our most vulnerable people in our society. This year's budget is another missed opportunity to show real ambition for Ireland's teachers, children and school communities. It is not enough to make token gestures while ignoring the major issues at the heart of our education system. This is one of those major issues. We should not be in a situation where parents are forced to take out loans, apply for supplementary welfare allowance or for their children to go without. The reality is this is what is happening. These families do not want sympathy or empathy; they want fair and transparent access to everything that others in our society have.  This Bill leads towards the very basic things that children in this country should have access to - school uniforms. I recognise the role and the pride that schools take in their school uniforms. They are part and parcel of the history and of the fabric of each and every school community. Every parent wants to see their child, no matter how young or old, in their school uniform. I think of my own grandmother's house. There are pictures of all of her children and grandchildren on her wall. Apart from only a few, nearly every picture shows each child in their school uniform.  This is no coincidence. The school uniform is an essential element of school life and has been for many generations in this country. However, with this, we must be progressive in our views on school uniforms. In 2017, the Department of education issued guidelines to schools to reduce uniform costs by encouraging the use of generic uniforms with sew-on crests. Implementation, however, has been inconsistent, with many schools insisting on expensive and branded uniforms. When schools mandate crested or branded items of uniform from exclusive suppliers, costs increase further, thereby undermining the principle of equitable access to education. That is the fundamental issue. We talk about education being the great leveller. How can that be if mothers or fathers cannot afford to go out and purchase a branded jumper or shirt for their children? Where is the equity in that? Where does the great leveller come in there? It does not.  We must see a culture change back to second-hand uniforms. That will only be made possible by interventions from the Government. Many people will tell you that it was once the norm. Pieces of uniform, be they school ties or jumpers, were passed down a generation. Unfortunately, it does not happen any more. We must see that culture change.  The back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance is a payment to help families with the cost of school uniforms and shoes. However, the payment is not universal but is means-tested. I speak for all families when speaking on this topic. No family should be put before a means test to access a payment to help with the very basic, in this instance school uniforms and shoes. In the Labour Party our mission is the provision of an inclusive and genuinely free-of-charge system of State-run education. To be totally frank, we can say we created free primary and second level education in this country all we want, but when you step back and analyse it, have we actually? We still have voluntary contributions that are not that voluntary. We have exorbitant school uniform costs. Schools now ask children to have \u20ac500 laptops and tablet devices. Many schools are begging parents to partake in fundraisers every year, placing another burden on parents. However, this is not the school's fault because it is often the case that these fundraisers go towards funding for essential day-to-day running costs, new school equipment or even jerseys for their sports teams.  I welcome recent increases in primary school capitation grants and the roll-out of the school meals programme. However, as I said, if you take one step away and analyse this free primary and second level education system, nobody here can say it is free. Education is our greatest tool for creating a more equal and prosperous Ireland and costs should not be a barrier to any child reaching his or her potential. We must ensure that every child has a fair start and we must cut costs for parents by making education genuinely free. That includes the costs I mentioned previously, including the universal back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance and a ban on voluntary contributions. We must also continue working towards increasing our capitation grants not just at primary level but also at post-primary level.  Parents are doing everything they can to give their children the best start in life but they are being failed by a system that continues, as I said, to demand voluntary contributions, to charge for uniforms and exam papers and, increasingly, as has been mentioned, to require expensive digital devices, such as tablets and iPads. This is not free education. Making the clothing and footwear allowance universal would come at a cost of \u20ac250 million to the State. It would include \u20ac260 for four- to 11-year-olds and \u20ac385 for those aged between 12 and 22 years.  Issues such as these are the fundamental issues that create a stigma within our schools. We must ensure we reduce any cause, or get rid of any cause or possible cause, of bullying within any of our school environments. However, we must be real with ourselves. We have all been in schools. The children without are often the ones targeted. School uniforms should not be another target placed on a child's back.  As was mentioned previously, data from the Irish League of Credit Unions revealed in August that parents are now spending over \u20ac1,450 per primary pupil and \u20ac1,560 for those in secondary school. One in three families are being forced into debt to cope with the financial burden. It is absolutely unacceptable that 35% of parents say they have had to deny their child at least one essential item. This is not just about cost. It is about fairness and dignity for children. No child should be left behind because their family cannot afford the basics.  Along with this, there are other clear actions that the Government could introduce. We could permanently abolish exam fees and we could make school transport free for everyone with a \u20ac27 million investment. We could ban voluntary contributions and increase capitation grants by a further 20%. We could also ensure that home economics students get the same ingredients support that exists for woodwork and metalwork. Education should be a right, not a burden. The Labour Party's proposals are constantly practical, costed and achievable.  The Society of St. Vincent de Paul's regional co-ordinator in Cork, Mr. Cormac O'Sullivan, said that back-to-school costs season is very busy for them. He said:  We\u2019ve seen an increase in calls in the last [number of weeks], and it\u2019s only going to get busier now as we get through August. SVP has been advocating for the last 15 years for free schoolbooks, so it\u2019s great that this year both secondary and primary schools are both receiving free books. However, we're seeing an increase in people looking for help to buy technology, laptops and tablets. The books are free but now many schools are expecting students to have devices, which is quite a big expense for parents. It's not mandatory to have them, but there's an expectance there, and kids don't want to be the only one in a class without one. We've also seen an increase in people looking for help to buy uniforms. The back-to-school allowance is there, but it's not enough to cover everything. Those are the two main expenses, but SVP is conscious that the school year doesn't stop in September. There are costs associated throughout the year, and we'll get a lot of calls for assistance on those too.  Those additional costs include voluntary contributions and school trips. Mr. O'Sullivan went on to say:  For the [transition year] students, there's big pressure on parents to be able to fund overseas trips. We're asking schools to put in place a suitable alternative for people who just can't afford that.  Barnardos in August published the results of its back-to-school survey, which showed that 50% of primary and 60% of secondary school parents were worried about meeting costs this year. Some 27% of secondary and 14% of primary school parents across Ireland said they have used savings to meet back-to-school costs, while 15% of secondary and 8% of primary school parents said that they have taken a loan out or borrowed from family or friends.  The Zurich cost of education 2025 survey, based on information from 1,900 respondents, put the estimated cost of sending a child to primary school at \u20ac1,442, an increase of \u20ac30 on last year's report, and a lifetime cost of \u20ac12,920. That is our free education system.  In August, I read about back-to-school costs for one parent, Ms Claire O'Rourke, who lives in Glasnevin in Dublin. I read about her in The Irish Times . She came up with a figure of about \u20ac800 per month for four children. That figure applies every month during the school year. In her article, she included that one of her daughters' schools favoured iPads over schoolbooks. They had to be bought from a particular supplier at a cost of \u20ac604. When speaking about school uniforms, she referenced the new PE kit the school has introduced. It cost \u20ac117.50 for one child. She went on to speak about exam fees, extracurricular activities, voluntary contributions, school transport and school lunches. These are all what we would consider basic and part and parcel of free education.  Every year, parents contact public representatives about the costs associated with going back to school. One parent told me in August that they would not pay gas or electricity bills in August but would borrow, take out a loan and use instalments to get as much as they can for back-to-school items. They said they would go into debt until March the following year before it was all paid back and the situation would repeat again in August. They said they are worried about whether they can keep it up, year after year.  These are real-life examples. They are particular examples from associations such as Barnardos and the Society of St. Vincent de Paul, which are constantly advocating for and meeting families who are coming to them for help. No family should be going into debt, skipping meals or turning off the heating or lighting to cover basic needs such as school uniforms. No child should have to go through the plight of not knowing whether they will have every piece of school uniform every year. I am extremely disappointed. I would normally work with the Department on this, but I am extremely disappointed that the Department has not taken this Bill on board. It is legislation we could all have worked on together. It is disappointing. For the end of my speech, I have written, \"I urge you to support this motion.\" However, there is no point in saying that now because the disappointment is there now. It is felt in the pocket of the people who have to pay for their children to go back to school every year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I welcome the Sinn F\u00e9in Bill and thank that party's Members for their work on it. The use of school uniforms is often debated by parents, patrons and researchers. Some people love uniforms and others do not.  The Social Democrats support this Bill, however, if the Ceann Comhairle will indulge me, I will speak about having school uniforms in the first place. I will not take up too much time on this but Ireland is one of only three countries in Europe that has uniforms in our State schools. The other countries are the UK and Azerbaijan. Other countries may have school uniforms and it varies depending on whether they are private schools or there are particular reasons but most do not in their state schools.  I researched this issue during my doctoral work and when I worked as a youth worker and in a school completion programme. Uniforms are a huge cause of discomfort for people. The main reasons are that for children and young people with sensory issues, uniforms are often very uncomfortable and are very itchy. They are not practical for girls, in that uniforms might have very long or very short skirts and are not very practical in cold weather and for cycling. However, that is not a reason that if we do have a school uniform that it is not then affordable. I will come to that part and I am not dissing this Sinn F\u00e9in Bill at all. I am just saying that uniforms are important for people and if we have them, that is fine but there might be an alternative.  Uniforms cause a huge amount of difficulty for some students because they forget items. The Bill does deal with the fact that we have to have uniforms but there needs to be a practical understanding from schools on how to implement their policies. I often worked with young people with regard to attendance. I worked in the school completion programme where attendance was a big thing. What we would find was that a young person would eventually get to school after being suspended due to behaviour, or after a long absence, only to be told they were wearing the wrong colour shoes, the wrong tie or they forgot this or that. That is ridiculous because the child is sent home to get the proper uniform. Schools need to be practical about this. Yes, uniforms are extremely expensive. Some people might forget them but others may not have them. Where I am coming from, and this is where it speaks to Sinn F\u00e9in's Bill, some children and young people do not have the uniforms because they are just so expensive. On that basis, a family cannot afford to replace the tie. The easiest part of the school uniform to get lost is the tie. They do not know where it is. It falls down the back of the radiator or wherever but it is gone. It is expensive to replace it. I do not know why school uniforms need to have a tie in the first place but that is probably a side part of this.  School jumpers, as has been said by many, are very expensive. Students grow out of them, they lose them, they get holes in them, somebody else take them or whatever. Schools have to have a practical way of dealing with this. Having generic uniforms, if they have to have them, is so important.  Recently I had students from Clogher Road Community College in. They were doing leaving certificate applied, LCA, work experience with me. I asked them to do a project on what their ideal school would be. They had a long list and one of the things they had on the list was no school uniform. They do not have a uniform in the school they go to but they were both in schools previously where they did have a uniform. They feel much better in themselves not having to wear a school uniform.  My last point on this, before I go back to the substantive part, is I know people argue that if we do not have a school uniform, it can lead to competition as to what clothes students wear. School culture is very important in this. I have been involved in multi-denominational schools for a long time and what I found was that there is no uniform in those schools but there is not that competition and the reason for that is that the students kind of have their own uniforms, which is leggings and a hoodie or jeans or tracksuit bottoms and a hoodie. They fall into what it is and there is not that big competition.  However, this Bill is about the cost of living and supporting families in a situation where it is so expensive to put their children through our free education system. As previous speakers said, this is where the problem is - it is not free. I have mentioned Circular 32\/17 several times in the D\u00e1il because I thought I might have imaged that circular came out because nothing ever seems to have happened about it. I was delighted when it came out for the kids we supported in our project. All school completion programmes and all schools working in disadvantaged areas have a bank of uniforms in case somebody forgets something. In our project, Ballymun Anseo School Completion Programme, we had a washing machine and dryer so we could wash uniforms. We had a stock of uniforms so we could replace them for families who could not afford to replace them themselves. We had the facility to wash and dry uniforms, if that was necessary. Sometimes if a student only has one uniform and if that uniform gets dirty on a Monday in the yard or during sport, it will be dirty for the remainder of the week because he or she does not have a second one. When a uniform is really expensive, it is hard to replace it. If they were generic, it would not be as hard to replace them. Previous speakers said that if the polo shirt is a generic that can be bought anywhere, that is great but if it is an expensive one, a family might have one or might have none.  If we have circulars and there are things set out by the Department that schools are supposed to do and they are not doing them, what is the consequence? What is the point in somebody in the Department of education writing a circular, saying this is what we want the school to do but then it does not happen? What role does the Minister of State have in making sure that happens because this Bill would not have had to have been brought forward if what was set out in the circular was being done? The circular said uniforms should be generic, practical and the costs for families should be reduced as much as possible but yet all we hear this evening is that this is not the case. We have a situation where school uniforms are expensive and families are struggling and coming to the end of August and beginning of September, they are thinking about what they will do if there is not that culture within the school to have swaps when students grow out of things. I think a lot of schools are doing that and getting used to the idea but there are schools that are not because people are contacting us asking us if this can be brought in and asking if anything can be done.  Students have to have uniforms, tablets and books. I am constantly puzzled that they have to have tablets and books. There are exam costs, voluntary contributions, which really are not voluntary in some cases, and other costs associated with going to school such as lunches. I know there are free lunches but not everybody eats the free lunches. If education was truly free, there would not be costs for any of these things.  We have one in five children living in poverty. The reality is that we have the Society of St. Vincent de Paul delivering food and we have food banks. We have families who go to different places to pick up food every single week. Uniforms are the last thing they can deal with or else uniforms are the thing they focus on because they know it is the thing that will draw attention to the student, in that they are different and are not the same as everybody else because they do not have the school uniform or the uniform is dirty. What it means is they buy the school uniform but then they do not have any other clothes because it is either-or. It sounds like we are talking about the 1980s or previous times but we are not. This is 2025 and this is happening for families.  What I and the Social Democrats are saying is that if we want to have free education in this country, which we keep saying we want to have, it will not be free as long as we have these costs that cannot be kept down to a minimum. It is so easy to do that but it needs to be policed. Not only do uniforms need to be affordable but they need to be comfortable and practical. Girls wearing shorts or shirts that are down to their ankles or up to their knees or wherever is not practical. How are they supposed to cycle? They will not cycle in a skirt that goes up to here or is down to their ankles. It is dangerous and they will not feel comfortable in it. How will a transgender child wear a uniform that is assigned to one gender or the other? There has to be flexibility in that.  In regard to having items that are compulsory and items that are not, some schools I have been involved in have had a tracksuit but the tracksuit did not have the iron on crest but rather the crest you have to buy and that is the problem because they are the expensive things.  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing this Bill forward. I echo my colleague from the Labour Party in saying I am disappointed the Government cannot see that this Bill has to be brought forward because what was already set out in that circular is not happening. When the Government implements things, it needs to follow up on them. It is really important. We are trying to make the lives of young people easier and make it easier for them to learn.  In regard to children with additional needs, uniforms need to be practical for those students as well because it is really important they are comfortable and do not have sensory overload from uniforms that are itchy or uncomfortable. I am disappointed the Government will not support this Bill. The Social Democrats will support it.  It is important that any family sending their children to school should not be going to a loan shark, a credit union, a bank or other family members to be able to just have this basic thing, which is being able to send their children to school knowing they are not going to go hungry themselves or that their children will not go hungry, or that the children would be shamed because they do not have the uniform because they cannot afford it. I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing this Bill forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing forward this very important Bill. I fully support the Bill, which would mandate all schools to adopt a cost-conscious uniform policy. As a parent, I have seen the cost of school uniforms increase massively over the years. It used to be the case that not so long ago we would have been able to buy one or two branded items such as a school jumper or a school tie. Other items such as polo shirts, trousers or shoes could be bought at any shop if they were the right colour. This allowed multiple retail options and allowed parents to shop around for the best value, or even to shop second-hand sometimes. That option is increasingly being taken away as more and more schools introduce expensive branded shirts, track suits, bags, coats and PE gear. Uniforms are supposed to signify unity and equality but now they just mean another additional cost for families when there is a cost-of-living crisis going on. It costs between \u20ac40 to \u20ac50 for one secondary school jumper now. I have three children that were at high school in the past 18 months and I know for a fact that one jumper per child does not happen. A family is paying for multiple jumpers because they go through them and they do not last a year. It costs hundreds of euro just to put a uniform on them that has to be changed and adapted as winter comes and again as spring comes as children grow. If a family has multiple children, they are paying far more. School uniforms cost an absolute fortune for middle-income earners but for low-income earners it is an entire week's wages that comes out of that family's costs just to put a uniform on their child's back.  A circular published just eight years ago by the then Minister for Education included measures to be adopted by schools to reduce the cost of uniforms and other costs. The circular, which the school authorities were expected to adopt, included the following principles for cost-effective practices: all elements of school uniform should be part purchased from various stores; the iron-on or sew-on crest should be used; whenever possible generic rather than branded items should be specified; parents should be provided with a list of all required items along with the costs of these required items; and the schools should consult with parents on their views and suggestions on the reductions of the costs of these uniforms. The template questionnaire that would address the cost-effective practices should be sent out to parents once every three years. As a parent I have not seen that. The boards of management should review this annually. As a member of a board of management, I have never seen this. It was stated that the schools should implement this circular from September 2017 onwards. Anyone who has school-age children will know that these proposals were not introduced in most schools. In fact, schools seem to be going in the other direction. In recent years more and more schools have turned to expensive branded options under the guise of promoting equality and inclusivity. The reality is that it just causes additional stress to parents and it has resulted in the exclusion of students who in some cases have not been allowed to take part in activities without school-branded clothing. It is a ridiculous situation that students are actually being excluded as a result of a school uniform policy. It completely goes against the intentions of the uniform in the first place. Students are also subject to harsh disciplinary action when not adhering to school uniform policy. The fact is that schools themselves do not seem to be adhering to Circular 0032\/2017 regarding school uniforms. One of the key proposals of the school uniform was to create a more focused educational environment and reduce distractions. It completely defeats the purpose when students are penalised for something as small as a white stripe on a pair of shoes or for their tie being tied up the wrong way. This puts focus on the appearance of students and not on their educational environment.  Because school uniform policies have changed so much over the years, in many cases items can no longer be reused or passed down to siblings. This means that parents are forced to buy brand new uniforms all over again with the expense to the family. How are parents expected to cope in a cost-of-living crisis? Back-to-school costs are astronomical. The Irish League of Credit Unions found that one in three parents now say that they get into debt covering their children's school costs when they go back to school in August and September. Over one third of parents say they are forced to deny their child at least one item when going back to school. Instead of two \u20ac50 jumpers, it is now one \u20ac50 jumper and the student has to make sure that this jumper is as good as new every single day or washed. It now costs on average \u20ac1,450 for primary school parents and \u20ac1,560 for secondary school parents to send their children to school. Families simply just cannot afford this. They are squeezed from every angle.  On top of this, for families in Donegal and across the country the defective concrete crisis is adding an unbearable cost to this desperate situation when these kids are living in crumbling homes. Their parents are trying to heat these homes and pay their mortgage. They are being squeezed to death and they cannot pay for these uniforms. Many homeowners face impossible decisions while trying to pay their mortgage. What will they do: pay the mortgage in September or put a uniform on their child's back? They are choosing to put the uniform on the child's back and then the banks have the cheek to come and chase them for their house.  Given that the 2017 circular was completely ineffective in addressing this cost of uniform,s it is clear that this Bill is needed to promptly address this issue to support struggling families. I urge the Government to support Sinn F\u00e9in's Bill and to address the increase in back-to-school costs for hundreds of thousands of families across Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ken O'Flynn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ken-O'Flynn.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ken O'Flynn  I support the Bill not because it is a radical idea, but because it is basically decent. No parent should go into debt to send a child to school or to educate their children. This Bill only exists because the Government has failed in the most fundamental of duties to make education genuinely free and fair. We have heard many times that Ministers roll out free books, free books and free books, but parents are still being hit with hidden charges. Many schools today had contacted families earlier this year telling them, or forcing them, to purchase electronic tablets costing up to \u20ac600 per child. Let us imagine being the parent hit with that charge in August and September while having the additional cost of \u20ac1,400 to \u20ac1,600 on a uniform.  On top of that we have the so-called voluntary contributions, which are anything but voluntary these days. I have met school principals the length and breath of this country who are begging parents simply to keep the lights on in their schools and to pay the insurance costs. The facts are stark. An analysis of 707 schools shows that heating costs are up 83% since 2019, water and refuse bills are up 51%, accounting and auditing costs are up 58% in schools and the cost of management systems is a staggering 199% increase. The average primary school faces a deficit of \u20ac17,000 in day-to-day running costs while the Minister of State and Ministers parade around claiming that Irish education is free. That is a falsehood. It is not free. It is a lie that is told by comfortable people to the struggling families of this nation.  We have schools that cannot pay their energy bills but the same Department seems to have an endless and bottomless pit of money available for ideology and teaching nine-year olds about transgenderism and social theories instead of maths, science and literature. That is not education; that is indoctrination. This is what the Department is doing. Parents did not vote for their children to be used as social experiments. Families in Cork, Mallow, Glanmire, Little Island, and Ballincollig want everything that we had as children growing up. They want the basics done right. They want heat in the classrooms, affordable uniforms and education that is real learning that will put their children in a place where they are available for the jobs of tomorrow. They want their taxes spent on teachers. They do not want it spent on consultants and PR campaigns about inclusivity. What they really want is nothing more than getting the basics right so their children are able to leave school, go on to third level education and secure a future in this country. The Government is drunk on the nectar of self-congratulation while ordinary parents in this country are running on empty.  The truth is the Department of education has lost touch with classrooms. It governs by press release, with parents left in the lurch and left to feel the pain over and over again. Most parents facing the summer holidays are thinking about how they will pay the bills when schools return in August and September and what other hidden charges there might be. I support the Bill not as a gesture but as a rebuke to the Government. It takes the Opposition to remind it that the Minister for Education and Youth and her Department should serve families, not lecture them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  This is smart, fair and deeply necessary legislation that puts families first. For too long, the cost of school uniforms has placed an unfair burden on parents. According to Barnardos, back-to-school costs now average \u20ac725 for primary school pupils and \u20ac1,100 for secondary school. That is not just a statistic; it is a crisis. Families are dipping into savings, taking out loans and making impossible choices just to send their children to school. The Bill is a practical response to that reality. It requires schools to keep uniforms simple and affordable, allow parents to shop around and not be tied to one expensive supplier, offer second-hand options and show compassion when families are struggling. We must stop punishing families for sending their children to school. The cost of uniforms should never be a barrier to education. The Bill puts fairness first and helps to make school more equal for every child.  We also must discuss voluntary contributions, which are, in fact, anything but voluntary for many families. Despite increased capitation funding, schools are still relying on these contributions to cover basic costs such as classroom materials, IT upgrades and extracurricular activities. Some parents are being asked for anything from \u20ac140 up to \u20ac550 per child, with 80% saying those requests do not feel optional. Schools, too, are under pressure, with the funding they receive often not stretching far enough. However, we cannot allow that gap to be filled by guilt-tripping parents. No child should be excluded, embarrassed or disadvantaged because his or family cannot afford a voluntary payment. Capitation rates must be increased further, a code of practice should be introduced for voluntary funds and we must ensure transparency and fairness in how schools communicate with families.  Affordability in education does not stop at uniforms. I have long advocated for better support for apprenticeships and trades. We need to stop talking about trades and start investing in them. Our young people deserve real pathways to skilled work, not just promises. We in Independent Ireland believe in expanding modular training programmes, increasing SOLAS and ETB capacity regionally and offering incentives for completion, including local placement guarantees. This is especially urgent when we consider the cost-of-living crisis and the heartbreaking number of children and parents experiencing homelessness. Education should be a ladder out of poverty, not another rung that is out of reach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I welcome the Bill and thank my colleagues in Sinn F\u00e9in for bringing it forward. We will support the Bill because it is about simplicity. The more simple we keep uniforms and the whole back-to-school experience, the cheaper it will become for families. In Mayo, as throughout the country, families are struggling. September brings significant financial fear due to all the costs associated with going back to school, including the cost of uniforms, shoes, warm coats, schoolbooks and, increasingly, IT equipment. I spoke to a family recently who spent almost \u20ac1,500 on a tablet for their child entering first year. That is an incredible amount for this family to have to find. It is a very challenging situation for parents. School transport is another big factor. Likewise, the not so voluntary school contribution is causing great difficulty for families. It is causing difficulty for principals as well as they are forced, in effect, into becoming debt collectors. It is totally unacceptable.  The back to school clothing and footwear allowance is welcome and positive. However, it appears the Minister is rejecting this Bill on the basis of citing that provision. This is totally unacceptable. The allowance often gets diverted into food, heating and all those other costs. The Bill reduces the cost of going back to school. Who could be against such a measure? In some cases, parents are told they must, for example, buy a branded jumper, shirt and skirt. The branded nature of such clothing, which may include embroidery, means it may be double the cost of non-branded items. A jumper that might cost \u20ac20 instead costs \u20ac60 or \u20ac70, which is totally unreasonable and unfair.  The Bill is a positive measure. Clear labelling, for instance, is a positive measure. Often, students will come home and tell their parents they need a particular jumper. It is a good thing to ensure parents know what is mandatory and what is optional. Minimal use of branded items is another positive measure. Crested jumpers are typically more expensive than non-crested ones. Reducing the exclusive nature of uniforms will allow a greater number of providers and suppliers into the marketplace. I spoke to many families last September who were, in effect, forced to purchase uniforms from one or two suppliers. Competition is a good thing. The Bill will promote competition in the market and reduce costs for struggling families.  The promotion of the second-hand clothing option is a wonderful measure. Ireland is second highest in Europe for textile waste, with, on average, 53 kg of textile waste per person. That is double the European norm. Would it not be a great thing if schools were front and centre in promoting the use of second-hand clothing, hand-me-downs and reusable items? When I lived in America a number of years ago, I found the concept of the thrift shop to be a great thing. Many of my American friends would talk about the great deals they got in a thrift store. Assisting schools to promote reusing uniforms is a positive measure. Of course, it can only really happen if we enable a greater use of generic uniforms. That is the key. Regional towns with a number of schools would see a movement of uniforms across those schools. That would be a positive development.  We will support the Bill. I am disappointed the Minister seems to be opposing what is a very simple and practical measure to reduce the cost of sending children back to school. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  I welcome this debate on an issue with which we are all very familiar, either as parents or as public representatives. Back-to-school costs are a major source of anxiety for parents every year, particularly when uniforms demanded by some schools are at the higher end of the cost scale. It was noted on First Stage that the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission and Barnardos have indicated that back-to-school costs average \u20ac725 for primary school and \u20ac1,000 for secondary school pupils. It is concerning that just 14% of respondents to the Barnardos survey said their school had an affordable school uniform option, while 92% said their school required crested or branded uniform items.  My concern in respect of the Bill is that unless we are very careful, we may end up producing the very situation we are trying to avoid in terms of costs.  For example, what would happen when in determining the threshold costs for a school uniform, we arrived at a cost that was more expensive than the traditional cost for any given school? While a standardised series of costs may end up reducing expenses for some parents, it may actually increase expenses for other parents.  We need to be very careful about how we approach this issue. That being said, I will support the Bill because as the issues arise, I know we will have the opportunity to amend on Committee Stage, if necessary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Robert Troy)  The Minister again thanks Deputies O'Rourke, Clarke and \u00d3 Laoghaire for bringing forward this Bill and for giving the House an opportunity to debate an issue that affects many families in the country. The Deputies' concern for affordability in education is both genuine and shared across this Chamber. We may differ on the mechanisms, but not on the principle. Every child deserves to go to school without cost being a barrier and no parent should feel financial pressure simply because they want to give their child the best start.  I recognise, as the Deputies do, that the start of each school year can bring financial strain. School-related costs tend to arrive at once and for many families, that creates real pressure. That is precisely why the Government has made affordability a cornerstone of our education policy and why we have already taken major, practical steps to address the very issues raised in this Bill. Our approach has been to implement comprehensively instead of in a piecemeal way, to support families in a sustainable way and to embed affordability across the education system. Through the review and strengthening of Circular 0032\/2017, which relates to back to school costs and includes school uniform costs, we are ensuring schools adopt effective measures to make school uniforms affordable, from using generic, widely available items to promoting swap shops and removing exclusive supplier arrangements. This is a key action in the education plan 2025. Crucially, we are doing this in partnership with parents and students. The working group, established by the Department of Education and Youth to review the circular, includes representatives from the National Parents Council and other education partners. It will engage directly with families and young people to hear their views on how best to reduce the back to school costs.  The Government believes that the best policies are built with communities, not simply imposed on them. We believe that our approach acknowledges the responsibilities of all people in our children's lives, parents and school staff alike, to support the quality of their teaching and learning in schools. It also acknowledges our responsibility as a Government to support our school communities in working together in the best interests of children and young people. That is why the Minister, Deputy McEntee, intends to progress the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019, which will, for the first time, make it a statutory duty for every school to consult with parents and students on all key policies and activities, not just on school uniforms. The charter Bill aims to embed transparency and respect among all members of school communities. It will make clear that parents and students are not passive recipients of decisions but genuine partners in shaping them. The Bill will also replace section 28 of the Education Act 1998 with a new section 28. Working with other provisions of the Bill, this amendment will ensure that all schools will be required to have, and implement, standardised complaints procedures for parental complaints and complaints from pupils and students.  The charter guidelines, which will be developed in consultation with education stakeholders, will set out the details of the grievance procedures. These will focus on dealing with complaints efficiently, effectively and, insofar as possible, informally. The overall approach of the charter Bill is to move away from reacting to problems in schools after they arise to an early intervention approach that aims to improve the day-to-day experience students and their parents can expect from schools. In doing so, it is envisaged that the number of complaints in schools should reduce. We are not stopping there.  Uniforms are just one element of the overall cost of schooling. That is why our response has been, and will continue to be, comprehensive. From September of this year, every child and young person in the free education scheme - almost 1,000,000 students - will receive free school books and core classroom material. This is an investment of \u20ac170 million per year. It represents the full delivery of a major programme for Government commitment. Families will no longer be asked to buy books or pay book rental fees. Schools will handle provision directly, ensuring every euro is spent efficiently and effectively. This is one of the most significant cost reduction measures every introduced in Irish education.  We are also giving schools the means to manage their own costs more sustainably. In budget 2026, the Department of Education and Youth secured \u20ac39 million in additional capitation funding for schools. This includes an increase of \u20ac50 per pupil at primary level, an increase of \u20ac20 per student at post-primary level and enhanced supports for DEIS and special schools. These are substantial increases. Capitation funding has increased almost 50% at primary level and 28% at post-primary level over the past three budgets. This ensures schools can cover essential running costs. We have also ensured the cost of getting to school remains manageable. An extra \u20ac69 million in budget 2026 has been allocated to meet rising demand and transport costs. We have seen a particular increase in demand for school transport for pupils with special educational needs and we are delighted to be able to offer this service for free to these students.  In addition, \u20ac58 million in cost of living supports for 2025 allowed us to continue the reduced transport fees introduced in recent years for children and young people accessing the mainstream transport service. As a result, families are benefiting from the following fees in this school year: \u20ac50 per primary pupil; \u20ac75 per post-primary pupil; and a family cap of \u20ac125. These measures have made a tangible difference in easing the back-to-chool costs and ensuring access to education is not limited by geography or income. The hot school meals scheme is an important component of policies to encourage school attendance. It provides free, nutritious meals to children during the school day. It helps families reduce the cost of school-related expenses while also supporting children's health and learning. The hot school meals scheme was extended to all primary schools during 2025. This means that in total, 3,200 schools and 550,000 children are now eligible for the hot school meals scheme.  The Government's position is clear and grounded in evidence. We are not opposing this Bill because we disagree with its goals; we are doing so because these goals are being achieved in a more integrated and effective way. We are addressing back to school costs at every level through updated guidance for schools and school uniforms, direct engagement with parents and students, free school books, enhanced capitation and affordable transport. We are doing so as part of a coherent policy framework that promotes equality, sustainability and fairness across our entire education system.  In closing, I again thank the Deputies for their commitment to this issue and for the constructive debate we have had. Their concern reflects the concerns of families right across Ireland and those are concerns I share deeply. However, I believe the path we are on through sustained investment, meaningful consultation and evidence-based reform is the right one. It is delivering results and it will continue to do so. The review of Circular 0032\/2017, the enactment of the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill 2019 and our broad package of cost reduction measures together form a coherent, joined-up strategy to make education genuinely affordable for all. For that reason, while I respectfully ask the House to decline to give this Bill a Second Stage reading, I do so with a firm commitment that this Government will continue to act decisively, compassionately and in partnership with parents, students and schools so that no family in Ireland will have to struggle to meet the cost of sending their children to school. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  The Minister has taken a disappointing approach. Back in 2011, I recall discussing the affordability of school uniforms in this House with Ruairi Quinn, the then Minister for Education and Skills. Unfortunately, at that time, we failed to convince him and probably more importantly, the officials at that time this was the way forward. If we cast our minds back to that period, we were in the middle of an economic crash. Families were finding it extremely difficult to try to pay for school uniforms. Despite the positive reforms that the Minister of State has outlined relating to school books etc., when I talk to them, families, and particularly poor families, are finding it almost impossible to try to pay for these school uniforms.  We all know the stories of the debt collectors and money lenders. This particular time of the year is probably the worst time for families. With Christmas coming up, this is the time when they go to the money lenders. It also happens in July and August when their children are going back to school. The debate I had with Ruair\u00ed Quinn at that time was on the cost of education. The Minister of State has outlined certain reforms that have been initiated. I do not think he is trying to tell us that it is not expensive for families to put their children through the education system. I do not think he is trying to say that here tonight. However, what we are trying to do tonight with this reform is bring a bit of reality into the room. I accept that the cost of school uniforms does not affect everyone. One of the arguments made in 2011 was that there was no demand at the time from some elements. However, some elements can actually afford to do it but others cannot. That is the point we are making. One of the speakers here tonight was talking about some of the initiatives in certain communities in relation to what is happening. The approach taken by the Minister is disappointing. It seems we have not learned from the past number of years. It is really disappointing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Dessie Ellis","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Dessie-Ellis.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Dessie Ellis  In most primary and post-primary schools, school uniforms are mandatory. School uniform policy is generally decided by each individual school's board of management. Increasingly, the cost of uniforms has become a significant concern for many families. This proposed legislation addresses these concerns and outlines a number of ways for schools to offer more cost-effective options for parents.  While we are being critical of their cost, we accept that school uniforms can have beneficial effects. They can promote a sense of pride, self-confidence and a feeling of belonging. They can contribute positively to a student's overall well-being. There is a belief among many teachers that school uniforms can help to prevent bullying as well. School uniforms also offer a practical and convenient solution to parents because they make the decision on what to wear going to school an easy one. It eliminates socioeconomic distinctions among students and removes the possibility of students being discriminated against based on their clothing. However, the cost of a child's uniform can quickly add up, especially if they are required to have a blazer, a tracksuit and other PE gear. Most likely the school uniform will have the school crest on the blazer or jumper. The cost of school uniforms can vary between schools but the average cost for a school uniform in Ireland is around \u20ac119 for primary schools and \u20ac211 for secondary schools. Additionally, parents can also spend on average around \u20ac100 on PE items. This can prove costly if a family is struggling financially. It will definitely be a financial burden on parents who have to buy school uniforms for a number of children.  Some reports have indicated that the total spend on school uniform items can be around \u20ac300. Although the back-to-school clothing and footwear allowance offers some assistance to hard-pressed families, it falls short of the actual costs the family will incur. The CCPC has made a number of recommendations to help to reduce the costs for parents. The most obvious of these recommendations, which are reflected in this Bill, involves the use of generic uniforms with iron-on or sew-on crests. The implementation of these recommendations has not been consistent. Many schools expect parents to buy branded uniforms which can only be bought at certain shops. Such non-competitive arrangements restrict choice for parents and can lead to higher prices. This Bill aims to take the stress out of buying school uniforms by giving parents a choice as to where to buy uniforms and deliver good value, especially during this cost-of-living crisis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  This Bill has been proposed by my colleague, Deputy O'Rourke, and by Sinn F\u00e9in at a time when the cost of living is on everyone's lips. It is a very aptly called the Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025. During the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, the cost of school uniforms has become a huge financial burden on families. The average cost of a full school kit, including gym gear, can be up to \u20ac420 per pupil. If there are three siblings, the cost becomes \u20ac1,260.  According to the ESRI, as a result of the recent budget the overall earnings of average workers will go down by 2%. Food and grocery prices have risen by 27% between 2021 and 2025. Property tax has gone up by 23% since 2021. Fuel, home heating and electricity bills are the highest in Europe. There is a double cost attached to these uniforms because, as sure as night follows day, voluntary contributions will also have to increase. In fact, the Irish League of Credit Unions has found that almost 80% of schools rely totally on this surcharge. We know that schools throughout the country have a uniform policy that mandates parents to purchase specific design-crested uniforms, including gym wear and jackets. More often than not, the provider of these uniforms is a single entity with a sole contract cutting out any form of competition or any chance of reduction on the items, which means that uniforms will increase in cost each year.  Sinn F\u00e9in's affordable uniforms Bill would go a long way to help families and guardians to reduce the cost of school uniforms, and particularly to help large families to cope with this expense in their children's education. The Government amendment is an affront to parents and families throughout our country. The Government said eight years ago, in 2017, that it was going to review a circular and establish a working group, including representatives from the National Parents Council and educational partners. Not one thing has been done in the past eight years to alleviate the exponentially increasing cost of school uniforms. The answer is already under the Minister's nose. He should simply agree to pass Deputy O'Rourke's Bill, and stop wasting time with reviews and bogus amendments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I thank everyone who contributed to the debate. Deputy Mythen put his finger on it when he said that the Government amendment is an elaborate way to kill the Bill, essentially. It refers to consultation, collaboration, engagement and further review, but the substance of the issue is this: what difference is the Government's approach going to make to parents sending kids to school next September? Zero. None. It will be of no benefit to them at all. If the Government enacted the Sinn F\u00e9in legislation, it would make a real difference to the lives of people and certainly the financial position of families across the State. The Government wants to review a circular that people working in the sector have said has not made a blind bit of difference. Rather than being reviewed, it should go straight into the bin. That is the reality of it. The Government wants to throw everything into the Education (Student and Parent Charter) Bill. When will that Bill actually come into effect? We are talking about an extended period after that before policies are developed. The cost-of-living crisis is now. We are living through it. We want urgent action from the Government to respond to it. What we are getting instead is consultation and engagement. I do not know about the language the two Ministers of State used when they said they do not want to tell schools what to do. That is exactly what we need to do, in a collaborative way for sure. An affordable school uniform policy needs to be developed, after thinking about this in a detailed way, and needs to be put in place in black and white. That is a reasonable ask and I think it would be met with a reasonable response from schools. It would make a huge difference to families across the State next September. The approach the Ministers of State have come here with - I do not know whether it comes from themselves, from the Department or from other Ministers - is the same type of mentality that has not made a blind bit of difference up to now. It did not make a difference in 2011, as Deputy Crowe said, or in 2017 when the circular was being drafted. The CCPC, Barnardos, the Irish League of Credit Unions and all of the poverty stakeholders say that not enough is being done. The Government's response tonight is wholly inadequate. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The division is postponed until the weekly division time tomorrow evening. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Early Childhood Care and Education","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Education and Youth (Deputy Helen McEntee)  I thank the Deputy. The Department of Children, Disability and Equality has responsibility for provision of services to children of preschool age. The access and inclusion model, or AIM as we know it, provided by that Department enables the full inclusion and meaningful participation of children with disabilities or additional needs in the early childhood care and education, ECCE, scheme. Its goal is to create a more inclusive environment in preschools so that all children availing of preschool regardless of ability can benefit from quality early learning and care. This is in keeping with general policy position of supporting children with additional needs to access supports and services with their peers and siblings in their local community.  There has a been significant increase in resources and supports provided to children with additional needs accessing the AIM programme over recent years. It is important to note that a diagnosis is not required to access AIM supports and that while some children require additional supports at preschool level, many will transition into mainstream classes thereafter. To further supplement the provision of services for these children, my Department also provides a number of early intervention classes in mainstream and special school settings for children aged between three to five years with a diagnosis of autism. There is also a small number dedicated to children who are deaf or hard-of-hearing.  These classes are intended to provide early support to children with the most complex of needs before they start school and can aid their transition to junior infants. The vast majority of young children with additional needs are therefore supported to attend their local early childhood care and education, ECCE, setting and do not need to attend a primary school or special school to access early years support. A professional recommendation for a placement in such a class is also a requirement. Where the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, identifies a need for an early intervention class, the class is sanctioned and supports are provided by my Department to ensure the school can accommodate the class.  We have 3,000 new special places being created in our education system for the current school year. The NCSE is currently examining the level of need by special class and special school type and where these places are best located, including for early intervention classes. For this year alone, there have been three new classes opened and this is responding to the need that has been identified. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire. I think the Minister will agree that those who avail of early intervention classes along with their families reflect on them very positively. Has there been an assessment of unmet need? Is it the case that this is demand-led through the NCSE? If there has been an assessment of unmet need, what are the plans to meet that need into the future? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Where a need is identified through engagement with the NCSE, this is where early intervention classes are opening. To give context - the Deputy will forgive me but I believe my figures from the Minister for children are right - approximately 96% plus of young children between the ages of three and five are accessing the ECCE scheme. Those children, without having to do any means test or assessment, are able to avail of the AIM scheme as well. That leaves fewer than 4% of young children who perhaps are not accessing ECCE and who perhaps for different reasons are not getting or are not able to avail of the level of support they need. That is where the early intervention classes work really well. I have been in some of the classes local to me and I can see how beneficial they are.  At the moment, we have 159 early intervention classes with three newly sanctioned for this year. Again, they are to supplement where the ECCE and AIM schemes are perhaps not providing enough support or are not adequate for those young children for whatever reasons. It is really important particularly at that age where for young children, it is play-based learning. It is not that we want children in school from the age of three; it is that we are trying to support as many young children as possible in the early education years. However, where it is not working, that is where I am absolutely confident and clear that the early intervention classes are supporting those children and are very necessary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  It might be worth having joined-up consideration of it to see if there is opportunity to get additional benefit from more early intervention classes. Has any consideration been given to the potential barrier there of a need for diagnosis at that stage? These are young children. Related to that is the transition between early years and primary school and primary school into secondary school. We now have the new 1 October deadline for the parent notification system. The criteria for relevant documentation at that stage has been a barrier for some people and there is some concern they will be locked out of the system. Can the Minister give us an update on the new scheme, particularly as it relates to those transitioning from----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  To answer the Deputy's previous question, and rolling into the next one, the Department looks at, reviews and assesses the level of need and that includes the early intervention classes. The new timeline and the new structure we have put in place will look not just at the demand for a special class place or special school place but also at the potential demand for the early intervention classes. The 1 October deadline has passed and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, and I are working with the NCSE every week and are meeting on a regular basis to look at the overall demand that is there. We are not going to lock anybody out and it is really important to say that. We have a deadline there for a very clear reason, which is to make sure we and, in particular, the NCSE are able to plan ahead but of course we want to work with parents. While we are still working with and managing the data, we are getting a much clearer picture of what the demand is. Last year there was not a requirement for children to have presented to the NCSE by a certain date, which was in February, to get access to a class but it is now a requirement. Children who would earlier on in the year have been unknown to the NCSE are now known, and so we are getting a much clearer picture of what the demand and need is. That will include the overall demand and need for the early intervention classes. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Early Childhood Care and Education"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Educational Disadvantage","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy. Tackling educational disadvantage and, in particular, supporting students to fulfil or achieve their full potential in life is a key priority for me. The DEIS programme is a key policy of Government to tackle concentrated educational disadvantage at school level and it is important to acknowledge the success it has been over recent years. More than \u20ac180 million is provided annually to additional supports for almost 1,200 schools in the DEIS programme. Budget 2026 allocates an additional \u20ac16 million this year on top of that which will translate into \u20ac48 million in additional money for the next full year to support the implementation of a new DEIS strategy but also to introduce the new DEIS plus scheme which will start next year.  As Minister, I am determined to close the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and to introduce more innovative solutions to tackle educational disadvantage while at the same time making sure we invest more in what is working well because there is a huge amount that is working well. Part of delivering this objective will be the introduction of the new DEIS plus scheme. This scheme will provide additional resources to schools with the very highest level of need. To inform the development of the DEIS plus scheme, I have established a design advisory group. On that group, we have quite a number of different people, including principals, home school community liaison teams, school completion programme co-ordinators - people who work with students day in, day out and understand and know the need that is there - individuals from my Department and teams working with young people from across areas where there is high intergenerational disadvantage. We are also intensifying our engagement with other Government Departments and agencies, whether education partners or stakeholders across the education sector to develop the DEIS plus scheme.  What I said was that I wanted to have both the new DEIS scheme with DEIS plus published by the end of the year. We are still on track for that. What we are doing at the moment is essentially looking at what the different measures that have been identified are, where the greatest level of need is, what we could introduce in the earlier stages and how can we grow on that. Obviously \u20ac16 million is not going to provide us with the full DEIS plus scheme we will inevitably end up with. However, we will start to introduce certain elements of that scheme next year and build on it. What we are working on at the moment is identifying what will provide the greatest level of support at the earliest stages possible and on how we can build on that and develop the best scheme possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I appreciate that. With that design advisory group, are we on track to hopefully roll out DEIS plus for the academic year 2026-2027? Is that the priority for Government? In relation to the \u20ac16 million grant funding, that will not be the full amount to roll out DEIS plus in totality but is it the job of the design advisory group to come up with the specific schools or areas we were going to target first? If so, how do we pick those schools or areas? The Minister knows I am absolutely willing to work with her. At the centre of this are the most disadvantaged children across the country and the Minister will appreciate that the questions that are forthcoming constantly in relation to this are genuinely based on the need for extra supports in our communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Shortly after being appointed to the role, I met with a large group of principals, deputy principals and people working in schools where there is educational disadvantage and they were clear they needed this scheme brought in as soon as possible to support and complement the huge amount of work they are doing.  On identifying schools, we will not require schools to apply for inclusion. We will use a methodology to identify schools and look at evidence to inform us, including census 2022 data, HP deprivation index data and other available relevant data. We will take that into consideration and apply it to certain schools across the country in different cities and towns. The process will focus on delivering a commitment to support schools with the highest level of educational disadvantage.  On the Deputy's point, where there is intergenerational disadvantage and challenges for the young person, the community and the family, we will look to support the community, family unit and student involved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  DEIS plus is a welcome initiative and has been championed by my party and the former Deputy \u00d3 R\u00edord\u00e1in, now an MEP. There has to be cross-party support for the roll-out of DEIS plus. It is about the implementation being as quick as possible because schools need it.  Deputy O'Rourke and I met with a number of principals recently in the audiovisual room in relation to their schools and one point they focused on was the deputy principal role. I hope DEIS plus will help to tackle disadvantage in many schools across the country. We only have 0.75 of a deputy principal in one DEIS school in a socioeconomically disadvantaged area of Cork, for example. I do not doubt the Minister's bona fides on this. We just need to get it done as quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I fully agree and am eager to get this published as soon as possible and get these measures in place. The Deputy mentioned certain things and we are looking at all the things that have been asked of the Department. I am assured the asks are based on the understanding, knowledge and experience of our schools, principals, teachers and, particularly, the children who will benefit from this.  I point to the huge success so far of the DEIS programme. We have seen in recent years a reduced gap in the retention rates between DEIS and non-DEIS schools. It has halved, which is fantastic. For the number of young people in DEIS schools sitting the leaving certificate now, that gap has reduced significantly. Where we need to do much better is around the overall attainment rate in those schools. The DEIS plus programme should be able to help us understand what is at the crux of some of the issues young people face.  Complementing this - and it is very much part of the DEIS and DEIS plus schemes - is the focus on absenteeism. In DEIS schools - primary schools as well - there is a much higher rate of absenteeism. If children are not in school, no matter what we put there, we cannot support and target them. The work we do to encourage young people into school and to keep them there and support them will complement the work of DEIS and DEIS plus. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Educational Disadvantage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Irish Language","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  Is mian liom labhairt faoi cheist na nd\u00edol\u00faint\u00ed Gaeilge inniu. There has been an unprecedented spike in the number of exemptions from Irish granted in recent years, with one in seven young people in the State exempted from learning our national language. What is the Minister's position on the exemptions system for the Irish language as it stands? Does she believe it is fit for purpose and what are her plans to combat the increasing number of students seeking exemptions? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  T\u00e1 gealltanas i gcl\u00e1r an Rialtais an Ghaeilge a chosaint agus a chur chun cinn. In education this includes the work towards aligning Irish language curriculums with the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages, CEFR, to enhance spoken Irish. This work is being led by the National Council for Curriculum and Assessment.  In certain circumstances, a primary or post-primary student may be granted an exemption from studying Irish. The criteria are governed by Department circulars and decisions are made at school level. The circulars make clear that, for fundamental cultural and historical reasons that are inextricably linked to Irish identity, the study of the Irish language is a key aspect of the learning experiences that are considered appropriate for students in recognised schools.  Is ar an ch\u00fais seo go bhfuil an Ghaeilge ina cro\u00ed-\u00e1bhar sa churaclam do scoileanna aitheanta.  Students should be given every reasonable opportunity to participate in the learning of Irish for as long as possible. Normally, it is in the interests of the child to continue to study Irish to at least fifth or sixth class level before any decision is made to grant an exemption. That is reflected in the overall number of exemptions at primary school level, which has dropped over recent years.  Circulars were published in September 2019. This was informed by an inspectorate review of the previous circulars and following a detailed and comprehensive consultation process. The inspectorate report is also available online. The 2019 circulars were further adjusted following a further review, resulting in the current circulars. My Department will continue to review the system and make adjustments as deemed necessary. We have also engaged with schools on the issue of exemptions and plans to enhance understanding among schools, students and parents of the purposes and criteria of the exemption system.   Aithn\u00edonn an Rialtas an t\u00e1bhacht a bhaineann le c\u00f3ras oideachais l\u00e1idir chun tac\u00fa le gach scol\u00e1ire rochtain a bheidh acu ar an nGaeilge agus ar an gcult\u00far Gaelach agus go bhfuil r\u00f3l suntasach ag an oideachas in athbheochan agus cothabh\u00e1il na Gaeilge sa phobal. Leanfaidh oifigigh agus gn\u00edomhaireachta\u00ed na Roinne le hathbhreithni\u00fa agus athch\u00f3iri\u00fa foghlaim agus teagasc na Gaeilge chun na cr\u00edche sin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  It is great to hear the Minister talk of revision but currently the system for these exemptions is not working. We must not forget they are meant to be exemptions for students with severe or complex learning difficulties who simply cannot learn a language. The figures tell us Gaeilge is essentially optional. The numbers have risen sharply, with more than 73,000 exemptions, and it is hard to see any urgency from the Department to get a handle on it. When the Minister's officials were os comhair an choiste Gaeilge the other week, they could not admit there was a problem. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin dochreidte. The rise in exemptions does not show inclusion; it shows neglect.  The same lack of respect for Gaeilge can be seen elsewhere. For example, the other week, 30 minutes of Gaeilge was removed from the primary school curriculum. The message that sends is that the language can be chipped away at bit by bit. Many exempted students, whether they have additional needs or have recently arrived in Ireland, can learn if we can adapt the curriculum to provide proper supports. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  In relation to the curriculum, a number of subjects saw a slight reduction in the time allocated to them but there is more flexibility within the time schedules, so schools can increase the number of hours provided for Irish or the time spent on Irish.  The overall figure for exemptions at primary school level is extremely low. It fell from over 18,000 maybe five years ago to just over 12,000 in the 2024-25 school year. The proportion of primary students with an exemption in the same period dropped from about 3.25% to 2.2%. Of exemptions at primary level, 93% are granted to students with special education needs.  I accept the number of exemptions at post primary level has increased, but we are seeing that exemptions have steadied. Even though the number of students attending post primary has increased by 4.7%, we have not seen a relative increase in the number of exemptions. It is about half and half, so it is evenly distributed between the number of students with special education needs getting exemptions and the number coming from abroad. That is generally the breakdown we are seeing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  It is nearly 60,000 in secondary school. What the Minister mentioned about primary school is great but the reality in schools does not match the picture she is painting.  We need real leadership from the Minister. We need it from the top down. We cannot leave the decision up to principals on their own any more. The rate of exemptions depends entirely on where a child goes to school. In some places, they are granted almost automatically and in others hardly at all. There are simple practical fixes to this. The coiste Gaeilge in its last term produced a report with many recommendations. We can bring back foundation level at junior cycle, allow an oral-only option for students who struggle with reading and writing, give teachers time and resources to differentiate properly in class and address the reality that additional learning support classes are being timetabled at the same time as Gaeilge, which is another example of Gaeilge being less than. If the Department truly values Irish and inclusion, then I would love the opportunity, as would many Teachta\u00ed here, to work with the Minister and Department on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I assure the Deputy there is no inertia or lack of will to support young people studying the language. I was in a school yesterday and was asked this question by a student. I want students to enjoy studying the language and, most importantly, speaking it.  On the figures, it is important to say that in the 2024-25 school year, there were over 19,000 exemptions. That is higher than we would like. At the same time, given the number of Ukrainian students who have come into the system, about half of those are students who have come from abroad.  Not every Ukrainian student or anybody else coming from abroad is getting an exemption, but it is a far higher number and there are also a significant number of young people with special educational needs.  That being said, there is more we need to do. Later this week, I will publish two new strategies, one for Irish in English-medium schools and another for Irish being taught in the Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed. They will be launched on Thursday of this week. The focus and the priority there is how to make sure that the language is enjoyable, that it is being taught well in the schools and that there is support for the schools. That is to build on the work that is already happening.  Work is at an advantaged stage, as I said, on the new strategy. There is an action plan for Irish in English-medium schools as well as Irish in the Gaelscoileanna and col\u00e1ist\u00ed. This is supporting the work through An Chomhairle um Oideachas Gaeltachta agus Gaelscola\u00edochta, COGG, which has established a unit specifically within my Department to see how we support schools, support teachers, make sure they have the resources and make sure that Irish is being taught in a way that young people are enjoying it. That is clearly the message that I am getting through and it is something that I really want to see that we can make progress on. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Irish Language"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"School Staff","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  There is a significant teacher shortage across Ireland. The unions have reported this over many years. Indeed, the situation is getting so bad that some schools are combining classes. Other schools are sending classes home. What analysis has the Minister done of the impact this is having in schools, particularly rural schools and DEIS schools? What is the Department doing to address the teacher shortage issue in this country? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  This Government is fully committed to ensuring that every child has a positive school experience with access to qualified and engaged teachers who are completely dedicated and committed to supporting their learning. It is fair to say that we have a fantastic cohort of teachers who are committed to just that.  Over 97% of allocated teaching posts are filled and the number of unfilled allocated posts in DEIS or rural schools is comparable to that in all other schools. The data, which is based on our payroll, is not suggesting that there is a massive discrepancy between DEIS, rural schools or any other area. We have a rate of 97% of posts filled.  As with other sectors of the economy, recruitment challenges exist, which I acknowledge. In particular in certain parts of the country, most notably Dublin, there are still challenges. To address these, several targeted measures that have been implemented have led to an increase of 20% in initial teacher education graduates between 2018 and 2023, an increase of over 30% in the number of teachers registered with the Teaching Council between 2017 and 2025, and an increase in allocated teaching posts of 11,752 between the 2018-19 and 2024-25 school years. There are more qualified teachers than ever. The increase in the number of allocated teaching posts has outpaced population increases, with over 79,000 teachers now employed in our schools. We are continuously looking at our data and how that matches what was reflected in the demand in our schools.  Teaching is a highly attractive profession. We still have strong demand for teacher education programmes, with 3,600 newly qualified teachers registered in 2025 alone. With the changes to the overall public sector pay agreement, I believe we have competitive salaries compared with other jurisdictions.  To address some of the challenges, and perhaps I will come to this in my second contribution, one of the first things that I said as Minister I wanted to do was determine how we make sure that we encourage more teachers into the system, how we keep the teachers we have and how we make sure we are supporting them in the best way possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  There are significant difficulties, particularly around certain subjects. From speaking to DEIS schools and rural schools, and indeed in Dublin as well, we need to focus on easing the difficulties of recruitment and retention in teaching. For example, why is it the case that if a teacher is permanent in Dublin and wants to move back to Mayo, that teacher has to give up their employment? Why is there not a scheme to redeploy - a proper functioning scheme for those people?  Why is Deputy McEntee, as the Minister for education, not trying to recruit teachers in the UAE and Australia? We need them. Despite what the Minister said, we need them. I speak to principals all the time. What is the Minister doing to recruit those teachers? I believe the Minister should be incentivising those teachers by outlining to them that we will recognise their service in the UAE and provide some increment benefit on the pay scale. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  One of the first things that I did, and this was directly in response to an ask from the unions, was make changes to ensure that teachers were able to gain permanent roles more quickly, after one year as opposed to two. That was one of the first asks that I had. It was one of the first things that I did and I have said that I will do more.  The Deputy mentioned the fact that there are certain subjects, in particular in post-primary schools, where there is a greater challenge in identifying teachers. I have provided more upskilling programmes. Where teachers currently are proficient in two subjects, they are now able to upskill free of charge in certain areas and in particular subjects where there are difficulties such as physics, chemistry or science subjects overall, maths, computing and other areas where we have identified a particular shortage. Likewise, reflecting the previous question about the Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed, there is work under way to support teachers in making sure that they can upskill and become more proficient so that we do not have such a shortage. However, I appreciate that is a challenge and we are looking at lots of ways in which we can support teachers.  What I have said is that I will continue to look at possible ways and measures by which we can encourage more young people home. What is clear - I visited Australia for St. Patrick's Day this year and I met with many student teachers - is that many of them are coming home. Many of them are spending that time away and want to travel and to experience other jurisdictions, but they are also coming home because they want to come home and they want to teach in our schools. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  In fairness, the question I asked the Minister, in terms of the redeployment scheme, was why there is not a fair process for teachers who are living and working in Dublin and cannot afford, for example, to live in Dublin and want to move back to Mayo. The vacancies are there. Why is there not that scheme? Will the Minister engage with me in relation to that?  Has the Minister undertaken any analysis of the two-year professional master's in education? Is the additional year in that two-year programme another barrier and will she consider reducing that back to one year?  In circumstances in which we have a teacher shortage, not enough is being done. We are not doing anything in terms of redeployment. The two-year master's, it seems, is here for good. There are teachers across the UAE who have been there five, ten or 15 years and if they return to Ireland, they will start on the lowest point of the pay scale. Those are key items that the Minister could take to address and it would go some way in alleviating the teacher shortage. The shortage is there and these are practical measures the Minister could take. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I think I have been clear as Minister that nothing is off the table but I have also shown that I am willing to take action on certain measures. Reducing the length of time for permanent contracts was the first one. Only in recent weeks, I made sure that people who have qualified abroad can have their skills recognised here, and I am doing it for a longer period and potentially putting that on a more permanent footing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The two-year master's and the redeployment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  We need to look at all of those. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  These are the questions that the Minister will not answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I think I have been very clear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  No, the Minister has not answered the questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Deputy either wants to hear the answer or does not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Let the Minister answer the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The Deputy either wants to hear the answer or does not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The Minister is not answering it. That is the point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I cannot do everything at once. What I have said clearly is that I am willing to look at every measure. In fact, I have met with the unions many times. My teams engage with them regularly on all of the issues that the Deputy has outlined but he is talking about giving teachers an opportunity to move from Dublin to other areas when it is clear that the shortages are in Dublin and some of the larger populated areas. We have to take every issue into consideration when we are making changes to any structure or resource that might be in place. We also have to look at whether the options that the Deputy is talking about would assist us in bringing more teachers into the system. I am keen on supporting the ones who are there and making sure that we have more people coming into the profession as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Staff"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I want to ask the Minister for an update on a new school building project for Col\u00e1iste R\u00edoga and Dunshaughlin Community National School in Dunshaughlin, County Meath. Is she is aware that planning permission was granted for these schools in November 2020? It is now November 2025. What is the reason for the delays in bringing this project to construction and the indicative timeline for construction, commencement and completion? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I am conscious and aware of both schools. I regularly visit schools, including the two the Deputy has mentioned.  My Department has a strong focus on provision for school place needs, underpinned by robust forward planning including demographic analysis informed by residential development plans. Dunshaughlin is an area that has seen significant growth. It will continue to see that growth, thankfully, in the years head.  Under the NDP, my Department's approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance while, of course, providing the necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of the period 2026 to 2030 to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs.  The major building project for the schools referred to by the Deputy, Col\u00e1iste R\u00edoga and Dunshaughlin Community National School, are part of my Department's employer-led design programme and will be delivered as a campus project, providing additional school places to meet the needs of the growing population.  This campus will deliver a new primary school, which includes two classrooms for children with special educational needs. It also includes a new 1,000 pupil post-primary school, including six classrooms for children with special educational needs.  These projects progressed to tender on 12 December 2024 and the tender period closed on 26 February. After due diligence was carried out and discussions with contractors, the companies that placed first and second withdrew their tenders. This is not something that always happens but, unfortunately, in this instance, it did. The letter of intent then issued to the third tenderer on 15 August - only in the past few months - and subsequent discussions regarding reserved specialist contractors are almost concluded.  These schools will meet a rising demand for school places in the Dunshaughlin area, which has seen increased residential developments, and will respond to what is a very clear need within both communities. My Department will continue to keep the school authorities informed with regard to getting construction commenced on this urgently required project. I hope we will be able to make progress in the very near future. We are coming towards the end of that current stage. It is again important to stress, and I think the community realises this, that there were a number of issues more recently in terms of the tender. The fact that contractors withdrew meant the timelines that had been set were, unfortunately, delayed. However, we are still on track to be able to start this project as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  The community will hang on the Minister's every word in relation to this. For clarity, regarding the letter of intent issued to the third contractor, are part of the works separated off? My understanding is that a letter of authorisation is due. What is the next step on that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  That is the next stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  Is it a letter of acceptance? Is it the case that the project has been divided up and there are subcontractors? The Minister mentioned specialist work. Is that related to the struggle to get contractors to commit to this project? Is there a new approach in that regard? Obviously, there are delays in this that are very frustrating. Will she indicate, given she said it would be as soon as is possible, when we might expect that letter of acceptance will issue and the next step after that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  There is nothing unusual or different in this project. I cannot fully commit to the reasons other contractors pulled out. Perhaps there was other work they were doing and there was too heavy a load. Again, we cannot change the reasons for it. We can just make sure that the work is being done now to make sure the next stage can be moved onto as quickly as possible. There are no delays at present. It is a matter of going through the different stages, including the paperwork and the information that has been provided. The next stage is to offer the letter of acceptance, which then means we can start the building, get the builders on-site and move along with these projects, which is something the school community wants to see happen. I am absolutely committed to this. To be clear, the funding is there. The money is ready to start the project. It is just to move on to this final stage. Once we get to that stage, the community, and the school community in particular, will be informed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  There are a couple of issues. There is real frustration in relation to this. As I said, planning was granted in 2020. There will be a need for additional prefab space in both of these schools come next September because pupils will not be in them. We can all agree to that due to the fact we have not got contracts signed. From speaking to people very close to not only this project, but other projects, and colleagues around the country, there is a concern about capital projects in the education sector. I have spoken to contractors who say it is not easy dealing with the Department; that there have been changes in the Department; that projects are being delayed related to that; and that there were flexibilities and co-operations that were custom and practice, which are not happening now. This is a major concern, not only in Dunshaughlin but across the State. Other Deputies will have questions later on school building projects. Is this recognised by the Minister and the Department? What can be done to address that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Over the past five years alone, 1,300 projects have been progressed. These are new schools, large-scale projects, additional accommodation projects and emergency works projects. There have been 1,300 projects over the past five years. That is \u20ac6 billion that is being spent right across the country. Looking at the work that has been done, I compliment the work of the building unit and the team in the Department because we and they are a team that can deliver a significant amount of work within the budget we have. Obviously, the more money we have, the more schools we will be able to build. We now have a budget of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth out to 2030. My intention is that as many projects as possible will be moved within that overall budget I have.  I also compliment both schools in question, including the principals and all of the teachers, and the community national school in particular, because I appreciate they are on the grounds of a football pitch. They have worked really well with the local community and GAA team as well, but they are working within a confined space. My absolute priority, and similarly for Col\u00e1iste R\u00edoga, which is working on a temporary site, is to get them into their permanent accommodation as quickly as possible to make sure the students who are there benefit from that permanent accommodation. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Education Policy","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  I am looking for an update on the survey for primary school parents and guardians on their preferences for school provision and choice in their community that was launched today. I thank the Minister for that. Will she include in her response what happens if a need is established through the survey? What impact will this have on secondary school choice? Will there be a follow-on survey for secondary schools? It does impact on my Dublin City Council part of Dublin West. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I was pleased to be in a position to officially launch the new online survey for our primary schools today. This essentially enables parents and guardians of children in primary school, and of those who will attend primary school, and the teachers, staff and boards of management in our primary schools, to take part in a survey. There were three very simple and straightforward questions in the survey: whether people want their school be single sex or co-educational; whether they want their child or children to be taught through the medium of English or Irish; and whether they want their school to have a denominational or multidenominational ethos or religious or non-religious patronage.  The whole objective of this survey is for the Department, for the first time, to get a clear understanding of what it is that parents want in education provision for their children. The curriculum is the same and is taught the same irrespective of what school they are in, but for all of the other areas I mentioned, we have not ever had a survey of this kind where we are surveying parents of over 800,000 young people. It is important we get that information.  To give some context, the number of young people in co-educational schools is at 90%. Only 10% are same-sex schools, so that question perhaps only applies to a smaller number of people. The number of young people in our schools who are being taught through the medium of Irish is at 8%, so 92% are being taught through the medium of English. Do we want to see a greater increase or level of provision for our Gaelscoileanna? That will, hopefully, support and complement the two new strategies I am launching later this week. In relation to patronage, 95% of our schools have a religious ethos. The majority are Catholic in ethos, others are Church of Ireland, there are a small number of other schools and 5% are multi-denominational. Do we have a desire and demand from parents to provide more diverse opportunities for different types of patronages?  It is very important that as many people as possible take this survey. I encourage, within the Deputy's constituency and others, parents and guardians to take this survey so we get a clearer picture. While there are not the same percentages for post-primary schools - it is about 50:50 at the moment on patronage between multidenominational and denominational - there is potentially an opportunity after this survey to see whether there is demand in certain areas, where there is maybe a more skewed percentage, to do something similar or to ask those questions of parents as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  I thank the Minister. I also thank her for launching the survey. It is an issue that impacts the Dublin City Council part of Dublin West at primary and secondary school level. The area is not served well enough in terms of access to or choice of secondary schools. Pelletstown has a Dublin 15 postcode but is not in the catchment area for Dublin 15 schools. People there live in the Cabra-Glasnevin electoral area but are in the Finglas school area. For our Dublin 7 neighbourhoods, only 40% of the children living in the area attend local schools because the geographical area is not prioritised enough in school admission policies. There simply is not enough choice, which is driving students further afield. We have two single-sex Catholic schools and a mixed non-denominational school, which is growing and growing well, but will not serve the needs of the whole community for some time. Local capacity is not serving local families.  What is the plan after the primary schools? How will this impact secondary schools? Will there be a follow-on survey for secondary schools? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  While this survey is for primary schools, this will last for six weeks and then we will need time to collate that information and decide based on the responses where there needs to be further engagement with communities if there is a demand for change. On the issue of patronage, there is not the same breakdown that we might see in primary schools. About 50% of our post-primary schools are denominational and about 50% are non-denominational. However, I accept that in certain areas that is not the case and there is not as much choice for parents. There is validity in looking beyond this survey and potentially looking at certain areas to survey or to engage parents and see if there is a demand for particular changes in those areas.  We are doing this survey in the way that we have done because previously any surveys that were done were done on a smaller scale and they did not work as effectively. We have to take that into consideration in any type of survey or any type of engagement with post-primary schools. Certainly it is something that we need to keep open. We need to engage with schools, parents and communities on the matter and I am very much open to that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  I would also like to give a voice to those parents in terms of post-primary choice.  I take the opportunity to mention funding resources for special schools. I thank the Minister for the increase in the capitation grant in the budget. It is something that we had discussed at the education committee and I know it was on her agenda. I am always pushing for more resources. As I have mentioned previously, on the allowances for special schools, they may have 70 staff but the allowances for principals are based on how many teachers they have, whereas special school could have 70 staff made up of SNAs, escorts, cleaning staff and caretakers. They obviously then do not get those allowances. One of the suggestions coming from our principals is the introduction of an AP1 for special schools because that would help manage all the staffing. If such a school had 70 teachers, it would have a huge staffing team to manage that but special schools do not have that and they really need it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I acknowledge the Deputy's absolute commitment to supporting our special schools and supporting children with additional needs. Working with the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, I was really pleased to have been able to secure additional funding in the budget. There was an anomaly there when students reached the age of 12 that they were not receiving the capitation funding that other students in mainstream schools were getting. It is important that was levelled and that anomaly was changed. The Minister of State and I are open to looking at further ways in which we can support our special schools and support the staff in the schools in particular.  Yesterday I was in Cara Community School, a new special school opened in my constituency with fantastic staff and teams there. We need to make sure that we are doing everything to support those teachers in what can often be a challenging but really rewarding and a really important school environment. I am very much open to looking at how we can support those working in the schools and whether there are changes or introductions of new posts or levels that we can provide that would take some of that pressure off and support those schools in different ways. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Education Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"School Facilities","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  My question is about the provision of funding for outdoor recreational facilities such as playgrounds and open space, but also provision for new ones and the maintenance of existing ones. What are the opportunities for primary schools in particular? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Investment and expenditure on sports facilities in both primary and post-primary schools is an element of the overall expenditure and investment in the schools building programme. Practically all schools have outdoor play areas although I accept that many of them vary depending on the different schools. Many schools use adjacent local community facilities and we encourage the dual use of different facilities that are close to each other. The provision of outdoor play areas forms part of the accommodation brief for all new school buildings or where a major building or refurbishment project is being delivered for an existing school. Co-operation between schools and the local sporting organisations in sharing their sporting facilities provides opportunity to apply for sport grants including the sports capital grants administered by the Department of Culture, Communications and Sport. In recent years there has been huge encouragement of schools and communities in particular working with sporting clubs to have joint applications in that regard.  The provision of capital funding for outdoor recreation facilities is just one way in which we support increased physical activity. The redeveloped primary curriculum specification for physical education extends the time available for PE with a particular emphasis on community partnerships and the use of the outdoor environment generally.  Since 2020, my Department has invested over \u20ac6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the NDP, involving the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. A total of 111 of these were large-scale school projects, all of which included extensive accommodation, including outdoor play areas. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030. As others also will, I will publish an implementation plan in that regard. My Department\u2019s plan will optimise outputs from the allocations with a strong focus on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs. In terms of providing further funding for the outdoor spaces, we are investing to support curricular delivery and well-being across schools by prioritising the development of PE halls and sporting facilities in conjunction with the sports capital fund to deliver for both schools and communities.  The climate action summer works scheme, along with the emergency works scheme and the minor works scheme, provides a mechanism for schools to make small-scale improvements where they have facilities that need upgrading. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I acknowledge the amount that has been spent on the schools building programme and on the provision of facilities. I also recognise what the Minister said about community facilities and the importance of the provision of sports facilities. I am looking even at a more micro level and I am thinking particularly of Loreto Primary School on Loreto Avenue, Dalkey. The principal, Fi\u00f3na McKenna, has been in touch with me. The school is in a relatively small area with a playground on-site. It needs repairs to the playground and is having a huge difficulty getting the funding to do that. We all recognise the importance of play facilities and the important role that plays in a rounded education for any child. The danger is that if it is not managed on an ongoing basis and, more importantly, if the schools do not have the resources to do it on an ongoing basis small things get left undone, they get worse and they get dangerous. No playground should end up unusable because of dangerous facilities and that stitch in time does indeed save nine. The way we give the stitch in time is to give the schools the resources in a timely and ready way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Maybe I can engage with the Deputy further on the particular school. Where repairs need to be made to existing playgrounds or play spaces and certainly where there is a danger for students, schools may apply under the emergency works scheme or indeed the minor works scheme. I am pleased that under the new national development plan, NDP, funding will continue to be available for the emergency works scheme and the minor works grants. It is really important that as many schools as possible can avail of that. Over the years we have seen significant investment in schools and we need to make sure that is spread out and shared evenly across the schools.  The climate action summer works scheme provides a mechanism for schools to make small-scale improvements to school buildings but that also applies to outdoor spaces. The first tranche of approvals under this scheme is due to be announced probably in the next two weeks. That will be a scheme that will apply and will see funding provided across all the different constituencies and we have another tranche as well. There are a number of ways in which schools can engage with the Department. Funding has been secured for the next round of NDP and it is important that schools know they are able to avail of these types of grants specifically for the reasons the Deputy mentioned. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I acknowledge what the Minister said about the emergency works scheme and the minor works scheme. How does the Department prioritise one application over another? If a number of schools are asking for emergency works grants or minor works grants where they have a playground, a play facility or sports facility that is unusable, how does the Department prioritise one school over another? What can schools do to ensure they are on that list? We all recognise the importance of these facilities. I do not say this as a criticism but schools are put to the pin of their collar in terms of the resources that are available to them. They are being pulled every way. Particularly for schools in areas like my constituency, there is a danger that there might be feeling that there could be voluntary contributions that could assist schools in paying for things when the reality is they do not necessarily have access to resources that other schools do not have as well. I am concerned about the prioritisation of schools and whether there is a view that some schools do not need it which is not the case. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  It is essential that every school - irrespective of whether there is a perception that some can pay for more than others - has access to the minor works, emergency works and summer works schemes, as well as being able to benefit from the larger capital programme. More will apply for the summer works scheme than will get funding, so it is a matter of determining where the need is most acute and how to prioritise that. There is a system and structure within the Department, but where there is a danger to children or where there is playground equipment that cannot be used or a level of resources which means an area is unfit for children, that certainly must be taken into consideration.  What I would advise schools to do is ensure that when they are making applications, be it for emergency works or minor works, they provide as much information as possible, setting out why they need the funding. The intention is to work through the various applications as quickly as possible. The good thing about the emergency works and minor works schemes is that you do not have to apply at a particular time; you can apply as needed because, when an emergency arises, you have to be able to respond quickly. The Department tries to respond to individual applications as quickly as possible. I am happy to work with the Deputy on the school he mentioned. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Facilities"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (Deputy Michael Moynihan)  I thank the Deputy for the question. The Department of education and the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, are aware of the recent issues raised by the school to which Deputy O\u2019Sullivan referred. I can confirm that the Department and the NCSE have met and are in ongoing contact with the management of the school to ensure the needs of all students continue to be met.  As Deputy O\u2019Sullivan knows, when a special class in a special school is established, there is an automatic allocation of one teacher and two special needs assistants per class of six students. However, the standard allocation can be increased on the basis of the profile and needs of the students enrolled. St. Gabriel\u2019s Special School currently has an enrolment of 54 students and a standard allocation of nine teachers and 18 SNAs. Additional resources, namely one teacher and 17 SNAs, supplementing the standard allocation, have been provided to the school. This is a significant increase in additional resources. The NCSE is providing advice and guidance to the school on how best to deploy staff to support the needs of the children. The Department and the NCSE also provide ongoing training opportunities to schools, particularly special schools, in order that their staff have the skills and competencies required for the level of complexity in the school environment.  I am pleased to say that in the recent budget over 860 additional special education teacher posts have been secured and over 1,700 special needs assistants, SNAs, have been provided. This will mean we will have over 46,500 teachers and SNAs working in our education system. Any school, special or mainstream, with concerns regarding the level of resources to meet the care needs of its students can contact the NCSE at any stage to seek a review of its allocation. I am aware of the issues raised earlier in the year, and we are in constant contact with the school authorities in relation to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I did not hear what the Minister of State said at the outset. Initially, there were nine special educational needs, SEN, teachers and 18 SNAs. The Minister of State said there was an additional SEN teacher. How many SNAs? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  Seventeen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  Are they recent additions? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  Right now, that is the number. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  The Minister of State said that the Department is in contact with the school on an ongoing basis. Has the review that was instigated upon the arrival of officials from the NCSE and the Department concluded in the school? Is there any prospect of additional resources or has it been deemed that the resources provided heretofore are sufficient? As the Minister of State said, St. Gabriel\u2019s deals in many cases, if not most, with students with severe intellectual disabilities and complex needs. Many also have autism. It is a particularly vulnerable cohort of students who need to be afforded every help we can give them. Could the Minister of State clarify if there is any further review pending or if further staff are due to be deployed to the school? As he knows, several parents were particularly upset when they received the initial email from school management stating their children could be on a temporary part-time schedule. Have those concerns been alleviated? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  Officials from the NCSE and the Department met the school board of management, including the chair, and the principal on 10 October. There is ongoing engagement with the NCSE and the Department. The NCSE is arranging a follow-up meeting with the school this week to discuss the findings of the SNA review, the recommendations to support SNA resources and other related issues. I guarantee that we are working very closely. When the issues arose in early October, the Department worked very closely with the NCSE and the school authorities to ensure concerns were being adequately addressed. I very much take the Deputy\u2019s point regarding the complexity of needs within St. Gabriel\u2019s and the huge amount of work being done there to provide care and education to students. We are continuously engaging with the school. With regard to additional resources, there are the additional teacher and 17 SNAs, along with the nine teachers and the 18 SNAs, but following the review, we are continuing to ensure any further resourcing requirements of St. Gabriel\u2019s will be met. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I genuinely acknowledge the Minister of State\u2019s involvement in this. I rang him on Thursday night, when this story was about to break, and he got straight on to the school the following morning. That was appreciated by the parents and the school management.  I seek clarification on one or two more points. The Minister of State said the NCSE is due to follow up this week. I realise he is not going to disclose on the floor of the D\u00e1il what the result of the SNA review will be, but I reiterate the requirement that probably exists. The Minister of State mentioned that there are other related issues. I am not sure if they are sensitive. If he cannot disclose what they are, could he mention the issues he can talk about on the floor of the D\u00e1il.  One SEN teacher was appointed temporarily a number of weeks ago when this issue emerged. Is that the additional SEN teacher along with the 17 SNAs he mentioned or is it a SEN teacher in addition to that allocation? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  The question here is whether the Minister of State, the principal, the board of management and the parents are satisfied that the concerns about a reduction in teaching hours for pupils have been addressed and that there is 100% certainty that there will be no such reduction. As the Minister of State knows, St. Gabriel\u2019s is a specialist school that deals with children with some of the most complex issues children can have. It is a very important school. I spoke to parents who were very upset when it looked like there would be a reduction. They were worried not about themselves but about their children. What the Minister of State said sounds good, but is it enough to guarantee that the children will get an education at the level they are entitled to? If so, I will welcome it. I just want to have the guarantee put on the record. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  Deputy O\u2019Sullivan raised various issues. The details of the review are between the board, the NCSE and the Department. Much work has been done by these three over the past month or six weeks. I pay tribute to everybody concerned, including in St. Gabriel\u2019s. They met immediately on the Friday after the Thursday night on which the issue was raised with me, and they have continued to engage.  A reduction in hours is not on the cards. We want to ensure that proper resources are allocated to St. Gabriel\u2019s to ensure it can provide care to and meet the education needs of all its 54 students. It is a matter of supporting the school with SNA resources. If there are related training or support needs, we are available to meet them. We are engaging in a very coherent way with St. Gabriel\u2019s and we will continue to meet the needs of the school authorities and, more importantly, the education and care needs of the students within the school. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I want to ask the Minister about the criteria for prioritising school capital projects and about delays. It appears that a significant number of projects have been delayed. Can the Minister outline how many capital project delays there are across the country and the primary reasons therefor? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  At the outset, I wish to say that my Department has a strong track record of delivery. Since 2020, my Department has invested more than \u20ac6 billion in our schools throughout the country under the national development plan. As I mentioned earlier, this involves the completion of over 1,300 school building projects. Given the fact that there are 4,000 schools across the country, the delivery of 1,300 school projects over the last number of years is a significant achievement.  In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.55 billion for the Department of Education and Youth out to 2030 under the national development plan. As part of this allocation, my Department will place a strong emphasis on a number of things, including the provision of special education for children and the development of new special schools. It is about making sure that our new builds have provisions for special education but also, on top of that, that there is additional accommodation within that where we need to provide special classes within mainstream schools that currently do not have them. There will be a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. Where there is a growth in demographics, it is important that we be able to respond to that, whether it be a new building that is needed or an expansion of a current school place. For those schools not in permanent buildings, such as those in my constituency or the schools referenced earlier that are in temporary or modular accommodation, we need to ensure we are able to deliver new schools for those communities as quickly as possible.  Over 300 school building projects, including 38 new schools, are currently in construction to deliver more than 30,000 school places. Most of these projects are expected to be completed over the course of 2026 and 2027. On top of that, it is planned that approximately 80 further school building projects will progress to construction across 2026 and 2027 as part of a two-year rolling programme.  Project delivery is managed as part of an overall capital programme in line with the Government's infrastructure guidelines. Of course, we always have to take budgetary parameters into account. We do not have an infinite amount of money, so we have to make sure that the projects we have in the system are moving and we are able to progress and deliver them within the budget we have. It is fair to say that delays can happen for certain reasons and different factors, often beyond the Department\u2019s control, such as site acquisition and planning permissions. Often, we have issues, as we have seen, with tenders or contractors. Sometimes, these are issues the Department cannot mitigate, but it obviously adds to some of the delays we see in some of the projects. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I appreciate there is a significant amount of money - hundreds of millions of euro - spent on capital projects. Of course, there must be prioritisation and so on and, obviously, the need for expanding schools and special education should be an important prioritisation. However, I would appreciate it if the Minister could consider nuanced issues in schools as well. For example, Claremorris is a wonderful town with two single-sex schools. They had a consultation over several years, which the Department of education in Tullamore oversaw. There is huge support for an amalgamation of those two schools. The primary schools in Claremorris have recently amalgamated. The patrons of Mount St. Michael Secondary School and St. Colman\u2019s College are supportive, as are parents, school management and the chamber of commerce. There is a huge level of support for it. However, the Department issued notice to the schools a number of months ago outlining the criteria the Minister outlined a few moments ago, basically stating that it would not be supporting it in any sense in terms of capital infrastructure. I ask the Minister to consider that report, the demand and the choice that I know the Minister is very keen to support. I ask her----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  The Deputy can come back in. I call the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Given the fact that there are so many schools and competing demands, there has to be prioritisation. There is a need to prioritise, firstly, special education. We need to make sure we are providing not only sufficient places for this school term, but that we are forward planning. That is why we need to look at developing more special schools. We have built 16 new schools in the past number of years, two of which are opening this week, but we did not build any for many years before that, so we need to continue to prioritise and invest in special schools, special education provision, new classrooms and additional accommodation. Where there is an actual demand for school places where they do not currently exist, we have to prioritise that.  In certain demographic areas where there is that demographic increase, be they in my county of Meath or in Kildare, Wicklow or, of course, Dublin and other counties, we have to be able to respond and cater to it. While we have to prioritise providing physical infrastructure for people where it does not exist, that is not to say that other projects will not be able to progress at different stages. There will be that prioritisation based on the fact that we have a budget, though. We are not going to be able to progress everything at the same time or maybe in the timeline that some people would like. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I appreciate that in terms of need, the budget and so on, but the point is that there is such a demand for the amalgamation of the two schools. It appears there is a one-size-fits-all, arbitrary metric when it comes to the capital infrastructure project.  Will the Minister consider meeting me and the school principals to hear some of the issues that the schools are experiencing outlined for her and consider some funding for the schools to amalgamate? There is a significant need for it to happen in terms of education. I ask the Minister, along with officials in her Department, to please meet me and the schools\u2019 principals to discuss the consultation that so many people in Claremorris and, indeed, in the Minister\u2019s Department spent so many hours on. Will she meet me and the schools to discuss this project? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  This is a project that I am aware of from engagement with my colleagues in the area. It is not that there is no desire for a particular project to progress or that any desire within a community is being ignored. Rather, where there are greater demands around the provision of school places, we must ensure they are prioritised ahead of areas where perhaps there already is a provision of school places, albeit not necessarily in the context or setting that pupils or the school community want. That is not to say that a project cannot progress in the future, but we have to plan out what the next number of years look like. We will continue to engage with the school community - I can say that very clearly - in the same way we engage with all of the schools that seek to develop new buildings, new infrastructure or additional accommodation schemes.  The overall capital budget is not just focused on new builds and additional accommodation. A significant proportion of it invests in minor works, summer works and emergency works. There are also ICT grants, as well as funding that is now going to be provided for our youth centres at a much higher rate than had been provided before. I am happy to engage with all schools. The Department will continue to engage with all schools, including the school the Deputy mentioned. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Public Sector Pensions","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher  I wish to ask the Minister about a case that affects a teacher in my constituency. I am reluctant to go into too much detail. I will await the Minister\u2019s response before I pose supplementary questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  My Department administers pension schemes, which are provided for in legislation, for teaching staff in primary, secondary and community and comprehensive schools. One such provision of these pension schemes is the awarding of benefits under ill health retirement. There is a process in place for administering such applications that involves the completion of two forms. The first form is an application for benefits, which is returned to the pensions unit of my Department for the processing of the application. The second form relates to the member\u2019s medical condition and must be signed by the member and his or her doctor. The doctor must provide a confidential doctor-to-doctor report to accompany the form detailing the member\u2019s diagnosis, treatment and prognosis. This form and report are returned directly to the Department\u2019s OHS provider. As this process is confidential in nature, I cannot comment on the medical evidence submitted by the person concerned or the assessment made by the OHS.  What I can say is that applicants for retirement pension benefit on medical grounds must follow this particular procedure and attend for a medical assessment with the OHS. The decision to approve or reject an application is based on the recommendation of the OHS. Medmark, the current OHS, provides independent medical assessments, ensuring that any decisions about an employee\u2019s fitness to teach are made based on expert assessment.  I understand that the pensions unit of my Department is familiar with the case the Deputy has mentioned and it has been in contact with the person concerned on several occasions. I encourage the person to engage with my officials with a view to making a fresh application for ill health retirement. This will involve a medical assessment. It is important that is part of the process, as I have outlined. I will ask my officials to consider a new application as soon as it has been received "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher  I thank the Minister for that response. At least by her response she is leaving the door open. It is a matter now and I will relate that to the individual to suggest that the person should make a fresh application and follow the procedure. I wish to read into the record that the board of management of the particular school made the decision regarding the granting of critical illness provision, CIP, on the basis of management discretion where exceptional circumstances existed.  Appendix B of Circular 0054\/2019 was used to assist the board in making its decision. The Minister mentioned the Medmark medical criteria for the granting of a CIP, but this was done by the management on the basis of exceptional circumstances. I would have thought at the time the decision was taken, on 15 December 2020, that it would have progressed quickly after that. For GDPR reasons, I will not go into any detail now on whether the Minister is able to do that. I presume there are other facts that relate to this person who has problems with dressing, meal preparation, use of technology, social and sleep. There are so many. It is possibly the worst that I have had experience of in all my years here. I will take the Minister at her word. I will recommend that a fresh application be submitted. I hope, when it is submitted, that it will be processed as expeditiously as possible to try to bring this matter to a conclusion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  I will not go into detail. As the Deputy said, I do not think it would be appropriate to do so in the Chamber. The Department is aware of the case. There is obviously a very clear, independent and separate process that has to take place. I will outline that. The OHS provides employers with the occupational health advice in relation to employees. That applies not just to teachers but to SNAs and other specific non-teaching staff to assess whether they are medically fit for work. It incorporates pre-employment health assessments, it looks at sickness, absent referrals, assessments of medical fitness for work, ill-health retirement assessments and it considers whether a teacher is permanently unfit to teach. There are a number of criteria that it has to take into consideration, including the presence of a disabling illness, the prospect of future improvement or recovery, permanent and total disability, restricted functional capacity, treatment options fully explored and various other elements. While a person may apply and be successful in one instance, that is not to say that he or she cannot apply on the basis that circumstances change. It is important, if there is a reapplication, that a medical assessment has to be provided with it. I encourage the individual in question to reengage with the Department and to reapply under the grounds I have set out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher  When this application is resubmitted, will it be assessed by the same officials? I am not casting any aspersions because I do not know who the officials are, but I suggest that the Minister recommend that a fresh pair of eyes process the application, rather than the same individuals. If it is the same individuals, they may take up the same entrenched position. My interest, and I am sure the Minister's interest, is to ensure this particular teacher gets a fair hearing. I hope the outcome will be a positive one. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  It is important to stress that every person gets a fair hearing. The application is made. Medmark, as the current OHS, provides independent medical assessments. Any decisions that are made on foot of those recommendations are based on expert assessment. This is not about any individual taking a particular view. There is an independent medical assessment that has to be provided. It is based on that recommendation that any decision is taken. A person's circumstances can change and in that context, if the individual in question wanted to make a new application, it could be considered if the circumstances had changed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Sector Pensions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Oideachas tr\u00ed Ghaeilge","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  Baineann an cheist at\u00e1 agam leis an nGaeloideachas or the importance of education tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge. This question relates to the provision and staffing of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta Ward as a cheist agus as a chuid suime sa Ghaeilge agus san oideachas l\u00e1n-Ghaeilge. Tuigim an r\u00f3l l\u00e1rnach at\u00e1 ag an gc\u00f3ras oideachais chun an Ghaeilge a chur chun cinn, agus an st\u00e1das ar leith at\u00e1 ag an oideachas l\u00e1n-Ghaeilge maidir le caomhn\u00fa agus neart\u00fa na teanga. I thank Deputy Ward for his question, and for his interest in the Irish language and Irish-medium education. I understand the central role the education system plays in the promotion of the Irish language and the special status of Irish-medium education in the preservation and strengthening of the language.  We have committed in the programme for Government to expand opportunities for pupils and students to attend Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed, to establish new Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed where there is demand and to support parents choosing Irish-medium education for their children. Today, we have just published a survey specifically looking at primary schools. It was really important that one of the questions in it was whether parents wanted their child or children to be taught through the medium of Irish or English. Also important in the survey is that it is school-specific. While there might be a view that we could have made it more open-ended, making sure that it is school-specific means it can be implemented at the end of the day. If there is a very clear demand within a community for a particular school to change, it makes it easier for that community to engage with the patron to engage with the patron to bring about change.  I intend to publish a new policy for Irish-medium education outside the Gaeltacht on Thursday morning. In order to inform the development of the overall policy, a comprehensive public consultation process was conducted. Officials in my Department have drawn on the insights gained from this overall consultation process and from research undertaken in developing the new policy. Importantly, the new Gaeltacht policy, which was introduced a number of years ago, has been hugely successful. That was developed using the same approach that has been taken for the two new strategies, including where Irish is taught in English-medium schools and in Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed. The information from the consultation is being considered in light of extensive provision for Irish-medium education, the estimated demand in the education system, as well as issues relating to teacher supply and the Department\u2019s budgetary and legislative context.  A task force on models of provision for Irish-medium education is also being established as a key action under the policy. I will give an outline of that in my supplementary answer. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I learned about the survey this morning. I welcome it. It is about giving parents the choice they need as to where their children are educated and in what circumstances they are educated. An issue I have raised with the Minister before, specifically in relation to a secondary school in Cherrywood in my constituency, is the way in which plebiscites are conducted and how the Department chooses whether there will be education through the medium of the Irish language. The community that wants Irish-language education is naturally and necessarily going to be more widely spread. The danger is that the metric the Department currently uses only focuses on a narrow geographic area when, in fact, in the case of Cherrywood, with big transport links like the Luas and buses, children can travel to a Gaelchol\u00e1iste from households in a much wider geographic area. Will the survey account for that? Will the Minister ensure that parents from a wide area get the opportunity to make that choice as well? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The survey will be based on a parent or guardian's preference. If the child is already in a school, it will relate to the current school. If the child is not in a school, it will relate to the parent or guardian's preferred choice. That is the approach that was designed to make sure the outcome can be implementable, which will be important when we get the information. We are seeing where changes and transitions are working well. The Edmund Rice Schools Trust, ERST, and the transition of its Synge Street CBS to a co-educational Gaelchol\u00e1iste from September 2026 is an example. While there might have been some teething problems, we are working very closely with the school, the teachers and the patron in particular to make sure this transition can happen.  In terms of the task force, we have not set a target because we need to understand what the demand is and, most important, how we can introduce a greater number of Gaelscoileanna and Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed through engaging with people. It is really important that the strategies have been worked on with the engagement of Foras na Gaeilge, an Foras P\u00e1tr\u00fanachta, Gaeloideachas agus Conradh na Gaeilge. I met with these organisations as a group recently to make sure that all of the issues the Deputy has raised and the concerns the organisations have about being able to roll out more school provision, as well as about how Irish is being taught in our schools and bringing back the gr\u00e1 for it and people's ability to converse in it, are front and centre of the strategies that will be published later on this week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I look forward to the publication of the strategy and I appreciate the work the Minister is doing. The reality currently is that every child who leaves a Gaelscoil to go to a Gaelchol\u00e1iste does not have that choice. There are not enough Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed to accommodate the population coming out of Gaelscoileanna. Children who have been through the primary process as Gaeilge do not have the option to continue their education to university level as Gaeilge. Is the Minister satisfied that the resources are available? We hear that the teachers are not there, but that is something that can be addressed. Will the Minister put in place real incentives, whether that is grants for university education through Irish or tax incentives for teachers teaching tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge or in Gaelchol\u00e1ist\u00ed or Gaelscoileanna for that matter?  Can we please drive this so that, at the very minimum, every child who is graduating from a Gaelscoil into secondary school has the opportunity and chance to go to a Gaelchol\u00e1iste within a reasonably proximate area so they can continue that Gaeloideachas all the way through to university? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  My objective is to ensure that the option is available for students. In certain areas, it is just not available to them at the moment. I accept that. The task force that is due to be established under the policy is looking to explore issues relating to the various models of Irish-medium education provision. That does not just mean the development of new schools. We have other areas and ways in which the Irish language is being provided. How do we look at best practice where it has worked well? We may need to develop and reconceptualise the current models of provision, if necessary, with a view to identifying ways to increase the provision of Irish-medium education.  The short answer is \"Yes\". We want to make sure that the strategy and the work of the task force identify ways in which we can provide options for students, whether through new schools or the reconfiguration of schools, through an aonad, how they have worked, how we can develop that and how can we make them work better in certain areas. However, I think we need to ensure that we have a focused strategy and plan in place with the support of everybody involved. I was pleased to find at recent meetings with the various different bodies that everybody is keen to get working and focus on how we can supply more and better provision for students. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Oideachas tr\u00ed Ghaeilge"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  My question relates to Scoil Garbh\u00e1in, an Irish-medium school in Dungarvan, County Waterford. I am seeking an update on plans for the extension. The school got word in January this year that the long-awaited and much-needed extension had been approved. It was told in February that it would hear within six weeks from the technical team in the Department. Over nine months later, it has yet to hear despite frequent correspondence from me. I have also raised the matter with the Taoiseach. The school has raised it repeatedly with officials in the Department but its representatives are still none the wiser. The school is at capacity. It proves the point made earlier by Deputy Barry Ward about the need for Irish-medium education and the huge demand. The school is having to turn children away. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  The Minister and I have set a vision to deliver a world-class education service which breaks down barriers and ensures that every child can achieve their full potential. The investment of \u20ac7.55 billion in capital funding through the national development plan in the coming years will ensure that we can deliver new school places and upgrade existing schools. It will provide a record 14,000 school places in special classes and special schools. We will continue to prioritise and deliver extra spaces in our mainstream schools through the construction of new schools and extensions.  I can confirm to the Deputy that the school in question initially submitted an application under the Department's additional school accommodation, ASA, scheme in 2018. An assessment deemed that the site was restricted and that additional lands were required to deliver this accommodation. This application was withdrawn by the school authority. A request to purchase additional lands was submitted by the school in 2021 and the acquisition of a 2.765-acre site adjacent to the school was completed at the end of May 2025. In late 2024, the school in question submitted a revised ASA application for additional accommodation to meet its future needs.  The Department's approach will be to continue to maximise the capacity of the existing school estate as much as possible in the first instance and provide necessary additional capacity through targeted and prioritised project roll-out over the course of 2026 to 2030 period to meet the most urgent and prioritised needs. A strong focus will be on maximising existing school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is insufficient, and ensuring delivery that is affordable, offers value for money and meets functional needs. The provision of required school places, including for children with additional educational needs, is a priority for all of us in the Department.  A decision will be made in relation to the school's application for additional accommodation shortly in the context of overall programme management. This decision will take account of overall school place needs, including for children with special education needs, and in cognisance of demographic projections, capacity across schools in the area and the extent to which schools are prioritising local school place needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I have to say I am deeply disappointed, bemused and bewildered at the Minister of State's response. I got a copy-and-paste, generic response for half the time he was speaking and for the rest, I got a potted history of what I and others involved in the school and community know has happened. I did not get a straight answer.  I do not know how the Minister of State's response tallies with the correspondence I have seen from the Department of education. Approval was granted in January. Correspondence, an email to the principal of the school, stated that the technical team would be in touch within six weeks. That was in February this year. I do not know if we are talking about the same school. This land was purchased. The purchase was completed. I was a councillor at the time and facilitated it. It was purchased by Waterford City and County Council, as a local agent, on behalf of the Department. It was a really good scheme and I welcomed it at the time I was involved. That land is there. Talking about the demographic, the analysis and all that is, to be quite frank, rubbish. Children are being educated in partitioned areas in the sports hall, which is the one indoor facility the school has for recreation. It is not good enough. That is on top of the prefabs that are already there.  This is the only Irish-language-medium education in a town that is a baile seirbh\u00edse Gaeltachta. The situation stands in contrast to the Minister's response to Deputy Ward about the importance of Irish-medium education, nuair nach bhfuil sp\u00e1s sa scoil seo gur f\u00e9idir leis freastal ar an \u00e9ileamh i nD\u00fan Garbh\u00e1n. It is a Gaeltacht service town and the one Gaelscoil cannot meet the demand in the town. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  The completion of the sale of the additional lands was completed at the end of May 2025. As I understand it, there was a huge amount of work to be done. The actual acquisition of that land, the 2.765 acres adjacent to the school, was completed at the end of May 2025. That is the clear understanding of the Department. The Department is working through the projects at the moment. I take the point that it is the coeducational primary school in Dungarvan which has the medium of Irish. Some 320 pupils were enrolled last year. The Department will be working through all the applications in the next while. This project has been ongoing for some time, going back to an initial application in 2018. However, the additional land has been bought. We will work with the Deputy. When decisions are being made, they will be communicated to the school authority as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I thank the Minister of State. I will engage with him further on this matter, and in writing, because I am dumbfounded and none the wiser. As the Minister of State was speaking, I checked the website of Waterford City and County Council. Planning permission was finally granted on 7 February 2025. Planning permission is in place. The land is acquired. The application was submitted in good time and there was formal approval. I have seen the correspondence and have shared it with the Minister of State. I will share it again. It is correspondence with the Department. This is simply not satisfactory and I will be taking it further. I will be bringing that documentation to the Minister of State. The school has approval from the Department. I have seen the documentation. The school was told in February, when that planning permission came through, that its representatives would hear from the technical team within six weeks to progress the project. Nine months later, they are none the wiser. Children are still being crammed into partitioned-off parts of a sports hall. It is utterly unsatisfactory. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  There might be some confusion here----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I think so. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  -----as to the letters that may have been issued in January. I presume those letters that were issued by the Department referenced moving to the next stage. Not until tender documentation is assessed and everything else is done is final approval given. I have not seen the letter of February to which the Deputy referred. A lot of work needs to be done. The site has been acquired. I assure the Deputy that we will work with him. A whole raft of decisions require to be made. When those decisions are made, they will be communicated to the school authority. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 13 taken with Written Answers "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Schools Building Projects"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Funding","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  This question is about the amount of money that has been granted per school for ICT equipment for the school year 2025-26. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  The world is undergoing a digital and an AI revolution and it is essential that we equip students with the skills and competencies they need to succeed and thrive in a rapidly changing world. Most young people probably are miles ahead of us in that regard already. A key part of our plan is to support schools through investment in digital technologies, in training and teacher professional development and, of course, in curriculum reform.  The digital strategy for schools to 2027 and its associated implementation plan are underpinned by \u20ac200 million in funding. That is over the lifetime of the strategy, as committed under Ireland\u2019s national development plan.  In total, and separate to that specific plan, \u20ac345 million has already been invested in schools across the country since the implementation of the first digital strategy for schools, which was commenced in 2015.  For this school year, \u20ac35 million was issued directly to schools through the grant scheme for ICT infrastructure. As part of providing clarity and certainty for schools, the minor works grant and the ICT grant will be paid annually in the December-January period, so there will be another payment either towards the end of the year or in early January for further ICT grants and this will be incorporated into the Department's grants payment calendar. It is really important schools know when they are getting the grant and I appreciate that over the past number of years it has not been the same figure and it has not happened every year, which has often caused some confusion.  In addition to capital investment, my Department will continue to support initiatives that advance digital learning in schools. We will continue to advance digital education policy and embed technology in teaching and learning. We invest \u20ac15 million annually in the schools broadband programme, which has been absolutely essential for our schools, thereby providing high-speed connectivity to all recognised schools. Through Webwise, which is funded by my Department under the EU Internet safety initiative, we are promoting online safety, digital citizenship and media literacy among school leaders, teachers, parents and students.  While working with Oide Technology in Education as well, we will continue to support teachers with professional learning, training and resources that build digital confidence and innovation. This investment is in addition to other important curricular reform which is under way. This includes the introduction of computer science as a leaving certificate subject, the introduction of coding as a short junior cycle programme and the implementation of computational thinking as part of the new primary school curriculum. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  The predictability of when funding will be made available to schools is absolutely welcome, and I know this from my own experience in some schools. To clarify again, am I correct in saying the minor works and the ICT funding will be given in December or January? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  That is extremely good. In regard to the \u20ac35 million given to schools in May, was that funding down on last year's provision or is it the case the \u20ac35 million that was given in May and the funding that will be given in January will be placed together as the whole funding for one academic year? Alternatively, has the ICT grant funding reduced since last year? If the Minister could clarify this I would appreciate it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  As I mentioned, in some years more money was provided and one year none was. I am trying to make sure that every year, schools know they are getting that grant. Over the lifetime of the strategy, \u20ac200 million has been made available. Some \u20ac50 million of that funding was provided in April 2022; zero funding was provided in the 2022-23 school year; then there was a further \u20ac50 million in April 2024; and \u20ac35 million was provided this year. From May 2025, there will be a further \u20ac35 million provided later this year and the remainder is just over \u20ac30 million and will be provided next year. That will be the full \u20ac200 million over the lifetime of the strategy, appreciating there have been variations in when and how much money has been provided.  What I am committing to with the new national development plan, in which there was a further commitment for the ICT funding and strategy, is that it will be paid on an annual basis in December-January every year and that schools will have certainty around that. I appreciate there has been a variation in how the funding has been provided but it is important to acknowledge that the \u20ac200 million that was committed to will all be paid out. There is a commitment to make sure schools receive that. What I hope to see and what I am looking for the Department to do next year, is an assessment of what schools actually have. Having invested this money, not just from this strategy but from the previous one, it is to assess what schools have, where they need upgrades and whether schools need new equipment or whether we are getting to the stage where the equipment just needs to be upgraded and we are investing to make sure the technology is up to date and the schools have exactly what they need. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  That clarifies the position of the predictability of when that funding will come through and the fact some of the \u20ac200 million fund previously in the strategy still remains and will be followed through on.  Does the Department outline guidelines to each school when it gives the ICT funding on what possible initiatives the school could use the funding for or is it totally up to the boards of management or principals of schools or people who are in post in relation to ICT equipment?  The previous Bill debated this evening was about back to school costs. In regard to the ICT equipment required by schools, is there a possibility that schools would be able to set aside a certain amount of funding they receive every year to buy pieces of ICT equipment that could be allocated to or rented out to students? The Minister might not be able to answer that question now but it could be clarified at some other time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  On the Deputy's first question, I mentioned briefly that we have Oide Technology in Education. This is a Department-funded support service that specifically promotes, but importantly supports, the embedding of digital technology, so it is looking at teaching and learning across post-primary and primary schools. It provides a range of free online courses that are available to school teachers and school leaders on certain things such as security for schools and AI for schools. It supports awareness of and confidence in emerging technologies, leading digital learning and developing a digital learning plan for schools. It gives teachers support in what they use the funding for and how they present that. There are courses on strengthening leadership and planning; and coding and computational thinking using Scratch, promoting creativity and problem-solving at a primary level. That is now very much embedded in the primary school curriculum. Schools are doing this, as I have seen during visits to schools over the past couple of months. There is a course in digital technology for modern foreign language teachers as well with that particular emphasis at primary school level, enhancing learning through technology. There are supports, advice and guidance there.  In terms of the Deputy's second question on how funding can or should be provided, it is really important to get an assessment and understanding of what schools have at the moment based on the funding provided to date and on whether we need to be more targeted or to do it in a different way as we look to the next strategy. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"School Funding","counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  What steps are the Department taking to address the growing financial anomalies, difficulties or pressures facing many schools, particularly in relation to the rising costs of heating, electricity, and day-to-day operational expenses that any school would incur? Will increased funding will be made available in those circumstances for schools that want to continue to function effectively and safely through the winter months? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Helen McEntee","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","memberCode":"Helen-McEntee.D.2013-03-27","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Helen McEntee  Like the Deputy, I am acutely aware of pressures schools can be under and the subsequent pressure on parents and the school community. That is why the Government is committed to increasing funding to support schools. The programme for Government very clearly commits to increasing capitation funding to schools of all types to ensure that schools can meet the elevated day-to-day running costs. They are not immune to the increasing costs we have seen across the board.  The commitment in the programme for Government builds on the progress which has been made in recent years. This year specifically, my Department secured \u20ac39 million in budget 2026 towards increased capitation funding. This is on a permanent basis so instead of once-off funding, this will go directly into the base for primary, post-primary and special schools. There has also been an increase for the DEIS urban band 1 schools, where there is a particular challenge. We have seen an increase in the standard capitation rates to schools of \u20ac50 per pupil for primary schools and \u20ac20 per student for post-primary schools. We have also allowed for the increase of \u20ac20 in capitation rates for the DEIS urban band one schools and the increased capitation rates will now also see special schools receiving the same rates of capitation rates for young people aged 12 years and over.  The increases announced in budget 2026 are in addition to the 12% increases as part of budget 2025. In the last three budgets there has been an overall increase of 49.7%. That said, I appreciate there is more work we need to do and more support we need to provide.  We need to look at how we permanently reduce the costs and one of the ways I believe we can do that is to look at our energy costs. A photovoltaic, PV, solar programme has been rolled out across many of the schools and, already, the feedback I am getting from the schools I have been engaging with is that schools are starting to see a reduction in their overall energy bills. It is really important we can permanently reduce the cost for schools.  My Department is looking at a body of work to assess the overall data within schools to examine what are the actual costs, where are the hidden costs that maybe we do not see every day that can emerge and add a significant challenge to schools if they are not planned for or pre-empted and of course there is the pressure that this places on the school.  Separate from that is the financial support services unit, which specifically engages and works with schools when they are in difficulty. The unit can advance particular payments to schools to help them during difficult times. I encourage any school in that situation to make sure it engages with the section and with the particular groups involved. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  I thank the Minister. I apologise to Deputy Roche but our time for this session is up. As agreed on the Order of Business earlier, we must move on to Topical Issue Matters. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":""},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"School Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Erin McGreehan)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Erin McGreehan - To discuss the opening of an additional train station in County Louth.  Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail - To discuss lack of critical infrastructure and investment in Kildare north.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss the post for radiographer clinical specialist ultrasound at Louth County Hospital.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss the progression of an east-coast naval base in D\u00fan Laoghaire.  Deputy Joe Cooney - To discuss the recent court decision regarding the wastewater connection for the Ennis Plaza.  Deputy Paul McAuliffe - To discuss ongoing service issues following the roll-out of phase 7 of Bus Connects in Dublin 9 and 11.  Deputy Conor Sheehan - To discuss the withdrawal of funding for CCTV in Moyross, Limerick city.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the ban on turf cutting in Barroughter, Clonmoylan and Ardraigue bogs in County Galway.  Deputy Colm Burke - To discuss provision of an integrated homeless health hub in Cork city.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss challenges to biodiversity in the upper tributaries of the Fearle river in Kerry.  Deputy Marie Sherlock - To discuss the requirement for a drive through test lane in light vehicle CVRT centres.  Deputy Darren O'Rourke - To discuss the urgent need for additional SNA support at Scoil Cholmcille, Skryne, County Meath.  Deputies Conor D. McGuinness and David Cullinane - To discuss the Irish Coast Guard SAR aviation service.  Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss wandering and malnourished horses in urban areas of Limerick.  Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss the impact of defective blocks.  Deputy Thomas Gould - To discuss the NOAC performance indicators 2024 and actions to improve local authority outputs.  Deputy Matt Carthy - To discuss the timeframe for delivery of a permanent special school in County Monaghan.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the need for immediate intervention and humanitarian assistance in Sudan.  The matters raised by Deputies Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa, Barry Ward, Conor Sheehan, Paul McAuliffe and Louis O'Hara have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Naval Service","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Troy, for coming to the House to deal with this important issue, which relates to the progression of a naval base at D\u00fan Laoghaire. The Minister of State will be aware that in recent years Ireland has procured two coastal patrol vessels from the New Zealand navy. These are in the possession of the Irish Naval Service. One of them, the L\u00c9 Aoibhinn , is currently docked in D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour. I understand that the plan is that they will be used as coastal patrol vessels in the Irish Sea and along the east coast. It seems that the perfect place to base them in those circumstances is D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour, which is accessible at all points of the tide. This means there is 24-hour access for ships like that in and out of D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour. It is not a busy commercial harbour, so it is not going to interfere with operations in the way it might in larger, busier harbours like Dublin Port, for example, or some of the other large commercial ports along the east coast. D\u00fan Laoghaire is also close to Dublin, midway along the east coast, so it will be an easy point from which to service the whole of the Irish Sea.  Equally, it is a very important opportunity to take what is a valuable heritage asset for the State and make it useful in serving the State. D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour is over 200 years old. It is an enormous Victorian harbour with lots of space. Over the past number of years, it has ceased its commercial function in many respects. The Stena Line had served as a link between D\u00fan Laoghaire and Holyhead, but it ceased operations in 2015. Since then, there has been a need for great investment in the harbour. It is primarily a leisure port, but this does not mean it does not have capacity to do that. The old ferry terminal building is vacant. More importantly, there is a pier there which is unused at the moment. It would require a bit of infrastructural investment to make the pier usable by the Naval Service. There is a real opportunity to make D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour that base.  I do not know if plans have been finalised in this regard. I am asking the Minister of State for an update. I have been in touch with D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, which owns and operates D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour as one of its subsidiaries. I know there has been some discussion, but I am not sure what stage this is at.  From the point of view of the Naval Service in the first instance, this is the perfect match in view of the fact that the harbour is equipped to deal with such vessels such as those in question, particularly in light of its geographic location and the fact that it can facilitate easy access to the Irish Sea for the one or two patrol vessels to do the job they need to do. We know that the Naval Service needs to build up capacity in this regard.  In tandem with this, there is also a real opportunity for D\u00fan Laoghaire, which has in some respects lost its greater function, to be more than just a leisure harbour. It is wonderful at that, as I can attest, but it can do so much more for the Irish State and the community adjacent to it by facilitating the L\u00c9 Aoibhinn and perhaps other vessels in berthing there and in patrolling the Irish Sea.  I absolutely support at least getting to level of ambition 2, referred to in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces, and going further. This has to be part of that. I know the Minister of State will agree that there are massive deficits in our lines of defence. One does not have to be gung ho on militarisation to understand that as a militarily non-aligned country, we have to have the capacity to defend ourselves. The function these ships can perform is a defensive one, but it also involves patrolling and carrying out customs, fisheries and drug trafficking enforcement. There is so much work to be done in that regard by the Irish Naval Service. Those in the service have enormous skill sets. We need to work to bulk these up in order to make sure that the service can do the job to which I refer. We also need to provide the service with a base from which its vessels can operate. D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour seems to be the perfect place to do that. Will the Minister of State provide an update on where the negotiations stand or on whether a decision has been made in respect of this matter? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Finance (Deputy Robert Troy)  I am responding on behalf of the T\u00e1naiste and Minister for Defence, who, unfortunately, cannot be present. He asked me to pass on his apologies to the House. On his behalf, I welcome the opportunity to respond on this matter and thank Deputy Ward for his question.  At the outset, I wish to acknowledge the long association between the Naval Service and D\u00fan Laoghaire. There is a long-standing tradition of Naval Service ships using harbours and piers on the east coast for shelter and shore leave. The Report of the Commission on Defence Forces calls for the development of an east-coast base for the Naval Service. Reflecting this, the programme for Government has also recognised the need for an east-coast base. In that regard, the Naval Service has been asked to submit a fully worked-up business case setting out full infrastructure requirements for marine and support-related elements.  As the Deputy will be aware, the issue of an east-coast base has been discussed in the context of the inshore patrol vessels, IPVs, L\u00c9 Aoibhinn and L\u00c9 Gobnait. These IPVs were acquired with a particular focus on east-coast operations, where they are well suited to key missions like the protection of critical infrastructure. With the L\u00c9 Aoibhinn becoming operational in 2024, the then T\u00e1naiste gave approval to lease berthage in D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour to support east-coast operations in the short term, likely for a period of five years. With that in mind, the Department has been in discussions with D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council, the owner of D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour, regarding the possibility of leasing berthage for exclusive use by the Naval Service. I am advised that discussions are well advanced and agreement in principle has been reached.  A Naval Service regeneration plan is due to be submitted for the T\u00e1naiste's consideration. This plan has been devised on foot of a detailed workshop held between senior military officers, led by the Chief of Staff, and senior officials in the Department. The issue of additional naval bases, on the east coast or elsewhere, will be considered in the context of that awaited plan and recommendations arising from same. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I am glad to hear that work is continuing apace. I am glad to hear there is an agreement in principle. We have an opportunity here and one of the things we are lucky to have as a State is a team of committed people, not just in \u00d3glaigh na h\u00c9ireann but specifically in the Naval Service. We do need to make it into a navy. We need to give it the equipment and the personnel necessary to operate as a navy, thereby allowing it to serve the people of this country and patrol our waters. More than most countries in the European Union, Ireland has an enormous exclusive economic zone relative to our territorial space. There is a real job to be done here. We have spent quite a lot of time discussing the level of ambition that was set out in the Report of the Commission on the Defence Forces. It is now time to put that into action.  I appreciate that we have increased spending on the military and on defence. We have increased the level of expenditure by 50% in the past six years. I recognise the new ambition set out in the budget. If we seriously expect people not to leave \u00d3glaigh na h\u00c9ireann and go into other careers that might be more lucrative or, more importantly, if we expect people to join \u00d3glaigh na h\u00c9ireann and commit themselves to serving this country, then we have to make it worth their while. We have to ensure that the facilities are there for them, that the terms and conditions are there for them, that the equipment is there for them and that we have enough people to serve on the vessels we have in order to ensure that those vessels can do the job they have to do.  The vessels to which I refer do not come cheap.  Buying two inshore patrol vessels from the New Zealand navy and then not operating them is madness in the extreme. Let us make sure we address this and that we deliver for the Defence Forces and the people who serve in them. As I said, one of the ways we can do that, and I hope this is something that will come to fruition sooner rather than later, is to guarantee that D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour will be the base for the two inshore patrol vessels, namely, L\u00c9 Aoibhinn and L\u00c9 Gobnait . It makes sense to do so and I hope the Department will commit to doing it with D\u00fan Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  As previously outlined, the report of the Commission on the Defence Forces called for the development of an east coast base for the Naval Service. While IPVs can currently operate from Haulbowline, it is a strategic goal of the Defence Forces to develop a forward-operating base on the east coast. I agree with Deputy Ward on the need for the Government to start implementing some of the recommendations outlined by the commission.  In the short term, the Department has engaged with the county council to agree terms for the use of Carlisle Pier, with agreement in principle reached. The securing of berthage facilities in D\u00fan Laoghaire will support the operational activity of the inshore patrol vessels, particularly in patrolling the east coast. The Naval Service regeneration plan is awaited to provide further insight. The potential location of any future east coast base will be considered in the context of that plan and recommendations arising from it. I will be sure to relay Deputy Ward's very positive contribution this evening to the T\u00e1naiste. I am sure he has made the same points to him both publicly and privately in recent times. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Naval Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Closed-Circuit Television Systems","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  I thank the Minister of State for taking this Topical Issue. There is a comprehensive network of CCTV cameras in Limerick. It was established as a direct response to a number of public order challenges in the city. The CCTV is a key pillar in the Limerick regeneration framework implementation plan, LRFIP, which followed on from the Fitzgerald report. This was the flagship Government programme to deal with the significant issues that existed, and still exist, in Limerick's regeneration communities. In essence, it was devised as a consequence of the Fitzgerald report, which was commissioned after some depraved individual burnt out a car with two children in the back of it in Moyross in 2006.  Limerick city's CCTV system is one of the very good and positive outcomes we have had from regeneration. It is one of the best in the country. The framework and governance are widely acknowledged to be quite good. It was funded by the Department of housing, which gave \u20ac880,000 in 2024 for regeneration area CCTV. We acknowledge and accept that regeneration is being wound up. In 2024, Limerick City and County Council made a formal approach to the Department of justice to seek replacement funding, but no allocation was secured. In 2025, Limerick City and County Council and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na submitted a joint business case via the Garda Commissioner for inclusion in budget 2026. To date, no replacement funding has been approved.  Due to the ongoing uncertainty, the company that runs the CCTV has now issued its staff with protective notice. The implications of this are really grave for us in Limerick. I cannot overstate how revolutionary the network of CCTV cameras has been in policing terms. We have a 70% prosecution rate for a couple of thousand serious incidents and a very high rate of guilty pleas and convictions. I am very worried that we have had several serious incidents in Limerick in the past year alone. I am really afraid that we are going backwards. There have been 17 shootings in the past year and 11 very serious violent incidents on the south side.  We had a welcome allocation of 20 extra garda\u00ed in the August-September allocation. However, if this scheme is wound down, it will, in effect, nullify that allocation in one fell swoop. I am not the one saying this; it is coming from senior garda\u00ed. The Minister for justice said earlier that he hopes a solution can be found after meeting with the Mayor of Limerick. My colleague Senator Dee Ryan has raised this issue in the Seanad as well. We need a permanent solution because the safety and well-being of the people of Limerick are at risk if the scheme is wound down or the cameras have to be turned off. We also have CCTV approved for the Castletroy greenway, for Garryowen and for Rathkeale in the county. Garryowen is one of the biggest policing blackspots in the city.  These schemes are in jeopardy if the Department of justice does not put a permanent funding solution in place. We are talking about \u20ac600,000 or \u20ac700,000. We are not talking about millions or billions of euro. The Government put billions of euro into regeneration. If this funding is refused, we will be put back years. Limerick is a special case. If a fund does not exist , the Minister needs to find or create one. Without Department-led funding, the council will be forced to reduce the monitoring and maintenance and eventually will be forced to turn off some or all of the cameras. This is a big policing and public safety issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank the Deputy for raising this important matter. I understand the Ministers, Deputies O'Callaghan and Browne, met with Mayor Moran today to discuss this matter. The fact that meeting took place indicates how serious the matter is being taken by all who attended it. I commend Mayor Moran on coming to meet directly with the two Ministers. I am hopeful a solution can be found in the short term to the funding issues that arise to keep the CCTV scheme running. In fairness to both Ministers, they are anxious to see a solution and identified to Mayor Moran what they believe is the short-term solution.  I recognise Deputy Sheehan's interest in continuing to invest in CCTV to build safer, more secure communities. I thank him for his very positive contribution. Community safety is a top priority for the Government and the Department of justice. Everyone has a right to be safe and to feel safe in their communities. Community CCTV plays an important role in achieving that goal. It is important to note that there are a number of CCTV systems operating in Limerick. I understand the particular system referred to by the Deputy, and, as he alluded to, by Senator Dee Ryan, was established under the regeneration programme in Limerick approximately ten years ago as part of a much broader initiative to improve the quality of life of local communities in Limerick. I understand that, to date, the majority of funding for this CCTV scheme has come from the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage as part of the regeneration projects in Limerick, with a significant contribution also being made by Limerick City and County Council. I also understand the CCTV system concerned consists of approximately 240 cameras, with an operating cost for 2024 of more than \u20ac800,000. As such, the infrastructure in place in Limerick is well outside the scope of the grant aid scheme administered by the Department of justice which supports community groups wishing to establish community-based CCTV systems in their local area. Grants up to a maximum of \u20ac40,000 are available for capital expenditure and up to \u20ac5,000 for maintenance under the scheme.  CCTV is very much part of community safety and it is intended that as the new local community safety partnerships are established, they will take a view on the need for additional CCTV in their areas. In addition, under the Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na (Recording Devices) Act 2023, the Garda Commissioner will have a significant role to play in the approval of CCTV schemes into the future. It goes without saying that the Government is very much aware of the value of CCTV generally in keeping people safe and ensuring they feel safe. Insofar as this particular scheme is concerned, I hope it will be possible for it to continue to operate as it has done over the past decade. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  I thank the Minister of State. It might seem like it takes a lot of money to run the Limerick scheme compared with community CCTV schemes, particularly in more compact areas. However, Limerick is a unique place and not just because I am saying it is. It is unique because, unfortunately, we have eight of the top ten most deprived areas in the State. We have some of the best but poorest communities in the entire country. Those communities need extra support. They got that extra support through regeneration, which is now being wound down. There must be a mechanism devised by which the funding that was in the Department of housing, and it is not within that Department's competence to be funding CCTV, can be transferred to the Department of justice because this is a policing and public safety issue.  Ultimately, it also a cost-saving issue because it reduces the cost of investigation, it reduces the cost to the Courts Service because we have a higher than average guilty plea rate and it takes bad faith actors off the street. I always think of a woman in her late 70s called Rose Hanrahan who was murdered in December 2017 in Thomondgate in Limerick. If it was not for these cameras, Rose's murderer would not have been apprehended, charged and convicted. It was done because the vile individual who set upon Rose that night was caught on this system of cameras.  At the moment, I am very worried there are the seeds of a feud in Limerick again. We really need these cameras to deal with that properly. We need a proper, long-term funding solution from Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I again thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter. As I said, the Government recognises the important role that CCTV plays in building stronger, safer communities across the country. The importance of this matter is demonstrated by the meeting held today between the Mayor and the two relevant Ministers. Since 2017, the Department of justice has administered a grant aid scheme supporting groups wishing to establish a community-based CCTV system in their area. To date, grants totalling over \u20ac950,000 have been approved for 36 community schemes across the country. This includes 14 schemes across County Limerick, which have received funding of over \u20ac330,000. Under this grant aid scheme, funding is only provided for the cost of equipment. Staffing costs are not covered and the maximum grant under the scheme is \u20ac45,000.  As has been indicated, the operation of infrastructure that has been developed in Limerick and has to date been funded by the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage and Limerick City and County Council is unfortunately outside the scope of the grant aid scheme administered by the Department of justice. However, it is my understanding that there are local authority CCTV schemes operating in both Dublin and Cork, and possibly elsewhere, that are funded by local authorities. As such, it seems appropriate that the funding requirements for the continued operation of the CCTV system in Limerick need to be again considered by Limerick City and County Council and the Department of housing to ensure the funding arrangements for the CCTV system in Limerick city are placed on a sustainable footing.  The Deputy has made some valid points here this evening and I assure him they will be relayed back to the two relevant Ministers who met Mayor Moran earlier today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Closed-Circuit Television Systems"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Bus Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  It is with huge regret that I raise the issue of the organisation of bus routes in my area here in the D\u00e1il Chamber with the Minister of State. It is something that, between the NTA and the operators of those buses, should not come to the floor of the D\u00e1il. We know BusConnects has been controversial in many places where it has rolled out. It has proven so in the latest phase, phase 7, in the areas of Finglas and Glasnevin that it has impacted. From 19 October, the 9, 83, 140, 40 and 40b were replaced with the new bus routes 23, 24, F1, F2 and F3. While the consultation was done over an extended period, there was dissatisfaction with the routes.  As in any change process, some people will be happy and others will be unhappy, but there are a number of very simple changes that could have been made to address the issues. However, in the three weeks since the implementation occurred on 19 October, the routes alone are no longer the issue. There has been an absolutely calamitous roll-out of the service over the past three weeks - one of those weeks being the midterm week, when many children were away from school and not using the service. Whatever about people getting used to new routes or trying to find new ways of getting to work or arranging their school runs and so on, the reduced frequency on these routes is now the biggest issue. When you put the failure of certain buses to turn up on top of that, people are waiting, on average, between 30 and 40 minutes, according to the emails I have received. I have received nearly 100 emails in the past three weeks on this issue.  For example, the new 23 and 24 routes have a reduced frequency. Instead of the bus service being much more frequent, at 10 or 15 minutes, we are now down to 20 minutes. If one of those buses does not turn up, in the morning times children go out for a 8.10 a.m. bus and are not getting that bus until nearly 8.40 a.m. or 8.45 a.m.. They are late for school despite having been at the bus stop for an hour. I am talking about a 15-minute journey here. This is something that should not occur because there is demand for that service and the frequency should be there to meet it. I am getting reports of bus stops with 15 to 20 people waiting on buses. When the bus arrives, there is no room for people to get on. This is happening very early in the route. It might happen at the second or third stop on the route.  The NTA should be able to resolve these issues with the provider, in this case Dublin Bus, but I am really disappointed with the response of the NTA. It has not reacted to what is clearly an issue around service delivery. It has not reacted to the bedding-in problems and tried to address them. From the feedback of the constituents who have been in touch with me, they are very dissatisfied. This is basic stuff. People plan their day around the bus service. This bus service worked for many years but now, as a result of the changes, there are people being late to work and missing connections and there is the core problem of the routes not servicing the areas that were previously serviced. I will cover that in a moment. At the very least, if Dublin Bus and the NTA are going to implement new services, the frequency should be appropriate to the demand. There should not be extensive numbers of people at bus stops. There should not be limited space on a bus early in the route and there should not be missing buses. A very basic provision of services is needed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank Deputy McAuliffe for raising this important topic, which I am taking on behalf of our colleague the Minister, Deputy O'Brien. From the outset, I clarify that the Minister for Transport has responsibility for policy and overall funding in relation to public transport. However, neither the Minister nor his officials are involved in the day-to-day operation of public transport services. The statutory responsibility for securing the provision of public passenger transport services nationally rests with the National Transport Authority. The NTA works with the public transport operators, which deliver the services and have responsibility for day-to-day operational matters.  That said, I reassure the Deputy that the Government is strongly committed to providing all citizens with reliable and realistic sustainable mobility options and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, in budget 2026 the Department of Transport secured \u20ac940 million of funding for public service obligation, PSO, and TFI Local Link services. That was a significant 43% uplift, an increase from \u20ac658.4 million in 2025. BusConnects is a transformative programme of investment in the bus system, providing better bus services across our cities. It is the largest investment in the bus system in the history of the state and is managed by the NTA. The aim of the network is to improve the existing Transport for Ireland system through enhanced services with high frequency spines and new local, orbital and radial routes.  The recently launched F spine, providing routes F1, F2, and F3 as part of phase 7 of the BusConnects network redesign, introduces high-frequency 24-hour bus services - routes F1, F2 and 80 - on key corridors, enhancing connectivity between areas such as Tallaght, Finglas, Charlestown and the city centre. This redesign under phase 7 of BusConnects also introduced new radial services - routes 23, 24, 73 and 82 - and the new local route - route L89 - to streamline the network and make services more efficient. The NTA has advised that in advance of these new routes being implemented it distributed over 200,000 booklets to households across all the areas covered by the routes. It also advertised the new services in local media outlets and online, and it provided detailed briefings to local public representatives.  Separately, the NTA reported a technical fault in the Dublin Bus priority system, which adjusts traffic light signals to ease bus movement. The system malfunctioned for three consecutive days, causing unforeseen delays and significant frustration for customers. The issue was resolved last Wednesday and performance is expected to steadily improve. This issue was separate from the BusConnects new service roll-out, but it impacted all affected Dublin bus routes.  The performance of all public transport operators is monitored by the NTA as part of the contractual arrangements in place between it and the operators. Importantly, these contractual arrangements allow not only for the monitoring of performance by the NTA and the publication of its annual performance reports, but also for the imposition of financial penalties where performance does not meet the required standards. Improvements are also being introduced to the vehicle location system and real-time passenger information, all of which will improve the reliability of the system. The NTA informed the Minister that it is carefully monitoring capacity and reliability during these early days of the new services and will continue to monitor situations, adjusting where appropriate. I am conscious that is not the experience the Deputy had, though. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul McAuliffe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-McAuliffe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul McAuliffe  I thank the Minister of State. I am reassured that the NTA has said it will monitor frequency because anybody who has seen any of the bus stops or any of the buses being used will see that an increase in frequency is required. I am certain it is going to have to respond because of the level of demand. The difficulty is how long will it take the NTA to take that action.  I know BusConnects is controversial in different areas. I have encountered that in some areas and it involves some compromises at times. There are positive elements to the service, such as two new 24-hour bus routes, additional new services, connections to the Luas and so on. However, it is the basic design of the service that many people were very disappointed with. There is no longer a local connection between west Finglas and south Finglas, with many people living in one area but their children in school in the other. Routes Nos. 23 and 24 no longer serve the north city centre - the O'Connell Street area - so people from the area are now dropped off at George's Street or Merrion Square, which are miles away from the traditional shopping areas that they would have gone to in Henry Street or Mary Street. There is now no bus service operating in the Beneavin Road area, particularly where it interacts with Glasnevin Avenue. The diversion of the former No. 9 bus from a road that has a bus lane onto Ballygall Road East which does not have a bus lane, makes absolutely no sense. Finally, the east Finglas and Glasnevin area now no longer have a connection to places like Na Fianna, Scoil Mobh\u00ed and the Glasnevin-Drumcondra area. They are the structural route issues and I can work with the NTA on those, but what we cannot do is roll out a new service and fail to deliver the proposed service or roll out a new service and provide a less frequent or lower capacity service. This is a matter that the NTA will have to address. In asking the Minister of State this question, the NTA will have had to have prepared a response to input into the Department. I hope doing so was a call for action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  The Deputy is right. Transport connectivity and reliability are critical for the people who live, work and study in Ireland. They are essential to encourage people out of cars and onto public transport. In the latest progress report published in March this year, the BusConnects Dublin programme has shown significant improvements in key performance indicators. There has been an annualised increase of 9.35 million, or 75%, in scheduled service kilometres in the NRD phase 1 F1 to 5B compared to equivalent routes operating prior to the NRD project. Passenger boardings on routes in the NRD phase 1 to 5B increased by 40% when compared with Dublin metropolitan bus routes that have not yet been altered in the redesign network. Overall, the redesign routes saw a 48% increase in passenger boardings while other routes experienced an increase of 8%. Additionally, the interim analysis indicates that 12% more places of employment are now reachable within 30 minutes with the redesign network compared with the pre-BusConnects network. This is moving the network towards the 18% place of employment reachability target.  It should be noted that the F spine, which is part of the BusConnects Dublin area NRD, was finalised following three rounds of public consultation that culminated in more than 72,000 submissions being received. The overall network represents a major investment in enhanced bus services, delivering a 35% increase in annual in-service kilometres, a significant increase in overall capacity and frequency for customers, as well as more evening and weekend services. The NTA will continue collaborating with operators and customers to enhance the punctuality and reliability of services throughout the NRD. Further, through initiatives such as the capacity improvement programme and implementation of ticketing techniques, the NTA is taking steps to enhance capacity and improve the overall travel experience for passengers.  I want to assure the Deputy that the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, will relay the concerns raised on the floor of the D\u00e1il tonight to the NTA to ensure a timely intervention and take on board the early teething problems, which we hope is all they are, to the new bus route. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Bus Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Staff","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I thank everyone who facilitated me to do this. I have just made my way up from the civic reception in Dundalk to celebrate the Louth Ladies Gaelic Football Association, the Louth senior team and the under-20 team after a spectacular year. Hopefully, there will be more of that to come. I had to leave Jarlath Burns and Marty Morrissey, but this is obviously an incredibly important issue.  This Topical Issue arises from the retirement of the clinical specialist sonographer in ultrasound at Louth County Hospital in Dundalk. The position was advertised in the summer and there were a number of applications, but there has been no progress in filling the position. There is now serious concern among the staff and public that the position will not be filled at the hospital and that the service, which has been incredibly well used over the years and is growing in demand year on year, will be run without on-site management. This situation is not recommended by the Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy, IIRRT, which recommends that there be a clinical specialist sonographer working on site, especially in a hospital the size of Louth County Hospital. This is because such staff play a vital role in managing and supervising the unit.  The previous clinical specialist sonographer in ultrasound at the Louth hospital was the only full-time radiographer who worked in ultrasound at the hospital. Her retirement leaves vacant three-and-a-half posts, two of which also look after all other scanning such as general X-ray, CT and DXA. A fourth person is due to start at the Louth hospital in January but it will still mean that two of the four at the Louth hospital will be basic-grade radiographers.  To put it in perspective, the HSE's own numbers are stark. The recently retired clinical specialist sonographer completed 2,000 ultrasounds herself at the Louth hospital in 2024. In the first ten months of this year until her retirement, she had completed 1,465. At the same time, the waiting list for ultrasounds in the hospital's group is the largest it has ever been, with 5,000 outpatient appointments needed at the moment and 35 referrals a day coming into the Louth hospital. The total number of ultrasounds done in Louth County Hospital in 2024 was 7,825, up from 7,608 in 2023.  The real scandal is that there has been considerable outsourcing of ultrasound scans happening in the north east of the State for many years, with 5,348 ultrasounds done in one private clinic in 2024 alone. Many of these scans are being recorded by HSE radiologists, which they are allowed to do under their HSE contracts. The public waiting list continues to grow and the outsourcing of ultrasounds to private clinics where the HSE is paying a huge amount of money grows also. Instead of putting in jeopardy the ultrasound service at Louth County Hospital, the HSE should be developing it. The best equipment is there but there are two rooms that are not being used to their full capacity due to lack of staff at the hospital.  Four years ago, a radiologist was on site at Louth County Hospital. Now, there is none. Instead, they are on the phone. It cannot be the case that a clinical specialist position at Louth County Hospital remains unfilled. The clinical specialist sonographer not only does the bulk of the ultrasound scanning but also does the organisation of the list, the management of the service to the public and the oversight and training of other scanning staff. As per guidance from the IIRRT, it is not best practice to run an ultrasound scanning service for Louth County Hospital without a clinical specialist sonographer being on site.  There are real fears that the whole ultrasound service will be downgraded and frittered away until there is no service. Everything that is needed in order to continue the great service that was being done before the retirement of the clinical specialist sonographer is there, except for the replacement sonographer. Ironically, Louth County Hospital was the first hospital in the State to get a clinical specialist in ultrasound when the service was established all those years ago. It cannot be the case that it does not get one now when it needs it more than ever. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa for raising this issue and giving me an opportunity to speak to it. I am advised by the HSE that a clinical specialist radiographer vacancy has arisen in Louth County Hospital, Dundalk.  A recruitment process to fill this vacancy has commenced, a number of applications have been received and interviews for this position are due to take place later this month.  I am assured by the HSE that while this recruitment process is ongoing there will be no disruption to patient care or service delivery. All clinical services continue to operate as normal, ensuring that patients and service users experience no change in access, quality, or continuity of care. I also understand that enhanced governance arrangements are being implemented for this position. These are designed to strengthen oversight, improve co-ordination and ensure clearer lines of accountability across LCH and Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital, Drogheda.  As the Deputy will be aware, LCH is part of the HSE Dublin and North East Health Region. In conjunction with Our Lady of Lourdes, Drogheda these hospitals operate with an integrated managerial and clinical governance system, care pathways and support functions. These hospitals are planning for the future to safeguard against increasing demand including anticipated population growth, particularly among those aged over 75.  To meet this challenge, projects have been developed in LCH which include theatre access for ear, nose and throat procedures and a Uroflow clinic for urology services. Additionally, a new procedure room will open in 2026 to enhance day services. These developments complement the already significant investments in Drogheda. There has also been an introduction of additional consultant coverage during weekends, extended consultant presence on weekdays and public holidays and expanded specialist availability to support inpatient care and consultations. Likewise, enhanced access to key diagnostics, including imaging at weekends will accelerate treatment pathways.  More broadly, I would like to outline the positive developments in LCH and Drogheda. This Government is committed to building on the significant investment and improvements made at both hospital sites. This significant investment is demonstrated by the 39% increase in the budget for LCH since 2020. In 2025, the budget was over \u20ac31 million, an increase from \u20ac23 million in 2020. In the same period, there was a 48% increase in the budget for Drogheda. In 2025, the budget was over \u20ac303 million, an increase from \u20ac204 million in 2020.  The Acute Inpatient Bed Capacity Expansion Plan 2024 - 2031 aims to deliver an additional 4,367 acute inpatient beds nationally including an additional 141 beds for Drogheda. LCH has 93 inpatient beds, encompassing both adult and paediatric. Since 2020, eight beds were delivered for LCH. Drogheda has 500 beds an increase of 15.7% since 2020. We have also invested in staffing at both hospitals which has increased by 2% in LCH and by 13.5% in Drogheda since 2020.  I hope all this positive news will be welcome for the Deputy, who so ably represents the constituency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Go raibh maith agat, a Aire. I welcome some of what the Minister of State says but I am not sure it is going to give the answer we need. As I said, there is serious concern among the staff and the public that the position that I am talking about - the clinical specialist radiographer - will not be filled. We need to make sure this happens and I would like to think the Minister of State will come back to me. I welcome that he says the recruitment process is ongoing, that there will be disruption to patient care or service delivery and all clinical services continue to operate as normal. That is all fine.  He also said that a recruitment process to fill this vacancy has commenced, a number of applications have been received and interviews for this position are due to take place later this month. However, that does not necessarily answer where this position is going to be. I want and hope that surety can be provided that this specialist position will make its way to the Louth County Hospital where it is necessary from the point of view of the work that has to be done. It is also necessary from the point of view of ensuring that we have the correct level of supervision that is dictated by the Irish Institute of Radiography and Radiation Therapy.  I am not sure that the Minister of State will be in the position to give that answer, but I will be chasing up the Minister of Health. I also ask that the Minister of State engages with the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill. We need to ensure that this is not a further downgrading of Louth County Hospital or the downgrading of the very important works that need to be done whether we are talking about the necessity of everything from ultrasounds through to X-rays, CT scanning and Dexa scanning. We need to make sure that this necessary facility is maintained. As much as we went to see Our Lady of Lourdes operating at full capacity, we do not need to lose this service in the Louth County Hospital.  If the Minister of State can give me the answer - brilliant stuff. If he cannot, he needs to chase it up with the Minister. I will be doing the same because it is not good enough that we let down the people of Dundalk. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I thank Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa again for raising this issue so forcefully and giving me an opportunity to speak on this matter. It is important to recognise that significant investment has been allocated to LCH and Drogheda in recent years which has uplifted capacity, staffing and bed numbers at each of the hospital sites. Projects that have been delivered in LCH include theatre access for ear, nose and throat procedures and a Uroflow clinic for urology services. Additionally, a new procedure room will open in 2026 to enhance day services. These developments complement the already significant investments in Drogheda. These two hospitals operate co-jointly and provide a comprehensive suite of services for the people of Louth.  I want to emphasise that the ongoing assessment of the needs of this region is a priority for this Government as evidenced by the major capital investments in both LCH and Drogheda. The Government is committed on building on the already significant improvements made in these hospitals. In relation to the post of clinical specialist radiographer at LCH, it is good to hear that there has been a number of applications received and interviews will take place later this month. We all know recruitment processes can take time, but I wish to assure the Deputy that progress is being made in this process. I reiterate that the HSE has confirmed that there will be no disruption to patient care or service delivery. All clinical services will continue to operate as normal ensuring that patients and services users experience no change in access, quality, or continuity of care. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Will the Minister of State go back to the senior Minister to find out if this position will be in Dundalk? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert Troy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Robert-Troy.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert Troy  I will most definitely, and will relay the Deputy's points to the Minister. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Staff"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Turf Cutting","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-11-04\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  I raise the situation in Ardgraigue, Barroughter and Clonmoylan bogs in south-east Galway. The local turf cutting contractor was served with a High Court injunction to cease cutting turf earlier this year. As a result, local people have been left without a supply of fuel this winter. There are over 40 families affected. It is important to say that these are bogs where local people have cut turf for many years. This is causing significant distress to the people affected. Many are elderly, have dwindling supplies or do not have an alternative supply of turf. They now face into the cold winter months without fuel.  The bogs have been designated as special areas of conservation, SACs. People have been offered a once-off payment from the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, to walk away from the bog and to allow rewetting. Many have declined it - as is their right - because many want to continue to heat their homes with turf. It is the only realistic option for them. Other forms of heating are far too expensive to install.  This injunction was taken out and it seems that these families are being coerced and forced into this scheme. They do not want to take part in it because they will be left worse off if they do and will not be able to cut turf again. I understand that under the legislation the families could be allowed to harvest turf if the Minister, Deputy Browne, signs an activity requiring consent, ARC, order. Their main ask is that the Minister signs this order to allow them to return to their bogs. I ask the Minister of State to outline if this will be facilitated.  I also raise the fact that the NPWS is beginning works to wet the bogs of those who have signed up to the scheme. This includes the installation of dam blocks to block drains with the aim of raising the water table in the bog. There are significant concerns surrounding the risk of flooding on neighbouring land, the risk posed by holes left behind and who would be held libel in the case of any injuries caused by these holes. There has been a complete lack of consultation. The NPWS is not responsive at all and does not seem to be accountable to anybody. I also want to raise concerns with the process around the SACs designations. These three bogs were designated to be sites of community importance, SCIs, by 2002. Under the habitats directive, if SCIs are intended to be made special areas of conservation this must be done within six years of them being designated SCIs.  In this case, the three bogs were not officially designated as SACs until the years between 2021 and 2023. This is in direct conflict with the timelines mandated under the habitats directive but we have had no real explanation yet for this. I ask the Minister of State to provide that this evening. There are questions around the process but the big question the local people want answered is whether the Minister will sign an ARC order to allow turf to be cut in these bogs again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy John Cummins)  I thank Deputy O\u2019Hara for raising this important matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Browne. The bogs at Ardgraigue, Barroughter and Cloonmoylan are special areas of conservation in the Deputy's county of Galway. I reaffirm the Government's commitment to protecting Ireland\u2019s valuable peatlands and to working with all stakeholders. As the Deputy will be aware, peatlands are of cultural, economic and ecological importance to Ireland and are profoundly significant for our communities and our history. They are a cornerstone of many communities; a source of heating, as the Deputy pointed out; a way of passing on knowledge; and a deeply held right for many families.  The EU habitats directive requires member states to select sites for the protection of habitats that are considered threatened, including active raised bog, which is considered to be in danger of disappearing within the EU territory. Ireland has selected 63 sites for the protection of active raised bog habitats, including Ardgraigue, Barroughter and Cloonmoylan bogs, and has designated these bogs as special areas of conservation. This protects approximately 9% of our original raised bog resource.  The Government adopted a clear long-term strategy to protect these sites. In 1999 the Government announced arrangements for the cessation of turf cutting on raised bog special areas of conservation, and a compensation package, including for the three bogs the Deputy referenced, was outlined. It also announced that commercial turf cutting would cease on certain SACs and that a ten-year derogation was given for domestic turf cutting. At the end of this derogation, following extensive stakeholder consultation, the cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme was launched in 2011. The scheme was advertised again in 2024, closing to new applicants in 2025.  These raised bog SACs are included in European sites as identified by the European Communities (Birds and Natural Habitats) Regulations 2011. Statutory instruments for each site further affirm their protected status. The cutting of turf may not be carried out or caused to be carried out or continued to be carried out on these plots by any person save in accordance with the provisions of regulation 30 of the 2011 regulations or with the consent of the relevant authority or both. I understand that since 2011, no planning application for turf extraction has been made on Ardgraigue, Barroughter or Cloonmoylan and no formal request for ministerial consent has been received. It is a criminal offence subject to prosecution to extract turf without the required ministerial consent or relevant statutory consent or both.  Extensive supports have been put in place to assist turf cutters on these sites. The cessation of turf cutting compensation scheme compensates households affected by restrictions on turf cutting for domestic use on raised bog special areas of conservation. To date, the Department has paid out over \u20ac7.3 million to 329 families who had been cutting turf on the three bogs in question and is processing a further 118 applications.  The protected raised bog restoration incentive scheme is also available to landowners who wish to have their lands included as part of that scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louis O'Hara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Louis-O'Hara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louis O'Hara  From the response, I do not think the Minister of State appreciates the distress and tension this situation is causing in the local community. He outlined the compensation schemes available but the reality is there are 40 families in the area who are well aware of the schemes but have not entered the schemes and will not enter them. They have been allowed to cut turf on these bogs for many years. Now they are being left without the fuel they rely on to heat their homes. I have outlined that many of the people affected are elderly. It is a deeply unfair situation. They have been kept in the dark about the process of designating the bogs as SACs and the ongoing works by the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS. They feel they are being bullied and coerced into signing up to a scheme they do not wish to sign up to. It is regrettable to see how divisive it becomes in the local community when people are pressured into signing up to something like this.  The Minister of State said no formal request for ministerial consent has been received. Can he clarify whether a formal request must be made? Were a request to be received, would it be considered and, in the Minister of State's view, granted? If clarity cannot be provided on these issues, I ask that at the very least, the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Browne, or the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, from the Department would meet the families affected and hear first-hand about the impact it is having on them. They are very reasonable people who work hard and want to get on with their lives in peace and quiet. Will the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Browne, or the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, from the Department commit to meeting them before the end of the year? I would be more than happy to facilitate it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"John-Cummins.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Cummins  All I can do is take back what the Deputy has said to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Browne. I cannot give an indication of whether an application, if made, would be accepted. That would have to go through, I assume, an assessment process. It is not within my remit so I am not fully au fait with the process that would be involved.  I re-emphasise that we are trying to progress the 118 applications still in the system and that \u20ac7.3 million has been paid out to 329 families under the scheme. I appreciate the comments the Deputy has made. I understand the importance of this from the cultural, economic and ecological points of view. The strategy to protect raised bogs dates back to 1999, long before either of us was involved in politics. I will take the Deputy's comments back to both Ministers. I assure him we are prioritising the applications in front of us under the compensation scheme. I suggest that if the Deputy formally writes to the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, and the Minister, Deputy Browne, we can get an official response to the comments he has raised. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 10.18 p.m. go dt\u00ed 9 a.m., D\u00e9 C\u00e9adaoin, an 5 Samhain 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 10.18 p.m. until 9 a.m. on Wednesday, 5 November 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Turf Cutting"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-11-04"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-17T02:09:29+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-10-22","counts":{"contributorCount":136,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":15,"questionCount":0,"billCount":0},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Catherine Ardagh - To discuss the additional investment provided in budget 2026 for children\u2019s respite supports.  Deputy Joe Cooney - To discuss a recent court decision regarding the connection by the Ennis Plaza to the Clareabbey wastewater treatment plant, WWTP, system.  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the establishment of a dedicated pilot study on the health service in the Iveragh and Dingle peninsulas.  Deputy Martin Daly - To discuss Portiuncula maternity services in Ballinasloe.  Deputies Barry Heneghan and Cian O'Callaghan - To discuss the lack of autism class places at Stapolin Educate Together National School, Dublin 13.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss early intervention classes in Kerry.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss the post of radiographer clinical specialist ultrasound at Louth County Hospital.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the ban on turf cutting in Barroughter, Clonmoylan and Ardraigue bogs in County Galway.  Deputy Conor D. McGuinness - To discuss policing issues in Waterford.  Deputy Ryan O'Meara - To discuss the need to establish the countryside forum.  Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss the increased number of wandering and malnourished horses in urban areas of Limerick.  Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire - To discuss the docking of the MV Matthew at Marion Point and at Passage West dockyard.  Deputy Shane Moynihan - To discuss the provision of new school buildings in Balgaddy, Lucan, County Dublin.  Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in - To discuss the closure of the meals on wheels service for Courtown and Gorey.  Deputy Louise O'Reilly - To discuss the impact of delays in the coroner's court.  The matters raised by Deputies Louise O'Reilly, Martin Daly, Ryan O'Meara, Barry Heneghan and Cian O'Callaghan and Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Coroners Service","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I thank the Minister of State for being here this morning to take this matter. If he does not mind, I will refer to two separate matters. The first is the story in this morning\u2019s newspaper to the effect that delays with funerals are feared as Waterford Hospital is to end coroner-requested autopsies. The article in question refers to a global shortage of pathologists, which means there will be further delays.  I tabled this matter on the basis of my own experience. The matter revolves around the number of leave days available to a person who is bereaved. If we take the civil and public service as having the best bereavement leave entitlement, we find that a person is entitled to five days leave on the loss of a mother or father. I had that experience recently when my mam died. She died on a Wednesday. She was not cremated until the following Wednesday, which, to put it in bald terms, would have put anyone with only five days' bereavement leave in a situation whereby they would have to go back to work. If you take the Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, that is three days. If you take the Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday of the following week, that is six days in total. Even if you get one force majeure day and you take five, it is quite possible to find yourself in a situation where you do not have enough leave. This is not about me. It only came to my attention because it happened to me. It was something I had not thought about at all. You might not be able to go back to work, but you might be someone who has to do so. If you are lucky - and lucky is the word - you get five days' leave.  This is not a plea for additional leave days, because I do not think that is the solution. Culturally in this country, there is a short time between the death and the cremation or burial. As a result, there will be a particular impact if the delays to which I referred occur. I was thinking about it and talking to members of my family. I could not have gone back to work; it would just not have been possible. I am very lucky, however. I have Marian and Freya in my office. They and all of my colleagues together made sure the work was done. I am very lucky, but there are an awful lot of people who are not.  Imagine you are working as a nurse. I am sure that when you go onto the ward, your colleagues are of course going to be lovely to you, mind you and all of that, but you might not have a choice. You might not have any annual leave left. This is to bring attention to the impact of these possible delays. It is not a plea for more leave, because I do not think that is the issue. There is a cultural expectation. When you talk to people from other places they say \"Gosh, it is very fast\". Culturally, however, that is how it is done in this State. It really shocked me when I realised that even had I taken one day of force majeure leave and five bereavement leave days, I would have had to have returned to work the day after my mam\u2019s funeral. I physically would not have been able to do so. Had I not had the leave, however, I would have had to return. Coming up to Christmas, people might keep leave because they have to have it for the festive period. In some employments, the boss will tell their employees that they have to keep some leave days to cover that period. Someone may find themselves in a situation where they simply do not have the leave.  I tabled this matter to spark a discussion. I do not expect the Minister of State will have the answers this morning, but I had resolved, when I was able, to raise this issue on the floor of the D\u00e1il. I spoke to a number of people, including the funeral directors. We had that conversation, so I am making good on a commitment that was given. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration (Deputy Niall Collins)  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter. I had not realised that her mam had passed. She has my condolences and sincere sympathies in that regard. I thank her for sharing her personal experience in the aftermath of the event that is informing our discussion this morning.  I am responding on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Jim O\u2019Callaghan. I hope to be able to provide some clarity on some issues and guidance on where we go from here. The Coroner Service comprises a network of coroners in districts throughout the country. A coroner is an independent officeholder who performs a public service by making inquiries into reported deaths. While recognising the significance and sensitivity of the coronial investigation process for loved ones of the bereaved, neither the Minister for Justice, Home Affairs and Migration nor his Department can interfere with a coroner in the exercise of their statutory function to investigate deaths. The Department has had direct responsibility for providing financial and administrative support to the Dublin District Coroner\u2019s Office since January 2018. Outside Dublin, the relevant local authorities fund the costs of all other coronial districts.  The Minister is aware that the provision of post-mortem examination services nationwide is a significant area of concern at present. As the Deputy noted, pathologists provide the post-mortem examination service on what is known as a grace-and-favour basis. This is resulting in delays for the conduct of such examinations in some parts of the country. Several hospitals in Dublin no longer provide autopsy services to support the work of the Coroner Service.  This is causing undue pressure on the system and can cause delays in the conduct of post-mortem examinations in Dublin.  In late 2024, University Hospital Waterford, UHW, advised the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration that it intends to withdraw its autopsy service for all coroner-directed autopsies from 1 January 2026. It is understood that there are nine sanctioned posts in UHW for pathologists, however only six are filled. The team at UHW has advised the Department of challenges in filling the remaining three posts. Of the six filled posts, three of the consultants are understood to have decided not to conduct autopsies, meaning that only three consultants are available to conduct in the region of 700 autopsies per year.  A pathologist contract does not currently include an obligation to conduct post-mortem examinations, hence what is known as the grace-and-favour model. The Department is ready to assist in finding a solution to this issue in advance of the 1 January deadline. As the post-mortem examination service is largely provided through the health service, a solution clearly cannot be found without significant input and engagement on the part of the HSE. The Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration will continue to engage with the Department of Health on this issue in order to assist in improving the delivery of this service, which is of critical importance to bereaved families who are engaged with the Coroner Service. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I thank the Minister of State for the reply and also for the confirmation that the Department is ready to assist. The purpose of raising this issue was to ensure that the impact on families will be taken into account. I can see from the reply that the Minister of State is aware of that, but I urge that the practical impact on individuals be factored into the negotiations. As a former trade union official, I cannot believe I am standing here and saying that I am not looking for additional leave. It is not about that, however, it is about the process. I had a chance to discuss the delays with some people. What I say is purely anecdotal. I posit no scientific evidence for this. Sometimes the delays can cause a bit of uncertainty because if a State case comes in, it could push back the release of a loved one's remains, which can have a knock-on effect. The fact is that people are in limbo. It is very individual in nature. We are never going to settle on the right number of leave days. How long does it take to deal with grief? It takes forever. I speak about the capacity of people to be able to go back to work.  Had I been required to be back in work on the Thursday for monetary reasons - to be brutally frank, in a way we are lucky that we can do a job that we love, but a lot of people work for the money not for the love of it - I do not think I would have been able. There is an inability to not go back to work. The fact is that I went back to work on the Friday but that was my choice. I wanted to do it. I had the luxury of additional time off, which a lot of people do not have. They dread the thought of having to go back into work. I want to put that on the Government's radar so that it is factored into the discussions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  I assure Deputy O'Reilly that our Department is committed to driving the modernisation of the Coroner Service in Ireland, including Dublin, where she outlined the issues many families are experiencing, including her own. The Department has received approval from the Government to draft the general scheme of a Bill to significantly reform the Coroner Service in order to increase efficiencies and minimise the impact of the death investigation process on bereaved people and their families. The heads of the Bill, which will be brought to the Government before the end of the year, will aim to address all aspects of the Coroner Service, including the establishment of an independent office of the chief coroner, who will be responsible for setting standards, providing guidance and overseeing the activities of full-time salaried coroners modelled in line with best practice internationally.  Other proposals include reform of the current approach to the provision of coroner-directed autopsies to ensure that families across Ireland have equal access to pathology services and do not experience unnecessary delays. The Coroners (Amendment) Act 2024, which was signed into law in February of last year, makes provision for the assignment and appointment of temporary coroners where workload demands warrant such an assignment. This ensures that there will be adequate coronial provision in all districts pending the reform of the service to which I alluded earlier. I hope that helps. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Coroners Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I acknowledge Deputy O'Reilly's loss and the issue she raised as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I thank Deputy Daly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I want to discuss a matter of profound importance for women and families across the west, namely the ongoing failure to fully implement the recommendations of the 2018 Walker report into maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital. I acknowledge the families who have suffered devastating outcomes. Their experiences must be acknowledged. I also recognise that the midwives, doctors, nurses and other health staff who work in the unit under extraordinary pressure in an organisationally dysfunctional system. This discussion is not about blame, it is about governance, accountability and leadership.  On the floor of the D\u00e1il two weeks ago, the Minister for Health informed me that the Walker report was implemented and that HIQA had reviewed it in 2019. Walker was all about clear governance, modern infrastructure, robust communications and continuous training, yet seven years later many of those recommendations remain unfulfilled. I spoke to people at the highest level in the HSE and I have also looked to see what HIQA report the Minister referred to. There was a HIQA review in 2019 but it was part of a normal, natural audit of all maternity units in that year. To my knowledge, there has not been a specific HIQA review of the implementation of the Walker report of 2018.  The non-implementation of the Walker report was also confirmed to me at the health committee three weeks ago by the CEO of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, who said that it was patently clear, given the points I raised with him about the deficiencies in the management of the maternity unit at Portiuncula hospital, that the Walker report had not been implemented. There has been some rowing back from that position, and I am now being told that the Walker report was implemented but was not sustained. I am really confused, as are the people in Ballinasloe, east Galway and Roscommon and in the wider region Portiuncula maternity unit serves. All of the same issues arise again, such as staffing and consultant staffing. We were promised following the Walker report that there would be seven obstetricians but at no given time in the intervening period were there even four obstetricians. There were three full-time obstetricians sharing on-call care. There was one on managed sick leave and one on managed leave over that period.  Issues around infrastructure, having a gynaecological theatre on the labour ward, training such as cardiotocography, CTG, which is basic training, and ongoing training for staff. All of these issues were identified in the Walker report and again identified in 2025 by the Coulter-Smith report. We have to recognise that there are 12 cases under review by Coulter-Smith and that he has reported in seven of those reviews. I will await the outcome of the other five reviews.  Is the clinical leadership that was supposed to implement the Walker report the same one that is going to lead us out of this? There was a policy under Walker of one hospital on two sites. That was discarded in July 2024. No good reason was given as to why that joint governance was discarded. I want to know why it was discarded, particularly as the idea was good. There was no full commitment to it. The associate clinical director was to come from Galway on three days one week and two days another week for six hours on alternate weeks. That never happened because the work was not backfilled in Galway so they could not commit to it. That was not the implementation of the Walker report. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I welcome the opportunity to discuss the delivery of maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital. There are 12 external reviews related to maternity care at Portiuncula. Seven of these reviews have now been completed. I understand the very natural worry that developments in Portiuncula may be causing for many women and families who attend or who had planned to attend for Portiuncula maternity hospital. I also acknowledge and offer support to those women who may have had devastating outcomes as a result of their care. I am very proud of having rolled out perinatal mental health support across all 19 maternity hospitals over the last six years. These perinatal mental health supports are very important especially for first-time mothers, mothers who might be who might be nervous, mothers who might have mental health conditions and women who just might have anxiety. It is really important for them to be aware that those supports are there.  In January 2025, a highly experienced external management team was put in place to oversee and manage maternity services in Portiuncula. The team reports directly to the HSE west and north-west regional management and is responsible for managing and supporting all aspects of maternity, gynaecology and neonatal services at Portiuncula. This team will continue to oversee the work and services provided at the hospital. The maternity unit at Portiuncula is being fully supported in this regard.  The safety and quality of our maternity services are priorities. The steps that are being taken to support the unit are to ensure the safety of all women attending maternity services across the region. The HSE has advised that the work to implement recommendations arising from the reviews is in progress through the Portiuncula external management team and the regional women\u2019s and children\u2019s managed clinical and academic network.  An implementation team has been established to ensure the recommendations arising from all reviews are followed and to progress any changes required over the coming months. There are currently 52 recommendations, arising from the seven reviews completed to date. I take on board what the Deputy said about the 2018 Walker report. Some of them may be implemented but not sustained. He is quite right in saying this is all about governance and accountability. This is not a blame game. This is to support the staff who are supporting women and girls every day of the week to deliver their babies safely.  The implementation team will also oversee the transfer of care for women with higher risk pregnancies from Portiuncula to University Hospital Galway or the hospital of their choice. This is not a new approach. It is in line with the well-established pathways in place for the transfer of care of complex or higher risk pregnancies within the regional maternity network. This approach is being broadened to include women with a wider range of clinical factors known to contribute to higher risk pregnancies. The HSE has communicated this to the women and families booked at Portiuncula, while GPs have also been advised and may refer women to Portiuncula University Hospital for assessment of the appropriate pathway of care.  These changes mean that women in rural communities who previously attended Portiuncula may now need to travel to Galway, or another unit of their choice for their maternity care. This may result in additional travel demands for expectant mothers and their families. The HSE west and north-west, through the work of the implementation team, is considering additional supports to assist women affected to ensure a seamless transfer of care for women identified as having a higher risk pregnancy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I thank the Minister of State for her answer. I will deal quickly with the transfer. On the transfer of high-risk cases, there was already a pre-existing system for women who had underlying medical conditions to be transferred either to Galway or to Dublin. The initial suggestion was that all women with diabetes, gestational diabetes or pre-existing diabetes would be transferred. That is not happening now because there is no capacity in UHG. We are either implementing this policy on the basis of safety or we are applying it on the basis of capacity.  The Minister of State raised the issue about women having to travel to Galway. The women who will be most affected by this are the women with the least resources, the women who cannot travel, the women with the least education. There are pockets of severe deprivation around Ballinasloe and the east Galway and south Roscommon area. We will have these ladies not presenting for antenatal care and presenting late at the delivery unit at Portiuncula because that is the closest place to them. They need accessible high-quality and safe care.  We need the recommendations from the Walker report to be implemented. It is clear to me that all the issues around training, communication and governance were promised but they were incompletely or inconsistently applied. We are in denial here. People have told me that the recommendations from the Walker report were implemented when they patently were not implemented. The people in Ballinasloe deserve the implementation of the recommendations from the Walker report and also the implementation of the recommendations of the Coulter Smith report. What is really important and what we are forgetting here is that even with the movement of maybe 200 high-risk cases to University Hospital Galway, given that the diabetic ladies and ladies who developed diabetes during pregnancy are being maintained in Ballinasloe we need a safe high-quality service in the maternity unit in Ballinasloe.  I implore for this to happen because this is not just about management. There are issues around interprofessional and intra-professional relationships within the department which need to be managed very closely because people have a professional responsibility to collaborate to produce a high-quality service. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Butler  I again thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I acknowledge and appreciate his knowledge of the situation on his doorstep. In some cases they may be patients he has worked with previously. I accept his passion about that. He is absolutely right. We have to prioritise patient safety not only at Portiuncula but across all maternity units in Ireland. The Minister and the Department of Health are continuing to work closely with the external management team, the HSE clinical leaders and families to ensure that the necessary improvements are delivered and sustained.  Pregnancy in Ireland is predominantly a safe experience with good outcomes. Ireland compares well with similar countries on international safety metrics. While most women experience straightforward pregnancy and delivery, sometimes things go wrong. When they do, the health service must do all it can to establish what happened and support these women, their babies and their families to the greatest extent possible, and try to prevent it from happening again. I hear what the Deputy said about capacity issues at University Hospital Galway. I also hear what he said that asking women, who might be from a deprived area and whose financial situation might not be good, to make an additional journey for the safety of them and their babies, which is understood, can put them at a financial risk. I will certainly raise that with the Minister.  There has been focused investment in the quality and safety pillar of the national maternity strategy but I know the Deputy is speaking specifically about Portiuncula today. I give him a commitment on the floor the D\u00e1il that I will speak to the Minister today about the issues he has raised. It is a difficult time for many women - people need to go through pregnancy to understand that. People need to be reassured that they will get the best care for them and their babies and I know that is what the staff are trying to do. I acknowledge the issues the Deputy has raised here today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"National Parks and Wildlife Service","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I would like to discuss the need to establish the promised countryside forum for nature. As a Deputy representing a rural constituency, I have a deep understanding of the importance of striking a balance between protecting our countryside and preserving and supporting the economic social and cultural interests and traditions of those who live in, work in and enjoy the countryside. Engaging with, giving voice to and actively listening to rural stakeholders is critical to achieving this balance.  In 2021, a review of the National Parks and Wildlife Service, NPWS, recommended the creation of a nature advisory committee with a wide stakeholder base. That council was not established. The subsequent strategic action plan for the NPWS which was approved by Cabinet agreed to establish a stakeholder forum with an implementation deadline of September 2022. That deadline was not met. The stakeholder forum was never established. Earlier this year the NPWS agreed a memorandum of understanding with the National Association of Regional Game Councils, NARGC, with an establishment deadline of 30 June this year. That deadline was not met. That countryside forum for nature has not yet been established.  There appears to be a recurring pattern here. Commitments are made but they are not delivered on and deadlines continue to slip. Unfortunately, rural communities and stakeholders bear the consequences. It is those communities, those representative bodies and organisations, those local people I have met time and again that I wish to speak up for here today to make sure that their voices are heard and this commitment is met.  I accept there are specific sectoral forums on issues such as nature restoration and sustainable bird hunting.  However, there is no single overarching forum whereby rural stakeholders - not just game hunters but also farming groups, rural sports groups, conservation groups and environmental NGOs - can sit around the same table with the NPWS to discuss a national policy approach to conserving nature, wildlife and the habitats that make up rural Ireland's countryside, while keeping balance with the rights, traditions and interests of the people who call that countryside their home, workplace and haven. The Government has approved the establishment of this forum, possibly for a third time now. The NPWS has signed a memorandum of understanding with the NARGC committing to its creation. Rural Ireland, including the people I represent in rural Ireland, and these groups are waiting for the forum to become operational. There is no excuse for any further delay at this stage and there is certainly no excuse for missing a third forum to which the Government has committed.  I ask for update on when the first meeting will happen and request that progress be made immediately. In particular, I ask for a date for the first forum meeting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. I am responding on behalf of the Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage, Deputy Browne, and the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan.  The NPWS is committed to strengthening its engagement with all stakeholders and, accordingly, has established a number of fora through which the Minister of State and his officials meet stakeholders. In addition, there are multiple informal contacts and discussions that happen on a regular basis.  The sustainable hunting of wild birds stakeholder forum was established in 2024 and has met on several occasions. The forum comprises a wide range of stakeholders, including the NARGC. Stakeholders are also involved in various fora relating to the development of the nature restoration plan. The Minister of State values the work carried out by the NARGC, and he and his officials hold meetings with representatives from that organisation on a regular basis. The NPWS also engages regularly with farming representatives in the designated area monitoring committee. While the NPWS had committed to establishing a wider stakeholder forum, officials are unable to progress this at this time due to other priorities, including an inordinately large number of judicial reviews of aspects of planning, nature conservation and its work. NPWS staff participate in multiple interagency and sectoral committees and are active in myriad stakeholder engagements, including with the NARGC.  The Minister of State welcomes the opportunity to confirm to the House the Government\u2019s continuing commitment to nature, the countryside, and the broader biodiversity agenda. Members will be aware that, in the context of budget 2026, the combined operating, capital and current allocation for the NPWS exceeded \u20ac100 million for the first time in the service's history. This figure is not merely symbolic. It represents a tangible investment in the protection and restoration of our natural heritage and underscores the Government\u2019s recognition that biodiversity and a healthy countryside are essential to our national well-being and our economic and social future.  Over the past five years, the Government has supported a range of initiatives to strengthen engagement with citizens and communities on nature and heritage issues. These initiatives include the Citizens\u2019 Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, the young people\u2019s assembly on biodiversity loss, a series of annual biodiversity conferences and the annual Heritage Ireland 2030 conference. Right now, we are in the middle of community conversations in relation to the nature restoration law. There is a veritable cascade of committees working with the independent advisory committee in the context of developing our national nature restoration plan. The National Association of Regional Gun Clubs is represented in those key fora. These fora, together with extensive consultation with farming, environmental, community and recreational stakeholders, reflect an unprecedented level of public dialogue and co-operation on the future of Ireland's countryside. One of the many valued participants in that conversation is the NARGC, which, along with a myriad of other community and national organisations, plays an important role in the stewardship of rural landscapes. Its input and that of all such organisations is both recognised and appreciated. The Minister of State wants to be clear that he is committed to ensuring that all stakeholders have the opportunity to engage constructively with the NPWS. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Collins, for taking this matter on behalf of the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan. I appreciate that this is not directly his departmental area but I must express my concern at the initial response. In 2021, the nature advisory committee was committed to but not established. In 2022, the stakeholder forum was committed to but not established and I am worrying now, based on the reply, that we are seeing a third forum being promised but not being established and another group of organisations in rural Ireland being let down. We still do not have a clear commitment or a date for the establishment of the countryside forum for nature. Rural communities have been waiting for years for a forum where stakeholders, including farmers, rural sports groups, and conservation organisations, can come together to discuss policy on nature, wildlife and habitats in a balanced and constructive way. While progress has been promised on multiple occasions, deadlines have slipped and I am worried that we are about to see more deadlines slipping.  The NPWS has signed a memorandum of understanding and I cannot comprehend how it can do that, commit to a date for a meeting to take place and then turn around, mere months after missing that date, and say that it is too busy to do it. How does the NPWS have the authority to sign something, commit to it and say to representative bodies that it is going to do something, and then turn around and say it is too busy with other things, has too many other commitments and cannot make it happen? A commitment has been made to the NARGC, a very good body that wants to work with the Government and the NPWS and other State agencies for the betterment of rural Ireland in the context of conservation activities. There are other groups that want to be involved too, in the one room, informing policy on a very important area for the people whom I represent. I ask the Minister of State to bring my concern back to the NPWS and the Minister of State and make it very clear to them how disappointed I am, on behalf of these groups, that they are possibly being let down again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  Since taking office, the Minister of State, Deputy O\u2019Sullivan, has been acutely conscious of the extensive engagement that has taken place with the NARGC, particularly in the context of the wild birds forum. At the same time, he must acknowledge that the NPWS operates with finite resources and that its executive and ecological capacity is already under significant pressure. The service faces a challenging and demanding agenda. It is responsible for the drafting and delivery of Ireland's nature restoration plan; the management of over 90 sites in State ownership; compliance and oversight across more than 600 Natura 2000 sites; the processing of over 11,000 permits and licences each year; statutory consultation on planning and development proposals; international compliance with a range of binding instruments; and 5 million visitors per annum to its sites. All of this represents a substantial and complex workload. Moreover, the upcoming EU Presidency will place additional demands on the same teams and key personnel.  In that context, the Minister of State has asked that a review be undertaken of all existing memoranda of understanding and the commitments arising from them. Specifically with regard to the MoU with the NARGC and in light of the current workload and overlapping responsibilities, he does not now believe it would be feasible to convene the cited forum before 2026 and certainly not before the work of the wild birds forum is concluded as he does not have the resources or the capacity to service two fora that would ostensibly cover the same subject area at the same time. This is not a reflection of any lack of value placed on that engagement. Rather, it is a practical response to the scale of the service\u2019s current obligations and the need to ensure that all sectors receive fair and balanced attention. The Minister of State must also be mindful of the legal context in which these interactions occur and of the advice available to his Department in that regard. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Parks and Wildlife Service"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  Today, my constituency colleague, Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, and I are speaking on behalf of a school that we both visited with the Minister earlier in the year. I hope the staff and children who are watching this debate in the school today are having a lovely morning. At present, Stapolin Educate Together National School has two autism classes and one developmental language disorder, DLD, class.  Despite this, there are currently multiple children in mainstream classes with eligibility letters for placement in autism classes and waiting lists of around 50 children still seeking places. My colleagues and I across Dublin Bay North are hearing this consistently. I know this is not the Minister of State's responsibility, but I hope he relays this to the other Ministers.  In light of this demand the school is ready and eager to open two additional autism classes. We visited with the Minister of State. He was blown away by the resources and the resourcefulness of the staff and SNAs as they help children develop successfully. I commend Deputy O'Callaghan on the work he has done with the school before I entered this House.  Its autism classes are only in their third year and yet in that short time they have built a great model of excellence. My main asks on behalf of the school are for the Minister to sanction two additional autism classes for the 2026-2027 school year to meet demand and to ensure that with its proven capacity and clear success it is prioritised along with other schools when allocating special classes. I also ask that the Minister renews the SENO guidance and decision-making to ensure recommendations are based on children's assessed needs rather than absence of available places. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I thank Deputy Heneghan for his contribution. I also want to acknowledge that the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited the school - Stapolin Educate Together National School - a few months ago. The Government has said time and again that every child that needs an appropriate school place should have one. Stapolin Educate Together National School has asked to open two additional autism classes. There is huge demand for places in autism classes and here we have a school that is offering to open two more classes. Suitable space is available on the school site for the modular units required. There is experienced staff in the school who can support the establishment of two additional classes and the school is willing and able to meeting the need in the area.  There is substantial need. There are eight children in the mainstream classes who have been issued eligibility letters for autism class placement. In addition, the school has a waiting list of over 50 children looking for a suitable place. All that is required is approval.  No immediate action is being taken to progress the provision of these two much-needed additional classes. Why not? This is urgent. It requires action and approval and requires them now. Why is the provision of these two much-needed classes being held up? When will approval be granted? Will the Minister, Deputy McEntee, meet with the school principal who has requested this?  The National Council for Special Education, NCSE, has told the school that priority is being given to schools that do not yet have any special classes. That is a laudable aim. However, given the level of need there is why can that objective and the provision of additional classes where there is the demand, need and capacity not be provided at the same time? Why not build on the very successful provision of autism classes that are already in the school? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  The Government is committed to the provision of additional special places for children with special educational needs. As the Deputies know, the school referred to by them has three special classes, two dedicated for children with autism and one for children with a developmental language disorder or speech sound disorder.  The school is to be commended on its proactiveness and willingness to open further special classes to support its community. Indeed, the hard work and dedication to special education was evident when the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited the school earlier this year with the Deputies.  Budget 2026 secured funding for 3,000 new specialist places and the NCSE is currently examining where these places are best located for the 2026-2027 school year. In County Dublin, 705 special classes are now in operation providing capacity for over 4,200 students. This includes 103 new special classes for this school year. There are also 42 special schools in Dublin with approximately 2,700 students enrolled. Two of the five new special schools being established for the 2025-2026 school year are located in Lucan and Belmayne.  The NCSE will have a clear picture of local demand for specialist places for the 2026-2027 school year after it reviews and assesses all of the information which has been provided through the parents notification process which closed on 1 October.  The NCSE is also engaging directly with schools' boards of management in relation to the opening of new special classes. This engagement and earlier scrutiny of information means that the NCSE is on track to sanction the majority of new classes for the 2026-2027 school year by 31 December this year, four months earlier than in previous years.  In addition, in order to ensure new special classes can open as quickly as possible, the NCSE will continue to prioritise working with medium and larger primary schools that do not already have a special class and have available accommodation to accommodate a new special class. This approach maximises the use of existing space which can be reconfigured efficiently while ensuring that new provision continues to be established. It also increases the number of schools with special classes providing parents with greater choice and reducing the distances that some children are travelling to access a specialist placement. However, as in other years where schools have no available accommodation, particularly at post-primary level, and there is known demand in a local area, the Department will continue to provide additional classroom accommodation to provide necessary places.  This earlier commitment to the sanctioning of special classes combined with the rollout of the common application system pilot are some of the ways this Government is committed to ensuring the burden on parents is alleviated when seeking a specialist placement particularly in high areas of demand such as in Dublin 13.  I assure the Deputies that the Department and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that sufficient special education placements remain available for all children with special educational needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  T\u00e1 s\u00e9 deas \u00e9 sin a chloiste\u00e1il ach, lena bheith ionraic, we have to really look at what the NCSE says it is doing. It says that it wishes to expand provision to schools that do not yet have special classes.  I commend Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, for engaging with me on this matter. I know he has a huge body of work but the fact is he is getting through it and did visit four schools in Dublin Bay North. We were lucky to get the Minister of State out and he has responded to a lot of my emails to help them. As I said, when he was there, he was blown away by what the staff were doing to cope with funding.  Both goals can be pursed together. We have a situation where children with eligibility letters are sitting in mainstream classes. The programme for Government says that we want every single child to not only survive but to thrive. We need these key asks to be put in together. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I want to read from correspondence from the school principal. She says:  Our autism classes are now in their third year, and in that short time, we've gained extensive experience in setting them up and supporting our pupils to thrive. The success of our model has been widely recognised with teachers and SNAs from other schools regularly visiting us to observe and learn from our approach. We have developed a reputation as a well-run and highly effective setting, something we are deeply proud of.  We should all be proud of that. That is such a good model to build on. When there is school with that success that is willing to provide the additional classes that are needed, it makes no sense not to grasp that opportunity. The Minister of State said that the school should be commended. It does need a commendation. It needs the Government to act on this. This is an area with a huge amount of new residential accommodation built over the past number of years. There is also a huge number of families with young children. It is a thriving area with a massive need. We need the Minister to act on this now. Will the Minister of State ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to meet with the school principal? Will he pass that request on? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  I thank the Deputies for raising this question and giving me an opportunity to reassure the House that the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE are committed to ensuring that all children can access an education suitable to their needs. The Department of Education and Youth is committed to engaging intensely with the NCSE in relation to forward planning for new special provision to ensure every child has a place in an educational setting best fitting their educational need. It is important to remember that as we do this, our focus remains in keeping with policy on an inclusive education which promotes that children will be supported to receive an education in the most inclusive setting possible.  Of course, where demand is identified for special education classes, this will be sanctioned by the NCSE and established in schools within local areas. I accept that it may not always be possible to sanction these classes in preferred schools. It is important that classes be distributed fairly across schools in areas. This ensures inclusion practices continue in as many schools as possible and ensures our provision continues to expand evenly across diverse schools.  The NCSE continues to examine the information gathered through the parents\u2019 notifying system and match this demand to appropriate schools in local areas. It is envisioned that the location of the majority of special classes will be sanctioned by December of this year, four months earlier than in previous years. Parents will therefore be able to apply for specialist places much earlier than in previous years. I am aware that the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, continue to meet NCSE and senior Department of Education and Youth officials weekly to discuss the progress being made in providing further special classes for the next school year, 2026 to 2027. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Educational Needs"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Revenue Commissioners","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The Minister of State will be aware that, in October 2023, the MV Matthew was intercepted and seized. There was \u20ac157 million worth of cocaine on board. It was an extraordinary Garda operation and great credit is due to all the garda\u00ed and others involved. However, the people of Passage West have had to put up with the very large vessel ever since. It is about 200 m in length and has been docked in Cork Harbour since its seizure.  Local councillor Eoghan Fahy and I have raised this with the Government and also the Revenue Commissioners. We were informed initially that the vessel was required for evidence, that it was seized under the provisions of the Customs Act 2015 and that it remained under the care and management of the Revenue Commissioners. When the court proceedings concluded, eight men were convicted. Subsequently, in September 2024, which is 11 months ago at this stage, it was advised that the vessel could be removed. Unfortunately, it is still there.  This is a massive boat. It is 200 m long. It regularly has to be towed from one side of the harbour to the other. Three or four times per month, it must be brought from Marino Point across to the docks at Passage West, which is a residential town. This has created significant issues with noise, particularly in the Church Hill area of Passage West. There have been issues with smells that come and go. The boat is towed back and forth regularly, with significant implications for the people of Passage West in terms of noise, nuisance and so on. This has been dragging on for some time. The people of Passage West have been quite patient.  The other element of this is the cost involved. It has cost some \u20ac10 million to date. Every time the vessel has to be towed back and forth across the harbour, it represents an additional cost in terms of crew, equipment and so on. The costs are adding up and the people on the ground in Passage West are asking me and Councillor Fahy when the ship will be moved on. The court case ended almost a year ago but the boat is still towering over the town, with all the noise implications and so on. When will we see it removed? What steps have been taken to date to see it removed, and what are the outstanding obstacles? People have been patient enough and understood there was a court case going on. That case has now concluded and the vessel needs to be removed. The people of Passage West need to be in a position to get on with life and get past this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  I thank the Deputy. I am advised by the Revenue Commissioners that, following the MV Matthew seizure and forfeiture, immediate steps were taken to prepare for its disposal. In November 2023, initial consultations commenced with a shipping broker with a view to marketing the vessel for sale. In December 2023, the Revenue Commissioners were advised by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions that disposal could not proceed as the vessel was required for evidence in the associated criminal trial. On 2 November 2024, the Special Criminal Court authorised the release of the MV Matthew and a shipping broker was then formally engaged by the Revenue Commissioners to market the vessel. The bidding process concluded in quarter 1 of 2025, when a preferred bidder was identified. The Revenue Commissioners continue to engage with the preferred bidder\u2019s representative. There are significant regulatory and legal obligations that must be fulfilled in order to finalise the disposal of the MV Matthew and facilitate its removal from Cork Harbour.  Since March 2025, the Revenue Commissioners have been actively engaging with the vessel\u2019s flag state, Panama, to ensure these regulatory requirements are satisfied. However, the manner in which regulatory processes were conducted by the previous owner has created certain difficulties and delays in Revenue\u2019s being in a position to make progress on the disposal. Following engagement between the Revenue Commissioners, the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Panamanian officials, progress has been made in addressing some of these difficulties, including the registration of Revenue\u2019s ownership of the vessel with the flag state, which was necessary to facilitate Revenue's disposal of the vessel. Accordingly, it is anticipated that progress can now be made on the disposal process. However, as matters stand, there remain certain regulatory and port State control matters to be addressed. The Revenue Commissioners are engaging with the relevant State agencies to progress these matters. As such, it is not possible to give the Deputy a firm timeline for the disposal and departure of the vessel at this point. However, the Revenue Commissioners are considering all options, including the recycling of the vessel, so that the disposal and removal can proceed in the most expedient manner. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  People will be frustrated by that response. People have been patient enough already about this. As I read it, we have a preferred bidder who remains interested and who is continuing to engage with the Revenue Commissioners. The issue with flagging has been resolved. Significant progress has been made in that regard.  The Minister of State said certain regulatory and port state control matters had to be addressed. That could mean anything. We are no clearer about the actual obstacles and precisely how they will be overcome. While it is not possible to give a firm timeline, even a general sense of one would help. People in Passage West, Monkstown and the surrounding areas, and indeed Cobh and Rushbrooke, which are on the far side of the harbour, are worried that this could drag on and on.  We do not really have any sense of when this will be concluded, and that is not good enough at all. I appreciate that it might not be possible to give a calendar date. Could we have a vague sense of whether this will be dealt with in the next couple of months, in the next year or even later? The vessel is a significant nuisance. Every time it must be towed, which is three or four times per month, there are various implications, including noise.  The cost has to be considered too. Revenue has stated this is in excess of \u20ac10 million. The vast bulk of this, amounting to \u20ac8 million to \u20ac9 million, is associated with crewing and maintenance. Every day of every week the vessel sits in Passage West Harbour waiting to be disposed of costs the State a significant amount of money \u2013 money that could be better spent on other things. People in Passage West are probably thinking about whether it could be spent on housing or health services. Progress needs to be made. There is a cost to the State and a significant nuisance. A firm timeline or specific calendar date is one thing but it is frustrating to see no timeline at all has been given. Could the Minster of State give me greater insight, either here or in writing, into the specific regulatory issues outstanding? Could we be given any sense of a timeline? It is not good enough to have none. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Niall Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Niall-Collins.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Niall Collins  I cannot give the Deputy any sense of the timeline. There is no better organisation within the public service than the Revenue Commissioners in terms of efficiency and the expediency of the work done. I believe the Deputy would agree with that.  It its fairly clearly implied in much of the information the Revenue Commissioners have supplied to me that there are circumstances outside our control. The Irish Revenue Commissioners cannot direct the Panamanian authorities to move any quicker or at the pace desired.  The questions Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire raises are fair. Both he and I have a channel available to us where we can communicate with the Revenue Commissioners. A straightforward question directly from the Deputy to the chairman of the Revenue Commissioners would probably elicit a reply. I would be interested in it myself. I take onboard the concern the Deputy raises on behalf of his constituency and the communities impacted by this. It is going on a while. However, I would not like the message to go out that Revenue is dragging its heels in relation to this because it is an extremely efficient organisation, as many people know. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Revenue Commissioners"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Office of the President: Motion [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":36,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy)  The next item on our agenda is a Private Members' motion on the Office of the President from the Independent Technical Group. Before I call on Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn, I refer to a ruling made by the Ceann Comhairle on 7 October, to be aware that the President is beyond political debate as are the candidates running in the upcoming election. Both sides must respect that we do not delve into the current election or the President himself. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:  recognises that:  \u2014 there is a need to reform the presidential election nomination and voting process, to ensure all Irish citizens living north and south are entitled to vote for the President of Ireland; and  \u2014 future healthy robust campaigns should facilitate a competition of values and ideas, and a diverse range of candidates who will provide democratic choice for citizens;  notes that:  \u2014 currently Irish citizens who live in the North of Ireland can stand in a presidential election, campaign in a presidential election, win a presidential election, be the President of Ireland, but cannot vote in a presidential election;  \u2014 Irish citizens in the North of Ireland, are recognised by the Good Friday Agreement, hold Irish passports, live in Ireland, but cannot vote in an Irish presidential election;  \u2014 affording Irish citizens in the North of Ireland the right to vote in presidential elections does not remove one right from our unionist brothers and sisters;  \u2014 700,000 Irish citizens in the North of Ireland are disenfranchised in presidential elections;  \u2014 73 per cent of the participants of the \"Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution - Amending the Constitution to give citizens resident outside the State the right to vote in Presidential elections at Irish embassies, or otherwise\", voted in favour of giving Irish citizens in the North of Ireland the right to vote;  \u2014 opinion poll research has suggested that 49 per cent of voters do not feel represented by the current presidential election system, and 55 per cent of voters believe that the Constitution should be changed to make the nomination process easier;  \u2014 there is a lack of transparency around the Office of the President and \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1n, and these institutions do not have the same level of transparency which applies to Government Departments and State agencies; and  \u2014 the Constitution and the law set out the nomination process by Oireachtas members, County Councils, and the nomination by an incumbent, and these rules make it difficult for a prospective candidate to get onto the ballot paper; and  calls on the Government to:  \u2014 commit, within a period of two years, to enacting Aont\u00fa's Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Voting Rights in Presidential Elections) Bill 2025 or similar, in order to grant voting rights to Irish citizens living in the North of Ireland during presidential elections;  \u2014 repeal Section 42(h) of the Freedom of Information Act 2014, which exempts the President from the mechanisms of this Act;  \u2014 introduce, within the next six months, legislation which would mandate the publication of an annual report by \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1n, which would detail all costs associated with the entertainment of foreign guests and dignitaries hosted by the President, all costs associated with foreign travel by the President, costs associated with the running of \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1n, including decoration, repairs, and refurbishment costs; and  \u2014 amend the law to allow 14 Oireachtas members or more, 110 county and city councillors or more, or three county or city councils, or an incumbent to nominate a presidential candidate.  I am delighted to be able to table Aont\u00fa\u2019s second Private Members' motion in this House.This is a significant motion.It is one of the biggest reforms of the presidential election and \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1n in the history of the State.It tackles three areas of real importance.  First, this motion tackles the shocking democratic deficit in the presidential election that we are all witnessing at the moment.So many people are angry at the presidential election farce that is unfolding, and frustrated at being locked out of the presidential election campaign.If implemented, this reform would open up the presidential election nomination process to ensure that a larger number of candidates, more representative of the people, would be able to participate in an election campaign.It would allow for the democratic competition of ideas, where the best ideas would percolate to the top.  In most elections, the people pick the representative but it is not the case in a presidential election.In council, D\u00e1il or European Parliament elections, people can enter their name on the ballot if they reach a certain criteria in relation to how to get onto it.However, that is not the case here.The presidential election has an extremely high threshold.A threshold which is basically giving the power to the Oireachtas and councils to decide who even gets on the ballot.We in Aont\u00fa have a very simple proposal.Let the people pick the President.Let the people decide who should be elected President, rather than the political establishment.  If we look at the current system, it was built in 1937, at a time when there were two and a half political parties in the State.We are now in a very different situation.We now have a multi-party, diverse political system where those two legacy political parties are now small minority parties.When I say two legacy parties, I should really say one legacy party - the Fianna F\u00e1il-Fine Gael party - still has major control over the development of the presidential election.That is really unfair.  Not only do we have a very strict legal threshold but in this election we have also seen a very strict political approach.In previous elections, the political parties were very liberal in the ability given to their councillors to nominate individuals for the presidential election.In this case, we had one of those parties imposing a diktat, a whip on their councillors, and another of those parties intimating that thou shalt not select anybody else in this particular election.That is a major difficulty.  That has significantly reduced the routes to nomination for this presidential election and has caused major problems.The result is quite shocking.If we look at opinion polls, 49% of voters say they do not feel they are represented by the current presidential election candidates.Some 55% of voters believe that the Constitution should be changed to make the nomination process easier.The resultant election campaign has been a curated election campaign, and half the population is locked out of it.  The polls show that many people are not likely to vote and that a significant number of people will spoil their vote.One of the polls shows that Maria Steen would have achieved 22% of the vote in the election, and yet she has not been allowed on the ballot.That should be a wake-up call for the political establishment.  The political establishment should be shocked that people are disengaging from the political process to such a level.However, it is not a shock and the political establishment has said little or nothing about the disaffection of people from the political process.It may be in the interest of the political establishment that the electorate is disengaged from this particular election.After the election, we will have people who will decry that it was shocking that such a low level of voters turned out and that there was such a low level of engagement in the political process but, in reality, the political establishment has engineered a low engagement and low turnout in that particular election.  In the political establishment, many people decry the polarisation of the political system in this country.However, the only way to tackle the polarisation of the political system is to show that the parliamentary political system works and to show that it works, we need to convince people that their voices will be heard loud and clear here, that their vote matters and that they have a choice.We need to convince people that they are at the table of the representative democracy that is meant to exist here.However, that is not the message that has been sent out over the past while in terms of this election.  The reality is every single party, bar Aont\u00fa, is happy enough for the system to carry on regardless, for them to plough on regardless, and that they get the results they want.That shows the bubble that exists in Leinster House and that the anger and frustration that exists outside of Leinster House is currently only being articulated by Aont\u00fa.  Our motion looks for common-sense changes to the political system.We look for a referendum to be held within three years to amend the Constitution to reduce the Oireachtas threshold to 14 members, to reduce the council threshold from four councils to three and to create another pathway to nomination, which would allow for 110 councillors across the country to sign a nomination paper.There would be four pathways to nomination because, obviously, the incumbent President is also allowed to nominate in an election situation.That would make a real difference and allow for a larger ballot.It would allow for a real choice, and a functioning democracy.  I note that People Before Profit has put forward an amendment that seeks a fifth way for people to get on the ballot and that is with 35,000 signatories.I have no problem with the idea of 35,000 signatories selecting or nominating but the only problem I have with it in practical terms is how could we confirm each one of those nominations to be real if it is not done in person, and that would be seriously difficult?  The other significant reform Aont\u00fa is looking for in this particular motion is, in many ways, a revolutionary step.We are looking to give the right to vote to Irish citizens North and South.We are looking for equality between Irish citizens North and South.Incredibly, Irish citizens in the North can stand for President and campaign in a presidential election.They can win the presidential election and be this President of this country, but they cannot vote in the presidential election.That is an incredible disparity in any democracy that functions in the world.A person in the North of Ireland is an Irish citizen and an Irish passport holder.He or she is recognised as such by the Good Friday Agreement, but is still not allowed to vote in a presidential election.In effect, that means we have a two-tier citizenship in relation to this country and it is undemocratic.It is against the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement.  Imagine for a second the absolute joy that would exist in the hearts of Irish citizens in the North of Ireland if they could cast a vote in an all-Ireland election for the first time since 1918.That would be a significant step forward for most people in the North of Ireland and indeed for the Irish nation as a whole.That gift is not in Westminster.It is not decided by Stormont.It is decided by this House and then by a referendum of the Irish people.Why are we withholding that opportunity?  Some people might say they have heard the Government say things are very serious in the North of Ireland and we do not want to rock the boat and we have to be careful.M\u00edch\u00e9al Martin can think of 100 excuses why we should not take any steps towards Irish unity.He even says we need the unity of the Irish people before we have the unity of the territory.  Does anybody think that the unity of the Irish people is more likely in the United Kingdom than in a united Ireland? Why is it that sectarianism is rife in the North but not in the South? Is it because sectarianism is part of the UK and part of the partition of this country? The reality is that if we want to move beyond sectarianism and unite the people, we must first unite the territory. We need to ensure we make this decision. It is not a zero-sum decision. We are not taking any rights from our unionist brothers and sisters in enabling a vote for Irish citizens in the North of Ireland. There are currently 700,000 Irish people in the North with Irish citizenship. They are being blocked by this Government.  There is often a difference between talk and action in this place. Every political party has said openly that it supports the Aont\u00fa proposal to give citizens in the North of Ireland the right to vote. Opinion polls show that a majority of people on the island of Ireland seek this measure. We have launched a Bill, which has passed First Stage, to achieve this particular objective. A motion was passed in Stormont recently. A majority of MLAs put forward the same proposal, that is, that people in the North of Ireland would have the right to vote. That is significant. It is not unusual internationally. Countries allow votes in presidential elections to citizens outside the existing jurisdiction of control. This measure would bring this country into alignment with many other western democracies. I believe it is beyond time for that to happen.  People ask me why it is not happening. I do not mean any disrespect to the Minister because he probably has sympathy for this proposal. There is, however, an instinct in Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael that if there is an all-Ireland presidential election, they will not be able to win it because we would be introducing 700,000 new voters, many of whom might vote for all-Ireland parties. The first thing to say is that it is wrong to prevent democracy because you do not like the potential result. The second thing I will say is that we should fix that situation. Fianna F\u00e1il at one stage did stand in an election in the North of Ireland and had a cumann in Queen's University Belfast. I say to it: become an all-Ireland party and build across the island. Unity should begin at home and in the functioning of a political party. That is important.  This motion seeks to achieve another important objective, namely, transparency. Incredibly, the Office of the President is one of the few public offices in this country that is not subject to the Freedom of Information Act. In fact, section 42(h) specifically exempts \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in from the provisions of the Act. The Aont\u00fa motion seeks to repeal that provision and open the office to the same level of transparency and scrutiny as the Minister is under. Why should he have more transparency enforced on his actions than on the Office of the President? Incredibly, any citizen of this country can request, under the freedom of information provisions, copies of the Minister's briefing notes and emails, and inspect his work, but is insulated from requesting them from the Office of the President. Our motion would ensure that would be introduced in legislation within 16 months. It would also mandate the publication of the annual report of \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in and give all the detailed costs in relation to the entertainment of foreign guests and dignitaries hosted by the President, all the costs associated with foreign travel by the President and all the costs associated with the running of \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in, including decoration, repairs, refurbishment and costs. This is a basic request and it is incredible that it is not in place already.  What we have before us is important. There will be hullabaloo because one of the most undemocratic elections in the history of State is happening at the moment. There will be a lot of talk today about giving citizens in the North the right to vote in this election. There will be talk on the issue of transparency. My worry, and this is important, is that if we do not act now, in four, five or six months' time, this interest in taking action will disappear. Nothing will be done for six or seven years and we will be up against the next presidential election in exactly the same space, with no change achieved. That would be wrong. That happens in the political system in this country. It often closely follows the media cycle. When people ask me who is the most powerful Minister in the country, I say it is Joe Duffy because if it is not a crisis in the media, it is not a crisis in here. Ministers do not seem to be interested in something unless it is consuming the media cycle. Let us make sure that we act now on this reform. It offers a solution to the democratic deficit that exists in the presidential election. It democratises the system and gives citizens an opportunity to stand in the presidential election. It gives elected representatives more power in the selection of candidates. It stops the blockage of candidates by political parties that, for their narrow self-interest, want to keep other candidates out of the system. It revolutionises the situation in this country and allows citizens, North and South, to vote. It does not go as far as Irish unity, but takes a step towards it without costing anything to our unionist brothers. It would be a major step forward in all-Ireland democracy. It would be celebrated for generations. It would be a fine legacy for the Minister's party and Fine Gael. It opens up to transparency the Office of the President. It would shine the light of transparency into all aspects of our government. I urge the Government to support the Aont\u00fa motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  We in Independent Ireland welcome this motion. This is the kind of genuine, sensible proposal that speaks to ordinary Irish people, North and South. It is a motion about fairness, inclusion and democracy, which have been missing to date from too much of the operation of our political system. The presidential election has brought that into sharp focus in recent weeks.  Independent Ireland supports the motion. We believe it is long past time that all Irish citizens on this island, whether they live in Bantry or Belfast, had the right to vote for the President of Ireland. It is ridiculous that someone born and living in the North of Ireland, an Irish citizen with an Irish passport recognised under the Good Friday Agreement, can run for President, be elected as President and be the President, but cannot vote for the President. That is madness, plain and simple. If we are serious about inclusion and recognising all Irish citizens, this wrong has to be put right. Giving people in the North the vote does not take a single thing away from anyone else. It just means that 700,000 Irish citizens living in the North, who are part of this country, finally get to take part in choosing their head of State. That is what equality looks like in practice. It is not just about the North. It is about the health of our democracy across the board.  Independent Ireland has been clear that we need a system that gets people involved, values their vote and makes it easier for good, genuine candidates to put themselves forward. We do not want a system that is locked up by the big parties or controlled by old-style political gatekeepers. The current presidential nomination process is a shambles. We saw that again recently. Only three people got through in a country of 5 million. I know people who worked their socks off to gather support and do everything right only to be blocked by a rigid system that suits the establishment. Good people, such as Maria Steen and others, put their names forward but were told, \"No, thanks\", before the public ever had a say. That is not democracy. That is a stitch-up.  Independent Ireland has already called for big changes to that process. We have a Bill to do that with the Bills Office, as we said we would following the recent nomination process. We want a fairer, wider system that allows Oireachtas Members, MEPs and councillors to have a role in nominating. We proposed that a number of councillors could back a candidate that would open the door to genuine competition and give the people real choice.  Another thing that must change is the age requirement. You have to be 35 to run for President. Why? If a person is old enough to vote at 18, can serve in the Defence Forces, pay taxes and contribute to society, he or she should be old enough to stand for office. As I have said previously, the age requirement should be brought down to 21 years. We need to get young people back into politics and make them feel that their voices matter and they can help to shape this country's future. Are they too young at a certain age? Let the people decide. The truth is that too many people have switched off. I fear we are, sadly, going to see one of the lowest turnouts ever in a national election this Friday.  The motion also touches on something that does not get talked about enough, which is the need for greater transparency around the Office of the President and \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in. The President does an important job.  We all respect the office. However, that does not mean it should be above scrutiny. Every other public body has to account for its spending and make public reports. \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in should be no different. Repealing the section of the Freedom of Information Act that exempts the President is the right move. The public should know what the costs are for travel, for hosting dignitaries and for refurbishments. There is nothing wrong with that. It is just good governance. When people see that their money is being used wisely it builds trust.  This motion is about fairness, transparency and the basic democratic right of our citizens. It is about saying that everyone on the island should have a choice in choosing our President. It is about breaking the grip of the old political system that keeps new candidates and fresh ideas out. It is about holding every single one of our institutions to the same standards of openness and accountability. Independent Ireland fully supports the spirit of this motion. We will work with anyone who is serious about reforming our democracy and giving power back to the people. We have been talking about these issues for years. It is now time for action. Let us see legislation brought forward within the two-year period proposed. Let us make it easier to run for President. Let us open up \u00c1ras an Uachtar\u00e1in to public scrutiny and, finally, give all Irish citizens, North and South, the right to vote for their President. That is what real democracy looks like. That is what an Ireland that respects all its people looks like. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Browne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"James-Browne.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy James Browne)  I thank the Deputies for raising these important matters. I welcome the opportunity to update the House on behalf of the Government. The Government is not opposing this motion. However, I would like to make a number of points in respect of each of the proposals raised in the motion, which might warrant further consideration by the House.  In relation to voting rights, it should be noted that to extend the franchise at presidential elections to our citizens resident in Northern Ireland would require the holding of a referendum to amend the Constitution. In this regard, I am going to propose as set out in the Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Voting Rights in Presidential Elections) Bill 2025, which was published by Aont\u00fa on 17 June last. In the event that any such referendum on extending voting rights at presidential elections was held and approved by the people, it would then fall to me, as the Minister responsible for electoral legislation, to bring forward appropriate amendments to our electoral laws to give practical effect to the constitutional change. Such legislation would need to include provisions covering issues such as registration of voters from Northern Ireland, the method of voting, for example, postal voting or otherwise, and a constituency where voters would vote, for example, a separate or reserved constituency for the purposes of collating and counting the votes from Northern Ireland. These are all important practical considerations.  By way of some background, the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution, published in November 2013, recommended that citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in presidential elections. While 73% of the members of the Convention on the Constitution voted in favour of extending the right to vote in presidential elections to our citizens in Northern Ireland, at a separate vote a total of 78% supported the right for our citizens resident outside the State, irrespective of particular jurisdiction, to vote in presidential elections. I note that the Private Members' Bill does not propose to address the latter.  In response to the evolving needs of our society and its relationship with the wider Irish diaspora, in March 2017, the Government at the time agreed to accept, in principle, the main recommendation in the Fifth Report on the Convention on the Constitution that Irish citizens resident outside the State, including citizens resident in Northern Ireland, should have the right to vote at a presidential election and that a referendum would be held to seek to amend the Constitution to give effect to this. Over several years, my Department and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade worked closely on this issue and on 16 September 2019, the Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 was initiated in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann by the then Minister for Foreign Affairs to facilitate the holding of a referendum on this important issue. However, as Members will recall, with the advent of Covid-19 and the ensuing restrictions that arose in response to the pandemic, the Bill lapsed with the dissolution of the Thirty-second D\u00e1il on 14 January 2020. Notwithstanding the lapsed Bill, I am aware that on 24 June 2025, a Private Members' motion was tabled in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann calling for the extension of the franchise in presidential elections to those living in Northern Ireland. The Government did not oppose the motion and during that debate, the Minister of State with responsibility for international development and the diaspora confirmed that the Government was reflecting on this important matter.  In relation to freedom of information, as Deputies are aware, section 42(h) of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 provides an exclusion of the Presidency from freedom of information. The Office of the President is subject to a separate and discrete Vote of its own. The Vote of the President, which covers all expenditure of the Office of the President, in agreement with the Oireachtas, is subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General and its expenditure is subject to examination by the Committee of Public Accounts. Therefore, the perceived gains of subjecting the Office of the President to the provisions of the Freedom of Information Act may not outweigh the potential risk of injuring the independence or apoliticality of the Presidency.  I should emphasise that the annual accounting financial reporting arrangements for the Office of the President are managed in the same way as the expenditure arrangements for other public services Votes. As is the case with all Government Departments and many other public service offices and agencies, each year, in the course of the Estimates process, the Office of the President engages with the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation to establish its budget for the forthcoming year. The detail of these allocations is made publicly available when the Estimates are published at budget time. In addition, the Oireachtas Committee on Finance, Public Expenditure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, and Taoiseach scrutinises the allocation to the President's establishment Vote as part of its consideration of the annual Estimates. The management of the day-to-day expenditure over the year under the various subheads in the Vote falls to the personnel in the Office of the President who are subject to public financial procedures and audit controls in the same way as everybody else. Expenditure on the President's Vote is audited by the Comptroller and Auditor General and it is reported annually to the Committee of Public Accounts for examination in the usual way.  I also note for the House that the management, upkeep and maintenance of State properties and expenditure in that regard are a matter for the Office of Public Works, which, I am sure Deputies will agree, does a fine job with so many of our historic buildings around the country. The annual accounting financial reporting arrangements for the OPW are the same as for other Votes. In short, there is nothing to suggest that there is a particular value added in any other arrangements being applied uniquely to the Office of the President in respect of financial accounting and reporting.  In relation to the candidate nomination process, similar to the position with regard to the extension of voting rights at presidential elections, proposals to amend the candidate nomination process for election to the Office of the President would require an amendment to Article 12.4.2 of the Constitution. If such a referendum was successful, it would be necessary for me, as the Minister responsible for electoral legislation, to bring forward appropriate amendments to the Presidential Election Act 1993, as amended, to give practical effect to the constitutional change. In this regard, it is important to note that we now have an independent statutory Electoral Commission, An Coimisi\u00fan Toghch\u00e1in. Ireland's independent Electoral Commission was established in February 2023. An coimisi\u00fan's research, advisory and public information function enables it to carry out research on electoral policy and procedure. It is also empowered to advise and make recommendations to the Minister and the Government in relation to any proposals for legislative change or any other policy matters concerning electoral and legislative proposals.  I thank the Deputies for raising these important issues and for providing me with an opportunity to inform and contribute to this debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  The motion is rooted in three simple, democratic principles, namely, that every Irish citizen should have the right to vote for the President, that the Office of the President should be transparent and accountable and the process for standing for election should be fair and open to all citizens, not just the politically connected, and that voting rights for Irish citizens should be extended to the North of Ireland. Close to 2 million people live in the North of Ireland. Thousands of them are proud Irish citizens by birth, by heritage and by right under the Good Friday Agreement. They carry Irish passports, pay Irish taxes and send their children to Irish universities. They are part of the nation in every possible way. However, when it comes to electing the President of Ireland they are excluded from that right.  The President should represent the Irish nation as a whole. Our Constitution speaks of the nation and of the people. The Good Friday Agreement and the constitutional changes that followed it made this all the more clear. That agreement recognises the birthright of the people in the North of Ireland to identify themselves and to be accepted as Irish or British or both. It affirms their right to Irish citizenship, a right recognised in both Irish and international law. That means that every person born on this island, North or South, is part of the Irish nation if he or she so chooses. Yet, our electoral laws deny those living in the North of Ireland the right to vote. This goes directly against the spirit of the Good Friday Agreement and the Constitution.  You cannot recognise a person as Irish in law but deny them the most basic democratic right of citizenship, namely the right to vote for their President. In 2013, the constitutional convention, a citizens' assembly made up of ordinary people and elected representatives, examined this very issue. After detailed discussions and public consultation, it voted overwhelmingly to extend presidential voting rights to Irish citizens living in the North of Ireland. That convention was made up of 66 randomly chosen individuals and 33 politicians from across parties and from the North, and was chaired independently by Tom Arnold. It represented the Irish public in the most genuine sense. Its recommendation was clear and democratic, and, yet, more than a decade later, no action has followed. In 2019, the Government again promised a referendum on this issue and again it was quietly shelved. We hear daily about a shared island, but we cannot credibly talk about sharing if we deny the most basic democratic right. Successive Governments have refused to act in the way long promised in respect of this reform.  The office of President rightly commands deep respect. It symbolises service, dignity and unity but respect for institutions cannot mean a blank cheque. It must rest on trust, and trust comes through transparency. Right now, the financial operations of the \u00c1ras are not fully subject to independent audit or publication. The Comptroller and Auditor General does not have complete oversight of the President's spending and budget. Spending reports are not made public in the same way as those for the various State agencies. This lack of transparency serves no one, least of all the President. When every local authority, hospital, school and public body has to account for its expenditure, it is simply wrong that one of the most publicly funded institutions in the State is exempt. Families across Ireland are being asked to stretch every euro. Public trust in Government spending is already fragile. The best way to protect the dignity of the Presidency is not through secrecy but through openness. Aont\u00fa's proposal is straightforward, namely publish the annual financial accounts relating to the President's spending in full.  On the nomination process, in this election, people have felt starved of choice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I support the motion. The Minister spoke about the Act. The Act should be something the Government reflects on when it comes to presidential election campaigns. This motion is about having people on the island of Ireland be allowed to vote in presidential elections. I am old school. For me, there are 32 counties in Ireland, not 26. I will never change from that. Out of respect for everyone in this country, I will say that it is the island of Ireland.  In the farcical run-up to this presidential election, parties in this D\u00e1il stopped candidates and gave direction to their members and councillors to block candidates running for the office of President of Ireland. Fianna F\u00e1il did not even allow one of its own members to be nominated to go before its convention to run. Instead, it picked someone from outside the grassroots of the party. Fine Gael gave a direction to its councillors to block anyone who wanted to run. This sounds like a dictatorship. Now, we are going to have the lowest turnout ever in the history of the State for a presidential election. Anyone looking in here from the outside, people from all parties and none, are saying to me, that after all the years they have been doing so, they are not even going to vote. I could not believe it. People who used to carry me to vote are telling me they are not even going to go out to vote.  What have Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael done to the loyal members of their parties, the people who put them in here time after time? They dictated to their supporters that they will not give them the basic right of democracy of the choice of President. Is that what we are telling the people of Ireland? It is no wonder that we see what we see when we look at the turnout and the rural versus urban divide when it comes to voting patterns. The highest turnout for any election by percentage occurs in rural areas. That is because of the grassroots. They all came from the county one time, moved to the cities and made their lives there. The grassroots grew up with politics. They saw everything that happened, listened to all the stories and wore different colours with pride because it was the party they followed. Now, they see a mockery being made of it by the Government that is in here today.  When I look at the final couple of days of the presidential election campaign, I see the gutter stuff coming from people. They went into a candidate's past and said that they did this or that. The same Government that is going to the gutter has destroyed this nation. They destroyed their own party members. In the most recent election campaign, in the county of Limerick, Fianna F\u00e1il was down 3,000 votes and Fine Gael was down 2,000 votes. There was a displacement of 8,000 votes but out of those 8,000, only 4,500 gave me the votes. That means 4,000 people at the previous election did not vote. There is a pattern. They do not believe any more that there is democracy in this country. That is shown today by this motion and what the Government has done. In terms of what it is trying to achieve, it forgot the grassroots. It will be reminded of that shortly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Democracy is at its best when it is robust and transparent. I understand that there in awful lot of anger at the process certain parties took during the nomination process for presidential candidates. This has to be looked at. Looking back, the majority of people agree on that.  I sat on the housing committee during the establishment of the Electoral Commission. Now is the time to commence the review of presidential elections. We have seven years to get this done. We can work together. This is something the vast majority if not all of the D\u00e1il agrees with. The process should start as soon as possible. This must be the last election where the voting rights of our comrades and fellow Irish citizens in the Six Counties and around the world are blocked. I have friends in America, Canada, Australia and England who are as Irish as me. I have friends in the Six Counties who are even more Irish. I only have c\u00fapla focal as Gaeilge. I have friends in the North who are fluent Irish speakers. Their family are also fluent Irish speakers. They feel it more and they are denied that right. We will work with the Minister and with everyone to make sure this is the last time they are excluded. \"Vote Connolly ... cause we can't.\" Those are words of Kneecap, the Irish language activists and musicians who will not be able to vote in the presidential election on Friday. That is not because they do not love this island, do not champion the cause of Ireland or are not Irish citizens. It is not because of where they were born or the language they speak or because of a sport or their passports. It is because they live on the opposite side of an imaginary boundary line that means they cannot vote.  How can that be right? How can people who live on this island and who are Irish citizens be denied a vote by a line that is only imaginary? Young people across the island have been really inspired by this presidential campaign. I know some people are angry and disillusioned, but the young people I talk to have a vision for the President they want to see. When I cast my vote on Friday, I will be casting it for the likes of Mo Chara, the president of GAA, Jarlath Burns, and all of the people I know in the Six Counties and across the world who are Irish citizens who cannot vote. How can it be right that Irish citizens are not allowed to vote? It is not right. It is as simple as that. When I vote on Friday, I will raise my voice for all of them.  Presidential voting rights are a symbol of a united Ireland. That should unite us, all traditions and all people. The Ballymena actor James Nesbitt comes from a unionist background, but that does not stop him from identifying as an Irishman. He cannot vote for a person seeking to become the President of Ireland. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have failed to act, which means that people from the unionist tradition are being treated like second-class citizens. We do not want that for anyone, whether unionist, nationalist, republican, dissenter or none of the aforementioned. Legislation to extend presidential voting rights was introduced in 2014. It actually exists. It is a tangible thing. Why is the Government letting it gather dust? We have an opportunity here.  I will leave the Minister with this. I was sent a message after the last time I spoke. This person said that they are as Irish as the rest of the land and that, whether we are from Cork or Belfast, we were not just born in Ireland, Ireland was born in us. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  This gruelling presidential campaign will result in an Irish President representing all of the people living on this island and the global family of Irish citizens. She will endeavour to make us all proud, no matter where we live, yet the electorate is confined to Irish citizens living in the Twenty-six Counties. Even that franchise is restricted because many students will not be able to make it home in time to vote, there are workers living too far away from their designated polling booths and there are people who will be on holiday or working abroad on polling day. Postal voting or proxy voting must be extended to make it possible for those citizens to vote.  Turning to the North, the question must be asked; what does Irish citizenship mean? In 2013, the Convention on the Constitution voted overwhelmingly in favour of extending the presidential franchise to Northern citizens and Irish citizens living abroad. That question was settled. Let us ask ourselves today what it means to be a citizen. Over 700,000 people in the North of Ireland now hold Irish passports. This number has grown significantly since Brexit. They carry that passport not simply as a travel document, but as a declaration of belonging, of national identity and of faith in the Republic they believe represents them. Being an Irish citizen must mean more than the possession of a passport. The true and practical expression of citizenship is the right to participate in democracy, the right to vote to shape the leadership and direction of your nation. That right, the right to choose the President of Ireland, the head of State for all of our people, has been denied to citizens resident in the North of Ireland and to our citizens abroad for far too long. The President of Ireland represents not just the Twenty-six Counties of this Republic, but the nation, the Thirty-two Counties of Ireland and the ever-expanding Irish family across the world.  It is frankly reprehensible that our Government continues to turn its face against extending this basic democratic right to the very people who embody that national identity. In these 12 long years, what has been the Government's response? The Minister's response earlier was that the Government is reflecting. There has been 12 years of reflection. That must be a world record for reflecting. In Global Ireland: Ireland's Diaspora Strategy 2020-2025, the Government committed to holding a referendum on this issue but here we are, almost at the end of 2025, and another presidential election will come and go while Irish citizens in the North remain voiceless in the choice of their Head of State. Where is the referendum? Where is the courage to act? There is no place left for this Government to hide in relation to presidential voting rights. This has to be put right now. We must correct it in the first two years of this Presidency. It is plainly unacceptable and morally wrong that the Government has failed to act on this promise.  Ireland is now an outlier in the democratic world. Over 150 countries already grant their citizens abroad the right to vote in their national elections. Thousands of people living on this island, citizens of other countries, can vote for the president of their country of origin. Why not Ireland? What is the Government afraid of? Let us be honest here; this is not about logistics, complexity or cost but about a political choice to deny Irish citizens the right to vote for their President, a choice made by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, which fear that extending the vote would expose their lack of representation in the North and remind the diaspora of the economic policies that forced them to leave our shores. My deepest hope is that this next President will be the last Head of State on this partitioned island. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I am very glad to have an opportunity to speak on this motion. It is straightforward. We all know that we need to facilitate far more people in the democratic process. Anybody who has been involved in elections over many years will know the issues that exist when somebody has to go on holiday and the difficulty of getting a postal vote. It is one of those things that is a lot easier to get in the North. We need to look at the whole issue of proxy voting. The electoral register is a complete mess. At least we have a fully functioning Electoral Commission at this point. I have no difficulty with the commission looking at the means by which people get on the presidential ballot. We probably need to look at how people get onto ballots in general. In Louth, we had almost 25 candidates at one stage. That make voting difficult for people. I accept that it cannot be made too easy but we need to facilitate as many people as possible. We have the means and time to do so. We can look at best practice across the world.  If we are going to talk about presidential elections, we must talk about the major failure that people are going out to vote for the President of Ireland while those in the North, whether in Newry, Crossmaglen, Culloville, Jonesborough, Dromintee, Cullyhanna, Silverbridge or one of the other places in the vicinity of where I live or whether in Belfast, Derry or even Cullybackey and Ballymena, are removed from the process. Responsibility for that lies with Government. It should not be a major shock. Fine Gael still presents itself as the united Ireland party and, while I will admit that it has had a number of spokespersons in the last while who have done some heavy lifting in this regard, I have not seen it at governmental level. I do not know how Fianna F\u00e1il can stand over calling itself the republican party as Deputy Miche\u00e1l Martin shushes us and tells us that now is not the time.  Many of us here would have been at the launch of former unionist Ben Collins's book, The Irish Unity Dividend , across the road. We all realise there is a financial dividend to be had from Irish unity. The scaremongering has been blown out of the water by the likes of John Doyle, Ulster University and DCU in one of many reports on the cost of Irish unity. Meeting that cost is well doable and will lead to economic gains for both North and South. It also presents an opportunity to deliver on a better Ireland but we have seen no element of planning. When asked about Deputy Martin's position, Ben Collins said that, if everyone says we have to wait until everyone gets on and every other issue is sorted, there will never be unity.  Those who are against it will just say we have not agreed. There is no conciliation and there is no reconciliation. It is an absolute failure of an argument. We need to deliver on Irish unity; it is as straight as that, but presidential voting rights for those in the North would be a first step. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  Presidential voting rights need to be extended to all Irish citizens living in the Thirty-two Counties. It is also important these voting rights are extended to Irish citizens abroad. Last week I hosted Ciaran Staunton of the Irish Lobby for Immigration Reform and Karen McHugh of Safe Home Ireland who gave a presentation at a cross-party briefing on issues affecting returning Irish citizens. Many issues they face came up and one of the key ones was voting rights for the Irish living abroad. Former Taoiseach Enda Kenny promised presidential voting rights to the Irish in America during his 2016 St. Patrick\u2019s Day visit to the United States, but no progress has been made on that commitment. After being forced out of the country due to the high cost of living, housing, etc., many Irish citizens feel they should at least have the right to vote in elections, especially the presidential election. In 2013 the constitutional convention recommended extending votes in presidential elections to citizens living outside the Republic of Ireland, a position officially supported by the Government of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. We tabled legislation to give effect to this recommendation in 2014 and the Bill passed First and Second Stages. We have retabled the Bill in every D\u00e1il since.  Sinn F\u00e9in is the largest party in the Thirty-two Counties. People in the North have always felt abandoned by the Government in the South. Denying them the right to vote in presidential elections has been another right denied. These citizens are as Irish as you or me. They live on the island yet cannot vote in presidential elections despite being eligible to stand in them, should they receive a nomination. In 2019 the Government set a referendum on extending voting rights to Irish citizens living abroad and in the North, but it was later delayed. Last May in the Assembly a Sinn F\u00e9in motion calling for Irish citizens in the North to have the right to vote in presidential elections in the Republic was carried 46 to 25. With so many Irish citizens in the North and all over the world wishing they could vote in the Irish presidential election and Aont\u00fa putting on the front it is fighting for people\u2019s right to vote, you would imagine it would encourage people to vote in the upcoming election. Instead Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn has said on the Plinth he may not vote. It sounds a bit hypocritical to me and as usual the party remains on the fence. It is no wonder it is better known as \"Abstaint\u00fa\". Many people died for the right to vote and their sacrifice should never be forgotten.  We acknowledge there are flaws in the electoral process but perhaps the Electoral Commission should be tasked with examining the nomination system in future. In 2011 Sinn F\u00e9in did not have enough Members to get Martin McGuinness on the ballot, but we worked with a number of Oireachtas Members to get him nominated. Many people who failed to get on the ballot this time did not even contact the same Oireachtas Members and local authorities they were seeking support from, but when you get bad advice this is what happens. Lots of people around here are saying that if Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn and Aont\u00fa were not so close to their candidate----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  It is amazing he is attacking Aont\u00fa rather than the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  -----and had distanced themselves from her she would have had a far better chance----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  There was nobody from Sinn F\u00e9in here at the start of this motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  -----of getting on the ballot and would probably be on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Fr. Stone of politics. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  In just two days some Irish citizens will exercise their right to vote and I strongly encourage people to come out in large numbers to exercise that right. Unfortunately the right is not universal. The right of Irish citizens to vote on Friday stops an hour up the road. Citizens in the North can win an All-Ireland, play for Ireland, stand in a presidential election and even be elected to the office but unfortunately they cannot vote in this election. The election on Friday must be the last presidential election where citizens in the North cannot vote. As an Irish republican my hope for the next presidential election will be that it is held in a united Ireland free from partition and outside interference.  The President of Ireland, Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann, is a President for the whole of Ireland. The role of the Irish President does not exclude people in the North. We have seen the President play a very positive role in reaching out to those citizens living in the North and indeed to the unionist community. Irish unity is firmly on the agenda and the debate has started. Despite the best efforts of some people in government, the public, the media, cultural groups, businesses and ordinary people are discussing what a new and united Ireland would look like. Part of the process of dismantling partition must include extending voting rights to Irish citizens on this island. This is about equality, recognition and democratic participation.  Sinn F\u00e9in fully supports the holding of a referendum to extend voting rights to Irish citizens living in the North. We have introduced motions in the D\u00e1il looking to extend voting rights to all Irish citizens in the previous three D\u00e1ileanna and in this one earlier this year. Momentum for this constitutional change is growing. In June Sinn F\u00e9in tabled a Private Members\u2019 Bill calling on the D\u00e1il to implement the recommendations of the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution and to extend voting rights in presidential elections to Irish citizens on the island of Ireland. The Bill also called on the D\u00e1il to progress proposals that would extend voting rights in presidential elections to the diaspora. In May the Assembly there voted for the extension of voting rights to Irish citizens in the North of Ireland. This was a very strong cross-party message affirming the principles of the Good Friday Agreement.  Some 12 years have passed since the constitutional convention voted overwhelmingly in support of extending voting rights to Irish citizens living in the North and abroad. The Government is clearly behind the curve on this and is indeed the main barrier to this. Fianna F\u00e1il dropped its commitment to extend voting rights to all Irish citizens from its election manifesto. It has rapidly moved from being Fianna F\u00e1il: the Republican Party to Fianna F\u00e1il: the partitionist party. It continues to abandon those who have been forced to live under British rule 90 miles up the road. Sinn F\u00e9in spelt it out in black and white in our recent manifesto. We promised to \"Hold a referendum within the lifetime of the next D\u00e1il for a referendum on voting rights in Presidential elections for the people of the North and of the diaspora\". It is a matter of injustice and a violation of democracy that Irish people in the Six Counties are excluded from voting for their Uachtar\u00e1n. Whatever the outcome of Friday\u2019s election we must ensure this is the last time Irish citizens anywhere are excluded from this democratic process. I hope people vote with their feet on Friday and come out in large numbers to make their voices heard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  My thanks to Aont\u00fa for bringing forward this timely motion. The role of the President has of course changed somewhat in recent decades. The President has essential constitutional duties to fulfil but there is a wider significance to the Head of State's role that is not set out in Bunreacht na h\u00c9ireann, although it has nonetheless come to be a central aspect of it. I am referring to the role of acting as a first citizen, of unifying and representing the Irish people at home and abroad and of the role of being a voice for the Irish people. That aspect has grown in significance through the active presidencies of Mary Robinson, Mary McAleese and Michael D. Higgins, all of whom carried out their role with distinction. It is correct, therefore, we pause from time to time to take stock of how best our electoral system can function in support of a Presidency which itself has evolved and will continue to evolve with our society and with our politics. I appreciate this motion is prompting us to do so and there are elements of it I agree with and others I do not.  I will begin with the elements I agree with. Most pertinent is the extension of the franchise in presidential elections to Irish citizens in the North. We debated this issue not too long ago and my position has not changed in the intervening few months. The motion references the Convention on the Constitution. The convention was established by the Labour Party when we were in government and its fifth report, which was published in November 2013, recommended Irish citizens resident outside the State should have the right to vote in presidential elections. This would of course include those citizens born and living in the North. Many of the recommendations arising out of that convention have been acted on 12 years later, but this issue remains outstanding despite several commitments from different Governments since then. The Fine Gael Government of 2016 to 2020, which was supported by Fianna F\u00e1il, committed to holding a referendum on extending the franchise for presidential elections to citizens living abroad. The then Taoiseach Enda Kenny reaffirmed that commitment on a St. Patrick\u2019s Day trip to the US in 2017. Leo Varadkar announced in 2019 he was postponing such a referendum at the upcoming local and European elections until later in the year, but it was never taken up again. It is quite incredible that in the 12 years since the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution virtually nothing has been done to advance this really key recommendation. Labour supports the holding of a referendum on extending the franchise to citizens in the North and further afield.  However, when we debated this issue back in June, I made the point that an extensive amount of preparatory work needed to be done in advance, such as arranging for voter registration for citizens in the North, working out the voting method and the costs and resources required, ensuring the security of the ballot and so on. None of this is straightforward. We need to take lessons from the recent referenda with regard to preparation and groundwork ahead of holding any referendum like this.  Other issues that need to be addressed in advance include whether the right to vote should be restricted to those born on the island of Ireland, those with citizenship or simply passport holders. The Labour Party supports citizenship as the condition for eligibility. As I said previously, establishing a special Oireachtas committee would be a good first step in addressing those questions and others. It could tease out these issues, get into the nuts and bolts of how voting would work, provide a roadmap for implementation and make substantive recommendations. The committee hearings would also play an important role in informing the public debate, as we saw during the repeal referendum. Rushing the constitutional amendment through without carrying out substantial work on the wording or heeding the recommendations of such an Oireachtas committee, should it be set up, is exactly what happened last year with the failed referendums. We risk setting a referendum up for failure if we do not take these preparatory steps. The Labour Party supports holding a referendum to extend the franchise in presidential elections to citizens in the North, but I also warn against going into it without having done the extensive and detailed planning work required.  A separate issue in the motion concerns a loosening of the nomination requirements to get on the ballot paper for our presidential election. We cannot ignore the fact that many people in this country feel they are not represented by either candidate in the ongoing presidential campaign. That is a legitimate position to hold. It is an issue coming up on the doorsteps as I have been canvassing in recent weeks. We can all agree with the sentiment outlined in the motion that a competition of diverse values and ideas is good for democracy. Indeed, healthy and good-spirited debate is the very essence of our democracy.  With that being said, however, one issue I have with the motion is the line that states, \"the Constitution and the law set out the nomination process by Oireachtas members, County Councils, and the nomination by an incumbent, and these rules make it difficult for a prospective candidate to get onto the ballot paper\". We need to remember that we are talking about the highest office in the land. From my perspective, it should not be easy to get on the ballot paper. It should not be the case that a person simply decides to run for the Presidency one day and he or she can expect that to be facilitated with no questions asked. No one is entitled to receive a nomination. People should be required to do the hard yards. Whatever people\u2019s thoughts are on either candidate left in the presidential race, there can be little doubt that both of them have dedicated years of their lives to public service. I am deeply uncomfortable with the idea that someone should be entitled to get on the ballot paper on the basis of their celebrity, online following or personal wealth, which would allow them to put a large amount of money behind a campaign. The requirements for getting on the ballot in a presidential election, particularly the nomination by 20 Oireachtas Members, have been the case since our Constitution was written and enacted in 1937. Leaving aside the 1938 presidential election in which Douglas Hyde was elected unopposed, given the ever-increasing number of Members in this House, in terms of the percentage of Members\u2019 nominations required, it has actually become easier to get on the ballot paper.  I am open to the conversation around reforming the nomination process. As I said, we must acknowledge those who feel unrepresented by having only two candidates in this race. Equally, however, we must maintain high standards and a high bar for those seeking a nomination. The Office of the President deserves that level of respect. It is not something we should treat lightly. These issues around the nomination process and voting rights might be best served by a short, time-limited citizens\u2019 assembly.  I also have some difficulty with the suggestion that an incumbent should be able to nominate a candidate because it risks politicising the Office of the President. If someone could not get a nomination through one of the existing avenues, pressure could then be put on the President to nominate. For example, would a Fianna F\u00e1il President be under pressure to nominate Billy Kelleher, or would a Labour Party President be under pressure to nominate a Labour candidate in circumstances where we did not have the required 20 Oireachtas signatures?  The Labour Party will not be supporting the motion on the basis of those aspects that I have outlined, but we do not oppose the essence of the motion, which seeks to extend the voting franchise to citizens in the North and look at ways to ensure a diversity of candidates. That is something we should all be able to agree on. I thank Deputies T\u00f3ib\u00edn and Lawless for giving us the opportunity to reflect on our electoral system this week and renew our commitment to bringing forward a referendum. Citizens in the North have now waited 12 years and counting since the Convention on the Constitution's recommendation to allow them a franchise. It is time to deliver for them. It is vital we continue to value the Office of Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann. I hope everyone, despite any misgivings about the process or the choice of candidates on the ballot this week, comes out to exercise their franchise, raise their voice and vote on Friday in this pivotal presidential election. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I thank Aont\u00fa and others for bringing forward the motion today. It is an important discussion about how we choose our President, the processes set out for that and who is eligible to vote. The Social Democrats are open to engaging in a cross-party discussion about the processes in place to elect a President. Uachtar\u00e1n na h\u00c9ireann, as has been set out, is the highest office in the land. It is a position that sets out the vision for Ireland and one that everyone in this country holds dear. That is why we have seen such strength of feeling around this presidential election from different perspectives. In many ways, people want to see a President who not only represents them, but also is a part of them.  Over time, we have seen the nature of the Presidency change, even within the structures and restrictions of the Constitution. We have increasingly seen Presidents, within the bounds of the Presidency, engage in the discussion and debate about what type of country we have. That is important. What we need is a critical, embracing discussion of everyone about the type of country we have. We only have to look at the record levels of homelessness and the way in which we have a generation who are locked out of a home. Indeed, I encourage everyone to read the article written in her.ie by Kat O\u2019Connor about her generation being forced to accept a housing crisis. She is 31 and has reached a point of hopelessness when it comes to owning a home in Ireland. A total of 70% of 25-year olds still live at home. Why is this relevant to this debate? It is relevant because our President encapsulates and has a role in guiding us as a country around the values, nature and purpose of our country and what we are achieving. In that regard, people respect and hold the absolute centrality of the Presidency.  We are in favour of engaging with reforms, particularly around citizens in the North of Ireland being able to vote in the presidential election.  When it comes to the process, we need to think this through because we want someone holding that position who can represent us all in dignity. The President is our Head of State who will have that position for seven years. It is not a decision that should be taken lightly. Indeed, it is one of the reasons I am deeply frustrated and critical of the idea of people spoiling their votes in a presidential election. People fought and died for this vote. We will see millions of people coming out to vote on Friday in this presidential election, including old people who may have not been able to leave their homes for a long time, people who are ill, disabled people and young people. We will see them coming out to exercise their franchise because they hold dear and understand the importance of the Presidency. That is why I am deeply critical of the idea of spoiling votes.  We need to see changes, however. People feel excluded and we can see that. We can see what happened in Citywest, which was absolutely disgraceful. I call on politicians in this House to be careful with their language. Unfortunately, we saw it yesterday. There was no leadership but rather the fanning of flames of hate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I thank Deputies T\u00f3ib\u00edn and Lawless for bringing the motion forward this morning. It is always meritable to have a conversation, not only about the processes for nomination but, ultimately, as we are hearing from many contributors this morning, the merits and importance of the office itself.  Notwithstanding the context, which is important in terms of when we are having this debate, it is no way to legislate to try to change the rules to reduce the thresholds because the rules did not help us get our nomination onto the ballot paper. There needs to be an evidence-informed approach to that. That is what I would be calling for today. As my colleague Deputy Rory Hearne has said, we in the Social Democrats are certainly open to a conversation because we, too, are hearing in the campaign that there is that sense of exclusion, certainly, when there is a small number of candidates on a ballot paper, but we do not throw the baby out with the bath water. The legislation has in many ways worked for many successful presidential elections we have had and the irony of Aont\u00fa calling for diversity is not lost on me. We have had a diverse range of candidates in successful presidential elections.  This election was seven years in the running. Parties' candidates had a long time to prepare their candidacies and for a diverse set of reasons, we have ended up with two candidates. What we are hearing on the doors is clear. We have seen the young people of Ireland motivated by one candidacy. We have seen a mobilisation and a movement towards one candidate that, I believe, has been inspirational, so to those who portray it as no candidate is speaking to a huge cohort, if they do their research and look up who the different candidates are, they will find something motivational, certainly about one of the candidates.  I will use the opportunity with the 30 seconds I have left to speak, once again, about what I believe is the most significant electoral reform that we should be talking about in this D\u00e1il, that is, my Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Reduction of Voting Age to Sixteen Years) Bill 2025. It is before the House currently. In the UK, we will see young people aged 16 and upwards given the opportunity to vote in their next general election. We have a Bill before this House. I would urge the Government, again, to bring that before us to continue to move it forward. It will require a referendum and a national conversation about youth participation and about young people's voices, opinions and, ultimately, right to engage in the most civic action. We met hundreds of young people who wished they could vote on Friday and we are also hearing the dichotomy of that where so many people are planning to not use their votes. I would encourage everyone to use their vote on Friday. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I thank Aont\u00fa for bringing forward the motion today. Listening in to this morning's proceedings, it has been quite an interesting discussion.  The motion includes some worthy measures. I fully stand over extending the voting rights to Irish citizens in the North of Ireland and even having a discussion about how nominations happen is something that we should do consistently but I cannot separate that from the fact that the reason we are discussing this today - it hangs like a spectre over the discussion - is ostensibly because a small number of essentially privileged people did not get to run in the race and, because the system did not work for them, they are now demanding that we change it. We had the best part of 70 years in this country where it was only ever going to be two conservative politicians who would run for President, potentially, one from Fianna F\u00e1il and one from Fine Gael, up until that was broken by Mary Robinson. Now we have a situation where there is a slightly different hue and, because privilege did not get its way, privilege now wants to deconstruct the system.  I listened to Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn's contribution when he was introducing the motion. There were a lot of worthy aspects to the contribution but then it descended into how only Aont\u00fa was not part of the establishment. Surely we are better than that. Politics, at present, is quite disillusioning. We have seen that with Fine Gael debasing itself over the weekend. Now we see it here and we are told that only one small party is somehow not part of the establishment. Why exactly is that? Is that because the rest of us got out there early, found a candidate we supported, bought into a vision, and acknowledged that not all of us supported 100% of every ideal that person held but understood the difference between a person who spoke something authentic and somebody who just offered platitudes whereas others simply try to erode trust in the system because they themselves did not benefit from it and then present the fact that opinion polls have shown that 49% of people do not have confidence in either of the candidates reaches the point where some other wealthy people are encouraging others to spoil their votes? The only outcome of that is the spoilt people themselves, who are predominantly privileged, who get to step back and tell us to look at what they did to undermine democratic norms in this country.  We are where we are at this point. I would encourage those of us around the Chamber who, for example, believe in the Irish language, say they speak for social justice and have spoken about Ireland's place in the world as being one of peace to get over themselves for this moment, come out and show a bit of leadership, stand for something that is more than moaning and undermining, and demonstrate the courage of their convictions to stand for something that is beyond the 100% of their own beliefs. That would steer us well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I move amendment No. 1:  To insert the following after \"or an incumbent to nominate a presidential candidate\":  \"; and  \u2014 amend the law to allow a petition signed by a minimum of 35,000 people who are eligible to vote in a presidential election to nominate a presidential candidate.\".  Before I start on the topic, I seek a little leeway, given the events that have happened in Saggart over the last number of days, to express my utter horror, condemnation and disgust at the alleged sexual assault of a ten-year-old girl. My heart goes out to her and to her family. It is obviously beyond every family's worst nightmare. From what we know so far, it seems that there is a failure by the State here of a vulnerable girl who, though in State care, ended up in a situation where she could be sexually assaulted in this way. It is utterly horrific.  People are right to be angry about this situation but some people's anger is being abused by those who want to cause violence, those who want to spread division and those who want to spread hate, and last night's violence at Citywest Hotel will do nothing for the victim of sexual assault. The man who allegedly did it has been arrested for it and was not even living in Citywest Hotel at the time. I am sure the people living there were horrified. They were in fear last night. The children living there were in fear about what would happen if the crowd succeeded in breaking through. Instead of division and violence, we need to stand together with the victim, with the family and against the repeated failures of the State.  On this motion, the simplest and very easy part, which, in theory, I think every party in this House agrees with but some parties are not going to do anything about because it does not suit them politically, is that Irish citizens living in the North should be entitled to a vote in presidential elections. That is obvious. It is an opinion that is held by the vast majority of people. It is an easy problem to fix and it should be fixed with a referendum as soon as possible, and we all know the cynical reason that it is not.  The more complex and in a way more interesting area is the question of the nomination process for president, which has obviously come into focus. It is undemocratic. I agree with a lot of the criticisms that are made, such as about why we are discussing this now, but it is overly restrictive. It suits Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. They are the ones who made the rules. They told their councillors not to nominate anyone other than Jim Gavin and Heather Humphreys. However, there is quite a gulf between the rhetoric of Aont\u00fa on this issue and the actual proposal. I listened to Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn's speech earlier and it was about \"Let the people pick\" and stop the political establishment curating the process, but the proposals from Aont\u00fa do not let the people pick. They keep the political establishment curating the process. Aont\u00fa's proposals just create a slightly lower bar for the curation of the process to ensure that, if these rules had been in place, Maria Steen would have been selected. They reduce, for example, the number of TDs from 20 to 14. The motion also allows for a candidate to be nominated by 110 councillors - that is a new development to say councillors as individuals can nominate - or three councils. I agree with all of those proposals in the sense that they lower the barrier slightly but we should not pretend that this allows the people to pick. Fast-forward seven years and, let us say, there is a highly conservative candidate who gets 13 TDs, and I presume we will have exactly the same discussion where we will be told it is an overly restrictive process.  That is assuming this motion passes, we actually have a referendum and so on. What is proposed by Aont\u00fa does not get to the nub of the issue in terms of letting the people pick candidates.  Let us be real, as everyone here must be, in acknowledging we cannot have a system wherein anybody can nominate himself or herself for President. On a practical level, there must be some barrier to standing for President. It is just not feasible to allow thousands of people to stand. It would not be a democratic process, there could not be an informed debate and there is the question of how a ballot paper could have thousands of names. We need some kinds of barriers to entry as a presidential candidate. The question is what those barriers should be. That is really what the discussion is about.  Our amendment puts forward that we need a new direct democratic process by which the people actually get to decide. It would be a process whereby a set number of people can nominate a candidate. We chose 35,000 because it is approximately 1% of the electoral register for presidential elections. A candidate would need signatures from 35,000 people to be nominated without the need for any votes from TDs, Senators or councillors. I hope the parties and Independent Members will support our amendment. It would lead to a real and radical democratisation of the nomination process, which is not provided for in Aont\u00fa's motion.  The only objection I have heard is a practical objection as to how our proposal would work. This is a process that works in many other countries. I just spoke briefly to my partner, who was involved in socialist politics in America. On multiple occasions, she collected signatures for ballot initiatives - in effect, referendums - and nominations for candidates. A name, address and contact details had to be provided for each person, which were then checked. That answers the objection as to what is to stop somebody from just listing and signing for 1,000 people from the electoral register. The nominee details are physically checked. In America, this is very common in lots of states, with different states having different requirements. In Florida, 145,000 signatures are required, while in Michigan, the requirement is 12,000. Requirements are different from state to state but the process is very common. There is also something similar in the European Union. Citizens' petition initiatives require 10,000 signatures from Ireland. A process exists in Switzerland. It absolutely can be done.  Calls for people to spoil their vote on Friday are pitched as an anti-establishment campaign. That is what we are meant to think the calls are about. However, it is very revealing to look at where these calls are coming from and who stands to benefit from them. Leading the Spoil the Vote campaign, from his Downton Abbey-style mansion, is multimillionaire businessman Declan Ganley. He said he was going to write \"No. 1 - Maria Steen\" on his ballot paper. He and Maria Steen have a lot in common. They are filthy-rich, anti-choice Catholic fundamentalists. Anyone who can afford to pay more than \u20ac20,000 for a handbag or to live somewhere called \"Moyne Park Mansion\" is, by definition, not anti-establishment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should not make reference to individuals who cannot defend themselves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Okay. The people who are driving this Spoil the Vote process are part of the elite. They are not anti-establishment at all. They are a different, more socially conservative part of the elite than Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. They are the Opus Dei wing of the establishment - wealthy fundamentalist Catholics who want to drag us back to the Ireland of the Magdalen laundries, the mother and baby homes and the industrial schools. They want to make divorce and contraception illegal again. They want to abolish choice and bodily autonomy and force women back into the home.  People have the right to spoil their vote; there is no question about that. However, if they do so, they will be being taken for fools, like the millions of working-class Americans who voted for billionaire businessman Donald Trump because they thought he was anti-establishment. That is the reality. People who spoil their vote are offering to be the dupes of the Irish millionaires. They should not be under any illusion that Miche\u00e1l Martin, Simon Harris or Heather Humphreys will be upset. They will not be upset. All the spoiled votes will go into one big pile in the count centre. People in Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael will not care what people write on their ballot papers. The only thing they care about is that the more spoiled votes there are from people who are rightly angry with and alienated from the political establishment, the fewer votes there will be for the candidate who is not their candidate and the less embarrassing a defeat it will be for them and the establishment.  If people want to strike a blow against the political establishment, against Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, on Friday, they should not spoil their votes. There are two candidates, one of whom will win. One is the Government candidate and the other is an Independent candidate backed by the Opposition. One of them, like most ordinary Irish people, voted \"No\" in the first Nice and Lisbon treaty referendums. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should not get into the actions of individuals. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I did not mention anyone. It is for people to assume which of the candidates is which. One of the candidates is someone who defends freedom of speech and ordinary people's right to criticise the European Union, wants to protect neutrality, condemns the genocide in Gaza and all who have supported it, stands with carers and disabled people and voted again and again to ban evictions. People have a choice. One of the candidates is going to win. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I will keep my commentary simple and straightforward. I missed the other contributions as I was at a committee. I wish the best of luck to both candidates on Friday. More importantly, I wish them a good recovery next week when the adrenaline and cortisol levels start to subside. I hope they avoid any illness.  It is fair to say that a percentage of the population is disenfranchised facing into this election. What that signposts us to do is take on board the recommendations in the 1998 Oireachtas review. It is common knowledge that the Constitution of 1937 is not contemporaneous. We have had referendums to try to bring the contemporaneous element to it. We must have a process that starts at the level of the 31 local authorities and interfaces with the public. We must look to a possible filtration process of candidates through the councils. Perhaps it will be found that a hybrid retaining elements of the current structure of votes from 20 Oireachtas Members or four local authorities is the solution. Whatever the outcome might be, discussions must commence imminently to review the process and plan ahead for the future. We have a considerable amount of time to do that. I do not know whether a new Oireachtas joint committee needs to be formed or if this is something that can come under the remit of the Committee on Public Petitions and the Ombudsmen. There are others more knowledgeable than me on this matter and I hope a solution can be found.  In the meantime, nothing will change the prospects of this Friday's election. As I said at the outset, I wish both candidates well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I welcome this debate. Something has to change. I wish all the candidates on the ballot paper the very best. Like a lot of others, I am of the view that the chance to run for President must be opened up to many more people. The current system is very confined and, as we have seen, it is determined by a few people as to who can run. The local authorities were to have an opportunity to endorse people but members were restricted by their party hierarchies to ensure they could not vote for Independent and other candidates.  I do not like naming names but many people regret that the likes of Bertie Ahern, who we spoke about here last night regarding his role----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should not mention names in the course of this debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  That is all right, a Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will not name names but many people feel a certain other lady should have had a chance to run. I regret, as others do, that certain people did not get a chance. The likes of the man I mentioned did so much to secure the Good Friday Agreement and for the well-being of our country.  It is regrettable that he did not get a chance. He would have been a sound operator on the worldwide stage. We must do something different the next time. I know it is seven years away but we need to start planning now. I ask that the Government do that and take note of the fact we need to change how this is done to make the Presidency more relevant and get a larger number of people interested. It has been said that turnout in all the constituencies is expected to be very low. That shows that people are not interested. We must get people interested in and appreciative of the Presidency, give the President a good role and ensure that he or she plays an important part in the political well-being of the country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I thank the Deputies for raising these important issues. As the Minister, Deputy Browne, stated, I confirm the Government is not proposing to oppose this motion. As we can all agree, the Office of the President is a key part of our democratic institutions and it is important that our Head of State is representative of all Irish citizens, irrespective of where they may reside.  I reiterate that to extend voting rights at presidential elections to Irish citizens in Northern Ireland, or more generally to other jurisdictions, would require the holding of a referendum to amend the Constitution. On this matter, Sinn F\u00e9in tabled a motion for debate in the D\u00e1il during Private Members' time on Tuesday, 24 June 2025, which called on D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann to:  - implement the recommendations of the Fifth Report of the Convention on the Constitution, and to extend voting rights in Presidential elections to all Irish citizens on the island of Ireland; and  - progress proposals that would extend the right to vote in Presidential elections to the diaspora.  The Government did not oppose the motion and it was noted during the debate that the Government continued to reflect on this matter. On Tuesday, 17 June, Aont\u00fa introduced the Forty-first Amendment of the Constitution (Voting Rights in Presidential Elections) Bill 2025, which seeks to extend voting rights in presidential elections to all citizens on the island of Ireland.  The Government, like previous governments, is supportive of the work previously undertaken by the Convention on the Constitution on the matter of extending voting rights in presidential elections. However, there are a number of factors that need to be considered and addressed prior to the holding of a referendum. An amendment to our Constitution is clearly required but, from a practical perspective, a system would need to be put in place to allow for the registration of electors from Northern Ireland. Another issue is how such electors would vote, for example, if it would be postal or otherwise. I note that An Coimisi\u00fan Toghch\u00e1in, as part of its research programme, is examining the issue of extending postal voting in our elections. Separately, a reserve constituency will need to be provided to facilitate the return and count of the ballot papers from citizens exercising their right to vote.  On freedom of information, section 42(h) of the Freedom of Information Act 2014 provides that the Act does not apply to a record relating to the President. Policy responsibility for the freedom of information framework rests with the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation. The Office of the President is already subject to a separate and discrete Vote of its own, which covers all that office\u2019s expenditure, in agreement with the Oireachtas. In addition, that Vote is subject to audit by the Comptroller and Auditor General and its expenditure is subject to examination by the public accounts committee. While amendments to the Freedom of Information Act are more appropriate to the relevant Minister, as I already indicated, I note that, as the Minister, Deputy Browne, already stated, the perceived gains of subjecting the Office of the President to freedom of information do not appear to outweigh the potential risk of disturbing the independence or the apolitical nature of the Presidency.  In respect of the annual report, I also understand that the annual accounting and financial reporting arrangements for the Office of the President are managed in the same way as the expenditure arrangements for other public service Votes. Again, the question arises as to whether there is any particular added value in the preparation and publication of an annual report by the Office of the President in respect of financial accounting and reporting over and above the scrutiny provided by the Oireachtas and in the audit reports from the Comptroller and Auditor General.  In respect of the candidate nomination process, Article 12.4.2\u00b0 of the Constitution explicitly provides that:  Every candidate for election, not a former or retiring President, must be nominated either by  i. not less than twenty persons, each of whom is at the time a member of one of the Houses of the Oireachtas, or  ii. by the Councils of not less than four administrative Counties (including County Boroughs) as defined by law.  To alter the candidate nomination process for the presidential election would require an amendment of the Constitution. As the Minister outlined, if such a referendum were successful, it would be necessary for the Minister responsible for electoral legislation to bring forward appropriate amendments to the Presidential Elections Act 1993, as amended, to give practical effect to the constitutional change. On this matter, it is worth noting that we now have an independent statutory electoral commission, An Coimisi\u00fan Toghch\u00e1in, Ireland\u2019s independent Electoral Commission. Its advisory and public information functions enable it to carry out research on electoral policy and procedure. Furthermore, an coimisi\u00fan is also empowered to advise and make recommendations to the Minister and Government in respect of any proposals for legislative change or any policy matters concerning electoral legislation and proposals.  I confirm the Minister's position, as stated, that the Government does not propose to oppose this motion or the amendment. Again, I thank the Deputies for their contributions to this debate and look forward to continued engagement on these important matters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I welcome this debate on expanding the geographical area covered by the presidential election and amending the requirements to run for President to make it easier to do so.  To start with the issue of the diaspora, we know the constitutional convention was not limited to the Northern Irish state but also dealt with the diaspora around the world. Unfortunately, whether we like it or not, our Irish citizens in Northern Ireland are in another jurisdiction, so they would have to be treated as the diaspora for the purposes of any election. We could not just go into Northern Ireland and start setting up polling stations. I do not think the British Government would facilitate that. We would have to set up a copper-fastened, ring-fenced voting system through postal votes, with some form of identification in one envelope and the ballot in a second envelope. The mechanisms need to be worked out but I absolutely believe it can and should be done. We have so many citizens around the world who want to have their input and the presidential election is an ideal opportunity for them to do so, as it would be for the Irish citizens in Northern Ireland. I would add that if we get to have a constitutional referendum on that issue, it should include Seanad reform providing that Senators be directly elected by the diaspora. We have not grasped that bull by the horns for some time.  On the wider issue, as per the motion today, we need to make it easier for someone to run for the Presidency. Obviously the voters of Ireland said a couple of years back - I think it was 2015 - that they do not believe a person under the age of 35 should be able to run for President. That needs to be revisited in any referendum that we put to the people, as would another constitutional recommendation about lowering the voting age to 16, maybe starting off with presidential elections.  I wholeheartedly support the proposal that 100 or 110 members of local authorities should be able to nominate someone to run for President, as should a lower number of Oireachtas Members - 14 is a good suggestion. I am someone who tried to facilitate someone in that process. Regardless of whether I would vote for the person, we need to make it easier. Obviously, there has to be a threshold. There are some nefarious individuals whom I do not think should be let run a sweet shop, let alone be President, but ultimately the voters have to decide, and there needs to be a threshold.  I note that People Before Profit has suggested 35,000 signatures. I am not caught up on signatures. It could be 100,000 or it could be less, but we need to work out the mechanisms of how we validate that. Would it be with PPS numbers and people having to publicly declare that they want a person to run so that there is absolute transparency? I definitely think there should be a direct democracy input as well so that the general public can nominate people directly.  I also believe that in terms of local authorities, three is a better number than four, which is the situation as it stands. To be honest, one local authority should be able to make a nomination for whatever reasons, on the basis of a majority vote or a two thirds majority vote. It makes a lot of sense.  In the remaining minute, I want to talk about the broader issue and address why we need to have more variety. Obviously, we have had different presidential elections over the years - I am not referencing any one presidential election - but in some cases there have been claims that the number of candidates running limits the voice of the people and the ability to have their voice heard. Even if it is for a candidate who may not ultimately get across the threshold, they want that person to be able to articulate their vision of what Ireland should be, conveyed through the Presidency. They are absolutely right. Future turnouts will show, as they did in the past, what the level of interest is in the Presidency and what the level of spoiled votes will be. It would be educational if we were to have this debate again one week from now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I thank everybody who made a contribution to this important debate. There were some very interesting contributions and a fairly philosophical understanding of what is involved. This is one of the most important electoral reform motions that has come before this Chamber in a long time.  I want to address the contributions of a couple of speakers. I was disappointed by Deputy Guirke who spent his time attacking his constituency competitor for petty reasons. This issue is bigger than Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn or Johnny Guirke. The idea that we would not spend our time trying to fight for this and instead fight with each other is absolutely silly.  Deputy Aidan Farrelly attacked Aont\u00fa on the basis of diversity. That attack shows a lack of self-awareness. The political establishment in this country dresses up in the colours of diversity and welcomes everybody's opinion as long as it agrees with theirs. Deputy Farrelly and Deputy Gannon probably do not recognise it, but their politics is in the ascendancy in the country. Their politics is the establishment in this country. For at least the last decade, this House and this country have become a cold house for diversity of thought. There has been an oppressive uniformity in the political system that has shut down voices. If people do not recognise that, it is because their voice has not been shut down. Other people's voices have been shut down and they have been pushed out of the political debate. There is a growing section of Irish society that no longer believe in their types of politics. There is a growing section of young people especially who believe in science and facts and want a common-sense future. Aont\u00fa is wholeheartedly at the cutting edge of that particular movement.  I was disappointed with Deputy Paul Murphy bringing up people's faith in this debate. We live in a country where there is freedom of religion. Discrimination on the basis of faith is wrong. If Deputy Murphy used any religion other than Catholic in those sentences, people in this Chamber would have been absolutely disgusted by it. If the Deputy can be inspired by Marx, as he is entitled to be, surely other politicians and other individuals can be informed by their faith? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Yes, absolutely, and people will vote on that basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  People Before Profit says that Aont\u00fa's motion is too restrictive. The Labour Party says it was not restrictive enough. In reality, I have no problem with Deputy Paul Murphy's amendment. We are happy to support it. My concern is just to make sure the signatures could be verified.  Deputy Hearne said people died for the right to vote. They did not die for the right to vote; they died for the right to vote in a representative democracy. People in China have the right to vote. A democracy without half the people is no democracy at all. That is what we are looking at here. The fact that so many political parties have their head down in their own political campaign now and are not recognising the democratic deficit that exists in this country is a major problem. It is a significant problem, not just a theoretical one, but one that is leading to a polarisation of Irish society. If the Government parties are telling half the people in this country that they do not really care if they are not involved in this election or they do not have a horse in this field, that is fine but that is a bad message to send out. It is a message that is leading to a lack of democratic instincts among a small minority. That is dangerous for this country and for this democracy.  Some people say that the right to vote should be afforded to Irish citizens living elsewhere in the world. I have no problem with that, but that is a different question. The right of a person to vote in Enniskillen, Newry or Derry is a different question to an Irish citizen voting in Shanghai, Johannesburg or San Francisco. These are Irish citizens living in Ireland and they should have a right to vote as a result. This has to be the last presidential election where Irish citizens in the North are excluded. It has to be the end of a two-tiered citizenship in this country. We must not have a situation where one section of Irish citizens is more equal than others. This has to be the last presidential election where candidates are blocked by the political establishment. It has to be the end of a curated ballot that is controlled by a handful of establishment parties. We cannot let the political establishment engineer elections that exclude voters and then come back into the system and say it is shocking that half the people have not voted. No one should be entitled to get on the ballot. We fully agree with that, but the threshold needs to be reduced.  I welcome that the Government is not opposing this motion, but it now has a democratic onus to implement it. We cannot have a situation where this Chamber votes to support the motion and it is ignored by the Government for the next ten years. I often say the best way for the Government to say \"No\" is to actually say \"Yes\". Every day, we see TDs from the Government parties going out to the gates and putting their arms around people involved in different campaigns, getting into photographs with them, telling them \"Yes\" and then coming in here and either voting against their interests or just ignoring the issue altogether. The Minister, Deputy James Browne, mentioned a number of difficult steps that might be taken. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I feel sometimes that the Government's attitude is, Lord make me good, but just not yet. Let us implement these reforms and let us make it happen so we do not have another presidential election like this one. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Motion, as amended, agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 11.49 a.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar mhe\u00e1n lae. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 11.49 a.m. and resumed at 12 noon. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Office of the President: Motion [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Visit of Finnish Delegation","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before we proceed to Leaders' Questions, I would like Deputies to join me in welcoming our distinguished visitors. I ask Members to extend a warm c\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte to my counterpart from the Finnish Parliament, His Excellency, Speaker Halla-aho, who is here on an official visit. Speaker Halla-aho, it is an absolute honour to have you here alongside your country's ambassador. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Visit of Finnish Delegation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":73,"speakerCount":11},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  Cuirim c\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte roimh na cuairteoir\u00ed at\u00e1 anseo inniu.  Before I begin, I take this opportunity to wish the female garda taken to hospital last night a speedy recovery from her injuries.  Struggling households were dealt two body blows on Monday. The first blow was that food inflation has reached its highest level in nearly two years. People are being ripped off when they go to the supermarket and it is clear as day to them that they are being ripped off. The second blow was the big hike in electricity prices for hundreds of thousands of SSE Airtricity customers, adding hundreds of euro to their bills. The Taoiseach was asked yesterday how bad things actually have to get before the Government does something. The Government needs to stand up to these companies and protect people from this greedy profiteering. When the Taoiseach responded to Deputy Mary-Lou McDonald, he said that the Government is engaging with these companies. If he is referring to the meeting that Darragh O'Brien had with energy companies on 26 September, then the top brass must have left confident that it is business as usual for them and open season. Since the Minister's big meeting, Energia, Bord G\u00e1is, Pinergy and SSE Airtricity all jacked up their energy prices. This is reminiscent of May 2023 when Fine Gael Minister of State, Deputy Neale Richmond, gave the big supermarket chains six weeks to get their prices down. Today, those prices are absolutely through the roof.  While prices rise and companies continue to gouge households, the budget has left working people worse off. The Government refused to deliver a cost-of-living package, cancelled energy credits, removed double child benefit payment and decided not to give ordinary workers a break in their income tax. All of its decisions are piling more pressure on people who are already hard pressed. Surely the Taoiseach meets ordinary working people who are struggling. He must hear their stories of worry and stress, so why does he not do something about it? At one of my clinics last weekend, I met two teachers. They have two children in college. They have to pay for their digs and their fees. Their third child is due to start college next September. They have had to ask him to take a year out when he finishes the leaving certificate because they simply cannot afford to send him to college. Imagine that. We now have a situation whereby two teachers are so hammered by a cost-of-living crisis that is completely out of control that they have had to ask their child to look towards their future and not go to college when he should be doing so. It is bill after bill, and they simply cannot take it any more.  This couple are not alone, and the Taoiseach knows that. Working people are drowning in a wave of sky-high bills. They see absolutely no end in sight. There will be real tension when people's electricity bills land. The Government pushed back against proposals to get energy costs down. It ignored a major report which shows that companies are not passing on the drop in wholesale prices to Irish households. It acts as if this is not even happening. It needs to get off the bench and needs to start fighting the corner for ordinary households, because they simply cannot take it anymore. The Government needs to stop protecting these big companies and give regulators the powers they need to end the price gouging and stop this rip-off.  Feiceann daoine nach bhfuil aon deireadh ag teacht ar an ng\u00e9arch\u00e9im sa chostas maireacht\u00e1la. T\u00e1 Fianna F\u00e1il agus Fine Gael bre\u00e1 s\u00e1sta seasamh siar agus ligean do na comhlachta\u00ed m\u00f3ra seo leas a bhaint as daoine. Caithfidh an Rialtas a phost a dh\u00e9anamh agus c\u00e9imeanna a th\u00f3g\u00e1il chun cuidi\u00fa is cosaint a thabhairt do theaghlaigh.  The Government refused to include a cost-of-living package in the budget. Now it is refusing to include meaningful measures in the Finance Bill to help workers and families cope with runaway prices. My question is simple. Is this it? Is this all the Government has for families? Is it just going to leave these households on their own? Will the Government do anything to tackle runaway prices as people face a rip-off winter that will push them even further back? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  N\u00ed aonta\u00edm in aon chor leis an Teachta. T\u00e1 an-chuid d\u00e9anta ag an Rialtas seo maidir leis an gcostas maireacht\u00e1la. T\u00e1 i bhfad n\u00edos m\u00f3 d\u00e9anta againn n\u00e1 aon rialtas riamh i stair na t\u00edre. T\u00e1 an-chuid d\u00e9anta againn maidir le teaghlaigh ar ioncam \u00edseal sa t\u00edr seo go h\u00e1irithe. Is \u00e9 an rud agus an cinneadh a rinneamar n\u00e1 n\u00edos m\u00f3 a thabhairt do dhaoine at\u00e1 ag fulaingt agus faoi bhr\u00fa.  I reject completely the Deputy's assertion that the Government has not responded to the cost-of-living issues. Without question, over the past three to four years there has been a significant increase in inflation, particularly in the immediate aftermath of Covid and the Russian invasion of Ukraine, which had a damaging impact on energy prices. Inflation went as high as 10%. The inflation rate is now back down to about 2%. The IMF is saying that in Ireland's case, it will come down to about 1.7% over the next two years. I acknowledge that there is elevated pressure and that prices are at a higher level because of that inflationary period, but remember that we brought in free schoolbooks for every child in this country and free hot school meals for every school. We also reduced transport costs. We reduced drug payment costs significantly over the past number of years and extended eligibility for access to general practitioners, which eases the cost of living in a permanent way for many families.  The Deputy ignores all of that and condemns us for not giving energy credits to the wealthiest in society. That is Sinn F\u00e9in's argument here this morning. I know what Sinn F\u00e9in said during the energy crisis. It took the Liz Truss approach to dealing with it and wanted to bail out the companies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The Government gave them tax breaks "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Sinn F\u00e9in wanted to give a blank cheque to the energy companies when we had that real energy crisis in the after----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The Government gave tax breaks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  We did not give them----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes, you did. You put forward the very same proposal that Liz Truss brought forward in the UK----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  You did not read it. If you read it, you would understand it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----which had catastrophic impacts on the UK at the time, and on the Prime Minister of the day too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  You would not let Bertie run but you are robbing his ideas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In the recent budget, we increased the child support payment by over \u20ac16 for those over 12 and by an extra \u20ac8 for those under 12. That is a significant permanent package to enhance the approach to addressing child poverty issues in this country. The working family payment threshold has increased by \u20ac60 a week, which will allow more families to qualify or to get support. We have extended the fuel allowance, and between 24% and 26% of households will benefit from the fuel allowance. We have brought in pension auto-enrolment, with significant State investment, which will benefit about 750,000 workers into the future.  We have focused on protection of jobs in this budget, particularly in the context of the research and development tax relief. Jobs and the protection of jobs are the most effective way to enable people to deal with high costs of living. The fuel allowance has been increased. In addition, the reduced 9% VAT rate on gas and electricity bills has been extended to 2030, which is a significant measure by any yardstick in terms of costs in this regard. The renter's tax credit has been extended until the end of 2028, which will help and is helping renters. Mortgage interest relief is extended for two more years for certain homeowners. That supports middle class families who are carrying mortgage costs.  Significant changes have been made to third level education eligibility. The income thresholds are significantly high now, well over \u20ac100,000 for eligibility for grants and for fees. The evidence for that lies in the exponential growth in third level education in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  Let us look at what is actually happening under the Government's watch. A total of 300,000 households are in debt with their electricity bills. One in five children is in poverty under its watch.  Now today, I have told the Taoiseach two teachers who want to send their child to college - who wants to go to college - cannot afford to send them because of the policies he has implemented because the Government has failed to grasp the nettle here when it comes to the cost-of-living crisis.  To be honest, I have listened to what the Taoiseach has had to say here today which is people are imagining this cost-of-living crisis. Clearly from what he is telling us is, the Government has done all these things that are alleviating it. Well, they are not working. As Taoiseach, you need to take leadership and a bit ownership on this. The Taoiseach needs to grasp this nettle to say yes, there is a serious cost-of-living crisis and this is what I am going to do. The Government needs to accept the reality that what it has been doing to this point has pushed more people into poverty, into debt and has pushed more children into homelessness and poverty.  What people want to hear from the Taoiseach today is what is he going to do now to help them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I go by the metric of consistent poverty------ "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  Poverty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and real deprivation, not relative. The Deputy has been using relative all along. That is her figures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  You should include housing in it if you are interested in doing something. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Second, the numbers going to college are increasing significantly year-on-year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  It does not matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There is no evidence base to support what the Deputy is saying in respect of that. In terms of the energy question------ "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  So they are liars. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There is no doubt there is a fundamental issue in terms of the regulatory framework that governs our energy markets, not just in Ireland but across the European Union, particularly its linkage to gas prices. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  What are you going to do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is the more fundamental issue that has to be dealt with and addressed. I make the point there is a balance here. What Sinn F\u00e9in wanted to do was spend an extra \u20ac4 billion on top of what the Government spent. We have increased public expenditure by 7.5% which is quite high. Sinn F\u00e9in wanted to add another \u20ac4 billion to that----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  To deliver the hospital beds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----which would have increased inflation by 2%. That is what you proposed. That would add to the cost of living and would add to prices. Those are not my figures, that is by the rule of thumb that is deployed by the Central Bank. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  I condemn the awful scenes we saw in Citywest last night. One far-right account in advance of the riot posted online that \"Citywest IPAS centre needs to be stormed.\" That was the clear goal last night, to overrun the accommodation centre. This was not done to protect children or the community, even if that is what the organisers claimed to the people they brought along with them. The organisers were intent on sowing chaos. It was done to whip up fear, create division and terrify vulnerable people. I commend garda\u00ed for containing the violence and bringing it under control.  The alleged sexual assault of a ten-year-old girl who was supposed to be in the care of the State is shocking on so many levels. My thoughts are with her and her family. People across the country are rightly horrified. The alleged perpetrator is now in jail. He was not in Citywest last night but innocent men, women and children were. Vulnerable international protection applicants who have every right to be here, all would have been terrified by the riot outside. Many are now no doubt living in fear. After the last riots in Dublin, many children of colour did not turn up to school across the city the next day. They were afraid to leave their homes, afraid their skin colour would make them a target. You have to imagine that is happening again today. People of colour, all over the city, now scared and on high alert. I wonder how children who are living in Citywest are feeling today. I wonder how many of them felt safe enough to go to school. It is disgusting that an alleged sexual assault on one vulnerable child has resulted in other children being terrorised.  Last night's rioting was orchestrated by far-right actors online. They pedal racist myths that international protection applicants are more prone to crimes against women and children. They openly incite violence and celebrate it when it happens. While they spread their dangerous and divisive disinformation online, there is an onus on everyone in this Chamber to counter that rhetoric. We must use language carefully and factually, continue to point out there is no link between migration and crime, counter racist innuendo about asylum seekers and highlight the vast majority of deportation orders have nothing to do with public safety concerns. They are issued because people do not meet the very narrow criteria to make a successful asylum application.  What measures are being put in place to ensure that vulnerable men, women and children in Citywest are kept safe, and have threats been made against any other IPAS centres? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First, I thank the Deputy for raising the issue in the manner she has; it is a very important issue. In the first instance, I too want to thank An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na for its bravery, courage and professionalism----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ----- in dealing with a very serious and grave situation last evening, where the Deputy correctly said, innocent people were threatened in terms of their own safety and security, particularly children, and also the surrounding neighbourhoods where walls were apparently damaged for people to get missiles to throw against the garda\u00ed.  The garda\u00ed come from our community. They are there to protect us all. It beggars belief that these people would articulate such vile abuse of members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and would then attack them in a very serious way which could cause injury and damage if they did not have their protective clothing. It needs to be dealt with robustly. We are very clear, and the Minister for Justice, Deputy O'Callaghan, is very clear we are in total solidarity with An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na and that our criminal justice system needs to hold the people responsible for last evening to account. We wish the female garda who was injured the very best. It was a very difficult situation those young garda\u00ed faced last evening and they should not have to face that.  Also, it is a matter of genuine and sincere concern the alleged assault on a ten-year old-girl but the whole circumstances surrounding that is a matter of deep concern and our thoughts are with that ten-year-old young child and her family and so on. Our job in the State is to protect and support that child. That child, in my observation, was not protected by the State and that is it. I do not mean that is it - I am calling it that way. We then have to respond as a State to that.  I have been consistently raising this issue, certainly for a long time but with greater intensity in the past number of months, of the attacks on ethnicity and I have condemned attacks on people because of their ethnicity, colour or creed. I have met with different groups who have articulated concerns to me. Young people, in the context of the child poverty group that was formed, have told me the fears they have. I do not like using this phrase but these are Irish citizens who may be of a different ethnicity - Asian ethnicity or whatever, it does not matter - but the point I am trying to make is they were articulating to me they were afraid to go into town. Some of their siblings were afraid of being chased home from schools. Employees are being attacked. Employers have reported this to me. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. He can come back in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  As a society, we need to address that. I am very clear about that but equally then, we must also be open to voices - not last night now - but in this House and elsewhere, who raise issues and who would not condone at all what happened last night. It is important we try to have a civilised debate here. I am not saying the Deputy is not doing that, but I just noticed things yesterday. We have to engage as an Oireachtas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach is over time. Deputy Cairns will be coming back in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We must protect our fundamental values. The dignity of every human being matters. I am 100% with the Deputy on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  I genuinely welcome the Taoiseach's comments. I also hope he will practice a bit more of what he is preaching today because they are welcome. In comparison to yesterday, when Deputy Fitzmaurice raised increasing knife crime in the same breath as concerns about the asylum system, the Taoiseach's response was to thank him, and I quote, \"for raising the issue in a responsible and fair way.\" Then when my colleague, Deputy Quaide, later pulled him up on that and said we had a duty not to use that kind of language which inflames tensions, the Taoiseach accused him of being intolerant and asked him to reflect on his comments.  The Taoiseach should reflect on that. He should show leadership and counter false narratives like that rather than indulge them. I am not saying that we cannot discuss the asylum system; we absolutely have to do so, but it should not be too much to ask that we do so in a fact-based way and that we shut down racist tropes. This is something we all have to do at every opportunity. I hope the Taoiseach will do it too in the future. What plans are there to counter those false narratives? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I do not preach, but I do practice. In carrying out my duties as Taoiseach or as a public representative and in all of my life, I do so by means of actions and practice. These speak much louder than words or preaching. I take exception to the Deputy's suggestion----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  I just----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----that I should practice what I preach. I will outline my position on this. In everything I do as a public representative, I will embrace all people, whether it is in connection with a school, a community or whatever. I will go out of my way to do that; it is the right thing to do. I do not expect any credit or anything like that. It is the natural thing we should do, and that is what I do.  In respect of Deputy Fitzmaurice's comments, I know that Deputy Cairns and her party took exception. If we keep drawing hard lines----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  He was wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, please do no interrupt. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Could I please just make a very important point? If we keep drawing hard lines, we are giving ground to the people who did what they did last night. There are people in this House who may not share our perspective entirely on this. It is important that we hear those voices----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The Deputy conflated knife crime with migrants, and you welcomed his response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ----- and then address the issues by means of a fact-based and evidence-based approach. If you keep----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  That is pure arrogance. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  ----- with a certain degree of arrogance----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Taoiseach, time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  The last resort of the desperate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  What you are saying is, \"We know best. Don't be----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Taoiseach, you are way over time for the third time today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----stupid over there, and, please, come with us.\" That will not work. If you are trying to score points off people, it is not going to work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  There is best practice. It is not good form "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Brian Stanley. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I wish to raise the many problems in the National Ambulance Service. Staff are doing their best but there are problems beyond their control. I will outline some of those problems. There are not enough staff or ambulances. We have approximately 1,500 staff. Scotland, which has a similar population, has more than double that number. We have 675 operational ambulances in the service. Scotland has more than double that number.  There is a problem with so-called dynamic deployment, and I really want to push the Taoiseach on this. What dynamic deployment means is that ambulances can be sent anywhere. An ambulance based in Laois could be sent as far as Cork or Waterford. Ambulances are being sent that far. Sometimes they are turned back when they are within a couple of miles of their destination because a local ambulance has got there a minute or two quicker. A crew can do more than 600 km across a shift and only pick up one or two patients Recently in Laois, there was only one crew and one ambulance on call. When the crew clocked in, they were immediately sent to Wexford. Meanwhile, Laois was left without an ambulance. There is one ambulance station. On Monday and Tuesday nights, there is only one ambulance available. An ambulance can take up two hours to arrive at locations within the county - it might not even arrive at all - because of this. That is no fault of the staff.  As stated, only one ambulance is on call on Monday and Tuesday nights. That ambulance can be sent to destinations three counties away, which has actually happened. Recently, a young person died less than a mile from the hospital. There is, as already noted, the one ambulance base in the county and no ambulance was available to pick up that child. Two ambulances were on call at the time but both were attending calls in other counties.  We have less cover in the county than we had 15 years ago, despite the fact that the population has increased by over 40% and now stands at over 100,000. There is also a problem with the rapid-response vehicles in the county, namely the cars used by advanced paramedics. Again, there is less cover now. The drivers of those cars used to be allowed to bring them home. Regardless of whether they were on shift or not, if they were contacted, they would leave from their homes and rapidly deploy to the scene of an accident or emergency. They not doing that now because some genius decided that they had benefit-in-kind because they had cars with all the signs on them that they might be using to do the shopping or something like that. As a result, these vehicles are left at the base and the extra cover that people were offering on a voluntary basis is no longer there.  In addition to everything I have outlined, we have a staff shortage and retention problems because of staff burnout. The Irish Medical Times reported earlier this year that the critical shortage of advanced paramedics is endangering life. There are targets in this regard. I have them here. They were sent to me in the form of a reply to a parliamentary question I tabled recently. In a situation involving a life-threatening illness or injury, the target time for advanced paramedics to reach the scene is 18 minutes and 59 seconds. That is only happening 45% of the time. If you set a target that low, of course you will not meet it. It is ridiculous. Will the Government put an end to the madness of so-called dynamic deployment? Will it invest in more ambulances and increase the number of staff available? Will it step up recruitment immediately? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. At one level, the National Ambulance Service and pre-hospital emergency care have been transformed over the past 20 years in terms of the professionalisation of emergency medical technicians, EMTs, and of the level of response in general. There has been significant investment in the service. This year, \u20ac8 million has been allocated for new service developments, for 180 additional posts in the service and for increased capacity for aeromedical services. As of 30 August last, total staff numbers stood at 2,400. That is a 25% increase since 2020, meaning that 502 extra people have joined the service. Some 85% of those staff work in direct patient-facing roles.  The issue of dynamic deployment has arisen since the configuration was developed many years ago. On the surface, I can instinctively empathise with the Deputy's point because it does mean that ambulances are travelling long distances. We have to respond to this in an evidence-based way. I will talk to the Minister for Health and have further engagement with the National Ambulance Service and the professionals involved as to what is the optimal deployment of staff and ambulances and what is the best way to do it. In Dublin, for example, there has been a unique situation where Dublin Fire Brigade has provided a very effective and efficient ambulance service for many years. The HSE and the service were arguing the toss as to how to reform and reconfigure it. In that context, one view for a long time was \"If it's not broke, don't fix it.\".  We should be open to examining what is the optimal way to deploy the resources. Many professionals would say that what they are doing is the optimal way to do it. The Deputy is articulating a different perspective. I respect the points he is making, but I do think we probably need to look at this in a more evidence-based way. Perhaps the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health could examine it in more detail. The professionalisation of the service and the development of two dedicated helicopter emergency medical services, for example, represents a significant expansion that is enhancing our response. As the Deputy knows, the key responder, namely an EMT or a first responder who is qualified and professional, can save lives. There have been a lot of very positive reforms and a great deal of significant investment in the service in the past number of years. There have been issues and, from time to time, Members have raised the matter to which Deputy Stanley refers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The Taoiseach is correct about the investment, but we will not get the benefit of it because of the way the system is configured. The Taoiseach used the word \"evidence\". I will tell him what the evidence is. A county has no cover because the ambulance that is on call has to go to an emergency two or three counties away. That cannot be allowed to continue. That is the way Laois has been left on two nights each week. If a person is injured or is in a life-threatening situation only a mile or a half mile from the hospital, there is no ambulance to collect them. This is because the two ambulances that are there during the day have been sent somewhere else. I am not arguing for them to be kept within a strict limit, but a radius needs to imposed. I previously raised the case of a farmer who a few years ago was left lying in a farmyard in the Clonaslee area for two hours because there was no ambulance available in Portlaoise to be sent to assist him.  The officials will give the Taoiseach answers and will blind him with the figures they have available, but he needs to look at the reality of what is happening. I am spelling out the reality in black and white.  I am asking the Taoiseach to review this dynamic deployment. The Government needs to do it, invest in more ambulances and step up recruitment of staff. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  To be fair, we are talking about 430,000 urgent and emergency calls in 2024. That is the scale of this issue. It is a 32,000-calls increase, or an 8% increase, on 2023. The Deputy has done the statistics. Performance is improving with 72.5% in 2023 to 73.2% against a 75% target for life-threatening cardiac or respiratory arrest. We have to look at alternative care pathways as well. The Deputy mentioned the rapid response car. I have had experiences myself where that has been far more effective and fast in cases that maybe did not quite require an ambulance once one had the confidence of either a GP or a medic who could say, \"Look, we can manage this in a certain way and get the person to a hospital.\" We have to use the resource to the optimum. That is the objective. One of the biggest issues has been turnover time at hospitals at times of high demand in emergency departments. They are working to improve that outcome. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I call the next speaker, at the behest of Deputy Richard O'Donoghue, I welcome Greybridge vintage club to the Gallery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I have some great friends with me today. I have been involved in Greybridge classic club for the past 15 years. The youngest member, Louise Crowley, is in the Gallery and she is the Limerick IFA chairperson - the youngest chairperson in the organisation. She has been a member of the club since it started and is also its secretary. The Macra na Feirme president and the outgoing president, Elaine Houlihan, are here as well.  These people have been working around the area raising money for charities and people in need. Cliona's Foundation is one of the main beneficiaries of the Greybridge classic club. A total of \u20ac300,000 has been raised since its beginnings. We have a Christmas light run on 30 December in Limerick to raise money for vulnerable people, including Cliona's Foundation and Milford hospice. No matter who we ask when we go around the county, and all vintage clubs across the country are doing it, even if people do not have a few bob themselves, they come up with it and support people who are vulnerable.  We are having a presidential election. I will not mention any names but we have a candidate who has withdrawn from the race. This question is coming from members of the Taoiseach's party who have asked me this so I need to ask him. Is it correct that if that candidate who has withdrawn gets 12.5% of the vote, the Government will be reimbursed for the money it has spent to date and the taxpayers of this country will end up having to pay for that? It will come out of the public purse, which is raised by taxpayers. If he reaches a certain percentage, even though he is not running for the presidency, will the taxpayers of Ireland pay for the mistake of running him in the first place during a cost-of-living crisis and after a budget that gave nothing back to working people but increased their taxes? This is the question the members of the Taoiseach's party are asking. They want to know whether it will be refunded for putting up a ghost candidate during a cost-of-living crisis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I welcome all those who have come from Limerick and from the Greybridge vintage club. I mention vintage clubs all over the country, which do a lot of charity. We all have experienced that in summer festivals or whatever. They bring a bit of excitement, colour and novelty to events and, in the process, raise significant funding. We thank them for that and the work they do. I will not be able to join the run in Limerick closer to Christmas but I will do a swim on New Year's Day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I will supply his tractor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is my commitment. I am not going to dive into the ocean with a tractor. It is wonderful and reflects the very strong value of community in the country. I acknowledge that.  In the context of the cost-of-living crisis, the Government has taken a lot of measures that I outlined in response to an earlier question, particularly in terms of supporting families and increasing the child support payment by \u20ac16 for a child over 12 and \u20ac8 for a child under 12; extending the fuel allowance to the working family payment, which now means that about 26% of families are covered by the fuel allowance; continuing with the free books scheme, which brings about huge savings for families; and the hot school meals, which have been very effective for many families. We have also kept VAT on electricity and gas prices at 9%, so we have done a lot in respect of the cost of living but on this occasion, we have targeted it. We have provided schools with the highest ever capitation grant, which is \u20ac50 per pupil for primary and \u20ac20 per pupil for post-primary. This will help schools to meet the cost of living----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  What about the presidency? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am coming to it. The Deputy did mention the cost of living. Just as he dealt with the question, I will reply to him in like fashion. What we did in the budget in raising public expenditure was to invest in services that matter to people, so we prioritised disability, child poverty and infrastructure for more roads, rail, buses, schools and healthcare facilities across the board. That matters to people.  In fairness to the Deputy, he left Fianna F\u00e1il a long time ago and is now an Independent. His concern for our members is touching but I respectfully suggest that we will deal with that within our party in terms of the issues. The law is the law in respect of deposits and returns. The people will decide. I know we cannot comment on the presidency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach is running out of time and he cannot comment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I would just make the point----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach can come back in again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I thank the Taoiseach for his vague answer. The bottom line is the taxpayer will pay regardless. The vintage clubs are very important to me for one reason along with the men's sheds and women's sheds. The vintage clubs look after our ancestors and our past and use it for the present to raise funds. The Taoiseach is right. I did leave Fianna F\u00e1il a good number of years ago and am now a member of Independent Ireland, a political party for the people of Ireland. It gives me a voice which I did not have within the Fianna F\u00e1il Party and I will keep using that voice. I want a clear answer to my question. Will the taxpayers of Ireland have to pay for a candidate who is not running? With the laws that are in place, will the taxpayers pay? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have just answered it - with the laws that are in place. The law is the law. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  So the taxpayer----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is it. I admire the Deputy's commitment to vintage clubs, men's sheds and women's sheds. I have had a spin in Jack Lynch's car myself. We have enjoyed all of that. The juxtaposition of vintage clubs, men's sheds and women's sheds with the presidency and the rules that apply perplexes me----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  It is to do with charity and raising funding. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----but it is a very novel way to come around the subject matter. The law is the law. People are entitled to vote in whatever way they wish and if that means deposits or whatever are returned, so be it. I do not think people vote on that basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  It is not normal for me to comment but I too would like to endorse vintage clubs. I attended a charity vintage run on Sunday where there were 638 vehicles. That is a huge offering in respect of a charitable contribution to any community, so well done, particularly to the clubs in Wexford. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  At this point, every Member of D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann has received an email with information about protected disclosure, PD17\/2025. That protected disclosure was made by a conscientious health professional. I am raising it as a matter of utmost gravity because, as far back as June and July of this year, that healthcare professional has attempted to get the matters relating to public health addressed by HIQA, the Department of justice, the Department of Health and the Pharmaceutical Society of Ireland, to name but four. At this point, the lack of the issue being addressed goes to the heart of public trust in our democracy.  The submission is evidence based and contains a combination of clinical information and ethical common sense. Despite the seriousness of the allegations and repeated good faith to follow-up, no meaningful investigation has been undertaken to date. Fiosr\u00fa, the body tasked with examining such inaction, has received complaints about this failure to investigate crimes and has thus far failed to act. Government Departments and State agencies are implicated, yet all people in Ireland are equal before the law. Our Constitution does not allow the State to shield itself from scrutiny.  There is a profound conflict of interest here. The Garda cannot credibly investigate wrongdoing when those accused sit within the structures of direct Garda oversight and funding. Will the Taoiseach now commit to the establishment of an independent, external investigation into the handling, or non-handling, of these serious reports by An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, the Department of Health and the Department of justice? Will he publish the correspondence and internal assessments, which thus far have resulted in no investigation being opened? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, Ireland's whistleblower protection framework is governed by the Protected Disclosures Act 2014. There are set frameworks - legal and so on - in terms of governing the handling and management of protected disclosures. That Act was significantly strengthened by the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act 2022. This legislation commenced operation on 1 January 2023. It gives effect to the European Union whistleblowing directive. It provides protection against penalisation of workers in public and private sectors. The Act also introduced a number of significant changes, including that the burden now rests on the employer to prove that any action taken was justified and unrelated to the disclosure. There is much more. It expanded the protections to a broader category of workers, including contractors, volunteers, agency workers, board members, shareholders and job applicants. Section 7 protects against retaliation, unfair dismissal and so forth. Workers who experience penalisation have access to the Workplace Relations Commission, WRC, and so forth.  The Office of the Protected Disclosures Commissioner, OPDC, was established in 2023. It plays a key role in ensuring disclosures are directed to the appropriate prescribed persons. This is important. There has to be a systematic approach to the handling of disclosures. In 2024, the OPDC received 262 reports, with the vast majority being transmitted to the relevant authorities. To support whistleblowers, the disclosures commissioner continues to fund Transparency International Ireland, which operates a free speak-up helpline and legal advisory centre. In 2025, funding of \u20ac368,000 was allocated to that.  The Deputy raised issues of how the protected disclosure in this case was handled by the relevant agencies. Fiosr\u00fa is there as an external, independent entity to handle complaints in respect of members of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. It is there in that context. HIQA is there as an independent body that is focused on quality within the healthcare system and also carries out investigations, inquiries and so on. What the Deputy seems to be suggesting is that we should either add a new layer to this or reintroduce the Oireachtas or the Executive into examining every disclosure. I do not think that is feasible. It could be challenging as well, given the volume of disclosures.  Section 2A under the Protected Disclosures (Amendment) Act does----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----provide for a statutory review of the Act to be commenced not later than five years from the date of the Act. That review is due to commence in 2027----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you. I call Deputy Toole. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----and a public consultation will be carried out prior to this review. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  All of the processes have been followed, including contacting the OPDC. By referencing the other agencies, my point is that there is silence. This is a matter of serious public health. When I cross-check the criteria and scope with the Covid-19 evaluation committee that the Department of the Taoiseach established, under scope and exclusions are the very matters included within this protected disclosure: the care of older people in nursing homes between 2020 and 2022; the administration of gene therapy to people during the same period; and various other evidential and research-based issues that have arisen since then, even in other jurisdictions, and have been the subject of parliamentary questions.  I would again ask the question - will there be an inquiry into this protected disclosure as a matter of urgency? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Two things. First of all, in terms of Covid-19, the Government has established an evaluation of the management of and the State response to Covid-19----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Toothless. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----which was an unprecedented public health event across the world that had the most significant and severe impacts on societies and on people. The more fundamental objective has always been to try to protect and save lives. People acted in very good faith to do that. I just want to make that point.  What we are reluctant to do is add a new layer now because this will go on forever. I do not mean that in any disrespectful way. There has to be a system to deal with protected disclosures. We cannot add new layers. I think we can review it in the context of how the Act is working but, ideally, we should be able to deal with protected disclosures within the legislation and people should respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The last thing we want is more and more public inquiries, including statutory-based public inquiries, which can go on for years. That is not satisfactory either. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","counts":{"speechCount":52,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  I also welcome the Greybridge Classic Club. I would only love to be part of its Christmas lights run. It sounds amazing.  Property tax is going up for people and every household will be hit with a higher bill. Over the course of the weekend, I held a number of clinics - in the city, Clifden and other places in Connemara. At every single clinic, a pensioner came to say they were extremely worried about the cost going up because they could not make ends meet as it was and this would put further pressure on them. Many had not even heard this was happening and got a huge fright when they got the letter through the door asking them to fill out a form and they saw that their property tax was going to go up. They cannot believe this is going to happen. The Taoiseach must be aware of this. We are talking about pensioners who are extremely worried about paying this local property tax, LPT. They know it will go up and are asking if it can be changed or stopped. It is coming directly from the Government. House prices are out of control and it is only going to continue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I think the Minister for Finance announced this quite some time back. It is part of a regular review of the LPT. The Minister has worked extremely hard to make sure that any increases will be modest, particularly in terms of the valuations and so on.  He did that a number of years ago and effectively managed it. Remember that the revenue goes to improving and enhancing services that people in this House come in looking for every single day. It is a balance. We have been warned, the Government has been warned, that it is spending too much. The Opposition does not think we are spending enough. Some in opposition think we are being reckless with the economy but then they want us to spend more. There are challenges and difficulties here. We are very conscious of the impact of this on people, and that was why we increased the old-age pension by \u20ac10. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I want to raise the publication of the national framework for the management of endometriosis in Ireland. This was an eagerly awaited report, with a huge weight of expectation, given the enormous failing of thousands of women with this desperately debilitating condition. There are welcome aspects to the report in terms of the greater commitment to investment and training, but endometriosis sufferers reading this report have huge concerns. They are deeply hurt by the references to paracetamol. If paracetamol was sufficient to deal with this condition, we would not be talking about it here. They are outraged at the replacement of the endometriosis surgery abroad scheme. It does not look like progress when we look at the details. It looks like a monumental backwards step. There are no references to the hospitals in Romania and Greece to which Irish women are currently travelling, and there are new conditions. What assurances can the Taoiseach give that women will still be able to travel abroad to the expert clinics they need? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes, women will be able to travel abroad. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  They will not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, this is not a back-and-forth. You can email the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The report is broadly welcome in terms of the progress that is being made and has been made in the past two to three years in particular, when compared to where we were. We will continue to work to enhance and improve services, particularly the specialist services required abroad. Women will be facilitated to avail of such services, and the HSE is clear on that. We can revert to the Deputy with the details. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Uisce \u00c9ireann has recently been fined \u20ac3,500 for a pollution event that occurred in Cavan. This pollution event resulted in a 2 km stretch of riverbed being covered with sewage fungus and hundreds of brown trout dying. Unfortunately, this is not a one-off incident. If we look, Uisce \u00c9ireann is repeatedly fined for breaches of its licence and for causing pollution events. Unfortunately, the paltry \u20ac3,500 fine is laughable, considering the damage that is being done. This follows hot on the heels of a major and catastrophic fish kill in the Blackwater, County Cork. We need a complete overhaul of how the State deals with a pollution event. What we see is State agencies essentially treating our rivers like drains and not protecting valuable river systems. We need a rapid response team, a cross-agency team, to be set up immediately to quickly respond to pollution incidents and with the ability to collect whatever samples are required. When incidents are found, there has to be enforcement and fines commensurate with the damage caused. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. It is a fair point that she is making. State agencies should not be polluting waterways and our rivers. Certainly, Uisce \u00c9ireann should not be. There should be severe penalties. To be fair, on the other hand, Uisce \u00c9ireann develops a lot of wastewater treatment plants, which are very beneficial to water quality. It has to put up with a lot of objections and judicial reviews to stop wastewater treatment plants being developed and so on, so the other side of the coin has to be acknowledged. However, it should be very vigilant in terms of not creating situations like the one in Cavan that the Deputy has outlined. I do not have the full details of that. The Blackwater fish kill was appalling. The EPA has not been in a position to identify who was responsible, but it was catastrophic in its impact on water quality, fish life and so forth. It is a matter we will keep under review. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  There has been shockingly little coverage of the scandal of the illegal felling of over 30 acres of native broadleaf trees and mature hedgerows in Cork that date back to at least the 1800s, if not earlier. It was revealed by The Journal after an FOI to the National Parks and Wildlife Service last week discovered that nearly 2 km of ancient, long-established hedgerows with high biodiversity value for local wildlife were removed. Despite being refused permission to access the site via Coillte forestry lands, people continued to move their machinery onto the site for this illegal work through Coillte land. Is it going to be the standard that nature and biodiversity are to be sacrificed for profits in Cork? It is not far away from the Blackwater River, where there was an enormous fish kill, which I raised previously with the Taoiseach. How was this allowed to happen in the first place? How is the Government going to act to ensure it cannot happen again? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First, I have to get a report on that. It is not the standard, and it is unfair to say it is the standard by which we are going to deal with biodiversity and our natural habitats. We have doubled the budget. I was involved in the last five years with the then Minister of State with responsibility for the NPWS, Senator Malcolm Noonan, and the Minister of State, Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan. We have doubled the budget for the NPWS and have given it significant momentum. It has a strong organisational structure within the Department of housing and heritage. We are adding to our national parks. What happened here is wrong, fundamentally. I have read about it, but I need to get a comprehensive report on what transpired. It is unacceptable, in my view. We are consistently looking at ways to enhance our biodiversity, create greater opportunities for rewilding and add to our national park network. We did that successfully in the last Government and we want to do more in this Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Every day, on my way home from work, I pass by the Four Courts on the south side of the River Liffey. Every day, dozens of people are openly dealing in drugs and taking drugs. People are slumped on the pathway just feet from passing traffic. It is a human disaster. If I see this every day, the garda\u00ed see it every day. Why do they tolerate it? In Meath, I talk to people who are being crucified by crime and antisocial behaviour that is happening every single night. If it is happening every night, the garda\u00ed know about it. Why are they tolerating it? I spoke to a taxi driver recently who told me of a drug dealer where people drive up, get their drugs and go home. It is a drive-through drug location. If he knows about it, the garda\u00ed know about it. Why are the garda\u00ed tolerating this type of crime happening on a regular basis? Is it because of the lack of resources, the lack of morale or poor management? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Garda\u00ed do not tolerate it. I would respectfully say----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  They do. They see it every day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I do not believe they do at all. The garda\u00ed do very strong work in terms of the whole issue pertaining to drug abuse and the trafficking of drugs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Drive down to the Four Courts any day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In fact, we have increased resources and we will continue to increase resources. There are now record numbers applying for An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na. Events like last night take garda\u00ed away from the front-line and where they would ordinarily be. There were so many garda\u00ed there last evening to protect people, and those kinds of events draw from our capacity. In the general, normal work of An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na, garda\u00ed are very focused on this issue. Unfortunately, there are too many consumers of drugs in modern society and too many people take it as being habitual. There is severe addiction, which has to be dealt with through a healthcare response, with which I am sure the Deputy would agree. I would not be undermining the Garda response all the time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Go down to the Four Courts any day, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aindrias Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Aindrias-Moynihan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aindrias Moynihan  I need to raise with the Taoiseach the drug Veoza, which is a non-hormone-based therapy aimed at supporting people with menopause. It is particularly useful to cancer survivors who would have HRT contraindications and who cannot use hormone-based therapies. This drug has been going through the process of qualification for some time. At this stage, the manufacturer has responded, and the ball is very much with the pharmacoeconomic centre to carry out the assessment. I would ask that this be prioritised to get it through the system. It is more than just Veoza, however, because various other drugs may also be useful to people who cannot use hormone-based therapies. There needs to be a review of the free HRT scheme to extend it and ensure everybody is able to access it in one way or another. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank Deputy Moynihan for raising what is a very important issue. I recognise that this medication is particularly important for those with a history of hormone-sensitive cancers, such as breast cancer, who cannot take hormone replacement therapy due to the risk of cancer recurrence.  I understand the real difference that this medication can make to a person's quality of life. In relation to this drug, as the Deputy knows, the National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics, NCPE, recommended a full health technology assessment, HTA, of Veoza to assess its clinical effectiveness and cost effectiveness compared with the current standard of care. Subsequently, the HSE commissioned a full HTA and then a pre-submission consultation. On 20 August 2025, 16 months after it was commissioned by the HSE, a full HTA dossier was received from the company. I am advised that the HSE said that the application remains under consideration. We acknowledge the importance of this. Seventy-four drugs for cancer were reimbursed between 2021 and 2024. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Taoiseach and the Deputy may need to correspond further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We will come back to the Deputy on this. I take note of his comments on other products and the extension of HRT. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I raise the issue of home help, particularly in County Mayo. There are 265 homes waiting for home help. These are people who are deemed to need home help to be able to stay in their own home, but they do not have it. Home and Community Care Ireland, HCCI, is asking for two things, which I too advocate. It states that waiting lists are too often treated as a HSE operational issue, and not a political issue like children's assessments of need, outpatient appointments or accident and emergency trolleys. That must change in relation to home help. HCCI also wants to see a waiting list task force, targeted funding for the black spot areas and block booking of home care hours. This has to be done, as does retention and recruitment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  On the two points the Deputy raised in respect of Mayo, I met with the HSE to look at the waiting lists for each area. I want the numbers on those lists brought down. We have given additional funding this year for home care hours. On the waiting lists, it is about engaging directly with the HSE and looking at measures. The main focus of additional funding this year is to deal with the areas where we have waiting lists. I want those numbers brought down and I am actively working on that with the HSE along with the officials in the Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  Roscrea needs more garda\u00ed. Last August, I was delighted to welcome five new garda\u00ed to north Tipperary. They were going to Nenagh and Thurles, which is very positive and welcome. Unfortunately, however, Roscrea was left out. Roscrea Garda station essentially does not open any more, whether it is for policing or for someone to get a form signed for a passport. This is difficult for the town. A number of years ago, Roscrea had three sergeants, 18 to 20 front-line garda\u00ed, two civilian staff and a detective. Today, the town has three sergeants, seven front-line garda\u00ed and one garda on loan from Nenagh to fill basic staffing requirements. I am told that overtime and the loan of a garda from Nenagh are essentially just keeping garda\u00ed out on the streets in cars in Roscrea. I have contacted the Minister and An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na about this and Garda numbers in Roscrea. It is a town that desperately needs resources and representation. I ask for the Taoiseach's intervention to get more garda\u00ed for Roscrea. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy has made a cogent and strong case for more garda\u00ed in Roscrea. We are very conscious of this issue. I think about 11,000 applied to the Garda this year. We might have to look at training capacity to get more throughput. I think the Minister is looking at that. The Minister would acknowledge that in the past number of years, there was a concentration on Dublin. This was post-Covid and with the closure of the college during Covid. That has shifted now. Other cities have benefited. There is a stronger focus on the regions. In that context, I would hope that from the next throughput from the college, we could start allocating more garda\u00ed to the regions and towns like Roscrea. I will certainly talk to the Minister. The Deputy has raised the issue and made a legitimate case, given the numbers he quoted. I will revert to him. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Frankie Feighan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Frank-Feighan.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Frankie Feighan  Local government budgets will be challenging for many councils across Ireland this autumn. I am particularly concerned that the local authorities in both Sligo and Leitrim are awaiting payment from the Department of housing for the damage caused last January due to Storm \u00c9owyn. I understand the figure is up to \u20ac1.5 million. The same local authorities have raised the local property tax, LPT, by 15% over the past six years and members have raised the commercial rates every year, including last year, by 5% to borrow money to meet the core funding obligations under capital plans for expansion. Local authorities in the north west, particularly in the north and western region, should not be left short-changed. I urge the Taoiseach to get what is owed paid and ensure the equalisation fund is not diluted for the smaller local authorities with a small rates and LPT base. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate the Deputy has raised this issue in terms of broader local authority financing and, specifically, in terms of Storm \u00c9owyn. I will engage with the Minister for housing on this. Overall, in the past five years, significant resources have been allocated to local authorities. That has to be acknowledged. It is quite substantial on many fronts and a lot of work has been enabled because of that. However, demands, services and so on have created additional expenditure obligations. We are working with the Departments of Social Protection and community and rural development in respect of resourcing hubs and networks to deal with future storms. We saw in some areas where such networks were established that they were effective and played a huge role in helping the communities. I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics of reimbursement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  The recently published Community Pharmacy Agreement 2025 outlines new service provisions and funding models for community pharmacies. Two areas of particular concern are the exclusion of blister packs or monitored dosage systems, MDS, from reimbursement under the agreement and restrictive provisions on phased dispensing, limiting its use and removing reimbursement in some cases. These omissions undermine safe medicines management for vulnerable patients and place additional strain on pharmacies, many of which currently provide these supports on a goodwill basis without funding. Blister packs or MDS help patients manage complex medication regimes safely and independently, reducing errors and hospital admissions. The new agreement explicitly excludes reimbursement for blister packs, despite acknowledging the importance of medicine optimisation. Pharmacies currently absorb the costs of preparing these packs, including time, staff and materials. This is not sustainable in the long term. Will the Taoiseach commit to recommendations to reinstate reimbursement for blister packs and amend the community pharmacy agreement to include reimbursement for the supply and preparation of monitored dosage systems for patients on multiple long-term medicines or with cognitive impairments? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  My understanding is that discussions are ongoing between the Department of Health and the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU, in respect of these and other issues. I checked this with the Minister. I will ask the Minister to revert to the Deputy in relation to this. These agreements are hard negotiated. Huge resources go in now in terms of medical reimbursement and so on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  The Government is hitting the most vulnerable here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will talk to the Minister in respect of where the negotiations are right now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I raise the issue of Scoil an Chro\u00ed Naofa National School in Ballinasloe, which serves one of the most deprived populations in the country. Some 300 children go to the school. The older school is from 1937 and the newer school is from 1973. When I had an occasion to visit in January, it was colder inside the school than it was outside. The difficulty we have now is that the school cannot take in any new students. People with means who can travel to other schools outside of the town are leaving. We are getting a concentration of deprivation in the centre of Ballinasloe. We need to progress the building of this school. It had planning issues for nearly 22 years. They have been resolved. The project is at stage 2b planning in the Department of education. I urge the Government to look at fast-tracking Ballinasloe's Scoil an Chro\u00ed Naofa National School given the circumstances it finds itself in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue. I know he is focused on increased services and facilities in Ballinasloe more generally. I will talk to the Minister for education in respect of Scoil an Chro\u00ed Naofa. Those buildings are clearly old. If the project is at stage 2b, I hope, with the capital allocation that has been given to education this year and through the national development plan, we will be in a position to progress this school on an accelerated basis. I will certainly talk to the Minister on the Deputy's behalf. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  Storm \u00c9owyn was the largest storm ever experienced by ESB Networks. It followed less than two months after the previous largest storm, Storm Darragh. A total of 768,000 customers lost power.  One of the biggest gaps revealed by the storm response was the slow speed at which engineers from other countries were drafted in to help the ESB with repairs. Some homes did not see their power back until 18 days after the storm. The Government published the report on Storm \u00c9owyn yesterday. There are plenty of good recommendations in it. However, there is only one line in a 100-page document about development of new mutual aid agreements with other European countries so we can boost the number of engineers we have working to restore power at short notice. A consequence of climate change will be more frequent and more severe weather events like Storm \u00c9owyn. Is the Taoiseach confident that enough is being done to put in place agreements with other countries so we can get extra engineers quickly the next time we have a storm like this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this. I agree with his points on the severity of the storm. Actually, I would be confident on that one, in terms of mutual aid assistance. I met with the ESB, Irish Water and others in the review and we did not pick up a sense that there was any foot-dragging or difficulty in terms of overseas engineers coming to Ireland from the UK or France, and crews coming to Ireland to help us in our hour of need. The French were particularly responsive. From memory, I think the United Kingdom was particularly responsive, just as we are via these mutual aid agreements when storms occur on the Continent. I will again check with the Minister and with the ESB. I would favour more mutual aid programmes, particularly with Europe, people who are near. That is the key in any major weather catastrophe, event or whatever. The most effective mutual aid programmes are those in close proximity to us. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  We have worrying news from Arklow this morning. The Merck Life Sciences plant, which is located in the town, is scheduled to close in 2028. About 100 employes are impacted. I have been speaking with the company. There will be efforts to redeploy. Until now, Merck has been a very good employer. I know many of the people who are working there. It is critical, and I would like assurances, that every support will be given to those workers. Some will have to redeploy but I refer also to any necessary upskilling and retraining. I also call for us to seek a fresh plant for the site on the Vale Road. Arklow has a long and proud tradition in chemicals and pharmaceuticals. It is a vital sector for Irish society, so it is important that we can find a replacement plant there to provide high-value employment in Arklow as soon as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising what is a very sad and challenging situation for Arklow and those working in the Merck Life Sciences plant. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke, and ensure the IDA and Enterprise Ireland respond - what normally happens now is that they do respond - and that each employee is engaged with in terms of their own individual choices regarding redeployment or alternative employment. That is important. I have witnessed it before where something can be created out of this, positively, I hope, in terms of future employment or creation of SMEs or smaller companies, but also then a replacement industry. It is an important facility that has potential. If an alternative company can be attracted into that facility, that would be very desirable. We will talk to IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland about that. The Department of Social Protection will also reach out to workers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  Learner drivers never have to sit a driver test to roll over their learner permits. They just have to show they have booked or joined a waiting list for a test. Some have permits for years, contributing to a culture where learner permits are treated like full licences. The Road Safety Authority has had more than a decade to prepare for the closure of this loophole. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, has made progress, promising learner drivers will have to take a test before getting their third permit, once test waiting times drop to ten weeks by September. That is a target that he achieved. Now we are playing another waiting game. The Department of Transport says regulations are effectively ready. The RSA says it is finalising an implementation plan and it does not have a timeline. I say no more delays. The Minister can and should intervene again to set a date to close this loophole once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising this. It has to be done properly and right. It has to be done on a phased basis. I think the Deputy was saying the regulations are nearly ready. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  The RSA is saying they are not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy was also referring to the Department. I would prefer that they get it right. There will be a lot of people affected by this too, and we have to be conscious of that. The best way to do it is to phase it in in an orderly manner so that people know and there is no cliff edge. Inevitably there will have to be, but it has to be done properly. Also, the capacity must be there to do it. As the Deputy says, we do not want another waiting list developing in respect of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  At today's health committee, the Irish Cancer Society said there is a complacent notion that we are doing well in cancer but we are not. The reality is that the State's cancer services are deteriorating. A prime example of this is radiation therapy, which is beset with antiquated machinery and staff shortages. Radiation therapy machines need to be changed every ten years. That is their internationally accepted lifespan. In Ireland, 35% of machines are already 15 years old, while a further 40% will need replacement in five years. There is no national replacement programme in place. Alongside this, there are major staff shortages across radiation therapy services, with machines lying idle in public hospitals. Earlier this month, the Minister for Health told the D\u00e1il that she is taking every step to attract radiation therapists into the public system. This is simply not the case. Radiation therapy graduates are not guaranteed HSE contracts, unlike graduate nurses. How can this be justified when we have vacancy rates of between 15% and 22%? Will the Minister make good on her word and take every step to attract these graduates? A good start would be permanent contracts for all of them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  I have literally just come from Crumlin where I met some of the new consultant radiologists who have come here from other countries in anticipation of the children's hospital. I am meeting the chief people officer after the statements on men's health in respect of some of the vacancies. On our cancer strategy, the Deputy is right to identify regional variance, which is one of the very many reasons we are shifting the funding model this year to a letter of determination to the HSE that focuses both on inputs and outputs, specifically trying to better achieve harmony, equity and regional equity of access around all the different areas, recognising that cancer services in particular are lagging too far behind in some areas while others are performing extremely well. The Deputy is right to identify it. As regards radiation replacement therapy, we have a capital programme more broadly and I will specifically look at radiation within that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  T\u00e1 an gh\u00e9arch\u00e9im daoine gan d\u00eddean imithe thar f\u00f3ir go hioml\u00e1n. The Taoiseach might have seen the launch of Cork Simon's annual report. He insists to us that the Government's housing strategy is working, whether it is Homes for All or Rebuilding Ireland, yet everything keeps going up in terms of homelessness. Cork Simon has been operating since the early 1970s. In its 55 years, it has never had a higher average of people requiring its supports. There are more people in emergency accommodation than ever, with 679 in Cork. That is probably going to go up next Friday; we could nearly set our clocks by it. It is getting worse by every metric, with an increase in people requiring outreach and in those requiring meals. Does the Taoiseach accept that this is completely unacceptable and that it is a stain on our society that so many people are homeless? Will he reinstate the previous funding position of tenant in situ to stop more people going into homelessness? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Without question, t\u00e1 fadhb ann \u00f3 thaobh daoine gan d\u00eddean de. N\u00edl aon dabht faoi sin. It is a much more complex situation than it would have been five or ten years ago. There are far wider pressures on emergency accommodation today than there were. I do not want to go into all of the details but that is clear. It is a factor. We worked with Cork Simon and other homeless agencies in respect of Housing First, which was a very effective response to homelessness, and a better one perhaps than tenant in situ. Tenant in situ works when it is focused on the homeless and people who are just about to be made homeless, to prevent that. It got used more broadly than that, which was problematic, but now it is back on course. We are continuing to resource it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  That is not the case at all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  That is not what happened. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have spoken to the various homeless agencies and they would acknowledge that the nature and composition of those seeking emergency accommodation is very different now. What the Minister is doing immediately is securing additional resources for families to make sure they are accelerated out of emergency accommodation as quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  The Taoiseach will be aware the provision of home help services is vital support that allows many older people and those with additional needs to remain living independently in their homes. Recent rankings from Home and Community Care Ireland place County Longford second, with the highest number of people on a waiting list for a service. In my constituency office, I continue to meet families. Some of these have no service and some are grateful for a limited service. There are staff shortages particularly at holiday periods and we are seeing hours reduced or even missed in cases. I fully recognise that efforts have been made in recent times through the Minister of State, Deputy O'Donnell, to expand it. We had a care provider that gave notice to the HSE that it was no longer providing care. I know there was a consultation and the provider is back but we still have a major problem, particularly in north Longford. We have elderly people going into nursing homes for respite because the home help is not available in the house. I am looking for a commitment that we will look specifically at this and target this area in north Longford to make sure we have a sufficient service provided to those who are most vulnerable in our society. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Kieran O'Donnell  I thank Deputy Carrigy. I know the particular interest he has in this matter. Specifically, on north Longford, he raised an issue about one provider that has now restored its service. I am working with the Department officials and the HSE to look specifically at north Longford and other areas where there are large waiting lists. Some \u20ac82 million additional funding has gone into home support this year. With 1.7 million additional hours, I want to focus on those specific areas. I will continue to work with the Deputy and with my Department and the HSE to look at how we can address those issues in the Deputy's particular case in north Longford and in other areas as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Men's Health: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":47,"speakerCount":39},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shay Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shay-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shay-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  I welcome this opportunity to speak on men's health, which is a priority in the programme for Government. In 2009, Ireland was the first country in the world to develop a national men's health policy. The men's health policy sets out a comprehensive and, I hope, ambitious framework with a series of objectives aimed at improving men's health. It was followed by two action plans. One was published in 2017, with a more recent one published in 2024. A clear commitment in the programme for Government, which I was proud to be involved in negotiating, is to increase literacy and raise awareness among men and boys about the importance of physical, mental and emotional health. We know men in Ireland today are living longer and healthier lives than previous generations but they continue to bear a disproportionate burden of illness and premature mortality and, as a recent report published by Movember stated, \"too many men are dying too young.\" While the gap between male and female life expectancy has narrowed in recent times, male life expectancy still falls behind women by 3.5 years in Ireland. The research tells us that 40% of all male deaths, prior to 75 years of age, in 2022 were considered premature. These deaths were 40% higher among males compared to women in Ireland. These are not just numbers, however. They are our fathers, our brothers, our sons and our friends. The impact of male-specific cancers is also well-documented and the incidences of both prostate and testicular cancer, particularly in young men, are on the increase. Therefore, we have a lot to recognise.  We have to acknowledge that some groups of men experience a disproportion burden of ill-health compared to other men. Men in the most deprived communities of Ireland are one and a half times more likely to die prematurely, compared to the most affluent men, which is not right. They are also almost three and a half times more likely to die by diseases of the respiratory system, diseases of the circulatory system, accidents and suicides. For example, life expectancy for a Traveller man is 15 years less than the general male population. This is a reality that we must confront with action and compassion. It really is a conversation that matters.  The men's health action plan targets specific issues like men's mental health and suicide prevention, men's chronic disease preventing and improving the health service uptake among men. It also places a stronger focus on health equity, meaning we will prioritise interventions for men who are most vulnerable, whether due to socioeconomic disadvantage, social inclusion or minority status. While Healthy Ireland leads on the implementation of men's health, there is also a significant focus on men's health within the national cancer control programme, the national screening service, and the National Office for Suicide Prevention. Male pelvic cancer survivorship and rehabilitation programmes are a key part of cancer survivorship pathways and they significantly improve patient outcomes.  Funding for the male pelvic cancer survivorship programme was provided through Healthy Ireland and is currently being piloted in Cork and Dublin. Over the past year, close to 180 patients across both areas have been enrolled in survivorship clinics. These services are advanced nurse practitioner-led with clinical nurse specialists and consultant urologist supports. Work is under way at a European level on prostate screening which aims to explore the feasibility of a risk-stratified screening programme to help reduce morbidity and mortality caused by the disease. We will consider any proposed expansion of the screening through the established evidence-driven protocols which we use, namely, the national screening advisory committee, which is our independent expert group that provides advice to me on screening programmes and their expansion. I am determined to support our screening programmes which are a valuable part of our health service enabling early treatment and care for many people and improving the overall health of our population.  We know, however, that rigid gender norms can harm everyone. Sometimes, they can discourage men from seeking help and from expressing vulnerability, or they can reinforce inequalities that negatively affect women, families and communities. By engaging men in conversations about gender equality broadly, we create opportunities for men to become the same partners in building a fairer, healthier society, which is of benefit to everyone.  Just like women's health, men's health is everyone's business. Men's health matters because improving men's health benefits not just men but has an important ripple effect for women, for children's health and for wider communities. By improving men's health we aim to ensure our policies not only improve men's health outcomes but also help shape a more equitable and a more compassionate nation. We have witnessed notable improvements in the health and life-expectancy of our male population but men's health remains an area that requires really focused attention and sustained policy action which we will take.  Today, I ask all the men listening to take a step, book a checkup, talk to a friend and seek support. They matter and their health matters. Men's health matters and I am very glad we are having statements on this today. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Mary Butler)  I welcome the opportunity to address the House today on the vital issue of men\u2019s health, and in particular, men\u2019s mental health. This is not just a health issue; it is a societal issue, a family issue and a personal issue. It affects every community in Ireland. When we speak about men\u2019s health, we are speaking about fathers, sons, brothers, grandsons, partners and friends. We are speaking about the people who build our homes, teach our children, run our businesses and serve in our Defence Forces. Yet, too often, men\u2019s health, especially men\u2019s mental health, remains a taboo.  In Ireland today, approximately 80% of all suicides are among men. That is not just a number; it represents lives cut short, families devastated and communities left grieving. We know men are less likely to seek help for mental health difficulties. Cultural norms, fear of judgment and the perception that asking for help is a sign of weakness all play a role. While women make up two thirds of those who use counselling services, men remain under-represented. Yet, when men do engage, they benefit greatly. Research shows that men who access therapy often report significant improvements in well-being and resilience. This reluctance to seek help contributes to higher rates of suicide, substance misuse and untreated depression among men. It impacts families, workplaces and the wider economy. It is time to change that narrative and these outcomes.  In the previous Government, and continuing in this Government, the Minister for Health announced a revolution in women\u2019s health services. I believe we need to have a similar revolution in men\u2019s mental health services. The Government has made mental health a priority. Our national mental health policy, Sharing the Vision, sets out the roadmap for a modern, recovery-oriented mental health service. Its second implementation plan, which I launched earlier this year, focuses on improving access, reducing waiting times and embedding mental health supports in primary care and community settings.  Alongside this, Connecting for Life, our national suicide prevention strategy, continues to guide our efforts to reduce suicide and self-harm. It recognises that men are a priority group and calls for targeted interventions to reach those most at risk. We have also introduced the National Men's Health Action Plan 2024\u201328, which is the first plan of its kind in Europe. It acknowledges that men experience health differently and that a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. It addresses gender-specific risk factors, promotes early detection and seeks to dismantle the barriers that prevent men from seeking help. Legislatively, we are progressing the Mental Health Bill, which will modernise our mental health laws, strengthen rights-based care and ensure that services are delivered with dignity and respect.  In budget 2026, we have made mental health a priority, with a major focus placed on crisis support and suicide prevention. There is over \u20ac15 million in new funding for crisis support and suicide reduction measures, which include specialist nursing teams in all model 4 hospital emergency departments out of hours to support people in crisis and three new crisis resolution services, including drop-in Solace crisis caf\u00e9s as community alternatives to emergency departments in areas with model 3 hospitals. We know already from the five Solace caf\u00e9s we have opened that presentations by men and women in distress to the emergency departments have reduced by 18% as a result of having those caf\u00e9s as people's first point of call. We will also have additional suicide crisis assessment nurses, SCANs, to support people in crisis who present to GPs in their communities. We have increased funding for the suicide prevention community and voluntary organisations, including Pieta, and there is \u20ac1 million in funding to start the implementation of the next suicide reduction strategy.  The mental health budget for 2026 will be almost \u20ac1.6 billion. Mental health funding has now increased by over 50% since I took up my role in 2020. I have also secured with the Minister an unprecedented 300 additional new staff for mental health services next year, representing over 9% of the total growth in health service staffing in 2026. We still have a way to go but significant progress has been made.  A significant initiative is the provision of over 15,000 free counselling sessions for men every year, backed up by \u20ac2 million in dedicated annual funding. The programme started on 1 September last and will be delivered in partnership with trusted providers such as Connect Counselling and MyMind, an organisation that offers supports in 20 different languages. Men can access these counselling sessions for free through GP referral and yourmentalhealth.ie\/men . Why is this important? Because cost should never be a barrier to mental health supports. Too often men delay seeking help because they fear the financial burden. By removing that barrier we are sending a clear message: help is available and it is free. These sessions will be delivered both in person and online, ensuring flexibility for men in rural areas, men with busy work schedules and men who may feel more comfortable starting their journey in a private setting. Sitting at your kitchen table, you can self-refer to Counselling Connect from 5 p.m. until 9 p.m. seven days a week and speak to a professional counsellor about whatever is going on for you. You can have up to six phone calls, and if you feel at that stage you would like to meet the counsellor in person, that will be arranged.  We are funding dedicated services for men who have worked in our Defence Forces through ONE, the organisation for ex-service personnel. We are also investing in targeted outreach for Traveller men, ethnic minorities and LGBTQ+ men, who face additional barriers and higher risks. This is about equality as well as equity. Once again, the website is yourmentalhealth.ie\/men . I hope everybody working in members' constituency offices will become aware of this in order that they can signpost people to supports that are available free of charge. We will run an online campaign very shortly to get the message out there. It will be a national awareness campaign aimed at breaking down stigma and encouraging men to take that first step. Included will be a targeted media campaign using the full range of communication channels available, including social media, paid search and local radio as well as a co-ordinated approach to stakeholder engagement with a range of voluntary and community partner organisations.  I was very keen to have MyMind on board because it provides counselling supports in 20 different languages around the country. We now have lots of people in the country whose first language is not Irish or English. They come in on permits and they might need access to mental health supports as well, so having MyMind providing those supports is really important. I hope that this campaign will feature real stories from men who have benefited from counselling because nothing is more important than hearing from someone who has walked the same path.  We have also partnered with the Irish College of GPs, which is aware of all these supports. My team in the Department met with over 1,200 GPs online in September to let them know that these supports are available and free of charge and that there are 15,000 counselling hours available and they are recurring.  This is about saving lives. It is about creating a culture where men feel it is okay to say, \"I'm not okay.\" It is about ensuring that when a man reaches out for help, the help is there quickly, locally and without judgment. It is also about knowing that recovery is possible. We know that early intervention works, we know that talking saves lives and we know that when men engage with mental health services, outcomes improve dramatically. We also know there is no health without mental health.  Of course, we cannot stop here. This initiative is a major step forward but it must be part of a broader journey. Over the coming years, we will continue to expand community-based mental health supports, including peer-led programmes and men's sheds initiatives. We will continue to tackle health inequalities, ensuring that marginalised groups are not left behind. We will invest in digital mental health solutions to reach men who may never walk into a clinic but will engage online. We will strengthen collaboration with employers, sports organisations and community groups to promote mental well-being in every setting and for everyone. Everyone in this House and beyond has a role to play in changing the conversation about men's mental health. We need to challenge outdated notions of masculinity that equate vulnerability with weakness. We need to create spaces where men can talk openly and seek help without fear of judgment. To the men listening today: your mental health matters. Asking for help is not a sign of weakness; it is a sign of strength. Whether you are struggling with stress, anxiety or depression or simply feeling overwhelmed, help is there. Take the first step. It could change your life.  I thank the many organisations, advocates and individuals who have worked tirelessly to improve men's health in Ireland. Their efforts are making a difference, and together we can build a society where every man feels supported, valued and able to thrive. The Government is committed to that vision. We will continue to invest, innovate and lead the way in mental health policy because every life matters and every man matters.  I acknowledge the important role of initiatives like Movember. Every November thousands of men across Ireland and around the world grow a moustache - not just for fun but to spark conversations about men's health, raise awareness of mental health challenges and fund vital research and support services. Movember looks at mental health through a male lens, focusing on prevention, early intervention and health promotion. The movement works towards a world where men take action to be mentally well and are supported by those around them. I encourage everyone to support Movember and similar campaigns in order to keep men's mental health a national priority. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I welcome the Minister and the Minister of State. Men's health is not a topic which gets proper attention. There is a silent crisis in men's health which is devastating families and communities across the State. Both the Minister and the Minister of State are correct to appeal to men to look after their health, to seek support, to get checks and to make sure that if there is a difficulty they go to a GP and so on.  It is also the case, however, that far too many people generally, but particularly men, in relation to cancer and cardiac care, very often are left waiting even for a simple diagnostic scan or a scope and so on. The length of time public patients are waiting for scopes and scans is far too long. I know the stress that can place on people who, for example, might fear that they have a cancer or an illness. They will go to the GP, the GP will refer them on for a scan and, unfortunately, they wait far too long.  We all have experience of people contacting our constituency offices, mine in Waterford is no different, and saying that they have been with their GP and are concerned about the possibility of cancer or whatever. These people are waiting for scans and do not know when they will be called. They could be waiting months in some instances. While it is right to say that men should reach out, we also have to make sure that when they reach out - if they go to a GP and if there is a fear of an illness, whether it is cancer or cardiac disease - there is rapid access to a diagnostic scan. That is not always the case.  The facts are very stark in relation to men's health, as laid out in the recent The Real Face of Men's Health report commissioned by Movember - which was mentioned by the Minister and Minister of State - and by the Men's Health Forum in Ireland and research carried out at the South East Technological University in Waterford and Carlow. The HSE's men's health action plan says much the same. Men are dying younger than they should. Two in five men in Ireland will die before the age of 75. Men are 34% more likely to die from cancer and much more likely to die from lifestyle-related illnesses. Men account for four in every five deaths by suicide.  This burden, unfortunately, is not spread equally. Men from lower income backgrounds live, on average, five years less than men from well-off backgrounds. This is a major societal problem that demands a comprehensive Government response. The HSE's action plan acknowledges this emergency. It notes that men are more likely to die from the four main cancers, from circulatory diseases, from respiratory diseases and from external causes of injury. It highlights significant challenges in the area of men's mental health, particularly among younger men from lower income or Traveller backgrounds.  Critically, the report highlights the disparity in how the Government resources healthcare. Important funding has been given in recent years for vital women's health services and we still have a long way to go in that area but the HSE is also calling for a commensurate response for men's health. Where was that in the budget? The budget for health seems to be one of the Seven Wonders of the World. Nobody knows exactly what are the new measures or the new money, or where the latter is going. It seems to be the best kept secret in the Department of Health and the HSE. In fact, we had people from the Irish Cancer Society and the national cancer control programme before us today. None of them was able to tell us if there was any additional funding for cancer services or the national cancer strategy in budget 2026. We suspect that the vast majority of whatever additional funding was put into health this year was for existing levels of service and not for new measures.  That is the important point we have to make. What is really important in healthcare is referral pathways. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler rightly called on men to step forward, to go to their GPs or whomever and to talk to somebody if they have a mental health issue. However, we also have to make sure the resources and the referral pathways are there. That is not always the case. We have heard some horrendous stats today in relation to cancer for both men and women from the representatives of the Irish Cancer Society. We have a responsibility as legislators. The Government has a great responsibility to ensure that resources are put in place in order that when people reach out, they get the care they need.  Across all of these areas, while I welcome the chance to have a debate with the Minister, I have to reinforce the point that it is very frustrating that this year - and I have spoken to senior officials in the Department about this - there was a very clear departure from the normal budgetary process. It has not been not made clear where any of the additional money in health will be spent. I do not believe that is right or the best way to fund a health service. I have no idea. I cannot tell my constituents or any advocate groups that come to me where any additional money is for cardiovascular or cancer services, mental health treatments or any of the matters we are talking about. That is wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak on men's health. As a person living with multiple sclerosis, MS, I am going to speak in a personal capacity in order to raise awareness. I will also speak as a TD and use my platform to call for additional resources. I have mentioned it before - and I do not talk about it too much - but at least once a year I come in here and talk about being diagnosed with MS 18 years ago. MS is an autoimmune disease that affects the central nervous system. Males and females often have similar symptoms, but there are some differences. As we are talking about men's health today, I will focus on some of those differences. Some of the symptoms that affect men are: vision problems; numbness or tingling; persistent aches and pains; involuntary movements, such as twitches and spasms; difficulties with mobility, walking and balance; fatigue that is not due to physical activity or lack of sleep; and changes in cognition, including brain fog. I have experienced all of these symptoms over the years. I still experience some of them today.  The reason I am talking about this matter is to say that for other men who have been diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, MS, it is not the end of the world. Once you get into the system, you get the care. The problem sometimes is trying to get into the system and getting that diagnosis. Treatment has dramatically improved over the years and there is no doubting that since I was first diagnosed.  I always advise men, especially men newly diagnosed with MS, not to do what I did at first and do Dr. Google, because it brings you down a kind of dark path towards the worst possible outcome. They should take medical advice from their neurologists and link in with MS Ireland, which - I have to say this now, and I have always said it - has been a tremendous support to me regrading my journey with MS. I have managed to live a really active life and have enjoyed a good quality of life. I manage my symptoms to the best of my ability. I am on the third year of a four-year cycle of treatment at the moment, and the prognosis is good.  Deputy Cullinane mentioned the budget. I am trying to decipher where some of the money is going. I support the Neurological Alliance of Ireland in its call for an increase in the number of rehabilitation beds at Peamount hospital in my area from 15 to 25 . That small investment would make a huge impact for people who have MS. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Louise O'Reilly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Louise-O'Reilly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Louise O'Reilly  I welcome the opportunity to say a few words. I have often stood in this Chamber when we had statements on women's health and looked around to find that there were mostly women present, so I am delighted to make a contribution this afternoon.  I am speaking as a wife, daughter and a granny to a grandson. I am very lucky. My dad is living well. My husband is a cancer survivor and my grandson is thriving. However, I am acutely aware of the Movember report into men's health. It is really worrying that the rate of premature death is 40% higher among males than females in this State. That statistic should give the Government serious pause for thought. Those are preventable deaths. That is exactly what they are. They are preventable, premature and avoidable, and focusing on helping men to live well longer will benefit us all.  As the Minister stated, 80% of suicides involve men. That is phenomenally shocking and speaks to a real lack of services and supports. It should prompt us, as a society, to perhaps reflect on how we deal with and speak about men's mental health.  As a woman, I get very frustrated when women's health issues are discussed as if we are somehow all the same. In other words, that all women have the same physical make-up, the same issues and the same access. That is not true. The Movember report shows us it is not true for men either. A one-size-fits-all approach does not work. We know that 73% of men aged 18 to 24 are concerned about the state of healthcare for men. That is very worrying ,but it is clear that more targeted interventions are needed.  GPs tell us they are concerned and have difficulty engaging with marginalised groups. However, we know that the Government does not monitor health among marginalised groups sufficiently, so it is very hard to intervene when the Government is not actually assessing the level of the issue.  In the few seconds remaining to me, I acknowledge the Marie Keating Foundation's campaign, No Bum Hole Needed. Forgive my use of that language but it is important to say No Bum Hole Needed. The PSA test is a simple blood test. It will save your life. It saves everyone's life, and I encourage any man, when offered the opportunity, to have that test. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  There are a couple things that are really stark in the Movember report. One is that 46% of men from deprived or disadvantaged areas are more likely to die prematurely compared to women living in the same communities. I know the report is 15 years old but, most shockingly, it shows that a lot of work needs to be done. Among male members of the Traveller community, there is a life expectancy of 61.7 years. That is 15 years lower than the life expectancy among member of the general male population. It is stark for such a small community to have such a level of life expectancy, and a lot of suicide.  The rate of suicide among members of the Traveller community is seven times that of the general population. It is important to highlight that fact.  Our mental health services are operating on a shoestring. I want to give a shout out to a couple of people. I refer to Gerry Murray and Gerry Kavanagh who opened a wellness cafe in St. Brigid's hall in Blanchardstown. We were there recently. Those involved with the cafe do incredible work for absolutely free. They get no money other than a little from the HSE. They pay for a lot of what is done out of their own pockets. They do incredible work.  I have raised Genesis mental health services, a counselling service, in the House on many occasions. With just a relatively small amount of funding, Genesis could double the number of people it sees for counselling. It has had to close its waiting list because things are so bad, which shows the level of need that is out there.  I also want to mention the likes of For\u00f3ige, Jigsaw Youth Mental Health, Dublin 15 Community Drug Team, Tolka River Project and the Recovery Caf\u00e9. There are so many people out there who are doing incredible work and who are all looking for extra funding. I also want to give a shout out to all the GAA coaches, soccer coaches, teachers, cricket coaches and all of those who are helping and who, in many cases, do so on a voluntary basis. They do just incredible work helping and supporting young men in particular. We have to be so conscious that when we are talking about funding, we mean adequate funding. Otherwise, people are going to die. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Se\u00e1n Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Se\u00e1n-Crowe.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Se\u00e1n Crowe  I am probably not going to say anything that is much different from what many other Members said. As others stated, there is a lot of really good work being done around men's health. This month, we have seen it most publicly in sport, with Movember and the OddBalls Foundation becoming familiar to a lot of fans.  As we all agree, men are still reluctant to go to the doctor and share personal information about their health. This could be the difference quite literally between life and death. We still have not cracked the old-fashioned mentality of \"Ignore it and I don't have to deal with it.\" Irish men have to be more proactive about their health, particularly in the context of prostate cancer, as they face unique challenges relating to lifestyle factors and genetic predisposition.  Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among Irish men. Research shows that the incidence rate has been steadily rising. Despite this, many Irish men remain hesitant to seek medical advice or undergo screenings. This is often due to a reluctance to address health concerns until the symptoms become too severe. This can steal precious weeks and months away. When prostate cancer is caught early, the survival rate is higher. Although, the idea that if you get cancer then prostate cancer is a good one to get is absolute nonsense. That really annoys those of us who have had it. Many men delay seeing a doctor until it is too late, which can reduce treatment options and outcomes. In February 2015, I was told, after years of getting biopsies, that I had cancer and that it had to be removed. It was an aggressive cancer. The cancer came back a number of years later and I had to undergo radiotherapy. I am still being monitored for cancer cells by means of PSA blood tests.  Cancer can be life-changing but the longer you delay, the harder it is to treat. That is my message here today. By becoming more proactive, Irish men can enjoy a healthier quality of life and increase their chances of a healthier future.  I have long advocated for a prostate screening cancer programme. Programmes like BreastCheck and BowelScreen have saved thousands of women's lives, but there is no similar programme for men. I appeal that such a programme be put in place.  There is an expense to cancer. That impacts negatively on people who do not have money. One thing we could do is speak to the big shopping outlets that sell the likes of incontinence pads for men. They can be seen stuck in one corner of a shelf, but there will be a whole row of women's pads. We could ask the likes of Aldi, Lidl, Dunnes Stores and other stores to ensure that men are not treated any differently from women when it comes to accessing these products. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I welcome that we are having statements on men's health. I also acknowledge and pay tribute to Deputies Mark Ward and Se\u00e1n Crowe for talking about their personal experiences. Leadership is important in terms of a lot of the things we are talking about, namely, breaking down the stigma that exists and helping people to overcome the inability to talk about their experiences. That inability is closely related to so many issues around to men's health. Often, there has been a failure to believe and recognise women's health conditions. For men, it has been about a huge failure to put themselves forward and the stigma and shame of seeking medical help, which we have to change. I acknowledge the Movember report that was published a number of weeks ago. It cast in very stark terms the premature deaths that occur, particularly in deprived areas, and the mental health issues that exist among men.  There are two issues I want to speak about. The first relates to mental health. It is absolutely shocking to think that 80% of those who take their lives in this country are men. We do not want to reduce them to a statistic. Each of those men had a family, a story and a community. That it is so heavily weighted towards men is really shocking. The Samaritans report, Out of Sight, Out of Mind, from 2020 indicated that men in Ireland are three to four times more likely to die by suicide than women. While there is a crucial focus on young men, we know middle-aged men actually have the highest average suicide rate of any age group. Inequality, of course, and disadvantage also play a crucial part. Research from Scotland shows that men living in less well-off or more deprived areas are up to ten times more likely to die by suicide than those from more affluent areas. It is important to say that the suicide rate among Traveller men is over six times higher than the rate for the male population in general. Those are very stark figures. There is a need for real support. The Minister of State, Deputy Mary Butler, and I have spoken about this, and I welcome her efforts. Certainly, however, a huge amount more needs to be done in this space.  On cancer care, Deputy Cullinane referred to the difficulties in trying to understand how much extra funding is being allocated in respect of cancer care. It is a bit like the third secret of Fatima. I do not know whether we are going to find out or not, because we suspect that maybe there is not any additional funding for cancer care in the budget for next year, and that it will all be down to increased productivity. The reality is that cancer is the leading cause of premature death among men. I know from replies to parliamentary questions we have submitted on prostate cancer, which is, of course, the most significant cancer among men, that just under 39% of all patients get the treatment and care within the national cancer control programme timeframes. That is a serious concern. I have one constituent who got a heightened PSA result in summer 2024. It took until November to get an MRI. It was April by the time he got a biopsy and a diagnosis only happened in June. Surgery took place in September. It took a whole year for that care pathway to play out for him and for him to get the surgery he so badly needed. That is not acceptable.  The other critical point relates to access to drugs. There is a fundamental inequality regarding access to drugs, particularly oncology drugs, between the public and private sectors. I want to reference access to Pluvicto, which is an end-of-line therapy for metastasized prostate cancer. In April, 30 oncologists wrote a letter to the HSE to effectively plead with it to reverse its decision in respect of Pluvicto. This is a drug that is available publicly in Italy, Belgium, Switzerland, Austria, Czechia, Slovenia and Greece. In other words, it is widely available in many countries across Europe. It is approved by the European Medicines Agency, EMA. Not only is it a last line of therapy in the US, it is also seen as an appropriate therapy for earlier intervention. Yet, the HSE's clinical decision unit, CDU, has rejected the use of Pluvicto in the public system. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics made the submission for approval. Those who work at the centre are supposed to be the experts on cancer care. They submitted an application for approval, and it was rejected by the CDU. The HSE and the Department of Health need to issue a direction to ensure that this lifesaving drug is made freely available to men within the public system. It should not just be just be available in the private sector. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  Men's health deserves serious attention in this House. Across Ireland, men are struggling with mental health, access to care and a culture that too often tells them to stay silent. I must commend the good work of Pieta House, the Samaritans, Men's Aid and the Irish Men's Shed Association and the fantastic work it does for men struggling with mental health, loneliness and exclusion. Words are easy, but I would like to encourage everyone and advise any man struggling with his mental or physical health to talk to someone. You are not alone.  When we talk about men's health, we must mean all men, including trans men. Their well-being, safety and access to healthcare are part of men's health. That is why recent remarks from certain quarters of this Chamber are deeply concerning. To suggest that the Minister might breach the code of conduct for simply supporting healthcare for trans people is unfounded and unfair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  Supporting healthcare is not activism. It is governance. The Minister of State, Deputy Butler's commitment, first and foremost as a mother and as a Minister, to ensuring trans young people receive appropriate evidence-based care is exactly what we should expect from a Minister for mental health.  While I agree with the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, I must also highlight the shortcomings in healthcare in this regard. Wait list times for the National Gender Service are in excess of ten years. If a cis man was experiencing a hormone imbalance, he would not be expected to wait ten years. The attempts of some politicians to politicise trans healthcare is not leadership. Rather, it is an attempt to sow division where instead we should lead. Trans men are men. Their health is men's health. Compassion in public office is not a breach of conduct; it is our duty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I fully support what my colleague, Deputy Kenny, said regarding supporting the Minister on her work in this area. It is very important that work takes place on that side of the House, as well as the Government being held to account. I was present in the Chamber when the Minister made one of the most impactful speeches to the House I have ever seen. We will not allow this to stand in our Parliament or out on the streets regarding what has been done on trans healthcare.  I would like to use my time to talk about the impact of cardiovascular disease on men's health. Each year, 9,000 to 10,000 people in Ireland die from cardiovascular-related illnesses and diseases. Some three quarters of them are men. Of the men aged between 51 and 64, 42% are obese and a further 44% are overweight. One in five men, or 21%, are currently smokers, which significantly increases the risk of heart attack and stroke. I spoke during the debate on the budget and said we have failed in the State's target to make Ireland tobacco free. We are miles behind. Tobacco consumption and smoking rates in this country are still far too high. This is a contributory factor to cardiovascular disease.  Men are more likely to be dependent on alcohol and experience alcohol-related injuries. Mortality rates are greater among men - 36% of adult men drink alcohol regularly compared to 27% of adult women. Blood pressure is higher in men compared to women. The intake of cholesterol is higher in men compared to women and 78% of men aged 45 and older have high cholesterol.  Cardiovascular disease is one of the biggest killers. The Irish Heart Foundation is doing sterling work in trying to educate people in this House and change health policy and attitudes while trying to ensure that we have the necessary screening programmes, education and health supports to reduce cardiovascular disease rates and deaths down. We need the Government to take this far more seriously.  Deputy Sherlock referred to prostate cancer and screenings. We need a State-run prostate cancer screening programme up and running as soon as possible. Screening saves lives and saves the healthcare system time and money. It must be implemented. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  I welcome today\u2019s debate on men\u2019s health. Ireland was the first country in the world to adopt a national men\u2019s health policy in 2009 and we have followed through with action plans in 2017 and again in 2024. We have seen progress, with the number of premature deaths down, stronger partnerships across voluntary, academic and health sectors and a far better evidence base to guide what works for men.  However, there is more to do because men in Ireland still die younger than women. The life expectancy for men is 80.5 versus 84.1 for women and 40% of male deaths are still premature. That is the challenge facing us. The agenda is clear. Men carry higher risks in key areas: cancer now accounts for 30.8% of male deaths; 63% of men are overweight or obese; 37% report binge drinking; and men made up 78% of road fatalities in 2023.  We also know men's mental health needs are real and under-treated. Some 16.7% of men aged 40 to 44 report mental health difficulties. Yet men are less likely to seek help early. Our job is to lower the threshold to care and meet men where they are. That is why I particularly welcome the Minister of State, Deputy Butler\u2019s targeted investment this year of \u20ac2 million to deliver over 15,000 free counselling sessions for men, with simple referral routes via GPs, yourmentalhealth.ie and trusted partners like Connect Counselling and MyMind. It is practical, stigma-busting and fast to access, exactly the kind of intervention that turns help seeking from a good idea into an easy step.  Policy is also delivering locally . It was great to join the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, at Mount Carmel last week for the official opening of Riverside House Community Eating Disorder Services. It is a state-of-the-art hub for specialist community mental health services for people with eating disorders across south Dublin and Wicklow. In my constituency, men\u2019s sheds in Dalkey, D\u00fan Laoghaire, Blackrock and Loughlinstown are doing quiet, life-saving work, building friendships and developing life skills. There is a project on a bench, and the conversation that follows. You do not have to call it therapy for it to be therapeutic.  Government backing through the Irish Men\u2019s Sheds Association, the Sheds for Life programme and Healthy Ireland funding is money well spent, because connection is often the first and most important intervention. Sometimes the best early intervention tool is the cup of tea someone else makes for you.  We are also targeting high-risk settings, including the Construction Alliance to Reduce Suicide, CAIRDE, project in construction, On Feirm Ground for farmers and the national engage training programme, to name but a few. We can add to that the men\u2019s health action plan 2024-2028 now being implemented by the HSE, a newly appointed national lead for men\u2019s health, and a dedicated combined budget of \u20ac1.3 million across Healthy Ireland and the HSE to keep momentum.  I want to commend the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, on her efforts. I know she is committed to keep funding services locally, with counselling and talk therapies for men, supporting groups like men\u2019s sheds and, of course, supporting specialist services so men can get the help and support they need when they need it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"William Aird","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"William-Aird.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy William Aird  I welcome the opportunity to speak on the important topic of men's health, an issue that touches every parish, home and family in Ireland. Today's debate is a milestone for the House. It is the first time that men's health is the sole focus of statements in D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann. Often, men's health is discussed when it is too late, such as when a neighbour is ill, a farmer collapses or a family grieves a father, brother or son who did not put his hand out for help. Men's health matters not just to men but to their families, communities and society.  I am happy to acknowledge that Ireland was the first country to adopt a national men's health policy in 2009. Since then, progress has been made but we must build on this work. The HSE action plan Healthy Ireland men 2024-2028 is an important step. The report, The Real Face of Men's Health, highlights the challenges. Premature death among men is 40% higher than women. Men in deprived areas live five years less than those living in other areas. Some four out of five deaths by suicide or road traffic accidents are men.  In rural Ireland, we face specific challenges, including long distances to healthcare, a shortage of GPs and the reality that many men on farms or in trades put their health last. They will bring a tractor for a service before they book a checkup for themselves. That is why organisations like the Irish Men's Shed Association, Macra na Feirme, the Irish Farmers' Association and other community groups must be applauded for the work they are doing.  They are bringing health checks and awareness campaigns straight to the men's communities. It is a simple but very powerful idea. These outreach programmes need more support and funding.  Community initiatives are most important, but a strong health service is critical. In Laois County Council's area and across the midlands, nursing home capacity is under pressure. Families are struggling to find local care. I want at this stage to acknowledge the exceptional work of staff in St. Vincent's hospital in Mountmellick, St. Brigid's Hospital in Shaen and Abbeyleix district hospital, which the Leas-Cheann Comhairle knows about well, but we need more capacity in County Laois. Today, I urge the Minister of State and the HSE to prioritise my request. Mental health is a critical aspect of men's health. Stigma still remains around asking for help for mental health issues. Mental health support must include involvement in local counselling, outreach and community mental health teams and support for programmes like On Feirm Ground and Ahead of the Game. We need to bring services closer to men, tackle the stigma, expand the capacity and support community groups on the ground. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I echo the remarks of Deputy Eoghan Kenny with regard to trans healthcare and, indeed, condemn outright the appalling personalised attack on the Minister of State for her compassion. I have known the Minister of State for a long time, and she is somebody who wears her heart on her sleeve. It is important to have that within the Department of Health. I will always have her back, as I think will nearly everybody in this House, on how she seeks to ensure that Ireland becomes a fairer society.  I would also echo that I think we need, as has been raised, a State-run prostate screening programme for men. The quicker we can roll that out, the better. The risk of prostate cancer is well articulated, but a State-run programme where men would be encouraged to take part is critical.  A lot of colleagues have raised the question of mental health services. The Minister of State has been a champion in that space. I would certainly echo the importance of engaging in rural Ireland, particularly with men on farms in rural communities who are often reluctant to go to their GP. There is fabulous work being done by Macra na Feirme in terms of Make the Moove and so on. There is that difficulty with regard to getting men to talk. The Minister of State will be familiar with Talk to Tom, which was founded in Gorey and works in my community. We also have the Samaritans based in Arklow. They face a particular challenge that unlike a lot of other Samaritans, they are renting a premises. Therefore, I would suggest that when core funding has been taken into account for organisations, regard can be had to where an organisation has to rent premises as opposed to where it may own it. The Minister of State knows only too well the importance of simply being able to talk about mental health issues, particularly for men. It is critical.  Too often in many ways, we actually come at it too late when we try to talk about health. We do not sufficiently invest in health promotion or talking about positive health. As the Minister of State knows, I am a big believer that if we invest in sport, the arts and community activity, that is vitally important for people's physical and mental well-being. As she also knows, I regularly sing the praises of park runs all around the country, and I know people who take part within the park run community. Many of them do it for physical health reasons, but also for mental health reasons. The sense of community that has provided is critical. The Minister of State will be aware that I have urged for quite some time that we look at the introduction of tax relief for gym membership and membership of sporting organisations. As a State, we need to encourage people to be as physically and mentally healthy as possible, and engagement in community activities, whether those are the arts, sport or whatever else, contributes very positively to physical and mental good health. Not everybody is going to run a marathon, although many will be running it this weekend, yet engaging people in sport is a very positive development. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Martin-Kenny.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Kenny  We all know men can be very reluctant to do anything about their health. Very often, they suffer in silence until it is too late to help. That is both their physical and, very often, mental well-being. We also recognise that men are 34% more likely to die from cancer than women, and that is because they seldom seek help in time. They wait and wait, and there is a little bit of that macho element there. That is something that needs to be dealt with and needs to be acknowledged as well. Waiting lists are getting longer for everything across the country. That is one of the problems we have. When people get a scare or have something wrong with them, a lot of them think to themselves that nobody will be able to see them anyway. That has a knock-on effect on the long waiting lists we see across the State.  I want to raise with the Minister of State examples of two people in my constituency. One constituent, who we will call \"A\" for Albert, had a history of cancer up to about ten or 15 years ago, so that history was there. He attended the outpatient medical team in University Hospital Galway in March of this year. He was seen, and they said he had a prostate issue and that he would have to have a follow-up and need a biopsy. Nobody came back to him. He contacted the consultant's office several times. The last time he made a call to them, they told him that there were no theatre slots available at that time to have a biopsy. At the end of May, we made representations in respect of this and he was put on the cross-Border medical care list. At that stage, he had been waiting for 12 or 14 weeks to get the biopsy. Nothing happened, though. On 1 September, we finally made more representations in relation to it. At that stage, he had lost two stone in weight. He was getting very worried and very anxious. He had the biopsy on 16 September and now he is in the system. The point I am making is that it takes so long for people to get into the system. In fairness, that used not to be the case with cancer patients. Usually, they were dealt with efficiently and quickly.  We have another situation that is very similar. We will call this man \"B\" for Bernard. Again, he was referred for a scan for his prostate. He waited from 14 April. He had a phone review on the results. Again, they told him he would need a biopsy to proceed and, again, the waiting list continued and continued. He has been waiting 21 weeks to get the biopsy. This situation is totally unacceptable and we need to do something about it. He had to travel to Galway but he has no transport. It costs him \u20ac300 for a taxi to go to that appointment. Those are the kinds of issue that people have out there. That is why a lot of men do not say anything when something is wrong. They hear these stories. At the same time, though, we have to tell these stories because we have to get action on them.  I also want to talk to the Minister of State about mental health issues. I raised with her several times previously the case of Jimmy Loughlin in Sligo, of which I know she is aware, and what happened there. I hope to hear something back from her very soon in respect of that. However, I have another case of a man in my constituency who has a son who is in the care of the mental health services. He is violent and dangerous. When he comes home, he does not take his medication. The man refused to take him home. The HSE services put his son in a taxi and sent him home anyway without a care plan, without any medication. These dangerous situations need to be dealt with. A lot of them are dangerous because the service is not up to the standard it needs to be to provide care for people who have acute mental illness. A lot of those are men, unfortunately. These issues need to be dealt with. I have raised that case with the Minister of State specifically because I know of her remit in regard to mental health. However, we really need action in respect of all of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I thank the Minister of State for her attendance. I would like to use my time today to highlight the particular and very serious mental health challenges experienced by Traveller men. While the data on mental health outcomes for the Travelling community is in urgent need of updating, we know from the comprehensive All-Ireland Traveller Health Study of 2010 that, at that stage, Traveller men were at much higher risk of death by suicide than probably any other cohort of people in our society. The study showed that suicide accounted for a staggering 11% of all deaths in the Traveller community and 82% of Traveller suicides were among men. Suicide rates among Traveller men are estimated to be six to seven times higher than among settled men. We also know that 59% of Traveller men reported poor mental health in any given month, and that was within a context of persistent discrimination, educational disadvantage, poor housing or accommodation and high unemployment.  I have some experience as a psychologist working with young Traveller men in the Cork mental health services, and I found that experience very rewarding. It clarified to me that the services need to adapt much better to the Travelling community and, in some cases, adopt more of an assertive outreach approach that goes outside a standard therapeutic frame. I very much welcome the establishment of the specialist group for Traveller mental health under Sharing the Vision, and I commend the aims of the national Traveller health action plan.  It is important that the Government matches words with real implementation. We need ring-fenced investment in culturally appropriate, Traveller-led mental health services, designed in collaboration with the Traveller community; the recruitment of dedicated Traveller mental health workers into primary care and community mental health teams; and crucially, we need to update the national dataset on Traveller health in general with clear targets, timelines and accountability mechanisms. I echo Deputy Byrne's endorsement of the Samaritans and the really invaluable work that they do. I was a volunteer with the Samaritans for a number of years in my 20s and I found it to be one of the most formative and fulfilling experiences, particularly working with young offenders in St. Patrick's in Dublin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  As the Minister of State and the Leas-Cheann Comhairle will know, every time we have health statements, I question their value, particularly given the backlog of legislation we have relating to the right to home care, legislation relating to CHI and much other legislation, but I see real value in this. It has been great to hear the consistent messages across the House about particular parts of our communities that are affected and the need for an intersectional approach, particularly relating to Traveller men, LGBT people and disabled people. That is important and hopefully it is a message the Department will take away, about focusing on those groups in particular.  There is a shocking statistic that Traveller men live 15 years shorter. It should really concern us about the life expectancy rates. In 2008, the life expectancy of a Traveller man was 61, similar to the life expectancy of the general population in the 1940s. It should be a real cause for concern, in particular given the high levels of suicide among Traveller men, as Deputy Quaide mentioned. I am a member of the Oireachtas Traveller committee. Last week, we had IHREC before us. I will read from its opening statement, because it should be setting off alarm bells in every Department. It quotes from the Council of Europe, which states:  We must confront the injustices faced by Roma and travellers, the racism and discrimination that we allow to persist on a massive scale. This is one of Europe\u2019s greatest human rights scandals.  That is coming from the Council of Europe, echoed by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. We need to take really seriously our treatment of Travellers, particularly health outcomes for Travellers.  Similarly, I will touch on the experiences of gay, bi and trans men. Trinity College published a study this year, entitled \"Being LGBTQI+ in Ireland\", that set out the mental health experiences. Some 27% of people experienced severe or extremely severe levels of depression, 34% experienced severe levels of anxiety, 23% experienced extreme levels of stress, 52% had self-harmed, 64% reported suicidal thoughts and 26% had attempted suicide. There are really concerning levels of poor mental health in that community and it really needs to be a priority. I echo the calls made by others earlier about the importance of trans healthcare. It is lifesaving. We would save people's lives by having better trans healthcare. I support the Minister of State in her efforts to do that. We will always have her back on that. We want to see progress together on that. I would also like to see an expansion of the gay men's health service that currently exists in Dublin. I would like to see those expanded at a regional level across the country. Each region should have a version of that service. It should not just be Dublin.  In the final minute, I would like to touch on the experiences of disabled men. We know from the Disability Federation of Ireland that 43% of disabled people over the age of 15 have reported some level of depression. There are really high levels of depression among people who are disabled. Similarly, of those unable to work because of disability, one in five lives in consistent poverty. We know the real impact that living in poverty has on people's overall health and health outcomes. I hope that, out of today's statements, we get a focus on men from these communities who have much poorer health outcomes. We need to put more resources, focus and energy into reversing some of these trends and changing these stats so that we can have better outcomes for men across Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  Before I start, I have some visitors in the Gallery from a school who are on leaving certificate applied, LCA, work experience. I want to say thank you to them. They have done excellent work so far this week.  I would like to pay tribute in this debate to a group of my constituents in Dublin South-Central, the Dublin 12 Men's Shed. I had the pleasure of going to visit them recently with my constituency manager, Amy King, who is also in the Gallery. We had a really inspiring discussion with them. They have become embedded in their community. They have provided a safe, welcoming space for all men to go, meet and share their skills, work on community projects and support one another. It is playing a crucial role in reducing social exclusion and isolation, improving mental health for the men and building a stronger sense of community across Dublin 12. They do a number of projects. They work on wood projects, from planters to Christmas decorations to pens and bird boxes. They showed us amazing stuff. That is when the magic happens, because when they are busy doing things, they are able to talk, listen and create a place where they can cry and laugh. It is a happy and concerning environment. They are so good at it now that they have a waiting list. To that end, I am going to be very cheeky and say that this group really needs funding to build a tiny extension out the back so there is extra workspace. They are working outside. They have an inside space but want to be able to use another part, to be able to work there, to include more men. If at all possible, I would love for the Government to invest in this men's shed. I am sure there are other men's sheds that I just have not visited yet that are equally as important, but I want to pay tribute to those men. They are saving lives. It is so important but it is so simple. That is what makes it brilliant. It does not have to be complicated. Reaching out to one another, being with others, sharing your story and listening to others is what makes us human. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I will discuss an epidemic in this country that one in five of us experiences, which is loneliness. A report recently came out from the European Commission that said that Ireland was the loneliest country in Europe. The effects of that on young men and older men are significant and have far-reaching consequences. The former US surgeon general said that loneliness was the equivalent of smoking 15 cigarettes a day. That is how damaging it is to our mental health and our social health. There is a strong correlation between the loneliness that young men often experience, the antisocial behaviour that sometimes occurs on our streets, and the massive social costs that we see across our country. In this moment, as we are coming to the close of 2025, we went through the Covid pandemic, which I think exacerbated the major risks of loneliness for many people. The social media environment is not helping for young men.  The housing crisis and inequality in our society have exacerbated the loneliness that many people are feeling, to the point that 40% of 16-to-24-year-olds in this country experience some strong level of loneliness. Marry that with the highest difficulty in the EU of accessing mental health services. I know the Minister of State cares very much about that and she is working hard on it, but we need to do much better. In the context of that, the last Government had an action plan on loneliness and did not deliver it. It had committed to that in its programme for Government. This Government does not have the same commitment. We need to do so much better. If we do not, we will see an exacerbation not just of loneliness but of all those social costs. Young men will turn to blaming women, immigrants and people from the LGBT community and we will all be suffering from that. History is littered with memories of young men doing harmful things to themselves and others because of these kinds of deleterious effects. I encourage the Government to focus on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  On behalf of Deputy Michael Cahill, I welcome the South Kerry Development Partnership to the Gallery. I hope they, like Deputy Cummins' group, will enjoy the day here in the Oireachtas and have a pleasant trip. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  First of all, I want to reference Danny Hanley and the Movember Ireland team that are here today. They represent many of the issues that we talk about. For too long in this State, men's health, and I suppose health in general, has not always been the topic that it should have been and it has been underdiscussed. I welcome the fact that I am able to speak on it today. I think it is the first time in the history of the D\u00e1il that there has been an opportunity for statements such as this. The recently published Movember report outlined that premature death was 40% higher among males compared with females.  It also pointed out that the stigma around seeking help was seen as the biggest barrier to men accessing support for their mental and physical health. We as a Government, and Members on all sides of the House, have a duty to ensure that we do our best and improve these statistics.  My uncle was a TD before me and a spokesperson for Fine Gael on mental health. Mental health is something that we need to be conscious of as part of this. Indeed, he introduced the Bill to decriminalise suicide and was at the forefront of leading the mental health discussion in modern Ireland. I think of him today in that regard.  I want to speak about a number of different topics, such as the importance of our community and of the role sport can play in our community. Even last night, our under-14s team in Leixlip, which I am a coach for, won a county championship. It was a great win but it showed the importance of community. Not only were there 13- and 14-year-old boys engaging as a team, but it also brought the community and coaches together and provided an outlet. They have the ability to go that way but not everybody is involved in sport and that is something we would be conscious of. I have become more and more conscious as time has gone on of the elderly. A previous speaker spoke about loneliness. If anything, loneliness became an even bigger issue during Covid. That is something we should constantly be conscious of. Things like Meals on Wheels can make a massive impact on someone's day and that is something we are all very aware of.  The other day, I spoke to someone in Leixlip. Ms Bracey Daniels talked about walking football, what they are able to do with walking football and how that had transformed the social side for many elderly people. I also see a bowls club developing in Leixlip GAA club. These are the sorts of interaction from a community side that we can really get behind to change individuals' lives.  With men's health, we are always thinking about what we can do better. What we need to do is continue to raise awareness among the young, but also among the elderly, about raising these issues with their doctors. Men from all sides are often the last ones to say they need help and to go to a doctor. Today provides us with the opportunity to raise awareness.  I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me this time. I thank the Minister of State for giving us the opportunity to speak on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I am pleased to contribute to the statements on men's health. As a GP, I have seen the reality of men's health in practice. We have come a long way in recent years since the publication of the national men's health policy in 2009 but Movember's \"The Real Face of Men's Health\" report shows that many challenges remain. I do not want to rehash some of the figures already put out here but we know about the premature deaths in the male population, with men dying earlier than women. A stark statistic is that men in deprived areas are 150% more likely to die before 75 than men in the least deprived areas. There is also the whole issue of Travellers' health and issues of gay health where these communities are particularly susceptible to ill health and premature death.  We know many of the causes surrounding these diseases are preventable with the right focus. From my own perspective as a GP, I have witnessed that quiet hesitation before a man decides to open up. It is a salutary reminder of how difficult it can be for some men to report and share. Time, discomfiture discussing personal matters, stoicism, a fear of inadequacy and work concerns are barriers. Some 97% of GPs have spoken to a man with suicidal thoughts in the past year, with only 14% feeling very confident supporting that man. This is not because of lack of care or confidence but because of time pressures and the need for easily accessible care pathways, recognising that suicide remains the single biggest killer of young men in this country, most especially in the Traveller community. I acknowledge my colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for her sustained leadership in this area and her announcement of \u20ac2 million in new funding for community-based mental health supports, which will make a tangible difference.  The physical picture is equally alarming. Men are three times more likely to die prematurely than women. They drink more, they smoke more, and they carry a high blood pressure burden. With the increased prevalence of diabetes, high cholesterol and poor diet, this is creating a perfect storm. The five leading causes of morbidity and mortality among men are coronary artery disease, stroke, chronic obstructive pulmonary airways disease, lung cancer and suicide. All of these can be mitigated with lifestyle and medical modification. The chronic disease management programmes for secondary prevention are an exemplar in general practice internationally and have been shown to help. The forthcoming national men's action plan 2024 to 2028 offers an opportunity to build and expand programmes like Engage and Men in Mind, targeting high-risk groups and scaling up initiatives such as men's sheds, On Feirm Ground and Ahead of the Game, which enables men to take ownership of their health. I must recognise the high morbidity and mortality among the farming community in rural areas, often surrounded by loneliness and an inability to go and seek help.  Encouragingly, three out of four adults now express concern about men's health. That public awareness should help us and empower us towards real change. If we continue to invest in prevention, training and community-based supports, we can deliver better outcomes not only for men, but for their families and for the well-being of Irish society as a whole. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  F\u00e1ilt\u00edm go bhfuil na r\u00e1itis seo ar si\u00fal inniu. Is gn\u00e9 d'\u00e1r gc\u00f3ras sl\u00e1inte \u00e9 nach bhfuair an m\u00e9id airde thar na blianta is ar c\u00f3ir go bhfaigheadh s\u00e9. Is l\u00e9ir go bhfuil difr\u00edocht mh\u00f3r ann \u00f3 thaobh na ngalar a tholgann fir agus c\u00e9 chomh tinn a \u00e9ir\u00edonn siad, go m\u00f3r m\u00f3r \u00f3 thaobh na meabhairshl\u00e1inte ach freisin \u00f3 thaobh go leor \u00e1bhar eile. T\u00e1 an d\u00e1 ghn\u00e9 th\u00e1bhachtach \u00f3 thaobh na mban agus na h\u00e1bhair sl\u00e1inte at\u00e1 t\u00e1bhachtach d\u00f3ibh si\u00fad - t\u00e1 \u00e1bhar sl\u00e1inte faoi leith at\u00e1 an-bhainteach leo, agus is g\u00e1 go mbeadh plean faoi leith ansin - ach t\u00e1 s\u00e9 f\u00edor d'fhir freisin.  I welcome these statements. This is an area of our healthcare - men's health - that has not got enough attention over the years. It clearly should. There are clearly significant differences and particular issues that relate to men. It is appropriate that we have a focus on women's health and the various issues particular to women, for example, reproductive rights and supports for that, but it is right that the particular issues facing men are focused on as well.  We see two in five men in Ireland will die before the age of 75. Men account for four out of every five suicide deaths in Ireland. Men are 34% more likely to die from cancer than women. It is clearly right that there is a particular strategy and set of policies that are required. I acknowledge \"The Real Face of Men's Health\" report, published by the National Centre for Men's Health at SETU, which identified the extent to which men died from preventable diseases and that the preventable diseases in men cost Ireland more than \u20ac700 million in 2023 alone.  Several of the issues relate to cancer and the extent to which particular cancers affect men. While men die from them, mortality is not the only thing we should be looking at. Sometimes, the treatment and effects or side-effects of that can cause huge quality-of-life issues, and this needs consideration. I also acknowledge the very welcome initiative that exists in terms of Movember and the work that has been done in that context as regards prostate cancer and other cancers.  To briefly make two further points, it is worth saying that, ultimately, we will continue to have these issues unless we tackle the social issues underpinning them. An awful lot of men I meet in my constituency office are struggling with housing issues, which is contributing to the mental pressures and the loneliness they face. They are either not able to begin their lives or they have ended up in emergency accommodation towards the end of their lives. We have to tackle the social issues. Like so many other issues in terms of men's health and men's mental health, the housing crisis has a huge impact on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I welcome this discussion. I commend the Minister of State on bringing this to the House. It is astonishing when you read that males represented 72% of premature deaths, which is most stark. In 2022, 79% of all deaths by suicide were among males and young men suffering from depression are diagnosed at half the rate of women, which is another stark figure. It is fair to say that men's health is a national issue and demands a co-ordinated, compassionate and courageous response. One of the things I have often said is that we can have all the conversations we like here today about men's health, remaining positive and all the things that go with it.  For those people who are harbouring thoughts of isolation, depression or suicidal ideation or all of these things, though, I encourage them to seek help by telling a trusted friend. That might be the person's wife, daughter or next-door neighbour and then, more importantly, for that trusted friend to know exactly how to respond - not to judge them, not to add to their woes, but to be prepared to offer support, help, direction and guidance. That is all any of us can do. If I had a euro for every time I had that conversation with people who felt that maybe I would understand, I would be able to go and have a good drink for myself. They think and feel that it is perfectly okay to speak to someone who has a knowledge perhaps of what it is like to be devastated as a consequence of an early death, be that suicide or otherwise. This is the big plea I am making today. Let us do more and let us not be afraid to ask somebody if they are in trouble emotionally. They may be very quick to say that they are and then they are on the first steps to recovery. I cannot say that often enough or loudly enough. It is a fact. For those people sitting at home today listening to all the contributions and hearing all the statistics, I believe that is what we should be aiming towards. I urge the Minister of State to continue the good work and let us have more conversation on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shay Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shay-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shay-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shay Brennan  Four out of five suicides in Ireland are male. This figure is deeply distressing and behind every number is a man, often young, often in the prime of his life, whose loss devastates families, friends, and communities across the country. Every one of these deaths leaves a ripple of grief that stretches far beyond the immediate circle. It not just a statistic; it is a husband, a son, a brother, a team-mate or a colleague. Ireland has shown leadership in this space before. We were the first country in the world to publish a national men's health policy in 2009. This initiative made a real and measurable difference. Premature deaths among men declined, awareness approved and the national framework for action began to take shape. More than 15 years on, we know there is still a long way to go. The report entitled \"The Real Face of Men's Health\", published by Movember earlier this year, makes it clear that mental health remains a most urgent and worrying issue. GPs across Irish are telling us the same story of stigma, silence, time pressure, and of a continuing reluctance among men to seek help. Ninety-seven percent of GPs said they had seen male patients in suicidal distress last year, most between the ages of 18 and 51, yet only a small fraction feel they have the full training or capacity to respond as they would wish. That is why the new \u20ac2 million initiative providing 15,000 free counselling sessions for men is such an important and timely step forward. Delivered through trusted partners like Connect Counselling and MyMind and accessed directly through GPs, it means men can reach support earlier, before a crisis escalates. It recognises that services must reflect how men actually seek help, and that the pathway must be simple, affordable and free from stigma.  We also know that community-based initiatives work. Initiatives such as men's sheds, On Feirm Ground and Engage have proven their ability to reach those who might otherwise remain isolated. Time and again, we see that connection is the first step towards recovery. Investing in men's mental health is not just about reducing suicide rates. It is also about restoring hope, rebuilding confidence, and ensuring that men of all ages feel seen, supported and valued. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  Thankfully, the issue of men's health has received a lot more attention in recent years, as the statistics are pretty stark. According to the Movember report, 42% of all male deaths in 2022 were premature, with the male death rate higher across all five leading causes of death. These are members of our families dying prematurely and leaving behind an irreplaceable hole in their communities. The impact of Covid should not be underestimated. The pandemic was a perfect storm for many who suffered from or were susceptible to poor mental health. We all know the people who suffered during Covid. Active communities were suddenly isolated and the essential links that people had to one another were severed. Thankfully, we are all in a much better place now but we cannot ignore what happened in Covid and the lasting impact it has had on so many. Those unprecedented times may make for great history books but were potentially catastrophic for the health and well-being of our communities.  Unfortunately, many men are still reluctant to seek care or treatment, or even speak about mental health challenges. This reluctance is often rooted in stigma and old societal norms that are still with us. This is especially problematic in deprived areas where men's life expectancy is five years lower than those living in affluent areas. Increasing awareness and access to mental health resources is important if we want to make progress. That is why the implementation of the men's health action plan, as outlined in the programme for Government, is an important step in raising public awareness of men's physical, mental and emotional health and the importance of adopting healthier lifestyles and behaviours.  The previous speaker mentioned the men's sheds, which are a really positive and practical movement. Many of these in my own constituency are funded by central government. They bring men together and give them an outlet. Ireland was the first country in the world to publish a national men's health policy in 2009. We led the way then and we can do so again by making sure that men's health gets the attention, support and priority it deserves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Catherine-Callaghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Callaghan  I welcome the contributions on the topic of men's health. To hear that this may be the first time in the history of the D\u00e1il that this issue has been discussed on its own is a good sign of the direction we are travelling in. I want to thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for all her work on mental health and men's mental health in particular. I was recently at an event in Carlow, as was the Minister of State, Deputy Murnane O'Connor. It was really heartening to see such a strong light being shone on men's mental health and men's health and well-being in general by both of those fine politicians. I thank them for doing that in Carlow.  In my constituency of Carlow-Kilkenny, I am proud to say that communities recognise how vitally important it is that we address the challenges facing men's health and well-being. Carlow County Council has been very proactive in this regard. It launched a farmers well-being initiative in 2024, which continues this year. This is highlighting the health and well-being challenges faced by members of the farming community. Last year, 340 local farmers were engaged in conversations on farm succession, will making, gambling addiction, time management and farm safety. It is important that men and farmers feel able to openly discuss their well-being and their mental health as well. Elsewhere, the National Centre for Men's Health is based in SETU in Carlow and is led by Dr. Noel Richardson. It is important to highlight the hard work of local community organisations and initiatives that have innovative approaches to men's mental health. In particular, I would like to mention Carlow Mental Health Association of which I was a committee member for many years. It ran a Mensana Festival two years ago that was exclusively focused on talking about men's health and well-being. I want to give the association a shoutout for all its hard work.  I know there are now more counselling supports available for men and I once again would like to congratulate and thank the Minister of State, Deputy Butler, for ensuring that the \u20ac2 million allocated in budget 2025 will now be rolled out year on year. Work is being done on initiatives that destigmatise men's mental health in Ireland. I commend the Minister of State for ensuring that we have the six-week mental health promotion, entitled \"Minding Your Wellbeing\". I also want to mention the funding that is being provided to ONE Veterans, the organisation for ex-military personnel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Fionnt\u00e1n-\u00d3-S\u00failleabh\u00e1in.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Fionnt\u00e1n \u00d3 S\u00failleabh\u00e1in  There is certainly a crisis in men's health and it is great that we are having this discussion today. It is quite an historic occasion. A recent report for the South East Technological University, SETU, revealed that 40% of male deaths that occurred before the age of 75 were premature and many were preventable.  County Wexford ranks second in this State in terms of premature male mortality rates per county. This could affect someone's husband, brother, father, grandfather, uncle or nephew and, of course, me or anybody here. The leading causes of death among Irish men are coronary heart disease, stroke, pulmonary disease, lung cancer and, of course, suicide. These are not just numbers. They represent lives cut short, families devastated and communities left grieving. Cancer, particularly prostate cancer, remains a major concern. Neoplasms or tumours, cysts, etc., are the leading cause of death among men, yet early detection rates remain low. We must ask why this is this the case. Respiratory diseases, often linked to lifestyle factors, are claiming lives at alarming rates.  Perhaps most concerning is the state of mental health. Suicide is now the leading cause of death among young men in Ireland. Four out of five suicides involve men. Why is this not viewed as an emergency? Are men's lives expendable? Why is this the first time in the history of the Oireachtas apparently that we have had this discussion in Leinster House? That tells us something. Depression, anxiety and substance abuse are widespread, yet in 2025, when we are supposed to be a very enlightened society, the stigma continues causing those who need the services most to suffer in silence. Too many men delay seeking medical attention until it is too late.  Service gaps are leaving men behind. It is certainly evident in the constituency of Wicklow-Wexford. Trojan work is being done by a number of community-based groups such as Talk to Tom but they have never received one cent of statutory funding, even though they have saved numerous live across the south east. The Samaritans in Arklow are under pressure. They are renting a premises. These services should be State-funded. There is a real shortage of male-specific counselling and outreach programmes and many men still view their symptoms as minor complaints that they do not want to trouble a doctor with, so we have very low engagement.  Men in poorer areas are 150% more likely to die before the age of 75 than those in wealthier communities. We need to target services properly and we need proper targeted awareness campaigns, better access to screening and mental health services and a cultural shift that encourages people to seek help. We must empower our GPs because they are often the first port of call in a storm. One GP quoted in the report said, \"97% of us spoke to a man with suicidal thoughts last year, but only 14% felt confident supporting him\", which is quite worrying. We need to invest in preventative care and dismantle the stigma because behind every statistic is a story and behind every story is a life we need to save. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Nicholas Gogarty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Paul-Nicholas-Gogarty.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Nicholas Gogarty  I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. In some ways, there will be a certain amount of repetition because we have all been asked by the Movember movement to reference its report titled, \"The Real Face of Men's Health\", and its key findings and recommendations. If there is repetition, it is no harm because it is sending a message. I will repeat that men are dying prematurely in Ireland and that the figure is 40% higher than the rate for females. This is something that has happened over a long period of time. We need to recognise that men's health is a specific issue. I am not in any way denigrating issues relating to women. I have to note that. However, men's health has been the poor relation in terms of discourse. All five leading causes of death are substantially higher among men than women.  It is also worth pointing out that deprivation gives someone five years less life compared to someone in a more affluent area. While men are 40% more likely to die prematurely than women, the rate is 46% for men in deprived areas. These are the stark consequences that we need to look at. They are nearly 1.5 times more likely to die prematurely because of deprivation.  Other speakers referred to the supports needed by GPs and the difficulty of engaging with males aged under 17 and marginalised males from ethnic minorities, members of the Traveller community, those who are LBTQI+ and members of the farming community. It is worth referencing that we need an updated study for members of the Traveller community because I think the last survey was done in 2008. That survey recognised that life expectancy for male Travellers was 15 years lower than the general male population. That needs to be looked at as well.  The report mentioned more than eight in ten Irish people think that a men's health action plan is a good idea. That is why they have a number of key asks for the men's action plan from 2024 to 2028 and wish to see progress on that and for an additional \u20ac10 million to be invested, in tandem with the commissioning of a full cost analysis because we do not want to just waste money. They want an outreach approach to engage boys, men and carers in the community in adopting healthy lifestyles and self-management.  In that respect, one thing the report did not mention, but which is hugely important, is the increasing toxification on social media. We have had different discussions on that. What it means to be a man and what masculinity is have been toxified - deliberately, in many cases - and people are afraid to expand and be true to themselves in terms of what it means to be a man in Ireland in 2025. We need more discussion of that. Men come in all shapes and forms, and more power to them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I also pay tribute to the men's health campaigners who have worked so hard to get this issue debated in the House today. Again, I am shocked by the fact that this is the first time that we in Leinster House have had a debate solely on men's health. In many ways, the fact that we have not had the necessary focus on this issue is really telling.  A month ago, Movember launched \"The Real Face of Men's Health\" report. This is a significant milestone in the battle to save lives. The results are startling. It has been mentioned that premature death among men is 40% higher than it is among women. This is an astounding figure. It is a figure that should be in everybody's heads already. The fact that it is invisible is amazing.  Members know that economic circumstances play a massive role. The lives of men living in deprivation are, on average, five years shorter than men on upper incomes. It has to be mentioned that Traveller men have a life expectancy 15 years shorter than the average man, which is incredible. Deprivation is a significant player in this. Men in deprivation are 46% more likely to have a premature death than women in the same communities. A total of 66% of overdoses and accidental poisonings happen to men. Men suffer far more from addiction. Men suffer from the crisis of loneliness far more and, if we are honest, men are very unsure of their role in society at the moment. A total of 80% of traffic accidents happen to men. Approximately 80% of suicides involve men. I attended two funerals over the summer where men in their 50s committed suicide, leaving heartbroken families behind them. The rate of suicide among Travellers is six times higher than it is among the rest of the population. These are eye-watering figures. This is an emergency, an invisible one.  The truth is that these issues are fixable. I also offer support for making sure the key asks of The Real Face of Men's Health are implemented, in terms of the necessity for the report to be progressed, for necessary funding to be implemented and for a cost analysis to be developed. Education is necessary. I had cancer in the past five years and I have also had a stroke. Thank God, I had the necessary and speedy treatment to be able to deal with those issues but lots of men, for many reasons, do not access treatment and we need to educate them to do so. However, we also need the treatment to be there and, if we are honest, in many ways the treatment is not there, even when men seek to access it. Figures in the report show that only 14% of GPS are confident in helping men with suicidality. We need to tailor those services to the needs of men who are suffering. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Today, for the first time in the history of the D\u00e1il, we are giving men's health the attention it urgently deserves. Ireland led the world in 2009 with the first national men's health policy but the latest version of the report, The Real Face of Men's Health, shows we are at a crossroads. In 2022, 40.2% of all male deaths were premature. Men in the most deprived areas are 150% more likely to die before the age of 75 than those in affluent areas. The leading causes of this - heart disease, stroke, lung cancer, suicide and chronic respiratory diseases - are largely preventable. The economic cost of men's ill health exceeds \u20ac1 billion annually, of which \u20ac760 million is considered preventable. Heartbreakingly, four out of five deaths by suicides in Ireland involve males. Most of us in this House have been touched by suicide and those of us who have know the devastating effect it has on those left behind.  We need to do more for men who feel they cannot talk and that they have nowhere to go. These are preventable deaths. There needs to be more investment in services for men. Too many are dying by suicide.  This is not just about men. It is about families, communities and the future of our nation. We must act now. Movember calls for \u20ac10 million investment to implement the national men's health action plan and a cross-government strategy to address this crisis. Recently, a man who is not from my constituency, contacted me. His doctor told him he had a tumour in his head but he could not get a scan. This man pays for private health insurance, believe it or not. He was told he could be waiting weeks for the scan and he knew it was urgent. We worked with him to go to Kingsbridge Private Hospital in Belfast and he rang me after he had contacted the Belfast hospital, which had him up within a week, with a treatment plan started. It is not good enough, whether it is men's or women's health. However, we are talking about men's health and it is hard enough to get most men to doctors or hospitals. For them then to be told that they could be waiting weeks or months for a scan could cause unknown torment to their mental health.  The Irish Men's Sheds Association describes the sheds as places where the greatest tool is a kettle, emphasising the power of a chat over a cup of tea. It also supports national health campaigns such as sheds for life, which brings health checks, mental health, workshops and lifestyle advice directly into the shed. I give a shout-out to the men's sheds in west Cork, including in Bantry, Bandon, Castletownbere, Dunmanway, Clonakilty, Kinsale and Skibbereen. If people are in west Cork, I encourage them to pop into these men's sheds for a cuppa and a chat. They are great places for people who need to get out.  I also commend the people who deliver meals on wheels services in rural communities because a lot of people who get the dinners tell me that is the only person they meet during the day. The postman is also a gift from God. These are people who are delivering to people in different ways and they need to be commended. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  I welcome the opportunity to speak on men's health. I commend the Minister of State on the investment she made in August to provide more than 15,000 free counselling sessions to men. This is really welcome because quite often men, and particularly young men, are afraid to speak about how they are doing, how they are coping with the pressures of life and how things are going. It is important that young men, and all men, are aware that these sessions are available and that they can avail of them through their GPs. I commend the Minister of State on that investment.  One thing we need to do is to move away from the mindset of \"I will be grand\". There is still a mindset of \"It will be fine\" or \"I will be grand; don't worry about me\". Men need to be encouraged to avail of services, engage with prevention and early detection and ensure they mitigate risks as and when they arise. There is also an onus to tackle isolation. The men's sheds movement and what it has achieved are incredible. I have met many of its members in my constituency, including in Athenry and Monivea. They provide an incredible service that leads to people having a space where they can meet, talk, engage and get the social connection that is being lost in our communities. It is important we meet men where they are. Many men are engaged in different activities such as in men's sheds or in their GAA clubs. We need to send information to these organisations to ensure as many men as possible are availing of relevant supports.  Another thing it is important to discuss briefly is the effect social media have on the mental health of young people, particularly the negative effects. Young people are under greater societal pressure than ever before because everything they do is being watched and they are also watching everything everyone else is doing. As a result, there is a huge comparison effect, which is having significant negative mental impacts on young people because they are not sure where they are supposed to be or what they are supposed to be doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  I thank the Minister of State. I echo the comments that were made about her tenure in charge of mental health policy and delivery in the Government. I also echo what the previous speaker said about the role of men's sheds and give a shout-out to ExWell.  Dr. Noel McCaffrey has been very involved in sport for many years. I am recovering from a pretty important medical intervention. ExWell is an exercise or kind of physical rehabilitation programme for anyone who is recovering from heart issues, cancers or chronic diseases. It has been rolled out and in my constituency there are three or four venues where scores of people turn up. It is essentially a kind of aerobics that is free for the first ten or 12 weeks. The older people who are there talk about the difference that exercise has made to their quality of life. It is subsidised by the HSE and is a positive thing. Social groups, choirs and golf societies have grown out of it. There has been a strong social dimension to it.  My experience is that I had open heart surgery a few years ago and thankfully I am recovering well. However, the one lesson I learned from that, one which I pass on to people whether or not they are willing to listen, is one sentence, not a long paper. It is that the doctor is your friend. When I talk to male colleagues who are talking about their health, I condense it to that one sentence - the doctor is your friend. Many male colleagues I chat to wince at the thought when I ask them whether they have spoken to their GPs.  It is probably not a fair analogy, but when I searched for analogies, it is the one I found. A lot of men would know pretty quickly if there was a problem with their cars from the sound and would address it, generally pretty quickly. We are not the best at self-diagnostics, because there are many times when things are going on inside our bodies and without a blood test or check, we cannot know something is wrong. Often, we have a physical, emotional or psychological sense that something is a little amiss and we need to check it out. I have distilled it for physical health - I will repeat it - as \"the doctor is your friend\".  I can only speak for myself, but I think we are all afraid of getting bad news. That is understandable, but I suspect that in a huge proportion of cases things are treatable. Is it not better to get news about something and have it treated, than not seek help and find that whatever has been ailing you has got to a point where it is untreatable or the invention required is far more acute? The doctor is your friend.  In mental health, as a practising psychotherapist, for men I reduced the idea to this sentence - I do not like oversimplifying things, but I have said this to the Minister of State before in the Chamber - \"lack of expression leads to depression\". It is a simple message about the talking cure, talking to people. What is interesting about the statistics that were presented, and which I will not restate, is that at one end of the scale, in our youth, we probably have the fittest generation of people we ever had. Someone mentioned sport and I was in Parnell Park last Sunday. On the other end of the scale, we have an explosion of chronic illnesses. There are a lot of interventions that can be made policy-wise. The Government cannot do everything, but it can look at addressing a bit of the fear, sending the message that the doctor is your friend and exploring what frightens people out of taking steps.  As a slight aside, women were patronised terribly in advertising over the years, but I notice that men are often stereotyped as stupid in a lot of modern advertising. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Please conclude, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  Will the Leas-Cheann Comhairle please repeat that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy has to conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  Is there another speaker? I apologise. I did not realise Deputy John Connolly was after me. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I was so interested in what the Deputy was saying, I let him talk. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  I want to finish with the positive line that the doctor is your friend. I will have to leave it to another debate to finish the other thought. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"John-Connolly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Connolly  I welcome the opportunity to contribute to this debate. To echo some of the sentiments of Deputy Lahart, there is a sense that men do not look after their own physical health and, possibly, mental health as well as they should. Opportunities like this to highlight the need to make sure people are aware of the supports that are available, and that it is important to look after their health, are appropriate. This is particularly the case because, as I understand it, November is a month where there is an organised campaign to promote awareness of men's health.  I will speak about one health issue that affects men disproportionately, as the data has shown us, and that is the issue of addiction and substance abuse. According to the Health Research Board, men are more likely to use illicit drugs, binge drink and engage in high-risk gambling behaviours than women. Alcohol remains the most common substance for which people seek help, and the majority of those presenting for treatment are men. The annual report of the Coolmine addiction centre in 2025 stated that in Dublin, cocaine accounted for 36% of all treatment presentations in the first half of 2025, with alcohol at 30%. This trend is particularly strong among young men aged 25 to 34, who are also more likely to engage in polysubstance abuse. The Economic and Social Research Institute, ESRI, has stated that problem gambling is far more prevalent among young men, especially those aged 25 to 34, and men are also more likely to gamble online and suffer financial harm. The Coolmine centre also provided the data that men are twice as likely as women to use drugs. There is, therefore, an issue that is clearly affecting men disproportionately.  I have a particular concern. The whole area of addiction treatment is another aspect of our healthcare provision where we rely a lot on agencies and bodies other than the HSE to provide primary care and secondary care. It is something we need to look at. In my constituency office recently, I met two people who were waiting to get into the addiction treatment centre at Cuan Mhuire, Coolarne. I can only imagine the mental trauma it would cause for somebody, when seeking help to try to deal with an addiction, to be told there is a waiting list. I contacted Cuan Mhuire and the staff there were very helpful.  Another issue that is prevalent among young men who suffer addiction is the necessity to rely on emergency accommodation, so they are possibly suffering disproportionately in terms of housing as well. We need to look at the whole area of addiction. We need to ask whether we can resource the services better and bring more of them into the sphere of the HSE. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  When we read the stark figures on men's health in Ireland, they should be ringing alarm bells across the Government. The statistics we have are not just numbers; they are a national crisis. Every one of those numbers represents a family member, friend or loved one. Let us be clear about the reality facing men in Ireland. Men account for four in every five suicide deaths in Ireland. Men are 34% more likely to die from cancer than women. Behind these figures are tens of thousands of men suffering in silence. The harsh truth is that Government inaction is accelerating the crisis.  Yesterday, I telephoned my GP for an appointment. I was told it would take 20 days just to see a nurse, with the wait list for the GP even longer. Let us imagine a young man struggling with anxiety or depression who finally gathers the courage to ask for help. For him, a delay like this is not just an inconvenience. It can be lethal.  Yet, once again, where the Government is found wanting, it is the local community that steps up. The most powerful example I have seen is the incredible work of the men's sheds across Carlow and Kilkenny. These sheds provide a unique and vital level of support. In the Ferrybank men's shed, I witnessed a warm and welcoming environment for older men with disabilities while I was working with the Brothers of Charity. The Tullow men\u2019s shed has a diverse mix of nationalities sharing a wealth of life experience. In Thomastown, the men's shed runs a fantastic shop that breathes new life into old furniture, giving the men a profound sense of joy and achievement in their labour. It is where I have picked up many bits and pieces over the years for my own family home.  Beyond the projects, there is one constant, and that is the role of the kitchen, the hub where men gather to have a chat and a cup of tea, and talk about life, the struggles they may be facing and the advice they can share. It is a space that goes far beyond its core purpose. The Castlecomer men's shed and so many other men\u2019s sheds across Carlow and Kilkenny take on project after project where the support goes beyond supporting one another and ripples out into the wider community. These men's sheds have become a crucial base for getting information on health and well-being directly to men. It is encouraging to see this movement grow with the recent official opening in Ballyraggett. I hope that shed and all the men\u2019s sheds continue to grow from strength to strength.  As the mother of four boys, I am acutely aware of the effect that social media is having on children like them. It is so important for children's mental health for people to encourage their children to talk. Even though we are all busy, I always take time to talk to the children and ask them if they are okay. That should be encouraged more. It does not take a lot out of somebody's life to chat to their children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  I am delighted to have this opportunity to speak on such an important issue. It is welcome that we are discussing this. I find it odd, and it is noticeable, how little we discuss men's health in this House. Maybe that is something we all need to work on to make sure we bring the issue more to the fore in the Chamber. It is an issue that needs attention. It is certainly one form of gender imbalance that we need to address, given it is discussed so little in the House. There seems to be a preference, unfortunately, to demonise men and boys in our society. We know that men are vastly and disproportionately more likely to commit suicide. Indeed, the CSO has pointed out, in the most recent available data, that in 2021, both males and females aged 50 to 54 years had the highest crude suicide rate per 100,000, yet this rate was 29.5 for men and 9.2 for females. That is very concerning. It justifies the need to raise mental health issues more often in this Chamber, in particular the impact it can have on men, and to discuss ideas and solutions.  I also want to refer to farmers\u2019 mental health. I bring this up because at the Tullamore show recently, I spoke with the Irish Cattle and Sheep Farmers Association, ICSA. It is a fantastic farming organisation and I commend it on its work. Any time I visit its stand, it has a section on men's health, in particular mental health, and it is constantly promoting the need for more supports, particularly for men engaged in the farming community who need support. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  This is a very important debate. Men are slower to go to doctors than women, especially men on their own. I know that when men have wives and partners, they see after them and make them go. Men are tough and they persevere with pain, and they often let themselves go. I have known of too many cases where they waited too long, and they were at stage 4, where little could be done for them. I saw a man who eventually jumped out of his machine and sought help, but it was too late. He stayed at it too long. He was a great man.  There are fellows milking cows and even younger men who are waiting to be called in the public system. What I say to those fellows who are waiting is this: if the wait is too long when something important is diagnosed by their GP, they should put their hands in their pockets themselves. There is no one as badly off as that. Maybe they are leaving it after them and minding it for someone else. That is a mistake. If they have it at all and if the wait on the public list is too long, they should do it. We all decry having to wait because people should be seen after medically, whatever about anything else. Men have to take it upon themselves to see after themselves first. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I am grateful for this opportunity. I acknowledge the \"him\" in my life who contributed greatly to getting me in here. I am grateful to the Movember organisation which provided us with recent research into the whole area of men's health. It is an area that I have a particular interest in. I found a module on men's health from 2003 from the North-Eastern Health Board. Despite criticism, I acknowledge how far we came between 2003 and the policy in 2009, but also how much further we have to go. Pivotal to that is the contribution of men's sheds, On Feirm Ground and the local sports partnerships that now deliver specific men-orientated programmes, in particular Men on the Move and programmes for those aged over 55. I acknowledge those. A couple of speakers made a point about accessibility. The recently formatted and agreed community pharmacy agreement, which will take effect from 1 January next year, will provide affordable and accessible men's healthcare and, indeed, healthcare for everybody. That is an opportunity to access help on the main street. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Murnane O'Connor","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Jennifer-Murnane-O'Connor.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Jennifer Murnane O'Connor)  I am delighted to have the opportunity to speak about men's health and describe some of the initiatives that my Department and the HSE have in place to improve men's health. As a society, we are living longer and Ireland has one of the highest life expectancies in the EU. This should be celebrated, but it also brings challenges. We need to help people to enjoy good health and well-being at every stage of life and try to close the life expectancy gap between men and women. The Healthy Ireland vision is one where everyone can enjoy physical and mental health and well-being to their full potential and where well-being is valued at every level in society. Achieving this vision requires a whole-of- government and a whole-of-society approach. My Department supports a range of programmes and partnerships to improve men's health.  The HSE has recently appointed a national programme manager to implement the men's health action plan. Alongside the voluntary sector, the HSE has led out on the development of a number of tailored programmes and campaigns on men's health. Engage, the national men's health training programme, provides health and community professionals with insights and skills on how to effectively engage men. This pioneering programme aims to improve the gender expertise of our health and social care workforce in relation to engaging men on their health. This training is delivered by HSE health promotion and improvement and co-ordinated by the Men's Development Network. Each year, the HSE provides funding for men's health week, which aims to raise awareness of men's health issues through public campaigns and community events across Ireland.  I acknowledge the invaluable work of the Irish Men's Sheds Association. My Department, along with the Department of rural and community development and the HSE, allocates funding to the association which does such excellent work in our communities. Men's sheds offer a supportive social environment for men, leading to reduced isolation, a stronger sense of community and improved health and well-being. There are over 450 men's sheds now established throughout the country. The sheds also deliver the sheds for life programme. This involves health workshops, screenings and wellness activities over a ten-week period. Topics such as healthy eating and physical activity are covered, along with mental health and chronic disease prevention. The aim is to support men in more open and meaningful discussion around their physical and mental well-being.  I also mention programmes, such as Moving On, which is a community-based physical activity programme delivered by the local sports partnerships. It has been successful in reaching men who might not otherwise participate in exercise classes and similar classes. It gives them a chance. As someone who is learning in my role, I agree with other speakers that it is about communication and information, and letting men know what is available for them. We have such good schemes and services in place and other things we can help with. On Feirm Ground is another successful initiative. This is a partnership programme between my Department and the Department of agriculture. It trains agricultural advisers and veterinary staff to recognise signs of stress, mental health issues and ill health among farmers and make referrals to their doctor and talk about it. This is an excellent example of cross-government work. I acknowledge the leadership demonstrated by my colleagues in relation to improving farmer health and well-being.  Another area that I am passionate about is reducing the gender gap in life expectancy and improving the health and well-being of men. This means driving programmes such as those I outlined and encouraging greater participation in screening and health checks, which are vital. I am mindful that men account for over 70% of the cases treated for problem drug use last year. As Deputies know, the topic of drugs is within my remit. Men have also accounted for the majority of drug poisoning deaths every year since 2012. While it is positive that men engage with drug services in large numbers, it is important that we focus on prevention and address the root causes of problematic drug use in men's lives at earlier stages. We must make health services more accessible to men, expand our models and encourage men to seek help. That is one area we are promoting. We need say, \"Seek help; it is there.\" I am committed to supporting the implementation of the men's health action plan in the HSE. I will be exploring the opportunities, with Healthy Ireland, for further cross-government work in 2026. I will seek to place a real focus on prevention and education in our upcoming national drug strategy. I look forward to updating the House on this as the drafting progresses. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Kieran O'Donnell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","memberCode":"Kieran-O'Donnell.D.2007-06-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Health (Deputy Kieran O'Donnell)  I welcome the opportunity to speak on men's health, which is a priority in the programme for Government. I thank all Deputies from their contributions to this important debate. They showed a genuine interest in this hugely important topic and the Government will very much take that on board.  I will refer to the commitments set out in the programme for Government in relation to mental health, which is a priority. It includes the implementation of the men's health action plan to increase health literacy and raise public awareness of boys' and men's physical, mental and emotional health. While there have been improvements in men's health overall, men still have a lower life expectancy than women and have higher mortality rates for the leading causes of death, such as heart disease, cancer and suicide. The publication of the Health Service Executive's action plan for men's health 2024-2028 is a significant and important step in continuing the momentum and excellent progress that has been made in the area of men's health practice in Ireland in recent years. I wish to progress and build momentum into the future.  The programme for Government also calls for funding to carry out research into the gender life expectancy gap and develop appropriate responses. There is also a commitment to research, implement and evaluate cancer prevention and early detection initiatives, including in prostate cancer, and promote the uptake of the HPV vaccine for young men and boys. It also calls for the expansion of mental health initiatives targeting men and the implementation of strategies aimed at reducing suicide and self-harm among men. It highlights the need to continue to fund and support local groups like men's sheds and active retirement communities. As everyone has said, we cannot overstate the importance of men's sheds and what they have brought. They provide a safe environment for men to meet up and discuss their issues. They are hugely important.  In my area within the Department of Health, I have secured an extra \u20ac2 million for meals on wheels and an extra \u20ac82 million for an additional 1.7 million of home support hours. This will benefit men as well.  I take the opportunity to reflect on the challenges highlighted today in relation to men's health, which we must tackle through policy and practice. The recognition of men's health as a distinct policy priority has evolved significantly over the past two decades. In 2009, we became the first country in the world to publish a men's health policy. That has been succeeded by two health action plans, in 2017 and 2024. The Department of Health, the HSE and numerous community and voluntary organisations have been working in close partnership over the past 20 years to implement men's health policies and action plans to improve the health and well-being of boys and men in Ireland. This reminds us that mental health is not just a matter of individual lifestyle, but is shaped by the social, economic and environmental factors in which we live, work and grow. We must, therefore, take a broad, inclusive approach, one that engages men themselves, but also addresses the wider determinants of health.  This is why addressing the social determinants of health and targeting men most in need are listed as key priorities in the recent mental health action plan. By aligning closely with broader health system reforms and community initiatives, we must endeavour to ensure that men's health is not treated in isolation but as an integral part of all health policies. Any effective men's health policy must target those subgroups of men who are most at risk and most underserved by existing services. It is crucial that we maintain momentum and funding for men's health initiatives. Government support for men's health remains firm. Recent funding for male counselling supports and men's sheds further establishes this commitment.  Ireland has shown strong leadership and innovation in the area of men's health. We have to build a foundation through policy and practice. Moving forward, our focus will be on supporting those men most in need and engaging men and boys as allies in health. This must also include improving the well-being of families and communities connected to men. That is a crucial factor in terms of support, in terms of partners and family. Ultimately, it has to be an inclusive model. Today's debate is quite significant. We are supportive of these matters in government and we want to work on them on a cross-party basis. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Men's Health: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Fisheries: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":27,"speakerCount":23},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Timmy Dooley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","memberCode":"Timmy-Dooley.S.2002-09-12","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Timmy Dooley)  I will try not to use my full time because I am conscious that a number of Members want to contribute, and I will facilitate that. I thank the Deputies for seeking the opportunity for statements on fishing. It is timely considering the recent developments in the discussions and negotiations for fishing opportunities for 2026 but also as a chance to discuss other important issues and concerns affecting the fisheries sector.  I will deal with the recent developments for the pelagic stock first. On 13 September, the International Council for Exploration of the Seas, ICES, published deeply concerning advice for widely distributed pelagic stock in 2026. The advice recommended a 70% reduction in the total allowable catch for mackerel in 2026, as well as a reduction of 41% for blue whiting and 22% for boarfish. Regarding mackerel, this follows a reduction last year of 22% compared with advice for 2024. This is also on top of a 26% reduction as a result of Brexit. The Celtic Sea whitefish fleet faces an even bleaker prospect, with cod, haddock and whiting quotas facing zero-catch recommendations. What is facing the Irish fleet in 2026 is a reduction in opportunities right across the sector. We must consider the socioeconomic implications of these recommendations. If the cuts proposed are translated into fishing opportunities for 2026, this will challenge the economic viability and the scale of the Irish fishing sector. These cuts will starve fish processing businesses of raw material. They will impact the services industry that supports the seafood sector in coastal communities. Service industries include engineering, net mending and factories that have built up over 50 years around ports like Killybegs and Castletownbere.  Following the publication of the advice, I met with fishermen and fisherwomen in Killybegs on Sunday, 5 October, to hear those concerns. They are very clear that years of unchecked overfishing by Norway, Iceland, the Faroes and the Russian Federation have pushed mackerel to the brink. The North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group, NAPA, represents global seafood buyers and retailers. It confirms that over 1 million tonnes of mackerel have been caught above scientific advice over the past five years. This is not a new problem. It is a failure of enforcement. On 8 October, I met with relevant stakeholder groups as part of the annual sustainability impact assessment process. This provided a further opportunity to discuss the scientific advice.  The issue of unsustainable fishing of key pelagic stock such as mackerel by certain coastal states outside the EU has been raised by Ireland repeatedly over the years. At the Agriculture and Fisheries Council in June and again in September I highlighted Ireland's concerns regarding Norway's actions in setting excessive and unsustainable mackerel quotas. We could be looking at an even more serious scenario in 2027 for mackerel, so it is important that we take a co-ordinated approach now. We cannot accept a business-as-usual approach in dealing with Norway. The EU Commission needs to identify and adopt suitable measures to respond to this crisis and bring forward measures regarding third countries that fail to co-operate and that allow unsustainable fishing of stocks of common interest to the European Union. There are tools under Regulation (EU) No. 1026\/2012 to impose trade restrictions on countries undermining stocks. The programme for Government recognises the valuable role of fisheries in this country and the communities that rely on this activity for their livelihoods. Furthermore, it notes the commitment of this Government to defend Irish interests in the context of fisheries negotiations between the EU and third countries.  Last week, I presented a sustainability impact assessment to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs. This assessment, which involves a public consultation process along with expert contributions from the Marine Institute and BIM, is an essential step in Ireland's preparation for the autumn negotiations on fishing opportunities for the forthcoming year. The sustainability impact assessment highlights the potential for significant impacts on the Irish fishing industry. While we have seen clearly the potential impact on the catching sector, the recent ICES advice, particularly in respect of mackerel, is of significant concern to a number of processors who process pelagic fish and ship their product to markets across the world. Mackerel is Ireland's most valuable catch, worth about \u20ac94 million in exports last year to premium European and Asian markets. It is now below the safe biological limit. Next week, together with colleagues, I will visit China on a trade mission to support that fishing sector, as well as pork and dairy products. It is a very important market for us and one which, with the assistance of Bord Bia, we continue to promote. The pelagic processors account for \u20ac122 million of the \u20ac947 million value of the overall sector and ten of the 95 seafood processing companies in the industry. Together with departmental officials, Bord Iascaigh Mhara and Bord Bia, we will work with the pelagic processors to fully assess and analyse the impact of reductions that will take effect in 2026, and to identify ways in which these processors may be supported. In the meantime, a range of supports continue to be available to the sector to support seafood promotion, capacity building, new product development, new market opportunities and capital investment.  As I said, I will be visiting China next week. Our seafood exports to China are particularly strong, showing growth of more than 50% in the year to date. I am committed to working with other Departments to assess what supports may be available to the seafood sector in this very difficult context. I have had discussions with the EU Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans. I have raised the matter with the Taoiseach and intend to have further conversations with him. The senior Minister, Deputy Heydon is here and he has been appraised of the issues. Together we will work to assist insofar as possible. The Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation has also been briefed on this, as has the T\u00e1naiste, by people from the sector, to explore options within the constraints of both the EU and national Exchequer funding and the relevant EU and national legislation, in particular taking account of the constraints imposed under EU state aid rules. I am acutely aware, too, that processors require fish, not handouts. The reality of the situation requires emergency interventions. I have spoken to fisheries Ministers in other member states since my appointment and have consistently worked towards building common positions on issues that are of relevance to our sector and its specifics. A strong and common European position is in the best interests of all fishing parties. It is critical to ensure these stocks are fished in a sustainable manner and that comprehensive agreements can be reached governing fishing opportunities for the coming year.  Also of paramount importance is that third countries do not set unjust unilateral quotas that deplete this precious resource. The emerging situation is extremely challenging.  I wish to reassure the House that, as Minister of State with special responsibility for fisheries and the marine, I recognise the importance of maintaining a vibrant fishing sector, both for the communities that rely on them and for the wider economy. The programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, reflects this approach by committing to securing a sustainable future for the fisheries sector while supporting coastal communities that rely on this activity for their livelihood.  To reflect, for a moment, amid the current challenges, I refer to the BIM Business of Sea Food Report 2024. This offers a comprehensive assessment of the economic impact of the seafood sector. The report tells us that the Irish seafood industry is valued at \u20ac1.24 billion. That is an increase of 4% on 2023. I am conscious that some of these numbers can be somewhat distorting of the facts, particularly when we are facing a crisis, but it is important to put those headline figures on record. The sector employs almost 8,000 people directly across fishing, aquaculture and processing, and a total of almost 17,000 people when indirect employment is included. Fish landings in Ireland were valued at \u20ac461 million in 2024, with \u20ac325 million coming from the Irish vessels and \u20ac136 million from non-Irish vessels. The report shows a value growth of 25% in the aquaculture sector, which is also encouraging. I have made it a feature of the role I hold to try to see where we can continue to grow the aquaculture sector. I am conscious that the licensing issue is currently an impediment in that regard. We are working with officials in our Department to try to find a resolution to that so we can ensure, where possible, the aquaculture sector is explored to the greatest opportunity and extent in a positive way that ensures we get increased exports and additional employment at home at a time when we are facing very particular constraints within the catching sector for those pelagic stocks. These metrics clearly demonstrate the resilience of the sector despite the significant challenges in recent years and its capacity to pivot and adjust to a changing environment. This progress would not be possible without strategic and well-targeted investment, both public and private.  I also recognise the appetite for the investment community to continue to put moneys back into this sector. That really needs to be recognised and welcomed. Through the seafood development programme the Government is delivering essential support to strengthen competitiveness and support sustainability and employment across the sector. More generally, funding for supports for the commercial seafood sector are provided under the seafood development programme. The programme is co-funded by the Irish Government and the European Commission under the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund, EMFAF, 2021 to 2027.  Schemes for industry under the SDP are primarily implemented by Bord Iascaigh Mhara. Separately to the SDP, the Department also funds and supports services provided by Bord Bia and the agrifood sector, including seafood. These are assessed by seafood processors, in particular marketing, innovation and new product development, etc. Funding supports are also provided to the commercial seafood sector by Enterprise Ireland and \u00dadar\u00e1s na Gaeltachta. Fourteen schemes have been, or will be, implemented by BIM this year on behalf of our Department under the SDP and the majority of these are co-funded under EMFAF. Two are Exchequer-funded - specifically, the fleet safety and marine tourism schemes.  Many Members will be aware that I have placed a heavy emphasis on personal engagement with the seafood sector since I was appointed to this role in February. The engagement has never been more important than it is now and I am finding industry representatives more united than ever before. They make their case with professionalism and clarity and I thank them for the way in which they have engaged with me and with the Department over recent months, particularly at a time of great crisis for them. I can understand their frustration at times but at all times I see in their professionalism and steadfastness a desire to work through the current crisis.  The programme for Government commits to publishing a five-year fishery sector strategy that will include an examination of the processing sector and to continue to support and promote improvements in fisheries and aquaculture. To progress this, I have engaged a facilitator, Mr. Kieran Mulvey, to work with seafood representative groups in order to identify and articulate issues, priorities and opportunities for the sector. These will be considered when I am setting out the terms of reference for the fisheries sector strategy. Mr. Mulvey is currently engaged in a series of meetings with stakeholders and I look forward to meeting with him to consider his insights as the development of a strategy for the long-term future of the fisheries sector has never been more important. To that extent, we expect to be finalising that work in the coming months. I thank the office of the Secretary General which has engaged with Mr. Mulvey over the summer months and more recently in an effort to put in place capacity to facilitate, understand and to try to bring forward a comprehensive strategy there.  The allocation of stocks between members states was established as a principle of the first CFP in 1983 and was based on the average catch of member states over a period of reference years which is referred to as track record. The only exemption to this relates to the Hague preferences based on a special recognition agreement of the underdeveloped nature of the Irish fleet and the heavily controlled responsibility on us when Ireland joined the EU. This arrangement is a mechanism for limited increase in the annual quotas for Irish fishermen. Any changes to the existing system of quota allocations would require a majority of member states to agree under the qualified majority voting system. Deputies will be aware that this would require other member states to give up existing quota shares. Any change to relative stability would involve a loss for some other member states and, therefore, present particular challenges in a qualified majority voting context. I am also conscious that there are some countries that do not fish their entire quota allocation but retain them anyway. I would like to see that changed but I am conscious of the challenges associated with that.  I would hope in any review of the CFP that we could have a fairer, more balanced and collegial approach at European level to try to find solutions that benefit all of us. However, I caveat all of that by saying it is a challenge in negotiations but I will certainly not be found wanting. With the support of the Minister, Deputy Heydon, we will fight the case of Irish fishermen and women to the greatest extent possible, notwithstanding our full understanding of the constraints we face. As I said, I will use all opportunities to seek additional access to quota for the Irish fishing fleet where this is possible.  In 2024, Ireland successfully invoked the Hague preferences for mackerel. This is the first time that the Hague preferences had successfully been invoked for this species. This has caused a considerable amount of disquiet among the impacted member states and I anticipate strong opposition in the December Council meeting. To that extent, a number of member states have sought - and we have afforded them - bilateral discussions, either through their embassies or directly with relevant Ministers. We have, at every possible opportunity, set out the importance of this mechanism for us to protect our sector. I believe we will need to invoke the Hague preference mechanism to protect Ireland's share of key stocks through a co-ordinated and all-of-government approach at EU level. It is for that instance that the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and I are engaging with our colleagues in government so that we can use whatever other contacts are there at member state level to try to ensure we get what is required in the December Council meeting.  The last issue on which I wish to update the House today is the review of trawling inside six nautical miles. The programme for Government commits to maintaining support for our important inshore fishing sector and promoting the sustainability of fish stocks. In December 2018, a transition period to a ban on vessels over 18 m trawling inshore waters within the six nautical miles zone and the baselines, was announced. The measure, however, was the subject of extended legal proceedings resulting in it being overturned in 2023. In February 2024, the then Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine, held a new public consultation and a review of trawling activity inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines, and this consultation took place without prejudice to what went before. Over 5,500 submissions were received. These submissions, along with updated scientific and economic advice from the Marine Institute and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, were used to inform a review of trawling activity inside the six nautical mile zone and baselines. Together with the Minister, Deputy Heydon, we carefully considered all issues before making a decision. Given the history of litigation in relation to this matter, it was critical that all the necessary procedural and legal steps were taken.  On 30 September, I signed policy directive 1 of 2025 to give legal effect to the decision that the Minister, Deputy Heydon, and I, announced on 22 July last, to place certain restrictions on trawling activity by larger vessels, that is, vessels over 18 m in length, inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines.  On 1 October 2026, trawling activity, that is, the operation of trawl or seine nets, by fishing vessels over 18 m in length overall inside the six nautical mile zone and the baselines will be prohibited. In addition, a catch limit of 2,000 tonnes of sprat will be permitted for vessels over 18 m in length inside the six nautical mile limit and the baselines from 11 October of this year to 30 September next year.  There has been much commentary on sprat. I can confirm at this time that there is no proposal from the European Commission for a total allowable catch or a quota management arrangement for sprat in the waters around Ireland. Ireland will, of course, have regard to a possible TAC and quota regime or other appropriate conservation measures going forward if recommended in the scientific advice to support the sustainable management of sprat. This Government committed to maintaining support for our inshore sector in the programme for Government. I have no plans at this time to introduce a sprat quota limit for vessels under 18 m. I made a decision to support the fleet of smaller vessels and those deriving an income from the inshore waters within six nautical miles. The new restrictions apply, as I said, to larger vessels only. I am confident that restricting trawling access to the six nautical mile zone to smaller vessels was the right decision to help to deliver on the promise made by this Government and the previous one to support our crucial inshore fishing sector. I am mindful of the opportunity that these measures will provide for our important small-scale fishermen and fisherwomen. I am confident that these measures will help to re-establish links between local fish resources, local fleets and local communities.  I look forward to listening with intent to the rest of the debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat the Cope Gallagher","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","memberCode":"Pat-the-Cope-Gallagher.D.1981-06-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher  I am very pleased that the House agreed to take these statements at this very appropriate time, namely prior to the run-in to the December Council and the negotiations that will take place, particularly in respect of coastal states, over the coming weeks. I have been in this House since 1981, with the exception of a few short periods, and I believe this is the worst fishing crisis that will have been experienced since the foundation of the State unless something drastic happens in the next few weeks. I can only describe it as a real Armageddon, with no sector safe from the impacts and devastating fallout that will follow. Over the past five years, Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands have overfished mackerel by 1 million tonnes. In some years, Norway alone has overfished by 55%. These are the countries that are telling us we need a sustainable fishery. We are the custodians and we must ensure that there are stocks for the future, but that is not the way those to whom I refer are implementing the TACs and quotas in their countries.  In its scientific advice for stocks for 2026, ICES has called for a reduction, as the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley outlined, of 70% for mackerel, 41% for blue whiting and 20% for boarfish. This has the potential to cost Ireland between \u20ac130 million and \u20ac150 million in areas along the coast and in rural areas where there is no alternative source of employment. Our catching sector is facing the biggest cut to its fishing opportunities in history. In real terms, the proposed cuts in the 2006 recommendations are equivalent to the accumulative impact of four years' worth of Brexit transfers. I can state very clearly - and I mean this genuinely - that the fishing industry was thrown under the bus to secure Brexit. Had we threatened to veto Brexit, we would not have a problem today. We would have had a problem with Europe, but we certainly would have the mackerel we gave away to secure Brexit.  The processing sector will be severely impacted. As stated, numerous jobs will be lost in rural areas where there is no alternative source of employment. The processing sector could contract in the next 12 months to the tune of between \u20ac180 million and \u20ac200 million. The scale of the job losses and impacts is unprecedented and catastrophic. Between 2,200 and 2,400 jobs - I believe that is being realistic - could be gone inside the next six months.  The Department, the Minister of State and his colleagues in government must firm up. We must take Europe on. The Minister of State will not succeed unless he goes out to the various member states. It is not enough to negotiate with the maritime states. I do not believe that the Minister of State or the Minister, Deputy Heydon, will have time to visit each capital, but I suggest to the former that he call in the ambassadors of all these countries - not just in the coastal states but in all the other states in western Europe - because they will have an input. I know from experience over the years that they will go along with the Commission's recommendations. However, the Minister of State or the ambassadors could meet their counterparts or those responsible, highlight to them the implications for us and request them not to vote in favour of what is proposed. The latter should be made very clear to them. They will go for a qualified majority, of course. I hope that the T\u00e1naiste, who told me he is quite interested in resolving this, as is the Taoiseach, will call in the ambassadors and get them to go to the various capitals. The Minister of State should go to the maritime state capitals and the commissioners should do the others.  No disrespect to the Department - I held this brief for years - but I believe we are all out of our depth on this. That is not just my fear; it is the fear of the industry. While I accept the Minister of State's bona fides and commitment, I am not fully convinced that all of his team are on top of this crisis. I believe that he and his team do not fully appreciate the detrimental effects of the proposed reductions. Have we the capacity to deal with the challenges ahead? This needs to be dealt with by an all-government approach, and I have made a recommendation to the Minister of State in that regard.  Europe has been weak when it comes to coastal states. Norway, which is the chief architect of the destruction of the mackerel stock, will again attempt to gain access to coastal waters off the west of Ireland over the coming weeks. I am pleased that the Minister of State has taken a very strong view and has instructed his officials to oppose the entry of Europe into the waters off the west of Ireland this year. I am grateful to him for that, and I hope he will follow through on it. A strong and united no from Ireland and the EU to Norway is a step to supporting the industry and, moreover, the recovery of these shared stocks such as blue whiting and mackerel. We must also ensure that the Minister of State can convince Europe and that the market access and trade restrictions for fish products will be fully applied against Norway. That can be done against Norway, against the Faroes and against Iceland. It can be done under Regulation (EU) 1026\/2012. That needs to be fully implemented, because Norway needs the European Union market to sell its products.  We could lose up to 40% to 50% of the value of our national quotas in monetary terms inside the next three months. Let that sink in. This is very serious for the country and, in particular, for the coastal counties, whether they are in Donegal, Galway or Mayo, right down to Cork and Kerry and across to Waterford and upwards. The proposals from ICES relate not just to mackerel but also to blue whiting and boarfish. Other species of demersal fish are also affected. I hope this will not have to happen, but if it does, the Government needs to immediately draw up a financial framework and a support package to cover the affected sectors, from catching to processing. If we are serious about this, then this needs to be done over the next four weeks. It is not good enough to say that the budget is over now and we have to look ahead. This is unprecedented and this financial framework should be drawn up.  The Government needs to address the weaknesses of our Department. For too long it has been too weak and out of touch with the fishing sectors and communities. It is being allowed to meander as it did before. We are weak within Europe and our presence needs to be strengthened there. Ireland's permanent representation in Brussels has to strengthen its representation there to look after our interests.  The big date is the Council meeting but it is done and dusted at that stage. A lot of the work has been done. It is over the next number of weeks that we want to ensure the officials get the additional support they need to prepare for that important meeting.  The Government needs to address the overregulation of fishing and processing. At times, we are so proud because we are implementing European legislation, rules and regulations but I believe that is killing the industry. I know full well that the Sea-Fisheries Protection Authority, SFPA, have driven away foreign landings from this country. They are not landing. They could be landing here but it has driven them away. Factory ships that work the waters around the country are unregulated with absolutely no oversight. No one knows what they are at out there and we do not have the capacity in the Defence Forces to try to ensure we stop that overfishing.  The Sea-Fisheries and Maritime Jurisdiction Act 2006 needs to be redrafted from scratch. I remember when I was on the other side of the House. It was the first time in the history of the State that a statutory instrument was rescinded in all those years, and I was the one who pioneered that because fishers were getting penalty points. If they went to court afterwards, the court might have overturned it but the penalty points still existed. If you drive down the M1 road and you get penalty points, you go to court and the penalty points are scratched whereas in this case, they are not. No sooner was I out of this House in 2020 than the penalty points were reintroduced. I was told by people on this side of the House; I did not even have the support of my own party. I had the support of Sinn F\u00e9in, Labour and the Independents. As soon I was gone, it was changed like that. It was wrong to that do that. I did not even get a telephone call to say that my rescinding of the penalty points was being undone, but I will deal with that on another day.  In the pelagic sector, we need, as a national policy of Government, to reintroduce in-factory weighing. I can take credit that I went to the then Commissioner, Mr. Joe Borg, when our pelagic fish were being weighed on the pier in ambient temperature, affecting the quality of the fish. I brought him over to Killybegs and he saw the futility of that. He introduced weighing in factories and now the factories are full of cameras. You do not have to leave the office in Killybegs, Castletownbere or wherever. You can see exactly what is going on. This is futile and the quality of the fish is being affected. That is something that has been looked at. There is an attitude that all of those in the fishing industry are criminals. I can state very clearly, having spent a lifetime in it, that they are good, honest, decent people who get very little support and create jobs in areas where there are no alternative sources of employment. In the pelagic sector, we need, as a national policy of Government, to reintroduce that in-house weighing. That is for another day but if it goes the way it is going, there might not be much need to weigh, given that there may be so little as a result of the cuts.  Year in, year out, we witness the effects of blue whiting being processed for human consumption. It was a fishery that we in this country pioneered. It was Ireland that pioneered it. I can also take some credit. I remember 1972 very well. We were going out the road to fish meal and at that time and I sent samples to a number of factories in Europe. They opened up the markets there and they are still continuing to this very day. I can take some credit and I fully understand it. Coming from a rural constituency, I realise the importance of fishing.  If we fail to get our house in order and we face into the greatest fishing and processing crisis in our history, we will pay the greatest price due to our own incompetence. I would strongly recommend that the Minister of State take up my suggestion and call in the Minister for foreign affairs or whoever and instruct the ambassadors to go to the various governments and make it very clear to them the implications of this. This demands immediate action, a completely new direction and new leadership.  I wish the Minister of State well in his endeavours. It is a difficult time and a lonely place to be. I was there for many years. It is a lonely place when you are in there but if you can secure the support of the some of the European maritime states, particularly those states with no interest whatsoever in fish, and convince them we are being done down, I believe he will get support from them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  There is a story online on theskipper.ie . It is the Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, annual fisheries report and it has caused outrage in the fishing industry because, essentially, the report says it is all fine. It is good; it is all fine. It is data from 2023.  This has to stop. We have to stop denying what is happening. My party conducted a survey late last year of hundreds of fishers and their families. They did not just respond to the survey; they could make some commentary. What was in that report, which I have emailed to the Minister and Minister of State, is absolutely harrowing. It is heartbreaking. People are talking about having fished for generations. It is a tradition and a heritage and it is ending with them. I met fishers, face to face, who were in tears because they were fishing single-handed. There is no future for them and their families.  I am now going to get into the unprecedented crisis we face, an \"economic Armageddon\", to quote Mr. Brendan Byrne of the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, IFPEA. We need to wake up once and for all. The Chinese - the Minister of State is going to China next week - tell us that a crisis is also an opportunity. This is an opportunity for a reset of our whole mentality in Ireland, in the Government, in our Department of the marine, in Bord Iascaigh Mhara, in the SFPA and in every single agency interacting with our fishing communities. There has to be a whole change. It is outrageous that BIM let that report go to print at a time like this. It is outrageous, offensive and unacceptable.  With regard to mackerel, it is a precious resource to our fishing communities. It was an industry that the ingenuity and ambition of our people built up. We built it up. It was a world-class industry we built up here with thousands of jobs created on the back of it. It is a migratory species that spawns off our west coast and works its way up the Atlantic, so it is a shared resource. As we are in the Common Fisheries Policy, our fishers must follow the science. They must follow the advice from ICES every year and quotas are allocated on that basis. That is right - our fishing should be based on science. It should be sustainable and responsible. I absolutely agree with that. The problem is that there are rule breakers and rogues out there who have been utterly reckless and selfish, and they have paid no price whatsoever. I am sad to say they are a country I admire, Norway, another country I admire, Iceland, and the Faroe Islands. Complicit in this and supporting them are the Russian Federation and the United Kingdom. They are complicit in this practice and they are rewarded. The UK has had its trade and co-operation agreement extended for 12 years. There is no price to pay for this.  When I learned about the absolutely devastating impact of these cuts, which are clearly coming because they are based on science, I asked the question: who benefits from this within the European Union? There are major fishing corporations based in the European Union that invested heavily in the fleets in Iceland and the Faroes. They have been actively involved in this strategic overfishing. They are based in the European Union and I believe they have a huge influence in the European Commission. Ireland has, yet again, been utterly shafted by those at the top of the European Commission. They did it to us in Brexit.  There was no burden sharing. There were just some financial resources, but that was allowed to happen, and here we are again. This has been warned about, and we have been hearing about it, for years. Our producer organisations have been talking about what is coming down the line. Last year, we had a very significant cut in mackerel. This year, what is being suggested is devastating. It is not just mackerel, as the Minister of State knows, but blue whiting and boarfish. This has a knock-on impact on the inshore sector, which needs blue whiting and mackerel for bait. Its prices are going to go through the roof. Remember, the inshore sector is dealing with prices it had 30 years ago for its fish but its costs have increased tenfold. To be clear, it is not just the offshore sector that is impacted by this, but also the inshore sector.  What are we talking about here in terms of impact? I have spoken to the Irish Fish Processors and Exporters Association, which has provided me with its impact assessment. When I go through it, it shows mackerel is important to the producer sector and the factories. It is a huge part of their profits. I have been provided seven examples. Looking through them, the impact of the mackerel cut will be absolutely devastating. We are going to lose hundreds of jobs here, there is no doubt about it. It is not just pelagic, as we know, but also white fish, nephrops and various seas. We are talking about an estimated potential loss of \u20ac200 million next year. It is really unprecedented in scale. It is absolutely scandalous that BIM published the report it did today at a time we are dealing with this.  In terms of the organisations dealing with this issue, I have with me submissions from the Irish Fish Producers Organisation, IFPO, and the Killybegs Fishermen's Organisation, KFO. Obviously, those two groups are particularly impacted by the pelagic cuts. According to the submissions, under the model quota scenarios, up to 837 direct jobs could be affected in some manner in the pelagic catching sector. That is not talking about indirect jobs. That is the threat. When including indirect and induced effects, the potential total impact goes up to 2,361 jobs across the wider seafood economy. That is what we are talking about here.  If we look at the supports needed, we clearly need to see the Hague preferences. That has to happen this time. Burden sharing did not get delivered to our people. We were left carrying the weight of Brexit. The Hague preferences are absolutely essential. They will reduce some of the blow.  It is time for BIM to step up. It has offended the industry unbelievably with the report it has issued. However, it can heal those wounds by doing a strong impact assessment, working directly with the industry on the real figures and the real data in the here and now. It needs to do an impact assessment looking at all the scenarios - short, medium and long term - in terms of what supports are needed. We are going to need financial supports. I am glad the Minister of State said it. When we talk to any fishers, they say they want to fish. They want fish. That is what I want. Right now, though, we have to deal with the reality. Of course we need to bring in the Hague preferences. Of course we need to see a review of the Common Fisheries Policy. Of course we need justice. Of course the huge factory ships hoovering up the fish and the industrialisation of fishing has to end. In the here and now, though, we are going to need financial supports to save our industry and save as many jobs as possible. That means emergency short-term financial support. In terms of the quota management and licensing, we need reform of the Common Fisheries Policy. All of that has to be looked at.  I defer to my colleague, Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher, who was a Minister of State with huge experience. I agree with everything he said about the need to talk to everybody. We need to tell our story. Our fellow member states need to understand the injustice the Irish people have suffered under the Common Fisheries Policy. I am sorry to say that Norway, Iceland, Faroe Islands, the Russian Federation - there are huge sanctions in place against that last anyway - and the UK have in this case been rogue players in overfishing mackerel. They need to accept that this is utterly wrong. They need to stop the overfishing and there needs to be a real approach from Europe in terms of justice for our people. We are a small country and we deserve that support right now. I trust the Minister of State will engage strongly on that. We need to have very strong representation in Europe. In terms of our permanent representation and the Department of the marine, we need to up our game on. I proposed a \"Fish Ireland\" office, where the industry and our Department would be hand in hand, permanently based in Europe, promoting our seafood industry. That needs to be looked at right now and how we can turn this around and turn a crisis into an opportunity.  I want to talk about the issue of third-country vessels from Norway and Iceland. It is very clear to me that if they refuse to act responsibly and do what is right for all of us with the mackerel resources, they should not be allowed to fish blue whiting in our waters. It is utterly offensive. Any country that is not being responsible and not behaving right should not be rewarded. Clearly, that needs to be dealt with. There needs to be proper control of those vessels.  In my remaining minutes, I want to talk about the inshore sector and the islands sector. They cannot be forgotten about. The inshore sector is looking for financial supports for their fishers. If we look at the farmers, they have always, and rightly, had financial supports under the Common Agricultural Policy, CAP, because they could not live on what they earn from the produce. Similarly, we recently had a basic income support for the artistic community. I welcome that, too. We need to see proper financial supports for inshore fishers. They are fishing single-handedly and putting themselves in real danger, so they need supports. In terms of the islands, we need to look at Article 17 of the Common Fisheries Policy. We need fairness for our island communities and fairness for our inshore communities as part of this overall process. I will continue on this matter another day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Mythen","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Mythen.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Mythen  The Irish fishing industry is in a state of flux and is on course for a full-scale collapse if the proposed 2026 quotas are accepted and implemented. These crippling quotas represent a 70% cut in mackerel, a 41% in blue whiting and a 22% cut in boarfish. These quotas will financially sink every fishing boat in Ireland, whereas on the other side we have non-EU fleets from the likes of Russia, the Faroe Islands, Iceland and Norway continuously overfishing. Not only that, but they are being rewarded for it through the unilateral setting of quotas. For example, in one week, the Norwegian fleet caught 40,000 tonnes of mackerel, equivalent to the entire quota allowed for the Irish fleet. This begs the question: who exactly are the Europe-based fishing corporations, which make millions of euro and benefit from the reciprocal access to the fish in Norwegian water? Maybe the Minister of State will use his office to investigate these corporations and publish the findings.  We know this is a very difficult situation and by no means an easy task. The fishers of Ireland are sending out a clarion cry for the Minster of State to call on the Commissioner to invoke Regulation (EU) 1026\/2012, under which the Commissioner has the power to legally address and respond to unfair competition through trade and market restrictions. The irony of this is that the Irish fleet has followed the science and played by the books, yet these countries outside the EU are rewarded while our fishing industry is facing financial ruin. We in Sinn F\u00e9in, through our spokesperson on fisheries, P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn, and the Chair of the fisheries committee, Connor McGuinness, are asking the Minister of State to create an emergency financial rescue package for the next couple of years. We believe the Minister of State has a vital role to play in supporting Irish fisheries in this. We ask him to work towards establishing a stand-alone \"Fish Ireland\" office in Brussels, to consider real-time closures, to examine the Brexit adjustment reserve and unspent funds, and to vigorously negotiate the quota allocations.  My county of Wexford is a seafaring country, with fishing villages totally depending on the industry, from Rosslare to Kilmore Quay, Duncannon, Slade Harbour and Ballyhack, and these are villages that need the Minister of State's support and help. I appeal to him again to negotiate new fishing quotas and to use the European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund to support our fishing industry and coastal communities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Ireland is an island nation with a proud maritime tradition. Our coastal communities, fishing harbours and seafaring people have long sustained the life of this country in hard times and in a good. For too long, the fishing and seafood industry has been treated as an afterthought, a bargaining chip in European negotiations and a casualty of short-termism at home.  Across every coastal county from Louth to Donegal, down to Waterford and Cork, fishers and processors now face the perfect storm of quota cuts, rising costs, loss of traditional fishing grounds and continued overfishing by external states. The result is a crisis or, more accurately, an emergency. Earlier this year, Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I published a survey of Irish fishers. Its findings were stark. Some 98% do not believe the Government is protecting the industry or has its back. The survey also found that 91% believed that, without a radical change in direction, it would not survive the next three to five years.  While this debate is welcome and I commend Deputy Mac Lochlainn on seeking it, it is long overdue. The collapse in mackerel stocks has simply exposed a decline that was already well under way. We now need to move beyond tea and sympathy and towards a national strategy that is ambitious, assertive and unapologetic in its defence of Ireland's national interests.  T\u00e1 earn\u00e1il iascaireachta na h\u00c9ireann i ng\u00e9arch\u00e9im. T\u00e1 iascair\u00ed agus pobal c\u00f3sta faoi bhr\u00fa de bharr laghduithe ar chu\u00f3ta\u00ed, costais arda agus r\u00f3-iascaireacht \u00f3 th\u00edortha eile, an Iorua, an \u00cdoslainn agus na hOile\u00e1in Fhar\u00f3 san \u00e1ireamh. \u00c9il\u00edonn Sinn F\u00e9in go gcuirfear strait\u00e9is n\u00e1isi\u00fanta l\u00e1idir le ch\u00e9ile a chosn\u00f3idh \u00e1r gcuid acmhainn\u00ed, a neart\u00f3idh calafoirt agus a thabharfaidh taca\u00edocht cheart d\u2019iascair\u00ed cladaigh. Caithfidh \u00c9ire seasamh suas ar son a cuid pobal c\u00f3sta san Aontas Eorpach.  For decades, successive Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Governments have gone to Brussels to manage, not to lead, and to accommodate, not to assert. The results of that failure speak for themselves. Ireland controls 12% of EU waters, yet receives less than 6% of total EU quotas. Since Brexit, that imbalance has worsened, with about 40% of the quota value transferred from Britain coming from stocks historically caught by Irish vessels. The Brexit deal was catastrophic. The decision earlier this year to extend it to 2038 brought certainty, but it is the certainty of collapse and catastrophe. We need a fundamental reset and radical new approach that recognises the strategic, economic and cultural importance of fisheries to our coastal regions. That means pressing the European Commission and Council for an urgent review of quota allocations, building the Department's capacity to fight our corner, including through the office mentioned by Deputy Mac Lochlainn in Brussels, and reforming the Department of the marine and Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM. It would be great if we had someone with a background in the fishing industry appointed as the new chief executive of BIM. I ask the Minister of State to reflect on that and consider it as he looks towards the appointment of a chief executive.  We now have a Committee on Fisheries and Maritime Affairs. As Chair, I want the committee to be active and assertive, give voice to coastal communities, hold the Government to account, propose policy innovations, where appropriate, and demand delivery for the Irish fishing industry.  Our inshore fisheries have been mentioned. They are the beating heart of Ireland's coastal communities. Small family-owned vessels sustain employment and tradition in areas with few alternatives, yet they are too often forgotten about. When they are at the forefront of the minds of the State, it often seems that it is with a view to criminalising or penalising them for simply carrying out their work. With almost 2,000 vessels, the inshore fleet provides over half of all seafood employment but receives only a fraction of supports and quota access. Most are confined to shellfish like crab, lobster and shrimp and young people face major barriers, limited licences, tiny quotas and high costs. The next generation is being driven out. They do not want to take over the boats and they do not want to enter the industry. We need a fairer allocation of a national quota to support small-scale sustainable fisheries. We need targeted investment in coastal infrastructure processing capacity and proper implementation of the Irish inshore fishery sector strategy, backed by real funding and continuity grants to keep small operators afloat. If we value our coastal communities, we must value our fishers and inshore sector not as an afterthought, but as the cornerstone of our rural and regional economy.  Harbour infrastructure, a topic the Minister of State and I have discussed at length, is the backbone of our fishing economy, yet across the country, in particular Waterford, it is crying out for investment. In the quay in Heilbhic, dredging has been identified as a dire need by local fishers, the local authority and, indeed, those who volunteer to save lives at sea. Progress has stalled for want of State funding. The local authority harbours programme is dysfunctional. I do not think it is fit for purpose. It is inadequate. I said this yesterday at a committee meeting and I will continue to say it. It will not fund the engineering or environmental studies needed to reach a shovel-ready stage. That is its intrinsic failure and must change.  The quay at Heilbhic and other local authority harbours are vital infrastructure. We acknowledge and accept that they belong to the local authority, but that does not give the Government, Department or Minister of State for fisheries the ability to say that it is not part of the responsibility of the State. In Dunmore East, one of the State's six designated fishery harbour centres and the most important fishing port in the south east, serving the east coast, north and south, critical safety works remain underfunded. Fishers have raised real concerns about berthing safety, quay conditions and overcrowding in the harbour. The promised capital works have yet to materialise and we need immediate approval and funding for the Dunmore East capital programme. That would include dredging, quay realignment and safety upgrades. It is not just a Waterford issue, as I said. This is about protecting lives, jobs and the long-term viability of one of Ireland's major fisheries ports.  Ireland's offshore fleet in ports like Dunmore East, Castletownbere and Howth are central to our seafood economy, supporting hundreds of jobs in fishing, processing, engineering and exports, yet our fleets are allowed to catch less fish in our own waters than ever before. Under Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael, Ireland has been a soft touch in quota talks. Time and again, our share has been traded away in favour of stronger member states who negotiate harder in their own countries' interests. That must end. We must demand fair and equitable access to fish stocks in Irish waters.  We need to rebuild pelagic and demersal fleets. We need to secure a fair quota of prawns in the Irish Sea. We need to ensure access to finance for vessel modernisation and keep value-added processing in Ireland. The Common Fisheries Policy has failed our coastal communities. It rewards those who overfish and punishes those who act responsibly. Sinn F\u00e9in will press for reform that puts sustainability, fairness and Ireland's national interest at its core.  Nowhere is that failure clearer than in the mackerel and wider pelagic fishery. Scientific advice for 2026 recommends a 70% cut to the EU mackerel quota and a 41% cut to blue whiting, not to forget boarfish. These drastic reductions are not caused by Irish mismanagement, as my colleagues have said. They are a result of rampant overfishing by third countries, in particular Norway, Iceland and the Faroe Islands, which are, of course, under Danish sovereignty and, therefore, I thought would have been part of the European Union. This activity has often been aided by EU-based companies using those flags. That is not to let the Russian Federation and Britain off the hook for their gross overfishing in the North Atlantic.  The European Commission has known about this for years. We and others, including industry and environmental groups, have raised this. More than a million tonnes of mackerel have been caught above scientific advice in the past five years. Instead of sanctioning offenders, the EU has rewarded them with access to western waters, or is certainly proposing to do so. This has plunged Ireland's pelagic sector into crisis, in particular Donegal, but across the coast. Our entire seafood economy is looking at losses that could exceed \u20ac200 million next year. We need an emergency survival fund now. As has been noted by the Minister of State and my colleague, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, fishers do not want handouts or a bailout, but they need that as this crisis will affect them.  The EU must act decisively to end this reckless overfishing. The Government must demand sanctions and compensation and show leadership. It is indefensible that Irish fishers follow the rules and face ruin while others profit with the consent of their governments and the silence and acquiescence, if we are being honest, of Brussels. The mackerel issue is a test of whether Ireland has any real influence in Europe and we cannot afford another year of hand-wringing.  In a few weeks, the Minister of State will be in Brussels with the Council of Ministers to set the 2026 quotas. Expectations in the industry are not high or buoyant at the moment because of the crisis, but there is a weight of expectation on his shoulders as he goes there because of the great urgency involved. The Minister of State must go to Brussels with a clear mandate not simply to manage, but to fight for Ireland's corner. It cannot be on his shoulders alone; it has to be on the shoulders of the Taoiseach, as Head of Government, and the T\u00e1naiste, in his role as Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade.  A failure to deliver on the reasonable demands of the Irish fishing industry would be a collective failure for the Government to assert Ireland's sovereignty in Europe. For decades, fishers have correctly believed that Irish fisheries were sacrificed to secure wins elsewhere and that must stop. The balance has to be reset. We need the Minister of State to secure a fair share of quota allocations reflecting the scale of waters, along with concrete EU actions to sanction overfishing by third countries and European corporations which operate in vessels under the flag of third countries.  We need to see funding for harbour infrastructure and fleet modernisation, and we need to see a renewed commitment to Ireland's coastal communities. Our fishing industry is not asking for favours. It is simply demanding fairness. Fishing communities have endured decades of neglect and now they need delivery. Ireland's fishing heritage, our economic potential, thousands of livelihoods and hundreds of millions of euro of economic growth are at stake here. The time for caution and niceties has passed. What we need, and what Sinn F\u00e9in will continue to demand, is action that is firm, co-ordinated and in the national interest. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  I welcome the announcement by the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, of \u20ac27.75 million for capital projects at Ireland\u2019s publicly owned harbours under the 2025 fishery harbour centres and coastal infrastructure development programme. While welcome news for our coastal communities, the way this funding is being divided is far from equitable. To touch on a point just mentioned by Deputy McGuinness, let us talk about harbours. This year, \u20ac19.5 million, or the lion\u2019s share, is going to just six Department-run fishery harbour centres, while a mere \u20ac4.3 million is being allocated to the local authority marine infrastructure scheme, which must stretch to cover every other small harbour and pier in the State.  Let us put this in context. In Donegal, the Killybegs fishery harbour centre received over \u20ac11.2 million, while Donegal County Council, which is responsible for 155 piers and harbours, received just \u20ac450,000 towards projects costing an estimated \u20ac660,000. That is an unequal partnership, a drop in the ocean for our coastal local authorities which are struggling to maintain essential infrastructure that sustains their local fishing and tourism industries. To make matters worse, the six fishery harbour centres receive 100% of their project costs from the Department, while the local authorities receive only 75%, leaving the remaining 25% to be found from already overstretched local budgets or, ultimately, from local ratepayers. This is unfair. They should be receiving 100% funding. The result is that the smaller harbours, where most of our inshore fishers actually operate, are being left behind. These are the fishers who use the most environmentally sustainable and friendly methods of fishing. They are the backbone of our inshore fishing sector. They deserve modern, safe, well-maintained facilities just as much as any national harbour. Fishermen in the Donegal constituency have been in touch with Labour Party representatives in the county, including representatives from two local fishing co-ops, to tell us that they feel the Department is spending the lion\u2019s share of harbour funding on itself, promoting projects that local fishers neither want nor need, simply because the Department has to use up its budget or risk losing it next year. That is not strategic investment; it is box-ticking.  We need a fairer, more balanced approach, one which recognises local authority piers and harbours as an intrinsic part of our national coastal infrastructure. Ireland\u2019s network of piers, slipways and harbours supports not just fisheries, but marine tourism, recreation and local enterprise. Tourism and recreation in coastal areas are now the largest contributors to employment among Ireland\u2019s marine industries. Marine tourism alone accounts for 10% of our overall tourism sector, with over 260 enterprises involved in marine leisure, from angling and diving to kayaking, surfing and visiting our offshore islands. The Wild Atlantic Way has shown what can be achieved when we invest in our coastal infrastructure and build a world-class destination brand. However, this success cannot continue if local marine infrastructure is left to crumble.  F\u00e1ilte Ireland continues to highlight the opportunities in coastal marine tourism, eco-tourism and sustainable growth, but these opportunities can only be realised if our piers and harbours are up to standard. In my constituency of Dublin Fingal West, Skerries and Balbriggan are both under the management of Fingal County Council. There have been consistent calls for capital works, including dredging, breakwater repairs and enhanced facilities for both the fishing and leisure sectors. Notably, Balbriggan Harbour forms a central element of the Balbriggan rejuvenation plan, which seeks to revitalise the town and its coastal infrastructure. The smaller harbours in Rush and Loughshinny continue to play an important role in supporting local fishermen and recreational users. However, these facilities also require upgrading, particularly in relation to safety measures, lighting, slipways and pontoons. Overall, there is a clear and ongoing need to invest in Fingal\u2019s harbour infrastructure to improve safety and accessibility for all users; strengthen support for coastal tourism and local fishing activities; enhance resilience to climate impacts and coastal erosion; and ensure compliance with modern environmental and waste management standards. Fingal\u2019s harbours are critical coastal assets, supporting both local economies and community life. However, they now require targeted investment and modernisation.  I am, therefore, calling for a fairer division of funding, with a 50-50 split between the fishery harbour centres and local authority marine infrastructure until a proper national assessment of needs is completed; 100% funding for all marine infrastructure projects, recognising their national importance; and a national framework that ensures every harbour, large or small, is safe, modern and fit for purpose.  We also need to address climate change as it is having a profound impact on Ireland\u2019s harbours and coastal infrastructure. Rising sea levels, intensified storms and more frequent flooding events are already damaging vital port facilities and coastal defences. All over Ireland, harbours are experiencing increased erosion, structural damage to quays and slipways and siltation that hampers navigation and marine operations. These challenges threaten not only our maritime heritage, but also critical sectors such as fishing, aquaculture, tourism and trade, all of which are industries that sustain coastal communities and contribute significantly to the national economy. Local authorities and harbour boards are facing costs for repairs, maintenance and emergency works following extreme weather events.  To safeguard all these assets, we must prioritise investment in climate-resilient infrastructure and adaptive coastal management. This includes strengthening breakwaters, modernising drainage and flood protection systems and integrating climate change risk assessments into all future harbour development plans. Furthermore, we must trust our policies are adequately resourced and implemented at local level to ensuring a consistent, science-based approach is undertaken. By taking decisive action now, we can protect our harbours, not only as centres of economic activity but as lifelines for our coastal communities, ensuring they remain safe, functional and sustainable for generations to come.  This is about fairness. It is about recognising that the vibrancy and sustainability of coastal communities depend on investment in the infrastructure they use every day, and not just in the six harbours managed by the Department. Let us ensure the smaller harbours, the beating hearts of so many coastal towns and villages, finally get their fair share. However, this will be completely useless if our fisheries sector is wiped out. Overfishing and the management of our shared marine resources, which have been ongoing issues for years, have already been addressed by previous speakers. Yet, despite years of engagement and submissions, the fishing sector now faces an unprecedented crisis. If we account for the cumulative cutbacks, Ireland\u2019s seafood industry could face losses of up to \u20ac200 million next year, and conservative estimates suggest 2,000 jobs could be at risk. The impact on coastal and fishing communities would be devastating.  I thank the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation, which got in touch with my office yesterday regarding the seriousness of the situation. The latest scientific advice for 2026 paints a deeply worrying picture. Drastic catch reductions are being recommended, including 70% in mackerel, 41% in whiting and 22% in boarfish, with zero catches for cod, haddock and whiting. If these cuts are implemented, the implications will be severe. The economic viability of the Irish catching sector will be in jeopardy and fish processors will be starved of raw materials, particularly in the pelagic sector, where closures could occur. The service industries that depend on fishing will also be hit, affecting livelihoods right across our coastal communities. To put this into perspective, the loss of income from these cuts could exceed \u20ac60 million compared to 2024.  Around 200 fishermen's jobs would be directly at risk. When we add the quota transfers to the UK from Brexit, Ireland's mackerel quota will have fallen by 85% since 2022. Mackerel alone was valued at \u20ac82 million in 2024, our most valuable fish stock for both catching and processing. To manage this crisis, the sector will urgently need cash resources to reduce pressure on quotas and share limited fishing opportunities fairly throughout the year. Unlike the Brexit schemes, these supports must be linked to the processing sector to avoid repeating past mistakes that left processors stranded without supply. The processing industry employs 3,800 people across 91 companies and has already been struggling since Brexit. Further cuts in 2026 could force closures.  This is not sustainable, economically, socially or politically. The EU's management of these resources must respect scientific limits but also fairness. Ireland has consistently been on the losing side of these negotiations. We cannot continue to lose. The term \"economic Armageddon\" was used in the fisheries committee only last week. This is not an exaggeration; it is reality for our fishing sector. I am calling for a comprehensive support framework for the catching and processing sectors to be designed and delivered. Ireland's fishing and seafood industries are the lifeblood of many of our coastal communities. We must ensure their survival and sustainability.  I highlight the work of my colleague and party leader, Deputy Ivana Bacik, on the Dublin Bay Bill. This legislation would go a long way to protect biodiversity, enhance water quality and restore and regenerate amenities along our coastline. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  As a first time TD, I meet many people across many different sectors. Meeting those people, particularly volunteers in various groups and organisations, and learning from them is possibly one of the best parts of this job. In August this year, fisheries, the importance of fish, wildlife and our rivers landed on my desk. To be totally honest with everyone in this House, I knew very little about fish, wildlife and our rivers, despite living in and being from Mallow, which the River Blackwater flows through. The River Blackwater was the scene of the greatest fish kill ever seen in this country. In excess of 40,000 fish were killed by a chemical irritant. The cross-party agency group came to a conclusion that no definite source could be found.  I again thank the Minister of State for coming to Mallow. The people of the town appreciate that. The Minister of State well knows that the fish kill caused significant hurt and anger in my home town and its environs. To get this conclusion is a cause for significant and serious concern. Following the joint committee on the environment meeting, I am shocked to hear IFI chairperson and the workers themselves believe that they do not have strong enough enforcement powers within their organisation to stop companies, individuals or State agencies from polluting our rivers. My understanding is that the Minister of State, his Department and IFI have begun conversations to give IFI further enforcement powers but my firm belief is that that must be sped up or more events like what we saw on the Blackwater in August will continue to happen across this country.  The essential issue that members of our communities have, which they have directed at me even though I am not even in government, is that there is a serious lack of accountability when it comes to protecting our environment and pollution in our environment. If we are serious about protecting our environment, rivers, fish and wildlife, enforcement powers must be increased. EPA licences must be withdrawn if constant pollution happens, because I can think of a number of organisations, private and public, which have polluted rivers in and around my own town of Mallow for many years, and which are making millions of euro in profit, that continue to pollute. My firm belief is that the reason for that is that it will cost them far less to take the slap on the wrist and the few thousand euro of a fine than to put in the infrastructure.  I thank the Minister of State again for visiting Mallow. He is well aware of the fishermen he met that day and the significant hurt and anger that continue to be felt. It does not matter whether I am in the Opposition or the Government, the lack of accountability remains an issue for the people in Mallow. I ask the Minister of State to speed up those conversations that have begun with IFI and give it those enforcement powers because unless we do that, events like that on the Blackwater will continue to happen on our waterways across this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  I welcome the opportunity to participate in this debate. I welcome John Lynch from Howth, who is the CEO of the Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation. I thank him for the hard work that he does in this area.  Ireland has a very proud fishing tradition right across our island. I was glad to see that a stand-alone Minister of State for fisheries was re-established as part of the programme for Government, reflecting the Government's commitment to this sector. It is important that, as Members of these Houses, we acknowledge that our fisheries are vital, not only for our economy but for our food security. We must ensure that those working in the sector are supported to the absolute maximum. In my constituency, Dublin Bay North, we are proud of Howth Harbour and Howth's tradition as a fishing village, dating back to the Middle Ages. This is my second time raising this matter on the floor of the House. Last month, I tabled a Topical Issue matter to discuss the urgent works required at the harbour. The harbour has not been dredged since the 1970s, half a century ago, and vessels are experiencing significant issues with the harbour's depth. A number of weeks ago, a vessel became stuck in the harbour for a number of hours at low tide. Vessels have a narrow window to get in and out of the harbour, particularly larger boats with a clearance of 5 m or less.  Planning permission has been granted for a wonderful new park off the pier using the dredged material. However, consent is awaited from the Environmental Protection Agency. We urgently need this approval so that vessels can utilise the harbour with ease, get in and out and do what they want and need to do. It is not just fishing vessels which use the harbour, but also commercial and leisure craft, and, extremely importantly, RNLI rescue craft. This delay could have serious implications for lifeboats in the future in the event of an emergency. I urge the Department to do what it can to get this project moving as soon as possible. Other improvements are required at the harbour, such as the boat repair shed. Currently, it is only accessible for part of the year. Greater sheltering of the shed would allow vessel owners to make repairs and improvements to the vessels all year around. I ask the Department to have a look at this and to offer definitive support in this regard. Also at the harbour, the Syncrolift which was built in the 1980s is long overdue an upgrade. I ask the Department to give this the attention it deserves.  Howth, as we all know, is a major centre for tourism, and contributes to the local and national economy. Each year, hundreds travel to Howth to celebrate Ireland's maritime heritage and our seafood tradition at Howth Maritime and Seafood Festival. However, it is vital that the local fishermen and women and the harbour receive the support they need to sustain the rich fishing tradition.  At a broader level, we are witnessing growing fragility in our food systems from impacts of war, climate disasters, rising costs and supply shortages. Ireland cannot take its food security for granted. We must provide every support that we can to our fisheries and those in the sector to protect our livelihoods and our national food security. Those in our fishing sector have raised their real concern about conditions they will face in 2026, which Deputy Pat the Cope Gallagher has so eruditely put. This entails reductions in catches of mackerel, blue whiting and boarfish, and zero catches for cod, haddock and whiting stocks. Such cuts would seriously impact the viability of our catching sector, prevent fish processing businesses from having access to raw material, and impact the service industry that supports the seafood sector in coastal communities like Howth. The Irish South and East Fish Producers Organisation has put forward a number of measures to support the sector, including subsidies or tie-up schemes to reduce fishing effort where stocks require a period of rebuilding, and has also called for Ireland to invoke all its Hague preferences where its quota is below the threshold. I know the Minister of State is familiar with those proposals.  I welcome that budget 2026 provides a significant \u20ac157.7 million to support the fisheries sector. This funding will provide much-needed financial assistance and essential investment in infrastructure. I strongly urge the Department to continue to work with the sector to meet the significant challenges ahead and to ensure the long-term viability of our fisheries and coastal communities.  The Department, however, needs to seriously up its game, as was so well put by Deputy Gallagher. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  Sinn F\u00e9in has long called for this debate and I am glad to finally have the chance to stand up for coastal and fishing communities. I thank our fisheries spokesman, Deputy Mac Lochlainn, for pushing for this debate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  These fishing communities have played a critical role in our economy and culture for generations but are now facing an existential threat following proposed cuts to our fishing quota and the Common Fisheries Policy. Just as we must protect marine life and biodiversity, we must also prioritise the communities that have lived alongside them for generations. Science and sustainability are not incompatible with thriving coastal communities; both can exist harmoniously. However, due to decades of EU inaction and diplomatic failure by governments, Ireland's fishing industry is facing a crisis. Devastating quota reductions, combined with the loss of traditional fishing grounds, represent serious threats. Quota cuts could wipe out over \u20ac200 million in value next year, with mackerel losses up to \u20ac80 million alone.  To add to this, some of the most egregious damage has and continues to be caused by the rogue actions of other states through overfishing. Overfishing by states such as Norway, the Faroes, Russia, Iceland and Britain have had a devastating impact on Ireland's fishing stocks. Over 1 million tonnes of mackerel have been caught above scientific advice in the past five years according to the North Atlantic Pelagic Advocacy Group. These are not just numbers; these are livelihoods, communities and a proud heritage under threat. What has the European Commission done in response? Worse than nothing. Not only has it failed to impose sanctions, these same states have been rewarded with greater access to water off the west of Ireland. In one recent deal, Norway was granted 200,000 tonnes of blue whiting in Irish waters while Ireland received less than 60,000 tonnes. That is worth \u20ac50 million for Norway versus \u20ac15 million for Ireland. This is unjust and it is outrageous. It is not like the EU is unaware of the devastating consequences of its actions in response to such rogue state behaviour. It has admitted that continued overfishing could force a zero-catch mackerel quota by 2027, given the scale of these inflated quotas. This is a cliff edge that is simply not surmountable without decimating livelihoods and communities as things stand.  We have also heard from fish producers that over 2,000 jobs could be lost. This will also affect the inshore fishers. Let me make this clear: Sinn F\u00e9in stands with fishing and coastal communities. We admire their resilience and commend their calls for fairness and accountability. We are calling on the Government to stand strongly with them. We need a firm stance in Brussels. It is high time the EU does what is right, acting decisively, and where rogue behaviour exists, it must stand firm. The Government must make it clear that if this overfishing continues, sanctions, trade leverage and access restrictions will be on the table.  We also call for an urgent financial aid package to support the industry through the crisis. Sinn F\u00e9in has proposed a \u20ac10 million contingency fund and \u20ac10 million in capital for harbour improvements. Speaking to our local councillor in west Kerry, Robert Brosnan, he has also called for the tuna fish quota for inshore grants so that they can diversify and more infrastructure for fishers in west Kerry. We believe the Government must back our coastal communities, not abandon them. The system also needs major reform, including a dedicated Minister for fisheries and marine, a \"Fish Ireland office in Brussels and a root and branch review of the Department. BIM also needs to do an impact assessment in order to protect the industry and a long-term strategy to sustainably support the fishing industry. Our offshore, inshore and agriculture sectors must be supported. We must ban destructive factory vessels, ensure fair quota distribution and promote sustainable growth.  When it comes to Ireland's offshore energy ambition in particular, fishing and coastal communities must see the benefits. Community benefit funds should be expanded and ring-fenced for this purpose specifically. In addition, they should be treated as the experts and partners they have the potential to be, but many fishers are locked out. Under the Government's current plan, in order for a fishing vessel to be used as a guard vessel, the fisherman must deregister the vessel, apply to go on the commercial register and then, should they wish to fish again, reapply both for a load line certificate and to go back on the fishing register. This is bureaucracy that, in practice, stops the communities in the major economic and infrastructural developments in their area. It is not a just transition. It is not like this in other EU countries.  Will the Minister of State commit to breaking down the barriers for fishing vessels to act as guard vessels? I also take this opportunity to ask once again where is the marine protected areas legislation. We have been waiting far too long. It threatens marine life and biodiversity but also creates significant uncertainty for our coastal and fishing communities. They need to be seen as partners, co-producers and active authors of this process. It is the only way it will work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  It is clear at this stage that the Common Fisheries Policy, as it is currently being implemented, is not fit for purpose. Something that was established 40 years ago to provide for a co-ordinated management of fish stocks has failed. It has failed to protect fish stocks, to protect our marine and to protect Irish fishing industry.  Our Irish fishing industry is one that is core to who we are as an island country. It is core to our coastal communities and to our identity. Rather than being part of a process in Europe that protects that, what we have seen happen is the sustainability of the fishery itself being completely eroded by the systems that have been put in place. Fishermen have been squeezed further and further. Their quotas are being squeezed and these fishermen are being squeezed out of their boats, out of their jobs and probably out of a history of generations of working in that area.  Unfortunately, the Common Fisheries Policy as it is currently being managed is also putting our fish stocks at huge risk. This policy is not working for any element of the stakeholders it was essentially set up to protect. This is not something that has happened recently. There has been updated information from ICES regarding stocks of certain species but this is not something that has happened recently. Twenty years ago, when I was fishing out of Howth, I would have gone down with the Marine Institute to fish from there. We used to go up to particular boats and ask could we go out with them for the week to catch some samples. I was working on a cod project at the time and I would talk to fisherman who would ask what I was trying to sample. When I would say cod - cod and haddock - they would laugh in my face and say I was not going to get any cod out there. That was probably 20 years ago and we can see now that has continued to play out. When we are looking at the state of our whitefish stocks at present, we have a zero catch TAC for cod in the north west, the Irish Sea and the Celtic Sea, and for haddock, whiting and pollock in the Celtic Sea. That in itself is a clear illustration that the system we are currently operating on is not working. We are seeing the collapse of stocks.  There are two particular stocks that have been a large part of the discussion today, namely, mackerel stocks and the blue whiting stocks. It is important when we talk about these stocks' collapse to state that this is not just a problem for Ireland. The collapse of this stock is catastrophic. Again, this is because it has not been managed properly. The ICES advice regarding the mackerel stocks is that the total allowable catch must be no more than 174,000 tonnes. That is a 77% reduction compared with the estimated catch in 2025. That advice is driven by the maximum sustainable yield. Essentially, what that says is there will be a 50% probability that the spawning stock biomass can recover to the absolute minimum biological limit by 2027. That is only a 50% chance. If we manage to keep to that 77% reduction, there is still only a 50% chance that the stock will be recoverable. That is just incredible.  Decades of overfishing have caused this crisis. Since 2010, the collective quota set by the coastal states, which include UK, the EU, Norway and others, has resulted in actual catches that have exceeded the scientific advice by an average of 39% every year. Fish stocks do not work this way. If you overfish them, there is not enough mature fish to reproduce to keep that stock going. That is the fundamental basis of it. If we continue to allow and facilitate overfishing, we are wiping that species out.  We are looking at a 41% reduction from the previous year's advice. Norway, the Faroe Islands, Iceland, the UK and the European Union have consistently exceeded the advised catches. We have discussed in the committee how Norway, the Faroe Islands and Iceland are particularly problematic in that they are allowed and facilitated to overfish a species to which they really should have no right. As a country, we need to get this message across to Europe. Even though the framework as it is set up is not working properly, I believe there are tools within the system that Ireland can use. I do not know why we have not been able to negotiate more strongly on the quotas in recent years and why Ireland has not been getting a fair share. There are two important principles here. One is that the overall quotas stay within the species' biological limits and that they are evidence- and science-based. That is the primary thing. If we do not get that right, there will be no fish for anybody. Within the quota, that is, the large cake that is determined to be there, Ireland needs to get its fair share. This is the fundamental thing we need to be fighting for. If it is the case, we need to make sure that we have alliances going in Europe that will fight and stand by us on that. That is really important. I do not know why we have always got the short end of the stick, I just do not understand it as I am not in the room. Previous Ministers might have a better understanding but it is time for that to stop and it is time for us to get our fair share.  Even within the system, I believe there are tools that we can use to ensure a more sustainable fishery and a better way of managing the fishery, particularly for our inshore fishers. They have been ignored for far too long. They are being squeezed into smaller and smaller geographical areas and are being confined to fewer and fewer species. That in itself is putting huge pressure on the species that are there. They need to be a core focus of the Minister of State's work. We need to start looking at Article 7 of the Common Fisheries Policy and actually start implementing it. This allows for fishing opportunities and for states to use transparent and objective criteria with a focus on social, environmental and economic criteria. This means that within the Common Fisheries Policy, the Minister of State can enable a much clearer focus on inshore fisheries and the low-impact fishers, which is what we really want to have. More resources can be directed to them under this provision. I do not understand why we have not used it. I ask the Minister of State to look at this seriously.  Previously, there was an issue with hake off the south west of Ireland, which is a nursery ground for this fish. In 2003 Ireland established, under the conditions of the EU, a biologically sensitive area. This enables restrictions on certain types of fishing within an area, based on its importance as a nursery area. Perhaps the Minister of State can look at this to deal with the blue whiting issue because the nursery area for that is currently in trouble. The provision could be used for that. The biologically sensitive areas seem to be a precursor to the marine protected areas. I strongly urge the Minister of State to get the marine protected area legislation in place. If that is done properly, not only will it protect our stocks, it will also protect our inshore fishers. If it is done well, it will increase fishing potential for people, so it needs to be done urgently. I plead for the Minister of State to have it as stand-alone legislation and that it is not just tacked on to something else. That would not give it the focus it requires. Please, get that done. We have been too long waiting and in the meantime, we are seeing stocks collapse and we are seeing our fishing industry collapse as well.  In his speech earlier, the Minister of State mentioned sprat. He referred to the fact that the banning of vessels over 18 m was an inshore-fishery measure. It is reckless of the Minister of State not to put in a quota for boats of under 18 m. He can still ensure a proper fishery for the boats under 18 m. They can still be prioritised but there needs to be a quota. The Marine Institute was very clear on this in the committee. Its representatives said that in the absence of any other data or information, the quota set by ICES, which was 2,240 tonnes, was the one that should be used. The precautionary principle needs to be used here. If the Minister of State does not get this right there may not be a fishery for some of those inshore boats and it is short-sighted not to apply a quota. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this vital topic. I also acknowledge Deputy Mac Lochlainn for his continued efforts to push for this and the Minister of State's attendance here as the relevant member of the Government. I want to make a few points today. This is a community that has been consistently left behind. It speaks to an area of my portfolio, which is the trade and sustainable industry element. I am coming at this as our enterprise spokesperson. Overfishing, as we have heard from many contributors today is compounding these problems. I want to focus not just on the industry itself but the lived reality of fishing communities across Ireland, the challenges they face and the policy failures that are simply squeezing them out of their business. Ireland is an island nation with 12% of the EU's fishing grounds and people along our coasts have made their livelihood from the sea for generations and it is vital that they continue to do so for many more generations. Sadly, however, overfishing has led us to a place where the scientific advice is recommending drastic reductions in quotas, including zero catches for cod, haddock and whiting. We cannot have a fishing industry without fish, and we need to see a policy which makes sure that we have plentiful stocks for years to come. We also need to fix the pattern of overfishing that has brought us here in the first place. We face immense challenges in this area when it comes to protecting our oceans, fishing communities and the jobs of people who live along our coasts. These are challenges that we need to take seriously and which we need to resolve as a matter of urgency. Inshore fishers have been a community that we have consistently left behind. Up and down our coastlines, we have communities that traditionally were full of people who made their livelihood on the sea. For many of those communities that way of life has been almost entirely wiped out in the past 50 years. Those who still do so face decreasing incomes, depleted fish stocks and lack of support in a job that is increasingly perilous.  The Common Agricultural Policy has been a huge support to Irish farmers but the Common Fisheries Policy has left Irish inshore fishers with the short straw on European fishing quotas. This has been compounded since Brexit, where Irish inshore fishers lost another quarter of that quota. These communities, particularly along the Atlantic coastline, which were never the most economically advantaged to begin with, are being pushed further to the margins. As I said, I come at this topic as my party's enterprise spokesperson, so I want to speak about the trade and sustainable industry components of that. In this context, I have heard and said many times in this Chamber that we need to find an economic model in Ireland that is not so reliant on foreign direct investment, FDI, and that is stable and sustainable. That means building up an indigenous industry and protecting it into the future. We need a stable economy and a tax base that we can rely on in good times and bad and which is guaranteed into the future in a world where few things are.  There is a version of our fishing industry that can be all of those things, namely, indigenous, stable and sustainable, but this vision is not yet the reality. Instead, the reality is a way of life that is being squeezed out of existence. It is galling to Irish inshore fishers and their communities, who are also dealing with the rising cost of living and hearing how wonderful our economy is, that their margins are being squeezed tighter and tighter. They certainly do not feel that their interests are being represented and fought for at national and EU level. We have seen the International Council for the Exploration of the Sea call on the EU to significantly reduce fishing quotas and our fishing stocks have drastically reduced. We are in a dangerous situation where fish cannot repopulate at the current rate of fishing. While small fishers struggle to get by, huge factory trawlers are hoovering up fish stocks inside and outside of our waters. We need a common-sense approach to fishing that protects our environment, fishing stocks and Irish inshore fisheries, because right now we have a situation which does not do any of those things.  T\u00e1 an saol ar ch\u00f3sta agus oile\u00e1in na h\u00c9ireann crua. Tuigeann daoine go bhfuil an saol seo crua. Tuigeann siad go bhfuil s\u00e9 deacair agus cont\u00fairteach. Is \u00e9 an rud nach dtuigeann siad n\u00e1 c\u00e9n fath nach bhfuil aon chabhair ar f\u00e1il d\u00f3ibh.  We cannot ignore the crisis as it worsens year on year. We are facing a cliff edge of dwindling fish stocks, dwindling quotas and an industry and community pushed further towards the margins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  Given that Ireland is a maritime nation, our waters are a strategic asset. Our fishing communities are a living heritage and our policy choices now will decide whether the next generation will be able to make a livelihood from the sea. I welcome today\u2019s debate and the Government\u2019s continued investment in the sector.  Since 2020, over \u20ac180 million has been invested in seafood, with a further \u20ac50 million for local piers and harbours and \u20ac157.7 million provided in budget 2026 to keep that momentum going. That money matters on the ground in the form of safer harbours, modern kit and real supports for crews and processors. I welcome the re-establishment of the role of Minister of State for fisheries and marine. Since his appointment earlier this year, the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, has moved quickly. His work has encompassed capital works in our fishery harbour centres, reciprocal access with the UK out to 2038 with no change to quotas, the launch of the FLAG coastal communities scheme and a dedicated skills plan through BIM to bring new entrants into a modern, professional seafood industry. These are practical measures that build resilience when margins are tight and crews are hard to find.  There are major challenges for the sector ahead. ICES advice points to sharp reductions next year, with a 70% cut signalled for mackerel, 41% for blue whiting and 22% for boarfish. In the context of Ireland\u2019s most valuable species, that is very worrying. The Government has committed to work with the industry on a pathway through this. Let us be honest, however. An adjustment of anything close to this level will bite. It will bite hardest where communities are most dependent on a narrow species mix. That is exactly why targeted investment, fleet efficiency, skills and local value-add are not just nice to have, they are also survival tools.  Let me turn to Dublin and the east coast, where the pattern is distinctive. Howth is our designated fishery harbour centre in Dublin. It anchors a significant processing cluster and sustains hundreds of jobs across the value chain. Continued capital investment there involving dredging, safety, berths and utilities is essential to keep output high and to secure processing jobs that support families right across the Dublin area. That work is already funded this year under the national capital allocations for fishery harbour centres, so let us keep it moving at pace. However, Dublin\u2019s story is bigger than one harbour. Along the coast, we have small inshore fleets working pots for brown crab and lobster from Skerries and Clogherhead down to Bulloch Harbour in Dalkey, Kilmore Quay and Dunmore East. The decision to prohibit trawling by vessels over 18 m inside the six-mile zone helps restore that link between local resources and local boats. We support that policy and we want to see the benefits land locally.  I have two practical asks for Dublin Bay. The first relates to D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour. D\u00fan Laoghaire is not a fishery harbour centre, but it is a major harbour with slipways, a public boatyard, fuel, water and easy logistics. I want to see it utilised further for inshore activity. That means designating a modest working area in the Coal Harbour or the Old Harbour for time-limited commercial landings by small craft, providing hose points and shore power, securing gear storage in order that pots will not be competing with leisure users or those engaged in boat and craft repairs. None of that would turn D\u00fan Laoghaire into a second Howth, but it would make a real difference for inshore crews and for restaurants that want local catch on local plates.  My second ask relates to Bulloch Harbour. The tradition of lobster potting from Bulloch is part of our coastal identity in D\u00fan Laoghaire. Let us back it with targeted micro-measures, such as small-gear grants, safe haul-out and storage, a seasonal conservation plan developed with fishers and young entrant supports tied to BIM training, in order that new skippers can step aboard with competence and confidence. If we want the tradition to endure, we should make it a little easier and a lot safer to work from Bulloch Harbour.  Across the east coast, there is a wider co-existence agenda. Offshore renewable energy is coming. Survey vessels are already using our ports, and the build-out is going to intensify. The State\u2019s seafood-offshore renewable energy working group is the right forum. We need its outputs to be nailed down in practical protocols involving charted corridors, fair compensation for disruption and opportunities for fishing vessels to earn income on surveys and guard-duty work without being lost to the fleet. Dublin Bay and D\u00fan Laoghaire Harbour can be national exemplars of good practice here, with climate action and coastal livelihoods rowing in the same direction.  We also need to keep pulling EU levers. Ireland must keep fighting for fair outcomes under the Common Fisheries Policy and in annual quota rounds. With European Maritime, Fisheries and Aquaculture Fund moneys already underpinning our seafood development programme, we should ring-fence the next multi-annual financial framework in order that fisheries supports are stable through the cycle.  As we prepare for the 2026 review milestones under the UK-EU trade and co-operation agreement, Ireland\u2019s bottom line is clear - defend our access, defend our share and make sure landings support processing and jobs at home.  Regarding skills and safety, BIM through its plan, The Next Wave, is investing in the people we need, such as skippers, engineers, processors and those with business skills. That must continue. If we want young people to choose this life, we owe them modern kit, predictable income and a harbour they can come home to. We keep the knowledge alive by ensuring that people know how to set a string, read a tide and bring a boat and a crew back safe.  We must keep investing in Howth, unlock practical inshore facilities at D\u00fan Laoghaire, safeguard and support lobster potting at Bulloch, manage offshore renewable energy in order that fishers will be partners and hold our line in Brussels and London while we ride out the stock cycle. If we do that, we will ensure that the next generation in Dublin, on the east coast and at ports around the island will see a future at sea. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  For months, we in Sinn F\u00e9in and our colleague Deputy Mac Lochlainn have been calling on the Government to allow statements on fisheries to take place in this House. In that context, I welcome the opportunity today to finally debate the future of an industry that is at breaking point. This is an industry that has been failed by successive Governments and abandoned by Brussels, but we have reached the point, as a result of years of neglect, where it is in crisis. Across our coastal communities from Donegal to Cork and from Mayo to Wexford, families that have fished these waters for generations are facing devastation. The latest international scientific advice has confirmed what many feared, namely a 70% cut to the mackerel quota alongside severe reductions for blue whiting and boarfish. These are not abstract figures. They are the difference between survival and collapse for Irish fishing communities, so let us be clear about what has happened here.  For years, fleets from countries such as Norway, Iceland and Russia among others have engaged in reckless overfishing of mackerel and other shared stocks. The European Commission has stood idly by. Year after year, it has expressed concern but taken no action. Now the punishment falls not on those who broke the rules but on those who played by them. Ireland, which controls 12% of EU waters yet receives less than 6% of the quota, is once again being made to pay the price for the failures of others. The reality is that the Common Fisheries Policy is broken. It is unjust, ineffective and fundamentally anti-Irish. It rewards those who over-fish and over penalises those who protect the resource. It has allowed foreign super-trawlers to plunder our waters while our own fleets are being decommissioned. If the EU continues down this road, our seafood sector could collapse within a year, wiping out 2,000 jobs and hundreds of millions of euro in exports. For fishing communities such as in my constituency in Mayo and around the coast, this is a crisis, which is why Sinn F\u00e9in is calling for urgent action.  The Government must immediately enter negotiations with the European Commission on an emergency financial package to sustain our fishing and seafood industry through this crisis. Those that have been punished for compliance must not be left to sink while the EU dithers. Second, we need a radical reset of the Common Fisheries Policy and for the Irish Government to fight for a fair share of quota in our own waters. We also need sanctions against the rogue states that continue to overfish and we need transparency around who within the EU benefits from these cosy arrangements.  It is vital for our fishing industry that our voice is finally heard loud and clear in Brussels . Our message is simple, enough is enough. The days of polite diplomacy and weak negotiation are over. Ireland's coastal and island communities deserve fairness, sustainability and respect. Our fishermen are not asking for favours. They are asking for justice and a future in the industry that built their communities and fed our nation. Sinn F\u00e9in will continue to stand shoulder to shoulder with them in Brussels, in this House and in every town and village across the island.  I will say a few words about the inshore sector. The inshore fleet is a vital part of our fishing sector, with almost 2,000 vessels. It provides more than half the employment in our seafood industry, sustaining coastal communities across the island. We will continue the proud history and tradition of Irish inshore fishing by collaborating with the sector and putting in place supports to ensure its growth. Sinn F\u00e9in's priorities for the inshore sector include revisiting, relaunching and implementing the Irish Inshore Fisheries Sector Strategy 2019-2023 in full, theme by theme, objective by objective and action by action; adequately resourcing the recently established inshore and islands producers organisations, the National Inshore Fishermen's Association and the Irish Islands Marine Resource Organisation; working with all sectors of the fishing industry to ensure a fair and reasonable distribution of the mackerel and herring quota and the quotas of other species as they arise; working with inshore fishermen and their representatives to identify new quota and non-quota fishing opportunities to build and grow new markets and identify financial and other types of supports that can be availed of during these turbulent times; developing a continuity grant that can be accessed by the inshore and islands fishing sector to promote growth and revitalise communities; and enacting and implementing the Islands Fisheries (Heritage Licence) Bill 2017.  We have to take seriously what is happening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  It is hard not to feel completely hopeless about the fishing industry at the moment. What was once a prosperous industry is now facing complete collapse. It is utter devastation, as the Minister of State is well aware. The numbers have been outlined multiple times already, but it is important they are repeated until we get to grips with what we are facing and its potential impact. The International Council for the Exploration of the Sea has advised the following cuts, starting next year: a 70% cut in mackerel, a 41% cut in blue whiting, a 22% cut in boarfish, a 71% cut in Irish Sea whiting, a 59% cut in Irish Sea plaice and a 30% cut in Irish Sea haddock. As well as these cuts, a cut in Dublin Bay prawns is expected next week. The fishing industry faces losing up to \u20ac200 million.  The Minister of State knows about these numbers. We have discussed them at length over recent months in the fisheries committee. The response from the Government has been extremely underwhelming. It is an attitude of deafness regarding fishing. It is as though these cuts and the industry's decline have already been accepted. We have no control over what happens in our waters, but we should. We have spent so long pandering to Europe that we have completely forgotten our value and the value of our fishing industry.  Ireland holds about 12% of EU waters but is allocated less than 6% of the fishing quota. We are getting back half of what we have and we allow it. We allow Europe and other countries to consistently take and take, which they do. In 2010, Iceland and the Faroe Islands increased their mackerel quotas without consulting the other countries that have a shared interest in these stocks, and we let them. In 2021, the Faroe Islands and Norway raised their mackerel quotas without agreement with the EU, despite Ireland being the most reliant on them, and we let them. In 2013, the Faroe Islands increased its allowance for herring by 229% and we allowed it. In 2020, following the Brexit trade co-operation agreement, 40% of the total value of European quotas was transferred to the UK from Ireland, and we let Europe sell off our half. This deal has been extremely damaging and has cost the fishing industry an estimated \u20ac180 million to date. In 2024, the UK signed an agreement with Norway and the Faroe Islands, dividing up 70% of the mackerel between them without involving the EU. We let them get away with that too.  Today, vessels from EU states, as well as fleets from the southern hemisphere, fish bluefin tuna, a lucrative species, in our waters, while Irish fishermen are forced to observe this because Europe has not allowed us to access this stock. French and British vessels continue to fish seabass on our doorstep while we have not been able to fish it since the 1990s and yet again, we let them away with this and much more. For how much longer will we let Europe and other countries take advantage of us?  If this was happening in any other industry, there would be complete uproar. However, the fishing industry gets ignored and is undervalued again and again, despite being a massive part of the country's culture and heritage, as well as a massive economic asset. Bord Iascaigh Mhara, BIM, reported that in 2024 Ireland's seafood economy generated \u20ac1.24 billion in GDP. The sector sustained more than 16,800 direct and indirect jobs across fishing services and other services, yet the Government fails to take action. It fails to protect this industry and the jobs of people of who have made this industry their livelihood.  Worse than that, it continues to support the very mechanisms and policies that actively hurt the industry. In its budget announcement at the beginning of the month, the Government stated it intends to support fully the implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy. Basically, it seeks to support the very outdated policy that is causing these significant cuts. I understand the total allowance catch numbers are set annually at EU level for each region and each fish species. Ireland then receives its percentage for these through the total allowable catches, TAC, system. The percentage reflects the size and scope of the Irish fishing industry during the 1970s, which is half a century ago. That is why we have no bluefin tuna quota as there were no recorded landings over 50 years ago. Quite frankly, that is ridiculous in this day and age. The country and fishing industry have changed astronomically.  It is clear this policy holds us back, yet the Government calls for the full implementation of the Common Fisheries Policy. This speaks of a Government that is completely out of touch with the fishing industry. The European Commission is currently evaluating the Common Fisheries Policy but the review has been going on for far too long. The cuts we face are due to take place in less than three months. We do not have time to wait. Armegeddon is coming. There is no doubt our industry will be completely wiped out if any further quota cuts are enforced, never mind the 70% cut in mackerel. Ireland's TAC share of mackerel is more than that of any other species and its value supports more of the fishing industry than any other significant margin, yet it seems tthe Government's negotiation strategy is not to reject such devastating quota cuts but to allow a lesser cut and apply for the Hague preferences, a small additional allowance, to patch it up, rather than try to fix the root problem.  It is disappointing that the Government consistently takes such a weak negotiation stance when it comes to fishing. We are so desperate to please Europe that it is to the detriment of our fisheries and citizens. It is not fair that Irish fishers are forced to bear the brunt of a weak Government that does not seem to have the best interests of the fisheries at heart. As I come from a coastal community, an island community, I can tell the House that further cuts to quotas will cause catastrophic damage and we should not be immune to hearing this. Fishing communities are barely surviving as it is. In Donegal, I see at first hand every day that it takes entire towns and communities to make towns successful. Killybegs is one example. It was a thriving town, but it is in decline. The next few months and decisions will determine the future of that place. Killybegs has a history of fishing. It has raised families on fishing, but right now as we speak, fish factories are not operating and boats are tied up. I come from an island, Arranmore, where fishing has been an important part of the island's history. That history is being erased with every cut and every time we are treated unfairly. Many of our island piers and harbours lack basic services such as electricity, waste collection, lighting and water supply. There are problems and on top of that many inshore fisheries face discrimination against smaller fisheries. Inshore fisheries are denied funding from the Brexit adjustment reserve.  That almost the entire mackerel and herring quota is given to just 50 large vessels, owned by about two dozen, is extremely unfair. These people face an uncertain Christmas and an uncertain future. This is solvable with the right Government and political will. The Minister has the will to do this. He will have to do it because if he does not, we are facing Armageddon for the fishing industry all over Ireland. I believe the Minister will have to go in hard and fight for the people and the fisheries. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mair\u00e9ad Farrell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Mair\u00e9ad-Farrell.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mair\u00e9ad Farrell  The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, knows and has spent time in the coastal communities I represent in Galway. We talk about Connemara and the four offshore islands in Galway West where the lifestyle is completely interwoven with the sea and fishing. It really is a way of life. Anyone who is familiar with fishing communities knows the importance of European fishing quotas and of states respecting these quotas. This is why it is so important for the Government to represent the interests of hard-working Irish fishers when negotiating quotas and representing their interests in Europe.  I am regularly contacted by fishers who ask for a bluefin tuna quota, which I have previously raised with the Minister of State. Understandably, our fishing communities are furious that non-EU third states are overfishing with no repercussions. This has led to recent scientific recommendations to cut fishing quotas of species like mackerel. Mackerel is very important to our fishing communities and any cuts will be devastating for them.  This is why it is so shameful that certain Irish MEPs voted for the agreement that would hand over Irish fishing territory and quotas to Norway and Iceland in return for funding. Meanwhile, Ireland will not see a red cent of that money despite these concessions. This is bad for Ireland and turns its back on our fishing communities. Along with Independent, Labour and Independent Ireland MEPs, all four Fianna F\u00e1il MEPs supported it. This is particularly concerning, considering that Fianna F\u00e1il holds the Ministry responsible for fisheries.  Our fishing communities need us all to stand up for them internationally to protect our quotas and negotiate deals that will support coastal communities and not leave them on their own. We cannot reward states that overfish our waters with higher quotas. We need the EU to take action to ensure that all states fish responsibly based on the science. We need a better deal for Irish fishers. We need justice and fairness for our Irish fishing communities, once and for all.  T\u00e1 a fhios ag an Aire St\u00e1it go maith c\u00e9 chomh t\u00e1bhachtach is at\u00e1 c\u00farsa\u00ed iascaireachta i gConamara agus ar na hoile\u00e1in amuigh \u00f3n ch\u00f3sta thar timpeall na Gaillimhe. T\u00e1 ceithre cinn acu. Tuigeann muid c\u00e9 chomh t\u00e1bhachtach is at\u00e1 an iascaireacht n\u00ed hamh\u00e1in don gheilleagair, ach do shaol na ndaoine sin chomh maith. Cuireann s\u00e9 frustrachas uaf\u00e1sach ar iascair\u00ed nuair a fheiceann siad c\u00e9ard a tharla\u00edonn ar bhonn leibh\u00e9al na hEorpa agus an Aontais Eorpaigh. Motha\u00edonn siad nach bhfuil an m\u00e9id at\u00e1 ag teast\u00e1il uathu \u00e1 chur in i\u00fal ag an Rialtas, n\u00e1 ag Feisir\u00ed Eorpacha \u00e1irithe, ag leibh\u00e9al an Aontais Eorpaigh. N\u00edl s\u00e9 s\u00e1ch maith go bhfuil siad ag fulaingt agus ag streachailt mar gheall air seo. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 f\u00edorth\u00e1bhachtach go n-oibr\u00edonn chuile dhuine sa Teach seo le ch\u00e9ile chun cinnti\u00fa go mbeidh deal n\u00edos fearr ag iascair\u00ed na h\u00c9ireann. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 thar am go nd\u00e9anann muid \u00e9 seo mar t\u00e1 a fhios againn nach raibh s\u00e9 d\u00e9anta le 20, 30 n\u00f3 40 bliain anuas. Anois, \u00e1fach, t\u00e1 Aire St\u00e1it againn. T\u00e1 an tAire St\u00e1it ann agus t\u00e1 s\u00e9 thar am go mbainfear \u00fas\u00e1id as an r\u00f3l sin chun \u00e9 sin a chinnti\u00fa. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I thank the Chief Whip for making the statements possible today. Deputy Mac Lochlainn and I pushed hard for this debate, which is of huge importance at the present time. I would like this to be an honest debate. I do not want to stand here speaking and not getting answers. I would like to get answers to the questions I am putting to the Minister. I want us to work together to save our fishing industry. This is where we are at.  The proposed 70% cut in the European Union\u2019s mackerel fishing quota will wipe out the industry in Ireland. I was at a meeting of TDs and Senators the other night. I will tell the Minister that the fishers of Ireland are well pissed off - pardon my language - with successive Governments hanging them out to dry. The word that was used when describing what was happening in the fishing industry was \u201cArmageddon\u201d, as Deputy Ward mentioned. In the fishers\u2019 own words, they are saying it is a total collapse of the sector. If current trends continue, there will be irreparable damage to coastal communities, livelihoods and the marine economy. The fishers say it is a point of no return and that, without immediate and decisive intervention, recovery may be impossible. They use the word \u201cArmageddon\u201d to wake up policymakers, including the Minister, unless the policymakers want to see the end of an era for Irish fishing.  My God, does the Minister know what is one of the biggest costs for Cork County Council at present? It is repairing the road into Castletownbere. From what? It is from damage done by Spanish lorries going into Castletownbere numerous times weekly to load Irish fish on Spanish boats, while our Irish boats are tied up with empty tanks. Those trucks driving out of Castletownbere are causing a world of damage to the road. It is astonishing. You could not make it up in a cartoon or a comedy because no one would believe it.  Today, I am not just a representative of my constituents. I am a voice for the coastal communities of Ireland that are being systematically dismantled by the failures of fishery policy at home and in Europe. The figures speak for themselves. In just the past seven years, the Irish fleet has suffered estimated losses of \u20ac90 million to \u20ac100 million. This is not just a financial crisis. It is a cultural and community catastrophe. Mackerel quotas have been slashed by 77%, costing us \u20ac66 million. Blue whiting is down by 41%, a \u20ac7.5 million blow. Prawns have been reduced by 12% to 13%, costing \u20ac4.8 million. Entire fleets are being shut down. The Celtic Sea fleet is effectively grounded. The Irish Sea fleet is barely operational. Ports like Castletownbere, Union Hall, Dunmore East, Clogherhead, Howth, Kilmore Quay, Killybegs and Greencastle are facing existential threats. Seventeen boats were taken from Castletownbere alone in the most recent decommissioning scheme. They are not just boats. They are our livelihoods, traditions and futures.  Despite Ireland contributing 12% of EU waters, we receive just 6% of the fish. This is a grotesque imbalance. Our fishers are being asked to stop fishing in their own waters while foreign vessels continue to exploit these stocks. Where is the fairness? Where is the sovereignty? The Common Fisheries Policy, compounded by the Brexit trade and co-operation agreement, has failed Ireland. Stocks are declining even though our fishers have reduced their catches year after year. ICES now describes the situation in the Celtic and Irish seas as particularly concerning, with many stocks falling below critical biomass thresholds.  We are being punished for our compliance. We need, first, immediate financial aid to support our fleet and communities, second, a succession plan to ensure the future of Irish fishing and, third, a legal challenge to the EU\u2019s policy failure, if necessary. The legal mechanism exists, namely, Articles 263, 265 and 340 of the TFEU, to challenge unlawful conduct and the failure to act, and to seek damages. If our Government will not act, then we on this side of the House and the fishers must consider doing this ourselves. We also demand the application of the Hague preferences to allow our fishers to remain legal in their own waters.  What of bluefin tuna? Despite a massive recovery in stock numbers, Ireland receives no quota, only a bycatch allowance. This is unacceptable. What about our fishing rights off Rockall? Have we got those rights back? Are we going to get them back? Is this another kick in the you-know-what for Irish fishers? This is not just about fish. It is about fairness. It is about the survival of our coastal communities. It is about Ireland's right to fish in Irish waters.  First, can the Minister confirm what emergency financial aid package is being considered to address the estimated \u20ac90 million to \u20ac100 million in losses suffered by the Irish fleet? Second, what is his response to the fact that 17 boats were removed from Castletownbere alone under the most recent decommissioning scheme? What continued support is being offered to those families and communities? Third, why does Ireland, which contributes 12% of EU waters, receive only 6% of the fish? What steps are being taken to correct this imbalance?  I wish the Minister would take this down because these are very serious questions that come from the fishers, not from me. If the Minister can answer them, they and I would greatly appreciate it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Heydon  My officials are taking note of all the questions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  Fourth, will the Minister commit to pushing for the application of the Hague preferences to ensure Irish fishers can legally fish in their own waters? Fifth, why is Ireland being denied a dedicated quota for bluefin tuna despite a clear recovery in stock levels and historical fishing effort? Sixth, does the Minister accept that the Common Fisheries Policy and the Brexit trade and co-operation agreement have disproportionately harmed Ireland's fishing sector? Seventh, will the Government consider initiating a legal challenge under Articles 263, 265 or 340 of the TFEU to seek redress for these policy failures?  Eighth, how does the Government explain the continued decline in fish stocks despite Irish fishermen reducing their catches over the past seven years? Ninth, what is the Government\u2019s position on ICES recommending zero TACs for key species in the Celtic and Irish Seas, effectively shutting down entire fleets? Tenth, what is the Government\u2019s plan for succession and recruitment in the fishing industry to ensure its long-term survival? Eleventh, will the Government commit to a full review of Ireland\u2019s share of blue whiting, given the massive biomass and the unfair allocation of just 59,000 tonnes from a TAC of over 1.4 million tonnes? Twelfth, are the Minister and Minister of State going to agree on the 70% proposed cuts on mackerel quotas? What is their plan for other quotas for these fishermen who want to work in the sea?  I urge them to stand with these fishermen. I had a meeting with them. It is at crisis point. It was at crisis point without ever a worry of a 70% mackerel cut. That is game over for them. People have invested in fishing. I have been down in Wexford and in different ports meeting with fishermen. It is the same down in west Cork. People have spent millions of euro investing in their boats, fleet and staff, and to think this is what is facing them. They are facing ruination. It is a serious crisis. I urge the Government to stand with us, fight for our fisherman, demand reform and if reform is denied then let us challenge the injustice in the courts of Europe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I raise a very serious issue that is happening in my constituency in Mayo. That is the proposed closure of the Cong hatchery. This facility is one of the most important pieces of infrastructure in Mayo. It is fundamentally important. It is the jewel in the crown of the tourism sector in south Mayo. Cong, Ballinrobe, much of south Mayo and Galway rely on this important angling and tourism sector. The IFI is proposing to close this hatchery. Why is this important? It is important that the Minister of State understands that the hatchery was established in the 1960s. It was established as a result of a near wipe-out of salmon stocks. The IFI created the hatchery. It imported genetics from abroad. It has been hugely successful in replenishing the near wipe-out of salmon stocks across the Corrib. Many of the smolts that are produced have a huge success rate in leaving our shores, travelling across North America and returning.  The IFI decided to close without any environmental assessment. In fact, I have written to the Minister of State. I have submitted parliamentary questions. I was amazed at the response. I asked what analysis was done on the fish stocks in the region. There was no analysis done. I also asked what analysis was done on the impact on the tourism sector in south Mayo and Connemara. The reply was astonishing. It stated that because, in the 1960s, the hatchery was not established for the purposes of tourism, no impact assessment would be done. What kind of response is that? Cong and south Mayo have developed on the back of this really important piece of infrastructure, but no impact analysis is done. There are hundreds of jobs and businesses that rely on tourism in south Mayo. This is an important aspect that must be considered. I ask the Minister of State to consider the impact on tourism and the impact it will have on fish stocks in the region.  The report that was published by the North Atlantic Salmon Conservation Organisation, NASCO, is being used to essentially close the Cong hatchery, but the fact is that NASCO recognises that well-managed hatcheries can play an important role in conservation of our fish stocks. The science used to justify the closure manipulates the international guidance and overlooks Cong\u2019s valuable service. I asked about the assessment that was done on the fish stocks that are produced in Cong but no data was provided. This hatchery should be used as a flagship hatchery. It should be a model to follow, a place we can go to learn and research and an education facility. I have no doubt that if we see an epidemic like the environmental disaster we saw in the River Blackwater, we will rue the day that we close this. This will cost millions of euro to re-establish down the line.  Before this hatchery is closed, I ask the Minister of State to join me in Cong, visit the facility and see the valuable contribution. It is just two hours from County Clare. I will join him at the facility in Cong at any point of his choosing. I am asking him to pause, reflect, intervene and understand what is at stake here for the entire region, not just for tourism but in terms of the salmon stocks in south Mayo. It is fundamentally important. Will the Minister of State commit to visiting Cong hatchery before the IFI closes this facility? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  A lot of issues have been raised by my colleagues, particularly by Teachta\u00ed Mac Lochlainn and McGuinness, in relation to quotas, an existential threat facing fishermen and European and State policy. I support all of that and all the points that they made.  I wish to concentrate on infrastructure because it is important. The Minister visited Waterford recently. One of the points of the discussion was Helvick Harbour. The need to the develop those harbours is quite clear to anybody who is looking at this. We in Sinn F\u00e9in have been raising this issue for years. Helvick pier falls under the local authority harbours programme. The problem is that it does not get enough funding and is not able to do the engineering or environmental studies. That creates problems for projects to be done. Everybody gets sent around the houses. We go around in circles and the work does not get done. There needs to be a reform of how funding is provided in the first instance, particularly to those local authority harbours. Helvick is one of them, but there are others across the State as well.  I raise the issue of Dunmore East Harbour. It is an issue that I have been raising for a long number of years in relation to the development of that harbour. It is a shining example of what can be done regarding marine tourism and water sports activity. There is lots going on there during the summer. There is an adventure playground where young children can go out and swim in the harbour. There are fishing boats. Sometimes, we have cruise ships that come in. It is all fantastic. The problem is that they cannot all coexist in the current harbour because it is just not sufficient. There was a study commissioned by the Department a number of years ago. It was a very good study; it was a feasibility study on what needed to ensure that we can maximise the potential of Dunmore East Harbour. It outlined four options ranging from \u20ac17 million to \u20ac45 million. Nothing was done, not a thing. It dropped off the face of the earth. It dropped off a cliff. I have not seen anything from the Government or the Department since. Despite the fact I was submitting parliamentary questions well before the most recent general election, trying to get a sense of what happened there and where it went, we did not get any response. I ask the Minister to look into that feasibility study. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  As a coastal TD, I have seen at first hand the decline in the fishing industry. The sector has suffered quota cuts, fleet reductions and fuel pressures. The input of cost increases in recent years has left them facing crisis after crisis. This is following decades of neglect, mismanagement and weak negotiations on their behalf by successive Fianna F\u00e1il- and Fine Gael-led Governments. I want to touch on something because people have mentioned quotas and different stocks. I am going to give a real-life story. A gentleman named Mr. CJ Gaffney is the perfect example of the incredible damage that has been done and continues to be done to the Irish fishing industry. It has literally been gutted \u2013 pardon the pun. In 2007, CJ purchased a Dutch trawler, the Mary Kate, and subsequently found that it had serious stability issues that made the boat uninsurable.  After trying to take legal action in Holland and in Germany, as it was German registered, without success, he took out a loan to cover the considerable cost of fixing that boat. Despite finishing the repairs in 2012 at an eye-watering cost to himself, CJ had been unable to earn a living fishing the boat for so long that he was forced to sell it. A UK buyer was found, but due to the boat's history it could not be registered in the UK as part of the fishing fleet. He had to surrender the boat to the bank in 2012 along with his fishing licence, and was left with debts of over \u20ac1 million. The decade-long crusade has left CJ emotionally and financially spent with petitions to the European Commission and to the Irish Government to see if they could draw down EU funds from the European fisheries fund in compensation, but that is falling on deaf ears. Now dismantled, her fate has resonated deeply in many coastal communities across the country who have been ignored by consecutive Governments. Questions need to be answered by this Government and by the EU as to how this beam trawler was issued with a stamped stability book from a renowned international classification society. This had serious maritime safety implications. The Gaffney family deserve compensation for this ordeal. We need to ensure that no other family will ever face the same injustice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  T\u00e1im bu\u00edoch don Aire St\u00e1it as a thuras chuig Bhaile \u00c1tha Cliath thuaidh. It was great to see him with the local fishermen and the people who are engaged with local businesses i mBinn \u00c9adair. It is very important to have been at that table to talk to the local fishermen. He witnessed how greatly the local economy is based on fishing. Howth is a huge tourist attraction. Americans come to this beautiful capital city, get the bus out to Howth, go on the walk, see the fishermen and eat the fresh fish. There are so many jobs based on that. The main thing the Minister of State heard about from that meeting is the dredging of the harbour. There is a serious delay at the moment. I understand the EPA has a reason and there are issues that need to be examined. Can the Department speed that up? Some estimates show that nearly 220,000 cu. m. of material needs to be removed. We have to do that sensitively as there is a lot of marine life around the area. Clearance of this material would restore depth and safety and ensure navigation of all craft. Residents in Howth are saying there have been incidents where the lifeboat was having difficulties in certain areas of the port. Could the Department look at ways to expedite the environmental authorisation along with the rigorous safeguards?  I also want to reinforce the long discussion we had on the Syncrolift boat lift that is currently there. It is 40 years old and sadly the parts for that lift are not available any more. If that lift was out of service, all the local fishermen, boats and businesses, the fishmongers, restaurants and boat developers would not be able to work and the local economy would be damaged. I was on the phone to a local fisherman today. It is essential that this infrastructure be upgraded.  Returning to the dredging, the issue of boat access is linked in that there have been cases where it is inefficient at low tide on certain channels. Other Members have commented on EU fishing laws. We saw how the fishermen spoke to the Minister of State that day. I know that he engaged with them and that we do have our hands tied when it comes to EU laws. Is there a way he could look into the matters those fishermen asked him to expedite? I look forward to welcoming him back to Howth to open a new boat lift in the next month or two. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am glad to get an opportunity to talk on behalf of the fishing industry and coastal communities in general. When fishermen cannot make money, coastal communities are adversely affected. We have to give credit to the British going back to the 1600s. They built up the fishing industry in Ireland and gave the local people at the time the wherewithal to get the fishing industry going, which we carried on through thick and thin for many years. Since our accession to the EU, we have lost much of our fishing quotas to the detriment of Irish fishermen and the coastal communities that I mentioned. All that has been done for them was to pay some of them. We saw the grand presentations they made to us in front of the national conference centre where the D\u00e1il was sitting during Covid. We saw the orderly fashion they came in, so many of them, and made their presentation. Each and every one of them was hurting and I always think of them for the meticulous way they made their presentation. There was no repetition. Each of them had their own amount to say and said it eloquently. We have not done enough for them. We need to.  There is one thing that I know anyway. I have not seen or tasted a mackerel for almost three years. Like all of us, I was very fond of them. They are not to be seen any more. Where are they gone? I do not know. I remember even people from Kilgarvan used to go back down to Valentia and fish off the rocks there. We lost one great man there, Ned Carey, from Coollick in Kilcummin. It was such a thing at the time but I am told there is no mackerel to be had now. There are serious concerns as well as we are losing our quotas to pair trawling in Kenmare Bay. When is that going to be addressed and fair play meted out? The larger trawlers are coming in and cleaning the whole thing out, every kind of fish. I am blaming that for the fact that I cannot get a mackerel or the people of Kilgarvan or anyone else around us. Where are they going? It is not fair. No one person should own anything like that and no large entity should be able to clean out a place like that. All I am asking for is fair play. I do not want to put those people out of business either but we have to see after the smaller people, the Joe Jims who are now dead and Donal Shea who braved the elements. They always said the fishing was better on the bad day when the wind and rain were blowing. That is when they were out at their best because they seemed to get the fish in those conditions.  We need to address that. We have been promised for so long. There are so many people along Tuosist and back the way to Ardgroom and back to Berehaven and there is concern about that. People around Kilmakillogue are always mentioning it. The one thing I have pride in is that these fish lorries go up through Kilgarvan village late at night getting fuel. We liked to see them passing. They would go back empty and go up full. There is not as many of them now. Why is that? We have lost our quotas, I am told. We need to ensure the continuation of the people in the rural communities down along the Iveragh peninsula and all the way around to Dingle. We need to retain the coastal communities and keep them going. Fishing did keep those people traditionally in business and kept the local shop and pub going. It is not just the fisherman; it is whole communities that depend on and take pride in their fishermen. We are losing that. I am asking the Ministers to fight harder for quotas and get what rightfully belongs to us. We seem to have left a lot of it slip under successive Governments. I am not blaming the two Ministers but this is their time to get into action and make a mark for themselves and ensure they get the respect we need them to get for the fishing and coastal communities. They are very important to us. We seem to have a shortage of housing everywhere but the biggest cry is here in Dublin. We need to spread out and diversify and have enough people living in the rural parts of Ireland as well. It cannot be all about Dublin. We must remember the people who are braving the elements on the western seaboard and trying to eke out a living. We have to see after them as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  I call the Minister to make his concluding statement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Heydon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Martin-Heydon.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Agriculture, Food and the Marine (Deputy Martin Heydon)  I thank Deputies for their engagement in what is a really important debate on the issues in respect of fisheries. The concern in all our coastal communities, as raised by Deputies, is very evident, particularly in Donegal and Cork where fishing is such an intrinsic part of our economic activity, as it is in Waterford and Dublin - the latter which is sometimes forgotten in terms of costal communities and economic activity - and, as the Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, knows all too well, Clare.  Deputy Lawless raised specific points which relate to inland fisheries that the Minister of State, wearing his other hat, will come back to from the other Department's side. Regarding the specific questions Deputy Collins raised, in my ten minutes here I do not have time to go through them all but the Minister of State will engage with the Deputy in correspondence on those very detailed, specific points.  I flag here that the waters around Ireland\u2019s 7,500 km coastline have always been a source of remarkable seafood. Fishing remains of significant social and economic importance to Ireland and for many of our coastal communities, it is intrinsically linked to their identity and way of life. The sector employs over 15,000 people on fishing vessels and aquaculture sites, in processing operations and in the distribution of seafood. It helps to sustain vibrant rural and coastal communities across Ireland. Right now, however, the sector is under significant pressure. The Minister of State, Deputy Dooley, and I share many of the concerns raised during the debate, particularly those in relation to the setting of fishing opportunities in 2026.  As has been outlined, on 30 September, the International Council for Exploration of the Seas published deeply concerning advice for widely distributed pelagic stocks in 2026, including mackerel, blue whiting and boarfish, which were said to be depleted. This has caused deep and understandable concern in the sector. Given the urgent nature of these concerns, Ireland will bring a point to the agenda under \"any other business\" at the EU AGRIFISH Council next week, calling for urgent EU action to save north-east Atlantic pelagic stocks. We will call for the European Commission to identify and adopt suitable measures to respond to this crisis and, in particular, to bring forward measures regarding third countries which fail to co-operate and allow unsustainable fishing of a stock of common interest for the Union. Ireland will support the EU in taking a stand to engage constructively and as an equal partner with our fellow coastal states in the north-east Atlantic on the sustainable management of our shared fisheries resources. However, we must send a clear signal that the EU will no longer tolerate actions which threaten the sustainability of this vital natural resource or the viability of the EU\u2019s seafood sector. In addition, we are committed to working across government to assess what supports may be available to the seafood sector in this very difficult context. Discussions are ongoing to explore options within the constraints of both EU and national Exchequer funding and the relevant EU and national legislation.  As regards bluefin tuna, I fully understand the very strong lobby among Irish fishermen for Ireland to receive an allocation of the EU's bluefin tuna quota. Ireland has a national quota for northern albacore tuna. Annual catch limits are set by the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas based on scientific advice. Ireland does not have a national quota for bluefin tuna. The available bluefin tuna quota is allocated each year to member states based on relative stability, as established in the late 1990s. At that time, Ireland did not have a track record of commercial fishing for bluefin tuna and, accordingly, did not receive a quota allocation. However, a small bluefin tuna by-catch quota is available to Ireland, primarily for use in our important northern albacore tuna fishery and Celtic Sea herring fishery, where there can be bluefin tuna by-catch.  In 2018, Ireland was successful, for the first time, in securing an agreement that allowed it to set up a catch-tag-release fishery to contribute to the collection of scientific data for the bluefin tuna stock. This catch-tag-release science-based fishery for authorised recreational angling vessels has been in place since 2019 and supports the collection of valuable data on the migratory patterns of bluefin tuna in Irish waters. This fishery is most beneficial to Ireland, as it increases our knowledge of the behaviour and abundance of bluefin tuna, while also providing a small but valuable tourism benefit to peripheral coastal communities. Ireland has made it clear to EU member states and the European Commission that there is a case for an allocation of the EU\u2019s bluefin tuna quota to be made available to Ireland. The case is supported by the data collected in the catch-tag-release science-based fishery for authorised recreational angling vessels. Ireland has requested the opening of discussions at EU level to progress Ireland\u2019s case and has made formal statements on the matter at numerous fisheries Council meetings in recent years. Opening up this issue is difficult, as other member states are resistant to any discussion on amending relative stability for this stock. As is the case across quota stocks in the EU, any change to relative stability would involve a loss for some other member states and, therefore, would pose particular challenges in a qualified majority voting context. However, the case for a national quota for bluefin tuna is supported by the data collected in the catch-tag-release science-based fishery for authorised recreational angling vessels. The Minister of State and I will continue to support our efforts on this at every available opportunity.  The ongoing impacts of Brexit to the sector and the extension to the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, TCA, has also been raised in the House. I know it was a significant frustration to the sector that Ireland did not get some quota back from the UK in the discussions which ended in May this year. The challenge we have faced in this area has been the comparative strength of the UK's negotiating position vis-\u00e0-vis the EU\u2019s. UK vessels do not rely on access to EU waters to fish to the same extent that EU vessels do. North Sea member states such as France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark and Sweden are particularly reliant on access to the UK's exclusive economic zone, EEZ. While Irish vessels are not as dependent, we fish approximately one third of our catch in UK waters. Therefore, in the 2020 EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, a strategic link was established between fisheries and energy. Without the agreement at the May summit, we faced the possibility of the UK either refusing to agree to a multi-year reciprocal access arrangement or seeking further quota transfers in order to agree to continued access for EU vessels. This was especially relevant as we approach the end of the adjustment period. This was critically important for Ireland as we suffered disproportionately on quota transfers in the TCA and we were determined not to lose one more fish. Given the number of fish stocks shared between the EU and UK - over 80 - it would not be feasible to negotiate and agree on access to waters and quotas on an annual basis. Therefore, the priority was to secure a continuation of the current arrangements with continued reciprocal access and no further transfers in quota from the EU to the UK. Ireland sought the longest possible extension to the status quo , on condition of there being no additional quotas transferred to the UK. The fisheries agreement reached sees an extension of 12 years of the status quo to June 2038, significantly longer than the four years previously sought by the United Kingdom. The certainty of an agreement to extend reciprocal access for EU and UK vessels to fish in each other\u2019s waters for a period of 12 years, with no change to existing quota shares, is therefore welcome and a much better outcome than some of the other possibilities.  I also welcome the commitment to the negotiation of a sanitary and phytosanitary, SPS, agreement between the EU and the UK. This will be based on dynamic alignment by the UK with EU food safety standards and rules. There are long-established and mutually beneficial trading relationships between food producers in Ireland and food businesses and retailers in the UK. A comprehensive SPS agreement would greatly reduce the administrative burden on agrifood businesses exporting to the UK.  Many Deputies have raised the issue of Rockall, both today and in previous debates, and the desire of Irish fishermen to return to fishing in the waters around Rockall, especially for squid. Rockall is a small, uninhabitable rock located approximately 160 nautical miles west of the Scottish islands of St. Kilda and 230 nautical miles to the north-west of Donegal, as we all know. Ireland has not sought to claim sovereignty over Rockall. The UK claimed sovereignty over Rockall in 1955 and sought to formally annex it as part of Scotland under its 1972 Island of Rockall Act. The consistent position of successive Irish Governments is that Ireland does not recognise Britain's claim of sovereignty over Rockall. Accordingly, Ireland does not accept that a 12 nautical mile or 22 km territorial sea exists around Rockall. We understand that the UK takes a different view. In addition, Rockall, and similar rocks and skerries, have no significance for generating an exclusive economic zone or establishing legal claims to the continental shelf. We believe this position is reflected in the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which provides, at Article 121, paragraph 3, that, \"Rocks which cannot sustain human habitation or economic life of their own shall have no exclusive economic zone or continental shelf.\" I assure the House that reaching an agreement on issues relating to Rockall remains an important issue for the Government and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is in ongoing contact with the relevant Scottish and UK authorities in this regard. This is an area to which the Minister of State has committed to contributing constructively in the months ahead, as he has in his time in this portfolio to date.  The programme for Government recognises the valuable role of fisheries in this country. As Minister, I am committed, alongside my Government colleagues, to defending the interests of the Irish fishing sector and securing a sustainable future for the sector. It is a sector that makes an invaluable contribution to our coastal communities and the rural economy. We will continue to work on addressing the issues it faces on behalf of the communities that rely on that activity for their livelihood. I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this important debate today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Fisheries: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-22\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Maxwell","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"David-Maxwell.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy David Maxwell)  Seanad \u00c9ireann has passed the Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025, without amendment. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 6.10 p.m. go dt\u00ed 2 p.m., D\u00e9 M\u00e1irt, an 4 Samhain 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 6.10 p.m. until 2 p.m. on Tuesday, 4 November 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-10-22"},{"contextDate":"2025-10-21","debateRecord":{"lastUpdated":"2026-04-09T03:11:21+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":73,"speakerCount":29},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Companies (Protection of Title: Accountant) Bill 2025: First Stage","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Companies (Protection of Title: Accountant) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/62\/dail\/1"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/62"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_8","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Fifth Report of Committee of Selection: Motion","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_9","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"#bill.2025.62.dail.1"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_10","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":21,"speakerCount":13},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_10"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_11","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ukraine War","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":62,"speakerCount":8},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_10"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_12","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Second Stage","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60\/dail\/2"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":69,"speakerCount":23},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_13","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Finance Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60\/dail\/motion\/referral"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/60"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_18","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Education (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Education (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/59\/dail\/2"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/59"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_23","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Irish Unity: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","counts":{"speechCount":76,"speakerCount":30},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_32","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_33","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Humanitarian Access","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_33"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_34","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_34.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Middle East","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_33"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_35","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_35.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Legislative Measures","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_33"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_36","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_36.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Middle East","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_33"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_37","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_37.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ukraine War","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_33"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_38","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_38.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Military Aircraft","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_40","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_40.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"International Relations","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_41","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_41.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ukraine War","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_42","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_42.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ukraine War","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_43","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_43.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Foreign Policy","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_44","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_44.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ukraine War","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_45","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_45.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Middle East","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_46","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_46.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"EU Presidency","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_47","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_47.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"North-South Ministerial Council","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_39"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_48","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_48.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_49","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_50","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Sports Funding","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_51","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_50"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_51","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Fishing Industry","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_52","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_50"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_52","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"School Facilities","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_53","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_50"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_53","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_54","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_50"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/dbsect_54","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}}],"house":{"chamberType":"house","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseCode":"dail","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34"},"counts":{"debateSectionCount":33,"questionCount":39,"billCount":8,"contributorCount":173,"divisionCount":5},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"date":"2025-10-21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/main","formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-21\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-10-16","lastUpdated":"2026-04-03T03:11:54+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Education and Training Provision","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","showAs":"Technological Universities","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":14,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Student Accommodation","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","showAs":"Third Level Costs","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_6","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Apprenticeship Programmes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Oideachas Tr\u00ed\u00fa Leibh\u00e9al","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Research and Development","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":4},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Education and Training Boards","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Third Level Fees","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Education Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","showAs":"Student Accommodation","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Apprenticeship Programmes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Grant Payments","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Forbairt na Gaeilge","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Housing Policy","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","showAs":"Rural Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","showAs":"Rural Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Rural Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Community Development Projects","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Irish Language","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","showAs":"Vacant Properties","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Departmental Funding","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","showAs":"Departmental Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","showAs":"Irish Language","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Departmental Programmes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"EU Programmes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Men's Sheds","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Personal Explanation by Member","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":36,"speakerCount":9},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_34","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":45,"speakerCount":20},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","showAs":"Parental Bereavement Leave (Amendment) Bill 2021: Referral to Select Committee [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/143\/dail\/motion\/referral","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Parental Bereavement Leave (Amendment) Bill 2021: Referral to Select Committee [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/143"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":22,"speakerCount":9},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_38","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":8},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58\/dail\/motion\/referral","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"National Training Fund (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/58"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","showAs":"Bus \u00c9ireann","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Employment Support Services","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Social Welfare Code","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","showAs":"Vaccination Programme","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_46","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","showAs":"Cycling Facilities","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","showAs":"Education (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":4},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/dbsect_48","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/59\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Education (Amendment) Bill 2024: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/59"}}}],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"debateSectionCount":47,"divisionCount":0,"questionCount":28,"billCount":5,"contributorCount":120},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-16\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"}},"contextDate":"2025-10-16"},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-10-15","lastUpdated":"2026-04-03T03:11:48+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","showAs":"Flood Risk Management","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Air and Water Pollution","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","showAs":"Schools Building Projects","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_6","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Schools Building Projects","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":16,"speakerCount":8},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Reform of the Defective Concrete Redress Scheme: Motion [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":34,"speakerCount":28},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":113,"speakerCount":13},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":87,"speakerCount":20},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Regulation of Drones Bill 2025: First Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/61\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Regulation of Drones Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/61"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":19,"speakerCount":8},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Confidence in the T\u00e1naiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":176,"speakerCount":54},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Revised Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"statement","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Tillage Sector: Statements","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":46,"speakerCount":29},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"financialResolution","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Financial Resolutions 2025","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"financialResolution","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":28,"speakerCount":16},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"3_sub","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/57\/dail\/3_sub","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Committee and Remaining Stages (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/57"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","showAs":"Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025: Motion","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Reform of the Defective Concrete Redress Scheme: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}}],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"debateSectionCount":21,"divisionCount":4,"questionCount":0,"billCount":2,"contributorCount":167},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-15\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"}},"contextDate":"2025-10-15"},{"contextDate":"2025-10-14","debateRecord":{"lastUpdated":"2026-04-09T03:11:16+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":123,"speakerCount":14},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","counts":{"speechCount":110,"speakerCount":21},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_4","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Planning and Development (Exempted Development (Act of 2000)) Regulations 2025: Referral to Joint Committee","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_9","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_10","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":25,"speakerCount":12},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_10"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_11","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":37,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_10"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_12","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Housing Finance Agency (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/57\/dail\/2"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/57"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":46,"speakerCount":24},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_13","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cost of Disability: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","counts":{"speechCount":30,"speakerCount":28},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_14","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_15","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Fishing Industry","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_15"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_16","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Emergency Planning","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_15"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"EU Meetings","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_15"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_18","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Agriculture Industry","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_15"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_19","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Tillage Sector","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_15"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_20","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Farm Safety","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_22","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Animal Diseases","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_23","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Fishing Industry","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_24","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Food Security","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_25","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Succession Act","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_26","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Animal Welfare","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_27","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Trade Agreements","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_28","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Forestry Sector","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_21"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_29","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_30","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_31","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Public Transport","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_31"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_32","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Hospice Services","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_31"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_33","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Agriculture Schemes","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_31"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_34","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"School Accommodation","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_31"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_35","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Rental Sector","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_31"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/dbsect_36","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}}],"house":{"chamberType":"house","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseCode":"dail","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34"},"counts":{"debateSectionCount":31,"questionCount":37,"billCount":1,"contributorCount":167,"divisionCount":1},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"date":"2025-10-14","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/main","formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-14\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"debateType":"debate"}},{"contextDate":"2025-10-09","debateRecord":{"counts":{"contributorCount":130,"debateSectionCount":29,"questionCount":14,"billCount":0,"divisionCount":0},"lastUpdated":"2026-04-02T03:06:55+01:00","house":{"houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","committeeCode":""},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/main","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_2"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Legislative Measures","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_2"},"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_2"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"International Protection","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_2"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Legal Aid","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_2"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Family Law Cases","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Cybersecurity Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Legislative Measures","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Visa Applications","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":3},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Court Accommodation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Prison Service","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"International Protection","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_8"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Legislative Measures","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"debateType":"question","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":112,"speakerCount":15},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":74,"speakerCount":20},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":60,"speakerCount":17},"speakers":[],"showAs":"World Mental Health Day: Statements","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"statement","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Financial Resolutions 2025","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"financialResolution","containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":34,"speakerCount":20},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"financialResolution","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"speakers":[],"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"topical","containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_25"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Crime Prevention","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_25"},"counts":{"speechCount":27,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_25"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Schools Building Projects","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_25"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Grant Payments","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_25"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"speakers":[],"showAs":"Fisheries Protection","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateType":"debate","containsDebate":true,"bill":null}}],"date":"2025-10-09","chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"debateType":"debate","formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-09\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}}}},{"contextDate":"2025-10-08","debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/main","lastUpdated":"2026-02-20T03:12:18+00:00","counts":{"contributorCount":153,"questionCount":19,"billCount":0,"debateSectionCount":20,"divisionCount":0},"house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","committeeCode":"","chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_3","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Homeless Accommodation","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_4","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Land Development Agency","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_5","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":22},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Compulsory Purchase Orders","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_6","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Schemes","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_7","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":11},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Rental Sector","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_8","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Wind Energy Guidelines","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_10","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Provision","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_11","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":13},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Provision","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_12","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":11},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Provision","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_13","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":10},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Policy","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_14","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Provision","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_15","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":36},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Housing Provision","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_16","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":6},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Building Energy Rating","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_17","parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","counts":{"speakerCount":3,"speechCount":5},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Vacant Properties","debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_18","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","counts":{"speakerCount":28,"speechCount":179},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_19","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","counts":{"speakerCount":2,"speechCount":4},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_20","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"showAs":"Financial Resolutions 2025","debateType":"financialResolution"}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/dbsect_21","parentDebateSection":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","counts":{"speakerCount":83,"speechCount":268},"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 5: General (Resumed)","debateType":"financialResolution"}}],"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-08\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"date":"2025-10-08","debateType":"debate"}},{"debateRecord":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"writtens_pdf":null,"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"date":"2025-10-07","debateType":"debate","house":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34","chamberType":"house","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseCode":"dail"},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_2","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolutions 2025","containsDebate":false,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_3","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":47,"speechCount":174},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","debateType":"statement","showAs":"Budget Statement 2026","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_4","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","debateType":"motion","showAs":"Allocation of Time: Motion","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_5","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":0,"speechCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolutions 2025","containsDebate":false,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_6","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":4,"speechCount":14},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 1: Excise","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_11","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 2: Corporation Tax","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_12","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":10,"speechCount":23},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 3: Value-Added Tax","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_13","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 4: Value-Added Tax","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_18","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","debateType":"financialResolution","showAs":"Financial Resolution No. 5: General","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_19","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/75","event":{"isBillStage":true,"stage":"2","showAs":"Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/75\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail"}},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-07\/debate\/dbsect_24","speakers":[],"counts":{"speakerCount":1,"speechCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","debateType":"debate","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","containsDebate":true,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null}}}],"lastUpdated":"2026-02-28T03:08:41+00:00","counts":{"billCount":2,"debateSectionCount":11,"contributorCount":173,"questionCount":0,"divisionCount":3}},"contextDate":"2025-10-07"},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-06-06T02:09:09+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"date":"2025-10-02","counts":{"contributorCount":130,"divisionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":40,"questionCount":32,"billCount":1},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sport and Recreational Development","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport (Deputy Patrick O'Donovan)  The operation of the League of Ireland and its academies is fundamentally a matter for the Football Association of Ireland, which, like all other NGBs of sport is an independent, autonomous organisation responsible for the organisation and development of its own sport.  The programme for Government commits to exploring new mechanisms for the creation of football academies and an additional finding grant of \u20ac1 million provided by my Department to the FAI enabled it to produce the report referred to by the Deputy. The funding also enabled the appointment by the FAI of an academies administrator to support the development of new academy programmes and track their impact.  The League of Ireland global findings report, produced by the Belgian company Double Pass, benchmarks Irish football academies against international standards based on an audit of existing academy structures and needs. My Department continues to engage with the FAI regarding this report, and a pre-budget submission focusing on academies has recently been submitted to me by the association. This will be given consideration, taking account of the range of request across the sports sector for additional support and, ultimately, the outcome of the current budgetary process.  While the FAI has sought significant State funding to support its academies, it is important to note the sizeable financial support directed to the FAI and to football more generally over the past few years. Over \u20ac75 million in State funding was allocated to the FAI between 2019 and 2024, including \u20ac30.2 million specifically to support football development and aimed at promoting participation in football by young people, with the balance in funding comprising Covid-specific and energy supports to the FAI and the wider football sector.  Furthermore, significant capital funding has been granted to football projects around the country in recent years, including the \u20ac48.9 million that has been allocated to FAI endorsed football stadium projects at Finn Harps, Dalymount Park, Sligo Rovers and Wexford FC under the 2024 round of the large scale sports infrastructure fund, LSSIF, and \u20ac76 million to support the development of grassroots club football facilities nationwide under the 2020 and 2023 rounds of the community sports facilities fund. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I cannot emphasise enough just how important academies are to the future of Irish football. At the very top of the scale, we just need to see where our national team is right now in the international rankings and look at recent defeats to so-called lesser teams. At grassroots level, the opportunities that were there before Brexit no longer exist. Irish players cannot go across the water to larger academies and learn their trades like how it used to be done. Those young academy players are here. They want to play; they want to learn. They want the opportunity to represent their club and, ultimately, their country to the very best of their abilities. Without football academies up and down this country being adequately resourced, however, they are never going to reach their full potential. Some of the significant moments of modern Irish history have been because of football. Let us think of Euro 88, Italia 90, USA 94; events that unified everybody in every part of this country and lifted the mood of the population and brought joy and belief in ourselves as a people. If we want to see moments like that again, we need to start the process and invest now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The FAI already receives significant amounts of Government funding, which the Deputy did not reference, nor did she reference anything the Government has been doing for the FAI over the past number of years. The 2023 memorandum of understanding between the Government and the FAI provides \u20ac5.8 million per annum to the association via Sport Ireland. In addition, the Government pays the FAI's annual contribution to the Aviva management company for three years, which is \u20ac2.54 million, which is now repayable to the State at a rate of \u20ac1 million per annum. A new memorandum of understanding was signed on 17 December 2024, which increased the funding to \u20ac6 million. The bulk of this funding goes towards the FAI's youth field sports grants, which are aimed at developing the grassroots of the game. I know what the Deputy is saying, but it is a bit unfortunate that she did not reference the things we are doing. The FAI could not function at the moment if it were not for the Government. The Deputy might in her response at least acknowledge that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  The programme for Government stated that the Government will explore new mechanisms for the creation of football academies with the FAI and the League of Ireland, so I am not going to stand here and give the Minister plaudits for doing what he has committed to doing. The FAI pre-budget submission asks for support for League of Ireland academies, which is what my question this morning is about. This will create a total of 81 new jobs in clubs around the country before a jump to \u20ac8 million annually with the hope of creating 340 full-time and part-time jobs to kickstart an industry. If the Government makes the investment now, we could have the days like those I referenced earlier of Euro 88, Italia 90 and USA 94, but it has to make the investment now for Irish football to be self-financing in the future. We need to invest in our academies now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I remind the Deputy that we actually have fulfilled our programme for Government commitment. We paid for the report and the Deputy did not acknowledge that either. Now we are considering it, and we will consider it in the round with every other field sport that is looking for money, including rugby, Gaelic games and everything else. We have a limited amount. If there are suggestions she has with regard to existing parts of the sports, culture and communications budget that I can cut, I would be delighted to hear them. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sport and Recreational Development"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Postal Services","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure throughout Ireland. The programme for Government commits to providing the nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. The Department is working to deliver on this commitment, engaging with relevant stakeholders in relation to the securing of a new mandate from the Government to continue funding at an enhanced level, while ensuring an adequate legal basis and compliance with state aid rules.  An amount of \u20ac10 million per annum is currently being provided over a three-year fixed term from 2023 to 2025 to An Post. An Post then disperses this funding across the post office network, with all contractor post offices benefiting from Government funding with the objective of securing the stability of the network.  It should be noted that An Post provides important services to its customers and key government services to citizens, including through commercial contracts with the Department of Social Protection and the National Treasury Management Agency, NTMA.  The report of the interdepartmental group, which was established to, among other things, examine the feasibility of additional Government services being contracted through An Post and the post office network, was published in 2022. None of the Departments or agencies involved were in a position to offer additional services for delivery by An Post. It is a matter for each Department or agency with responsibility for a service to consider how best to deliver their services. However, while I have no role in services outside of my remit, and cannot transfer such services to An Post, my officials and I will be happy to engage with Departments should they wish to transfer services under their remit.  The Government launched Harnessing Digital: The Digital Ireland Framework in 2022 and publishes annual progress reports. One of the aims of the framework is to ensure widespread access and inclusive digital public services, with a target of 90% of services to be consumed online by 2030. As we progress towards the target of 90% of applicable services consumed online, the framework commits to ensuring that those cohorts who are not in a position to engage online will be better served through a clear plan involving focused supports including skills, infrastructure and assisted digital supports, with consideration of the most appropriate service delivery channels and the development of appropriate and clear consents and protocols. There is potential for the post office network to be a key enabler, therefore, in the implementation of the digital Ireland framework. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  Post offices are far more than service providers; they are the beating heart of the community. They bring people together. Therefore, it is not just about posting a letter or paying a bill; it is about human interaction. In rural towns and villages, post offices often serve as the only local retail outlet, frequently integrating with shops and newsagents. This makes them indispensable in providing everyday goods and services that might otherwise be out of reach. Their presence fosters both economic activity and social cohesion, while also creating a mutually beneficial relationship with surrounding businesses. Post offices are more than just part of our infrastructure. They are anchors of community life; keeping people connected, businesses supported and towns alive. They need continued support from the Government. I am happy that the Minister is happy to engage with the postmasters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  We have engaged with the postmasters. I represent a rural community. I know probably as well as the Deputy the value of post offices. The earlier reply alluded to the fact that there is a digital risk with the growth in the number of services that are moving online. The reality is that mail delivery services have gone down dramatically. That poses a risk to the company and we have to be acutely aware of it. While everybody wants to move their services online, that comes then with a challenge to the organisation. The challenge to the organisation is to make sure it can compete, which it does, in other markets, including in parcel delivery in which it is doing a really great job. I understand, however, the context of what the Deputy is saying around it being a social asset as much as anything else. That is why the Government has over the past three years given \u20ac10 million in support, and that is why we have been engaged with the Irish Postmasters' Union, IPU. This is something we are considering in the context of the budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  It is good to hear that the Department is seeing this as a challenge to the organisation because that is key in all of this. I urge the Minister to support the IPU in its calls for \u20ac15 million in additional funding for budget 2026. This is just to keep them viable. It is to stop them closing their doors. However, what they really need is a long-term plan. As the Minister outlined with physical mail deliveries, that is a challenge. I refer to the 2018 contract. The are paid by their transactions, but their demographic is getting older. That means that even with inflation, what the postmasters are taking in is going down year on year and, therefore, what they ultimately need is a long-term plan to secure the sector. If the Department is willing to engage with them, that would certainly be a good start. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Any decision on offices and outlets is a matter for the company and has been since the foundation of the company, and they are commercial decisions. That being said, when I meet with An Post, and any time I have met An Post, its representatives are very keen to point out that what it has been doing in the recent past, by virtue of the fact that it has gotten significant financial support, is looking to see if there a viable alternative in the immediate area it is prepared to take on. Unfortunately, we have had situations where there have been closures and there have been alternatives, but those alternatives are not willing to take it on, which is their choice.  They do not have to take it on but that means if a postmaster is retiring, and an office is closing and nobody else wants to take it on, inevitably, we are looking at closure. The reality is, however, that in the past number of years the number of closures has gone down. This is not just something that is unique to rural areas. We have seen a substantial number of urban offices close as well.  The Deputy is right that post offices do not stay open on the basis of sentiment; they stay open on the basis of transactions. There is no point coming to a public meeting to keep a post office open if you have not been in a post office for the past 12 months. That is the reality. Postmasters cannot operate on the basis of sentiment. They have to operate on the basis of transaction and loyalty from the local community. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Postal Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Artists' Remuneration","counts":{"speechCount":15,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Over 11,000 people have signed a petition to retain, extend and expand the basic income for the arts scheme. A cost-benefit analysis prepared by Alma Economics for the Department has shown that for every \u20ac1 invested society receives \u20ac1.39 in return, with over \u20ac100 million in social and economic benefits. With the budget approaching next week and the pilot due to end in February, will the Minister confirm if the scheme will continue beyond the pilot and what form it will take? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I echo the words of the Deputy. This scheme has been life-changing for artists. Apologies----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Sorry, I made a mistake. It is the Minister to respond to an Teachta \u00d3 Snodaigh. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Yes, but the questions are grouped. I will give way to Deputy Gibney. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Okay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  Thank you. As I was saying, it has been life-changing for artists but also for the rest of us as we benefit from their art. As the RT\u00c9 ad says, \"Ag tac\u00fa leis na heala\u00edona, ag tac\u00fa linn.\" I have heard from many artists of how vital the scheme is. I am keen to ensure it is improved and extended. It is also a chance to explore a new model of how we support work that is a public good. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I propose to take Questions Nos. 3 and 5 together.  I thank both Deputies. The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts, BIA, pilot research scheme to maximise its impact. I announced an extension of six months, to February 2026, to allow for further assessment of the pilot data and to engage in stakeholder consultation to provide an evidence base for Government to make decisions on the next steps. I launched an online public consultation which closed on 5 September. Over 17,000 submissions were received, of which 97% were in favour of the BIA continuing. A sectoral stakeholder forum also took place on 10 September with approximately 200 attendees from resource organisations and artists represented.  In order to assess the pilot in the context of the extension and potential preparations for a successor scheme, I instructed officials in the Department to convene a consultative committee, which draws from across Government and includes the Departments of Social Protection, public expenditure and reform, and Finance, along with the Arts Council, Screen Ireland and the County and City Management Association with officials from my Department who have been working on the pilot since the outset. The group met twice this summer. Many reports on the scheme have been published and circulated to members of this committee to keep them fully informed of developments on the BIA as they happen. More recently, the externally commissioned cost-benefit analysis on the scheme was circulated to colleagues in the Department of public expenditure ahead of its publication. Communications with the Department of Social Protection have been ongoing through the pilot. My remit as Minister for the arts is to that sector. The pilot scheme has proven to be an enormous help to the artists receiving it in dealing with the precarious nature of their income, which is work we all benefit from as a society. Other Departments are welcome to view the extensive research that has taken place on the pilot.  Ireland is a global leader in the area of artist supports because of the BIA. Several countries have shown an interest in the policy, with officials from Australia, Wales, South Korea, Canada, Norway, Lithuania, Estonia, northern European arts councils and the Belgian Presidency of the Council of the EU seeking briefings with regard the policy. Last year, our officials met with Jane Hutt, member of the Welsh Senedd and Cabinet Secretary for Social Justice, to discuss the strengths and challenges of the income pilot. Wales is currently piloting a scheme for young people leaving care. My officials have also been in contact with arts organisations, researchers, academics, organisations representing the area and university students.  The pilot is underpinned by a comprehensive research programme. I recently published a report examining the first 24 months of the scheme, which found that BIA recipients, compared to those not in receipt of the BIA, are: six percentage points more likely to have worked in the arts in the previous six months; spend on average 11 weekly hours more on their creative practice; and are 14 percentage points more likely to have completed new works in the previous six months, on average, completing 3.9 pieces of work more than the control group. They are 15 percentage points less likely to have felt downhearted or depressed; are 16 percentage points less likely to have experienced anxiety; and are more likely to be able to afford basic necessities. Yet, as of October 2024, almost 30% of recipients are experiencing enforced deprivation. The share for the general population in 2024 is 15.7%.  An interview report published earlier this year also found recipients have upskilled and invested in quality materials; the opportunity to focus more on their specific creative interests opened new possibilities; and recipients reported the importance of giving back to the community and engaging in collaborations. An externally commissioned cost-benefit paper has just been published by the Department. It shows that the BIA produced over \u20ac100 million in social and economic benefits and for every \u20ac1 invested in the pilot, society received a return of \u20ac1.39. It also found that recipients\u2019 arts-related income increased by over \u20ac500 per month on average. Audience engagement with the arts generated an estimated \u20ac16.9 million in social value over the three-year pilot.  No decision on a successor scheme has been made yet. A Government decision will be required on a successor to the pilot. I intend to bring forward proposals for a permanent intervention following budget 2026, assuming funding for a successor is secured, but I have made it clear that I am in favour of a permanent scheme being put in place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  In some ways, I do not know whether it is good or bad that no decision has been made yet, given there is a very short administrative time, between this week and the end of February, for the scheme to continue without interruption. Artists are asking questions, such as whether those who are currently on the scheme can continue on it or a whole new cohort will be involved, or whether there will be increased numbers. The cost-benefit analysis the Minister quoted has shown how effective it has been and that there is that positive significant statistical impact in terms of both the psychological well-being of recipients and the reduction in the likelihood of experiencing mental health challenges, as well as all the other points he raised.  If the Department receives the funding in the budget on Tuesday, is it intended to continue the basic income for the arts scheme? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  It is wonderful to hear all the analysis and statistics that are proving what a lot of us believe, which is that we have an economy that values a certain type of work. This type of pilot shows us there is other work that happens in society that should be just as valued and, when it is valued, we all benefit from it. It really is wonderful to hear that. I welcome the six-month extension but, like Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh, the artists I have spoken to live in this uncertainty right now regarding what will happen. We need some certainty as to what is going to happen.  I would love to hear more detail on the interaction the Minister has had with the Department of Social Protection. The word \"pilot\" is crucial here. This is a pilot but there are so many other groups in society who would benefit from a basic income. I am thinking of small farmers, for example, carers, lone parents and disabled people. There are lots of ways in which basic income could be applied in different areas. If we want to get the best value out of a pilot, we need to think about that. The Minister needs to connect with all Ministers, particularly the Minister for Social Protection. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I will stick with artists for the moment, if that is okay. On the budgetary discussions, I have made it abundantly clear, even in the last line I read out, that I am in favour of the retention of the scheme. However, as Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh, who has been around a lot longer in this place than I have, knows, I still have to secure a funding source to make sure we have a scheme that can be implemented in the immediate aftermath of February. I will point out that since I arrived in the Department, we have done a number of things, including extending the scheme beyond the end of 2025. It was to run until the end of Christmas. I did not think that was appropriate, so I made our own resources available out of the Department to make sure we could bring it to February.  We also did quantitative and qualitative data research, which we published, including the cost-benefit analysis. We have had significant engagement with the campaign for the arts as well, all of which is focused on assessing people's views but also drilling home the value of the scheme, not just to the individual artist but, as Deputy Gibney said, to society and the Government as well. We will continue to do that.  Any successor scheme will be predicated, first, on a funding source. The quantum of the funding source will then determine the number of people that will be able to access it, again, having had discussions with the Department of Social Protection and others.  I am also of a mind to change the name of the scheme. To be quite honest about it, \"the basic income for the arts scheme\" is not necessarily a name I would attribute to a scheme where ultimately, people are working on behalf of the State and producing works that can then lessen the precarious nature of their work. I am open to their suggestions. When I raised it with them, they were very positively disposed to a name change. Of course, that is predicated on if we will get funding and the quantum of the funding. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I welcome the confirmation that the Minister's intention is to have a basic income scheme, whatever its new title will be. However, part of the problem for artists at the moment is they are unsure of what the new scheme will look like. Obviously, that will be determined somewhat by budgetary factors but there are some things the Minister may be able to explain at the moment.  Will it be a new scheme? Will it be totally reworked? Will it be an extension of the current scheme? Is it the case that the current 2,000 will continue to receive it, with another cohort added, or will it be a totally new cohort? Will those who currently receive the basic income be allowed to reapply if that is the intention? Will the scheme be based on the current random selection or will it be based on merit or financial need? Finally, will the issues experienced by those disabled artists and those on social welfare be addressed on this occasion? They were promised that in the initial round of basic income. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I do not think we should confine this to artists; that is my entire point. I also push back on the suggestion of renaming of it. The concept of a \"basic income\" is something that has been championed for many decades now as a way to provide certainty and a safety net for many people who live with precarious labour. I mentioned farmers. There are seasonal farmers who have to spend months of the year signing on when we could look at a much more concrete way of assisting people in moving between the different contributions they make to society. I could mention caring as an example. We spoke about carers a lot yesterday. My point is that if we want to get the value of it as a pilot, the Minister, who sits at Cabinet, should be working across government to look at ways in which it could be extended to other groups.  I echo Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh's comments on those with disabilities who have had issues with this scheme in terms of loss of medical cards and disability allowance. I urge that this be addressed in any next iteration of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I will go back to Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh's point with regard to disability. In the discussions I have already had in the Department with the representative groups, I have made clear my intention that if there is a successor scheme, there will be a clear focus on artists who have a disability in order to make sure they have access to the scheme. They should also be assisted in making an application to the scheme because for many of them, that is in itself a difficulty.  To be honest, all of the other questions that have been asked are very laudable but I do not have an answer for them. Whether we will have the same, existing cohort or we will be adding to them, taking away from them or changing the criteria will depend on the amount of money we ultimately have on an annualised basis, assuming a sum of money will be available. We are working on that basis. We still have a week to finalise it.  On Deputy Gibney's point about the name, during the discussions with artists' representatives they were positively disposed to looking at the possibility of changing the name. A lot of people do not like the word \"scheme\". Personally, I do not like the word \"scheme\". I am open to suggestions on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  It spoke about retaining a reference to the concept of a \"basic income\". "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  With regard to farmers, carers and everything else, that will be a matter for the line Ministers in each of the individual Departments. At the moment, my focus is on the questions that are before the House. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Artists' Remuneration"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Arts Funding","counts":{"speechCount":81,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  My last attempt to ask this question was disallowed and a freedom of information request has yet to receive a response. I will ask it outright: did the new Minister ignore all normal arm's length criteria and competition-based funding processes so he could provide thousands of taxpayers' euro off the books at the request of somebody who was until January of this year a Government Senator? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The short answer is \"No\", but I will give the Deputy a longer answer now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  That is okay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I understand the Deputy is referring to the approval on 30 May of an allocation of support not to exceed \u20ac25,000 in respect of the Listowel Writers Festival. My Department has a number of processes for allocating funding to a wide range of artistic and cultural organisations and events. These processes are designed to ensure fairness and, insofar as possible, maximise responsiveness to the needs of the sector. In response to requests for funding for local events each year, individuals and organisations, where possible, are directed to the small-scale local festival and summer school scheme or the Arts Council festival scheme, depending on the size of the event. It should be noted that organisations cannot receive income from both schemes.  There may be instances whereby applicants have made an application to the Arts Council which was refused, and on this basis, the organisations may seek funding from the Department when that scheme is closed. Where such requests are received, the Department will consider them on a case-by-case basis. These are subject to available resources and all allocations are subject to compliance with public financial procedures, the requirements of the grant circular and my approval as Minister. This process has been in place for many years and all such grants are published each year on the Department\u2019s website at the page headed \"Cultural Projects Funding\".  Listowel Writers Week is an internationally acclaimed literary festival, devoted to bringing together writers and audiences at innovative events in the historic and intimate surroundings of Listowel. It was founded in 1970, with the first festival taking place in 1971. Listowel Writers Week is Ireland\u2019s oldest literary and arts festival. It is a forum where writers, artists and poets gather to promote writing of all genres and create an environment in which literature can be appreciated by the widest possible audience. It is a festival where writers and readers gather to celebrate the written word together. Support of \u20ac25,000 for Listowel Writers Festival was approved alongside allocations to the Phil Murphy Weekend, which received \u20ac20,000; \u00c9igse Michael Hartnett, which received \u20ac15,000; and Other Voices, which was granted \u20ac40,000. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I did not name the festival because I believe it deserves to be funded - I have absolutely no problem with that - but I am interested in the way in which the normal funding process was circumvented in this instance. The question is whether there are other ways for festivals to circumvent the small-scale schemes that the Minister mentioned or the Arts Council schemes. Yes, there are occasions when this happens but the Department does not publish a list of all of the groups that got funding outside of the normal channels and funding methods. The reason those funding methods were put in place was to avoid circumstances like the current one where allegations are made about the Department, the Minister or the person who sought the funding. I wish the festival well and I hope it continues. Hopefully, it will be funded properly so there is no need to try to seek funding outside of the normal channels. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy might say it is \"outside of the normal channels\" but I wonder if he ran this question by his colleague, Deputy Pa Daly, who represents the constituency of Kerry, before he came into the Chamber. Deputy Daly has used a similar channel for festival in Tralee called Anam. It was approved under that channel and received \u20ac7,500. There was no difficulty with that. I do not know what Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh has against the people of Listowel, and I do not know what he has against Listowel Writers Week, which is a very worthy festival. The last time I answered questions in this House, Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh and Deputy Doherty tore the place asunder over funding for a musical event in Gaoth Dobhair. Since those parliamentary questions, I was able to allocate funding to that event outside what the Deputy would call \"normal\" procedures. Does Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh believe I should take that money back from Gaoth Dobhair? Will he take it up with Deputy Doherty? Will he take up the \u20ac7,500 that the Department allocated to a festival in Tralee on foot of a request from Deputy Pa Daly? According to Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh, this was done \"outside of the normal channels\"? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I can answer that directly: no. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Do as I say and not as I do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  If the Minister would listen, I specifically said that Listowel Writers Week deserves to be properly funded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  So does Tralee. What is the problem? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Yes but the Minister did not publish that he was giving this money in this format to Listowel, to----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The funding to Tralee was not published either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  -----Tralee or to any of the other ones. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  So will we look for the money back again? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  The Minister should publish it. That is transparency. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  That is grand, okay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  If he is going to do it this way, the Minister will attract applications well beyond the three he mentioned.  That is not the process. He set up a process and that is the way in which people should apply for funding and that funding should be increased. The problem is the Minister and his Department are not being transparent in the way it is funding. Yes, there are exceptions and, yes, there is a need----- "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  There are exceptions and those exceptions include Listowel Writers' Week, Tralee and others, but that should be published. The Minister should be open that this funding stream is available to everybody. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I could not be more open about Listowel. If the Deputy's party Deputy from north Kerry had turned up to the opening of Listowel Writers' Week, he would have got a press release on the extent of what the Department was giving. The Deputy does not have an issue with Tralee, because of Deputy Pa Daly, or with Gweedore, because of Deputy Pearse Doherty. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I have no issue with Listowel either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Forgetting outside----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I have absolutely no issue with Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  What did the people of Listowel ever do to Sinn F\u00e9in? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I have absolutely no problem with Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  What did the people of Listowel ever do to Sinn F\u00e9in? "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Why is it that the Deputy is against----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Can we have some order? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I had not mentioned Listowel. The Minister named it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy named it in correspondence to my Department. I am clearing up the D\u00e1il record. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Let the Minister respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy named it in correspondence to my Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  The Minister brought Listowel into this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy does not like it now. He named it in correspondence to my Department. I am going to be clear with the D\u00e1il. The Deputy has a problem with Listowel Writers' Week. He has a problem. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy should let me finish. I did not shout him down. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Let the Minister finish. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  This is the Deputy's tactic. He is now adopting the Pearse Doherty tactic. The last day the two Deputies came in here and they attacked me over Gweedore. I subsequently was able to fix it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I did not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Okay. Let the Minister----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I did not hear the Deputy say today that I had allocated money to Gweedore outside normal practices. I also did not hear him say that I had allocated money to Tralee outside normal practices. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, you are over time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy should take it up with his own two Deputies. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, you are over time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy should take it up with his own two Deputies. I hope the people of Listowel----- "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I hope the people of Listowel are listening to this on Radio Kerry. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Can the Deputy resume his seat, please? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I hope Jerry O'Sullivan on Radio Kerry is listening to this. I do not know what the Deputy has against the people of Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I have absolutely no problem. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy did not have the guts to put it down on the Question Paper today - the name of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, please. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  We have to move on. We are nearly one minute over time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I would not have been allowed with the rules of the House. I did not put it down specifically, so that I was not casting aspersions on Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy cast aspersions on an individual. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, resume your seat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  It was on the Minister and not on the------. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  How dare the Deputy cast aspersions on me. On what basis is the Deputy casting aspersions on me? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, will you resume your seat? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  The Minister has been doing that for the past ten minutes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Resume your seat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  On what basis is the Deputy casting aspersions on me? "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy should take it up with his colleague, Deputy Pa Daly. Do not come in here like a hypocrite. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, please resume your seat. Deputy, resume your seat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy wants to have his cake and to eat it. He has a problem with Listowel Writers' Week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I have absolutely no problem with Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy has a problem with the people of Listowel but he has no problem with Gweedore. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  I do not have a problem with the people of Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy is a hypocrite. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, will you please----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy is a hypocrite. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Deputy, resume your seat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The people of Listowel and Deputy Daly will know all about. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Minister, please. We need to move on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  They will get more next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Great. That is what I said. They should be funded properly. I might get an invite next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  We might move on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  There is an open invite to everybody. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh has touched a nerve. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  A very raw nerve. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Because I am in favour of the people of Listowel. I will take Deputy McGuinness on as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  What problem does Sinn F\u00e9in have with the people of Listowel? It is absolutely ridiculous, Minister, to be fair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Exactly. The decent people of Listowel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I have not followed the issue but I thought that was a bit ridiculous. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 5 taken with Question No. 3 "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Arts Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Arts Funding","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  My question goes back to the previous grouping in relation to the basic income for the arts, BIA, scheme. What the Minister said earlier was unambiguously positive in terms of the evidence of the cost benefit analysis of the scheme. Will the scheme be made permanent? Will it be expanded to four or five times its current size so that all eligible applicants can benefit from it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I propose to takes Questions No. 6, 20, 23, 26 and 32 together.  The basic income for the arts is a pilot research programme which will inform future Government policy on how best to support Ireland\u2019s artists and creative arts workers. The primary objective of the scheme was to help artists deal with precarious incomes and prevent talent from leaving the sector for economic reasons. It is well established that artists suffer from precarious incomes and the benefits of the arts enjoyed by society are often as a result of unpaid and underpaid labour of artists. This is a chronic ongoing problem.  The programme for Government commits to assessing the basic income for the arts pilot research scheme to maximise its impact, which is why I announce an extension of six months to February 2026 to allow further assessment of the pilot data and to engage in stakeholder consultation to provide a clear evidence base for the Government to make decisions on the next steps.  The BIA recognises of the arts and the role of the creative practice in Irish society. The arts positively impact social cohesion, societal well-being, Ireland\u2019s global reputation and creativity. The BIA has particularly good regional distribution across the country with every county benefiting from the investment and some counties like Leitrim, Clare and Sligo have more artists than would be expected based on their populations bringing much-needed economic investment to those areas as well.  BIA support is hugely valued by those artists in receipt of it. It has been the subject of much positive commentary at home and in an international context and makes an important statement about the value placed on the arts in Ireland.  I fully appreciate the importance of the BIA and have been clear that I think it should be continued. There has been consistent correspondence to my Department in support of a successor scheme. Much of this support has come through the constituency offices of all colleagues both in government and in opposition. It is therefore clear that there is broad support for a continuation of the BIA. My Department conducted a public consultation which closed on 5 September and over 17,000 submissions were received. Of these, 97% were in favour of the BIA being continued.  Consultation is ongoing, including a consultative committee which draws from across Government Departments. I also held a sectoral stakeholder forum on 10 September with around 200 artists, all of whom were in favour of retaining the scheme.  The BIA has been implemented as a randomised control trial which consists of two groups of randomly selected people, all of who complete a lengthy survey every six months as a condition of a participant being on the scheme. This represents the largest randomised controlled trial undertaken by the Government, the gold standard for research. Some 2,000 recipients were selected to receive a payment of \u20ac325 a week, while a further 1,000 control group members were selected to participate in research. Analysis of the results involved the comparison of averages between the two groups across a very broad range of possible impacts.  The same cohorts of recipients have remained on the scheme since 2022 in order to gather accurate comparable data. Due to attrition, the total number now on the scheme is 1,962. The pilot is underpinned by a comprehensive research programme and three impact assessments have been published so far by the Department in addition to independent reports on recipient reviews.  It is clear from all of the evidence collected to date under the scheme that it is having a positive impact for those in receipt of it. The data shows that the BIA is having a consistent positive impact across all indicators affecting practice development, sectoral retention, well-being and deprivation. However, the data also shows that the situation of the control group participants who provide the same data as the recipients but who do not get the weekly payment have significantly deteriorated given the cost-of-living crisis.  According to the data the Department has collected, 51% of those who do not receive the BIA live in enforced deprivation compared to 16% of the general population. The BIA is therefore a means of addressing consistent poverty in the sector.  The data also shows that at the start of the BIA the median income earned by those on the scheme was \u20ac19,200, which is 54% lower than the national annual median of \u20ac41,823. At the same time, recipients\u2019 arts-related income increased by on average over \u20ac500 a month, while their income from non-arts work increased by about \u20ac280. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The evidence is absolutely clear. As Minister said earlier, the headline from the cost benefit analysis is that society received a benefit of \u20ac1.39 for every euro spent on this scheme. The Minister said that he is in favour of this being made permanent, I think, or at least being continued. Does he agree that it should be massively expanded? Just over 8,000 artists applied to this pilot but only 2,000 were selected. It was not a merit-based selection process but instead a lottery. There are another 6,000 artists out there who wanted to participate and contribute in this way. They were not able to because of the limited funds available for the scheme.  Imagine if only one in four workers got paid for their work on the basis of a lottery every three years or only in four eligible applicants received job seeker\u2019s payments. Does the Minister agree that the scheme needs to be expanded so that all artists who want to participate and meet the criteria can do so?   "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I will finish reading the reply for the record.  Last week I published a cost benefit analysis showing the net fiscal cost of the BIA was just under \u20ac72 million over the three years compared to gross cost of \u20ac105 million over three years.  For every \u20ac1 of public money invested in the pilot, society received \u20ac1.39 in return. The cost-benefit analysis shows that audience engagement with the arts generated an estimated \u20ac16.9 million in social value over the three pilot years and improvements in psychological well-being contributed almost \u20ac80 million to total benefits. Dependence on social protection declined, with recipients receiving \u20ac100 less per month on average and being 38% less likely to receive jobseekers' payments. The findings of the report on two years of the payment shows that compared to those not in receipt of the BIA, recipients benefited in a number of ways in terms of weekly output. The BIA research has developed a strong irrefutable evidence base that the intervention works and has consistent positive impacts for those in receipt of the payment as well as broader society.  No decision on a successor scheme has been made, including potential payment levels, eligibility criteria and so on, but I have made it clear, and am making it clear again this morning in the D\u00e1il, that I am in favour of a permanent scheme being put in place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Again, it is unambiguously positive. It is positive for the artists who participated and for society as a whole. It provides some sort of halt or counterpressure to the drain of mass emigration of many of our most creative young people who are effectively being driven out of here by the cost-of-living crisis and are going to live in less expensive but creative cities which is sucking the energy and life out of many of our cultural scenes.  Is the Minister in favour of the expansion of this scheme to include all who are eligible to participate? This would mean increasing the funding, perhaps even quadrupling it. Another 6,000 artists were eligible for the scheme, having met the criteria, but they lost out on the lottery. We could be getting the benefit of their work as well. Does the Minister agree that there needs to be a new scheme that is open to new applicants so that those who did not apply previously can do so? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I do not know if the Deputy was here for the Priority Questions, but as I said earlier, no decision has been made with regard to a successor. That decision and any decisions on the details of any successor scheme will only be made once there is acceptance of what I have put before the D\u00e1il this morning, which is that the scheme should be continued. The quantum of money available will also be relevant. There is only a week to go to the budget and ultimately, the numbers of people that will be included will reflect the amount of money the Department gets in the Vote in the budget next week. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Arts Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Sports Funding","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I ask the Minister to set out the level of funding allocated to League of Ireland clubs for academies and to state whether such funding will be increased in the budget. Sinn F\u00e9in very much supports the Global Findings Report recommendations produced by Double Pass as part of its audit of the League of Ireland academy system. We urge the Government to commit significant funding to same, as promised in the programme for Government. Separately, has the Minister had any communication with the FAI or the LMETB in relation to the youth training programme being run out of Oriel Park which is to cease at the end of the month? I do not think this is the----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Sorry, what question are we on? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  T\u00e1 br\u00f3n orm. T\u00e1imid ar Ceist Uimh. 7. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Acting Chairman (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa is substituting for Deputy Ward on Question No. 7. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Within the context of the question, I will ask a supplementary question about a training programme in Dundalk. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  As outlined in my reply to an earlier question, the operation of the League of Ireland and its academies is fundamentally a matter for the Football Association of Ireland which, like all national governing bodies of sport, is an independent, autonomous body responsible for the organisation and development of its own sport.  At present, no specific funding is allocated for League of Ireland academies. However, the programme for Government commits to exploring new mechanisms for the creation of football academies. An additional funding grant of \u20ac1 million, which was provided by my Department to the FAI, enabled it to produce the recently published League of Ireland Global Findings Report. The funding also enabled the appointment by the FAI of an academies administrator to support the development of new academy programmes and to track their impact. The Global Findings Report benchmarks Irish football academies against international standards based on an audit of existing academy structures and needs. My Department continues to engage with the FAI regarding this report. A pre-budget submission focusing on academies has recently been submitted to me by the FAI. This will be given due consideration, taking account of the range of requests across the sports sector for additional support and, ultimately, the outcome of the budget process.  While the FAI has sought significant State funding to support its academies, it is important to note that sizable financial support has been directed to the FAI and to football more generally over recent years. Over \u20ac75 million in State funding was allocated to the FAI between 2019 and 2024, including \u20ac30.2 million specifically to support football development and promote participation in football by young people, with the balance in funding comprising Covid-specific and energy supports. Furthermore, significant capital funding has been granted to football projects around the country in recent years, including \u20ac48.9 million to FAI-endorsed football stadium projects at Finn Harps, Dalymount Park, Sligo Rovers and Wexford FC under the 2024 round of the large-scale sports infrastructure fund, LSSIF, and \u20ac76 million to support the development of grassroots football club facilities nationwide under the 2020 and 2023 rounds of the community sports facilities fund. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I accept that we are not going to get an outline of what will be in the budget but I seek reassurance that there is still a commitment there. In fairness, the Department played a major role in the Global Findings Report being conducted. That report found there is an absolute necessity to provide significant funding for academies. We know the scenario in relation to professional football, the possibilities that exist and the need to make sure we have the necessary throughput of players. It is all about contact and professionalism but that can only happen if we have the funding.  I ask the Minister to outline as much as he can in relation to that commitment. I am not taking away from the financial commitment that has already been given in relation to the FAI. Deputy Joanna Byrne has spoken about the fact that we would all like to see the Irish team doing much better. At this moment in time, the League of Ireland is flying but also has some issues in relation to funding.  Has the Minister had contact with LMETB or the FAI in relation to the fact that the youth training programme which is run out of Oriel Park is to cease at the end of the month? There is obviously a lot of worry in relation to that. Indeed, SIPTU and many others have commented on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  As I said to Deputy Byrne a while ago, and as Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa has acknowledged, the Government has played a role in terms of the supports it has provided to the FAI. We are operating on the basis of a memorandum of understanding, MOU. A significant amount of reform has happened already. Of the 163 recommendations or conditions, 159, or 98%, are either completed or phase 1 of them is completed. The financial situation in the FAI is still challenging. Since the new MOU was signed on 17 December 2024, State funding has been increased to \u20ac6 million for the period from 2024 to 2027. The bulk of this will go towards youth field development and grants which are aimed at the grassroots of the game. The MOU also contains 16 recommendations for the FAI, including completion of outstanding recommendations and conditions from the previous MOU, the maintenance of governance reforms introduced under the previous MOU, the provision of information and reports to Sport Ireland to facilitate oversight and a cascading governance reform to affiliates and grassroots. The last recommendation is really important and was also raised by members of the Oireachtas committee last week. We have to have a cascading effect of reform. While there has been quite a considerable amount of reform with regard to numbers at the FAI itself and so on, we now need to see the cascading effect down to into the grassroots, which I know the Deputy will support. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I am in complete agreement with the Minister. I do not think there is anyone out there who would not say that there is a need for a huge level of reform and that there is more to do in relation to the FAI, particularly in regard to governance. That goes without saying. In terms of the League of Ireland and grassroots football, we need to ensure the necessary supports are there. I ask the Minister to confirm that the commitment is still there in relation to the academies and the need for significant funding. We also need to see more funding for the LSSIF. Deputy Byrne spoke yesterday about the success of Drogheda United, Louth GAA and many others. The fund needs to be open to the likes of Oriel Park for the changes that are absolutely needed there. I ask the Minister to tell us whether he has had contact with LMETB and the FAI in relation to the absolutely frightening story that the youth training programme in Oriel Park is to cease at the end of the month. I do not think it is the first one.  A significant amount of the funding is meant to come from the ETB. It is just a matter of finding this information out. One SIPTU official said that he saw this as pulling up the supports for grassroots football. Will the Minister ensure that engagement happens in order to find out exactly what the story is in this regard and whether it can be rectified in any way? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I have not had any engagement with LMETB. The Department or the Minister of State, Deputy McConalogue, who unfortunately cannot be here today, may well have had some engagement with it. I am not sure about that but I can check afterwards. I do not disagree with what the Deputy said with regard to investment. Every single person who comes in for these questions on sport has a catalogue of things he or she wants implemented. It is not a couple of hundred million euro I would need, but rather a couple of hundred billion euro, which is not practical.  Acknowledgement should be given \u2013 at least the Deputy did so \u2013 that the report which highlighted the League of Ireland\u2019s potential with regard to academies was funded by the State. At the moment, most of the operating costs are being funded by the State. The State entered into an MOU with the FAI in good faith in order to keep the organisation operable because we need an association that can govern football in Ireland and ensure we have teams that can represent the country at home and abroad with distinction. In recent years, that can has been carried by the State and it will be carried for another while. We cannot just glaze over that and say there is no investment; there is substantial investment in this area. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Will the Minister ensure there is engagement with the FAI and the ETB on this matter? I would appreciate it if he could come back to me on that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 8 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Sports Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Media Sector","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  What measures is the Minister adopting to ensure that independent radio stations, such as Live 95, which covers the constituencies of the Chair and the Minister, have fair access to funding in budget 2026, particularly in underserved rural areas? By what means does he plan to support current affairs and local news provision? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The programme for Government acknowledges that local and national independent broadcasters perform a vital public service and that this should be supported. Radio Kerry is probably one of the stations that will be tuning in this morning. This is being achieved through a range of media schemes for which local, regional, independent and community radio stations and broadcasters are eligible to apply.  A total of \u20ac6 million was provided in budget 2025 to ensure the continuation of the local democracy and courts reporting schemes, applications for which recently closed and are currently being assessed. Two new schemes have been launched this year. A total of \u20ac3 million is being provided for the digital transformation scheme, which was launched in September. It will support media organisations to innovate and transition to the digital information environment. The news reporting scheme will provide \u20ac4 million, including a ring-fenced \u20ac3 million for the commercial radio sector to support public service content that is underprovided for or at risk of underprovision. This scheme is providing an important avenue of funding in support of the provision of independent and trustworthy news and current affairs content. It will assist in promoting a plurality of voices in our media sector. Applications to the scheme closed last Thursday and are currently being assessed.  As recommended by the Future of Media Commission, Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n is progressing research into current community media supports. This research will help to determine optimal supports going forward and establish the foundations on which a new scheme may be devised. The aforementioned measures are in addition to the Sound and Vision scheme operated by Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n, which provided funding of more than \u20ac22.7 million in 2024 for the production of audiovisual works, of which almost \u20ac1.7 million went to commercial radio. More than \u20ac600,000 has been provided in 2025 to the commercial radio sector through the scheme.  Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n will monitor the impact of each of these schemes and update them as appropriate in order to ensure they are accessible to the wider media sector and continue to deliver on intended objectives. I understand the importance of ensuring our local and regional radio stations, which are among the most trusted news sources in the country, remain viable and strong and actively contribute to a thriving and diverse media landscape. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  I thank the Minister for the response. Independent radio is a trusted voice for 2.5 million people across Ireland. For less than 1.4% of total media funding, we can protect and strengthen that service, with just \u20ac4.5 million coming from the budget. It is good to hear \u20ac3 million will be kept ring-fenced in order to continue delivering independent, high-quality news and public service content. A total of \u20ac1.5 million is needed to safeguard our transmission system, which is a lifeline for communities when broadband or electricity fails, as we saw during Storm \u00c9owyn, as well as a guarantee that 30% of the Sound and Vision fund goes to independent radio, which will come at zero cost to the taxpayer, which we both like, I assume. That will ensure digital funding continues into 2026 so Irish radio stays strong on every dashboard and digital platform. It is about fairness and giving independent radio the tools it needs to keep serving Ireland. With modest support, we will continue to deliver essential public service broadcasting in every county every day.  My surname is O'Donoghue and I have relations in Kerry. The people of Listowel are a great bunch of lads. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  Of course, the Chair is no stranger to Live 95 in Limerick. I often come on that radio station on his coat-tails. Deputy O'Donoghue is right about the importance of local commercial radio. It has given a voice to people across the country who would not otherwise have one. Let us be fair about it: until the advent of local commercial radio stations, the only voices heard on the radio in Ireland were Dublin ones. If a regional voice was heard on the radio, it was ordinarily because of bad news, such as something closing down or an atrocity or something. That is not what people want. The misinformation, disinformation and malinformation strategy that we brought to the Government last year is a fundamental plank in protecting our democracy because local radio is trusted. I have a good relationship with the Independent Broadcasters of Ireland. It has met me on a number of occasions and it has a good relationship with the Department. I have outlined the schemes that we have in situ already. The Independent Broadcasters of Ireland is working with and very supportive of those schemes. I hope to be in a position to expand those schemes over the lifetime of the Government with the programme for Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Robert O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Robert-O'Donoghue.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Robert O'Donoghue  I thank the Minister. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Media Sector"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Commemorative Events","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  A total of 23 US Presidents have Irish heritage, with many coming from Northern Ireland. As the Minister knows, I first floated the idea of an American Presidents\u2019 trial in this country earlier this year in the House. This proposal could be a highly positive North-South project and a massive attraction for US visitors, especially those with Irish links. It could be comparable to the Wild Atlantic Way. Will the Minister provide an update on any progress? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  In the programme for Government, the 250th anniversary of the US Declaration of Independence was identified as an event that could be marked appropriately. This acknowledges Ireland\u2019s unique connection to the story. The anniversary will be led on two levels. On the international front, the commemorative programme will be led by the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. My Department has been given the responsibility to lead on the programme of national events for America250. Given the contribution of people from the Ulster-Scots tradition on the island to American independence, there is much that can be done on a North-South basis. I have had a number of good conversations with my counterpart Minister, Gordon Lyons MLA, in this regard.  The American Presidents\u2019 trail is an initiative that is being considered for inclusion. It is something that I, on the face of it, support. It was brought to my attention by Deputy Timmins along with other examples, including the Ohio Presidential Trail and the Presidential Walking Trail near Mount Rushmore in South Dakota. The trails are being considered as community-led commemorative initiatives that could be delivered in partnership with the local authorities. This would be with support from my Department through the annual local authority commemorations grant funding.  A draft proposal for the American Presidents\u2019 trail will shortly be shared with the newly formed commemorations advisory committee, which provides independent and expert advice to the State on commemorative matters. As Minister with responsibility for commemorations, I hope to shortly bring a memorandum for information to the Government that will contain the approved events that will form the national programme for America250.  Across the island of Ireland, there are many communities that have a proud connection to American Presidents. Through the local authority network, the Department will work with these communities to ensure these connections are shared and remembered.  I acknowledge the passing of the deputy chair of the expert advisory group, Dr. Martin Mansergh, in the past ten days. One of his lasting legacies, among so many other contributions to the State, was his dedication, expert guidance and commitment to forging a collaborative path in commemorations that allowed and encouraged everyone to take part, no matter their background, beliefs or standing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I am pleased to announce that I have developed a roadmap for the potential American Presidents\u2019 trial. I have pinpointed several key counties to consider, along with a suggested route. Ultimately, this map would benefit all parts of Ireland, enhance relations between the two countries and boost tourism. Tourism numbers in this country are down this year. This project should be a part of a national strategy of Tourism Ireland and F\u00e1ilte Ireland. Never has it been so important to highlight the close relationship we have with the United States, and this trail would promote closer ties. It is a perfect example of the use of soft power. Soft power is something we have with the US and we need to constantly remind ourselves of this fact. We must develop it and not take it for granted.  It has contributed to the massive investment by the US in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I do not disagree with Deputy Timmins. He will be aware that in the case of the vast majority of those United States presidents prior to 1900 who had ancestors from the island of Ireland, their ancestors came from County Antrim, so there is a North-South dimension to this as well. The Department deals with that. I have had discussions with the Minister, Gordon Lyons. It will also include the Department of the Taoiseach through the shared island initiative. I am preparing to bring forward a memorandum on this shortly.  I do not disagree with what the Deputy says about soft power. At the end of the day, people crave an understanding of where they come from. I was at the Ryder Cup at the weekend and it was clearly evident in discussions that every second person I met had some connection to the island of Ireland. It is no coincidence that the vast majority of United States presidents, in particular pre-1900, have had very strong, tangible links to the island of Ireland, with some of their parents born here. That is really important. It is not just the presidents of the United States; three of the signatories to the Declaration of Independence were born on the island of Ireland. That is something the T\u00e1naiste and Minister for foreign affairs is anxious to promote for the events that will take place in the United States in 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Edward Timmins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Edward-Timmins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Edward Timmins  I could not agree more. I strongly believe my proposal for an American presidents trail could be a hugely positive North-South project. It would fit the whole purpose of the shared island fund, boost the economy of Northern Ireland and deliver benefits that we cannot predict. It would improve co-operation between both parts of these islands and develop relationships that do not exist. This is the best way to unite our island. If we bring people closer together, then borders will simply melt away. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Deputy's summing-up properly reflect his sentiments and what he is trying to achieve. My Department and I will work with him over the coming months in advance of bringing forward a memorandum to the Government to see how his views can be best represented in that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Commemorative Events"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Culture Policy","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I want to briefly refer to the criminal actions that happened overnight where Israel kidnapped Irish citizens and other humanitarian personnel and illegally seized 14 vessels carrying humanitarian aid to Gaza. The Government must now implement serious sanctions against Israel. There can be no more impunity. Colleagues of ours in this House and in the other House have been kidnapped in international waters. I just wanted to say that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  The Deputy has only five seconds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Very briefly, my question relates to the restitution and reparation of cultural heritage, the work of the advisory committee and whether a national strategy is in place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The issue of repatriation and restitution is an important one, especially in the current global context. While my Department is not engaged directly with institutions in other countries regarding the restitution and repatriation of cultural heritage, it is represented on the advisory committee on the restitution and repatriation of cultural heritage. This committee was established to advise the Government on issues relating to the restitution of historically and culturally sensitive objects in Ireland.  The advisory committee is chaired by Sir Donnell Deeny, an expert in this field of work, and is ably supported by the Heritage Council, as secretariat. The committee comprises a number of independent experts, including representatives from the national cultural institutions, key Departments, the Heritage Council, as well as the wider museum, claimant and academic sectors. Further information about the membership of the advisory committee can be found on the Government's website as well as on the Heritage Council's website.  The advisory committee is tasked with developing policy advice and national guidelines on the restitution of cultural heritage objects in Ireland that may have been illegally or unethically elicited or traded. This approach is grounded in the research and evidence of best practice internationally and the committee has been working hard on reviewing this research and conducting research within our own collecting institutions. Through its work, the advisory committee will also provide guidance on related matters, including provenance research, to cultural institutions and other bodies that have responsibility for managing historic collections.  Progress is well under way on this work. I received a very comprehensive report on the work of the committee from its chair earlier this year. I was greatly impressed at the detailed work programme being undertaken by the committee into this sensitive policy area and its progress across the various programme strands. I also recently met with the director of the Heritage Council, Virginia Teehan, on these matters to assure the committee of my support for its work. I take this opportunity to thank the members of the committee and the Heritage Council for their continued support in this. I look forward to the outcome of the process. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  The Minister will be aware that I have submitted some parliamentary questions on the work of this advisory committee. I am really keen to see the report. I do not know if the Minister has published it, or if he is willing to publish it or share it with Members. It is really important that we see the fruits of that work.  The minutes of meetings have been published but there does not seem to be any record of a meeting since February. Perhaps meetings have taken place and minutes have not been published. There is a lot of interest in this topic and in the repatriation and restitution of our cultural heritage that is held in museums and educational institutions in other countries. In many cases it was taken without the permission of the Irish State and the Irish people at times of war and oppression and often stored inadequately, not open for researchers from Ireland or any other country to access and certainly not available for the people of Ireland to enjoy, understand, interpret and hold as part of our intangible cultural heritage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  That is a two-way street, because there may very well be items in Irish institutions, which is something that is also of concern to me, that predate the foundation of the State or may have found their way into State collections by way of benefactors. We have to be conscious of that as well. In my time, for instance, as Minister of State with responsibility for the Office of Public Works, I was very keen to make sure that any of the public buildings under the State's care and managed by the Office of Public Works did not in any way have artistic representation or any sort of presentations that were connected directly to slavery or the trade in human beings. The OPW conducted a very comprehensive body of work at the time and it was able to conclude that none of the State's buildings were in any way involved or had an attachment in any way, for want of a better word, to the remembrance and celebration in some cases, warped and all as that may be, of the trade in human beings.  On the point Deputy McGuinness makes, it is a two-way street and we have to be conscious of what potentially is within our own stores as well. Obviously, the Heritage Council has a role in this and I will engage with it further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  I agree with the Minister that it is a two-way street. In the case of any artefacts or items of cultural heritage held here that are vestiges of the colonial past of this country and its unhappy presence within the British Empire for far too long, they should of course be logged and dialogue should take place for those to be repatriated to their peoples.  I just want to give a very brief anecdote. Recently, a research group from Belfast was in Cambridge and when they visited the archives they were shocked to see the Irish collection in dusty shoeboxes. An astonishing number of Irish historical and cultural artefacts lay undisturbed. They had not been touched. They had never been looked at, but they were kept there. When one of the boxes was opened, an archivist there took out a wooden stick from Gougane Barra in west Cork and said it had obviously been used for counting sheep, such was the ignorance. Of course it was a bata sc\u00f3ir, the piece of wood that was tied around a child's neck when they went to school, on which it was recorded how often they spoke Irish. They were beaten in school and they could be beaten again when they went home. These are important artefacts that we should have in Ireland, our country, so our people can interpret them and access them rather than having them stored in dusty shoeboxes in archives in Cambridge University. I ask that that work take place and that the Minister publish the report and circulate it to Members. He might send me a copy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  In an Irish context, universities are independent entities. As a former Minister for further and higher education, I know they really take pride in their independence. I would encourage them to exercise their independence proportionately and to reflect on what they have in their archives and on display. Universities, including Irish ones, should ask themselves whether the items they have on display are in keeping with the process of repatriation. Ultimately, that will be a matter for the governing authorities of universities, in the same way the issue the Deputy raises is a matter for the governing authority or its equivalent in Cambridge University.  I am not sure if Deputy McGuinness is on the British-Irish Parliamentary Assembly, but I am a former member of it and it is a very good vehicle to get issues like this raised by him or one of the Deputy's party colleagues who is a member of that assembly. It might also form part of a topic of discussion because there may very well be items in Irish museums and universities that could find themselves being repatriated to somewhere in Wales, Scotland or England. As I say, it has to be a two-way street. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Culture Policy"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Postal Services","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Government is committed to a sustainable An Post and post office network as a key component of the economic and social infrastructure throughout Ireland. The programme for Government states that the Government will continue to provide the nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. The Department is working to deliver on this and is engaging with relevant stakeholders in relation to future funding, including for securing of a new mandate from the Government to continue funding at an enhanced level while ensuring an adequate legal basis and compliance with state aid rules. In due course, I will seek the Government's approval to progress legislation to affect the funding to provide certainty to the network post 2025.  An amount of \u20ac10 million per annum is being provided over a three-year fixed period from 2023 to 2025 to An Post. An Post then disperses this funding across the post office network, with all contractor post offices benefiting from the Government funding with the objective of securing the stability of the network. The funding is being paid monthly for each 12-month period. To date, over \u20ac25 million has been claimed by An Post for the network. The current funding provides time and space for An Post to accelerate the transformation and commercialisation of the network to ensure a relevant, commercially viable network delivering more services to citizens and small businesses.  An Post is a commercial semi-State body with a mandate to act commercially. An Post has statutory responsibility for the State's postal service and the post office network. Decisions relating to the network, including decisions relating to specific post offices are operational matters for the board and management of the company and are not ones in which I, as Minister, have any function. Similarly, the terms of the postmasters\u2019 contract with An Post are a matter between the postmasters and An Post. Any negotiations are a matter for both parties directly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  I welcome the Government's ongoing commitment to continue to provide the nationwide network of post offices with funding to ensure their sustainability and enhance the value they bring to local communities. As the Minister knows very well, it is not simply about delivering post; it is increasingly about connections and access to the world through a local service. My constituency is one of the largest in the country and is continuously growing, with a total of 4,000 homes built over five years. As the area expands, new estates, such as Kilmartin Grove in the area of Hollywoodrath, have recently faced problems with postal deliveries. The estate has not been logged for regular service by An Post, resulting in irregular deliveries and missed notices. There are the same issues in Carpenterstown and Luttrellstown, where residents have said they have been getting extremely erratic deliveries for several months, including no letter deliveries for several days and parcels sitting in our delivery office for up to one week. The same issues are happening in Castleknock and Clonsilla when people are on holidays. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The issue the Deputy raised regarding urban post offices and mail delivery is not a purely urban phenomenon. Unfortunately, we have interruptions in rural services as well. The Deputy might send me the details. While I do not have any role with An Post, I will certainly forward the details to the company. While the Deputy is not suggesting this, as I said in response to a previous question, An Post does not operate on the basis of sentiment. An awful lot of people are bemoaning the fact that post offices are closing. In many cases, they are closing because of the economic inviability. There could be 300 or 400 people turning up to a public meeting. How many of those people use the post office? Postmasters cannot be paid to hang out over a counter and keep people in chat. They have to make a living. Unless people go in and use a post office, the post office becomes unviable. That is not just a rural phenomenon; it is also an urban one. To echo what the Deputy said, we have a use-it-or-lose it policy. Unfortunately, in the reality that we are in at the moment with EU state aid rules, if people do not use their local post offices, then the post offices in many cases will close. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Currie","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Emer-Currie.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Currie  The level of the communication I have received on this shows that people appreciate their postal delivery service. I am fully aware of the period of transformation that An Post has been undergoing in recent years, which is a positive transformation, and the areas of potential growth. Nevertheless, we have to keep the basics working. When issues have been directly raised with An Post and people are told there has been no designated post person for that area for several months, that is quite frustrating. I recognise the changing role of An Post, but we have to get those basics right. I appreciate the Minister raising this directly on my behalf with An Post because these are issues that have been going on for over one year. They are not just affecting one part of the constituency; it is sporadically all parts of the constituency. It is very much areas of new growth and homes that are not being included in the plans. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  If the Deputy sends me those details, I will arrange to do that. One thing I have a concern about, which I have previously raised, is that there is an obvious rush and everyone wants to see this rush around digitisation of public services, and that is a good thing. However, every time we take a letter out of the hands of An Post, there is a gap in where the company has to find that money. Over the past number of years, we have taken millions of letters out of the hands of An Post through various digitisation schemes, which have been looked for and welcomed in this House and pushed by people. That is all very well and good, but it has a knock-on consequence. We are not in a position where we can subsidise the postal service under EU state aid rules, as I outlined. Every letter that comes out of the hands of a postman has a knock-on consequence. While An Post is making great strides in parcel delivery, my hope is that it continues in that vein. Postal services across Europe have changed and they are going to change more, and we also have to accept that reality in Ireland. We have to be prepared to accept it. People cannot have a mail service without there being an increase in the price of stamps at the same time. Those two things do not make sense. I appreciate that the Deputy is trying to inject a bit of honesty into this debate, because for too long the postal services in this country have been politicalised to the point of being dishonest. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 13 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Postal Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Irish Language","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I wish to ask the Minister about the merits of increasing support for independent producers in relation to Irish language productions for television, particularly for online media and streaming services, where there is a real opportunity for us to growth the product that is available through the Irish language. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  The Government is committed under the programme for Government to enhancing supports for the increased use of the Irish language. The provision of content by the independent production sector has been a key element of public service broadcasting in Ireland for many years. In particular TG4, as a publisher broadcaster, commissions the vast majority of its content from the independent sector and, as such, plays a significant role in supporting and nurturing the sector, especially the Irish language creative sector. Government support to TG4 has increased from \u20ac37.2 million in 2020 to \u20ac60 million this year. This has enabled TG4 to increase the content it commissions and, as a consequence, increase its investment in and support for the independent productions sector, particularly in the Gaeltacht.  The Sound and Vision scheme continues to provide essential support for the independent production sector, including for independent Irish language productions. In 2024, the Sound and Vision scheme awarded over \u20ac7 million in funding support to Irish language or bilingual productions, with approximately 30% of the overall funding provided. In 2025 so far, this figure amounts to \u20ac5.5 million, or 39%. A total of \u20ac6.5 million in funding was awarded in the latest round of Sound and Vision, with \u20ac2.9 million or 46% of this going to support Irish language or bilingual productions. The general scheme of the broadcasting (amendment) Bill provides that funding schemes supporting the production of public service content shall allocate a minimum of 25% of funding in support of Irish language content production. The Future of Media Commission recommended that Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n conduct a comprehensive review of Irish language media services. The review is being undertaken by Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n. I await its findings to see how it can inform continued growth in the provision of Irish language content across the media sector. I fundamentally believe in supporting the Irish independent production sector and productions in the Irish language, as is reflected by the many ongoing supports provided to the sector through funding from Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n and Screen Ireland as well as the section 481 film tax relief. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire. Mar is eol d\u00f3, aonta\u00edm go hioml\u00e1n leis an r\u00e1iteas at\u00e1 ann sa chl\u00e1r Rialtais, go h\u00e1irithe maidir le ruda\u00ed tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 sin thar a bheith t\u00e1bhachtach.  We know as well that through the Official Languages Act, there is now an obligation on State agencies to produce at least 20% of their advertising through the Irish language. That is something we hear on the radio and see on the television every day. It has created a tangible improvement for those who wish to live their lives through or experience the Irish language. They can now see it on a day-to-day basis beyond the likes of Raidi\u00f3 na Gaeltachta and TG4. That is important.  Is there specific monitoring of the outputs? The investment is really important and I welcome what the Minister has said and the commitments. I hope there will be more in the budget next week. Is there specific monitoring of how that money is being spent and can we see the corresponding outturn at the end, particularly in respect of streaming services beyond national broadcaster services? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  T\u00e1 an ceart ag an Teachta. Beidh an Bille a raibh m\u00e9 ag caint faoi os comhair na D\u00e1la go luath. Coimisi\u00fan na Me\u00e1n has a very important role in this in terms of making sure that ultimately the policy objectives of the Government are going to be adhered to. I have enunciated the responsibilities it has with regard to grant assistance and things like that. We have a very ambitious plan around the Irish language, I think that is fair to say in general terms. The funding to TG4 has almost doubled. It is not just TG4, however. Looking at the screen industry and Screen Ireland in particular, supports were given to \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\", for instance, and that is just one. The Film Fleadh in Galway during the summer showed a number of small productions that had been supported under section 481, such as a scale uplift I was recently able to provide for, to make sure the Irish language is not only seen on television through TG4 but also on the large screen. The potential is immense. At the moment, there is a kind of athbheochan na dteangacha \u00e9ags\u00fala san Eoraip agus is \u00ed an Ghaeilge an ceann is t\u00e1bhachta\u00ed domsa. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I appreciate what the Minister is saying and agree entirely with him. He mentioned \"An Cail\u00edn Ci\u00fain\". It is a fantastic proof positive of the strength of Irish-language productions and the benefit that comes with it. Mar dhuine a d\u2019fhoghlaim a chuid Gaeilge sa Rinn, bh\u00ed an-\u00e1thas orm an blas sin a fheice\u00e1il agus a chloiste\u00e1il sa scann\u00e1n sin. Mar a d\u00fairt m\u00e9, t\u00e1 s\u00e9 thar a bheith t\u00e1bhachtach do dhaoine go mbeidh siad in ann \u00e9 sin a fheice\u00e1il agus a chloiste\u00e1il. I appreciate what the Minister said about the increased funding for TG4, which is hugely important because it translates into direct funding for the independent production sector, from where they get so much of their content. However, \"House of Guinness\" for example, which is currently streaming on Netflix, is the first Netflix programme with Irish-language subtitles. How are we plugging into that streaming sector to increase the volume of material that is available tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n na Gaeilge do dhaoine at\u00e1 ag f\u00e9achaint ar Netflix, Apple TV, Prime agus araile? An bhfuil ruda\u00ed ar f\u00e1il do dhaoine sa chomhth\u00e9acs sin? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I have met the streamers on a number of occasions now in the United States and online with regard to making sure the infrastructure is appropriate and adequate here in Ireland for production of television, tr\u00ed mhe\u00e1n an Bh\u00e9arla agus na Gaeilge. As the Deputy rightly said, there has been a major uplift in the number of Irish-language productions in the last number of years and we want to continue that. We have a physical infrastructure now in terms of the stages, including in my own and the Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach's area with Troy Studios as well as in Wicklow and Dublin, where the number of productions has skyrocketed over recent years, in no small way due to the work of Screen Ireland, the supports that have been put in place through section 481 and the scale uplift recently. We are hoping that through the programme for Government over the next number of years regional uplift will be given. It was given previously, probably at a really bad time in the context of Covid and everything else. It is something I would certainly like to revisit. Is iad na ceantair Ghaeltachta na ceantair ina mbeidh an seans acu an cos seo a chur chun cinn. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Question No. 15 taken with Written Answers. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Irish Language"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Departmental Funding","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  T\u00e1 m\u00e9 chun an cheist seo a chur ar son an Teachta Keira Keogh as Maigh Eo. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I welcome and support the publication of the new National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. The Department\u2019s obligations, and those of bodies under its aegis, are contained under pillar 3 of the new strategy and include implementing Sport Ireland\u2019s disability inclusion in sport statement and commitment to action, encouraging the production of accessible audiovisual content, embedding universal design and accessibility, addressing barriers, providing for an increased and richer participation of disabled audiences and creators in arts and cultural events nationwide, and enabling equal participation in the arts by disabled artists and arts workers.  The disability lead and associated grants are funded through the overall budgetary allocations that my Department provides to the various agencies and bodies under my remit. With regard to the overall funding provided to such grants, my Department provided funding of \u20ac1.868 million in 2024 to the Arts Council to support artists and persons with disabilities to access services. In addition, in 2024, \u20ac22.7 million in funding was provided to the Coimisi\u00fan na Mean Sound and Vision scheme for the production of audio and audiovisual content. To date in 2025, \u20ac13.4 million has been provided. A key objective of the scheme is to encourage inclusivity and accessibility, which is achieved through support for programmes with access services like subtitling, audio description and Irish sign language. With regard to sport, there are a range of funding supports for persons with disabilities. While some funding is direct, most of the funding is part of a wider programme of expenditure and is subject to annual budgetary adjustments.  To complement this strategy, I recently published an overview of supports provided by my Department to persons with disabilities and this is available on my Department\u2019s website. This includes supports across the range of Government functions. I am committed to the delivery of goals and actions agreed by my Department for the culture, communications and sport sectors, as outlined in the strategy, and my officials will continue to engage with the Department of Children, Disability and Equality over the lifetime of the strategy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I particularly welcome what the Minister said about liaising with other Departments. The cross-departmental nature of this funding is hugely important. It is not just the Minister's Department but also the Department of Health, the Department of Transport and the Department of Children, Disability and Equality that need to come together to make sure this funding is effective in how it relates to people with disabilities.  I want to specifically address the accessibility retrofit programme for public transport. We opened a new DART station in my constituency, in Woodbrook, with fully accessible platforms, yet the fully accessible trains that will allow wheelchair users, for example, to get onto them will not come for two years. Those trains are important for people like artists, as the Minister mentioned, to get to different venues and places where they are going to work. That has to be part of the scheme as well. The cross-departmental element is crucial to make sure it is effective and gives people with disabilities what they need. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  While I might not be able to give the Deputy an answer with regard to trains, I certainly hope my colleague the Minister for Transport will. Generally with regard to venue accessibility, the Deputy makes a very good point. As somebody who has photosensitivity myself and is precluded from going into a lot of different places because of lighting schemes and the like, I know unfortunately what it is like to have a disability that precludes me from doing things that some people take for granted and just get on with. It can be very debilitating, there is no doubt about it. It means that participating in cultural activities which I would love to be in a position to do, and which I was criticised by The Irish Times for not being able to do - thanks, The  Irish Times - is something I am acutely aware of. In the next round of grants I will be making available, particularly the first round of arts capital grants, I will have a particular emphasis on the issue of disability access, and also in the area of sports capital, which we have done for the last number of years. We have been very keen to bring inclusivity around the area of disability to the fore and will be continuing with that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I appreciate the work that is being done. It is hugely positive and benefits us all, albeit many of us indirectly. One of the issues with grants, particularly where they are means-tested, is that when they work and the person who is a recipient of that grant makes more money or has more resources available to him or her, they then fall outside the criteria if it is means-tested. This applies across the board in relation to grants for people with disabilities. The reality is that even if they have more money or resources available to them, they still have the same disability, challenge and mountain to overcome. It is counterproductive to have a situation where a means-tested grant is taken away from somebody who has achieved some success in relation to the very challenges they are trying to overcome.  I hope the Minister takes that into account in the way the scheme will operate from here. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I certainly will. The point was raised earlier and we had a good discussion on the basic income for the arts. The Deputy will be as familiar with this as myself but one of the groups of people who are particularly hardest hit are disabled artists. We want to make sure that any replacement we bring to the scheme, which is currently on a pilot basis, does take into account - if we get the resources from the budget next week - the severe impediments and severe hurdles that people with disabilities have on top of being an artist. Having a disability and being an artist in this country at the moment is quite difficult and we want to try to be able to recognise that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Departmental Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Health Promotion","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  In July 2025, the first strategy action plan for creative arts and health was published as a joint policy document by the Department and the Department of Health. This is a key milestone in a policy partnership that began in 2020 in response to Covid. The plan aims to create a framework that can address the intersectoral and structural issues necessary to embed arts and health in a systemic way in Ireland in order to realise the potential of participation in creative and cultural activity as a positive health behaviour. The vision of the plan is that people living in Ireland have access to creative and cultural activity as part of a holistic health journey throughout their lives, supporting better health and well-being outcomes and enriching the creative and artistic landscape. Funding for the arts and health under the plan includes over \u20ac2 million from my Department for the creative health and wellbeing in the community scheme to support collaboration between Creative Ireland and healthy Ireland teams in the local authorities.  The key focus of this initiative is supporting better mental health through participation in creative and cultural activities. Under the auspices of the plan, a number of innovative actions are being progressed, including the next iteration of the Traveller health and wellbeing through creativity scheme; the development of arts and health training for medical undergraduates; and support for the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing in Trinity College Dublin to provide further research evidence for the benefits of participation in creative and cultural activity. The Department and the Department of Health have also co-funded a music in nursing homes scheme, through which local authorities bring professional musicians with musical performances to residents.  The benefits of sport and physical activity to physical and mental health are well proven. In partnership with the Department of Health under the healthy Ireland fund, Sport Ireland delivers a wide range of projects and programmes designed to increase the population's participation in sport and physical activity through the network of local sport's partnerships, recognised national governing bodies for sports and other relevant sporting organisations. Through initiatives such as Get Ireland Active and Get Ireland Walking, the outdoor swimming infrastructure scheme, and the physical activity for health programme, we are addressing key health challenges and breaking down barriers to participation in sport. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  I thank the Minister. It is accepted that the more people get out of their own homes and are involved in community activities makes a huge difference to their mental health. It is important we continue to promote that but it is important there is co-ordination between Departments as well, especially regarding the cultural area. The Minister mentioned the issue of nursing homes. One example of people getting involved is a group in my own constituency, Mayfield Men's Sheds, whose members visit two different nursing homes every week providing music. They have a very good musical team. A number of them are very talented and they provide entertainment in the nursing homes, which is extremely helpful for the nursing homes. It is projects like that that can be helpful to people, especially in rural communities where people can feel very isolated. I refer to the importance of community activity and making sure we have that support in place for people who may not be involved in sports clubs but want to get involved in cultural events. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Patrick O'Donovan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Patrick-O'Donovan.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Patrick O'Donovan  I could not agree with the Deputy. It is appropriate that his question has landed just as the Minister for Health has landed to the Chamber because this is an initiative that both Departments work on. The Minister and I are due to visit some nursing homes in the not too distant future to see the work that has taken place between the Department of Health and Creative Ireland. The Deputy is right. It is important that people are given a stimulus regardless of their age. Age should have no bearing on whether they participate in sport or cultural activity. Age should be no impediment or barrier to doing that; neither should someone's place of residence or their mobility or disability. The disability strategy I referred to goes a long way to that but we still have a lot of work to do in this space and in the collaboration between Sport Ireland, Creative Ireland, the HSE, my Department and that of the Minister for Health over the next number of months and years. We have ambition in this space. If Covid taught us anything it is that we cannot just leave our elderly with a radio, to be looked at through a sheet a glass. That is not stimulus and is not what anybody wants for anybody who is in an institution. They might be well looked after but there is more to life than that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Conor Sheehan)  I thank the Minister. Unfortunately, that concludes questions to the Minister for Culture, Communications and Sport as we are out of time. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health Promotion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Public Inquiries","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  My first question relates to the need for a public inquiry into spinal surgeries for children with scoliosis and spina bifida at CHI. I note the Minister met Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family with the T\u00e1naiste recently and it seems a commitment was given to an inquiry. Will the Minister inform the House as to what form that inquiry will take and what her view of the timeframe will be in the terms of reference? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  I thank the Deputy. He is correct. On Monday, the T\u00e1naiste and I met with the parents of Harvey Morrison Sherratt, along with other advocates who were there to support the family. The T\u00e1naiste and I listened carefully to what his parents said. It must have been a particularly difficult time, as all of this period has been for them, but also recognising it has been two months since the death of their little boy. At the meeting, it was agreed that we would work in partnership on the structure of an inquiry into spina bifida and complex scoliosis services at CHI. As the Deputy will be aware, there are a number of different models of inquiry and investigation. I have committed to scoping out the different models that are possible and the pros and cons of each of those models, while recognising that some of them have limitations, and to presenting that back to the parents and the advocates. It is important we would have a follow-up meeting when they have had the opportunity to reflect on that therefore it is my intention to write to them within two weeks and then to meet them a week after that. I have a little bit of work to do on that yet. The inquiry will be part of the wider reflection on paediatric services in CHI. The Deputy and the House will be aware that there is an important audit going on into waiting list equity or equity of access to the waiting lists in some of these services. It is important to say that. There is also the CHI oversight improvement steering group which is working regularly and oversees the implementation of the range of different reports of which the House is already aware, including the HIQA review. It will also oversee upcoming reports, including the Nayagam review, and a range of other measures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  There are different models but it is important that this is an inquiry. That is what families are looking for. Obviously, there are different types of inquiries. We have seen in the past where inquiries were promised and they end up being reviews and investigations, very similar to the Nayagam review which is ongoing and still has not been published. This inquiry has to be comprehensive. It has establish all of the facts. It has to look at the full range of services and it has to achieve accountability, wherever that lands us; whether that is political, within CHI or governance. We know that this is not just about surgeries. They are vital. Children were failed in relation to not getting surgeries on time. We know that. Far too many children were waiting. However, there are also issues regarding urology services, pre-care, aftercare and all of that. That has to form part of any review. It is really important for all of those children in the first instance that that inquiry happens, but it is equally important that we also invest in services and ensure in the here and now that children are getting timely access to care. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Yes, it would be my intention, irrespective of the form of investigation or inquiry, that it would be comprehensive in the way the Deputy has outlined, that it would be transparent and that it would be an inquiry that is also capable of making recommendations, as the parents and advocates have looked for. As he will be aware, in some forms of inquiry where information is presented during the inquiry, it can never be used in other proceedings. I am very conscious, for example, of a comparable model in relation to Limerick where there are disciplinary proceedings happening. That has never happened in the health service before.  The Frank Clarke report did not step over that, but a different form of inquiry would have stepped over that and precluded some of those disciplinary proceedings continuing. That is the balance I am trying to strike. Again, this is for a discussion with the advocates and with the person who will, ultimately, be in charge of this. It will be intended to have a senior legal figure and a clinical leader of this inquiry. It is very important that we get their perspectives as well on what is likely to work, what is going to be the right timeframe, what is capable of being comprehensive, and not precluding other proceedings that may be appropriate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Part of the problem here is that we have had almost a decade of failure and broken promises, some of which it must be said were political promises, and in more recent times a lack of transparency from Children's Health Ireland. Those very same families the Minister has met, and those parents and advocates she would meet, have been screaming from the rooftops about governance failures at CHI for many years. Many of their children are part of what is called the Dickson report, and I know that CHI has given a reason as to why it feels that report cannot be published. I have said there is absolutely no reason the contents of that report cannot be shared with the families whose children were part of that. There is a reference to what are called \"orphan\" children, who are children that fell through the cracks and were not getting the appropriate care. They were not under the appropriate consultant, be it a urologist or orthopaedic surgeon, and they simply fell through the cracks. These are children with spina bifida and scoliosis who at the time were waiting for procedures. I believe that trust is at an all time low. Trust is on the floor for many of these parents and there is an awful lot of work to do to repair and restore that trust. This is why I appeal to the Minister to make sure that whatever inquiry is put in place is the most robust it can be to get answers to the questions that need to be answered and, as important, to actually put the services in so that no other child has to wait as long as Harvey, and far too many other children, did. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Again, I agree with the Deputy. On the Dickson report I will provide a note to Deputies on this. There is a follow-up process with those families. I do not have the details to hand but I would like to provide that information to them.  Deputy Cullinane is absolutely right about developing services now. An inquiry should not prohibit or preclude that. He will be aware that I have strengthened very considerably the board of CHI with appointments most recently, and in particular with Fergus Finlay who is a very strong advocate in this space, and who I know will be a very strong advocate on the board and hold CHI very strongly to account, especially in relation to spinal services. As I said at yesterday's health committee meeting, I am really not satisfied with this year's performance. I cannot account for the reduction in the number of families travelling abroad. It is not clear to me how that is being offered to them, at what stage it is being offered to them or the breadth with which it is being offered. I am pleased that the adolescent complex surgeries have begun in the Mater. This is after a period when they were being paid for and not being done. Since July it has now been agreed that these will be done, and I am trying to see what options I have, domestically and internationally, that go beyond what we currently have to see how we can do more. I will report back to the House on that. I do not have an answer on that yet. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Public Inquiries"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cancer Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  From the Department's hospital productivity dashboard, we know that the specialty that has seen the largest increase in waiting times over the past three years has been breast surgery. From parliamentary questions we have asked, we are aware that for breast cancer patients for whom surgery is the first treatment there is a HSE commitment to treatment within 20 days. Over the past eight years there has been a sustained and dramatic drop in meeting that target. In 2017, just over 10% did not get timely treatment but that number is now at 40% of all the women. We want to hear from the Minister how she will account for these failings and what actions are being taken by the Department. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  The Government is of course, as is everybody else, committed to improving cancer care, ensuring better prevention, maintaining improvements in cancer survival rates, and timely access to treatments. The national cancer control programme, NCCP, has a number of metrics for breast cancer services. They are consistently reviewed to guide service advancements and to make improvements.  Since 2017 the total number of patients annually receiving this type of surgery increased by 10% to well over 1,500 in 2023. Over this period the percentage of patients seen within the recommended 20 days has decreased from 84% to 60%. The time to surgery can be influenced by a number of factors, including imaging and inpatient capacity, as well as the individual circumstances of the patient. The HSE is working on several initiatives to improve surgical capacity, including consideration of imaging and inpatient capacity in several cancer centres. Waiting times for radiology and diagnostic services are very seriously recognised as an issue.  The NCCP has produced a range of guidelines aimed at ensuring standardised access to cancer services across the country. These will, I hope, reduce variation in the management of patients and will lead to more appropriate referrals and management of patients within cancer services.  The Deputy will already be aware of the scale of the investment into the national cancer strategy since 2017. Significant improvements have been made with regard to breast cancer in recent years, in line with the overall objectives of the national cancer strategy. We do need to see a good deal more, as the Deputy will be aware. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  For the past two decades we have seen some very significant improvements in cancer care in this country but there is a very real and very well-founded concern now that cancer care outcomes may regress if the current trend in the delays in care continue. We have an excellent framework in terms of the deadlines that have been set down within the NCCP with a 95% target of ten working days for an urgent referral and 20 days for where surgery is required. We know, however, that this is so patchy, as the Minister herself acknowledged, across hospitals and indeed will be missed by the majority of hospitals. We heard from the Irish Cancer Society this morning that 3,600 women this year are not seen within the ten-day target. All of us here have had people come to us really distressed because they are told they need an urgent appointment and then they are given an appointment, such as in one case that I was dealing with, of seven weeks later. The reality of course is that this is one part of the cancer care process. I understand that the conversion rate breast screening to diagnosis is about 8%. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  The five-year net survival rates for breast cancer grew from 71% in the 1990s to 87.5% for the 2019 to 2022 period. We are going in the right direction. The Deputy is absolutely right to highlight it. We have had more people through the system and demand is increasing year on year. More than 56,000 patients were seen in clinics in 2024, up from 50,000 in 2019.  From my analysis, the single biggest issue, although there are many, is the timely access to MRI as a diagnostic tool. From the data I have, the reason for being out of target, say in 2022, was that imaging was at about 30%. It is now at 41%. We need to focus all of our efforts on access to imaging, the way in which our imaging technology is being used, the consistency, the hours that it is being used and the commitment of hospital staff to do that at all times and days of the week. As part of the productivity we were speaking about, this is an example of why that matters so much. Access to imaging, as far as I can see at the moment, really is the most challenging part. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I very much share the Minister's concern but I know, for example, that there is an MRI scanner in a major hospital for which they cannot get access to the post because there has been a suppressed post. I can talk to her afterwards about this.  There is also the reality of the very significant inequality for some women out there. Research published this year by the National Cancer Registry Ireland shows that 41% of women from deprived backgrounds have a much higher risk of death within five years of diagnosis compared with those from more affluent backgrounds and 24% have a higher risk of being diagnosed with late stage disease. We have had 4,000 diagnoses in 2022. One in seven of us women will get breast cancer in our lifetime. These wrinkles within the hospital system are down to the equipment that is not being properly optimised because of suppressed positions, and the delayed response to business cases by the HSE for breast surgeons. These are very real issues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I would be very grateful for the specifics of what the Deputy is asserting. I will check that out. It is very much the opposite to what we are trying to do. Considering the number of vacancies we are desperately trying to fill, I would be very concerned about that. I would appreciate if the Deputy could help me out with more information on that.  Several cancer centres have plans for additional theatre and inpatient capacity specifically for cancer and inpatient care because the theatre access is so important. Part of what will help with this is completion of the surgical hubs nationally, which will alleviate some pressure on our acute theatre capacity by moving lower complexity procedures, obviously since it is surgical hubs. Aligned to that is the theatre utilisation project, which is changing start times of theatres and maximising the flow and capacity within that. As I said, if there is a particular issue in a hospital I would be very glad to know about it. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cancer Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Capital Expenditure Programme","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Capital funding in health is really important. This capital allocation is one of the most important because it is linked to many of the big projects that are about reform of the health service. It is about more hospital beds and the 3,000 beds that were promised by the Minister's predecessor before the local elections last year. Elective hospitals have to be built, which is really important in following on from those surgical hubs and separating scheduled from unscheduled care.  We have the new National Maternity Hospital. We need to develop Galway. I know there are plans for other acute hospitals in my own constituency in Waterford. I will get to those projects as well. I do not believe the capital funding is there to deliver on all of those projects so the question is: which projects are not going to be delivered because of the capital funding that is allocated up to 2030? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. As he is aware, the programme for Government will set out a review of the national development plan as a key priority. Through the NDP review, we are prioritising critical economic growth but also the health infrastructure we need to have, which the Deputy has articulated.  The substantially enhanced NDP provision for the health sector of \u20ac9.25 billion will support the delivery of equitable, accessible and high-quality healthcare across Ireland. We have seen a number of examples of that happening so far but there is quite a lot of work to do, such as the new surgical hub at Mount Carmel, the HSE health app and the 96-bed ward block in UHL. That is what has happened so far. As the Deputy and I both know, we have to drive further ahead.  The NDP settlement recognises that there are certain key programme for Government priorities in health that will progress to statutory approval towards the latter part of the current NDP. In relation to shovel-ready projects, I have assurance from the Minister for Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation and his Department that they will be priorities for funding in the post-2030 NDP. The basic point is that if we get something to shovel-ready, we will be making the case to central Government for the funding to be enabled for that.  The Minister for public expenditure and reform has also confirmed that should there be underspends evident in the overall NDP allocation, the first allocation for that will go to the Department of Health. We have a programme of funding for the next five years. We have a challenge to meet that and get those to construction phase. Where we get something else to shovel-ready, I will be going to the Minister for public expenditure and reform looking for unspent allocation in other NDP programmes, the first call on that and indeed the first round of funding. My challenge is, frankly, getting things to shovel-ready stage. I am confident of the funding for electronic health and for the infrastructure projects we have. Our bigger difficulty is getting them to shovel-ready. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I do not believe that is the biggest challenge at all. It is a challenge, of course, to get projects ready and obviously they have to go through planning processes and there are other processes as well. I met with senior officials in the Department before the last general election. What they set out to us was an ask of about \u20ac13.5 billion up to 2030. What was achieved was \u20ac9.5 billion. Even looking at some of the costs, we know there is at least \u20ac1 billion, at a minimum, needed for digital transformation. We have to finish out the children's hospital which, it is estimated, will require about \u20ac300 million in addition to the current \u20ac9.5 billion allocated. The surgical hubs have to be paid for. Primary and community care facilities were estimated to be \u20ac270 million. On the 3,000 hospital beds, they average out at about \u20ac1 million each. That is \u20ac3 billion alone for those beds. Half of those beds, in my mind, will not be delivered and we will see who is right and who is wrong as all of this plays out. The new National Maternity Hospital is at a minimum of \u20ac900 million, at best, and then we are into the elective hospitals. We know from the preliminary business cases they are about \u20ac1 billion at a minimum for those four. When you add all of that up, it is well over \u20ac13 billion. It does not add up. Then the question is: what projects are not going to be delivered? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  The question is around what is capable of being delivered to absolute completion within the next five years and how we balance and manage that. I do not think it is question of right or wrong. Both the Deputy and I want to see the infrastructure delivered immediately if possible but we both live in the real world where we have to go through planning and procurement processes. There is a slowness in doing that, unfortunately - in the Government and the public sector doing that - which does not challenge the private sector in the same way. It is very frustrating but we both want to see the projects delivered.  I now have a capital envelope the size of which we have not had in health. There was an underspend on capital investment for a very long time in health, with significant additional funding on the current side. That was fine and necessary but there has been an underspend. I have secured a large capital portion of the NDP and the additional programme that is there. I have the assurance that where I get something to shovel-ready, I will get the funding for that and I would welcome the Deputy's support when I get to that point. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Despite all of the best efforts of people who will work in this space, even if they get them to shovel-ready, I have already outlined and done the maths. I have met with the Department. I know the money simply is not there to do all of these projects. It is a case of who is right or who is wrong when it comes to the funding. I would accept that the Minister wants as much as possible to be done, as I do, but it does come down to money. It is a case of \"show me the money\". If the money is there, we can do these projects. If the money is not there, whether they are shovel-ready or not, they simply will not proceed. We have seen health projects stalled.  We can all give examples in our own constituencies. I have dealt with the bigger State-wide projects. In my own constituency of Waterford, we need to deliver 24-7 cardiology care, which the Minister committed to. We need to invest in the adult mental health unit. There is a need for PET scanner. There are loads of projects right across each individual hospital that will also have to be funded. They have to be taken into account when you look at all the bigger projects as well. I believe - and it is my analysis based on the discussions I have had with the Department and the HSE - that there is a funding shortfall in regard to capital. I fear that some of those big reforms, especially the elective hospitals, simply will not happen as quickly as they should because the money will not be there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  There is no barrier to them in the context of the funding side of it. The bigger issue is the planning side but we will work through it together.  I had the good fortune to be in Waterford, a really excellently run hospital. I was in the CAT labs and got to see the different theatre configuration, which, of course, has been delivered. It is the case that the cardiologists have been recruited and that was confirmed to me by the hospital management and the IHA management so we will see that commitment delivered. The current funding was put beside it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  That is for 8 a.m. to 8 p.m., not 24-7. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  There was a recruitment process, and there you go. I stood, as I am sure the Deputy has done, and his party colleagues were there with me, outside the pretty magnificent surgical hub that is being completed there. We would very much like to see that. If anybody is going to run that well, I am confident that Waterford will do it. Those projects are being delivered and I look forward to seeing the physical transformation of that hospital as much as every other hospital with the ongoing capital investment that has happened and continues to happen, and the major projects, such as the one in the Deputy's own constituency, which is being delivered in front of his constituents' eyes. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Capital Expenditure Programme"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cancer Services","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  I wish to ask the Minister about cancer services. Over 50% of cancer patients require radiation therapy at some point in their care. It is routinely used to treat the most common types of cancer such as breast, cervical and lung cancers. It is the cornerstone of modern cancer treatment and yet, it is neglected. We have ageing machines. In other areas, newer machines have no staff to operate them. Qualified radiation therapists cannot get jobs and there are shocking levels of outsourcing to the private sector. As of July, \u20ac17 million has been spent this year alone contracting-out radiation therapy. What action will the Minister take to address deficits in both staffing and equipment? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. The Government is obviously committed to improving cancer care generally. As the Deputy is aware, a total of \u20ac105 million has been invested in the strategy since 2017, including \u20ac23 million in budget 2025.  Under the national plan for radiation oncology, state-of-the-art radiation oncology centres have opened in Cork and Galway in 2019 and 2023, respectively, which was \u20ac120 million capital investment. In Dublin, the St. Luke's Radiation Oncology Network, which includes St. James's and Beaumont Hospitals, were developed under phase 1 of the national plan in 2010. The design of the phase 1 facilities made provision for future expansion for phase 2, is now under way at Beaumont Hospital as a priority.  On staffing, I wish to acknowledge the incredibly important role of radiation therapists in the provision of cancer services in this country. There are currently 220 radiation therapists in Ireland, an increase of over 20% since 2020. While recruitment for radiation therapists is challenging globally, radiation therapist staffing vacancies in the HSE have improved from 30% in 2024 to about 15% to 22% at present. It is not fully staffed but it is going in the right direction, notwithstanding a challenging global environment.  There are currently 40 radiation therapy student places available annually across Trinity College, Dublin and University College, Cork. In the last six years, the radiation therapy training programme has grown by 32% and more than 20 additional specialty training posts have been established in the last three years. The national radiation therapist review, completed in 2024, provides a strategic review of the profession in Ireland and recommendations are being progressed by the HSE. The review recommended the development of new advanced practice radiation therapist roles and those posts are expected to be advertised in the coming weeks. To maintain improvements, NSP 2025 included 5.5 radiation therapy posts and six advanced practice radiation therapists. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  First, on machinery, I accept there is a replacement programme under way for St. Luke's but why are machines breaking down before action is taken? The internationally accepted lifespan for a treatment machine is ten years but in St. Luke's, Rathgar, they have two machines that are 15 years old and another two that are almost 17 years old. They are limited to using three machines at a time. This means that a quarter of the capacity in Rathgar is being lost. Why? It is to mitigate breakdowns. These machines need to be replaced every ten years. It is entirely predictable, so why is there not a national programme in place to support a ten-year replacement programme? This ad hoc replacement of antiquated machines coming too late in the day is compromising patient safety. Nationally, 35% of machines are already 15 years old, with two more approaching 17 years old. Some 40% of machines will require replacement in the next five years and overall, 75% of the machines will require replacement now or within five years.  We need greater investment and we need a programme to replace these machines. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  There are five public radiotherapy treatment centres with a total of 22 linear accelerators across the services. Galway has four, Cork has five and St. Luke's has 14 machines across the three sites in Dublin. The HSE also contracts radiation oncology services for public patients to centres in Waterford and Limerick and has a service-level agreement with the North West Cancer Centre in Altnagelvin to provide radiotherapy services for patients within a 90-minute road journey of Derry.  Under the National Plan for Radiation Oncology, NPRO, Ireland has developed state-of-the-art radiation oncology centres, as the Deputy is aware. I will look into the examples the Deputy has given relating to the management and replacement of different machines. I just need to spend more time doing that. I thank the Deputy for highlighting it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  Regarding staffing, Cork and Galway both have new builds and new machines, but not enough staff. St. Luke's network has a CT scanner with no staff, a skin cancer treatment service operating at reduced capacity because it has insufficient staff, and at the same time, we had 30 graduates in radiation therapy from Trinity College last year. Only ten of them secured posts in Ireland, a further ten left the profession, and ten more have no employment. Radiation therapy graduates need a guarantee of employment from the HSE. At the moment, we are just training them to leave the country, leave the profession or go to the private sector. We also have the ludicrous situation where radiation therapists hired by the HSE do not get incremental credit for previous service in the private sector. How can the Minister justify this policy where radiation therapists are so desperately needed? Why would they move from the private sector to take a pay cut? To address these staffing issues, we need two measures. We need a guarantee of graduate employment for those qualifying and we also need incremental credit for radiation therapists. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  There are a couple of different things. Staffing vacancies have decreased considerably, from 30% in 2024 to 14% in Dublin, 15% in Galway and, I acknowledge, 22% in Cork. CORU has changed some of the registration requirements, which has brought Ireland closer to international standards, providing access to work in Ireland for more radiation therapists generally. We have funding allocated in 2025 for the development of advanced practice roles in radiotherapy, which, again, is an effort to help people to work at the absolute top of their profession, which is really important. Recruitment is ongoing for vacancies in radiotherapy services. We are actively looking for people to come and work in these services. We are trying to enhance the workforce through advanced practice opportunities and to really drive in that direction. We know how much people have to offer. We have the funding for the additional posts. We want people to come and work in this service. We are taking all of the steps we can to try to attract them. We cannot compel people to be in the public health system either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  Graduates are looking for jobs, Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I have jobs. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cancer Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Services","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I acknowledge the Minister's bona fides in the matter of the maternity unit in Portiuncula hospital. She has acted at all times on advice in what she felt is the best interest of the safety of mothers and babies in the region. However, I want to ask her why the Walker report of 2018 was not implemented and if she will make a statement on the matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy for his ongoing concern, driven first by patient safety in Portiuncula hospital, which I greatly appreciate. It is an important focus. As the Deputy is aware, the Walker report came from a review commissioned by the then Saolta Group in 2014 following a number of serious maternity cases at Portiuncula maternity services from 2004 to 2014. It covered 18 cases and was published in 2018, making 154 recommendations. The HSE has advised my Department that all 154 recommendations were independently verified as implemented by both HIQA and an independent national HSE team. HIQA has verified that.  One of the recommendations related to the integrated clinical director model, with one clinical director covering Portiuncula hospital and University Hospital Galway. That was in place from November 2021 until June 2024 but was recognised by both sides, I understand, as a challenge from the outset. There were elements of risk due to the distance between the two units and the associated split of the clinical director's time. The model did not lend itself to consistent on-the-ground leadership, and as a result gaps in governance emerged. Following prolonged consideration, the HSE reverted to having a clinical director on both sites from August 2024. All 154 recommendations were implemented and that is one which just did not work and the HSE reverted to having two clinical directors as opposed to one overseeing the complete group.  HSE West and North-West has an established clinical network which includes Portiuncula hospital and University Hospital Galway. The network supports Portiuncula hospital in all aspects of clinical maternity care and joint processes have been in place since 2018. Although changes were made in Portiuncula hospital following the Walker review, frankly, similar issues have emerged in Portiuncula hospital, as the Deputy is aware, which is incredibly disappointing for us, but is of life-changing significance to the women whom it impacts and their babies. Twelve reviews are ongoing, which are at various stages of progress. Seven have been completed. Fifty-two recommendations have arisen from these seven reviews to date. Work to implement many of those recommendations is already in place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  I acknowledge the mothers and babies who have experienced, at birth, sometimes catastrophic events. It is a small number of women but that makes it no less. I worked with the Minister on Portiuncula maternity unit on the premise that the Walker report had been delivered, but it manifestly has not been delivered. I do not believe the HIQA report. Last week, at the health committee, the CEO of the HSE, Mr. Bernard Gloster, said that the Walker report had not been fully implemented. That is the reality because all of the same issues that arose in 2018 have arisen in 2025. Professor Sam Coulter-Smith identified that in his report and he has couched it in language that is not obvious, but it is clear what he is saying and it is nuanced. All the same issues with governance, training and human resources exist. We have a unit that was essentially set up to function at risk. On the idea of one hospital, two sites, I do not agree that it was not working. Who made the decision that it was not working? Many issues seem to have arisen from the time it stopped. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I do not know how else to say it to the Deputy but HIQA has verified that all of the recommendations were implemented. Perhaps we should arrange an opportunity for the Deputy to engage with HIQA about its assessment. It is the independent regulator and HIQA advised that they were implemented. One recommendation of 154 did not work and it was moved backwards. The issues that arose in Portiuncula hospital should not have arisen. They should not have happened, because the recommendations of the Walker report were implemented, yet they arose again. I ask myself the same questions. I have asked that of hospital management and I have asked through the reviews.  How is it that the same issues, which are not of resources but of management, culture, communication and responsiveness to women, frankly, are occurring? I have met many of these women. I have sat with them and heard the particular experiences of their cases and what happened to them and their babies. It is difficult to accept that those cases should have happened in circumstances where the Walker report was implemented. If we are going to have a political dialogue about a report that has been implemented, which the independent regulator has confirmed as having been implemented, with one recommendation having been walked back, and try to place what happened to those women at the foot of that single recommendation being changed, we are not in a good space. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  We are not in a good space because the maternity unit in Portiuncula hospital is in trouble. For example, it was recommended by the Walker report that there be seven consultant obstetricians. It never happened. There were five at the most: three full-time, one on managed leave and one on managed sick leave. There was never a full complement. Someone second-guessed the Walker report, so it was never implemented. Regarding infrastructure, the recommendation of a theatre in the labour ward did not happen. Who walked back the idea of one hospital, two sites, and why? I want to know why. Does the Minister have confidence in the clinical director regionally and the associate clinical director who was recently appointed? Are they the people who brought us to this juncture? Does the Minister have confidence that they will deliver us from it?  I was at a meeting with GPs last night with the clinical team. All I am seeing is confusion and shambles. One of the clinical directors said there was no evidence base for moving older women and women who were high-risk from Portiuncula hospital. They decided not to move people with diabetes at the last moment. They also decided that GPs would not risk stratify. They do not know what is going on. There is no clinical leadership and I want the Minister to make a statement on that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  The Deputy is aware that an external management team, EMT, was put in place in January precisely to try to supervise, assess and make some of the improvements that are needed. There have been some infrastructural works and changes, some of which should have been done before the external management team arrived, which have now been completed, for example a four-bay maternity day assessment unit, MDAU, and a dedicated early pregnancy unit. All of that was in train and should have happened before the external management team arrived. It has now happened. The EMT, and nobody else but the EMT, identified a bungalow adjacent to the hospital that has now been converted to a dedicated maternity outpatient department with six dedicated maternity clinical rooms five days a week from the end of September. That bungalow had been acquired before the EMT commenced but it was for a totally different purpose. It has progressed that as a maternity outpatient department.  It should not be the case that we need an external management team in Portiuncula hospital. The patient safety issues have been very significant. I have acted on clinical advice to me that it is not safe for high-risk women to give birth there until the changes that are necessary have been made and sustained in a way that can give confidence to everybody. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Procedures","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  It is now eight years since the Minister's predecessor, Simon Harris, said that no child would be left waiting for longer than four months for a scoliosis operation. This time last year I asked him how many children had been taken off operation waiting lists without their parents knowing. He stated he would find out. However, as yet, there is no evidence that he has found out and let us know. Does the Minister know how many children were taken off the waiting lists without parents knowing, in a similar manner as to what happened with Harvey Sherratt? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. There is an audit going on into equity of access on waiting list management. I expect to have that audit at the end of November. I will have to wait until then to confirm any figures. At the end of August this year, there were 135 patients on the CHI spinal active waiting list, compared with 150 in August 2024. That is a reduction of 10%. Outpatient lists are also down, with a 45% reduction in the number of new spinal outpatients waiting on an appointment. While I recognise this progress, there is an awful lot more work to do to drive improvements in spinal services. I have met with families and advocacy groups, and it is important to listen to them.  The Deputy is more than aware that \u20ac30 million was allocated to reduce waiting lists in different areas. There is a ringfenced theatre providing dedicated capacity. There are additional outpatient clinics, in particular this year on Saturdays, which have seen over 800 additional patients, and which has reduced the waiting list for initial assessments. We are trying to maximise capacity through national and international outsourcing. As I said earlier, which I appreciate the Deputy was not here for, there is an awful lot more work to do there. I am trying to explore additional options.  Activity has increased with 342 spinal procedures completed so far this year, compared with 304 for the same period last year. This is a 13% increase, but at the same time we are seeing a growing need for those services. There are 370 spinal patients who have been added to the CHI active waiting list, which is a 10% increase compared with last year. While some of this reflects faster outpatient access and better referral pathways, we are also trying to do further analysis to understand some of the source of that demand, which is really important. The services remain an absolutely top priority and I will do everything I can to actively drive progress to address the challenges children face. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Minister must admit it is quite shocking that it will take 14 months for a question asked in September 2024, about how many children have been taken off waiting lists without their parents knowing, to be answered. It points again to the dysfunction. I welcome that the Minister has met with parents about this. That is a good thing. The Minister mentioned money going into this section. Some \u20ac11.6 million was provided to outsource operations abroad for children who need it. As of now, there is no child scheduled for operations abroad. This shows that while money is being provided, it is meaningless if it is not making a practical difference to the lives of these children. The 2024 report of CHI has also not been published. That is scandalous. The 2023 report, in fairness, states that CHI is sitting on approximately \u20ac36 million at the moment. My understanding is that it is not spending it because that money has been assigned to fit out the new children's hospital. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Is that the case? The Minister might answer that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I do not believe so. There is a separate portion of money to do that, so I do not believe that. I will check, but it is certainly not my understanding. I remain concerned about the number of children referred, or not referred, for international surgery. As I said earlier it is a source of deep frustration to me that those services are not being utilised. Part of the audit is an analysis of equity of access on the waiting lists, which is something we have not done previously. This qualitative assessment involves talking to parents and patients and asking them how they ended up in Blackrock, for example, and what the pathway was. I have spoken to parents who told me that the international option was not provided to them or was provided to them too late in the process. I am not clear on it, but I asked for an audit into spinal services, neurological surgery and another medical area in CHI precisely to try to determine that, such was my concern. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I think the Minister understands this perfectly well. Given that it has been so hard to get information from CHI over the last number of years, anything less than a statutory inquiry into the lack of care for children on scoliosis waiting lists is not going to get to the truth. The fact that there has been no information forthcoming from the individuals involved means that if we cannot compel people and papers to find out the truth on this, we are simply not getting to the facts.  I have been here for a while and I have heard of inquiries being announced in tandem with campaign groups, and it being said that the terms of reference will be agreed by the campaign groups. However, when it comes to the inquiry being set up there has been a separation from the actual campaigns. Will the Minister ensure there is no such separation from the families, and that the terms of reference of such an inquiry are fully in sympathy with the needs of the families when they are announced? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I updated the House earlier. They should be fully in sympathy. I also recognise that whoever is leading the inquiry will need to clarify the terms and make a final decision on what they need to be. I anticipate a comprehensive and transparent inquiry where the terms of reference are developed in partnership. The Government is one piece. The advocates are another piece, as is the person leading from both a legal and a clinical perspective on how that is best done.  I updated the House on some of my thinking about this. I am conscious that I spoke with regard to other forms of inquiry, where the public nature or the particular model of statutory inquiry precludes the information in that inquiry being used for any other purposes. We look in particular at Limerick, where for the first time ever in the health system, there are a number of serious disciplinary proceedings happening there, particularly in relation to the Aoife Johnston case and the circumstances of that.  There was review done by Frank Clarke, which had significant powers. I have spoken with Mr. Justice Clarke since to ask if powers of compellability would have made a difference to him. He was satisfied with the model he had. It is my responsibility to scope out the different models and express the pros and cons of the different models. We will ultimately have to agree the nature of it in partnership, but I am conscious of the need for whoever is leading it to be able to do a good job and have their appropriate powers, the requisite timeframe, support and all of those different things. We just need to work out what model is going to work best for that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Procedures"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Primary Care Centres","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  Primary care centres add huge value to communities across the country, including my own in Carlow-Kilkenny. There is a lot of excitement in my home town of Graiguenamanagh about our new proposed primary care centre. I would like an update on how that is progressing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy for allowing me to update the house on the new primary care centre in Graiguenamanagh, County Kilkenny. The need for that primary care centre was identified as part of the HSE\u2019s overall primary care centre development programme. It is to be delivered via the HSE operational lease mechanism. As the Deputy is aware, the HSE has advertised for and identified a preferred developer for this new centre. I am pleased to advise that an application for planning permission was lodged by the preferred developer in July 2025. In response to this application, Kilkenny County Council requested further information on 1 September 2025. The HSE has advised me that the developer is in the process of preparing a response to that request.  The preferred developer will issue a construction programme once approvals of the relevant statutory procedures have been secured. Once that programme is available, the HSE will be able to provide further updates on the timeline of the project, including the date of commencement of construction works on the site. When it is opened, it is envisaged that a wide range of primary care therapy services, community nursing services and GP services will be delivered from the centre. It is welcome news that the development of the new primary care centre in Graiguenamanagh is progressing and nationally we are trying to make progress in developing primary care centre infrastructure. There is a total of 180 primary care centres operational across the country with 51 of those opening since 2020. I assure the Deputy that the Department is engaging with the HSE to progress the further development of PCCs throughout the country, including specifically in the Deputy's good county of Kilkenny. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  That is most welcome news. I understand the new centre is planned to be a two-storey facility of approximately 20,000 sq. m, with accommodation for GP practices and community nursing, as well as dental services and therapies. However, the key thing about this primary care centre is its rural location, and the accessibility challenges a lot of people where I am from have in getting access to top-class care. Towns and villages like Skeaghvasteen, The Rower, St. Mullins and Borris will be able to feed into this brand-new primary care centre in Graiguenamanagh. It will be a game changer for the region. It is certainly a game changer for my town. While I know it is in its infancy, I have a concern about when the primary care centre is complete, in terms of getting bodies and roles to work in that centre.  There is a challenge in the HSE. I know the funding is there, but getting people to fill a lot of these roles can be a challenge. I want to get the Minister's assurance that she will do everything she can for Graiguenamanagh to ensure that once this facility is complete, those roles will be filled. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Absolutely. When it is operational, it is expected that it will have GP, dental, community nursing, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, dietetics and psychology services, as well as diabetic breathanyl screening and outreach for chronic disease help, all of which are so very important. The Deputy is right when he says that recruitment is a challenge. We have vacancies in the system, notwithstanding having the funding for it. I hope the primary care centre model will be a welcome addition to counties Kilkenny and Carlow. The Deputy will be aware of the existing facilities at Kilkenny Ayrfield, Kilkenny city east, Callan, Thomastown, Ballyhale, Ferrybank and Shamrock Plaza in Carlow. There is a further primary care centre in the early stages of development or planning for Tullow. These centres are a really important part of our care network. As I said, we have 51 opened since 2020, with five opening in 2024 and others having opened this year, most recently in Dunfanaghy in north Donegal and in Newcastle West. The facility in Roscrea opened in quarter 1 of 2025. Another seven primary care centres are currently in construction, two of which should become operational before the end of this year. They are an enormous support to the community, and we want to continue to see them driven and staffed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter 'Chap' Cleere","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-'Chap'-Cleere.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter 'Chap' Cleere  I thank the Minister. I know from my experience of dealing with other primary care centres around the constituency that there is a really strong, enhanced community and patient experience at such centres. Patients can build long-term relationships with their providers, which can lead to better communication and more personalised care, which is really promising. I am really excited about the various strands of care that are going to be available in my home town. It is absolutely a game-changer and something that is long overdue, and it is going to be a fantastic asset to the town. I seek assurances from the Minister that she will look favourably on two other health centres, in Freshford and Ballyhale, which are in the capital plan and are in the process of being upgraded. While the Graiguenamanagh centre will serve one part of the constituency, facilities in the likes of Ballyhale and Freshford also serve huge pockets of the constituency. I seek assurances from the Minister that they will be dealt with favourably. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. Clearly, we are trying to have a network serving counties Kilkenny and Carlow, and we need the staff. The vacancies are there. We are desperately trying to recruit and make sure the complete suite of services is there for the people of the county. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Primary Care Centres"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Waiting Lists","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  The T\u00e1naiste made an infamous promise to parents in 2017 that nobody would be waiting for a scoliosis operation for more than four months. When are we going to reach that point? It seems that 226 children are on the CHI spinal surgery list. In August, 135 were actively waiting, ready to go. The numbers on the spinal outpatient lists are over 461. The CHI spinal surgery management unit said there are delays of months before children can even be seen. When will this promise be kept? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  As the Deputy is aware, the Sl\u00e1intecare target is 12 weeks for an inpatient procedure. That is how we measure performance across the entire health sector. Some 39% of the children on the active spinal waiting list in CHI were within Sl\u00e1intecare targets at the end of August 2025, which is an improvement on 28% at the end of August 2024. Additionally, only 7% were waiting over 12 months, which is compared to 24% at the same time last year. There is, therefore, some progress being made in reducing waiting times, especially longer waiting times.  It is supported by a couple of different initiatives. The dedicated GP referral pathway supports the appropriate prioritisation of urgent patients. Children requiring non-complex procedures have pathways to Blackrock and Cappagh to maximise the capacity for the complex procedures that are happening in CHI. International outsourcing has supported 19 patients to have surgery abroad. As I said earlier in the House, I am disappointed with the figures this year and I am unclear as to the referral pathways to maximise that. There is a new orthopaedic surgeon adding some capacity since 11 August.  Crucially, the Mater hospital is now fulfilling its obligations in the adolescent transition spinal service to support seamless transition of care. I am trying to explore what additional measures can be taken. I have asked for a proposal from the Mater to see what more is possible in that regard. We are making some progress, but I acknowledge that it is too slow, and too many children are still waiting. I have met with the HSE and CHI board and executive several times over the past couple of months. I have made new appointments, in particular the appointment of Mr. Fergus Finlay to the CHI board, who will be an excellent advocate on the board working and seriously engaging with spinal services in particular. I have great confidence in him. I have also commissioned an audit of governance and equity in patient access and waiting list management, which has a very important qualitative element to ensure the patient and staff experience is also captured. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  There are three issues. Does the Minister have confidence in the clinical lead of the paediatric spinal surgery management unit? This is the person who took Harvey Sherratt off the waiting list without parental knowledge or consent. How many other children were taken off the lists in that way?  Second, does the Minister have any knowledge of any other medical devices that have been used in an off-label fashion at CHI without parental consent?  Third, to refer as she did in a previous answer to the nature of an inquiry, the Minister mentioned that the person leading the inquiry would have a say. I do not really understand that point. The key people who should have a say on this are obviously the people affected. I urge the Minister to ensure that any inquiry is public and is satisfactory for the parents who have been lobbying and campaigning, especially those, like Gillian and Stephen, who have lost a child and continue to campaign on this issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Yes, that is my intention. It is a partnership approach. At the end of the day, some terms of reference are going to have to be settled and it is absolutely our intention to do that in a partnership approach. The person leading it, of course, must have some knowledge of how it is going to be done and some hand in how best it can be delivered as well. That is an important perspective. It should not be coming from me to impose it upon them. We are genuinely trying to deliver a partnership approach. We are some weeks away from trying to get the exact model in relation to that. However, I hear very clearly the Deputy's perspective. Yes, I have a concern in relation to medical devices, which I am referring to HIQA to do an investigation and get its perspective. I have a concern generally in relation to governance, equity in patient access and waiting list management at CHI, which is why in May or possibly June - I would like to confirm that; forgive me, please - I asked the HSE to conduct an internal audit specifically into waiting list management and equity of access. I hope and expect to have that back at the end of November or beginning of December. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  So the Minister has confidence in the clinical lead, or does she not? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I did not make any comment on that. I said there was an audit----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Okay. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  -----so please do not put words with me because I did not say anything in relation to that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  I am sorry; I will clarify. Parents and advocates are asking about three particular issues in this regard. First, they want to know if the Minister has confidence in the clinical lead. Second, which I do not think she referred to either, is she aware of any other devices that have been used in an off-label way - parents have said this - and inserted into children? Third, we all know that it is not the best approach, obviously, for children of this nature to be going abroad. Why is it always that we cannot bring surgeons here or upskill enough and invest enough that the resources and equipment can be available here? It can be very difficult and expensive for children to go abroad in this way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Yes, I would also like to do that, but we have to recognise that there are some children for whom it is suitable and who have had good outcomes.  I answered the Deputy's question in relation to medical devices. I said I was referring a concern that I had to HIQA.  In relation to the clinical lead, I said that I have commissioned an audit, which is a really important process. I do not wish to step across that. I am very happy to discuss the outcome of the audit with the House once I have it, but I cannot step ahead of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Brennan had indicated that he wanted to come in on a previous question; I am sorry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Brennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Brian-Brennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Brennan  I need an update on behalf of the people of Gorey on the new ambulance station and the primary healthcare centre. For too long, Gorey has waited on this issue. Gorey is one of the fastest-growing towns in Ireland. Come summertime, an extra 40,000 people move in between Courtown, Castletown, Ballymoney and these areas. We just do not have the medical infrastructure to cater for these people. We really need an update. At the moment, we feel the primary healthcare centre has been pushed down the line. The module at the moment is not fit for purpose. We feel that the money being offered per square foot is not enough for a developer to build. In terms of the ambulance service, the people who are running it are incredible workers, but at the moment, they are working out of a prefab. This is simply not acceptable in 2025. The people of Gorey really deserve an update on both of those issues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. I know he has been a very strong advocate for the Gorey primary care centre, the need for which has been well identified. A tender process has been undertaken. As he is aware, a preferred provider had been selected, with a letter of intent issued in 2019. Unfortunately, that selected preferred provider encountered difficulties regarding economic viability resulting in the collapse of the process in 2024. To facilitate the readvertisement of this primary care centre, a full review was taken with relevant stakeholders. A number of stakeholders require accommodation in that centre and a scope has been established. That review is now complete and a tender process is under way. The stage 1 tender advertisement was published on 24 June 2025. Stage 1 expressions of interest were received and evaluated and letters have now issued to all parties. It is anticipated that stage 2 priced offers will be advertised on the eTenders procurement platform in the final quarter of this year. The readvertisement and retender process for the project are necessary under the procurement rules.  On the ambulance service, HSE capital and estates, in collaboration with the National Ambulance Service, has identified and agreed a suitable facility for use as an NAS ambulance base and is in the process of securing approval to purchase same, subject to planning approval being obtained. The facility will require capital investment to fit it out as a purpose-built ambulance base. The NAS and HSE capital and estates have completed the necessary documentation to facilitate the progression of the project in quarter 4 of 2025, which I hope is a good update for the Deputy. The HSE is working to appoint a design team in this quarter, with the aim of developing and submitting a planning application in early 2026 to progress the project. Those are two important updates for Gorey. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Waiting Lists"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Investigations","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  My immediate priority following the publication of the Thomas audit on 23 May 2025 was to ensure there was clinical follow-up and care for patients who had undergone pelvic osteotomy surgery. This is a once-off review to assess any complications that may exist and to determine the current clinical state. After this, patients then enter the recommended normal follow-up process. These multidisciplinary team, MDT, clinics have been under way since 6 June for clinical reviews of patients who had osteotomy surgery in CHI at Temple Street and Cappagh. As of Tuesday, 21 September, a total of 196 patients have had clinical reviews as part of the MDT clinics in both CHI and Cappagh.  In relation to retrospective reviews of cases to determine the indications for surgery, as the Deputy is aware, the HSE is establishing a separate process involving external experts. Work to establish that external expert panel is advancing. It is expected that panel will be established this month and the review of individual cases will commence in January 2026. These are international clinical experts. We are trying to establish them to have the availability to do the work here - it takes a little time simply to have their availability - and for them to agree a robust and scientific methodological framework for conducting the review, which will be designed by them between September and December this year, by which everything can be measured.  The HSE has also committed to the involvement of parents and patient advocates in the terms of reference for the review. We had a workshop to discuss the external expert panel with them on 14 August. A further workshop took place on 13 September, with a further workshop planned for today.  Separately, it is my intention to communicate with all of the parents who are not necessarily part of the advocacy group representing parents, recognising that they may not wish to be part of it but also to make sure they have the opportunity to feed into perspectives, should they wish. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I thank the Minister for that update. I have a few follow-up questions. On the initial cohort of 196, does the Minister have an indicative timeline on when that full cohort might be completed? It was a significant number and in excess of 196. Is the Minister close to appointing a lead for the membership of the external review? We are only at the start of the month but there is keen interest in that. There was lots of disappointment that it has taken until January to get the review up and running. Is there a commitment that there will be a six-month timeframe for it to conclude its work? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  We are imminently close to appointing a lead. I would have preferred to be in a position to do that today, but I am not. It is imminent, essentially.  I appreciate what the Deputy said about January. It is for this group of experts to determine their process and not for me to step across that. I expect and hope it would be done within six months but, again, if independent clinical experts tell me differently, then I will take their clinical perspective on it, as I am sure the Deputy would. I remain committed to updating the House, when I have the information, at any stage.  I am sorry that I do not have a timeline for the complete group of patients, but I will look into that to see what is possible and come back to the Deputy. Again, it will be an estimated timeframe. I am somewhat pleased that close to 200 patients have had that clinical review. Of course, that has been prioritised for those who might be expected to have complications, as I understand it, but I will look at that further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I welcome that the Minister outlined a series of dates for engagement, including today. There is some emerging and serious concern about the scope and potential terms of reference for the external review. One area is how it will specifically relate to Crumlin hospital and surgeons operating there, as well as at Cork, Galway and elsewhere across the State and, related to that, how it will apply to children with complex additional comorbidities or needs. Will the Minister commit to ongoing engagement with advocacy groups and representatives on the development of those terms of reference? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  Yes. We are having the third meeting today. I will meet the hip dysplasia advocacy group on Tuesday, 14 October in Leinster House. I will also make clear to all parents who may not wish to be part of an advocacy group, or be connected to that, I am here to hear from them at any stage as well.  It is also important to update the House that a meeting was held with the DDH advocacy group and the HSE on 24 September regarding mental health supports. It has been an enormously traumatic experience for many parents, as well as patients, to learn that surgery on their child may not have been necessary. A business case for funding all of the elements on this issue, including counselling, has been submitted as part of the Estimates process. I do not want to lose sight of that element of it too. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Investigations"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Facilities","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Connolly notified us that she might be late. We will take her priority question now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Connolly  I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for exercising his discretion. It is back to the matter of University Hospital Galway. I know the Minister is familiar with it now. I am asking very specific questions in relation to her Department's review of the development control plan and the strategic assessment report for the University Hospital Galway campus. Has it been completed? What is its status, if it has not been completed? When will it be completed? What are the details of the enabling works under way at the moment? What further enabling works are necessary? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. While we have already invested in the University Hospital Galway campuses, there are significant proposals, as the Deputy is aware, for further investments there. The integrated development control plan, DCP, has been informed by population health needs and clinical demand. That has been developed and now provides a clear masterplan for the sequencing and delivery of new facilities. My Department has received a copy of the DCP and a programme strategic assessment report, SAR, which are currently being reviewed against infrastructure guideline requirements. In parallel, the preliminary business case for the first phase of works is under development. The SAR feedback will be returned to the HSE in the coming weeks for inclusion within it.  A considerable amount of enabling works will be required to deliver the masterplan. The phased transfer of outpatient services from UHG to Merlin Park continues, with phase 1 of the outpatient department block now operational and phase 2 at design stage, which will unlock a portion of the campus. The initial scoping and site investigative works at UHG for various enabling works was recently completed. Site clearance works have already been undertaken to begin to clear the site for the first of the new 150-bed ward block. These include the removal of all above-ground prefab and solid structures on the footprint of the proposed development site and the diversion of a number of underground services. The old neurology building was recently demolished following the relocation of this service to Merlin Park.  Further enabling works are currently at detailed design stage and will proceed to construction in early 2026. Beyond those, there is another tender to appoint an integrated design team for further works, which will conclude by the end of 2025, with further design work starting in early 2026.  A tender is under way for construction of a new electrical energy centre to enhance campus resilience and support future developments there. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Connolly  I thank the Minister for her comprehensive reply. I will look at it in detail. When I look back at the history of this, the language keeps changing. There is now a strategic plan, a preliminary business case and the strategic assessment report. I welcome what the Minister has given me and the face we will make progress but in 2014, the then Minister, Leo Varadkar, said a new hospital and a new building was the only solution. I will not go through all of this but the questions and answers over the last five years do not give hope this will be completed. The Minister says the two things I have asked for are with her Department and will be going back to the HSE in the next few weeks. I take it that will happen in the next few weeks. A preliminary business case is under way. Who will carry that out and when will that be completed?  The Minister has given details on the enabling works. When will the plan be implemented? Is there any overall date for when the master plan will be implemented? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  It is a master plan that is developed sequentially. The Deputy can see the complexity of the work that is going on there with the diversion of underground services. It is incredibly complex work. Deputy Connolly knows the site a great deal better than I do, of course, and it is an old site that requires considerable development work. The last thing I will do is place a timeline on it. I just want to see things progressing and I hope that by the time the Deputy asks me this question on the next occasion, unless of course other matters have taken over, I will have a further update on the business cases.  I will make a couple of important points about how Galway hospital is improving in a couple of other areas because it is important. It recently moved the outpatient department to the facility in Merlin Park but it has recently changed its model of delivery to three-hour slots, three sessions a day, from what had been a two-session model, and that is providing an additional 60 clinical sessions every month. That is a really important and significant change for the people of Galway and for the management of the hospital. The Deputy will be better aware than I am that construction of the surgical hub is well under way. It is expected to be completed in quarter 1 of 2026 and to be operational in quarter 2 of 2026. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Connolly  I agree with the Minister. I know the hospital very well and I know about the very good services that are provided there. When people get a service, it is absolutely brilliant and I have no problem saying that. I am a committed believer in the public health system. My difficulty is that as we speak, there are 35 people on trolleys, or there was that number yesterday. It has been under enormous pressure for a very long time. I spared the Minister the reading-out of the various comments and all the timelines that were given for different plans to be completed, none of which have been completed. They came forward to the Department of Health, they went back down and they came back up. We then got an oversight management team and many other objectives that were never delivered.  In my opinion, a brand new hospital should have been built in Merlin Park but that did not happen. That was actually the options appraisal that was carried out and it said we should build a brand new one. The Government did not give permission for that so we went back to a congested site with many plans going in lots of directions. That is what we have now. At this stage, all I can do is keep the pressure on to get delivery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  That seems perfectly reasonable and that is what I would do too. As the Deputy has saved me the background, I will save her reading out all of the trolley figures. I will highlight that unless Galway hospital, and the west and north west generally, start to routinely roster consultants on the public-only consultant contract at the weekends, they will continue to have the trolley difficulties they have had. It is very important. A total of 73% of University Hospital Galway's consultants have taken up the public-only consultant contract but the hospital was not able to confirm to me, at an important meeting on this on 11 September, the percentage of those who are routinely working extended days and at weekends.  I will be meeting the team again in January and I expect it will have an update for me on their weekend rostering. To the extent the Deputy can help me maintain that pressure, nothing will change in Galway with trolleys or across the west and north west until consultants are routinely rostered at weekends, as is happening in other hospitals. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Facilities"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Health Services Staff","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I have previously had the opportunity to mention to the Minister my serious concern about the ongoing delays for children with additional needs accessing therapies in Cavan and Monaghan. The delays that are occurring are absolutely unacceptable. Some children are assessed and do not get follow-up therapies and there are even delays in getting assessed. We need more clinicians in the Cavan and Monaghan area. I sincerely hope that additional efforts will be made to recruit more clinicians across particular therapy areas for those two counties. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I agree with the Deputy. While in 2024, nearly 1.4 million people accessed therapy services across disciplines including physiotherapy, speech and language therapy, occupational therapy, dietetics, psychology, podiatry and all of that, in many cases waiting times are wholly unacceptable. To tackle this, the Department of Health is working closely with the HSE on a targeted, programmatic approach to managing therapy waiting lists in primary care, in particular. As well as looking at the longer term changes that are needed, we are trying to do what is possible right now. I have asked the HSE CEO to now put in place measures to address physiotherapy, occupational therapy and speech and language therapy waiting lists to reduce the waiting times for these three therapies to less than 10 months, which I hope will be achieved. That would be a massive improvement on where we are now. It would remove 60,000 people from the waiting lists across these three therapies and get them therapeutic services. That is a challenge but unless we set a direction and a target, which I have very clearly given to the HSE CEO, I am concerned nothing will change without some direction and the resources and support to do that.  I do acknowledge that we have global workforce challenges, the same as everybody else in healthcare. We are trying to advance initiatives to retain and recruit the skilled professionals we need. Recruitment efforts include offering permanent roles to all Irish HSCP graduates, streamlined registration with CORU, which has improved enormously over the last number of months, and the introduction of 320 new training places via the CAO. The Deputy will be aware that since January 2020, 5,019 additional therapists have joined the HSE, a 30% increase. In that time, 40 additional therapists have been recruited in the Cavan and Monaghan area, bringing the total to 177. The Deputy will be aware that includes 12 new occupational therapists, 14 physiotherapists, 7 dietitians and 3 speech and language therapists, demonstrating our commitment to strengthening front-line capacity. I still acknowledge the concerns the Deputy raised and remain committed to targeted reform in the way I have given direction to the HSE CEO. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I very much appreciate the Minister's determination to deal with this issue once and for all. At my clinics last Friday night and Saturday, there were a number of young parents with children who have not got assessments or therapies. One parent spoke to me about her son who got a speech and language therapy appointment in June 2021 and has not got one since. That child got an occupational therapy appointment in 2022 and 2025. Another of that young mother's children was assessed and diagnosed 18 months ago and there still have not been any follow-up therapies. There is an opportunity in the Cavan area, in particular, to outsource more therapies. Assessments are being outsourced, although I know that is not the answer to all our concerns.  A few years ago, we discussed with the Minister's predecessor, Stephen Donnelly, in this House one night during Question Time the introduction of development therapy assistance. Speaking to clinicians, I believe that can help speed up the number of people delivering therapies and delivering services. I know some of the colleges of further education offer an initial course that enables students to go on to a university or institute of technology to pursue courses across different disciplines, including occupational therapy and others. That may not be included in the Minister's brief but the area of therapy assistance is an area we should pursue and make more progress in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. He might allow me to reflect on that and discuss it with my officials further.  What we are trying to do to build capacity in primary care therapy services is this three-part national programme, which I will lay out for the Deputy. Workstream 1 is an analysis of regional productivity to optimise current therapy care to maximise capacity within existing resources. Frankly, there is variation between regions and we need to understand specifically what that variation is and have a national response that prioritises patients who have been waiting over one year for therapy access. We are developing a primary care therapy waiting list management protocol, the purpose of which is to ensure consistency and transparency during referral, waiting list management and discharge across all primary care in the different regions to improve overall patient experience. We have seen this used in other areas to good effect and it is now time this be properly used for primary care therapies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brendan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","memberCode":"Brendan-Smith.D.1992-12-14","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brendan Smith  I thank the Minister. Another difficulty is that the CDNT in County Cavan is led by Enable Ireland. We know it has difficulties with recruiting and retaining staff because of the issue around section 38 and section 39 workers. I know that is a broader Government issue but it needs to be addressed.  Have the universities and colleges made enough places available to ensure we have the professionals to deliver healthcare and meet the ongoing and increasing demand for different healthcare services across our country? I understand there is still a shortfall in the numbers graduating compared with those who are retiring. We must also consider the increased demand.  An issue was brought to my attention at the weekend. It may not be absolutely accurate. Apparently, study in speech and language therapy, occupational therapy and other therapies takes the form of an apprenticeship in Britain rather than the traditional university or college route that we take. There may be a financial incentive for some students from our State to go to those colleges in Britain. It is an area that the Minister, the Department, the HSE and our colleges need to keep a close eye on. We do not want students being drawn from our State because of a monetary attraction to pursue a specific course at a British college. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  I will follow up on a point made by the Deputy. I have spoken to the representatives of some colleges and they have told me that they have the capacity to deliver more therapists and all the professionals we need. They are saying that if they get the funding and resources, they can meet the challenges. I know UCC is rolling out additional courses. There should be more courses to allow universities to deliver more therapists. Parents tell me they cannot get therapists for their children. They feel their children are regressing. There is nothing more heartbreaking for parents than to see their children not living up to their potential because they are being failed by the State and are not getting the support and therapies they need. Parents are heartbroken because they are looking at their children and know that if they do not get support now, it will have a negative effect for the rest of their lives. That cannot be fair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank both Deputies. There are an additional 320 new training places via the CAO in the different colleges. That is a significant expansion. I will speak to my good colleague the Minister for further and higher education, Deputy Lawless. My responsibility is, of course, in respect of the clinical training places that must go alongside the academic piece. We moved from a sort of apprenticeship model of nursing to an academic degree model to try to lift standards and expertise as far as possible, and enable the sort of advanced practice we want across the specialisms. We are now trying to do that with health and social care professionals too.  I have met representatives of CORU about its registration processes, which, frankly, were too slow. There has been an enormous improvement to those processes. I have also met the different professions to signal clearly that we will be aligning ourselves with the European standards to enable even greater numbers of people to come from different parts of Europe to work in Ireland. That has not happened in the past at the rate we should have seen. CORU is working hard with the professions to ensure that clinical training places are available not just in acute hospitals but in primary care and other areas as well. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health Services Staff"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Health Services","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Grace Boland  Endometriosis is one of the most common women's health issues. Far too many women, including women among my family and friends, often endure chronic pain, fatigue, fertility issues and emotional distress. They often miss time at work and in education. They miss out on life generally. The average diagnostic delay is nine years. I know this is an area on which the Minister is focused. I would like to hear what she is doing to address the diagnostic delay and to ensure that our healthcare workers are fully trained and that our women are getting the healthcare and surgeries they need in a timely way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I propose to take Questions Nos. 87, 97 and 101 together.  I thank the Deputy. Endometriosis has been under-considered by all of us, including the Department of Health and the HSE, but a significant body of work has happened in recent months. I am pleased to say that the national framework for endometriosis is now ready for publication. I am conscious that the budget is next week and we are trying to find the appropriate moment to publish the framework. It has developed and changed considerably, with significant additional patient voices now included. On 1 September, a patient voice forum was held in the Department of Health with 60 to 70 patients, comprising girls and women who were in difficulty or who had had difficulties and had successful surgeries abroad. I was also in attendance, as were the CEO of the HSE, the chief medical officer, the chief nursing officer, the head of the national women and infants health programme, NWIHP, and all of the senior clinical team. We were not there to participate but simply to listen to the women. We were there for quite a number of hours listening to their experiences. Their voices have directly influenced changes in the completed framework. I am glad we had that interregnum to enable their voices to come into that space and be heard. They have directly changed the language and some of the direction in the framework, as well as the communication of it. I am glad that opportunity arose and I thank each woman who shared her personal experience. Following the forum, I mandated an immediate action plan.  On 5 September, I received an initial plan from the Department and officials from NWIHP. On 15 September, the HSE CEO advised that a working group had been established to develop the plan. On 18 September, I updated those who attended the patient voice forum. On 22 September, I approved the revised national framework for endometriosis and a letter for GPs to go alongside that framework to help advance awareness.  On the details of the plan, the HSE will, crucially, increase the number of surgeries to be done this year. Some 600 surgeries were done in the first part of this year so you would expect 600 to be done in the second half of the year. I have required that an additional 100 surgeries will be made available in quarter 4 of this year and have provided funding for those surgeries. Nevertheless, I am conscious of the quality and nature of surgery, which is an issue we can discuss again, and the need to increase surgical skill everywhere. This condition is misunderstood or too little understood everywhere. The increase to surgical skill must happen internationally and also in Ireland. I have also provided funding for an additional colorectal surgeon. That position has been advertised. The role will be an important part of facilitating more complex surgical treatments.  The HSE is also providing additional support for women within the treatment abroad scheme. It has in the past been too difficult for women to access funding to get effective surgeries internationally. I have a little more work to do in that regard to look at the different international programmes that can be supported. I will update the House as soon as I can.  The HSE has created a different email address specifically to assist women with that service to try to streamline their experience within the HSE, which is important. An endometriosis group, with patient advocates and women's health task force members, has been set up. International endometriosis experts will now be invited to collaborate and engage with our own clinicians for better learning, diagnostics and surgical expertise. I yesterday approved a letter to all GPs, consultants and other relevant healthcare professionals to go alongside the framework, which is an effort to raise awareness of endometriosis. It is affecting many women, perhaps as many as one in seven. By that, I do not mean one in seven people but one in seven women. It is just as prevalent as other very common conditions, and should be as prominent in GP surgeries and should be understood by GPs. The HSE has also planned a GP practice update and a specific endometriosis awareness campaign. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I inform Members that we are taking Questions Nos. 87, 97 and 101. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Grace Boland  I thank the Minister for that comprehensive update. I mentioned the nine-year average diagnostic delay. Women have felt ghosted by their GPs. They feel like they have not been offered supports and have not been listened to. It seems that women are expected to put up with this intolerable, intense and chronic pain, and are essentially made to feel as if it is all in their heads. It is important that the Minister has taken the step to listen. The patient voice forum was an excellent idea. Women now feel heard by the Minister and the CEO of the HSE. It is important that the HSE continue to listen to these women.  In her response, the Minister mentioned that she has written to GPs and there will be a practice update. It is important that existing GPs will be properly trained and will understand. Far too often, women have been told that they have to put up with it, that it is in their heads and is not really happening to them. We have to move away from that outlook. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  I thank the Minister for the update. Just to add to what my colleague Deputy Boland said, the patient voice forum is a really good step forward. It is incredible that it has not happened before now. Well done to the Minister for putting it in place. It is a model that should work in many different areas of the health service and I really welcome it.  I want to mention the area of diagnosis. As has been said, it is estimated that one in seven women has the condition, although it could be a lot higher. We owe it to women to put the systems in place so that we can get a real estimate. I know that will take time and I imagine it is a long-term initiative but how does the Minister see that happening? I presume it will be done through the GP network but that network has to be upskilled. GPs have a huge role to play in this.  The other issue relates to the two big specialist centres and the regional centres that have been set up in support of more moderate cases. What is the ideal pathway into those centres when all of this work is done and we have, hopefully, a well-running system? What is the pathway for a woman to get in there as quickly as possible? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Like the Minister, I have attended meetings and met women who have described how they have suffered. Their lives have been hugely impacted. Endometriosis has completely changed their quality of life. It has just been horrendous for them. It is good to hear that the Minister is listening to the patient and it is good to see that a framework has been put in place. I accept her sincerity in this but what I do not want to see is more suffering. These women have suffered enough. What we do not want to see is the HSE organising meetings and a lot of things being said but nothing happening. What the women have told us is that on the ground the diagnosis, treatment and support is not available in Ireland. That is what these women are looking for now. The Minister has outlined the work she is doing but she must deliver a patient-centred service. These women have suffered for far too long.  Separately, I want to thank the Minister and the Taoiseach. I brought the case of Aisling Thornhill to the attention of the D\u00e1il a couple of weeks ago. Aisling is terminally ill with leukemia. A treatment for her was sought and I want to thank the Minister and the HSE because that treatment is in the process of happening. Aisling has only a short time to live but at least her family knows that everything possible is being done and they asked me to pass on their thanks. Hopefully the treatment will work but if it does not, at least we know that we have all worked together to try to support Aisling and her family. I again thank the Minister for that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill  I thank the Deputy. Our thoughts are with Aisling as she goes through her treatment programme.  On endometriosis, I want to acknowledge the many different groups that have engaged with endometriosis sufferers and the importance of all of that advocacy work. It was a step change to invite women to come into the Department when many of them feel that the Irish health system has so badly let them down. It was difficult for many women to come in and do that but we had to bring that experience right into the heart of the Department, for it to be heard very loud, very proud and right at the centre of policymaking, and to have the HSE there as well. I acknowledge how many different people have already said that.  Of course, the most important point and what is so important in relation to the GPs is that women are the most reliable narrators of their own experience. I need to say it again: women are the most reliable narrators of their own experience, not just on this but on everything. I am absolutely sick and tired of women not being listened to and not being heard. Part of the change with regard to GPs is to operate on a presumptive diagnosis piece and to really listen to women about the complexity of symptoms that can be there that are not necessarily menstrual. There can be constipation, UTI and a whole range of things that are not necessarily presenting as a menstrual issue.  All the Deputies are correct in what they say about the quality of diagnostics and surgery. Many women are getting an inadequate service at present. I recognise that and indeed, they have told me that. For many women, because of the complexity of imaging and diagnostics and the complexity of reading MRIs, we do not have sufficient consistent capacity in this State to that reliably. That is an area that I am trying to develop, both in facilitating international experts coming here to provide additional training and longer-term fellowships and pathways for improvements in diagnostics. I also acknowledge the advances in AI that will facilitate this over time. I have been researching that as well but nevertheless, there is a significant body of work to do. I would say the same regarding surgeries and the complexity of same, including in relation to excision over ablation. I recognise that is a clinical issue but we must move to a model where we are capable of doing very complex surgeries. We do not want women to get to the point where endometriosis is right throughout their bodies. It is important to recognise that it is not simply a gynaecological issue. It can present right through the diaphragm. I have met women who have had endometriosis in their shoulders, eyes, brains, right through their colon and it is a very serious, painful condition. The pain management specialists and supports need to be improved, as does the quality of the surgical capacity. I do not say this to be critical of surgeons but it is just simply not there yet. I know that surgeons have leaned in to wanting to have better collaboration and fellowships with the centres of excellence that exist around the world, although there is not enough of that yet. We are certainly not there yet and we need no congratulations of any kind in relation to this. This is a body of work that has begun and that we will sustain and develop over time. We are trying to seriously improve things but there is a long way to go yet and I fully acknowledge that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Grace Boland","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Grace-Boland.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Grace Boland  I thank the Minister. I really appreciate her focus on this and as I said, women are so impressed that they now feel heard having literally been told that it is all in their heads for so long. In terms of public awareness, sometimes women, particularly younger girls and women, do not necessarily know what to be looking out for when they are talking about endometriosis. This is particularly true for teenage girls and it is really important that we see a public awareness campaign as soon as possible.  We know from reports in the media that many women have actually taken themselves abroad for treatment, which is an intolerable situation. In that context, I appreciate the work the Minister is doing on looking into options under the treatment abroad scheme. It would be good to hear more from her on those options, as well as when we might see a public awareness campaign detailing the symptoms. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Muir\u00ed.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Muir\u00ed  The Minister put it really well herself when she said that women are the best narrators of their own lived experience and their own pain. As long as she can keep that in the centre of all of the work that will be done around endometriosis, she will make progress and she will have the support of this House. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Health Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":3,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is now close to 12 o'clock. I understand there is a proposal to change our business schedule and I now call on the Government Chief Whip to outline same. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I propose:  Notwithstanding anything in Standing Orders or in Tuesday\u2019s Order of Business, the following is proposed in relation to today\u2019s business:  - on Leaders\u2019 Questions, two members of each party or technical group in Opposition may use their time for Q&A, and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:-  - T\u00e1naiste - 10 minutes;  - Sinn F\u00e9in - 15 minutes; and  - Social Democrats, Independent and Parties Technical Group, Independent Technical Group and the Labour Party \u2013 12 minutes per party or group; and  - Questions on Policy or Legislation shall not be taken today, and the lunchtime SOS shall take place on the conclusion of Other Members\u2019 Questions.  This is in order to discuss the situation in relation to the flotilla and the fact that nine Irish people are currently detained involuntarily. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Is that agreed? Agreed. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":86,"speakerCount":11},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank all Members across the House for agreeing to the change to the D\u00e1il schedule and facilitating this debate on the concerning developments regarding the Global Sumud Flotilla. I know that everyone\u2019s overriding concern is for the safety and welfare of our Irish citizens who are on a mission of solidarity with the people of Palestine. This House, the Oireachtas and our people across the country are united in this solidarity. Indeed, we are united today in our urgent wish that no harm should come to those who boarded the Sumud Flotilla, to those who still in transit and to all those who have set out on a mission to bring humanitarian assistance to Gaza and highlight the horrific humanitarian catastrophe.  First, I wish to inform the House of the latest developments. This morning, I convened and chaired a special consular co-ordination group within my Department, which includes our consular director, the head of crisis planning, the assistant secretary general for citizen services and the Secretary General of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, to respond in real time to what is a fast evolving situation off the coast of Gaza. The co-ordination group was joined by our ambassador in Tel Aviv via video link, who updated the group on the current status of Irish citizens who have been detained. We now have confirmation that at least 14 Irish citizens are among those intercepted and detained by Israel. There may be two other citizens whose presence is still being verified as I am here now. Our ambassador in Tel Aviv has formally requested consular access to those Irish citizens. I was informed on the call that there are no reports of any injuries currently among our Irish citizens.  I also wish to inform the House that my Department has now established a dedicated point of contact for the families of those detained or on the flotilla in addition to the broader contact point for those co-ordinating the flotilla activity more generally. Our embassy in Tel Aviv assures me it is well resourced to support our citizens, and we continue to monitor this. Our consular team in Dublin is also supporting our efforts on the ground in Israel.  This morning, I have instructed my officials to contact the non-resident Irish ambassador to Israel to register our strong condemnation of the actions of the Israeli authorities and highlight our absolute expectation that the welfare of our citizens is protected in line with international law. I have also requested an urgent call with the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy, Ms Kaja Kallas. Indeed, shortly before coming to this House, I spoke again with my Spanish counterpart about trying to take a co-ordinated, European approach to ensure the upholding of international law.  As Members will recall, Ireland signed a joined statement that recalls that any violation of international law or the human rights of the participants of the flotilla, including attacks against the vessels in international waters or illegal detention, will lead to accountability. I assure the D\u00e1il and the people of Ireland that this remains our position today. International law matters. It is the cornerstone of our foreign policy and must be upheld. I will consider with counterparts how best to advance this in the time ahead. We will assess what options are available to us with other European countries to uphold international law, seek accountability and hold Israel to account. I will keep the House updated on these next steps.  However, in the first instance, colleagues will understand that my absolute responsibility and priority, and that of the Government and Oireachtas, must be to ensure the welfare and well-being of our citizens. Officials from across my Department, including those in our embassy in Israel, are actively engaged with the situation and providing consular assistance to those affected.  What I have been informed is likely to happen now is that all detainees will be transferred to Ashdod Port for processing. From there, they will likely be taken to a detention facility south of Tel Aviv where they will have access to medical teams. We expect this to take quite a number of hours. This is the latest information we have available. It is my understanding that those who have been detained will be given the option to leave immediately and, if not, they will have a deportation hearing within 72 hours. That is how the Israeli system works. Given the religious holiday of Yom Kippur, however, we expect that processing time to be somewhat impacted. Department officials are also in direct and ongoing contact with the designated point of contact for the flotilla.  Let me be clear: these are Irish men and woman who sought to deliver aid and acted on conscience. They now find themselves in uncertain and potentially dangerous circumstances. A blockade that starves a people of hope and aid is inhumane. Seeing peaceful activists detained while simply seeking to relieve suffering is inhumane. The Government remains deeply and continuously engaged on this issue. We will work across this House tirelessly to safeguard the welfare of our citizens. We remain in constant contact with our consular team on the ground. They are working to establish the precise whereabouts of every Irish citizen to ensure their safety and dignity and secure their swift release.  Our ambassador and officials in Tel Aviv have been active from the first reports of interception. I thank them for their incredible work and diligence in difficult circumstances. They have made clear Ireland\u2019s expectation that our citizens be treated fully in line with international law. I assure family and friends who are following events with understandable anxiety that they are not alone. The entire resources of the State, the Department of foreign affairs, our diplomatic network and European partners are being brought to bear on this issue. We are using every channel available to us.  It is in times like these that the value of maintaining diplomatic relations, even when it may seem to cut against the grain of justice, is most clearly seen. We will speak directly and persistently to those who hold our citizens. We press our case in European and international fora and we remind all parties that Ireland will never be silent when the safety of our people is at stake. We cannot be silent when humanity itself is at stake in Gaza. We will continue to insist calmly and firmly, but without equivocation, that those detained be released without harm, because they are wrongfully detained; humanitarian principles be upheld; and that the right to bring aid to desperate civilians not be criminalised. We will speak out against the outrageous slurs against those on the flotilla. They are decent people who are doing their best to advance the cause of peace.  Our solidarity today must also extend to the people of Gaza amidst a horrific man-made famine and genocide. Ireland has long championed the principles of peace, justice and international law. We will persist in calling for a massive and sustained flow of humanitarian aid, an end to collective punishment and the protection of civilians. Our first priority at this moment, however, is clear and immediate, that is, to safeguard the welfare and well-being of our citizens. That is what we are doing hour by hour, call by call and action by action.  I know this House and the Irish people stand united in that effort. We are united in passion, determination and hope that soon we will welcome our fellow citizens safely home and that the horrific humanitarian blockade and genocide in Gaza will end. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Leas-Cheann Comhairle. I will divide my time between some comments and questions. I thank the Office of the Ceann Comhairle for facilitating this debate. It is vitally important that we address this issue today on behalf of our colleagues, the Irish citizens and the citizens of the world. For the past number of years, people have monitored and looked at the situation in Gaza in revulsion, fear and disgust. There is a genocide ongoing before our eyes. It is a war on civilians and children like we have not seen in our lifetimes. For a brief period yesterday and previous days, however, people looked towards Gaza, and more particularly to the flotilla, with a degree of hope. They hoped the flotilla might reach its destination and be able to deliver its cargo. What we must bear in mind and not lose sight of is that the flotilla\u2019s cargo was aid, such as baby food, food and medical aid, for a starving, beleaguered population.  The flotilla also represented hope for what it said about humanity. Those on the flotilla gave inspiration to people. In many respects, the people on the flotilla represent the very best of us. Facing nigh-on insurmountable odds, they are standing up for the voiceless where the international community and institutions have failed so profoundly.  Unfortunately, between last night and the early hours of the morning, the flotilla was intercepted illegally in international waters by the Israelis. This includes Irish citizens, including our colleague, Senator Chris Andrews. Reports have emerged of a water cannon being used against small crafts and ships being rammed by the Israelis. Given the horrors they have been responsible for, unfortunately, that would be little surprise.  L\u00e9irigh na daoine ar an flotilla cuid mhaith cr\u00f3gachta agus thug siad inspior\u00e1id do dhaoine ar fud an domhain ag cur i gcoinne an tslada agus an chinedh\u00edothaithe in iarracht stop a chur leis an mbac ar ch\u00fanamh, bia agus \u00e1bhair shl\u00e1inte. T\u00e1 muid ag imp\u00ed go dtabharfar c\u00fanamh d\u00f3ibh l\u00e1ithreach.  Along with some colleagues, I met family members and loved ones of those on the flotilla on Tuesday. They were anxious. I spoke to Senator Chris Andrews as well. Of course, he was worried. You would have to be mad not to be, I imagine. While they were justifiably very worried, they were also full of pride. They were full of respect for the wishes of the people on the flotilla and their objective in taking part in this. Their feelings mirror the determination of those on the flotilla. They would not be deterred because they understood, as did those on the flotilla, that they did this because of what was happening in Gaza on a daily basis while an international community watches it happen. It is a genocide, the most profound crime in humanity.  It is barbarism of the highest order happening in front of our eyes and the international community is doing practically nothing. Their objective was to break the blockade and to break through. It is a noble and high-minded ideal. I salute those Irish people and citizens of the world who stepped in where states and institutions have failed so profoundly. Unfortunately, the slaughter goes on; approximately 73 were killed yesterday alone in Gaza. The T\u00e1naiste and the Government have a responsibility to act, both for our people on the flotilla and for the people of Palestine.  My leader, Deputy McDonald, and I have been in close contact with the Department in recent hours. I appreciate the work of the Department's staff. The T\u00e1naiste gave a bit of an account of what has been confirmed. It seems from what he says that not all Irish citizens have been accounted for. Could he confirm whether the Department has sight of the whereabouts of the 22 Irish citizens \u2013 if that is the correct number? Could he give an update on the current health and welfare of those citizens? Do we know if they are safe and well? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I too spoke to Senator Andrews, at the Deputy's request, the other day. I have kept in contact with him in recent days. I had the opportunity to meet some of the families here the other day when we had the all-party motion in the D\u00e1il, as did our head of consular services and the Minister of State with responsibility for international aid, Deputy Richmond.  My understanding is that there are 16 Irish citizens in the current part of the flotilla. He is right about the number 22. I was teasing through this - there is a further part of the flotilla to come. To the best of our knowledge, the part of the flotilla that has been intercepted has 16 Irish citizens on board. We have confirmation that 14 of them have been detained. We believe 16 have been detained. I want to give the House very accurate information. I expect all 16 have been detained but to date we have confirmation that only 14 have been detained. Our ambassador, Sonya McGuinness, is doing a very good job. She has already been in touch with the Israeli foreign ministry and has requested consular access to those citizens. We are continuing to pursue that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Has the T\u00e1naiste or the Department contacted the families of those who are confirmed to have been detained, or even those who are expected to be detained? Does he have confirmation on when staff on the ground will have access to those who are detained illegally by the Israelis, and when they might have access to lawyers? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am sorry but I forgot to answer the Deputy's specific question about injuries. We have no reports of any injuries to Irish citizens. I am very conscious of the volatile and dangerous environment. We have no information on any injuries. Our head of consular services has been in regular contact with the point of co-ordination for the flotilla \u2013 someone familiar to both of us. We have also made a decision to put in place a dedicated contact point for families. That contact point is now in place. I believe the contact is under way for families.  We do not yet have confirmation on the exact time at which we expect to get access to our citizens. We are working on this constantly. Our citizens need to be brought ashore and when they are, I assure the Deputy that the Irish ambassador to Israel has made it very clear that she will expect very urgent access to them. I am keeping a very direct interest in that myself. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Contact with the families is vitally important. It must be of the highest priority. I urge the T\u00e1naiste to be the first to pick up the phone if there is any escalation or downturn in the situation. The families and people generally are concerned about when these Irish citizens can return home. Does he have any sense of a timescale about how long the process is likely to take and when these citizens are likely to be returned home safely? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The first priority is the Irish citizens who are detained and the absolute priority alongside that is to keep their families informed about any information we have. We are working closely with the families and trying to keep the lines of communication open. I have shared all of the information we have available and I and my Department will continue to do so. It is an evolving situation.  My understanding, having been briefed again this morning by our ambassador, is that once people are brought to a detention centre, they have to be brought before an Israeli deportation court within 72 hours. They are afforded an opportunity to sign a waiver form to waive that period and ask to leave Israel with immediate effect. I do not yet know the decision individual citizens will make on that, but we will provide all consular advice and assistance to people in that regard. People will be afforded the opportunity to sign a waiver form to say, \"I want to leave Israel immediately\", or to go before a deportation court. Under Israeli law, my understanding is that is meant to happen within 72 hours. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  On the wider legal international picture, does the T\u00e1naiste agree that what happened in terms of detaining people in international waters is a breach of international law? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yes, I do. I spoke with my Spanish counterpart this morning in relation to this. The full answer I should give is that we are determining all of the facts at the moment in an evolving situation. I am very clear that peace activists trying to highlight a humanitarian catastrophe and bring aid to the people of Gaza were apprehended and detained by Israeli authorities.  As I commented earlier, and in a statement issued with 14 other European countries in recent days, we will consider all actions available under international law to seek, first, information and, second, accountability for this action. Today should not be a day about me or anybody in the Irish Government doing anything provocative, it should be about trying to prioritise the well-being and safety of our citizens. That is my first priority. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  While I would not necessarily advocate that the Government would do something provocative for the sake of it, ultimately the flotilla is a consequence of what is happening internationally. There has to be a firm response from the Irish Government and from the international community.  As a follow-up to the previous question, we rightly recognised the State of Palestine. I welcome that other countries have done so too. That has to mean something in practical terms. Does the T\u00e1naiste accept that even if these ships were not in international waters \u2013 if they were in Palestinian waters \u2013 that Palestinian waters are sovereign? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yes, we recognise the State of Palestine. We are now one of more than 150 countries globally to do so.  I think Deputy \u00d3 Laoghaire understood me, but I have been very clear in the statements I have issued on behalf of the Irish Government with 14 other European countries that international law matters, it has to be upheld, and there has to be accountability. What I am saying very much mirrors what my Spanish counterpart said in recent hours, which I discussed with him, that there is an important sequencing to this. When Irish citizens are detained abroad, priority number one has to be the welfare and well-being of those citizens. I know the Deputy does not, but nobody should take that as saying I do not believe there should be accountability or the pursuit of this matter under international law; I do. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  The T\u00e1naiste will be aware that the next ships that are part of the flotilla are only three or four days away. They contain other Irish citizens, including a colleague of ours, Deputy Barry Heneghan. We are all concerned that the same thing will happen. It is reasonable to ask: what action the Department is taking to prepare for this and what actions will be taken to ensure the welfare of Irish citizens, European citizens and others are safeguarded? If it is a breach of international law for these ships to be intercepted in international or Palestinian waters, what is the international community, including Ireland, going to do to ensure that does not happen? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I say this very respectfully: I am very open to hearing suggestions from across this House and from all parliaments about what actions they believe the Government should be taking that we are not. In recent days people suggested that we join the Spanish ship, for example. I do not say this to be in any way disrespectful to Spain, with whom we are working very closely, but last night the Spanish ship withdrew and Spanish citizens were detained. They have not been treated any differently, better or afforded any degree of greater protection than Irish citizens.  I am concerned that the European Union has made absolutely zero comment to the very best of my knowledge, unless it has happened in the past few minutes when hundreds of European Union citizens are detained. I want to pursue that matter directly with the High Representative, Kaja Kallas, today. I have sought a call with her. I have been in contact with her too. It is really important that the European Union makes it known to Israel that we expect the rights of European citizens, including Irish citizens, to be respected.  I have been in touch with Deputy Heneghan. I spoke to him either yesterday or the day before. I will continue to keep in contact with him. We cannot lose sight of the reason all of these people are on the flotilla, which is there is a humanitarian catastrophe and a genocide. The best way for Israel to stop the flotilla is to end the genocide. The best way to end the genocide is to agree to a peace plan. I have heard the peace plan represented as President Trump's peace plan. I was in the United Nations, meeting with Arab leaders and Arab nations who worked extraordinarily hard on that peace plan. It is a plan that has been endorsed by many countries in the region. I hope that all parties, Israel and Hamas, now accept a peace process, end this horrific genocide and release the hostages. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  We touched on the proposal yesterday. We all want to see peace. Arab countries may have been part of the process but the Palestinians themselves were not.  The T\u00e1naiste made a point in relation to the genocide. This is a fundamental point. In lots of respects, the flotilla is a symptom. Ultimately, the disease needs to be cured. As long as there is a genocide that continues in Gaza, there will be people who will do what they can to break the blockade and to stand up where institutions and the international order are failing. That will continue to be the case. Israel has in this instance and many other instances acted with impunity because there are no consequences. While the T\u00e1naiste has said the first priority is in relation to Irish citizens, at a political level Ireland needs to be leading and making it clear that consequences have to follow for breaches of international law. The T\u00e1naiste is meeting with Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d later this evening. A key tool in ensuring that Israel does bear some responsibility is the EU-Israel trade agreement. Will the T\u00e1naiste be raising directly with Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d the need to block and halt the EU trade agreement? It is astonishing that Israel is currently benefiting from favourable trade agreements with the EU. It is disgusting; and it needs to be halted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Of course I will. As the Deputy knows well, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d agrees with that. That is why at the College of Commissioners, President von der Leyen put forward proposals and proposals were adopted. I am not in any way getting involved in politics today on this, but the problem is no longer that the European Commission is not bringing forward proposals; it is that member states are failing to vote in favour of implementing those proposals. We now have significant proposals that would do exactly what the Deputy suggests around trade. I believe they could make a significant difference. I believe they could make a greater difference than any sovereign act any one of our parliaments in the European Union could take. What needs to happen is that member states, including Ireland, need to have an opportunity to vote on them. I have petitioned this. I am available today to vote on these proposals. There is an absolute onus on the European Council and the institutions of Europe to convene and allow member states to show where they stand and let history show where they stood in relation to these measures that could have a significant economic impact and help Netanyahu to change his calculus in relation to the genocide. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I condemn the attack at the synagogue in Manchester. I express our solidarity with all of those affected.  On behalf of the Social Democrats, I express our horror at the actions of the Israeli military. Last night, they illegally boarded the Sumud flotilla in international waters, and effectively kidnapped humanitarian activists, including at least 14 Irish citizens. They took this action not because the flotilla posed a threat or because anyone on board was dangerous, but to stop humanitarian aid reaching a starving population in Gaza. This is a population that is enduring a genocide being perpetrated by Israel. This is a population that has been relentlessly and mercilessly abused, tortured and murdered for nearly the past two years.  Not only did Israeli forces illegally board the vessels in the flotilla, but they aggressively targeted them and put them in harm\u2019s way. According to reports, one vessel was deliberately rammed. The vessel's communications were jammed, and passengers were ordered to throw their phones into the sea. This was all to ensure that peaceful humanitarian volunteers could not be contacted. This happened before they were rounded up, manhandled, detained and treated like criminals. This Government was asked to do something to support the flotilla. A simple request was made to send personnel to observe it, to bear witness to what was being done and to deter Israel from further action. However, there was no action by the Government despite the fact that so many Irish citizens were being endangered and threatened by Israel for taking a stand against a brutal occupation, against an apartheid state and against 24 months of genocide.  The Israeli Government has acted with brutal impunity in Gaza for nearly two years. Every day we hear reports of dozens of people in Gaza being killed or starved to death, but virtually no sanctions have been imposed on Israel. Israel is so emboldened by this lack of sanction that it feels it can get away with anything, even kidnapping citizens of this country and dozens more from a humanitarian mission on the high seas. What is the Government going to do about it? I am not hearing from what the T\u00e1naiste has said that sufficient is being done. There are strong words of condemnation and I support the T\u00e1naiste on that, but nothing indicates that those strong words are being followed up with concrete actions. I know the T\u00e1naiste is personally disgusted by what Israel is doing, and so are others in the Cabinet and Government backbench TDs, but I cannot understand why these feelings of disgust and horror are not spurring the Government on to more concrete actions. I cannot understand why the Government's action in response to the citizens on the humanitarian flotilla, who have been threatened and now kidnapped, has not been sufficiently strong. I cannot understand why this Government is slow walking the occupied territories Bill. I cannot understand why the Israeli settlements divestment Bill has not been enacted. I cannot under why munitions destined for Israel are being allowed to go through Irish airspace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I cannot under why tens of millions of euro worth of dual-use products are still being exported to Israel. I cannot why Ireland's sovereign wealth fund is still investing in companies that are trading in illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied territories. I cannot understand why the Central Bank had been facilitating the sale of Israeli war bonds to fund the genocide. I cannot why Ireland and the EU are still trading normally with this murderous regime. I cannot understand any of this, and the Irish people cannot understand any of this. When Irish citizens were coming under attack on the flotilla last week, why did the Government not send personnel to observe what was happening and try to help to safeguard those citizens? Why did the Government not act at that point? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I join the Deputy in expressing my sincere sympathy and absolute condemnation in relation to what has happened at the synagogue in Manchester. The information is still developing as we are in this House, but I understand that two people have now died. Today is the holiest day in the Jewish calendar, Yom Kippur. That adds to the horror of an attack and brutal murder outside of a synagogue. I send the solidarity of everyone in this House and across the country to all of those impacted and to the Jewish community.  In relation to the issue of the observer situation, we looked at this. However, a number of things came to pass. First, there was a Spanish boat in the region. The Spanish were clear that our Irish citizens would be treated the same as theirs if there was a need to have access to that boat. We very much appreciated that solidarity from Spain. Second, and I do not say this to be anyway disrespectful to our Spanish counterparts, but they had a boat observing in the region and all their citizens have been detained in no different way from our citizens. It was always the ship's intention to withdraw. My understanding from reports this morning is that the Spanish and Italian Governments called for their citizens to desist and come back on the flotilla. I do not believe it would have made any material difference. However, I wish to say, not in the defence of myself or the Government but out of respect for the people in question, that a team of people have been working on this matter extraordinarily intensively on behalf of Ireland and our diplomatic corps. I refer to our team in Tel Aviv and in the region more generally, and to our consular services. I am satisfied they have been doing a very good job.  On sanctions, I agree with the Deputy on trading, but it is an EU competency. I am ready vote. I am ready to vote in favour on the Deputy's behalf and behalf of the people of Ireland for the measures put forward by the European Commission that I believe would have a significant effect. I personally led a diplomatic effort to seek an early meeting so we could have that vote. Four other European countries have joined us in that. After the events of the past number of hours, I will be intensifying those efforts further. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Given that Irish citizens were engaged in this humanitarian mission with massive support from the Irish people, and in light of the fact that a flotilla had already been attacked in international waters, does the T\u00e1naiste not agree that sending some personnel would have shown the support of the Government, would have put additional pressure on Israel and would have been warranted? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I truthfully do not. The facts bear that out. T\u00fcrkiye, Italy and Spain sent boats. It was not as though their citizens were treated in any way better or preferentially in relation this. European boats were present and available to our Irish citizens in the same way they were available to other citizens of the European Union. We have been working in lockstep with European counterparts in relation to that. That is my genuine view on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  It would have sent a message.  It would have been important and I think the T\u00e1naiste knows that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  They would not have arrived in time. Other countries had boats in the region. I welcome the new interest in investing in our defence and security capacities but other countries had boats in the region that were willing to treat our citizens as their citizens. That is European solidarity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  When is the occupied territories Bill going to be enacted? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  That is a fair question. I am meeting the sponsor of the original Bill, Senator Frances Black, next week. I hope to bring it forward very shortly thereafter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  The T\u00e1naiste has been telling us for quite some time that he will be bringing the Bill forward very shortly and that he will be meeting the sponsor of the Bill. He has met with the sponsor of the Bill several time and that is welcome. When is it actually going to be brought forward? Surely at this stage, given everything that has happened, the T\u00e1naiste can actually give us a firm commitment and timeline on when he is going to bring it forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It is on the Government's priority publication list for this term. It will be brought forward in this term. I do not want anyone to misinterpret what I am saying here. I am committed to passing the occupied territories Bill, to working with the committee and on an all-party basis, and to considering the pre-legislative scrutiny report which my officials have been doing. I am telling the Deputy, hand on heart, if alongside that we can get these European trading measures passed, which is where the bulk of my effort is, it will be much more significant in ending the genocide in Gaza. That is not a reason not to do the Bill - we will - but it is where the focus also has to be. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  When will the T\u00e1naiste take action to stop munitions destined for Israel going through Irish airspace? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  My colleague, the Minister for Transport, is currently investigating a number of issues and reports that were brought to his attention in relation to that. There is a very significant logistical issue in terms of what happens in skies well above our territory. The Minister has received a number of issues that were brought to his attention. He is pursuing that and I will ask him to provide an urgent update to the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  With respect, that is the same answer we have been getting all year. We are told that the Minister is investigating, has gotten reports and is looking into it. Munitions that are being used in a genocide are going through our Irish airspace and the T\u00e1naiste needs to act to stop that from happening. Enough of the excuses about looking at reports, investigating and so forth; when is he actually going to act to do something about this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  When is the Deputy going to outline what proposal he thinks the Irish Government should put in place in relation to this? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Prosecute them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  Prosecute them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Minister is looking at all the various legal options that are there. I hope that when I next come to this House to set out the need to invest more in defence, security, radar and sonar, we will not be accused of militarisation but will be accused of actually having a better understanding of what happens in our skies and seas. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  When is the T\u00e1naiste going to stop our sovereign wealth fund from investing in companies that are trading illegally in occupied Palestinian territories? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  These are matters for the individual funds. I am not aware of any current proposals in relation to those. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  The Minister for Finance in a recent reply to me stated that \u20ac5.6 million of taxpayers' money is still being invested in companies operating in the occupied territories. The T\u00e1naiste has absolutely no mandate - none whatsoever - to use our public money to invest in these companies. How can he justify this? Will he put an immediate end to this gross misuse of public funds? Will he instruct the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund to stop using our money to invest in these companies? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I certainly do not want to see investment in the illegally occupied Palestinian territories, much like I do not want to see trade with them. My understanding is that the Minister has set out the legal position in relation to how that fund operates. I will ask him to provide the Deputy with further information because he has policy responsibility in this area. The Minister for Finance has outlined to the House the commercial position in relation to this on many occasions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  I am not looking for more information about this. We have information from the Minister for Finance. I want the Government to act. Our public money is being invested against the wishes of the Irish people in companies operating illegally in the occupied territories. You are the T\u00e1naiste of the Government. Will you pick up the phone to the Ireland Strategic Investment Fund and tell them to stop using our money in this way? Nobody supports it, and nobody wants it. Will you act? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Minister for Finance has outlined the position in relation to that. It is always open to the Opposition to also bring forward policy and legislative proposals in relation to these matters. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cian O'Callaghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cian-O'Callaghan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cian O'Callaghan  You will not act. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  The Deputy can bring forward a Bill himself. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Order, please. I did allow the Deputy to stray way beyond what the statements are about. I ask Members to stick with the stated purpose of these statements. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  On a point of order---- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  There is no point of order. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  -----I just want to take the opportunity to make it clear that I was not aware when I rose to my feet of the appalling attack on the Heaton Park synagogue. I add our party's condemnation of an appalling attack on a holy day for the Jewish community. If it emerges that the motive is antisemitic, antisemitism is a scourge that must be rejected by all. Our thoughts go to those affected. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Okay. We will move on to the Independent and Parties technical group. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  I will take nine minutes and Deputy Healy will take three. I will start by adding our condemnation of the horrendous attack on the synagogue in Britain.  We should be very clear about what we saw last night. It was an act of piracy in international waters. The Israeli special forces unit Shayetet 13 surrounded 40-something flotilla boats, sprayed a whole number of them with heavy water cannons, rammed a number of small boats and then boarded them with armed soldiers. These boats were in international waters carrying baby formula, food and medicine to a people who are being deliberately starved and having famine imposed on them by Israel. These people have been kidnapped. They have not been detained; they have been kidnapped in international waters and are being taken against their will to Ashdod, probably, which is the usual spot.  I was in here last night and watching the live feed like millions of people around the world. I felt that in those pictures we had the best of humanity - ordinary people - on display. I had the pleasure of spending two weeks with hundreds of them in Tunis. They are extraordinary people in many ways but ordinary people in terms of the lives they lead as nurses, civil servants, a Senator, a poet. These people are driven to do what they can and put their lives on the line to try to stop a genocide. We saw the best of humanity, combined with the worst of humanity as these Israeli soldiers boarded their boats in order to stop aid getting through to a starving population.  It was very similar to the experience we had in 2011 on the flotilla I participated in. Senator Chris Andrews and many others were part of that. It is a terrifying experience for Israeli soldiers to board your boat. They are clearly hyped up. They have got big guns, they are pointing them at you and you are highly aware they have been told you are Hamas terrorists or whatever else. This is David and Goliath stuff. Israel is armed by the world's richest countries and has one of the richest, most armed militaries, with support from the most powerful countries in the world to inflict this genocide on ordinary people armed with nothing other than baby formula, food and medicine. It says everything about the nature of this Israeli State, the nature of this genocide and the nature of this apartheid State that they engage in military action to stop people bringing in humanitarian aid.  I want to say one thing to the participants in the flotilla. When we were in Tunis, we spoke about two key parts of our mission. One was to break the siege and open a people's humanitarian corridor to allow aid to flow. It is clear that is not going to be achieved. An obligation goes back onto states to bring aid and ensure the blockade is broken. The other aim was to highlight the complicity of Western states or their failure to act, and to bring pressure to bear on Governments around the world. That aim of the mission has been achieved. A new impetus has been given to the global movement of resistance. We saw last night huge protests breaking out spontaneously at midnight, in a whole number of countries, of people saying since they have blocked the flotilla getting through, let us block everything. Italian unions have called a general strike for tomorrow. All of us need to now redouble our efforts to stop the support, arming and enabling of genocide. Saturday's national protest called by the IPSC, at 12.30 p.m. at the Garden of Remembrance, can be absolutely enormous now as people flood onto the streets.  There are people outside the D\u00e1il right now protesting. Just like the Italian workers, we need to put workers' action on the agenda. I know Irish Healthcare Workers for Palestine has called a day of workers' action on 16 October.  I wish to focus in on some questions. The T\u00e1naiste mentioned earlier about the ambassador making clear our expectation that our citizens would be treated fully in line with international law. To clarify, does the T\u00e1naiste agree that already our citizens have not been treated in line with international law? The other thing I would say to him is that we cannot trust the Israeli state about anything. We know that on a much bigger scale. I can tell about our experience when we were brought to Ashdod. The Irish ambassador was there. All sorts of commitments were made to us. We were told we would get everything back and we would be back on a plane within 24 hours if we got off the boat now and there would be no strip searching, no mistreatment, etc. Once the ambassador was gone, all of that was gone. We were strip searched and then detained. Our books were taken away from us. We were not given anything for a week. I know there are limits to what the Irish ambassador can do in Israel but all pressure needs to be added to ensure these people are properly treated.  I will move on because a lot of the details in terms of the flotilla and the treatment have been questioned. If the flotilla participants were here, I think they would want me to ask about the broader issues because that is what they are engaged about. It is all eyes on Gaza, not just the flotilla. To pursue the question about the use of Irish airspace, the T\u00e1naiste went on \"The Late Late Show\" and said he did not think Irish airspace was being used. I asked a Leaders' Question and gave him a dossier to prove that. I got a letter after that from the Minister for Transport stating that an examination was ongoing. We know that examination has been ongoing for more than a year now. I got an answer to a parliamentary question back last week. I asked when the examination commenced and when it would be completed. The answer I got was: \"My Department has been engaged in the examination of this matter. This work is still ongoing at the present time.\" That is really a joke. Is the Government going to take seriously the issue of the overflights? It is not a question of beefing up our military. It is a question of prosecuting the companies that have it on their waybills. The Minister can prosecute the companies. The companies have admitted that they are doing this. It is clearly illegal. Why is the examination taking so long and is the Government going to act on it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I am very happy to answer questions on broader issues than the flotilla but the Deputy can be assured that the entire night and day has been dedicated to trying to protect Irish citizens who are currently detained in the State of Israel and get them home as quickly as possible. That is where my focus is today and has been right throughout the night.  Regarding the airspace issue, the Minister for Transport has made the Government's position clear. That remains the Government's position and I will seek an urgent update from him in relation to that. There are complexities regarding these things but they are issues of legitimate public concern in our country and they are issues of concern to Government. If there is an ability to take action, we are very happy to take that action. Deputy Murphy and I do not agree on lots of things but I do acknowledge he has joined flotillas and has a lot of experience in relation to these things. I welcome those insights he has shared with me and I assure him I will support not only our ambassador and our team on the ground in Tel Aviv but in providing any resources or assistance they need to keep the pressure on for the well-being of our citizens. Considering there are now likely to be hundreds of citizens, and, indeed, citizens from the European Union, detained, it is really important in the hours ahead that we work together to maximise that pressure in terms of the welfare of our citizens. Yes, I agree that they have been illegally detained. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  For almost two years, we have seen the Israeli state deliberately attempting to exterminate the Palestinian people by bomb, bullet and starvation. Gaza is now one big concentration camp and 2.3 million people are facing annihilation and starvation. Some 65,000 people have been murdered, included 25,000 children. Every international agency of note has condemned Israel, including the international courts. Last week, the United Nations deemed what is going on in Gaza as genocide. The prime minister of Israel is subject to an arrest warrant. The latest outrage last night is piracy and the kidnapping in international waters of Irish citizens, including a Member of the Oireachtas. This is absolutely outrageous. There have been many emergency sittings of this Oireachtas to pass legislation for much less serious matters than what we are facing in Gaza and on the international stage. Surely it is now time to call an emergency sitting of this Oireachtas, of D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann and Seanad \u00c9ireann, to pass the occupied territories Bill, to impose sanctions and to stop military flights through Shannon Airport. Surely the situation we see in Gaza demands such a response. The Irish people have a particular bond with the Palestinian people through our colonial past, our famine - An Gorta M\u00f3r - and through our neutrality. It is time that the Government called an emergency session of this Oireachtas to impose sanctions, to pass the occupied territories Bill and to stop military planes going through Shannon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Healy. I would hazard a guess that there is not been a parliament in Europe that has dedicated more time this week to the issue in the Middle East, though the Chief Whip can correct me. We had a debate on the Middle East for many hours yesterday. We have had the all-party motion and debate regarding the flotilla. We have changed Standing Orders today in a very rare step to suspend normal Leaders' Questions and Questions on Policy or Legislation, QPL, to discuss the situation. All of that is appropriate considering the gravity of the situation. The Government will work with the Opposition, of course, to ensure we expeditiously pass any legislation that we bring forward in relation to the occupied Palestinian territories. On the issues regarding sanctions or measures on trade, I do not believe they will require primary domestic legislation if we can get a qualified majority vote at a European level and my priority will be to secure that in the days ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I have both statements and questions. To start with, I just spoke to Councillor Ger Curley who is an Independent councillor. The worries and concerns of the people of Cobh are for Paddy O'Donovan and the other Irish citizens who have been detained. There are serious concerns in Cobh in regard to Paddy O'Donovan, including among his family. I hope that we convey those concerns to the relevant people. On Tuesday, during my contributions in the D\u00e1il on the flotilla, I stated that all of us in the Independent Ireland party publicly support the humanitarian nature of the global Sumud Flotilla. All of us in the Independent Ireland party call for safe and unhindered passage for all humanitarian aid vessels. All of us in the Independent Ireland party reaffirm Ireland's unwavering commitment to international humanitarian law and the protection of civilians in conflict zones. Yesterday evening Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice asked: where is world order, where is respect and where are people coming together for peace?  I want to speak plainly about the developments around the global flotilla. Overnight, we saw, not just manoeuvres at sea, but manoeuvrers that carry a terrible human cost. While ships are blocked, men, women and children are going hungry. Ireland knows that pain. We carry it from our history in our bones from the time of the Great Irish Famine. Ships laden with food passed our shores while our people starved on the roadsides. That memory is not just history. It is a warning. When we see supplies prevented from reaching starving people when international law is cast aside in the name of power, we have a duty to speak not just for ourselves but for those who have no voice.  I accept that diplomacy is complex. I accept that nations act in their own interests. However, there comes a point when humanitarian needs must be placed above politics, strategy and every other consideration. Children cannot eat words. They need food. Ireland, of all countries, should not stand silently by. We must insist that humanitarian supplies are allowed safe passage and that the flotilla is not turned into a weapon of starvation. It is not enough to make statements of concern. We must raise our voice at the highest levels, in Brussels, in the UN and in every forum on which we sit. If food is being blocked, it is not only immoral but is a breach of international law that cannot be tolerated.  I appeal to the T\u00e1naiste to remember our own history. He should remember our own Famine and make sure Ireland is not complicit in silence. Let us be the voice that says clearly: never again should food be blocked while people starve.  If the flotilla means anything, it should mean hope and relief, not hunger and not despair. Ireland must use its place to make that clear. I for one will continue to call for it. Will the T\u00e1naiste confirm whether our supplies that are bound for starving civilians have been delayed or obstructed by the interception of the flotilla and what steps Ireland as a neutral country has taken to demand the detainees' immediate release? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I know that Deputy Collins is one of the people who suggested, with Independent Ireland, that we should have a debate on the all-party flotilla motion this week. It proved to be very constructive in being able to tease through some of the issues. That was raised at the Business Committee.  I agree with the Deputy in relation to famine. There is something in our DNA and in our gut in this country. Through our history of an Gorta M\u00f3r we know what that is like. It is in the DNA of the people in this country and that is why we feel particularly repulsed in Ireland when we see famine conditions. It is now not just our words, the Deputy's words or my words. It is now an international finding of fact that there is famine in Gaza. The most disgusting and despicable thing is that the famine is happening when, as the Deputy alluded to, there is food nearby. I heard from a UN agency last week that children are having amputations without anaesthetics. It is hard to say that, let alone think about it. There are amputations without anaesthesics because Israel will not let the medicines and anaesthetics into Gaza. Mary Robinson, our former President, told me at the UN last week that she had visited the Rafah crossing and seen warehouse loads of food, a lot of it funded by the Irish taxpayer and other European taxpayers, and the only reason it cannot get in is Netanyahu.  Yes, we will not stand idly by and we have used our voice at the UN and the EU. We have also invested in the UNRWA and the World Food Programme with additional funding. They are getting trickles, nowhere near enough, with that additional funding to try to get food into a starving people. While the flotilla had a relatively small amount of aid, and I do not say that to be flippant, the symbolism of trying to get aid in and showing the blockade is hugely important and I believe it is something that people right across this country support. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  As I said, given our own experience in the Famine, where food was exported while our people starved, does the T\u00e1naiste agree that Ireland carries a special moral duty to stand against the use of hunger as a weapon? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yes, I do. It is one of the reasons Ireland has tried to be proactive on the issue of the genocide in Palestine. There is always more that can be done. I accept that. The international community in general has been far too slow and far too negligent. That would be the view in this House. I take the point that there is more we can do and I engage in that constructively. It is the reason Ireland moved ahead and recognised the State of Palestine a year ahead of many other European countries, which did it last week. It is the reason we have provided additional funding to UNRWA and the World Food Programme. It is the reason we have been leading the call for the review of the Israel-EU association agreement. It is the reason we are looking for an early European meeting to go through those sanctions. We will continue those actions in the hours and days ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  In my final 20 seconds, I will ask the remainder my questions together and see how I get on. What concrete actions will Ireland as a neutral country take at the UN and in the EU, and bilaterally, to insist on safe passage for humanitarian supplies and to hold to account those responsible for the blockage? Will the T\u00e1naiste assure the House that Ireland as a neutral country will not be silent or complicit but will use diplomatic channels available to ensure that the starving population receives the supplies it desperately needs? In reality, what can we as a neutral country do to help the people of Gaza and to help to end this devastating war? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I absolutely assure the Deputy that we will do that. We will work with our European counterparts, as I said in the statement issued by Ireland and 14 other countries, to see what options are available internationally in seeking accountability in relation to this flotilla. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I add my condemnation to the horrendous attacks that have happened outside the synagogue in Manchester.  As the T\u00e1naiste knows, the world has looked on at the horror that has happened for the last two years in Gaza and the fact that over 60,000 men, women and children have been murdered. Dozens of men, women and children are being murdered daily. Bombs are being dropped on schools, tents, religious locations and churches, hospitals and asylum centres. The level of destruction and murder that has been happening in Gaza for the last two years is absolutely horrendous.  This flotilla is a significant tool for focusing light on that horrendous situation. Israel has been at pains to tell us that there is no genocide, that there is no blockade of food and that they are not stopping aid getting into the region. Those lies were never credible but they are certainly not credible after today. We express our solidarity with all those who have been detained. The idea that 500 lawyers, activists and parliamentarians have been involved in this is an incredible feat. The flotilla was intercepted in international waters. That is a clear breach of international law. It is another example of Israel operating as a rogue state. It is an act of aggression against the countries under which flags those boats were travelling. It is incredible that we have had such a serious act of aggression against Ireland.  There are 15 Irish citizens in the custody of the Israel Defense Forces, IDF, at the moment. It is incredible that the Israeli foreign minister, in a post on Twitter, labelled those involved in the flotilla as Hamas, announcing that the IDF had intercepted Hamas vessels. This is a dark and dangerous surrealism that the Israeli Government would accuse Irish citizens of being members of Hamas. It is absolutely incredible that names like Kelly, Sheehy, O'Donovan and Clancy could ever be associated with Hamas by an actual government.  Protests are happening in Greece, Italy, Germany, Tunisia and T\u00fcrkiye. Governments around the world have been ramping up the criticism and pressure. South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has increased that pressure. T\u00fcrkiye's foreign minister has condemned these interceptions as an act of terrorism. The Colombian President has expelled the remaining Israeli diplomats and Colombia has also terminated its free trade agreement with Israel. I appreciate the information the T\u00e1naiste has given us in the Chamber today. It is important information. I appreciate also that the T\u00e1naiste is in contact with the families and that is important too. However, what practical actions are we taking to protect the rights of our citizens, to make sure their well-being is protected and to get them home as soon as possible? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I join with Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn in condemning the outrageous slurs on our citizens in relation to any reference to Hamas. Our Irish citizens are people in the pursuit of peace and on a humanitarian mission to try to bring food and medicine to a starving population. I agree with the Deputy in condemning that horrific slur on our citizens. That should not be stood for.  I appreciate what the Deputy said about the work of my Department. Our priority today, tomorrow and in the period ahead has to be the well-being of our citizens who are currently in detention in Israel. That has to be our priority. It always has to be the priority of the Department of foreign affairs, when our citizens are detained wrongly abroad, to try to help and assist them and support their families. I do not want to go further than this currently, but in the statement I issued with 14 other countries, I said that there does have to be accountability under international law for the actions that have been taken by Israel. I have begun conversations with counterparts and will have further conversations to detect if there is an appetite, which I hope and believe there is, to consider how a number of countries could pursue this. I will keep the House informed on this as I develop a policy and as I engage further with Government colleagues here in Ireland too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I have a couple of questions. Will the T\u00e1naiste give a date for the occupied territories Bill? He mentioned the complexities in relation to Israeli arms flights over Ireland. There is a danger that people can hide behind complexities. The Ditch has reported that the Irish State authorities in the last two months have assisted FedEx flights flying through Irish territory as they illegally carried F-35 combat jet parts to an Israel Defense Forces air base. The F-35 fighter jets have dropped 900 kg bombs on Gaza. It is a significant issue that our Defence Forces and our territory would facilitate these flights happening. If The Ditch can get to the heart of the contents of those flights, it is very hard to see that the Irish Government cannot actually put a stop to this or at least use the current law. There is a law currently that states that the carriage of munitions of war through Irish airspace without permission from the Minister for Transport is a criminal offence punishable by up to three years' imprisonment. We should be pulling every single lever to make sure we have an immediate response to actual events that are leading to the deaths of men, women and children in Gaza, yet we are not seeing that immediacy. We are seeing prevarication in relation to actual steps that we could take now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  While there is not a specific date for the Bill, because obviously that is not how our legislative programme works, it is on the legislative programme for now. I am eager to move it forward as quickly as possible. I will meet with the sponsor of the original Bill next week and then I will revert to the House.  I can tell the Deputy we are open to considering all legal avenues that currently exist in relation to any wrongful use of Irish airspace. The Minister, Deputy O'Brien, has been pursuing that matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  First, like others, I acknowledge the horrific attack on a synagogue in Manchester. I send me deepest sympathies to the families of the two deceased. I understand there are a number of other people injured. It is horrific. I condemn outright what appears to have been a blatantly antisemitic attack on Yom Kippur.  I also acknowledge the importance of having made time for this debate today. This is unprecedented. The circumstances are extraordinary, as we see a rapidly evolving situation and a number of Irish citizens put at risk. All of our thoughts and concerns are with those citizens on the Global Sumud Flotilla, who have been part of a humanitarian and who have endured a great deal of intimidation from Israel over recent days, even before the awful events of last night.  We were all following what was going on. We were watching the deployment of water cannon against them, the use of intimidating and frightening tactics by Israel against them and then, of course, most recently and dramatically last night, the illegal detention - abduction, really - of, we think, 15 Irish citizens. I think the T\u00e1naiste said 15 or 16 Irish citizens, among them our colleague in the Oireachtas Senator Chris Andrews, my own constituency colleague. I want to send a particular message to Chris. We know that another Member of the Oireachtas, Deputy Barry Heneghan, is in the broader flotilla. A number of other Irish citizens have also been abducted by Israel. We have had some of their families in this Chamber just recently. I again express our enormous sympathy and solidarity with the families, who must be undergoing enormous distress and concern as they are unable to watch what is going on because so little communication has been possible as a result of the Israeli action.  On behalf of Labour, I condemn Israel for this latest flagrant breach of international law - intercepting a flotilla of ships whose only mission was to draw attention to the horrific genocide being perpetrated by Israel upon the people of Gaza and to seek to bring aid to the civilians in Gaza, who are enduring such unimaginable suffering.  My colleague Deputy Duncan Smith will take on the asking of questions to the T\u00e1naiste and I know the T\u00e1naiste has outlined the efforts being made at diplomatic level by our ambassador, by the T\u00e1naiste himself and by our Department of foreign affairs at the highest level to secure the safety of Irish citizens on the flotilla and, more broadly, an end to the horrific genocide in Gaza. The T\u00e1naiste has already articulated this, as have I. All of us hope there will be a sustainable peace in Gaza. All of us have enormous concerns about the peace proposals that have been put forward but, certainly, we want to see an end to the genocide, the bringing about of a sustainable ceasefire and a sustainable two-state solution for the people of Palestine. We have been watching with horror as over 60,000 civilians in Gaza have been killed under bombardment and man-made famine. We have watched children being killed and maimed. We have watched medics and journalists being killed. A doctor interviewed this week spoke about the horror of standing by a small girl's bedside as she died from bombardment. Her entire family had been wiped out by a bombardment. These are unimaginable horrors and we have to do all we can.  Before I hand to Deputy Duncan Smith, I want to finish by saying again that we have always welcomed what the Government has done. We recognise the Irish Government has been to the fore, along with our colleagues in the Spanish Government, led by our socialist colleague Pedro S\u00e1nchez. They have been to the fore in calling out Israel and standing in solidarity with Gaza. We can and should do more because we are a powerful voice on the international stage, and a powerful voice for the people of Palestine. We need to progress the occupied territories Bill with much greater speed and to cover both goods and services. We need to ensure we have no trade with Israel as it commits genocide, and that we are pushing at the strongest level, a European level, to ensure that at EU level too there is an end to trade and effective sanctions on Israel. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  It cannot be lost on us what we have done here today, in terms of adapting Leaders' Questions to deal with this issue. I commend the Government Chief Whip on allowing this today. I cannot remember a precedent for this, given all the crises we have had before. It was right to do it but it shows that this House can act, adapt and be flexible.  I have to bring the T\u00e1naiste back to the occupied territories Bill. In my time in this House, I have often had promises that Bills are going to be brought about in a particular term. We wait and wait, we get to the last week of the term and maybe Second Stage begins. Then we go into a recess. Then we come back and it takes two or three weeks for Second Stage to be resumed. I have to ask the T\u00e1naiste about the occupied territories Bill. I was on the committee. We dealt expeditiously with pre-legislative scrutiny and we got a report to the T\u00e1naiste well before the summer recess. Will the occupied territories Bill be brought to this House before the end of October? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Simon Harris  I will answer the question but first, Deputy Bacik asked a question about the number of Irish citizens. I want to give the House the best information I have. When I came into this House, we had confirmed that 14 Irish citizens have been detained. I am aware that there are 16 Irish citizens in total but one of them may be a dual citizen so I think that might be where the 15-16 issue arises.  I am reluctant to give that commitment to Deputy Smith but not out of a lack of urgency around the occupied territories Bill. I am just conscious that the House goes into recess. I am conscious of budget week and that it is now October but I will work with Opposition parties and spokespeople to try to agree a timetable to advance this Bill. I am happy to do that with the Government Chief Whip. We do want to move this forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  In light of that, would the T\u00e1naiste be confident it will be before the end of November? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Simon Harris  Yes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Okay. We will have it before the end of November. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I thank the T\u00e1naiste. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  At least that is something.  Is there any update on the potential suite of measures the Taoiseach announced at the UN General Assembly, to include sanctions on the travel of Israeli Ministers? Has anything new been put in place? If not, when will they be put in place and what exactly is the full extent of such new sanctioning measures? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Simon Harris  The Taoiseach made the point at the UN General Assembly, in delivering the national statement, that we want to make sure Ireland also puts in place exclusionary measures from our country for extremist Israeli ministers. Obviously, we are not in the Schengen area so there is a different way we have to do it compared with how many other European countries did it. My understanding is the Department of justice is leading on this and that there are advanced discussions between my own Department, foreign affairs, and the Department of justice. A solution or a way forward is imminent. What the Taoiseach rightly said is that we want to make sure the same restrictions on travel apply in this country as will in other countries. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I do not want to go over the answer with regard to vessels, observational vessels and individuals, in terms of going as far and being turned back, but we have the flotilla continuing. This could happen again and again. Is the T\u00e1naiste open to engaging with like-minded EU states to come up with contingency plans for the protection, observation - whatever you want to call it - or engagement for humanitarian aid flotillas, or something that might continue into the future? Is he open to coming up with something a bit more permanent? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Simon Harris  Yes, I am. It should be done in a way that is European in the sense that sometimes, it just makes more sense if there are a number of European countries. Certain countries can have vessels in the area, etc., and speed can sometimes be of the essence, so yes, I am.  I do not wish to speak for other countries at all but my understanding of the purpose for the presence of some of those vehicles was in case the need for evacuation became real. God forbid, had something happened in terms of the well-being of citizens from attacks on the vehicles, it was about having that evacuation capacity. I was given an assurance that should that requirement be there, our citizens would be treated the same as any other European citizens as regards access to those vessels. I was satisfied, beyond doubt, that our citizens had the same access as Spanish citizens would have, for example, to what was effectively a European ship.  The Deputy's point is fair. I have already spoken to my Spanish counterpart this morning and I intend to speak to many more counterparts during the course of today and tomorrow. I will take the Deputy's idea away and see if we can build on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I was in the defence committee this morning discussing the maritime security strategy. Within that came our capabilities, and we know the issues in relation to naval vessels. We do have legacy expertise in the Mediterranean neighbourhood through Operation Pontus and working with EU partner states on that. We can act and we do have expertise in our Defence Forces and Naval Service to do that.  On the piracy and the kidnapping and detention of Irish citizens, the T\u00e1naiste says he is open to practical solutions or ideas. Would he request that his officials investigate the possibility of referring this latest action to the ICJ, for example, for investigation at the least? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Simon Harris  As the Deputy can imagine, because this is an evolving situation, I have not had the chance to discuss this with Government colleagues and the likes. I also want to take this sequentially. Step one is the well-being of our citizens, seeking their freedom and to get them back home, and the very intensive work my Department and our individuals on the ground are undertaking in the here and now. I have said in the statement last month with 14 other countries that there should be accountability for any illegal actions taken against the flotilla.  I very much value international law. I am already actively exploring, with other European counterparts, if there is an appetite for a number of European countries to seek accountability for this under international law. I do not think it would be useful today for me to go further in relation to this. I do not wish to engage in any act of provocation. My priority in the here and now is the well-being and safety of our citizens. I am happy to come back to the House and engage. Once I further develop my thoughts, I will come back on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Would it be fair to say that the T\u00e1naiste and Government have an appetite? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It would be fair to say that I have an open mind and do not rule anything out at this stage. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  In the spirit of the worker's voice on this, we have seen the action in Italy with workers' solidarity, which has been called for for a couple of weeks. The Labour Party has the Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025. Would the T\u00e1naiste support, at least in principle, the idea that workers in this country who refuse to handle, store or provide carriage of settlement goods - I have kept it at goods for this particular Bill - would be protected under the Unfair Dismissals Act from handling goods from occupied territories? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I very much get what the Deputy is endeavouring to do here. I say that in a constructive sense. He is trying to reflect the genuine concerns that people have across our country and the wish that everybody has to play every possible role they can in using every lever at their disposal. I am not against the principle of that at all but I have not truthfully considered or read the Bill in full. It is the responsibility of my colleague, the Minister, Deputy Burke. I will ask the Minister to engage with Deputy Smith about the purpose of the Bill. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  Finally, on the transport of weapons through Irish airspace, we know, as Deputy Murphy said in his contribution earlier, that these end up going into the Department of Transport investigations black hole. Will the T\u00e1naiste please commit to this House, and this is small, that he will ask the Department of Transport to expedite these investigations, to publish results, and to change and improve how it conducts these investigations, because they are a matter of the utmost seriousness with regard to the integrity of our skies and our airspace, and they cannot just go into that Department and never seem to come out? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yes. I will talk to the Minister, Deputy O'Brien, about that too. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Can I bring to the T\u00e1naiste's attention something that he would be interested and concerned by? It has been confirmed to me that those Irish citizens detained have been denied access to lawyers. Adalah, which is a legal firm and civil society human rights organisation that represents people in these situations, stated:  Adalah has received phone calls from participants reporting that immigration authorities have already begun conducting hearings on their deportation and detention orders, in the Ashdod port. These proceedings were initiated without prior notice to their lawyers and while denying participants access to legal counsel. This constitutes a grave violation of due process and a denial of the participants' fundamental rights. Adalah will continue to seek access and will take legal action as necessary.  Will the T\u00e1naiste briefly respond? It is unacceptable for Irish citizens or any citizens to be denied access to legal representation and it has to be condemned. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  Yes, it is. The Deputy has the benefit of having slightly more information than I do since I have come into this House. Irish citizens having absolute access to legal representation is important. My understanding from my earlier call with our ambassador and others was that a number of our citizens had already identified potential sources of legal representation on the ground. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Donnchadh-\u00d3-Laoghaire.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire  Very likely. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I think that is what the Deputy is bringing me up to speed on. I will take that up as soon as I leave here. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  I am conscious of the discussion we have just had. I want to put on the record of the House my support, the same as the Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste today, for the fact that there was an attempted focus on humanitarian aid that is necessary for Gaza, and thank the T\u00e1naiste and his officials for all the work they are doing in delivering consular assistance for Irish citizens and for drawing broader international attention to what is happening in those waters at present.  As well as that, I put on the record of the House my condemnation of the absolute horror that has unfolded in the Manchester synagogue this morning and the loss of life there. As has been said, if antisemitism is the motive behind this attack, that should be roundly condemned.  I turn, with the indulgence of the House, towards a topic that has been raised by me as a constituency TD but also as someone who is a public representative. That is the need to ensure that no people are left behind as we move towards digital first service delivery. This is especially with regard to our older citizens and those who face barriers to accessing online services. Over the past two months alone, in my constituency office, we have seen real examples of exclusion. A major telecom provider now insists on charging \u20ac5.50 a month for paper bills for pensioners, which is a financial penalty for simply not being online. One constituent struggled for weeks to cancel a TV service because the support channels were not open and available to them. They had to contact my office to get assistance in cancelling that TV service. Others contact us frequently to say they are waiting for long times on phone chats or phone lines with chat bots without necessarily getting the support and understanding that they need. Even with things like housing adaptation grant applications, there are complex forms with very little understanding or insight about how to complete them properly.  This is not about saying that the digital advance must be slowed or that we should not be looking to improve digital skills among older people, but it is about independence, securing dignity and fairness for all our citizens. Many older people are proud of their independence and might not necessarily want to ask for help, but when services only go online, they face an immediate barrier. We know that we face challenges with the prevalence of digital skills among older people. The prevalence of basic digital literacy skills among over-65s in Ireland is at 19%, below the EU average of 25%. In Ireland, six out of ten adults over 60 are ones who do not consider themselves to ordinarily use the Internet or have basic digital skills.  I am sure the T\u00e1naiste would agree that technology should open doors, not necessarily close them, but we need to combine digital innovation with inclusive, respectful support. By backing initiatives like Age Action's getting started, or ALONE's digital champion workshops, we can make sure that these are available in every community, and also ensure that we put a safety net in place for those older citizens who may not necessarily feel comfortable with an increasingly online world. In the absence of the skills that they need to engage with those services, companies in the private sector and the public sector should show compassion in dealing with those older people and ensure there is support for them so that they are able to access the services that they need and, in many cases, the services that they rely on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I thank Deputy Moynihan for his kind words about the officials in my Department and the work that they are endeavouring to carry out, particularly those in Israel, Ramallah and in the region, and indeed our consular services here in Dublin. I am grateful for all they do and appreciate the Deputy's words. I join him in expressing our sincere sympathies and condolences to those affected by the most horrific murder and killings outside a synagogue in Manchester. It is a horrific situation and we all deplore and condemn it. We think of all those affected.  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue, as we see more and more things move online, that we do not lose sight of the fact that we need to bring everybody with us. It can be quite a scary and frightening time of transition for people if they do not feel they have the skills to transition, or indeed the option, if they do not wish to transition, to continue to access their services in a way that is convenient and works for them.  We are planning to update the national digital and AI strategy. A new, refreshed version of that is due by the end of the year. I will ask the relevant Ministers, Deputies Burke and Niamh Smyth, to take on board the Deputy's suggestions about that and the good work that has been done by Age Action Ireland, which the Deputy referred to as well. I know this is an issue that faces so many of our citizens. It is vital that, as we shape Ireland's digital future, we do not leave people behind. The Government is encouraging a digital first, but not a digital only, approach from businesses, as some citizens like to have different options. It is important even in my Department, with our passport service. So much is now done online but there will always be some people, certainly for the time ahead, who may not wish to do it online. That is okay too and we need to support them in that.  Having said that, there is growing consumer demand for digital accessibility. Companies and public services are responding to those customer and citizen demands. Digitalisation has played a major role, as the Deputy says, in driving efficiencies for business, improving productivity, for marketing, selling online, and accessing new markets, but equally important is customer service and meeting customer and citizen expectations. There is a balance. Getting that feedback and listening to our citizens, and from a company's point of view, listening to its customers, is important.  The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment has introduced a new charter focused on AI and digital literacy and SME digitalisation. This represents the implementation of a key measure under what we call the digital for good initiative, which emphasises the importance of access and affordability and ensuring that all citizens can have equitable access to digital technologies and the opportunities they bring.  When we talk about digital exclusion, what we are hearing more and more from people is that it is not about a lack of devices or a lack of access to the Internet, though that can sometimes be the issue, but that it is about lacking the skills to use them effectively. The charter for digital inclusion commits to a number of actions to try to make progress there. I suggest that we take this and the suggestions from Deputy Moynihan forward in our new, refreshed national digital and AI strategy.  I will ask the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Niamh Smyth, to engage with the Deputy on the framing of that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Shane Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Shane-Moynihan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Shane Moynihan  I welcome the T\u00e1naiste's utterance that it will be a digital first as opposed to a digital only approach. It is important to acknowledge that for many older people, these barriers they perceive to entering a digital world can be ones they do not feel comfortable expressing. That is why any services we design to embrace those people and bring them in should be designed to be proactive and offer that help in a way that feels respectful, discreet and empowering. I encourage the reframing of the strategy with the Minister, Deputy Burke, and the Minister of State, Deputy Smyth, on which I would welcome engagement, around the option of maintaining the option of paper billing for those who might not have access to a computer or who may not have the digital skills they need to access the online services. There should also be clear guidance from ComReg in particular with regard to telecoms providers. In many services, as the T\u00e1naiste states, there is a consumer demand. There are also many services, which are essential for older people. Especially in an older population where we know loneliness is a real issue, communications is an important service they rely on. There needs to be proactive guidance from ComReg on that, and on ensuring that where available, face to face and human phone-based supports can remain essential access routes. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  I agree with all of that, and I will ask the Minister for communications to make the point Deputy Moynihan to ComReg. I can say, as a relatively young person that there is a place for technology, but sometimes you just want to be able to talk to a human being. There are some things that AI and other technologies cannot do yet at least. Emotional intelligence is quite important as well. Sometimes it can be a hell of a lot quicker to have a conversation with someone and sort it, rather than half a dozen messages to a chatbot. There is definitely a balance with regard to this. There is a direction of travel. We are living through a major time of evolution and some good will come from that. However, we need to not lose the essence of who we are and what public service means, in particularly, but also that businesses do not deprive themselves of customers who want to still be able to access services in a way that works for them. I look forward to the new refreshed national digital and AI strategy. I will also, as per Deputy Moynihan's suggestion, ask that ComReg take a look at this from a telecom providers point of view. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Talking to one another might become a popular thing to do again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Simon Harris","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Simon-Harris.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The T\u00e1naiste  It is always a pleasure to talk to you. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 1.22 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 2.02 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 1.22 p.m. and resumed at 2.02 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"Community Pharmacy Agreement: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":16},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  I am happy to update the House on the recently reached community pharmacy agreement and to take an opportunity in this House to recognise the very significant role that pharmacists play in delivering a more accessible and integrated health service across the country.  Shortly after becoming Minister for Health in January, I began engaging with the Irish Pharmacy Union, IPU. It was the first representative body I met, and we clearly set out an ambition together for the future of community pharmacy. When I spoke at the IPU conference in Kilkenny, again, we set out my vision for sustainable reform and expansion of services to future-proof pharmacists\u2019 role in health services through diversification and service expansion. We in the D\u00e1il have already seen that in areas like vaccination, when we ask our community pharmacists to get involved, they step up and the result is increased access for patients and the alleviation of pressure in other areas of our health services.  Budget 2025 provided for free hormone replacement therapy, HRT, medicines and related products for women for the treatment of menopause and also a separate allocation of \u20ac50 million - the full year cost in 2026; pro rata in 2025 - to support investment in community pharmacy and the commencement of fee negotiations with the IPU. In this context, in May of this year, I secured an agreement with the IPU to deliver the HRT initiative, alongside free dispensing fees, along with an agreed framework of engagement to commence contract talks with the IPU.  That is why on Friday 12 September, I and officials in my Department were really pleased to complete the community pharmacy agreement 2025 with the IPU and the HSE recently. On that same date, the union's governing committees endorsed the community pharmacy agreement 2025, and on Thursday 18 September, I published the agreement. This is the first national agreement with community pharmacists since the original contract was established in the early 2000s. It follows intense negotiations throughout the summer, between the Department of Health, HSE and IPU. I thank all of the parties that were involved and that engaged so intensively to enable the conclusion of this agreement. It built on the work done by my officials and by the IPU through a series of ongoing engagements and meetings since mid-2023, addressing themes such as the role of community pharmacists, pharmacy funding, service expansion, administrative complexity and digital enablement.  This agreement supports commitments to expand pharmacy services, provides new investment in the sector and supports value for money and modernisation and digital reform. It will support investment of \u20ac25 million in 2025 for fee adjustments and service establishment; \u20ac50 million in 2026 for full-year implementation, training optimisation programmes and new services; and \u20ac20 million in repurposed existing community pharmacy funding. This agreement marks a new chapter for community pharmacy in Ireland, and I thank the IPU for its collaborative approach to these negotiations. Its officials have been strong advocates for their profession, and this agreement demonstrates what can be achieved when we work together in partnership.  We know patients want timely access to care in their own communities. That is why, particularly at an acute hospital and community level, I am putting such an emphasis on productivity and the importance of consistency for our patients as they engage with our services. We must do better, and we can do better. Strategic shifts in approach, like the community pharmacy agreement, will mean that we are better utilising our existing network and freeing up capacity in other pressured areas of our healthcare services.  The programme for Government set out our commitments and ambitions for community pharmacy. It recognises the significant potential for the enhancement of the role of community pharmacists in providing accessible health services. The community pharmacy agreement 2025, in various ways, materially contributes to the delivery of these commitments and our vision for a sector that can grow and expand its services to support patients and build capacity in our health services. The agreement is comprehensive and extensive. It covers a wide variety of key issues in community pharmacy and provides for the participation of community pharmacy in new services, including bowel screening; immunisation programmes; common conditions service; oral contraception prescription continuation; national condom distribution service; medicines optimisation, commencing with point of care testing; and unused medicines return and disposal. I will speak about each of these issues in turn.  On bowel screening, community pharmacists and their teams, as really, genuinely trusted healthcare professionals, can play an important role in supporting increased uptake of the BowelScreen programme, which is an area where we have a concern. They will do this through promoting the programme at population level as well as enhancing access by supporting individuals to participate in the programme. It is, therefore, another point of contact for the programme, which we want people to take up. Pharmacies will be enabled to identify eligible patients, based on age, proactively invite the person to participate in the programme, register them on the programme and order the faecal immunochemical test, FIT, kit. A model of service and ICT upgrades are required before this service can be launched in the second half of 2026. It has been agreed that pharmacies will be paid \u20ac5 for each person registered by them for the BowelScreen programme. In addition, an annual \u20ac500 allowance will be given to each pharmacy that supports BowelScreen promotion. This is really important. As Deputies will be aware, we have a screening programme and we do not have sufficient uptake within the existing cohort, so we have to look at every mechanism we can to expand uptake. I hope that this will be a measure that makes it more convenient for people to engage in the programme and get the bowel screening that they need.  On the immunisation programme, the training and competence of community pharmacy as medicines experts must be fully utilised. Community pharmacists administer one in every three vaccinations under the influenza and Covid-19 vaccination programmes. The opportunity for an expanded pharmacy role in immunisation has been an important stream of dialogue within the talks. Pneumococcal disease is a bacterial infection that can lead to significant morbidity and mortality, particularly amongst the very young, the very old, those with impaired immunity and those with anatomic or functional asplenia. Prevention of disease through vaccination is now more important than ever. To support increased vaccination, it has been agreed that community pharmacists can administer the PPV23 vaccine to healthy over 65-year-olds. For medical card holders, pharmacists will be paid the same fee as GPs.  It has also been agreed that the IPU will positively engage with the HSE, exploring how community pharmacy could take on a substantive role in schools' immunisation. A programme of work will be developed to explore the scope and nature of this. There is a substantial opportunity for the State to improve the delivery of schools' immunisation and its efficiency through the support of community pharmacy. Service models, fees, legislation and data protection matters need to be addressed as part of this programme of exploration. An enhanced immunisation fund, with a dedicated annual funding of \u20ac2 million, has been ring-fenced from 2026 onward. This will be used, in the first instance, to facilitate the participation of community pharmacy in the school immunisation programme and to scope out their potential participation in other national vaccination programmes, as appropriate.  On the common conditions service, which is the area of real excitement and real opportunity for people, since the publication of the final report of the expert task force to support the expansion of the role of pharmacy, my Department has been engaging with a range of stakeholders to implement the recommended common conditions service. This service will enable community pharmacists to manage common conditions by offering self-care advice, safety-netting and, when appropriate, supplying certain over-the-counter medicines and prescribing prescription-only medicines through established protocols. Pharmacies will be enabled to establish the common conditions service from late 2025. Pharmacies will be entitled to charge their patients a consultation fee. However, medicines will be reimbursed by the State in accordance with a person\u2019s eligibility under the community drugs schemes. Patients, including medical card holders, who choose to access the common conditions service, will pay a consultation fee at the rate charged by the pharmacy.  Patients, including medical card holders, who choose to access the common conditions service, will pay a consultation fee at the rate charged by the pharmacy. To incentivise its establishment, a once-off grant of \u20ac2,000 will be provided to pharmacies that commit before 1 December 2025 to establish the service by the end of quarter 1 2026.  The huge advantage is medical card patients can continue to go to their GPs as normal, or they may choose to go to the pharmacy and pay a consultation fee. Private patients may continue to go to their GP as normal or choose to attend the pharmacy and pay a consultation fee, which I expect will be of a lower order than the GP fee. It means much faster access for prescribing, where appropriate, for basic common conditions, including basic bacterial infections such as urinary tract infections or conjunctivitis. By enabling people to choose to use the pharmacy instead of their GP, should they wish, we hope to expand access to this primary form of healthcare in this very basic way making life slightly more convenient when accessing the basic prescriptions we all need from time to time. I very much hope it will be in place by the end of quarter 1 2026.   On oral contraception prescription continuation, the continued supply of short-acting reversible contraception by community pharmacists is being progressed in parallel with the common conditions service. That will allow pharmacists to continue a prescription for oral contraception meaning patients can, in effect, have their prescription renewed by a pharmacist rather than reattending a GP. Pharmacists will be required to do various health checks as part of the protocol. Operational guidance will be provided to pharmacists shortly and information will be provided to the public in due course. For those within the eligible age range, this service will be integrated into the free contraception scheme and pharmacists will be paid a fee by the State for this service. That will be implemented following the necessary training and various changes to legislation.  The national condom distribution service distributes free condoms and lubricant sachets to services working directly with population groups who may be at increased risk of unplanned pregnancy, HIV or STIs. As part of this agreement, the service is now extended to community pharmacists who will identify potentially at-risk patients and provide them with relevant products.  It has been agreed to establish a rolling annual medicines optimisation programme, with a dedicated annual funding allowance of \u20ac4.5 million from 2026. This yearly budgetary allocation is ring-fenced for community pharmacy delivered optimisation programmes. This fund will support the establishment of a proof of concept for the use of point of care testing, POCT, in community pharmacy for respiratory illness. It is anticipated that this would evaluate the role of POCT in reducing GP attendances and, importantly, unnecessary prescribing of antibiotics. It will be a control measure.  On unused medicines return and disposal, enabling patients to safely return their unused medicines to their local community pharmacy restricts access to unused medicines, thereby reducing harms to the environment, the risk of accidental poisoning in children and the risk of suicide or self-harm. A new national service will be established, which will enable people to return their unused medicines to their local community pharmacy. A sum of \u20ac4.5 million is being allocated for this. The HSE will commission the service with each pharmacy being required to participate. This service will commence in the second half of 2026.  I will speak about the emergency medicine administration preparedness allowance. To recognise that community pharmacists are authorised to administer emergency medicines, that this service is provided on an ad hoc basis at the moment requiring pharmacists to be trained and ready to respond, and the disruption this may cause to pharmacy practices when they administer emergency medicines, we have provided an annual recurring allowance of \u20ac525 that will be made available from 2026.  On training, education and development, as the scope of practice of community pharmacists widens, so too does the need to develop and empower pharmacy support staff to ensure the success and sustainability of these changes. This shift requires upskilling and formal recognition of support staff roles to maintain safety and efficiency. To support improved training capacity, the annual training grant for pharmacies will be doubled from 2026 onward. The grant will increase from \u20ac1,270 to \u20ac2,540 per pharmacy. Additionally, a contribution of \u20ac500 per pharmacy will be made available to support the purchase of mandatory reference texts.  It has also been agreed that the core dispensing fees across the community drug schemes will increase by 10% overall. That change will apply to the following schemes: the general medical scheme; the drugs payment scheme; the long-term illness scheme; the European Economic Area scheme; and the Health (Amendment) Act. Currently, the dispensing fee is a tiered structure when fees are paid based on the number of items dispensed in a month. The top tier will increase from \u20ac5 to \u20ac5.60 for the first 1,667 items dispensed, which is an increase of 12%, the middle tier will remain at \u20ac4.50 for the next 833 items and the final tier will increase from \u20ac3.50 to \u20ac4.10 for any further items, which is an increase of 17%. This new dispensing fee structure will be backdated from 1 September for all community pharmacy contractors who sign up to the new agreement. My Department is progressing the necessary legislative changes to enable this.  In the context of the overall agreement and settlement package, the State has also secured key commitments from community pharmacy relating to reform, modernisation and the digital agenda, which is something we spoke a good deal about at a health committee meeting yesterday. This is imperative as the full participation of community pharmacy is a critical factor, as we all know, in the successful delivery of these State-sponsored reforms. The agreement will provide the basis for community pharmacy and IPU co-operation with the full ehealth agenda, including the national eprescribing programme, shared care record, HSE app, electronic health record, etc. As these programmes advance and roll out, the co-operation of community pharmacy will be a critical success factor. The Department will progress a number of regulatory reforms over the coming months to improve efficiency and free up capacity in community pharmacy.  The community pharmacy agreement marks a significant milestone in strategic collaboration between the Government, the Department of Health, the HSE and the IPU. It sets out a comprehensive and ongoing pathway to modernise and expand the role of community pharmacy, to enable community pharmacists to work at the top of their expertise and to increase accessibility within our healthcare system more broadly. The agreement will support the delivery of safe, equitable and efficient healthcare, and ensure that community pharmacists are better equipped to contribute to national health priorities through engagement, sustainable funding and integrated service delivery.  We are trying to build a service that not only responds to those who need it most, but does so in a way that puts the patient at the centre because pharmacists are trusted and rooted in every community they serve. We are trying to expand their role in healthcare generally to provide for better accessibility, safer, quicker prescribing and, obviously, the management of drugs, particularly through the unused drugs scheme, as is necessary and appropriate. I am pleased to provide the details of the agreement to the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I welcome the agreement. The Minister's predecessor admitted a number of years ago that the engagement with the Irish Pharmacy Union was not what it should have been and the State was not making the best use of community pharmacies. A number of years ago, I published a very comprehensive plan that set out a lot of what is in this agreement, and more, in relation to what we could do. It included many of the important schemes, such as the common conditions scheme, which is very important, provides a lot of potential and can be built on. My plan also included more prescribing, on which there was pushback from the Department at the time. It had some concerns about it but I am glad those issues have been resolved. All of that is important, as is pharmacies playing a larger role in vaccination. Everything we can do to take pressure away from our acute hospitals and GPs, is of value to the health service.  Looking at the volume of community pharmacists we have, it should be accepted that we are simply not making best use of them. They are available, they want to do it, and they can and will do more, but they will say they have to be resourced. As part of discussions I had with them previously, the issue of fees was something they wanted to discuss. I always made the point, in a very honest conversation with them, that whatever discussion needed to be had on fees, there had to be a quid pro quo , a return for the health service and for citizens and better use of community pharmacies. There is still more that can be done. I ask the Minister to see this as a start. This is the beginning and a foundation. It is really good and a step forward, but much more can and should be done over the time ahead. We can build on this and on the agreement that is in place.  I will raise one issue on vaccinations. I strongly believe we should be looking at RSV and shingles vaccination. An application is going through the system at the moment to provide shingles vaccination to those over 65 years of age. There is an issue with the funding and costs of that, but it is very important and should be supported. I always agree that there has to be value for money. I know there is a process but, at the same time, we have to look at what the best way is to protect older people, particularly in an ageing population, where that population needs greater supports during the winter months.  It is actually through prevention, such as the flu vaccine, which is already available, but it should also be through other vaccines where people are at risk and older people at risk. I ask the Minister to look at that issue in the context shingles. It may be complicated by the fact it is not off-patent and there is only one provider. That may be the issue but that should not be a block. The Department and the Minister should look at that.  More can be done by pharmacists on health checks. It was something I put in the plan I published a number of years ago for cardiovascular checks. Unfortunately, it is one of the illnesses that is one of the big killers, along with cancer. We have a lot to do with cardiovascular care. There is a need for a more comprehensive cardiovascular strategy. To park that to one side, there is a lot more community pharmacists can do to help, particularly with health checks and monitoring cholesterol levels for those at risk. They can be tell tale signs there is a problem.  I ask the Minister not to do what her predecessor did, which was take a piecemeal approach to this and make announcements that pharmacists would do wonderful things but not have any of the i's dotted and t's crossed. We saw that with the free HRT and other areas where messes had to be cleaned up as well. Very simply, they had to be cleaned up because the Minister went out and made an announcement without having any engagement with the pharmacists or having any agreement in place. That was the wrong approach. The best approach is to engage with pharmacists and have collaboration and partnership and then have a framework in place that actually works. That is the model I certainly support and the model under which more should be done.  This is welcome. I support it and I called for almost everything that is in this but there is more to be done. We can build on it and hopefully, that is what will be done in the time ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","memberCode":"Aengus-\u00d3-Snodaigh.D.2002-06-06","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aengus \u00d3 Snodaigh  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Aire as seo a chur chun cr\u00edche. It is good news for community pharmacists but in particular, it is good news for the community. That is one of the key points. For far too long, highly qualified medical practitioners were not allowed practise to the best of their abilities. These are some of the small changes that can be taken to recognise how highly qualified, informed and vital they are to the community. Each of us will know from our own family of people who have gone to the pharmacists and identified a problem of which they were not aware or they have helped them in emergencies and pointed them in the right direction or to the need for a change in medication.  This is a recognition of their vital role in the future. My colleague and the Minister mentioned GPs. This will hopefully relieve some of the pressure on GPs but a lot more can happen in this regard and there needs to be greater synergy between the two professions to ensure that it works better than it has. At the moment, a GP will prescribe medication but patients have to keep going back if it is a repeat prescription. The pharmacist can now take that on board but patients still have to get the agreement of the GP. When they ring the GP, there is a cost to them and that is one of the blockages as it can be hugely costly. Even for just a phone call to a GP practice, it is still \u20ac20 or \u20ac25 to send the prescription to the pharmacist. It is a press of a button for a repeat prescription and there is no need to see the doctor in most cases. The doctor will call patients in once a year or once every two years, depending on what the medication is. That type of blockage and cost to those who need medication needs to be lifted.  I welcome the change that was announced, although I do not have the exact details, to deal with unwanted and unused medication. We have all dealt with family members who have passed and you go into the cupboard and there are hundreds of pieces of medicine that have never been used. The worst thing is we still have not found a way of utilising those thousands of euro worth of medication. It just sits in the press when a person has passed and it is of no use. Even now, if is brought back to the community pharmacy but it will go to landfill, incineration or whatever will happen. The problem is that some of this has not been touched and the seals are in place along with everything else. There has to be a way to use them because of the cost, most of which is to the Exchequer and to the patient themselves. This is a waste of money. It might addressed the issue of overprescribing but it is not just that. Sometimes people forget to take their medicine on a regular basis.  I welcome the agreement. Hopefully, over the next while, we will be able to address the small, practical changes that can happen to make life easier for those who have that interaction with either the GP or the pharmacist. Pharmacists are one of the most trusted medical professions there are. They are always very jolly in any of the pharmacies I go into and happy to help and direct me to the right place. They are happy to share their advice at no cost most of the time because people just go in to have a chat. I wish all the GPs could do the same but they are run off their feet, in most cases. Well done on introducing it at long last but now we have to do all the rest of the work. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Before I get to my contribution, I would like to outline my solidarity with those who have been illegally kidnapped from the Global Sumud Flotilla by the Israelis. I ask the Government to fulfil its obligations to ensue safe passage. There were promises made earlier. We think of Senator Chris Andrews and I believe Barry Heneghan may be taken in the next number of days. We need to make sure we do absolutely everything we can from our point of view to protect the Irish citizens and those who are not.  On the community pharmacy agreement, there is nobody who, if they were asked a number of years ago, would not want it to be the case where they did not necessarily have to go to the GP for X, Y and Z and they could make a journey to the pharmacy to deal with small ailments, particularly colds and flus and on behalf of young children and the multiple issues they deal with. While I welcome many of the changes with the introduction of the CPA, like my two colleagues, this should only be the start of putting a full framework in place and that we can deal with all the services that communities pharmacies should be able to employ. That relates to everything, including emergency medicines or cardiac checks. We all know people who have been incredibly lucky to get in hospital at the right time when they had such a check - others have not been - whether it related to anything from a small procedure right through to quadruple bypasses. However, we could increase the number of people detected before we are dealing with a disaster scenario if we could have those sort of checks done in community pharmacies, which could be very simple, cheap and a lot cheaper for the State in the long run, not to mention much better it would be for society and for that person and their wider family.  There is nobody who will not talk about the high cost of medicines, which is something that needs to be addressed. While trying to provide community pharmacies with greater power to deliver for all the citizens, the fact is that hospitals can be overrun, particularly at this time of year. We all know the issues there have been. With regard to UHL, not a week goes by without a significant number of cases. Even when it comes to Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital in Drogheda, people rarely say anything bad about staff but they talk about staff who are under severe pressure due to the number and nature of complaints. There are a lot of people who end up going to the accident and emergency department because they cannot get a GP appointment.  Even though we have all called for this not to happen, we have even seen cases in which people unfortunately believed that because of these difficulties, their best bet was to ring an ambulance. Such practices do not improve the situation but they definitely put services under more pressure. Obviously, everything that can be advanced needs to be advanced in relation to community pharmacists to take that pressure off.  If we are talking about common conditions, minor illnesses and ailments, that is one thing, but when we are talking about chronic disease management and medicines management, there is definitely a greater role for community pharmacists in delivery. It is like what I said previously in relation to cardiac care, but it probably has a much wider application in this instance. We have to get into the idea of preventative healthcare. I am talking about screening, blood pressure, diabetes, cholesterol checks, and making sure we do this in a proper way. When you speak to your family and your wider circle, you become aware of people who caught things early. Regardless of whether serious medical attention was needed or it was something pretty small, it was definitely a lot less than it could have been. We have all seen the horror cases of those who did not have screening done or did not have checks done, or did not have them done in time, and had to suffer. When we are talking about anything right through from cancer care to cardiac care, we must emphasise that anything that can be done from the point of view of improving circumstances is good.  Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh spoke about the idea of waste in relation to blister packs, etc. There are many means by which this whole thing can be streamlined, but it is straightforward. This is a very good thing to do. It is vital that the community pharmacy agreement was introduced, but it is just a starting point. We are literally building the foundations. We need to ensure we empower pharmacists to the greatest degree possible to deliver for those out there. If healthcare can be taken away from hospitals and from GPs who are under pressure, and if those preventative pieces can be advanced, it will improve everything across the board for these people and for society in general. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  I thank the Minister. I welcome the development that has occurred. The collaboration between the HSE, the Department of Health and the IPU is a welcome development. The agreement that has been reached shows that providing healthcare in the community is extremely important. Progress is being made in this area. Over recent years, pharmacies have been playing a greater role in providing healthcare. It is important for that to continue to grow. What has been agreed is safe, it is equitable and it is about efficient delivery of healthcare.  There is a number of areas in the agreement about digitalisation. We are far behind in that whole area. Compared to the rest of Europe, we are behind most other EU countries in digitalisation. I keep mentioning that in other countries there is one card which allows your GP, your pharmacy or your hospital to access and see your medical records where required. When you go into the pharmacy with the card, they can access your records to see what medication you are on to make sure there will not be a problem with any new medication you are given. The other area where it is important is with regard to non-prescriptive medicine. At present, you can go to ten different pharmacists in a day and get the same drug, even if that drug is addictive. We have no system for controlling that. Digitalisation is so important in such circumstances because it means you cannot get medication from a pharmacy unless you have your own card. That controls it. It is something that we should move to.  Another issue raised in relation to this agreement is about trying to encourage people to get involved in the bowel screening programme. That is extremely important as well.  Another aspect of the common condition service, whereby a pharmacy can provide a consultation and identify the suitable medication if it is a non-prescriptive medication, is that the care is provided at a local level rather than the person having to wait for a period of time to get access to their GP. This service means that the pharmacy can provide the support the person needs.  I wish to raise with the Minister a concern that has been expressed to me in relation to blister packaging, which is very much available. My office is in Blackpool, where a large number of elderly people rely very much on blister packaging. This service, which involves items being put into a blister package for the particular day on which it is used, is only available on a once-a-week basis. I have spoken to people in a pharmacy that has over 60 customers who rely on that service. They get \u20ac4.10 for doing the packaging. It can take up to 45 minutes, which is quite a lot of time, to put the package together for each customer. I understand that under this agreement, the fee for this service is being abolished. Pharmacists are concerned because this will affect certain areas. It is fine if you are in an area where you do not have a population that relies on the level of support that these people require. I wonder if this could be looked at. The pharmacies are certainly concerned that the fee is to be phased out from January and will be restricted to a small number of medical items. I ask that this be looked at. I can come back to the Minister with further details on it if she wishes.  There is now a lot more co-operation and co-ordination of medical services, including GP, pharmacy and hospital services, than ever before. It is important that we continue to further develop that. The area of digitalisation is important because we need to make sure the people who are working in the pharmacy behind the counter can access the information they need to make sure the right medication is being provided. We need to ensure that a person cannot go to a lot of pharmacies on one day to get large quantities of non-prescriptive medicines. That is a big issue we need to deal with.  Overall, this is a welcome development from the Department, the HSE and the IPU. It will be of assistance. We have a growing population. We are training more GPs than ever before but people do not necessarily need to go to a GP for a lot of the care they require. That is why this agreement is giving support to pharmacies and the people involved, every one of whom is highly trained and highly specialised and can provide the care that is required by the person who calls to them to get advice. It is important that we, from a Government point of view, support those people who provide that service to the community and the people who live in it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  Before I start, I would like to put on the record again my concerns about the amount of D\u00e1il time that is given over to statements. Since the Government was formed, we have dealt with only two pieces of health legislation on the floor of the D\u00e1il, and only one of those was new legislation. The other Bill, the Mental Health Bill, was restored from the previous D\u00e1il. This is not good enough. We need law reform in a host of areas and I would like to see some of those progressed. In fact, only last week I published a Private Members' Bill. I would be happy to work with the Minister to use Government time to progress that legislation, if necessary. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Catherine Ardagh)  It is a matter for the committee. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  Absolutely. We talk a lot about productivity in healthcare. We also need productivity in Parliament.  Returning to the topic at hand, the community pharmacy agreement, first I want to say that I welcome the investment in community pharmacies. In recent years, we have seen a real and tangible expansion of the services on offer in community pharmacies and that should be acknowledged. The Minister and her predecessor are to be commended on their work to date in progressing the recommendations of the expert task force, which was established in 2023.  It was not too long ago that such changes were extremely difficult to get over the line. A prime example of that was the introduction of the pharmacy-provided flu vaccine over a decade ago. At that time, there was considerable pushback from the sector but thankfully it is now standard practice for community pharmacists to deliver the flu vaccine as well as Covid vaccines. In fact, community pharmacists now administer one in every three vaccines in the flu and Covid vaccine programmes.  I welcome the news that community pharmacists will begin administering the PPV23 vaccine under this agreement. However, my understanding is that this vaccine will only be provided free of charge to medical card patients over 65, unlike the flu vaccine which is free to anybody over 60. Is this the case? One dose of the PPV23 vaccine is recommended for all people aged 65 and over but uptake is low, at below 36%, according to the HSE. Prevention of pneumococcal infection through vaccination should be a priority. According to the HSE such infections are responsible for 50% of community-acquired pneumonia, with an overall mortality rate as high as 25%. It should be a no-brainer to offer this vaccine to all those over 65 and high-risk groups free of charge. The expansion of the PPV23 vaccine into pharmacies is welcome but it should not come with a means test.  Speaking of charges, I have concerns about the arrangements for common condition service, primarily the consultation fee. Just last week I asked about this by way of a parliamentary question to the Minister. In her response she said that the common condition service will be a fee-paying service with pharmacies entitled to charge a consultation fee which will not be reimbursed by the State. There are two issues here. First, there appears to be no agreed maximum rate for consultations and second, the fee will not be reimbursed by the State. I cannot understand why medical card holders, at the very least, are not covered by this new service. The common conditions service is a positive development but to realise its full potential and to maximise the potential of the entire pharmacy sector, medical card patients should have access to this new service free of charge. I accept that for eligible patients under the HSE drugs scheme, the medication dispensed will be reimbursed. However, one of the main arguments for the common conditions service was to divert medical card holders away from overstretched GPs, where possible. Why would medical card holders with a common condition go to a pharmacy at a cost when they could go to their GP for free? When the Irish Pharmacy Union first proposed this scheme, it estimated that nearly 1 million GP consultations with medical card patients could be dealt with more appropriately by pharmacists. I cannot see how this will be the case under this scheme because although it may no longer be necessary for medical card patients to go to their GP surgery with common conditions, that will still be the only place where they can do so free of charge.  Another major issue with this agreement is the ending of phased dispensing for certain groups and the limiting of eligible medicines, as reported in the Irish Examiner last week. Phased dispensing was put in place in 1996 and is now being discontinued to cut costs, seemingly. This will impact some of the must vulnerable patients who should not have been used as a bargaining chip. We are talking about patients who need help to safely manage their medication such as those with reading difficulties, mobility issues, the very elderly and those living with addiction. This cost-cutting measure risks patient safety. The Minister needs to go back to the drawing board if this is the case.  There are so many aspects of this agreement that I would like to speak about but I want to prioritise the issue of access to the free HRT scheme. It is completely unacceptable that trans women are being excluded from the scheme. There can be no excuse or justification for this decision. I and others have been raising this with the Minister for a couple of weeks now and I am disappointed with the response. Instead of accepting that the exclusion of trans women is wrong and changing course, the Minister has dug in, further disadvantaging one of the most marginalised groups in society. It really is simple. Trans women should be included in the scheme. To employ one interpretation of the scheme for trans women and another for cis women is wrong. It is particularly galling this week when we had representatives of the trans community in the Oireachtas to celebrate the tenth anniversary of Gender Recognition Act. Free HRT should mean free HRT and I urge the Minister to do the right thing and reverse that decision.  Another issue I want to speak about is free contraception. The role of pharmacists in providing free contraception could be expanded. Great progress has been made in recent years and I hope this momentum continues. The IPU has been making a compelling case for prescription-free contraceptives and pharmacies have been providing emergency contraception without prescription since 2011. There is no clinical reason for not extending this to oral contraception, as recommended by the World Health Organization. We should be making contraception more accessible, particularly for hard-to-reach groups. We should be streamlining the free contraception scheme so that patients can visit a pharmacy for oral contraception without having to go to their GP first. This new agreement was an opportunity to remove that barrier to prescription-free contraception and ease operations.  As I said, overall, great progress has been made and I hope this momentum continues. With continued political will, we can further enhance the role of community pharmacists and maximise their potential across every village, town and city. This would be in keeping with the principles underpinning Sl\u00e1intecare and the Minister will have my support in advancing these aims. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  The relationship that many of us have with our pharmacists is often a very important one. To demonstrate that, there is only a handful of people on my Christmas baking list beyond my family, but my pharmacist is right up there at the top. I really welcome that in recent years we have seen the expansion of the role that pharmacies play in communities. They can be such a hub for support for many people and communities.  In preparation for today's statements, I spoke with a local pharmacist, Ms Rebecca Goodwin from Roebuck Pharmacy, who was very helpful to me in explaining to me her feelings on this agreement. As we have heard from many Deputies today, this is a really positive step. It is a first step and is absolutely the right thing to do. We need to make sure that we have that two-way conversation between the Department and the Minister and the pharmacies themselves. I thank the Minister and the Department for the work they have done to get to this point. I also want to acknowledge the work of the IPU. Obviously, as a representative body, it has a tricky job in representing both independent pharmacists as well as the larger chain pharmacists. It has done a good job in getting us to this point.  My colleague, Deputy Rice, has outlined a lot of the details in this agreement that need to be examined further. I would echo Deputy \u00d3 Snodaigh's points around waste. I have been very frustrated by this at times. When one has medication and one's dosages go up and down, there is nothing one can do with medication that has not been used. Pharmacists are not able to take it back. It is really important that we examine the issue of waste within the pharmaceutical sector and make sure that is not happening.  In terms of the points raised by Deputy Rice, I would emphasise the access piece. Obviously, the Social Democrats are very proud of Sl\u00e1intecare and the work done on it by our co-founder, former Deputy R\u00f3is\u00edn Shortall. The ethos of making healthcare as accessible as possible is absolutely at the forefront for us and must be at the forefront in this kind of work. For too long we have had disjointed relationships across our healthcare system. Community pharmacies do really vital work in giving advice, providing vaccinations and simply keeping us all well. That work needs to be further supported and integrated into the healthcare system. We have heard details of the HRT scheme and the kinds of difficulties that arose earlier in the year when the Department attempted to roll it out. There were many issues but the work done by way of this agreement will prevent those kinds of difficulties from arising in the future.  Finally, I want to raise an issue that I have not heard mentioned today in this debate, namely the place of origin of pharmaceuticals. A number of people in my constituency have raised with me that they want to choose where their pharmaceuticals are from. In particular, there are certain products on the market that are from Israel and they would like to be in a position to refuse to take those. I appreciate that this is not simple and that some pharmaceutical products and medications cannot not be replaced with others. That said, is this agreement a place where we could potentially look at promoting Irish pharmaceutical products above those from other companies and making sure that consumers have the option of accessing the best medication to suit their medical needs while also matching their ethical concerns?  Overall, I welcome this agreement and thank the Minister for her work on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John Lahart","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"John-Lahart.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy John Lahart  First, if I may, I want to mention two constituents of mine, Thomas McHugh and Louise Heaney, at least one of whom has been taken by Israel Defense Forces, following the actions of the IDF against the flotilla.  Our minds are very much with them. Their families and a lot of constituents have been in touch with my office this afternoon. I wanted to put their names on the record and say that we will do whatever we can to support them and their families through this. This is not the appropriate debate, however. I raised it. It was also raised with the European Union Commissioner, Maro\u0161 \u0160ef\u010dovi\u010d, who was before the trade and foreign affairs committee this morning.  Moving on to the pharmacy agreement, I welcome it. Previous speakers spoke about pharmacies. Certainly, I grew up with pharmacies in my parish and area. The relationship people had with their pharmacies was often akin to the relationships they had with the local postmaster or postmistress. Indeed, in my home parish of Ballyroan, where I am originally from, Mr. Michael Shannon, who has passed away, was the local pharmacist. His son, Criofan, continues that pharmacy in Ballyroan and Templeogue. The pharmacist who turns up at family funerals is the kind of connection a lot of pharmacies have with the people who come to their shops.  On several occasions when I have called into a pharmacy with a small ailment \u2013 thankfully not too often - I know the pharmacist knows what the answer is, but he or she does not have the legal right to either prescribe or dispense. A kind of generic over-the-counter response is given instead because they cannot use those qualifications, even though they have a fair idea of what it is.  I asked a local community pharmacist in my constituency for their thoughts on the agreement. They said the new changes around service provision are excellent and that the expansion of the role of pharmacists is brilliant. It allows for increased timely access to care for easily resolved health complaints, like thrush and cold sores. It will result in a reduced burden on GP appointments, which is really important in the city, given the number of people, particularly in expanding areas in my constituency, who cannot access or become part of a GP\u2019s patient list. This pharmacist said that it actually empowers pharmacists and maximises the use of their qualifications, which is all in line with the Government, the Minister and Sl\u00e1intecare\u2019s vision for pharmacy. It makes every contact count.  With regard to some of the new initiatives like the stool screening, this pharmacist would have described that as a sub-optimal health incentive and it is great that this will see improved uptake through pharmacies. That is positive reaction from the ground.  There were pharmacists in this House from both my party and the Minister for Health\u2019s party who made points in the past two D\u00e1il terms about not using and maximising, as the pharmacists put it, the qualifications of pharmacists, which would take the strain off some of the other parts of the GP system. I commend the Minister on following through on this in a way that is going to have an impact.  Clearly, this agreement has been welcomed by the Irish Pharmacy Union. It has been in and around the Houses. I was a member of the health committee. Over the years, it may have felt like a poor relation in the health sector. This enhances its role and visibility.  I live in Dublin 16 and represent Dublin 16, 24 and 6W. While there was a time when there were late-night pharmacies out as far as Terenure, it is difficult enough now. Sometimes, people have to drive into the city. There are very few late-night pharmacies. I do not know whether this aspect is built into the agreement, but it would be nice to see. When people go to their GPs to get a prescription, it is often in the evening. The latest pharmacy locally for me opens until 8 p.m. I had to travel to Leonard\u2019s Corner Pharmacy in the Chair\u2019s constituency once or twice. There used to be late-night pharmacies, however. Will the Minister speak to the IPU about that? It has to be looked at because not everyone works a nine-to-five job and not every prescription is dispensed between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m.  This agreement represents a landmark development in our healthcare landscape. It is to be commended. The real thing that pharmacies have - and I notice it abroad - is that they are everywhere. In every little village and town where other services have been lost, the pharmacies still remain. While that is clearly in part because they prescribe medicine, they offer some other services as well. Pharmacists themselves would be interested in this.  One of the criticisms of this agreement that the same pharmacist to whom I spoke made was about the proposed fee obliteration. They see this as possibly leading to increased hospital admissions and hospitalisation. That is just some feedback from someone who is otherwise very positive on the agreement. We might get some justification and rationale as to why they think that.  To look at some of the features of the agreement, I commend the pharmacy union and all the pharmacists involved in it. I highlight the strategic collaboration that is contained in the agreement. The \u20ac75 million investment by the Government across this year and next year is significant in order to support pharmacists with those fee adjustments, develop the services they are going to offer and train pharmacists and upskill their teams.  I have mentioned the expansion of the clinical role, which is a really positive move. Community pharmacists will be able to contribute more actively to contraception services, immunisation programmes and that bowl screening initiative I spoke about. They will also help with the safe return and disposal of unused medicine. I agree with the previous speaker in that regard. All of us over the years have been given ointments, antiseptic creams or whatever from time to time for various things. They may sometimes have had an antibiotic element. Even the smallest tubes could satisfy the needs of a ten-person family for a decade with the volumes of creams contained in these. They sit in presses for years and years and there is nowhere to bring them back to safely dispose of them.  I also welcome that pharmacies will integrate with the National ePrescribing Project. Anything that joins the dots and maximises the use of data is very welcome, as is the national electronic health record. It makes a huge amount of sense. From people I dealt with in the last D\u00e1il term, I know that if we are admitted, we want to get to the point where people have a card - cards are probably out of date - or some kind of contact with a phone that lets first responders know what kind of medications they are on, who their GPs are and, if applicable, who their consultants are and what operations they have had, as well as any medical devices they are carrying. The national electronic health record forms part of that, as well as enhancing the broader digital health record.  Rather than going on at length, I welcome the agreement. The Minister is not in office for a long time and she has delivered on commitments made by the past two Governments and the work done by her predecessor. I very much welcome the work involved and look forward to availing of and promoting it among my constituents so that they can avail of these enhanced services and facilities that will be available in their pharmacies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I welcome this new community pharmacy agreement. We have a particular problem in Ireland whereby allied health professionals have not been able to operate to the top of their licence for many decades, whether that is a physiotherapist within a hospital setting or indeed a pharmacist within the community setting. While this agreement makes progress in this regard, it could go much further.  A second issue with regard to healthcare is that we have a lack of timely access to GPs in our community. It is no surprise that some of the greatest shortages are in rural communities or the most socially disadvantaged communities in urban settings. In the context of GP care becoming increasingly complex, and while we have fewer GPs per capita , there is a real need for pharmacists to be facilitated to operate to a much higher level. Although they have been trained to that level, those skills have not been utilised for a long period of time. The broadened scope of their functions now with regard to vaccination, the prescribing of contraception and the safe return of unused medicines is very much to be welcomed.  It has been a particular bugbear of mine for a number of years, having had to deal with unused medications following the passing of family members. Some pharmacists have been good enough to take medications but others have not. Because of the inconsistency, there is enormous waste and inappropriate disposal of medication, so I very much welcome the change.  We know that the uptake rate for bowel screening is below what it should be. The target is about 50%. The response to a parliamentary question last week stated it is about 46%. Nonetheless, we need to see a much greater level of bowel screening and an increase in the age range of people undergoing screening.  There is a real issue with free contraception. For most healthy women, having to return to their GP every six months is a cost they should not have to bear. The service is now going to be available from within the pharmacy in terms of clinical consultation on the prescription. That is very welcome. However, we are concerned that there is nothing in the agreement about expanding the free contraception scheme. At the moment it is for women from 17 to 35 years. We believe it should go up to 45 years. The cost of that would be only \u20ac10 million, yet it would provide crucial access to contraceptive services.  We know that some pharmacists have done an excellent job in recent years with immunisation and flu vaccination, but I welcome the commitment to pharmacists participating in a catch-up scheme. We would push strongly for the Laura Brennan HPV catch-up programme to be rolled out within community pharmacies. Unfortunately, the Government made a decision to suspend that well over 12 months ago and we very much want to see it up and running.  The downside of the agreement is that we will see a very real and tangible impact on the most vulnerable, arising from the ending of phased dispensing for reasons 1 and 4 in the agreement. I am conscious the HSE has wanted to end phased dispensing for a considerable period, as there was an abuse of it by certain pharmacy groups. The reality is that it is going to have an impact in particular on those who are being cared for at home and who are trying to live independently - people who have a carer coming to the home. Carers cannot physically dispense the medication. They can just hand over the blister pack. Those with a visual impairment are also impacted. One pharmacist told me he only started to use phased dispensing some years ago when a person with a visual impairment came to him and said they wanted their medication to come in a blister pack. Phased dispensing could facilitate that arrangement.  I do not propose to go backwards, but what we need to do is ensure that there is a new support service for vulnerable persons within the pharmacy system so that vulnerable individuals, in particular those with mental health conditions, can access their medication on either a daily or a weekly basis and are not given heaps of boxes once a month or whenever the prescription is dispensed, as that can be dangerous. If we are truly serious about trying to keep people at home and prevent greater hospitalisation, then we have to think very carefully about phased dispensing.  While it is related to phased dispensing, it was the pharmacist's own decision to use the blister pack service. What pharmacists have been doing for a number of years is using the money from phased dispensing to effectively employ somebody to put the blister pack service together for their patients, again, for the reasons I outlined, for those very vulnerable patients. Those patients are now going to be asked to pay for that very valuable service. As somebody said, it is the Jurassic Park of medical technology and yet it works in terms of allowing people to know that they are taking their medication the right way every day. It also allows families to know that their loved ones are taking their medication in the right way every day. I am concerned that some people will not sign up to pay because they cannot afford it or they will not see the benefit of paying for it. I know savings are specifically allocated within the agreement, arising from the ending of phased dispensing. My appeal to the Minister and to officials in the Department is that we would have a support service for vulnerable persons.  A related issue is the hardship scheme. My experience is that its application has been very inconsistent across areas because it is a discretionary scheme. It is for medical card patients whose item is not on the PCRS list, but it is for the network health offices to make the determination and only if they have the funds to do so. We need to change that and make sure that there is a much more consistent hardship scheme in place and that the criteria are much more apparent, which ultimately makes life easier for pharmacists, by giving them clarity, and most particularly for GPs and crucially for patients themselves, so that they will be able to avail of it. It is not good enough if somebody who is prescribed medication then finds out that they cannot get it after a pharmacist and GP have sent off the forms to see if the patient can get it, and then to have to go back to the GP to get other medication. That is a huge inefficiency that we need to do away with.  One of the final two issues I want to raise is the cost of the drugs payment scheme. The budget is coming up next week and we very much believe that in a cost-of-living crisis, the State can play a key role for those families who are relying on the drugs payment scheme and reduce their prescription costs. It needs to go lower, to \u20ac50. The reality is that if it costs \u20ac78 million, it would have a very real and tangible impact on those families who are suffering from the cost of living. Those with a disability and people who are not able to work full-time hours because of chronic conditions are most reliant on medication and if they do not qualify for a medical card, they end up forking out a lot of money every month, \u20ac80, through the drugs payment scheme, so we want to see it reduced.  The final point I want to make in the remaining minute relates to the shortage of certain medications. We understand there are currently 335 notified shortages. There is a very well-flagged shortage of the Estradot patches, the HRT medication. Ultimately, there is much frustration on the part of women. I have heard pharmacists and women describe all sorts of ingenious and creative ways they have had to come up with to try and make the medication stretch, and to find substitutes. My sense is that there is a lack of co-ordination within the Department in this regard. I know there has been a call for some time for the establishment of a chief pharmaceutical officer role in the Department. Obviously, there is no magic wand for any of these issues, but we need greater leadership to provide certainty to patients regarding product shortages. At the moment, too many women in particular are being failed because of the shortage of HRT, as well as people relying on other medication as well. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I welcome the Government's new community pharmacy agreement but, to be very clear, our independent pharmacists and communities have waited far too long for this kind of recognition. This agreement has good intentions but we in the Independent Ireland Party will not stand by and let it become another glossy plan that gathers dust while patients and pharmacists on the ground continue to struggle.  There are positives. Expanding the role of pharmacists to treat common conditions is just common sense. Allowing pharmacies to deliver more vaccinations and to support screening programmes brings care closer to the people. We welcome the increased training grants and the overdue commitment to digital prescribing and shared records. These steps will help ease the pressure on GPs and hospitals, something we have been calling for from day one.  The agreement falls short in key areas. The timelines are simply too slow. Pharmacists can prescribe for just eight conditions in 2025 and must then wait until 2027 or even 2030 for full authority. Patients do not have the time to wait. The Government boasts of fee uplifts, but what about independent rural pharmacies that are barely surviving? We saw this with the free HRT scheme. Pharmacies were left out of pocket and there was uncertainty for patients while the Department was scrambling at the last minute.  We need sustainability guaranteed. Pharmacists must at least break even on every State scheme or services will collapse. Rural GPs are closing. Out-of-hours services are stretched and hospitals are under siege. Pharmacies are often the last health service standing in a town or village. If the Government does not back them properly, it condemns rural patients to endless travel, higher costs and longer waits. I ask the Minister to build in stronger supports for rural pharmacies, which are doing an incredible job for so many communities. Do not make them an afterthought. What about medicine shortages? Families are going from pharmacy to pharmacy, desperate for essential medicines. The agreement mentions better stock visibility and substitution protocols. That is good, but these must be fast-tracked and not buried in working groups.  On accountability, there is no point in signing glossy agreements if the HSE is left unaccountable. The Independent Ireland Party has called for a watchdog with teeth, not another layer of bureaucracy. If the Minister signs off on commitments, she must personally ensure they are delivered on the ground. The Independent Ireland Party will support what is good in the agreement but we will push for faster delivery, fair funding and special protection for rural services because at the end of the day this is not about reports or strategies. It is about patients in west Cork, Limerick or Roscommon being able to walk into their local pharmacy and get the care they need.  On another health issue while I have the floor, I would like the Minister to please ensure Ava's protocol will be developed as a national policy, as recommended by the jury at Ava Barry's inquest. I wrote to the Minister about this earlier. I would appreciate her action and assistance in getting Ava's protocol up and running. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Lawless","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paul-Lawless.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Lawless  I welcome this move, which is positive. Expanding the role of healthcare professionals in our community is fundamentally important. Let us be honest: this should have been done a long time ago. Offering, for example, screening programmes is a positive move, as is offering immunisations. The integration in the ehealth system is obviously positive and will help pharmacists deliver in their communities. I wish to be clear that it is important that this be delivered upon because too often we see the Government delivering flashy documents announcing positive things but its delivery is lacking. Recently, the Government announced the HRT scheme to much fanfare, many TikTok videos and many press releases, etc., and just a few weeks later, we see significant issues with the supply of those medications. It is important that this long-overdue initiative happen.  A particular issue is the strain on our healthcare system. In Mayo University Hospital, the emergency department is experiencing peak presentations. One of the reasons and drivers behind this is the fact that GP access has gone into freefall. That is what is happening. GP availability and primary care was one the key functioning aspects in our health service. It was one aspect of the health system that was working well, but in recent years we have seen that collapse. That has pushed a significant burden onto emergency departments across the country. A total of 40% of GPs across the country are over the age of 60. This problem will present itself in the most acute way in rural areas. Expanding the role of pharmacies across the country is fundamentally important. I urge the Minister to make sure this agreement is delivered upon and does not become just a flashy document that sits in a filing cabinet like so many other Government announcements. On the topic of GPs, we need to train more of them. I ask the Minister to consider also expanding the role of pharmacists, similar to the role in Britain. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Fitzmaurice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Michael-Fitzmaurice.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Fitzmaurice  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this. I agree with the agreement. It is a step forward. Pharmacists are highly qualified people. Doctors around the country are under pressure. An awful lot of people, especially those who do not have medical cards, cannot get an appointment for weeks. If a person has a chest infection or something simple that can be diagnosed quickly, they still have to go to a doctor first, get the prescription and go to the pharmacy. We need to eliminate a lot of that where possible. I am not saying it is for everything. Doctors are needed for their job as well. A person might have a sore ear or a bit of flu. There is an awful lot of stuff that we can trust pharmacists with. We should be moving forward and doing that. It will take pressure off doctors, who are under ferocious pressure. There is a shortage of local GPs, with new patients looking for them. In many parts of Ireland at the moment, if someone wants to see a doctor, they may have to wait a week or two.  We need to do something like we did whereby people can now go to a level 2 hospital and urgent care centre rather than having to go to the likes of an accident and emergency department. If we can do the same with pharmacies for the more simplified cases rather than making people go to the doctor, that would be a great idea. It might get people seen more quickly for certain cases. It will also help doctors see more urgent cases quicker.  I support the agreement. As previous speakers said, there is no point in us announcing something or saying that an agreement will be this, that or other. We need to do it rapidly, get it going, move on and facilitate this as quickly as possible because it is a step in the right direction. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I wish to convey my most sincere thanks to the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, to the officials at the Department of Health, in the Health Service Executive, and in particular my former colleagues, as I am no longer practising, in the Irish Pharmacy Union, in particular Kathy Maher, the contractors committee and the executive, who have done sterling work over the years, which is now being recognised. This is a case of t\u00fas maith leath na hoibre. I take on board suggestions that colleagues made. I assure them that they are embedded in this agreement, and in conjunction with the soon-to-be formed strategic collaboration group, all the suggestions that have not been addressed will be through that structured format, which did not exist prior to this.  It is an excellent start, 16 years since the financial emergency measures in the public interest, FEMPI, adjustments after the 2009 contract. There is massive potential here. This is a case of community pharmacy moving forward in conjunction with the medical profession. That is across the board. It is not one or the other; this is a collaborative effort. This will ease pressure on general practitioners and accident and emergency departments. It is all about getting the right medicine to the right person at the right time. Community pharmacists are medicine experts. There is a medicine optimisation process with a commensurate fund. Members have expressed a fear of phasing, and that phasing may be scaled out. That is not at all the case. Under the medicine optimisation process, for patients at high risk or medicines that have the potential for misuse, phasing will be continuing but it will be limited to a defined set of medications.  If issues develop where patients are considered to be unsafe or where their care has to be reviewed, that will be possible to review under the strategic collaboration group. There are a huge number of opportunities, such as medicine usage reviews, and the issue of waste was addressed. On medicine usage reviews, I carried out a pilot with Dr. Martin Henman from Trinity College Dublin, TCD, 30 years ago. It was a paper-based effort but it was fantastic. We would sit down every three to six months with patients and review their medicines, including even things they had at home.  It was called a brown bag and it was on an ad hoc basis. Again, there is potential to bring this forward and have that as an actual process. The disposal of unwanted medicines properly has a beneficial cost impact, but also a positive environmental impact relating to water quality and human health in general. It is something I called for at county council level in the past. I am delighted to see it coming forward. On chronic disease management, a Sl\u00e1intecare initiative, many of my colleagues in County Meath were involved in a Healthy Meath chronic disease management programme, which produced fantastic results. There were calls for cardiovascular screening and other initiatives. The sky is the limit, starting from this agreement, assessing patients' needs and factoring that into future projects. On the management of common diseases, this will be a game changer in reducing delays in access to general practice and accident and emergency departments. That is to be welcomed.  There is one query that I have which is relevant to medicines availability and also future services, reviewing and analysis the early stages of this agreement. It is the issue of the chief pharmaceutical officer. What is the timeline for the appointment of a CPO to the Department of Health? Are there any plans to appoint a chief pharmaceutical officer to the Health Service Executive? These personnel will be key to the collaboration and co-operation piece under the strategic plan. I am no longer practising but having practised for 35 years it is in my heart. The impact in communities, the accessibility with on average 54 hours a week without an appointment must be maximised, and the profession is willing and able. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)  I welcome our guests from America in the Visitors Gallery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)  They must have been over for the Steelers game.  To answer Deputy Toole's question at the outset, the chief pharmaceutical officer commitment will be fulfilled. I do not have a timeline on that but it is absolutely a commitment that we will follow through and fulfil.  I would like to thank the Deputies for their contributions today, especially those who spoke in support of community pharmacists and the work they do in delivering a more accessible and integrated health service in Ireland. The community pharmacy agreement marks a significant milestone in the strategic collaboration between the Department of Health, the HSE, and the IPU. It sets out a comprehensive and ongoing pathway to modernise and expand the role of community pharmacy in Ireland\u2019s healthcare system. The agreement will support the delivery of safe, equitable, and efficient healthcare, and ensure that community pharmacists are better equipped to contribute to national health priorities through engagement, sustainable funding, and integrated service delivery.  The agreement will be implemented on a phased basis and will be supported by ongoing, regular structured engagements between the Department, HSE and the IPU. Under the agreement a strategic collaboration group will be established which will provide a structured forum for dialogue and joint consideration of strategic issues shaping the future of community pharmacy in Ireland. The agreement is comprehensive and extensive, covering a wider variety of key issues in community pharmacy. Key achievements of the agreement which the Minister for Health outlined earlier include expanded services. Community pharmacies will play a greater role in the management of common conditions, immunisation, bowel screening, and the safe return and disposal of unused medicines. There is a fee for this for all patients, but of course medical card holders can still go to their GP for free, as they do today. The introduction of this scheme means that anyone can go the pharmacy instead, for a fee. Anticipating that many private patients might go to a pharmacist instead, it may make more appointments possible at the GP, enabling a quicker free appointment for medical card holders. This agreement makes it cheaper for some but increases access for all for a prescription for a common condition. On digital integration, pharmacies will actively support national eHealth reforms, including the national e-prescription service and national electronic health record. There will be new funding, and \u20ac25 million in 2025 and \u20ac50 million in 2026 will support fee adjustments, service development, and training. On strategic collaboration, a new collaborative framework will be established to support the shaping and implementation of community pharmacy\u2019s role in a more integrated, efficient, and patient-centred health system.  The agreement also introduces new fees and allowances for participating pharmacies, supports training and development of pharmacy teams, and a programme of work aimed at reducing the community pharmacy administrative burden. Fundamentally, this is a forward-looking agreement that will make it easier for people to access care in their communities. It reflects our shared commitment to innovation, public health, and sustainable investment. It will further support community pharmacies in diversifying their health service offerings, business models and revenue streams.  On phased dispensing, there is one important element of the agreement, changes being made to the rule set around phased dispensing, which I would like to outline to the House. This agreement does not remove phased dispensing. Phased dispensing was introduced in 1996 for patient safety reasons. The supply of medication in instalments can support patients prescribed certain high-risk medications who are at risk of medication misadventure if these medications were to be supplied on a monthly basis, as is the norm under the community drug schemes. Where a phased dispensing claim is submitted, the current requirement is that an item must be dispensed across multiple supply occasions. Community pharmacies receive additional payments in respect of phased dispensing.  Monitored dosing systems are systems that enable the individual medicine doses to be organised according to the prescribed dose schedule. These are sometimes referred to as blister packs. The State has never agreed to fund monitored dosing systems. However, a practice has built up whereby the use of monitored dosing systems is charged as if for phased dispensing. The State has never agreed to this. Phased claiming was never intended to be used to submit claims in lieu of the provision of monitored dosing systems. While monitored dosing systems may have a role for some patients there is significant uncertainty around the robustness of the evidence supporting their use. The National Centre for Pharmacoeconomics carried out an evidence assessment which indicated that the evidence was, at best, equivocal to support such a programme. Significant expenditure is therefore being incurred where it was never intended by the State. It has been agreed to introduce improved controls in this regard and to limit the use of phased dispensing to specified high-risk drugs, where a patient safety concern may exist.  Phased dispensing support is currently available under the GMS medical card scheme for the following reasons: reason 1 - at the request of a patient's physician; reason 2 - due to the inherent nature of a medicinal product, that is, product stability and shelf life; reason 3 - where a patient is commencing new drug therapy with a view to establishing patient tolerance and acceptability before continuing on a full treatment regime; and reason 4 - in exceptional circumstances where the patient is incapable of safely and effectively managing the medication regimen. Under the community pharmacy agreement, from January 2026, phased dispensing under reasons 1 and 4 will be limited to a defined set of high-risk medication classes. These are psychotropics; opioids; codeine; and pregabalin and gabapentin. The approved list of medications will be provided by the HSE in due course. For reason codes 1 and 4, by focusing phased dispensing reimbursement on the medication categories on the approved list, phased dispensing payments can be targeted to medications with the highest risk or potential for misuse. Phased dispensing fees will remain payable as per current arrangements under reason codes 2 and 3 and will not be subject to the approved list. The HSE estimates that this will free up over \u20ac20 million in funding within community pharmacy. This funding will be primarily redirected towards valued added services.  The salient point here is that appropriate phased dispensing is not being removed in this agreement. The current funding of blister packs when claimed as phased dispensing, which the State has never supported, will be suspended. This is being done in a way which puts patient safety first and allows the State to repurpose \u20ac20 million of funding to be used to implement new patient-centred services. It remains open to pharmacies to charge patients for the use of monitored dosing systems as a private service.  In the context of the overall agreement and settlement package, the State has also secured key commitments from community pharmacy in relation to reform, modernisation and the digital agenda.  The agreement will provide the basis for community pharmacy and IPU co-operation with the full ehealth agenda, including national eprescribing programme, shared care record, HSE app, electronic health recording, etc. As these programmes advance and roll out, the co-operation of community pharmacies will be crucial to the success. The Department will also progress a number of regulatory reforms over the coming months to improve efficiency and free up capacity in community pharmacy. The Department, the HSE and the Irish Pharmacy Union are committed to a process of ongoing structured engagement to support the future development of community pharmacy. The continuation of a high-level, enduring, strategic relationship is designed to support the shaping and implementation of the role of pharmacies in a more integrated, efficient and patient-centred health system.  It is recognised that ongoing collaborations, some already under way, on key operational-related matters will also continue. Furthermore, it is recognised that, from time to time and as required, specific programmes of work will be established with their own governance arrangements as appropriate. This multiyear pathway will focus on specific measurable deliverables that ensure service sustainability, expand patient care and enable community pharmacists to practice to their full scope. This landmark agreement sets a pathway forward for a strategic approach to shaping the future of community pharmacy in Ireland, all with the intent of improving healthcare service delivery and patient outcomes. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Community Pharmacy Agreement: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Cathaoirleach Gn\u00edomhach (Deputy Keira Keogh)  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Mark Wall - To discuss the provision of an hourly train service for Athy.  Deputy Paula Butterly - To discuss the rule preventing widows, widowers and surviving civil partners from receiving illness benefit.  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss ongoing human rights abuses against the Uyghurs.  Deputy David Cullinane - To discuss the development of a youth mental health centre for the south-east.  Deputy Eoghan Kenny - To discuss the roll-out and funding of DEIS plus.  Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan - To discuss the need for an increase in funding for the LauraLynn children's hospice.  Deputy Michael Cahill - To discuss the national planning framework and the sustainable rural housing guidelines.  The matters raised by Deputies Kenny, Butterly, Cahill, Wall and O'Sullivan have been selected for discussion "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Educational Disadvantage","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I thank the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, for being here and I also acknowledge the communication from the Minister, Deputy McEntee, on my Topical Issue. I wish to raise the roll-out of DEIS plus, which is a significant development in education across this country. It is something of keen focus for the Labour Party. I know the Government has announced, following the general election this year, that DEIS plus would be rolled out across many schools in the country but my firm belief is that we still do not have a timeline or a budget for this.  Last week, I had the great privilege to meet three school principals. One of these, Mr. Kieran Golden, was my former boss in Mayfield Community School. I was absolutely honoured to teach in Mayfield Community School with such fantastic students and colleagues. The school is a DEIS school. The school principals outlined to us the significant challenges they face. The job of a school principal now has significantly changed over many years. Their job, particularly in a DEIS school where you are dealing with serious, different needs as opposed to just academic needs, is quite significant. I will take Mayfield Community School as one example. The deputy principal in the school is a fantastic woman. She is not a full-time deputy principal. She is on 0.75 hours of a deputy principal's role. That is extremely difficult to comprehend because the level of need in the school is quite significant.  Today, the Labour Party launched its alternative budget for 2026 and the party is fully committed to investing in the roll-out of DEIS plus across band 1 schools in this country. It is quite a significant step to take because we must ensure there are absolutely no barriers for any child in this country to accessing the appropriate school that is needed for that child, be it in primary or post-primary. We must also ensure that they have the relevant special educational needs teachers, SNAs and absolutely any other special educational teacher they need to progress in their academic life. Alongside this, we need to promote in all post-primary schools across this country the opportunity to progress in academic life or the opportunity to progress into apprenticeships. We did not have that across the island for many years. As a former secondary school teacher, I can attest that we need to see far more of it. I spent a lot of my time while I was teaching trying to encourage all students, particularly those in fifth and sixth year of the schools I taught in, to progress after they finished school into whatever career they wanted. The rolling out of DEIS plus would be a serious advantage to giving these children the opportunity to progress in life after they finished school. It is extremely important that we acknowledge the fantastic role that SNAs, special educational teachers, guidance counsellors, mainstream teachers, school principals and deputy principals play in our education system. I also want to acknowledge the fantastic students we have in this country. A lot of the time for many years we focused particularly on how good the child was academically. However, right now, we also have significant focus on what other brilliant achievements other children have, be it in academia, sport, arts or whatever it may be. I ask the Government now to produce a timeline and a budget for the rolling out of DEIS plus to benefit not just schools but most importantly students in this country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)  I thank the Deputy for speaking on this issue with such passion. He has a lot of knowledge in this area. He has seen the benefits that DEIS has provided with those extra supports in terms of schools where there are a variety of challenges. There are disadvantages areas and students from all different backgrounds. I have also seen first-hand in my own constituency the benefits those extra DEIS supports can bring. This is why, in the previous Government, we committed to the roll-out of DEIS plus to increase those supports and increase the number of students who would benefit from them. Fair play to the Deputy; he has quite accurately highlighted the benefits of it and also the incredible work that teachers, SNAs, principals and staff do right across the board.  The Department spends over \u20ac180 million annually, providing additional supports to almost 1,200 schools in the DEIS programme and reaching approximately 250,000 children. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, is committed to narrowing the performance gap between DEIS and non-DEIS schools and introducing innovative solutions to address disadvantage. Recent research, including the OECD Review of Resourcing Schools to Address Educational Disadvantage in Ireland have highlighted the role of the DEIS programme in providing an education system that consistently outperforms many other OECD countries but also exhibits relative socioeconomic fairness, making it one of the stronger performers globally. This research has also highlighted, however, important differences in outcomes persist for students who experience very high levels of deprivation.  That is why the Government is committed to providing a DEIS plus scheme to support schools with the highest levels of disadvantage. To meet this commitment, the DEIS plus scheme will provide additional support to schools with the highest levels of educational disadvantage and seek to improve education outcomes for children and young people in these schools. The scheme will provide very targeted supports to those who most need it, to tackle the impact of intergenerational disadvantage and to empower them to achieve their potential through education.  Work to develop the scheme is well advanced and the Minister is engaging with Cabinet colleagues to secure the necessary funding for the scheme through the budgetary process. A DEIS plus design advisory group worked with the Department officials to develop the proposal for the scheme. The needs of the children and young people drove the development work. The group includes school principals, home school community liaison officers, and school completion programme co-ordinators. These are professionals who work directly with children experiencing high intergenerational disadvantage. The Department has also engaged directly with children and young people to inform this work. The focus is on shaping a DEIS plus scheme that will support schools with the highest concentrations of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage to meet the needs of the children.  The Department is also actively engaging with other Departments and agencies, education partners, and stakeholders across the education sector to develop the DEIS plus scheme and aims to integrate and build on existing whole-of-government supports. The culmination of all this work will see the achievement of the programme for Government commitment to deliver a new DEIS plus scheme, to provide targeted support for schools with the highest levels of educational disadvantage, and improve outcomes for children and young people.  As Deputy Kenny can see from this response, a whole lot of work and effort has already gone into designing DEIS plus. It is well advanced and there has been significant stakeholder engagement. The Deputy asked specifically when it can be rolled out. We do not have an answer to that right now but, in fairness, by the Deputy highlighting it and highlighting the importance of it this does accelerate and put the spotlight on the need to roll out DEIS plus as quickly as possible. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I appreciate the response by the Minister of State. It is extremely important that we continue to highlight the significant issues faced by children across this country and the barriers before them in education. Today the Labour Party launched our Alternative Budget 2026. A significant part of this relates to disadvantage in our school communities and in education. In our alternative budget we want to begin the phasing in of all DEIS plus with identified clusters, which would cost \u20ac3 million. We want to expand the City Connects programme to all DEIS band 1 schools, beginning with schools in DEIS plus clusters. The first year costs would be \u20ac7.2 million. We want to cut the DEIS schools class size ratio to 15:1. The phased first year costs would be \u20ac5.5 million. We want an additional 100% increase in capitation for DEIS schools. The first year cost to cover increased energy and operational costs would be \u20ac18.2 million. We want to extend the summer school meals pilot to all DEIS schools, which would be \u20ac3.2 million. We want a 10% increase in school completion programme funding, which would be \u20ac3.7 million. We want to appoint 20 additional home school community liaison positions, which would be \u20ac1.7 million. We have a significant costed plan in the Labour Party to introduce DEIS plus. That is the energy and dedication we need from this Government now to tackle disadvantaged children in this country.  I am absolutely fully aware of and appreciate the work that has been done by the Government on this, but with the announcement having been so long ago, we must make sure of this next week. I am hoping for this for the Department of Education and Youth and that when the Ministers, Deputies Donohoe and Chambers stand here next Tuesday, they will give us a clear outline as to what budget will be given towards the advancement of DEIS plus in this country. I appreciate the Minister of State's response. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  I reiterate that the Government is committed to tackling child poverty and it sees education as a key enabler to achieve that. The development of the DEIS plus scheme will be a further positive step in this commitment to lifting more children out of poverty to give them the futures they deserve. Since its introduction the DEIS programme has tackled the impact of poverty through supporting the improved attendance and progression of children and young people experiencing poverty. It has also improved education attainment levels, which create greater opportunities for employment and enhanced career pathways. The development of the new DEIS plus scheme will be a key part of a new DEIS plan, which will be published this year. The new DEIS plan will set the long-term direction on supporting children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage and on empowering them to achieve their potential. The plan will focus on improving the opportunities and achievement levels of children and young people at risk of educational disadvantage in all schools. It will also look to develop more innovative approaches to tackling educational disadvantage and to work towards a more flexible system of supports to ensure that a school can receive the right support at the right time.  The DEIS plan will be published this year. I completely appreciate the efforts of the Labour Party in publishing a costed budget with a focus on education, on trying to remove those gaps within education, and on the supports for disadvantage areas while also continuing a lot of the supports that were introduced by the previous Government, including the hot meals scheme. I appreciate that.  It is really important we are having this discussion. We are all behind the establishment of DEIS plus and the expansion of those DEIS services. As the Deputy and the Minister have said, education is the key tool in addressing any of those socioeconomic issues that we have. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Educational Disadvantage"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Social Welfare Eligibility","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  I wish to discuss the rule that excludes widows and widowers from receiving illness benefit solely because they are in receipt of a widower's pension, notwithstanding the fact that they have returned to work and are paying all of their PRSI contributions. The Minister of State will be aware that illness benefit is a contribution-based process. If somebody has returned to work and has made their PRSI payments, and then through unfortunate circumstances has to leave work because of an illness, I do not see any reason they should not be entitled to an illness benefit.  There is nothing like a cold, hard case to drive home a point so let me underline a case in my constituency. There was a young woman who at the age of 30 lost her husband through tragic circumstances. After a period of having to deal with everything that is involved in those circumstances and having to tend to her children's needs, she went back to work. Unfortunately, after a number of months the same woman fell ill herself and had to take time off work to take care of herself. Because she was in receipt of a widow's pension, she was not entitled to illness benefit. I find this grossly unfair and it is a gap that we need to resolve. If it is not traumatic enough that a family has to go through the death of a partner and in the event that the surviving partner falls ill , which while it might be uncommon, is not rare, that partner is now putting their own family circumstances into fierce financial hardship. This woman in particular, having done everything right and despite all the odds, goes back to work tries to provide for her family is left in circumstances where she is clearly falling below the poverty line, yet is not entitled to anything. Surely in a system that is fair and proportionate we can revise that rule and ensure that when this happens we as a Government are there for people in these circumstances. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  I thank the Deputy for addressing this. She has certainly outlined a hardship case. It is hard to disagree with her description of it as a gap in the system that needs to be addressed. I will just outline the current situation and then perhaps from there we can bring this back to the Minister for Social Protection to ensure he is aware of anomalies.  I will first provide an overview of the supports available to widows, widowers, surviving civil partners and qualified cohabitants, and the Illness benefit scheme. The widow\u2019s, widower\u2019s, and surviving civil partner\u2019s pension was renamed as the bereaved partner\u2019s pension on 21 July 2025, the date of enactment of the Social Welfare (Bereaved Partner\u2019s Pension and Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025. This Act extends eligibility to a qualified cohabitant of the deceased person. The bereaved partner\u2019s pension is a weekly payment to those who have lost their spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant and are covered by social insurance.  To qualify for this pension, either the person claiming or their late spouse, civil partner or qualified cohabitant must have a certain number of PRSI contributions and they must not be in a cohabiting relationship. As of August 2025, there were approximately 127,400 people on the scheme. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately \u20ac1.9 billion.  The bereaved partner\u2019s non-contributory pension is a means-tested payment payable to a person who does not qualify for the contributory version of the scheme. As of August 2025, there were approximately 1,000 people on the scheme. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately \u20ac12 million.  The bereaved parent grant is a once-off payment designed to assist with the income support needs of a bereaved partner with dependent children immediately following the death of his or her spouse or partner. The current rate of payment is \u20ac8,000.  Illness benefit is the primary short-term income support provided by the Department of Social Protection to those who are unable to work due to illness of any type and who are covered by social insurance. Eligibility for illness benefit depends on the person\u2019s PRSI record and class. As of August 2025, approximately 52,600 people were in receipt of illness benefit. The estimated expenditure for 2025 is approximately \u20ac700 million.  With regard to persons in receipt of the bereaved partner's pension being also able to access iIIness benefit, there is a general principle of one person, one payment, which applies across the social welfare system. Given the contingency-based nature of this system, it can happen that a person may experience more than one contingency at the same time but, generally, they can receive only one payment. This principle is common to social security systems across the world. Therefore, in general, illness benefit is not payable concurrently with these pensions. However, if a person is getting a reduced rate of the bereaved partner's pension, they may also get a reduced rate of illness benefit so that the combined amount of both payments reaches the maximum rate of illness benefit to which they would otherwise be entitled.  The supplementary welfare allowance is a means-tested payment for persons struggling financially and can be accessed by customers through their local Intreo office. An exceptional needs payment may also be available to help meet essential, once-off expenditure a person could not reasonably be expected to meet from their weekly income.  There is also statutory sick leave for persons in employment. Workers have an entitlement to five statutory sick pay days in a year. Under the scheme, sick pay may be paid by an employer at 70% of a person\u2019s normal pay, up to a maximum of \u20ac110 a day.  The Department of Social Protection will continue to keep its range of supports under review to ensure that they meet their overall objectives. I guess that is the chink of light Deputy Butterly might take from that. The Department will keep its schemes under review. As the Deputy can see, there is a principle of one payment per person, a principle that has long existed. In fairness, the Deputy has highlighted a situation very few would find themselves in. I would imagine it would not be a significant or massive cost to the Exchequer to expand it for those types of situations, especially considering the hardship someone like the Deputy's constituent has been through. I will certainly bring that feedback to the Minister for Social Protection. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paula Butterly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Paula-Butterly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paula Butterly  I thank the Minister of State. In fact, I welcome the widening of the eligibility in regard to who does and does not qualify for a widow's pension. That, in itself, was an anomaly that was highlighted through a campaign in the press due to that widower. Let us reflect for a moment on the fact that, as the Minister of State said, if somebody is in receipt of a reduced widow's pension, they may also be entitled to a reduced illness benefit so that the combined sum reaches the maximum rate of illness benefit they would otherwise be entitled to. That, in itself, is not sufficient. It does not address the fact that due to tragic circumstances, be it illness or whatever, a household often goes from earning two incomes to earning only one. Very often in those circumstances, even though the widow's or widower's pension is welcome, it does not sufficiently fill the gap that was not there when there were two household incomes. We need to fill that gap because if we are giving half of one and half of the other, we are still back to square one. I see no reason why, if somebody is back at work making their PRSI contributions, they are not entitled to the illness benefit. I am delighted to hear that the Minister, Deputy Calleary, will look into this and review it. I firmly hope he will address and resolve it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  As I referred to in my opening statement, the social system operates on the general principle of one person, one payment. This approach is a standard feature of social security systems throughout the world. It means that, generally, the bereaved partner's pension cannot be received at the same time as illness benefit. I know it is probably no comfort, but my earlier contribution also referred to the option of the supplementary welfare allowance. If an individual is struggling to make mortgage repayments or if the cost of rent or other household goods exceeds income, there is that option, but I get the point. That is very much a last resort, which we should be trying to avoid in all cases, and there should be some safety net in place.  I emphasise that I fully recognise the challenges that widows, widowers, surviving civil partners and qualified cohabitants, especially those with children, face. As I have said, and this is the important point we need to take away from this discussion, the Department of Social Protection will continue to keep its range of supports under review. Any changes to the current system would need to be considered in an overall policy and budgetary context, taking account of the social insurance contribution rates and the overall sustainability of the Social Insurance Fund.  That being said, I outlined in the earlier statement the overall costs of a lot of these schemes, with the bigger scheme costing about \u20ac1.9 billion. I am not the Minister but I will certainly bring this feedback to the Minister, Deputy Calleary. However, on amendments like this, where we are trying to cater for someone who is very vulnerable or has experienced extreme loss, I do not believe the cost and significance would be detrimental to the overall State coffers. That, again, is a message I will bring back to the Minister and, as the Deputy said, a lot of these schemes are always under review. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Social Welfare Eligibility"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Rail Network","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State for coming into the Chamber this evening and the Ceann Comhairle for selecting this very important topic. I want to talk about services in my home town of Athy in Kildare South. The population of Athy, in the recent census, was over 11,000 people. That is a growth of 82% since the 2002 census. Every morning, almost 50% of the working population of the town leaves it to avail of work elsewhere. That is a figure that grows year on year as more and more families make the town their home.  We have a wonderful train station. Considerable work has been done by Irish Rail on the train station, particularly around access, over the last number of months and that will benefit a lot of people. The problem we have in the town is that the 12 services that are there each morning are full, and a lot of people are finding it more and more difficult to avail of train times and get a seat on the trains that are there. In Kildare town, which is just a bit further up the track and has a couple of hundred fewer people than the town of Athy, there are 38 services per day versus the 12 that operate from Athy.  I have raised this with the Minister, who has sent that request on to Irish Rail, which has come back to me. In its reply, it said Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann aspires to increase the frequency of intercity services across the network over the coming years, including the Waterford-Dublin Heuston route, which includes the town of Athy. It went on to say that as the new DART+ fleet enters service in the greater Dublin area in 2027, this will free up intercity and commuter carriages for use elsewhere on the network, and that including any necessary infrastructure works, the precise order of the introduction of extra services will be subject to demand and the approval of the NTA.  Since I received that letter, we have launched a petition in Athy. As I speak to the Minister of State this evening, there are almost 4,000 signatures on that petition. It is 3,867, to be precise. They are from people who live in Athy and the greater Athy area and use the train service day in, day out but have problems with it. They are confined to hours they can work in Dublin, Newbridge, Naas and other places where they may get work. That is causing a serious problem for the social infrastructure of the town. There are also a lot of students who, unfortunately, cannot get accommodation in the colleges in Dublin and are still living at home in Athy. They are also suffering because of the times and restrictions in times that are on the line at the moment, so much so that a lot of them, myself included, will get a phone call late at night asking them to go to Kildare or Portlaoise train stations to collect somebody who has either missed a train or had to stay late for whatever reason, be that work or study.  I am asking the Minister for Transport to support the call by the people of Athy to include that train service, and by extension Carlow town, in additional services. What we really need is an hourly service from the town, because it is a growing town. Over 11,000 people live in the town at the moment. We need additional services. We need to ensure that a person can get a seat on the train but also that it does not discriminate against work or study for those who have chosen Athy, the great town that it is, as their place to live in. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  I thank Deputy Wall for raising this issue. I have taken a couple of Topical Issue matters from him and Athy seems to feature fairly prominently. Fair play. He is representing the place well. It is interesting that he is providing a bit of a taxi service for anybody who misses a train. That is the right thing to do. Fair play to him.  Funding and policymaking for public transport is down to the Minister of State, Deputy Se\u00e1n Canney, but as the Deputy knows, the day-to-day operation is for the NTA, in conjunction with Irish Rail and so on. I reassure the Deputy that, as outlined in the programme for Government, Securing Ireland's Future, the Government is strongly committed to enhancing transportation networks and infrastructure development, and public transport plays a key role in the delivery of this goal. To support this objective, under budget 2025, the Department of Transport secured over \u20ac658 million of funding for public service obligation and TFI Local Link services, an increase from over \u20ac613 million in 2024.  This package included funding for the continuation of the various fare initiatives, such as the young adult card and the 90-minute fare until the end of 2025. Funding has also been provided to extend free child fares on public service obligation, PSO, services to include those aged five to eight years old and to support the roll-out of new and enhanced bus and rail services under programmes such as BusConnects and Connecting Ireland. As is the case with all such measures, all funding matters are being considered as part of the ongoing budget 2026 discussions.  In relation to the Dublin to Waterford line, Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann has informed the Department of Transport that all services on this line stop at Athy Station. I understand that there are ten weekday services daily serving Athy, Waterford and Heuston, with additional services on Fridays and Saturdays. Athy has a typically reduced Sunday offering of five services on the Waterford-Heuston line.  In 2024, 154,449 passengers boarded the train at Athy station and 117,067 alighted, for a total of 271,516 trips to or from Athy last year. larnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann is working towards a strategy for enhancement of services on InterCity routes in the short to medium term. However, it must be noted that these enhancements will be subject to agreement and funding by the NTA, as well as the completion of other projects in order to release rolling stock to realise these service enhancements. To meet growing demand, larnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann is deploying all available fleet during peak times. In 2024, 41 additional InterCity railcar carriages were introduced, boosting capacity on key routes, including Sligo, Galway, Westport and Belfast.  As part of DART+, two fleet orders have been placed, for 185 carriages, largely battery electric with some electric units. The first order for the purchase of 95 additional DART carriages, comprising 65 battery electric carriages and 30 electric carriages, has started arriving and is undergoing certification and safety tasting. It is intended that the new battery electric sets will be initially deployed on the northern commuter line, serving Dublin from Drogheda, which does not necessarily help Deputy Wall's situation. The point is that efforts are being made to expand services. The Minister of State, Deputy Canney, is making every effort to increase available funding. Every time that a Deputy comes in here and looks for extra public transport services, that has to be taken seriously and delivering that should be encouraged as much as possible.  It is incredible to see the demand for train services. I am noticing lately that there is more and more demand for even the big intercounty train services. We need to accommodate that. It should be a given that public transport is available. There should be situations where people have to get into their own car to pick people up. I know that Deputy Canney will take this request seriously. He is not involved in the day-to-day running but I know that he can certainly relay messages to the NTA. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State for his comprehensive reply. I thank the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, too. It is good news that the DART+ fleets are being rolled out, albeit on the Drogheda line, because that will free up carriages on the Drogheda line, which is what we want. We are first up, best dressed in Athy looking for those additional carriages that come as part of the new DART+ carriages that the Government has already welcomed and that will be part of the northern commuter line, serving Dublin to Drogheda. That is the part that I want to highlight with the Minister of State and, by extension, the Minister of State, Deputy Canney. Once those carriages are put on the Drogheda line, it will free up the additional carriages. The people of Athy, through their petition and their public representatives, are asking that those carriages that were on the Dublin to Drogheda line would come and provide additional services on the Athy and, by extension, as I said, Carlow line.  The figures speak for themselves when you see that 271,000 people used the train station in Athy in 2024. That number is only growing. Thankfully, a number of new housing estates are being built in Athy and in various villages and towns in the locality. The Athy train station services an area extending into County Laois so a large cohort of people use that station each morning. There is adequate car parking and so on for an expansion at the station.  It is positive news that the new carriages are on the way for DART+. That is what the reply from the Minister of State, Deputy Canney, and Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann actually said. It was that once those were in place, it would free up the other carriages. I am making a plea to both Ministers of State that the people of Athy are seeking those freed-up carriages to be put on the Waterford to Heuston line, because when that number of people are using public transport, it is always good and we should encourage more people to use public transport and save those car journeys late at night for those people who cannot get a train home to the town of Athy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  That is a point well made. Athy is obviously a growing town. It is an important commuter town, not just for people to work and commute but also for people to study and commute, so it is important that we facilitate that, take cars off the road and provide as much public transport as possible. The investment in the extra carriages, as outlined, on the Drogheda line will free up carriages. Deputy Wall has made the case well that much of that should be put on the Waterford to Heuston line, thereby enabling greater capacity for Athy. He is right that the numbers speak for themselves. An impressive number of journeys are taken on that line, in that area. We have to support that. If we are serious about reducing emissions and about climate action, wherever possible and where we have demand we need to facilitate this type of journey. I appreciate the Deputy bringing it up. If there is positivity to be taken from the response, it is that Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann is working towards a strategy of enhancement of services on InterCity routes in the short to medium term, but this will all be dependent on funding. I know that Deputy Canney is fighting hard for extra funding for public transport. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Rail Network"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospice Services","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  We are moving to health now. I think the Minister of State, Deputy O'Sullivan, has covered education and transport this evening and I am not sure what else. Fair play to him. I want to talk about the LauraLynn Foundation. I recently met the chief executive and head of communications in advance of the budget. To give the Minister of State a bit of background, the LauraLynn Foundation was established after the loss of two sisters, Laura and Lynn McKenna, to illnesses in 1999 and 2001. This tragedy inspired their parents, Jane and Brendan McKenna, to found the LauraLynn Hospice, Ireland's first dedicated children's palliative care unit. They had witnessed at first hand the need for specialised home-like support and, of course, palliative care. The work that this hospice does is phenomenal.  When I met the CEO, she acknowledged the recent changes in the programme for Government, where there is a commitment to deliver a new national policy for palliative care for children and to increase funding for children's hospice care. The hospice is asking for these programme for Government commitments to be prioritised urgently in the upcoming budget. Time is precious for these children and their families, as the Minister of State knows. To ensure children have timely access to hospice care, the LauraLynn Foundation urgently needs that funding. Statutory funding has not kept pace with the growth in demand for the service and it will run a deficit of \u20ac1.9 million in 2025, rising to \u20ac2 million in 2026.  I will give the Minister of State an idea of the demand that the hospice experiences. In 2021, 203 children were receiving palliative care in the hospice.  For 2026 that is predicted to rise to 440. The number of families receiving bereavement care was 119 in 2021. That will more or less double by 2026 to 230. The number of community visits the hospice conducts has risen from 380 in 2021 to a predicted 4,500 in 2026.  There are estimates that 2,000 children in this country require palliative care. As I have just demonstrated, the hospice is providing care for approximately 440. There is clearly an unmet need here. The work it does is phenomenal and needs to be supported by the HSE and the Department of Health in the coming budget. To keep pace with demand, the foundation continues to actively fundraise. I again refer to its pre-budget submission. The amount it fundraised in 2021 was \u20ac3.2 million. By 2026 it estimates it has to fundraise \u20ac5.7 million. The service this group is providing is clearly increasing. It has increased by 180% since its inception. The demand is clearly there. I understand we are not going to negotiate the budget tonight on the floor of the D\u00e1il. However, I would like the Deputy to take a message back to the Department of Health and the Minister, that of all the budgetary asks she is going to have, this is one of the most worthy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  I thank the Deputy for raising this issue. I know the LauraLynn foundation is something he has always advocated for and fought for. I agree with him 100%. The merit and support provided by organisations and foundations like the LauraLynn children's hospice represent unbelievable value for money. The service they provide is incredible. I liken it to Cancer Connect or ARC house, which are organisations we should really be supporting financially.  Children\u2019s palliative care is provided through a shared care approach involving GPs, paediatricians, community specialist palliative care teams, clinical nurse co-ordinators and the Children\u2019s Health Ireland specialist palliative care team. All these teams work collaboratively in caring for the child and their family. A key enabler of this model of care is the remote support provided by the consultants in paediatric palliative medicine at Children\u2019s Health Ireland at Crumlin and Temple Street. The voluntary sector, including organisations such as LauraLynn children\u2019s hospice and the Jack and Jill Foundation, provides essential support to the statutory services with additional in-home nursing and respite supports for families. LauraLynn also provides inpatient hospice care at its eight-bed facility in Leopardstown, south County Dublin, along with a bereavement service.  In 2024, 340 children were supported at home by clinical nurse co-ordinators for children with life-limiting conditions each month. Some 78 children received specialist palliative care in Children\u2019s Health Ireland at Crumlin and Temple Street each month and 49 children were admitted each month to LauraLynn children\u2019s hospice. LauraLynn receives core funding from the Health Service Executive under a section 39 service agreement. Recurring core statutory funding for LauraLynn children\u2019s hospice was allocated for the first time in budget 2021. In 2022, an additional \u20ac800,000 was provided in once-off funding. In 2023, \u20ac800,000 was provided in additional recurrent funding to LauraLynn, increasing its base funding to \u20ac2.3 million per year. In 2025, State funding increased further to \u20ac3.3 million, representing over 30% of LauraLynn\u2019s total operating costs. This funding has been used to provide a sustainable financial base to the organisation. It has increased LauraLynn's hospice in the home service across Leinster, Munster and Connacht. LauraLynn\u2019s pre-budget submission request is to be funded to the tune of \u20ac5.3 million, or 50% of its total operational costs, in 2026. This request will be considered as part of the overall budgetary and Estimates process.  LauraLynn plays a significant role in the overall delivery of children\u2019s palliative care services nationally. The Department of Health, HSE, and LauraLynn children\u2019s hospice have all worked together to develop children\u2019s palliative care services in accordance with the national children\u2019s palliative care policy. The Department of Health and the HSE are both project sponsors of work currently under way in Trinity College Dublin on enhancing children\u2019s palliative care in Ireland. The Department of Health is also commissioning an evaluation of the 2009 national policy on children\u2019s palliative care. The evaluation will review and assess the implementation of the 2019 children\u2019s palliative care policy and identify the areas of progress along with any gaps which may need to be considered in future policy development. Findings from both these studies will inform evidence-based policy decisions in the development of the national children\u2019s palliative care policy and assist with national service planning.  The Deputy has highlighted what the LauraLynn hospice does. It is an incredible foundation and organisation. It provides a service that can never be replaced, certainly on behalf of the State, to families and children right across Ireland. If there is positivity to be taken from that response, it is that the Deputy has seen how the spending profile has gone year on year. It has increased significantly year on year as per that response. The submission LauraLynn has made this year is being taken seriously and is being considered. I would be pushing with the Minister for Health that it would get all it is asking for, with the hope it would get a significant increase in funding again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I thank the Minister of State for acknowledging the great work the hospice does. I should have led by saying I remember that a few years ago, I heavily lobbied the then Minister for public expenditure - I think it was Michael McGrath at the time - about Marymount hospice, which does phenomenal work in Cork. It is now fully funded in the area of staff. An arrangement was done with section 38 and section 39 workers. It is now fully funded as an adult hospice. Going forward, the care delivered by the LauraLynn foundation deserves the same treatment that the Marymount hospice received a number of years ago when that agreement was made. I reiterate that generally, when it comes to illnesses in children, they tend to be rare diseases and conditions. They appear to be more complex. There are effects on siblings and the family, and life must go on while all of this is happening. They must continue to attend school and do the normal day-to-day things we all take for granted. The care they provide is in many ways more acute than other comparatives. I reiterate my call for the funding. It is one of the genuine asks that will be made. I also mention the children's palliative care policy, which the Minister of State referenced in his response. The only thing that gives me concern is that they are on about reviewing the 2009 children's palliative care document. The programme for Government commits to a new care policy, and not a review of an old one. I hope that will be reflected in the Minister's work ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan  We will get clarity on whether it will be a review or a brand-new policy. The Deputy mentioned some good examples. He has been an advocate for all of the organisations he mentioned. We know he has been championing the highlighting of rare diseases, especially among children, over this term and the previous term. I refer again to Cancer Connect. A number of years ago it received no funding from the State, and now it does. He mentioned Marymount, which is now completely funded by the State. All of these are going in the right direction. The current funding for LauraLynn is \u20ac3.3 million. The ask is \u20ac5.3 million. It is a significant increase, but the amazing comfort, care and attention it gives to families and children who find themselves in these situations is extraordinary. Therefore, any ask should be taken seriously, and the Deputy has put the case well today. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar fionra\u00ed ar 4.19 p.m. agus cuireadh t\u00fas leis ar\u00eds ar 4.24 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Sitting suspended at 4.19 p.m. and resumed at 4.24 p.m. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospice Services"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-02\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateType":"debate","bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/75","event":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/75\/dail\/2","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"}},"showAs":"Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":5},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I move: \"That the Bill be now read a Second Time.\"  I am delighted to move this Bill. I will start by thanking Deputy Cian O'Callaghan and his parliamentary assistant, Jack Sweeney, and my own parliamentary assistant, Ellen O'Doherty, for their work on this Bill. It is a privilege to bring this Bill before the House on Second Stage; it is my first Bill before the D\u00e1il. It is very apt that it is the Developer Profits Transparency Bill.  The issue that is to hand and why we are bringing forward this Bill is that house prices are completely out of control. We have seen house prices rise year after year. We have seen a double-digit increase in prices whereby house prices are now completely out of reach for most ordinary people in this country. What we are proposing in the Bill is something very straightforward. It is that developers and private builders who are building homes and receive a State subsidy, specifically in relation to the shared equity scheme, are required to publish profit and loss accounts. It is a very straightforward request, and a very straightforward piece of legislation. It is a very common-sense Bill because the State is giving significant funding to private builders, private developers and private investors, and when the State is using public money - taxpayers' money - we need to ensure there is absolute value for money achieved with that investment.  The context of this, of course, is that we have a huge debate ongoing about the viability of the delivery of housing and whether it is viable to build housing in this country for the private market and the private sector. We have seen the argument made by the various construction interests, developer interests and investor interests that there is this very significant viability gap. Figures have been put on it of between \u20ac100,000, \u20ac150,000 and \u20ac200,000 depending on how high the apartment development is going to go. However, if we are really honest here, there is no actual clarity about what the viability gap is because we have not seen the evidence even from those who are putting forward the claims. We have seen estimates depending on certain projects, but we have seen no real independent analysis of what this viability gap is. We can deconstruct the argument around viability even further when we question what viability means. If we are honest again, what viability means is profitability because the question that the developers in the private sector are asking is this: are they making sufficient profit to deliver housing? Then, we have to peel that back further and ask why we are making policy that uses public money essentially to increase the profits of the private market. This is the fundamental question. We are not necessarily achieving value for money, and we are certainly not achieving genuinely affordable housing.  What we are trying to do with this Bill is bring transparency. We are trying to bring transparency to the housing market, particularly where the State is playing a significant role in that market by subsidising development, contributing to the ability of people to buy a home and providing funds to developers who are building homes. While the Bill is restricted to the shared equity scheme, we are bringing it forward in the hope that this is extended further in time. Wherever public subsidies are going to the private sector, there should be transparency.  In this Bill, we are not arguing against private development or, in this instance, the role of State subsidies to the private sector. While we are opposed to that in principle, in this case, we are putting forward a very straightforward Bill that provides for transparency in the amount of profit private developers are making, where they are receiving a State subsidy in the shared equity scheme and that contribution is being made to the viability of their development.  The Government has said it is all in favour of transparency, for example, in the grocery sector and food. When it comes to the economy generally, or the cost-of-living crisis, the Government has supported the arguments around transparency and the need for it. Our simple question is: why do we not then have transparency in relation to the State contributing to and subsidising the building of homes by the private sector? It seems a very reasonable, common-sense request in the legislation that is being put forward.  The reason we think it is very important is the evidence shows that in the limited amount of information we get from developers, for example, the public accounts of the two large developers Cairn and Glenveagh, shows they are making hundreds of millions of profit every year. Hundreds of millions of profit is being made. If just two companies are making that much, how much is being made across this country in house sales? We know significant amounts of money must be added to the cost of housing by profit being taken out. Surely, we should know how much that is to make an assessment and to discuss as a society whether it is right that people trying to buy a home are being squeezed more and more, are being told the State has to put in more money and that people have to pay more money because it is not viable to build a home. In actual fact, what is happening is an increase. That money is going to increasing profits to shareholders, including those of the two companies I named, some of which are international. These profits are going to international wealth funds. The money the State is putting in to build homes is being channelled into international funds and not necessarily to delivering affordable housing. There is a real, fundamental problem in this approach to housing and its delivery.  The other reason we need transparency is there is an issue around what Dr. Lorcan Sirr again set out in The Irish Times today, which is regulatory capture and who is making our housing policy. It appears that developers and investor funds, and their lobbyists, are making our housing policy. They are the ones who are being listened to. I tried to dig into this. I put in a freedom of information request specifically relating to IRES REIT, the Irish real estate investment trust, which is now one of Ireland's biggest corporate landlords, on, for example, how many times it had met officials, or members of the Department of housing or the Government. The lobbying register states that this year, IRES REIT met an adviser in the Department of housing. Yet, the freedom of information request states there are no records of any such meeting. I would like the Minister, and his representative here today, to answer that question. How on the one hand is IRES REIT putting on the lobbying register that it is meeting advisers from the Department of housing and when I requested that under freedom of information, it comes back and states there are no records of any such meeting? It does not make sense to me because there are lots of records on the lobbying register of IRES REIT meeting officials. There are lots of records on the lobbying register of Pat Farrell, on behalf of Irish Institutional Property, meeting various Government Ministers and the Taoiseach. Why are we hiding? Why is the level of lobbying that is going on being hidden by this Government? That is why we need transparency.  People have a right to know who is making our housing policy and who is influencing it. That is the whole point. We are supposed to be moving away from a politics that was driven by developers. We know that corruption, which went back to Charlie Haughey and Bertie Ahern, resulted in crashing the economy. Now, we are seeing that lobbying and influence being hidden. What has happened is we see the changes to apartment sizes, the increase in rents, a tax break for developers, potentially, and huge amounts of public money being funnelled into the private market to investors and developer funds - for what? This is what we need to know. Is it going to more and more profits? I believe it is. Why are house prices so high? They are high because of the profit gouging going on within the private market.  This comes back to the fundamental problem in our approach to housing, which is we do not deliver it as a public good and a human right. The State outsourced it and handed it over to the private market, hence we are completely dependent on the private market to tell us what it costs to build a home. The State has not got a clue how much it is being overcharged and how much it is costing. We have this constant debate about a viability gap that is in actual fact a profitability claim and demand by developers and investor funds, which have us over a barrel and are essentially bankrolling the State and the public because we do not have our own State capacity to deliver housing. That is what we should have. At a minimum, we should have transparency. We should know how much profit is being made by State funding of private market homes. That will help us understand more how much of house prices are profits and how much are genuinely rising costs overall.  There is a fundamental problem and the Minister of State knows this. The housing market is completely out of whack. It is going to drive us into another crash. It is not sustainable. Who can afford these house prices? There is also what is being built in terms of rental. The Government will funnel more money into investor funds and allow them increase rents to market rents, so they build more build-to-rent property, but we do not need more build-to-rents. We need affordable homes that people can buy. That is what public money should be used for. We need transparency around that and the amount of lobbying and regulatory capture is going on. That is why we have brought this Bill forward. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)  The Government will oppose this Bill, but I welcome the opportunity to speak about the role of Government measures to support access to affordable housing and assist those aspiring to buy their own home. We continue to deliver the first affordable homes in a generation and are supporting increasing supply in this area. Quarter 1 of 2025 has seen the continued strong performance of the various affordable housing pathways, with affordable delivery increasing by over 49% over levels achieved in the same quarter of 2024.  This Bill proposes to put additional financial reporting requirements in place for contractors who receive funds from the first home scheme by amending section 41 of the Affordable Housing Act 2021. The description of the Bill refers to property developers who are in receipt of State subsidies, while the proposed amendment to the legislation refers specifically to the first home scheme. It remains unclear whether the intention is to apply the reporting requirements to developers who sell new homes to home buyers availing of the first home scheme, or to the wider array of State supports, but I think Deputy Hearne clarified that it would start with the first home scheme and the intention is to broaden it to the wider affordable housing scope.  Either way, the Government strongly opposes the Bill for several reasons. First, the Bill seems to misunderstand the nature of the first home scheme. The first home scheme is a commercial and independent designated activity company. Section 41 provides the statutory basis for the Minister for housing to contribute funds to this special purpose vehicle for the purpose of operating and administering the equity scheme. The scheme aims to bridge the gap for first-time buyers and other eligible households between their deposit and mortgage and the price of a new home. It does so by providing an equity share payment directly to the eligible household to support their purchase of a home in exchange for a percentage ownership in the property. This equity share can then be purchased by the household based on their preferences for buying back the equity share over time. The first home scheme holds a stake in the home until the home buyer buys it back or the home is sold.  The value of the payment is up to 30% of the value of the new home or 20% if used in conjunction with help to buy. There are maximum price ceilings of between \u20ac350,000 and \u20ac500,000, depending on the dwelling type and location, with the aim of targeting the support at the most suitable dwellings. The first home scheme is also available for self-builds and for tenant-in-situ properties where the tenant has received a notice of termination because the landlord is putting the property on the market. The equity payment is paid directly to the home buyer to pool with their deposit, their mortgage, and the use of the help to buy scheme, if applicable, to pay the seller of the new home. The scheme does not make a direct payment to the developer but rather supports the home buyer in the purchase of the house on the private market.  Seeking to track developers who sell new homes to home buyers availing of the first home scheme, and mandating these developers to publish annual financial information in order to be allowed to sell homes to users of the scheme, makes no sense. In addition, this could disincentivise developers from selling homes to users of the first home scheme to avoid triggering onerous additional reporting requirements. The Government is in the business of promoting the use of the first home scheme to support the delivery of affordable housing - not putting in place new barriers to its use.  Second, the proposed Bill would be extremely complex to legislate for and implement. The Bill refers to a \"contractor\" which is not currently a specific legal entity. A contractor could be a sole trader, a small private company or a large public company. While these specific types of entities are defined in legislation for purposes such as tax, financial reporting and so on, there is no such definition for a contractor. Creating such a legal definition would be extremely challenging and difficult to implement.  Third, there is already adequate provision under company law regarding the financial information that companies are required to disclose on an annual basis. While some \"contractors\" may not be legally classified as companies which are obliged to provide financial information, there is a good reason these onerous financial reporting requirements have not been applied to other smaller enterprises in our economy. So far, I have referred to the application of the Bill to the first home scheme, to which the proposed amendment would apply in practice.  Government also opposes the principle of mandating new financial reporting requirements for developers who are drawing on an array of Government supports aiming to stimulate the supply of housing. We remain fully committed to the successful implementation of the suite of housing measures and reforms set out in the programme for Government and under Housing for All. The forthcoming national housing plan will reaffirm and strengthen this commitment.  Many developers producing housing at scale are likely companies registered under the Companies Act 2014. Such companies are already obliged to submit annual financial data to the Companies Registration Office, and Deputy Hearne alluded to that. These financial statements are publicly available through the Companies Registration Office open data platform free of charge. As with the first home scheme, creating barriers to the private sector\u2019s engagement with Government schemes which aim to increase the supply of affordable homes or increase the viability of apartments for sale would be detrimental to the supply of new housing and to the interests of those seeking to purchase or rent it.  Homeownership is very clearly positioned in Housing for All as being at the heart of Government\u2019s housing policy. That plan included a comprehensive suite of measures which are both legislatively underpinned and fully funded, to better support first-time buyers to purchase homes on the private market more affordably, two of which are the help to buy and the first home scheme. Use of the first home scheme has been growing steadily after the initial bedding in period. Under this scheme, more than 7,600 buyers have been approved, and nearly 3,700 homes have been bought to the end of quarter 2 of 2025. In May of this year, Government approved an additional \u20ac30 million State commitment to the scheme, extending it to June 2027, bringing the total State commitment to the scheme to \u20ac370 million, matched 50:50 by the participating banks. The total commitment across all participants is, as such, \u20ac740 million. There is a programme for Government commitment to work with the participating banks to extend the scheme to 2030. The scheme will be key in supporting the ambitious delivery target of an average of 15,000 starter home supports per year over the next five years.  The help to buy scheme has seen more than 58,800 claims approved since the scheme began in 2017. The scheme refunds income tax and deposit interest retention tax paid by first-time new house purchasers with up to \u20ac30,000 payable to support the accumulation of a deposit and the purchase of a new home. Local authorities are delivering affordable homes with funding of \u20ac560 million from the affordable housing fund to support the delivery of more than 6,200 affordable purchase and cost rental homes by 22 local authorities. The affordable purchase scheme is based on an equity share model, similar to the first home scheme. The local authority held stake can be brought back at any point over a 40 year period after purchase or redeemed on sale if the property is sold.  The impact of these supports on first-time buyers can be observed in the data. More than 122,800 first-time buyer mortgages have been drawn down in the five years to end quarter 2 of 2025. Some 6,488 first-time buyer mortgages were drawn down in quarter 2 of 2025, up 3% year-on-year, while rolling 12-month drawdowns for first-time buyers increased almost 6% year-on-year to almost 26,900.  Our programme for Government commitment to deliver an average of 15,000 starter homes per year will be reflected in the upcoming national housing plan and will further drive the availability of affordable housing options for first-time buyers. The cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe cities scheme supports the building of apartments for sale to owner-occupiers. It aims to bridge the current viability gap between the cost of building apartments and the market sale price in Dublin, Cork, Limerick, Galway and Waterford. It allows for a subsidy of up to \u20ac120,000 per apartment or \u20ac144,000 in certain cases in regional cities where lower market prices results in a larger viability gap. These subsidies render the development viable and the subsidy is then passed on to the purchaser in the form of fair market price for the apartment. With apartments already being delivered with the support of the scheme, and more apartments approved for support in construction, the Minister, Deputy Browne, issued a new call for applications in June of this year. The Government has committed to continuing the scheme to support the construction of apartments for owner-occupiers.  We have made a lot of progress in the past five years with the delivery of some 140,000 new homes since July 2020. Government is acutely aware of the need to build on this progress and act urgently to create the conditions to more than double this output to 300,000 over the next five years. We have been clear that, while the State will continue to direct unprecedented levels of public resources at housing, it is also essential that the right environment is created for greater levels of private investment to flow to support the step change in housing supply which this country needs. The environment for the private sector to invest in and efficiently deliver new housing is complex. It requires certainty, stability and predictability. It involves the supply of zoned serviced land, an efficient planning system, the timely delivery of infrastructure, the availability of adequate development funding at a reasonable price, the cost of construction and the adoption of the most efficient technologies and practices, and the additional charges levied by the State on the activity. Improving the environment for the development of new houses has benefits for both the delivery of public and private housing in terms of costs, efficiency and output. For the private sector to deliver, it needs to have a viable product where dwellings can be delivered at a cost in line with what people can afford with the expectation of a reasonable profit for the developer. Over time, an improved environment and healthy competition should result in improved affordability in the private market for renters and owner-occupiers.  There is substantial activity already under way aiming to improve the environment for housing delivery. The revised national housing plan set out the increase in zoned land necessary to support the increased housing targets. The ongoing implementation of the Planning and Development Act 2024 will ensure delays currently constraining supply will be reduced and more timely decisions on planning applications. The housing activation office will bring a critical focus to the provision of enabling infrastructure while the national development plan has provided significant additional funding for infrastructure investment to unlock more housing supply. The recently announced changes to apartment guidelines will help to reduce the delivery cost for apartments, which are a strategically critical component for the private rental sector.  The rental sector reforms announced earlier this year are envisaged to stimulate investment as well as extending protections for renters. The upcoming national housing plan will present the renewed environment for housing delivery which the Government is putting in place, including additional supports to complement the ones I have mentioned today. This will be the environment in which all stakeholders will then work towards delivering the step change in housing supply which the country needs over the next period. I therefore urge colleagues from across the House to oppose this Bill. It makes no sense in the context of promoting the use of the first home scheme by first-time buyers and other eligible households to support them in the purchase of a home. Creating barriers to the private sector\u2019s engagement with such schemes would be detrimental to the supply of new housing and to the interests of those seeking to purchase or rent it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I call Deputy Rice, I welcome our visitors in the Visitors Gallery. I give a special welcome to Mrs. Hearne, mother of Deputy Rory Hearne, and his three beautiful children Aisling, Keelan and Erin. They are most welcome to see their daddy introduce legislation. Well done and I wish everybody a good afternoon. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Rice","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-Rice.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Rice  I, too, welcome the visitors in the Gallery. I congratulate my colleague Deputy Ahern on introducing his first of legislation in the House. It is a significant achievement and great to see.  As we all know, housing is the biggest challenge facing the country. We need to consider all measures possible to address this challenge. Part of that involves increased transparency and accountability, better data and more information. That is what we are try to achieve here. I am disappointed but not surprised that the Government is opposing this legislation and an increase in transparency. It has never had an interest in greater transparency in this area.  I have to dispute some of the arguments put forward. The Minister of State stated that it is legally challenging. Maybe he should engage with the Attorney General's office. I am sure some of the lawyers who work for the Department could overcome the challenges - if the Minister of State thinks they exist - and draft legislation  On the broader issues relating to housing, none of the Department's housing schemes are working. There are affordable houses in Cork city that cost \u20ac400,000. On what planet is a house costing \u20ac400,000 deemed to be affordable by the State? The Minister needs to reconsider the position. We need greater transparency in the costs around housing and around the profits made by developers. Tat is what we are trying to achieve here.  Sometimes when I hear Government representatives talk about housing, I wonder whether they have the same type of constituents that I have. Do they get the same emails that I get? We have record levels of homelessness, people in desperate situations and house prices and rents are soaring, When measures are put forward to improve things, those in government oppose them and present matters in a way to make it look as if things are going great. The narrative from the Government needs to change. It needs to be more reflective of what is happening for citizens and reflect the desperate situations people are in. The Government would do well to engage with the Opposition on our proposals and suggestions on how we can progress matters because that is the only way we will get to solutions.  Two weeks ago, the Minister for Justice, Deputy Jim O'Callaghan, stated that if the Social Democrats bring forward legislation, the Government would give it serious consideration and would engage with it. I would like to see a mentality of actually engaging on legislation, of us trying to progress it together and of trying to put forward solutions, because what happens every time we bring something forward at present is that it is shot down by the Government. It opposes everything across the board. Whether it is a motion or a Bill, the Government opposes it and does not try to work with us to bring forward real solutions for people and improve things.  As I stated earlier today, there is real lack of Government legislation. We have statements after statements but no legislation. More Government time could be devoted to bringing forward legislation and to progressing some of Bills of this nature that are put forward. I published a Bill last week. I would like to work with the Government to get it over the line. We need to work together on solutions for the people of Ireland. As stated at the outset, housing is the biggest issue facing the country. We need to put forward solutions. Greater transparency is part of that.  I again commend my colleague on bringing forward this legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I very much welcome the Bill and thank our colleagues in the Social Democrats for bringing forward an interesting approach to ensuring transparency. It is an understatement to say it is a real pity that the Government is opposing the Bill.  The reality is that the State is handing over billions of euro every year to developers in this State in respect of Part V housing, affordable purchase houses, cost rental and acquisitions. However, yet we have no clear oversight as to whom we are engaging with or, indeed, an ability to understand the astronomical figures that are charged to the State by developers for these desperately needed homes.  I would like to see this Bill form part of a wider framework of ensuring a commitment to decent working standards and a lack of gouging on the part of those who deal with the State in terms of procurement and how it spends it money. We do not have good transparency in certain sectors of the State. That is the reality. For many years, my party has talked about the problem of unlimited liability. The Company Law Review Group looked at this matter many years ago. People are selling goods and services to the State but we have no idea of who really we are dealing with or their profit margins. We also do not have a level playing field when it comes to negotiating on cost because we cannot see what kind of money those to whom I refer are making. That needs to change.  With regards to housing specifically, I mentioned the various ways in which the State has to deal with developers week in, week out. I see it in my constituency of Dublin Central. I welcome that it seems as if the housing units at O'Devaney Gardens may all be social, affordable or cost rental but, of course, the State is paying an absolute fortune for that. Part of the cost in this regard is passed on in terms of the prices those who will be going through the affordable purchase scheme will pay.  On Part V, the city councils are routinely paying well in excess of \u20ac500,000 of houses. In one instance, \u20ac717,000 was paid by Dublin City Council for a two-bedroom unit under Part V. There is a fundamental problem in that the State effectively has no choice in desperate circumstances but to hand over the money. At a time when we talk so much about efficiency and value for money in respect of the public finances and of trying to battle waste, there is a large amount of waste in the context of what the State is spending. We are caught in a bind whereby we have to hand this money over in order to provide homes and put a roof over people's heads. That comes at a king's ransom to the State.  The other key part is that progress on the development of parts of our city has been hugely held up as a result of land hoarding by developers over the past decade. That is partly because of a collapse in international finance coming in to developers in this country; it is also partly because of greed and the massive return on investment for doing no work in the context of purchasing a site, sitting on it and being able to sell it on at a later date. When we look at the significant number of planning permissions in Dublin and across the country that have not been commenced, we can see that there is a real issue. In the first quarter of this year in the Dublin City Council area, of the 25,905 units for which planning permission had been obtained, work on 14,701 had not been commenced. The Planning and Development Act gives developers the opportunity to get their act together and extend planning permissions for up to three additional years provided an environmental impact assessment is not required. The reality is, however, that sufficient force has not been used by the Government to deal with those who are hoarding land in our city and forcing prices up. The Government's mantra has been that if there is more supply, prices are going to go down. Yet, we on these benches all know that is not the case because of the way that supply is drip fed into the market, because of the way in which units are developed and because of the lack of transparency in developers' dealings with a State that is desperate to try to provide more housing.  The other key issue here is that the cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe scheme has failed. When you look at the Government plan to try to develop units to date, what has been an effective handout to developers via cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe has not worked. Only one fifth of what was promised in 2022 has been delivered. There has to be a rethink about how housing is delivered. Of course, those of us on these benches are clear that we need a State-led approach to housing as opposed to being in the thrall of developers and having developer-led housing. The Land Development Agency has been underutilised. We have approximately 33 acres across Dublin Central on which, potentially, approximately 4,500 homes could be built. However, we are seeing very little progress in that space. It needs political will, and we are not seeing that from Government. When the Minister of State's party leader responds to us in respect of housing, we hear little from him with regard to how the how the Land Development Agency and local authorities are being pushed to progress work on sites.  This is a very welcome Bill. It is obviously just one of the many actions required to ensure that the State is much more informed when it comes to engaging with developers. We are very clear that developers are part of the landscape of how housing is developed in this country. However, it needs to be to a much lesser extent and it a much more even and balanced way. Right now, the State is effectively being forced to hand over money for units in circumstances where it has very little insight into or oversight of the true cost involved in developing those units. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  As there are no other speakers indicating, I call on the Minister of State to make his summation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Christopher O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Christopher-O'Sullivan.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Housing, Local Government and Heritage (Deputy Christopher O'Sullivan)  I also welcome Deputy Hearne's family to the Public Gallery, although I am not sure if they are still up there. I had a sense that he was a lot more measured in his approach today. He was a lot more tempered. Usually, he does not hold back and gives it both barrels. He is clearly on his best behaviour, although I had better not speak too soon. I appreciate that this is his first time introducing legislation in the House. It is an important day for him in that regard. I welcome everyone who is in the Gallery.  I thank all Members for their contributions. Housing is a cross-sectoral societal challenge that has a real impact on people's lives. Solving this challenge is one of the Government's top priorities. Within that, we are placing a special emphasis on supporting home ownership and affordability for those seeking to buy or rent homes. As I outlined earlier, the Government has put several measures in place to support access to affordable housing and assist those aspiring to buy their own homes. On the ownership side, much of what is happening involves providing financial support directly to prospective home buyers through a payment or by means of the State taking an equity stake in the property that can be redeemed by the buyer in the future. This support can be coupled with a home buyer's deposit and mortgage to enable them to achieve the price of their new home. On the rental side, these measures are about addressing the viability challenges of producing developments which can provide cost rental accommodation and rents below the market value. In the programme for Government, we committed to embedding cost rental as a permanent fixture in the housing system.  Putting in place barriers to the private sector engaging in these schemes would be totally counter to the goal of these supports, which is to increase the supply of affordable housing for sale or rent. In any event, a company registered under the Companies Act 2014 is obliged to submit an annual return and financial statement to the Companies Registration Office, CRO. These financial statements are available through the CRO's open data portal free of charge. Most developers of scale are likely to fall under the Act's definition of a company. The Government's longer term ambition is to create an environment for housing supply where greater affordability arises naturally from a greater supply of housing and greater efficiency in the development of that housing.  I will now address some of the comments of Deputies during the course of the debate. In response to Deputy Rice, we see the exact same challenges in Cork South-West. We understand the difficulties with affordability and access to housing. We are not turning a blind eye to those issues. We are completely aware of them, which is why we are trying to deliver at scale.  Deputy Sherlock seems to think that it is only those on the Opposition benches who believe that the State should lead on the supply of housing, but that is absolutely not the case. The Government is by far the biggest investor in the delivery of housing in this State, with up to \u20ac7 billion spent.  The Bill misinterprets the purpose of the first home scheme. We must remember that this is a support that goes directly to the buyer. It goes to the buyer in order to facilitate the purchase of a home; it does not go directly to the developer. In this House, we constantly hear about barriers to delivery in housing. One of those barriers is red tape. Members talk about the onerous red tape that all sectors are required to deal with and we are constantly called on to reduce that red tape. Another level of onerous accounting or reporting would disincentivise the uptake and use of the first home scheme which we absolutely do not want to see. As already stated, there is a requirement for larger developers to publish their accounts with the Companies Registration Office. As a result, the transparency that is being called for is already there.  Deputy Hearne suggested that we could simply consult with the Attorney General about contractors. First, it is not defined as an entity. Then we have to think about the ramifications. There are contractors involved right across everything to do with the delivery of housing. Does what is being suggested refer to subcontractors such as, for example, those who bring plant onto a site or carpenters? Where does it end? I could see a situation where the introduction of a requirement for additional onerous paperwork would completely stall the delivery of housing at scale. For all of those reasons, the Government will be opposing this legislation. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  I am not sure if the Minister of State was baiting me in order to try to get me to go further, but I will try to remain on my best behaviour. Seriously, though, I am very disappointed with the Government's opposition to the Bill. What is particularly disappointing is the lack of serious engagement on the legislation. As my colleague outlined, we have put forward solutions. While the Government might not completely agree with the Bill, the core idea and proposal it contains is that there would be transparency in the housing market where the State is intervening and subsidising directly using taxpayers' money. That is a very reasonable proposal, which is why it is deeply disappointing to see the immediate opposition to the legislation.  The Minister of State said that the Government opposes the principle of mandating new financial reporting requirements for developers who are drawing on an array of State supports. Why is the Government opposing that principle? The Minister of State set out different reasons but they do not really stand up. Why would it be significant red tape for developers and investors who are receiving State supports, regardless of whether the money is going to the home purchase or themselves, and benefiting from them? Why is would there be an issue as to transparency around their accounts? The Government opposing such a minor request for transparency is deeply disappointing.  When we look at the scale of the housing crisis, one of the big issues is the profits that are being extracted and the scale at which they are being extracted. It is the latter that is contributing to higher house prices. Why should we not at least have transparency around it? Why does transparency have to be a barrier? It does not have to be a barrier. Surely it is reasonable to request that developers and investors who are making tens if not hundreds of millions of euro in profits provide open-book accounts. In fact, one developer has said that he is willing to provide such accounts. What is the problem here? What is the issue? What is the Government afraid of? What is wrong with requiring private sector developers to provide open-book accounts when they are in receipt of State subsidies? It seems a very reasonable request.  The Minister of State said that home ownership is positioned at the heart of the Housing for All policy, but what is the reality? A total of 3,300 new houses were built in Dublin city last year but only 155 were bought by households. In Cork, the situation is similar. Last year, nine out of the 313 new apartments that were built in Cork city were sold to households. Of 856 new houses built under the various schemes, just 44 were bought by households. Investor funds and the State are buying up a lot, if not the majority, of the new homes being built in our cities. There is a fundamental problem with or dysfunction in our housing market in the context of how it is operating and the role of the State within it. If we are going to solve this crisis, surely we need to know what is going on. It was my understanding that a commitment to transparency was something that Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael were behind. Unfortunately, it seems that is not the case.  I want to draw attention to one of the schemes that was mentioned. The aim behind cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe city scheme is to activate the 80,000 planning permissions that have not proceeded to construction. To date, there have been 11 developments under the scheme and 1,100 apartments approved. This low take-up really calls into question the viability-gap narrative, particularly in light of what is available under the scheme.  Developers can get \u20ac120,000 per apartment or \u20ac144,000 in certain cases. The developer gets \u20ac120,000 or \u20ac144,000 per apartment with no requirement for affordability. Rather, there is just this statement of a fair market price, whatever that means. We know there are no fair market prices in the housing market at the moment. There are real questions here that are not being answered by the Government. If the cro\u00ed c\u00f3naithe scheme is not working, which it is clearly not, then why are we pumping more money into it? Why are we talking about tax breaks? Why should there not be, at a minimum, accountability and transparency over how much money our developers and investors are making when the State is giving them \u20ac120,000 per apartment? It seems to me a very reasonable request.  The Government\u2019s housing plan, with these demand-side subsidies for developers being implemented, is utterly failing to get to grips with the housing crisis, which is now a social catastrophe. The cases we hear that come to both mine and my colleagues\u2019 office, as well as to the Minister of State\u2019s office, are absolutely heartbreaking. We are absolutely failing to give our young people in this country a future in Ireland. Many of those who would be involved in building homes, teaching our children and working in our hospitals are leaving the country. It is absolutely unacceptable and we do not accept it.  There is still a lack of ambition and correct policies within the Government to solve this crisis. We have put forward solutions. The Social Democrats' homes for Ireland State savings scheme would provide additional funding for both builders and the private sector by leveraging the billions of euro that are in savings accounts and channelling them into an affordable housing fund. In our alternative budget, we set out a State construction company that would directly hire the builders and all the trades we need to build homes. We would set up modular factories around the country to accelerate the delivery of homes. These are ideas and solutions we could implement to add capacity.  In the context of active land management, we could use the Land Development Agency to compulsory purchase. All this land the Government is going to zone will be flipped and speculated upon. Why do we not do what the Netherlands does? The state buys that land, develops and masterplans it, puts in the infrastructure and then allows builders to come in and contract. It would radically reduce the cost and prices of housing.  These are radical ideas we need to actually solve the housing crisis and build affordable housing, which is still missing in the housing plan. The Government talks about 15,000 starter homes as being its key affordable housing measure. What is a starter home? Surely, we should be looking for genuinely affordable housing. This is why we need transparency. It is deeply disappointing that the Government is opposing this Bill, but we will continue to push this and other solutions to get transparency and affordable housing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Gabhaim bu\u00edochas leis an Teachta Hearne. Cuirim cr\u00edoch leis an d\u00edosp\u00f3ireacht. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until the weekly division time on Wednesday, 8 October 2025. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 5.14 p.m. go dt\u00ed 1 p.m. D\u00e9 M\u00e1irt, an 7 Deireadh F\u00f3mhair 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 5.14 p.m. until 1 p.m. on Tuesday, 7 October 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Developer Profits Transparency Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members]"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-10-02"},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-10-01","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-01-08T03:03:19+00:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","debateType":"topical","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","debateType":"topical","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_4","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","debateType":"debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_5","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","debateType":"debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_6","showAs":"Youth Services","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","debateType":"debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_7","showAs":"Vacant Properties","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","debateType":"debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Hospital Waiting Lists","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","debateType":"debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Abolition of Carer's Allowance Means Test: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":40,"speakerCount":34},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","debateType":"motion","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":27,"speakerCount":7},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","debateType":"questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_11","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","debateType":"questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":47,"speakerCount":21},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","debateType":"questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_13","showAs":"Situation in Gaza: Statements","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":59,"speakerCount":49},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","debateType":"statement","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_14","showAs":"Investment in Sport and Sporting Infrastructure: Statements","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":43,"speakerCount":40},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","debateType":"statement","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Convention on the Protection of the Underwater Cultural Heritage: Motion","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","debateType":"motion","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/25\/dail\/2","showAs":"Industrial Relations (Boycott of Joint Labour Committees) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/25"},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Industrial Relations (Boycott of Joint Labour Committees) Bill 2025: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","debateType":"debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}},{"debateSection":{"speakers":[],"bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Insurance Costs: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","debateType":"motion","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}}}],"counts":{"divisionCount":2,"contributorCount":161,"billCount":2,"questionCount":0,"debateSectionCount":16},"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"writtens_pdf":null},"house":{"committeeCode":"","chamberType":"house","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseNo":"34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il"},"debateType":"debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-10-01\/debate\/main"},"contextDate":"2025-10-01"},{"contextDate":"2025-09-30","debateRecord":{"lastUpdated":"2026-04-09T03:11:12+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","counts":{"speechCount":75,"speakerCount":17},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_2","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Visit of Latvian Delegation","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_3","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Leaders' Questions (Resumed)","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_4","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","counts":{"speechCount":132,"speakerCount":25},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_5","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ministerial Rota for Parliamentary Questions: Motion","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_10","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Sittings and Business of the D\u00e1il: Motion","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_11","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Referral to Select Committee [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Industrial Relations (Provisions in Respect of Pension Entitlements of Retired Workers) Bill 2021: Referral to Select Committee [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/15\/dail\/motion\/referral"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2021\/15"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_12","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_13","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","counts":{"speechCount":21,"speakerCount":11},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_13"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_14","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","counts":{"speechCount":22,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_13"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_15","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Global Sumud Flotilla: Motion","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","counts":{"speechCount":19,"speakerCount":17},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_16","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/53\/dail\/2"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/53"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":7},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":false,"showAs":"Environment (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/53\/dail\/motion\/referral"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/53"},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_18","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Insurance Costs: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","counts":{"speechCount":72,"speakerCount":25},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_19","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Departmental Investigations","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_21","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Rail Network","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_22","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Regional Development","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_23","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Bus Services","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","counts":{"speechCount":18,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_24","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"National Development Plan","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_25","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Public Transport","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_20"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_26","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Road Network","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_28","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Transport Policy","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_29","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Rail Network","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_30","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Public Transport","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","counts":{"speechCount":15,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_31","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Aviation Industry","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","counts":{"speechCount":16,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_32","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Public Transport","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_33","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Legislative Programme","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_27"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_34","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_34.xml"}},"debateType":"question"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_35","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_36","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Health Services","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_36"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_37","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Hospital Services","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_36"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_38","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Hospital Services","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_36"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_39","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Special Educational Needs","containsDebate":true,"bill":null,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_36"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/dbsect_40","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate"}}],"house":{"chamberType":"house","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseCode":"dail","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34"},"counts":{"debateSectionCount":35,"questionCount":34,"billCount":3,"contributorCount":166,"divisionCount":1},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"date":"2025-09-30","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/main","formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-30\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"debateType":"debate"}},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-09-25","house":{"houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail","chamberType":"house","committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34"},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"counts":{"divisionCount":0,"billCount":2,"contributorCount":124,"questionCount":28,"debateSectionCount":44},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"lastUpdated":"2026-03-14T03:12:32+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/main","debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Small and Medium Enterprises","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","showAs":"Export Controls","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Departmental Schemes","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_6","debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","showAs":"Wage-setting Mechanisms","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":12,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_7","debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Wage-setting Mechanisms","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_8.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_8","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Business Regulation","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Tourism Policy","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Industrial Development","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Industrial Development","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Industrial Development","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","showAs":"Pigmeat Sector","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Business Supports","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_9","debateSectionId":"dbsect_9"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Export Controls","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Poverty Data","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Social Welfare Appeals","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","showAs":"School Meals Programme","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","showAs":"Programme for Government","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Pension Provisions","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateSectionId":"dbsect_17"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_23","debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Social Welfare Code","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_25","debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Pension Provisions","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_26","debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","showAs":"Pension Provisions","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_27","debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"School Meals Programme","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":4}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_28","debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","showAs":"Departmental Schemes","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_29","debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","showAs":"Public Sector Staff","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_30","debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Social Welfare Eligibility","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_31","debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Social Welfare Schemes","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_32","debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Social Welfare Eligibility","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_24","debateSectionId":"dbsect_24"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"}},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_33","debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Social Welfare Code","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_34","debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":24,"speakerCount":7}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_35","debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_36","debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":62,"speakerCount":23}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/56","event":{"showAs":"Public Health (Alcohol) (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/56\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"stage":"1"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_37","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","showAs":"Public Health (Alcohol) (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_38","debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"National Social Enterprise Policy: Statements","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"statement","counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":13}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_39","debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"topical","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"speakers":[],"debateType":"topical","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_41","debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Childcare Services","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_42","debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Irish Language","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_43","debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","showAs":"Disability Services","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_40","debateSectionId":"dbsect_40"},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_44","debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"Artificial Intelligence","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2}}},{"debateSection":{"parentDebateSection":null,"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"bill":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/25","event":{"showAs":"Industrial Relations (Boycott of Joint Labour Committees) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/25\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"stage":"2"}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-25\/debate\/dbsect_45","debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Industrial Relations (Boycott of Joint Labour Committees) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5}}}]},"contextDate":"2025-09-25"},{"debateRecord":{"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","bill":null,"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","bill":null,"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Cancer Services","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","bill":null,"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_3"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_4"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Work Permits","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","bill":null,"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_3"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_5"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Water Pollution","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","bill":null,"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_3"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_6"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Wastewater Treatment","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","bill":null,"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_3"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_7"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Child Poverty and Homelessness: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","bill":null,"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":130,"speakerCount":32},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_8"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","bill":null,"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":66,"speakerCount":10},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","bill":null,"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht \u2013 Questions on Policy or Legislation","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","bill":null,"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":75,"speakerCount":22},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Criminal Justice (Trespass on Land) Bill 2025: First Stage","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"showAs":"Criminal Justice (Trespass on Land) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/55\/dail\/1","stage":"1"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/55"},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Statement of Estimates for the Houses of the Oireachtas Commission: Motion","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","bill":null,"debateType":"statement","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Auto-Enrolment: Statements","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","bill":null,"debateType":"statement","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":38,"speakerCount":25},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Use of Vapes and Nicotine Products by Young People and Adolescents: Statements","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","bill":null,"debateType":"statement","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":31,"speakerCount":28},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","bill":null,"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_16"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Special Education School Places: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","bill":null,"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_17"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":" Energy Costs: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","bill":null,"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_26"}},{"debateSection":{"showAs":"Child Poverty and Homelessness: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","bill":null,"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/dbsect_35"}}],"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","chamberType":"house","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","houseNo":"34"},"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"writtens_pdf":null},"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"debateType":"debate","counts":{"divisionCount":6,"debateSectionCount":18,"questionCount":0,"billCount":1,"contributorCount":162},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-24\/debate\/main","lastUpdated":"2026-03-14T03:12:25+00:00","date":"2025-09-24"},"contextDate":"2025-09-24"},{"debateRecord":{"lastUpdated":"2026-03-13T03:10:33+00:00","house":{"houseCode":"dail","committeeCode":"","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","houseNo":"34","chamberType":"house","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34"},"date":"2025-09-23","counts":{"questionCount":14,"divisionCount":1,"contributorCount":172,"billCount":1,"debateSectionCount":30},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"debateType":"debate","chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":47,"speakerCount":10},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":54,"speakerCount":25},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"orderofBusiness","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_3","showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":5},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","bill":{"event":{"houseCode":"dail","isBillStage":true,"stage":"1","showAs":"Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/54\/dail\/1"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/54"},"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Education (Affordable School Uniforms) Bill 2025: First Stage"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_9","showAs":"Presentation of Estimates: Motion"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_10","showAs":"Approval of Appointment of Members of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority: Motion"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":60,"speakerCount":51},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"statement","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_11","showAs":"School Transport: Statements"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":32,"speakerCount":31},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_12","showAs":"Energy Costs: Motion [Private Members]"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_14","showAs":"Child and Family Agency"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Care Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_16","showAs":"Childcare Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_17","showAs":"Disability Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_19","showAs":"Childcare Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_20","showAs":"Planning Issues"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Child Protection"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_22","showAs":"Childcare Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_23","showAs":"Disability Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_24","showAs":"After-School Support Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_25","showAs":"Disability Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_26","showAs":"Disability Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_27","showAs":"Childcare Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_28","showAs":"Irish Language"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_29","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":false,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":null,"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_31","showAs":"Flexible Work Practices"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_32","showAs":"Air Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_33","showAs":"Mental Health Services"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_34","showAs":"Nursing Homes"}},{"debateSection":{"containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","bill":null,"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null}},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/dbsect_35","showAs":"Disease Management"}}],"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-23\/debate\/main"},"contextDate":"2025-09-23"},{"contextDate":"2025-09-18","debateRecord":{"debateType":"debate","chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"counts":{"questionCount":30,"debateSectionCount":41,"contributorCount":126,"divisionCount":0,"billCount":0},"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_2"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"showAs":"Defence Forces","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_3"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"showAs":"Pension Provisions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_4"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_5.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"showAs":"Maritime Jurisdiction","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_5"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":28,"speakerCount":5},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"showAs":"Defence Forces","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_6"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_2"},"showAs":"Defence Forces","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_7"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":30,"speakerCount":6},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"showAs":"Military Neutrality","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_9"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_10.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"showAs":"Departmental Strategies","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_10"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"showAs":"Defence Forces","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_11"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"showAs":"Middle East","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_12"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"showAs":"Defence Forces","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_13"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_8"},"showAs":"Defence Forces","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_14"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_15"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"},"showAs":"Energy Prices","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_16"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"},"showAs":"Energy Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_17"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"},"showAs":"Data Centres","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_18"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_19.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"},"showAs":"Just Transition","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_19"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_15","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_15"},"showAs":"Recycling Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_20"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Environmental Schemes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_22"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Environmental Schemes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_23"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Recycling Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_24"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_25.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Wind Energy Generation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_25"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Solar Energy Guidelines","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_26"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":13,"speakerCount":4},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Wind Energy Generation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_27"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":4},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Nuclear Plants","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_28"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Energy Policy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_29"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"}},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_21","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","debateSectionId":"dbsect_21"},"showAs":"Energy Conservation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_30"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":32,"speakerCount":7},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_31"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_32"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":22},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_33"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"statement","counts":{"speechCount":53,"speakerCount":27},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":" Migration: Statements","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_34"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"motion","counts":{"speechCount":41,"speakerCount":20},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Antisocial Behaviour: Motion [Private Members]","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_35"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_36"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_37"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37"},"showAs":"Energy Infrastructure","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_38"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37"},"showAs":"Bus Services","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_39"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37"},"showAs":"Fishing Industry","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_40"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37"},"showAs":"Planning Issues","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_41"}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","bill":null,"speakers":[],"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"parentDebateSection":{"formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_37","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","debateSectionId":"dbsect_37"},"showAs":"Air Safety","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/dbsect_42"}}],"formats":{"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"}},"house":{"chamberType":"house","houseCode":"dail","showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34"},"lastUpdated":"2025-11-26T03:19:33+00:00","date":"2025-09-18","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-18\/debate\/main"}},{"debateRecord":{"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","houseCode":"dail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34"},"chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"lastUpdated":"2026-05-12T02:08:12+00:00","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/main","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"date":"2025-09-17","counts":{"contributorCount":173,"divisionCount":1,"debateSectionCount":17,"questionCount":16,"billCount":0},"debateType":"debate","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_2","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il","counts":{"speechCount":2,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Welcome back everyone. Before I take Leaders' Questions, I would like to make a short statement. In recent times, we have witnessed an alarming rise in the serious threats and online abuse directed at a significant number of Members of the Houses of the Oireachtas of all parties and none, a phenomenon that can no longer be ignored. Not alone does it affect us as Members, but also a significant percentage of our population. This abuse often emanates from unverified profiles on various online platforms which facilitate unsavoury discourse and foster unhealthy narratives that bear little resemblance to fact or reality. In my capacity of Ceann Comhairle I have a duty to safeguard this assembly, its Members and the wider public interest. This Chamber must remain a secure environment for the conduct of parliamentary business.  In addition to my concern for current Members, I am concerned that this environment may deter decent people from entering public life.  If we allow a culture of fear and intimidation to take root, we risk losing the very essence of democratic representation. It is incumbent upon us all to collectively defend the integrity of political debate and cultivate an environment that encourages participation without fear of reprisal. We must create a space where diverse views can be expressed safely and openly.  While the report commissioned from the Task Force on Safe Participation in Political Life 2024 identified pertinent issues, in my view it now needs to be supplemented by concrete legislative proposals. The experiences of our counterparts in the UK, US and other democratic jurisdictions serve as a stark reminder of the potential consequences of inaction. We are not insulated from this global trend. In the words of Barack Obama, \"Our democracy is threatened whenever we take it for granted.\"  I am therefore requesting a meeting with all party and group leaders with a view to formulating an appropriate consensus response to deal with this issue. Our constitutional obligations require us to protect our people from unjust attack, and we have a collective responsibility to uphold these principles. The challenges posed by social media platforms require our immediate and cross-party attention. We must collaborate to protect the integrity of our political discourse - a commitment to discourse that is rigorous yet fair, impassioned yet principled and consistently respectful is essential. As we embark on this term, I urge all Members to reflect on the tone and tenor of deliberations. Thank you, Members. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Gn\u00f3 na D\u00e1la - Business of D\u00e1il"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","counts":{"speechCount":51,"speakerCount":9},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Before I call the Opposition leader, I welcome back Deputy Holly Cairns. I also congratulate Deputy Emer Higgins who married her husband Brian Lawlor over the recess. Under Standing Order 38, I call the Opposition leader, Deputy Mary Lou McDonald. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I extend my comhghairdeas to both Deputies on very significant and joyous life events.  Harvey Morrison Sherratt died on 29 July. Last week I spoke again with his parents, Stephen and Gillian. They are heartbroken and shattered by the loss of their beautiful little boy, and we again send them our condolences and our love. Harvey had a very short life. He was only nine years old when he passed. As the Taoiseach knows he suffered from scoliosis and spina bifida. He waited years for spinal surgery as his condition worsened, and his dad Stephen said, \"We watched him deteriorate, cry in pain, struggle to breathe and lose the sparkle in his eye.\" Harvey was born the year the T\u00e1naiste, Simon Harris, was appointed Minister for Health. In 2017, when Harvey was just one, his parents were told that his ribs were crushing his lungs. That same year Simon Harris promised that no child would wait more than four months for spinal surgery. Over the last eight years that promise has been broken again and again. Harvey did eventually get his surgery last December, but he had waited far too long. He was badly let down. He was, in fact, failed by Government.  Harvey's story is not an isolated case. Such failures are shamefully a hallmark of the Taoiseach's Government. On Monday, Cork mother Antoinette Burke felt she had no choice but to challenge the Taoiseach publicly. Her daughter Katie has cerebral palsy. She has been left waiting 15 years for the surgery she needs. Antoinette said that she first contacted the Taoiseach's office back in 2010 but her pleas went without action. The Taoiseach said in reply, and I use his words, that Katie's case is not \"necessarily emblematic\" of what families go through in their fight for disability services and treatment, but in fact it is exactly that because Antoinette's hurt and anger is recognised very well by the parents of children with scoliosis and spina bifida. It is emblematic of what they have experienced.  It has been a litany of broken promises from Government. It promised it would do everything possible to end the scandal of children waiting and waiting for spinal surgery, but today that waiting list is growing.  As we speak, there are 135 children on waiting lists without a date for surgery, up from 108 since the start of the year, and 40 of these children have been waiting six months or more just for a date, mind you, not even for the surgery itself. Last year, the Government promised that children waiting more than four months would be given the option to travel for surgery but since then only seven children have had surgery abroad. It is shockingly low. The Government continues to fail these children.  T\u00e1 b\u00e1s Harvey Morrison Sherratt tar \u00e9is solas a dh\u00edri\u00fa ar theip an Rialtais i leith leana\u00ed na t\u00edre. Caithfidh an Taoiseach cur in i\u00fal d\u00fainn cad at\u00e1 i gceist aige a dh\u00e9anamh chun cinnti\u00fa go bhfaigheann leana\u00ed le scol\u00f3is n\u00f3 spina bifida na hobr\u00e1id\u00ed at\u00e1 de dh\u00edth orthu le pr\u00e1inn. Harvey's battle with scoliosis was a race against the clock. It is the same for each one of these children. The longer they wait, the more complex surgeries they will require. The risk of permanent paralysis is very real. The fear of becoming inoperable is very real. This neglect of children with scoliosis and spina bifida must end and must end now. I ask the Taoiseach directly today to tell those children and their families what he will do now to ensure they get the operations that they require urgently. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  At the outset, I want to take the opportunity to offer my deepest condolences to Harvey Morrison Sherratt's family and his parents, Gillian and Stephen. No words of condolence or consolation to Harvey's parents are enough. It is an extraordinarily traumatic thing to happen to any family, but in these circumstances even more traumatic in terms of the experiences the family and Harvey had with the hospitals and the clinical world itself, and it is unacceptable. The Minister met with the HSE and CHI board and has been working on this issue non-stop since she was appointed Minister for Health. The Minister has asked for a multidisciplinary report on the chronology from CHI regarding its involvement in Harvey's care and the key milestones as recorded on the CHI's hospital records. The HSE CEO received this draft report in August and has shared that report with Harvey's parents as well as with the Minister for Health. My understanding is that the Minister for Health and the T\u00e1naiste are due to meet Harvey's parents in the near future.  I understand fully the anger and the absolute frustration felt by the parents and by other families who do not receive surgical intervention at the right time for their child. I have spoken to Antoinette Burke since I met her earlier this week. We have arranged to meet. I do not want to get into discussing individual cases here in public, but clearly the issue there is one of clinical decision-making and the judgment made by clinicians. Clinicians, it seems, have taken a decision not to do surgery over many years in that case on a clinical basis. Obviously, any parent wants to do the very best for their child. It seems to me that the interaction or engagement between the clinical decision-making and the position of parents is one that has to be improved. Certainly, however, the question was put to me about the use of the word \"emblematic\", and I made that point in the context that if we look at, and I have read, the case in relation to Katie and Antoinette, there is a very clear disagreement in respect of the clinical judgment that consultants have made in that case. That said, I am going to pursue this. We have spoken to the CEO of the HSE in relation to this case also.  On the broader issue of scoliosis, very significant resources have been allocated by Government to CHI. There is no point is saying there have not been; there have. The issue is that the translation of those resources to outcomes and outputs is a key issue for us.  There have been a number of reports into CHI. All Deputies are aware of that. We are not happy with everything that has happened in CHI. We have an issue in that one consultant has been referred in respect of the utilisation of devices that did not meet the quality mark. We are awaiting a report on governance in CHI. The Health Service Executive has strengthened its service level agreement with CHI and is giving stronger supports to it. That process will continue in terms of underpinning, supporting and creating additional capacity in CHI in the immediate future and the time ahead. That is the direction of travel in respect of services, in particular spinal services, at CHI. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  As Harvey waited for the surgery that he required, the curvature of his spine deteriorated from 75\u00b0 to 130\u00b0. I do not know if the Taoiseach saw him. The poor wee child was literally doubled over. He struggled to breathe. He waited and waited, and he is not unique. He is unique now in as much as he is emblematic of the wholesale manner in which many other children have been failed.  TJ Coughlan from Tullamore in County Offaly is a great young man. He is 20 and was told at the age of nine that he needed surgery. He was left waiting until he was 13 and when he turned 13, it was too late. He is now inoperable and is wheelchair bound. That was catastrophic for that young man's life.  The Taoiseach said this is unacceptable. I agree with him. He is reluctant to discuss individual cases in public. I understand that, but we must remember that these families have no option but to present their pain in very public forums. The Taoiseach pointed to clinical judgment. It seemed to me he offered every excuse under the sun, but he has not answered my question. What is he going to do about it now? This is not about treading water. What decision will be made now? Can the Taoiseach explain to us how it is that the waiting list is now growing and only seven children have availed of treatment abroad, for all of the fine words and promises from this and successive Governments? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am not applying my reply to the two cases the Deputy mentioned, for example. There is a fundamental question we have all faced if we are honest, whereby people come to us and say that as a parent they believe their child should get a particular intervention or surgery. If a doctor or clinician does not believe that is appropriate at that time or believes that the outcomes may not be optimal at that time for the child concerned, what is Deputy McDonald suggesting? This is a reality on an ongoing basis. It seems to me that we have to examine that relationship further, as well as the level of advocacy for the parents in these situations.  That is why I think there is a weakness. Politicians cannot and should not arbitrarily intervene and say something should happen irrespective of what a clinical expert has said. We need some degree of consensus on that point. How it transpires and the advocacy for parents in that situation is something we should examine, in terms of stronger advocacy for parents in respect of clinical decision-making.  In terms of what we are doing regarding the treatment abroad scheme, we have provided resources and there is an instruction to CHI and clinicians to refer, and I believe they should be referring patients on a continuous basis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I want to welcome everyone back to the House, in particular Deputy Holly Cairns on her return from maternity leave. I congratulate Deputy Emer Currie. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Higgins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  Sorry, I am rusty after the summer recess. It is good to be back in the Chamber and we have serious work to do here over the course of this D\u00e1il term. For the Government, its long to-do list has lengthened over the summer months. There is so much for the Government to do. It must build homes. It must address the suffering of all of those locked out of secure housing. It must provide basic and effective healthcare, in particular to end the agony of children waiting for vital spinal surgeries.  We have seen a shameful increase of nearly 10% since the start of the year, with 135 children now waiting. I want to join in expressing my deepest sympathies to the parents of young Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I spoke with Gillian, Harvey's mother, over recent weeks, and I want to note the dreadful trauma they went through.  I could go on naming Government failures, but today I want to focus on one such failure touching every household in the country, creating new inequalities and deepening the plight of families fighting every day to keep afloat. I am talking about the cost-of-living crisis. Ireland is a rich country, but for far too many people it feels poor. Despite high GDP, child poverty rates now match those experienced by families after Fianna F\u00e1il crashed the economy in 2007. This crisis is really hurting children more than anyone. We are seeing prices rising faster than wages, price gouging, which has taken root, and greedflation, with soaring food prices in particular. Energy and housing bills are among the highest in Europe.  The impact on children is immense. One fifth of children now live in poverty. That is 225,000 children. There are long-term impacts on those children and on their parents, who are suffering heartbreak as they watch this. There has been no indication from the Government that it will use its \u20ac9.4 billion to bring struggling families any meaningful respite in October. If, indeed, the Government is going to prioritise ineffective tax cuts in this budget, then it must be honest with the public and admit it will be at the expense of families struggling to stay afloat and families worrying how to keep lights on, how to keep the house warm, how to pay for Christmas and how to afford housing.  That is the Government's choice in this budget. It is a political choice it will make. The media say the Government is not going to do a cost-of-living emergency package. The Taoiseach's task, however, is to create a sustainable future, so we need to see the reinstatement of targeted energy credits, the extension of the ban on disconnections for families, and, crucially, a second targeted rate of child benefit now and not some time in the future. We need to see permanent abolition of the means test for the carer\u2019s allowance and a cost-of-disability payment that is meaningful. Will the Taoiseach make the necessary choices in this budget to prioritise ending child poverty and providing supports for struggling households? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate the sincerity of the issues the Deputy has raised in respect of the challenges facing the country. Fundamentally, I make the point to the Deputy that since 2019 employment has grown in this country by 506,000 people. That is 506,000 people over five years. We have a strong and resilient economy and the most effective intervention in terms of poverty or living standards is work and jobs. I argue that the policies we have advocated here are advantageous to the enterprise economy and its continuation as compared to the policies the Deputy and those on the far left now allied with her have advocated.  I make the point that there has been significant inflation since Covid-19 and the Russian invasion of Ukraine. It peaked at close to 10% but since then the rates have considerably eased and living standards have improved significantly, with real wages and income increasing by between 3% and 3.5% this year alone. The nominal wage increase is about 5.5% and inflation is at 2%. I acknowledge, however, that prices are elevated. Food inflation is higher, at about 5%.  I appreciate the Deputy's focus on targeting because we do intend to target in the budget. We do intend to prioritise the issue of child poverty and those most in need and under considerable pressure but equally we have to sustainably work our way through this. We now have the third lowest rate of inflation among the 27 European Union countries. This is something that cannot be ignored as we drive forward in terms of wage increases and so on, and also in terms of targeting child support payments. There are mechanisms we can do, which we did in the past, to try to protect those who need protection most, on energy costs and on food pricing costs. The key is that we want to do this in a mainstream way. It is not economically sustainable as we come out of this high inflation period over the last two to three years after Covid that we would continue doing large stand-alone cost-of-living packages.  We have to mainstream provision in terms of the various mechanisms we have. For example, last year we eliminated the cost of school books in primary and second level schools. That is a permanent reduction in costs for families, parents and children. The Society of St. Vincent de Paul said that in the 2023-24 school year, it had a 20%-odd reduction in calls because of that measure alone. Hot school meals is another targeted mainstream provision that we have brought about. In other areas, we have done the same. That is the approach that I want to take. I welcome the Deputy's agreement that we need a targeted approach to these issues. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  With respect, I do not need lectures on work and on jobs. We are the party of work. Labour is the party of workers' rights. We have a proud record on job creation. We absolutely agree with the Taoiseach that, of course, job creation and work is crucial, but I meet people all the time - the Taoiseach must meet them too - who tell me they are working hard, getting up early in the morning every day, to use an expression pioneered by one of his Government colleagues, and yet they cannot afford to meet basic household costs because of rising prices, rising costs, and the cost of childcare and the cost of housing, which are too high. Even though they are working, they simply cannot meet all of the costs they have to meet. This phenomenon of the working poor is something that the Government has failed to take effective measures to address and we are not seeing any indication, just a few weeks out from the budget, that there are going to be any measures adopted in this budget that will help families who are struggling in this way, who simply cannot find a way to meet their household costs.  People are looking for reassurance from the Taoiseach. We are looking for some indication that the Government will build that sustainable safety net for families and households that are struggling and that it will offer them some hope in this budget that they will be able to meet their rising costs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have indicated that we are going to do that. I said to the Deputy, prior to the summer recess, that we would target our resources as opposed to universal allocations. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  How? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Through our social protection frameworks, we have mechanisms that will enable us to do that in terms of the various payments and so on that we can increase, but we will prioritise in respect of the child poverty question. We will prioritise in terms of disability and in terms of the additional costs that families with people who are disabled have to incur, and we will seek to alleviate that. We are conscious of the programme for Government commitments we have made in respect of the carer's allowance also.  The budget, fundamentally, is an investment in the future of the country. We are prioritising capital investment. We need to catch up on infrastructure. Last year alone, there was an increase of close to 100,000 in our population. There has been a very significant increase in the population in this country over the past two to three decades and that is creating pressure, undoubtedly, on services and on infrastructure.  We are investing in the future - in water, energy, grid, housing - and that will be a key part of the budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  From the Social Democrats, I call on Deputy Holly Cairns. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  As this is my first time addressing the D\u00e1il since my maternity leave, I hope the Ceann Comhairle will indulge me in saying a few \"Thank yous\". First, I thank my colleagues in the Social Democrats for their ongoing support. I would like to say a special \"Thank you\" to our deputy leader, Cian O'Callaghan, for stepping in during my maternity leave. I would also like to say a heartfelt \"Thank you\" to the people of Cork South-West for re-electing me.  I would also like to acknowledge the loss last weekend of Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy in my area and to convey my condolences to his family. He was an outstanding disability advocate and he worked tirelessly for the Bantry area. He will be sorely missed.  Today, I want to speak to the Taoiseach about disability. Despite all of the promises that we heard during the election, disabled people and their families are still being let down. During the election, the Taoiseach said that disability would be a top priority for his Government. He also said his Government would lead a step change in the level and scale of support for people with disabilities. Let us take a look at what that looks like. Nearly 16,000 children are now overdue on assessment of need, essential therapies and supports are still almost non-existent and hundreds of children are still left in agony waiting for spinal surgeries. The harsh truth is, and I take no pleasure in saying this, that the only things the disabled people are guaranteed by the Government are broken promises and a waiting list.  Despite the 2017 promise that no child would wait more than four months for scoliosis treatment, children like Harvey Morrison Sherratt have suffered years of delays, trauma and pain. Harvey waited years for the care that he needed, only receiving surgery last November when the curve in his spine had reached 130\u00b0, causing his rib cage to twist around his lungs and heart, restricting his breathing. After Harvey tragically passed away, his mother said that all he wanted was his iPad, Hunky Dorys, the odd lollipop and timely access to healthcare.  Harvey's parents, Gillian and Stephen, and thousands of parents like them around this country, have had to watch their children go for years without the intervention they need, feeling helpless and hopeless in the face of an uncaring system, knowing that every day means their children are further at risk of never reaching their full potential. Children are denied services and prevented from reaching their full potential at every step of the way. We are talking about the difference between a child being able to learn to speak or not - about being able to communicate - and the difference between somebody being able to live an independent life or not.  When disabled people become adults, any meagre supports they had vanish. We have the lowest employment rates for disabled people in the EU and one in five disabled people in Ireland lives in poverty. It is nothing short of shameful. Will the Taoiseach ensure that children waiting for spinal surgeries will finally get the treatment they need? Can the Taoiseach at least acknowledge that the Government is not living up to the commitments that it made? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First, I take the opportunity to welcome you back, Deputy, and I am looking forward to our continued engagements. I think we both share a love of west Cork and the people of west Cork, as well as their representatives in terms of quality, calibre and so forth. I am going to miss Deputy Cian O\u2019Callaghan. I thank him for his forensic engagement over the last while.  I also thank Deputy Cairns for her tributes to Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy, a colleague of ours. We are in deep sadness because Patrick Gerard was a wonderful individual and the definition of what public representation at local level means. He was a man of great and deep insight, commitment, care and compassion, and great courage and bravery as well in terms of his own personal life and as a public representative.  When we said that disability is the top priority of this Government, it is. I accept fully that there are shortcomings, to say the least, in some areas, particularly spinal surgery, assessment of need and the availability of therapies. On the other hand, it is important to create the other side of the narrative as well, that of unrelenting investment in additional needs, particularly, for example, in education in recent years, and exponential growth in services. If we take education alone, the State investment is about \u20ac2.9 billion in 2025. That is a 48% increase since 2020 and is a quarter of the entire Department of education budget. We now have 23,000 special needs assistants working in our schools, up 43% in the last five years. We added 1,600 SNAs this year alone. There are 21,000 special education teachers. The number of special classes has doubled to 3,700-plus. We have had 16 new special schools established in the last number of years and 407 new special classes sanctioned for 2025-26.  That represents and reflects investment. It still is not enough. As I said earlier, our population is growing very significantly. If we look at the last two censuses, the most recent one showed a marked increase in the number identifying with a disability, both children and adults.  That means we have to not just increase resources but systemically change as well. To be fair to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, they are already working to change the system for children with additional needs and their families applying for places in schools in terms of a centralised application system being piloted and the time to apply being brought forward by four months so that we have a better lead in time to the subsequent September. I will come back in on the other points later. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  The Taoiseach tells us about increased investment and that disability is a priority, but even when it comes to something relatively simple, if we use the example of recognising the cost of disability and addressing it, his Government manages to somehow spectacularly miss the mark. A 2021 report calculated the additional cost of disability to be at \u20ac236 per week. What was the Government's response to that? It was a one-off payment of \u20ac400, as if having a disability is some kind of a one-off, minor inconvenience. According to the ESRI and the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, the cost of disability is now up to \u20ac875 per week. One-off payments are not only grossly insufficient; they are insulting.  Tens of thousands of disabled people live in poverty with nearly 76% of disabled people in Ireland at risk of poverty. The Taoiseach says disability is a priority but he published a national disability strategy that lacks any ambition, a budget and any timelines. We have more than enough reports; what we need is action. I have one question. Can the Taoiseach tell us if he will introduce a cost of disability payment in the budget? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First of all, Deputy Cairns's critique of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled Persons is wrong. There was significant participation of people with disabilities in the formulation, delivery and announcement of that strategy. They enthusiastically participated in that. Structures have been created to follow through on it. That is a kind of a cynical, poor response by the Deputy to what was a genuine----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  This is the view of the disabled people with whom I have met. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am just saying to the Deputy----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  It is not a back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I met with the people at the launch of the strategy. I have created a disability unit in my Department to drive change. We will do it over the lifetime of this Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Holly Cairns","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Holly-Cairns.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Holly Cairns  Will the Taoiseach answer the question? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is right across the board. In terms of cost of living, it is not that simple and the Deputy knows that. However, there will be measures in the budget to help families with disabilities in terms of income supports. There will be measures in the budget in that respect. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I join in welcoming Deputy Holly Cairns back to the D\u00e1il and congratulating her. I also congratulate Deputy Emer Higgins. Life will never be the same again. I wish many years of happiness and joy to them and their partners in the years to come.  I raise the situation regarding renters with the Taoiseach and the out of control so-called \"rental market\" we have. In a lot of areas now, average rents are more than \u20ac2,000. Recent reports have shown how they are skyrocketing. The recent Residential Tenancies Board rent index showed an average annual rent increase of 5.5%. In County Laois, it is more than 10%. In eight successive quarters, there have been significant increases in the county. Families and workers are under significant pressure. Notices to quit are on the increase. There are increasing numbers of them from rack-renting landlords who are seeking vacant possession because they are getting ready for next March when there will be effectively no rent controls on new tenancies and new builds. Some landlords are telling tenants that regardless of whether there is a new tenancy or not, rents will go up. It is a free-for-all.  As an example of that, I raise the case of Alan and Denise. They are just over the limit for social housing and they have children. He is a retained firefighter. They have been in private rented accommodation for nine years. Four months ago, the landlord told them the rent was increasing by 50% - a 50% increase in south Laois. He did that in the first week of June. Of course, he knew what he was doing because on 20 June, the 2% cap came in, so a lot of landlords got in early. Their income is less than \u20ac40,000 a year. They have no way forward. Alan is 49 years of age. They have no access to social housing because they are over the limit for social housing. They have no access to cost rentals because they do not yet exist in Laois.  There are no affordables, and in any case he will not get an affordable housing loan.  In the case of Darren, a single man with one child, he has moved from one rent pressure zone to another. He is on \u20ac460 a week. He needs a car for work. He pays maintenance. He has a child. He is paying \u20ac77 in HAP rent and he is paying \u20ac120 a week rent to a landlord. Some workers are paying more than half their income in rent. I do not know if the Taoiseach knows that or not.  Vacant possession and evictions are easy because the grounds in the legislation allow for that - if the landlord is facing hardship, if they require a property for a family member or, God forbid, if they are going to renovate the place. A coat of magnolia paint would even ensure vacant possession. Does the Taoiseach recognise that workers and families who rent are under enormous pressure? We are coming up to budget time and I want the Taoiseach to address this. It is way beyond what people can afford. Will the Taoiseach halt his plans for the introduction of a complete free-for-all in March for new tenancies? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  Will the Government ramp up the supply of cost rental and affordable housing to purchase? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank Deputy Stanley. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We are not creating a free-for-all in terms of the rental market more generally. We are creating a national rent pressure zone, ultimately including the entire country. The bottom line is that we need more supply of houses. We need a significant and substantial increase in the supply of housing. That is the key. Without additional supply we will have a very challenging rental market. The Deputy indicated a case of 50%, which sounds illegal to me. I do not know whether or not the landlord is registered with the RTB. I do not have the specifics of the case but Deputy Stanley can forward them to us afterwards.  As the Deputy is aware, the bottom line is that we have reformed the RPZs. The objective there is to create the opportunity for greater private sector investment in the private rental market to get more apartments built. That is important in terms of choice and greater access for people to apartments. We have done it in a way that continues to protect tenants. Very substantial protections have been introduced for tenants in the past five years, compared to what was there before. That must be acknowledged. I fully accept that costs are high. That is why we brought in the rent tax credit to be of assistance to renters in meeting the increased cost of renting. The reforms we announced on 10 June will strengthen the rights of new and existing tenants in Irish society. It is not a return to a free for all.  The reforms were informed by a review by the Housing Agency, which did an analysis of the rental market for us, in particular of the rent pressure zones. The agency made recommendations on which we followed through on. All of the House wanted us to follow through on the Housing Commission's recommendations. It is in that context that the Housing Agency review followed through on them. There is a national cap now of 2% on existing rents. I do not know how one can go up by 50% but Deputy Stanley can forward me the details of that case. The rent tax credit has been continued. We will deal with that in the forthcoming budget also. We have provided a range of measures to ensure security for renters. I will not go through the full list of those.  This year alone, on top of the Estimate for 2025, we have allocated a further \u20ac1 billion to the housing budget. Approximately \u20ac7.5 billion will have been spent on housing by the end of 2025. That is a very significant State intervention. We need more private sector investment in the rental market, in particular to build new apartments. We have taken measures, not just in the RPZs but also with apartment standards and other issues to attract further investment in on the private side to balance the State investment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I thank the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We are going to continue with that agenda. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The concern I have is what is going to happen in towns like Mountmellick, Abbeyleix, Mountrath and Portlaoise.  In terms of increasing supply, the Taoiseach was in government in 2004, 2005 and 2006 when supply increased. In fact, 96,000 housing units were built in 2006. He will recall in those years that rents skyrocketed. There is not necessarily a correlation with increasing the supply of housing.  The evidence is there to show that. The Taoiseach will remember that, as do I. In relation to vacant possessions and evictions, there will not be a need for evictions and no-fault evictions as they are banned. However, there will be fault evictions because people will not be able to pay the rent. That is what I am being told. The Residential Tenancies Board, RTB, report shows that. Regarding supply, there was an increase of 45,000 tenancies in the six years leading up to 2023 but the Taoiseach will have noted from the report yesterday that, despite the Government's strategy, the number of planning permissions granted have fallen. Does he recognise that workers and families are under enormous pressure? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  Will he halt his plans and do something to save tenants from March? People leave tenancies for different reasons and----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Stanley, you have made your point, thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  -----when properties become vacant, they are faced with a free-for-all. The Government's 2% rent increase cap is irrelevant. It is on paper. Landlords will completely ignore. They can because the legislation says they can ignore it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  No, I disagree with that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  That is what the Government's legislation says. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Deputy mentioned the correlation between supply and price. Is he suggesting----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  The Government left us with a free-for-all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Stanley, you were not interrupted. Allow the Taoiseach to speak. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In terms of supply and its relationship with pricing, I will tell the Deputy one thing for certain: if we do not substantially increase supply, rents will go through the roof. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  They are already going through the roof. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The scarcity involved will increase the cost of any new tenancies that come along. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"(Interruptions)."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I take it we are all agreed with more supply. That is a fundamental. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  It is more than supply. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is not Deputy Hearne's turn. His party had its turn. Are we agreed that we need more supply? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  Yes, but we----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Second, we have very comprehensive and significant protections in place for tenants. Yes, the RTB has a function, obligation and role to enforce and ensure the protection of tenants in these scenarios and that fairness applies on all sides in respect of tenancies. Deputy Stanley referenced that we have brought in those kind of protections around evictions and so on. With the measures we have so far taken, and hopefully with some further measures, we will be in a position to get greater traction in building apartments, which we need to get done. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_4","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":4},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I thank the Ceann Comhairle. I join with the Taoiseach and other speakers in congratulating Deputies Cairns and Higgins. It is good to be back here again.  With the population continuing to grow and the pressure on all forms of public transport increasing, it should be no surprise to anyone that the 2007 planning condition imposed on the Dublin Airport Authority that it could only cater for 32 million passengers per annum would be exceeded at some point. During last November's general election campaign, all leaders - those now in government and in opposition - pledged they would lift the Dublin Airport passenger cap if they were in power. It was inevitable that at some point in the lifetime of this Government that legislation to do just that would be introduced. I fully appreciate the difficulty the passenger cap has put on Dublin Airport and it is important that there is a need to deal with the here-and-now problem that the airport faces along with planning for the future. As an island nation, we need to be internationally connected at all times.  I do, however, have concerns for Ireland's other airports. Dublin holds a dominant position in Irish aviation, accounting for 84% of all inbound and outbound flights. More needs to be done to support Shannon Airport, Cork Airport and Ireland West Airport, Knock. The proposed lifting of the cap at Dublin Airport presents the opportunity to make some positive changes insofar as those airports are concerned. Shannon Airport, in my own constituency of Clare, needs European hub connectivity. To illustrate this problem, there are nine direct flights each day from Dublin Airport to Amsterdam Airport Schiphol, but not a single one from Shannon Airport. This is one example alone. There are many more I can think of. This illustrates how balanced regional development simply does not exist in Irish aviation at this time. The Government has published many documents that speak to balanced regional development such as Project Ireland 2040 and the national planning framework, across many metrics, with regional development being balanced in terms of housing, education, healthcare provision, and many other realms. It is high time the national policy on aviation along with the Irish Aviation Authority introduce a new regional development clause when applications are submitted by airlines to operate new routes.  At the moment it gives a one dimensional consideration, whether it approves or disapproves. There should be an additional clause to look at the other airports in Ireland to sweat out those other national assets. We also need to know with some certainty what will happen with the regional airports forum. This is a vital fund for Shannon, Cork and Knock airports. As we prepare to host the Ryder Cup in 2027 in the mid-west, we will need every red cent we can get on our hands on. I get how the aviation sector works. I know that passengers in nearly all instances want to land in the capital city, but we cannot take our eyes off Ireland's other airports. They are national assets. They need to be sweated more and used more before we look at the Dublin solution. Some funding streams need to be clarified for those airports so they can plan into the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy and appreciate the points he made about aviation policy nationally. He has been a strong, consistent and persistent advocate for Shannon Airport and I also appreciate his comments on other airports, particularly Cork Airport----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  I am very much a Shannon advocate. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----which he referenced in passing. Regional balanced economic growth is a key objective of the Government and connectivity is key to economic development. I take the Deputy's point in respect of the importance of regionally-based airports.  There is no question that the cap has to be lifted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ciar\u00e1n Ahern","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ciar\u00e1n-Ahern.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ciar\u00e1n Ahern  What about the climate? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Very often airlines dictate the pace in respect of where they want to fly into and out of. Capital cities all over the world tend to draw the highest volume of traffic and interest and that has implications for regional locations. As the Deputy will be aware, there was a mid-term review of the current programme for regional airports with high-level outcomes announced in July last year and a public consultation was then undertaken. Shannon Airport benefited to some degree from inclusion in that, along with Cork Airport, Ireland West Airport in Knock, Kerry Airport and Donegal Airport. They continue to be eligible for funding. The potential for the development of an Exchequer funded programme or a commitment to broadening the scope of that programme to airports that handle more than 1 million passengers, which would apply to Shannon Airport, is under consideration by the Minister and the Government. That is an outcome of the review and it is being progressed as a matter of priority. The development of an Exchequer funded start-up aid scheme for airlines to support strategic route development to and from the regions is also being considered. What can we do to incentivise airlines to fly into and out of the regions?  We have the 2015 national aviation policy, which established the policy framework for the development of the aviation sector in Ireland. Its principal goals remain valid. However, the Department of Transport has commenced preparatory work on revising that policy and the Minister hopes to publish that in 2026. It will update existing policy in response to developments in the aviation sector and will include a focus on maximising the use of our regional airports in line with commitments made in the programme for Government. In our Action Plan on Competitiveness and Productivity, the Government committed to developing a long-term strategy for Irish airports as part of the review of the national aviation policy, recognising the dependency risk of having a large share of Irish air traffic going through a single airport, as the Deputy articulated. There will be a lot of engagement on that.  Tourism Ireland is also keen to promote regional connectivity in terms of the utilisation of the assets we have in the regions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Shannon Airport in particular is a significant asset. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  The Taoiseach knows that Shannon Airport is a huge political issue in the mid-west, not just in County Clare. I am chair of the Oireachtas Shannon Airport group, which has 22 members from D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann and Seanad \u00c9ireann from the rank of Minister, Opposition Member and Senator across all parties. We meet quite regularly to focus on policies that will strengthen the airport because we recognise that when the Ryder Cup comes in 2027 and when Doonbeg hosts the Irish Open next year, we will need top quality infrastructure.  Dublin Airport Authority last year alone paid a \u20ac99 million dividend to the State. It would be worth looking at, not only for Shannon Airport, but for Cork Airport in the Taoiseach's county and Knock airport in Mayo, ring-fencing that dividend to be disbursed across Ireland's other airports. I would love to hear when we will get certainty on the regional airports forum because airports need to procure, plan and build for the future.  It cannot just be about Dublin's future story; we need to look at Ireland's other airports. I do not know how spurious or accurate this is, but Ryanair had plans to have a large jet-engine maintenance facility in Shannon. Michael O'Leary is putting the blame on the Government. I would like to know if there are any plans to reactivate that, because we could certainly do with that kind of activity in the mid-west. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate the points the Deputy made. I also acknowledge that he is speaking on behalf of 22 Members of the Houses in respect of Shannon Airport. I dealt with the earlier part in terms of the review of aviation policy.  Regarding the tourism side of the equation, Tourism Ireland will develop a new strategic air access fund. There is potential to maximise opportunity there in terms of new air routes. The Deputy's overall point is well made. The Ryder Cup is a big win for the mid-west. It is going to be very exciting for sports tourism generally. There will be a huge economic spin-off from that and the Irish Open in Doonbeg. All of that will highlight the infrastructural needs of the area. We have invested a lot in infrastructure in the area to have preparedness for big events of that kind. I will revert to the Deputy in respect of the other issue he raised about the aircraft maintenance proposal. It is not in the gift of the State. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_5","debateType":"orderofBusiness","bill":null,"showAs":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business","counts":{"speechCount":110,"speakerCount":27},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I move:  Wednesday's business shall be:  -\tMotion re Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (\u2018BBNJ Agreement\u2019) (without debate and any division claimed to be taken immediately)  -\tStatements on National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030  (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes)  Wednesday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Special Education School Places, selected by Sinn F\u00e9in.  Thursday's business shall be Statements on Migration  (not to exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes)  Thursday's private members' business shall be the Motion re Anti-Social Behaviour, selected by the Independent Technical Group.     Proposed Arrangements for this week's business:     In relation to Wednesday's business, it is proposed that:  1.\tthe ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the extent that, notwithstanding the provisions of Standing Order 34(1)\u2014  ( a )\tthe Order of Business and Questions on Policy or Legislation shall be taken immediately following Other Members\u2019 Questions;  ( b )\tprivate members\u2019 business may be taken later than 6.12 p.m. and shall in any event be taken on the conclusion of the Statements on National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030;  ( c )\tquestions pursuant to Standing Order 47(1) to a Minister other than the Taoiseach shall not be taken; and  ( d )\ttopical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members\u2019 business;  2.\tthe proceedings on the Motion re Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (\u2018BBNJ Agreement\u2019)  shall be taken without debate and any division claimed thereon shall be taken immediately; and  3.\tthe Statements on National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  ( a )\tthe arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  ( b )\tfollowing the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  ( c )\tmembers may share time.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    25    15    10    10    3           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    10    10    3    9    10           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    3    9    10    3    5      In relation to Thursday's business, it is proposed that:  1.\tthe ordinary routine of business as contained in Schedule 3 to Standing Orders shall be modified to the following extent:  ( a )\tno motion for a Committee report pursuant to Standing Order 111 or private member's Bill pursuant to Standing Order 169 shall be taken;  ( b )\tprivate members' business pursuant to Standing Order 168(1) and Standing Order 176 shall be taken for 2 hours on the conclusion of the Statements on Migration; and  ( c )\ttopical issues shall be taken on the conclusion of private members' business, and the D\u00e1il shall adjourn on the conclusion of topical issues; and  2.\tthe Statements on Migration shall not exceed 2 hours and 25 minutes and the order of speaking and allocation of time shall be as follows:  ( a )\tthe arrangements for the statements, not including the Ministerial response, shall be in accordance with the arrangements contained in the table immediately below (to be read across, not down);  ( b )\tfollowing the statements, a Minister or Minister of State shall be called upon to make a statement in reply which shall not exceed 10 minutes; and  ( c )\tmembers may share time.          Gov      SF      Lab      Gov      SF       Mins    25    15    10    10    3           SD      Gov      SF      IPTG      Gov       Mins    10    10    3    9    10           SF      ITG      Gov      SF      OM       Mins    3    9    10    3    5     "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Are the proposed arrangements agreed? Deputies will be aware that I will take the in order and they have 30 seconds each. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  Not agreed. Energy companies are lining up to fleece customers again. There will be big increases after increases. The Government is steadfastly refusing to introduce an energy credit again in the budget. We need an urgent debate in this house about its failure to get a grip on the energy companies fleecing customers and on the wider cost-of-living crisis. We need an urgent debate on why the Government is refusing to introduce energy credits in the budget. This should happen preferably today, but certainly tomorrow it needs to happen. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Duncan Smith","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Duncan-Smith.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Duncan Smith  I am sure that the Taoiseach will join all of us in sending our thoughts to the communities of Donabate and Portrane with the breaking news that remains have found in the search for poor Daniel Aruebose.  I want to return to what we raised at the Business Committee last Thursday, which is a commitment from the Taoiseach at the earliest possible convenience to have a debate on Gaza, with the measures that are now being discussed in Europe and the fact that a detailed memo was apparently brought to Cabinet this morning. This is the global crisis of our time and we would like and need an urgent debate on Gaza in this House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  We have had two months away from each other and in that time, the genocide in Gaza has continued unabated. The Israeli campaign of ethnic cleansing has taken the lives of journalists and doctors and continues to take the lives of innocent Palestinian men, women and children. We have seen developments in recent days at European level. Over the summer, we have seen states take action and we need to discuss this urgently, as a House, to identify the concrete steps we can take as a State to stop this atrocity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Thousands of people came out onto the streets in August to demand justice for Harvey. They did so because they saw a young boy who was failed so horribly by the State. They did so because they saw the broken promises from Simon Harris, who made the promise in 2017 about no child having to wait longer than four months. They did so because they appalled at the failure of Simon Harris to meet the family after giving a commitment to do so. They also did so because Harvey symbolised the failure of this State in respect of so many children. Can we have a debate about that failure and about the failures of CHI in particular this week? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I want to raise the issue of the Minister with responsibility for school transport to come before the D\u00e1il to answer questions on the shambles of school transport all over the country.  Regarding other events all over the world and indeed in our own country, we as politicians, must unite against them, no matter where we come from in the political spectrum. Independent Ireland has written to the Ceann Comhairle asking for a minute's silence here today for Charlie Kirk, who was brutally assassinated last week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  Shame on you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  We ask for this not alone for Charlie Kirk but for every person or politician who has been attacked or threatened in any way while carrying out their duty. We ask to unite against the threat by standing here together with a minute's silence. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  What about Melissa Hortman? There was no minute of silence. The Deputy is an absolute disgrace. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  We move now to Deputy McDonald. Deputy Danny Healy-Rae is not in a technical group. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am in a group. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  You are but----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  No, you are not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  You are on this side of the House now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Healy-Rae, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  You are sitting on the wrong side of the House now. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  Since you closed down Bord na M\u00f3na in 2020----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Healy-Rae. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  -----the cost of electricity has gone up day after day. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Healy-Rae, please. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  What are you going to do about it, Taoiseach? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy Healy-Rae. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  Since you closed down Bord na M\u00f3na in 2020 the cost of electricity has gone up and we need to have a discussion about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Healy-Rae, please resume your seat. I ask Deputy McDonald to resume. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  What is the Government going to do about it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ged Nash","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Gerald-Nash.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ged Nash  Have a word with your brother. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Healy-Rae, please. Deputy McDonald proceed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I also propose an amendment to the Order of Business under Standing Order 35(3)----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Pose the amendment please, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  -----that we have an urgent debate on the issue of energy costs and the absolute need for energy credits to be extended and included in the budget on 7 October. Almost 500,000 customers have----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  No, Deputy McDonald, you are aware----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  -----received a letter telling them that they will face a hike----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy McDonald, you are aware that you are now abusing the process and I ask you to just pose the amendment. Pose what you wish to amend. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I have 30 seconds to state the amendment and speak to it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  You do not actually, not when posing the amendment. Please just pose the amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I have posed the amendment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  We need this debate. I thank the Ceann Comhairle for her efficiency in containing the conversation on the floor. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy McDonald. The amendment is posed and we will see. The Chief Whip to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Butler","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Mary-Butler.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of the Taoiseach (Deputy Mary Butler)  I appreciate the Ceann Comhairle's efficiency. The Business Committee met last Thursday at 11 a.m. There was no request for a debate on energy last Thursday. We will have another Business Committee meeting tomorrow at 11 a.m. and I can take on board all the requests that have been made. Yes, we will certainly have a debate or statements on Gaza in the next week or two. That was discussed last Thursday. We will certainly be able to facilitate this. The Minister is in the D\u00e1il this afternoon for statements on the disability strategy and speaking time is available if anybody would like to speak. I will see the Whips at 11 a.m. tomorrow and the business as of today stands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  What about the minute's silence? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  That is for the Business Committee tomorrow. Deputy Collins has received an email in that regard. Are the proposed arrangements for this week's business agreed? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":" Deputies","uri":null,"memberCode":null,"role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputies  Not agreed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Taoiseach's plan to withdraw energy credits in October's budget is a terrible one. Last week, almost half a million customers were informed by their energy companies that they would be hit with massive electricity bill hikes from next month. Irish households already pay among the highest electricity prices in Europe and now these energy companies squeeze struggling families again. Then along comes the Taoiseach to cancel the energy credits and he is effectively telling households, \"Tough, you are on your own.\" Surely, this latest barrage of electricity price hikes gives him pause for thought. Surely, he can see that people still need the support of these energy credits. He cannot leave households high and dry and must include energy credits in the budget on 7 October. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am surprised the Deputy used the term \"cancel\". We have cancelled nothing. Last year we had a particular cost-of-living package, and the previous year, given the impact of the post-Covid scenario and the inflationary spiral that went up as high as 10%. I also note that Sinn F\u00e9in is not challenging the energy companies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Neither are you, and you are the Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is giving the energy companies carte blanche . "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pearse Doherty","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Pearse-Doherty.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pearse Doherty  We did. We said----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Some of these companies are making significant profits. We need an engagement with the companies. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  Well, go and engage with them. You are in charge, are you not? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In particular, we should focus on the companies ensuring that people under pressure and on low incomes are treated appropriately. There will be supports in the budget for those most in need. We will be targeting resources towards those who will be impacted the most by the increase in energy prices. We have taken a decision on VAT to bring it down to 9%. We have retained that. We will also look at that again in the budget. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  I return to the Government\u2019s failure to provide for children. The thought of one child in homelessness is awful, but last month the number of children in homelessness in Ireland surpassed 5,000 for the first time - another shameful record. We see now more than 16,000 people altogether without a home. On the media this week, the Taoiseach sought to deflect blame from central government to local authorities, calling out councils for dragging their feet, for inertia and lack of proactivity on ensuring increased housing supply. However, there is so much that central government could do and we in Labour are calling on it to do two things that would address the scourge of child homelessness: pass Labour's homeless families Bill to ensure local councils must prioritise protection of children from homelessness, and second, reverse the Minister for housing's cuts to the tenant in situ scheme. What we are hearing from local authorities is they need more resources to enable them to activate a scheme that was supposed to keep families out of homelessness, namely, the tenant in situ scheme, which has in fact been almost entirely ineffective because it has been starved of resources. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  First, the composition of homelessness is much more complex now than it would have been in previous times in terms of those in emergency accommodation. I did not seek to deflect at all; I just made a very simple point. The national planning framework has been published. A lot of work went into that. A direction has gone to local authorities to rezone more land for housing. Some of the local authorities are displaying inertia and a refusal to rezone. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  It is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  It is not true. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  It is deflecting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputies, it is not a back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have spoken to some in respect of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  He does not even have his facts straight. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  It is not your question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I also made a point in respect of emergency accommodation. I met with Cork City Council, for example. It said to me that 26% of those on the emergency accommodation list in Cork have refused an offer of a house. The story is not as simplistic as articulated by the Deputy and others. I get that they have to do it from an Opposition perspective, but it is a bit more complex than is being told. These are issues we need to drill down on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  It is deflecting blame. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. Five seconds, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Some weeks ago, the Minister brought a memo to Government. Additional funding is being made available to local authorities to prioritise families in homeless situations to get homes. He allocated \u20ac50 million to do that about a fortnight ago or last week. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  Electricity costs are out of control, and we already have one of the highest electricity prices in Europe. We are approximately \u20ac350 more than the average. Now costs are being jacked up again. We have seen double-digit hikes by many of the electricity suppliers. That is putting even more pressure on families who are really struggling. It should not be that difficult to keep the lights on and to afford the basics such as food. So many families are struggling at the moment and there has never been a focus from the Government on driving costs down in the long term. Instead, this and previous Governments have focused on once-off and short-term measures. In fact, it gifted approximately \u20ac115 million through energy credits to second homes and holiday homes, which is a complete and absolute waste of public money. I welcome that the Taoiseach is now talking about targeted measures because that is exactly the approach the Social Democrats have been calling on for such a long time. Will he please tell me how he will target those measures, and how he will hold those energy companies to account as he previously stated? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Of course, we did much more than once-off payments in previous budgets. We have eliminated the cost of school books, which was a fairly dramatic intervention over the last two to three years. That is a permanent reduction in costs. The provision of hot school meals across all of our schools is a significant help and support to families, particularly those on lowest incomes. Child support payments help families on low incomes as well. There are also the working family payment and domiciliary care allowance increases last year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  What if you do not have children? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, it is not back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  On the energy costs in particular, we will take measures in the budget to alleviate and help and we have reduced the VAT, as the Deputy knows. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  A UN commission has now found that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, which was obvious to anyone with eyes to see over the course of the last almost two years. At the moment, the so-called ground offensive into Gaza city is continuing. It means the murder of men, women and children. This Government has thankfully recognised the genocide in words, but it has failed to act like there is a genocide. It continues to hear no evil and see no evil when it comes to the thousands of tonnes of munitions illegally going through our airspace on the way to Israel, and it continues to try to water down the occupied territories Bill. Due to the failure of western governments and the complicity of many, it is people themselves who are taking matters into their own hands. The Global Sumud Flotilla is an attempt to do that and to open a people's humanitarian corridor to Gaza. There are over 20 Irish citizens on board at the moment and yet the Government said nothing when there were two drone attacks on boats in that flotilla. Will the Taoiseach send a legal observer, not to participate in the flotilla, but to observe it and provide some security for those Irish citizens and others? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I do not accept the Deputy's assessment of the Government's response to the genocide in Gaza and the appalling carnage and slaughter of innocent children and civilians. It seems to me that from the get-go the Deputy's primary focus has been to drive a wedge between the Irish people and the Government as opposed to focusing on the atrocities themselves within Gaza and the responsibility of the Israeli Government in respect of those atrocities. The Deputy throws language about with a carelessness that is unacceptable, such as \"complicit in this\" and \"complicit in that\". This Government has taken initiatives on a whole range of fronts in respect of endeavouring to create leverage and pressure on Israel to stop the war, and also on Hamas to release all of the hostages, which should be done. The condition of those hostages now is quite shocking, but the slaughter of innocent children and the slaughter of residential units, housing, schools and health all point, as the UN commission has said, to genocidal behaviour. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The legal observers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I think the key is----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I call Deputy Michael Collins. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  This summer has been one of huge discontent and serious upset for farmers and landowners on the proposed greenway walk from Cork to Kinsale. I begin by saying that a walkway anywhere in our country has to be welcome, but with peaceful negotiations as was done in the world-renowned Sheep's Head and Beara Way. That is the model to do this, not the TII model with its sword over the head called CPO.  CPO has its used for infrastructural projects as a last resort, but to use CPO to grab land from farmers and landowners for recreational purposes is one step too far. This peaceful campaign in west Cork has opened up similar nightmares for landowners throughout the country who had or will have their lands taken from them from by TII with CPO for walkways in counties Mayo and Kerry and other parts of the country. Government policy is to mainly use State-owned land for greenway walks, but in the Cork to Kinsale case, 90% is being put on privately-owned farms and land, destroying in particular many farms, splitting them in two and making them unworkable. Will the Taoiseach stand with these landowners and force TII to drop CPO for any greenway negotiations going forward? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am not familiar with the particular background negotiations with TII. I have walked the Seven Heads peninsula walk, which was developed by the For\u00f3ige youth organisation, working with the farmers and those who owned the land in that area and with the local community. There was no talk of anybody. There was no TII; there was nothing. They just did it as a local community endeavour, and it has been one of the most enjoyable recreational walks that people come from all over the country to participate in. That is the kind of spirit that should inform any developments. Sometime I say to TII that it needs to ease up on the spec too. People want to retain the biodiversity. They want to retain the natural pathways. We do not need super spec in my view, or intrusions on the landscape either. I will certainly have a look at it and see what is happening there. Once you get into the CPO, you are in trouble in terms of any greenway. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aisling Dempsey  I ask the Taoiseach to engage with the Minister for Health and ask her to review and, indeed, expand the long-term illness scheme. It rightly acknowledges a number of chronic illness and conditions, but it fails to acknowledge many others, such as those living with serious mental health conditions over the age of 16, heart conditions such as sarcoidosis, rare diseases like factor V Leiden and autoimmune diseases such as Crohn's and colitis. These illnesses do not go away; they are managed for life.  Our drugs payment scheme is no doubt a huge source of relief for all families, capping medical expenses at \u20ac80 per month, but \u20ac80 per month for the rest of a person's life is a lot of money. This is an issue of fairness, equality, compassion and public health. Expanding the long-term illness list would ensure that those already carrying the weight of illness are not also carrying the weight of financial burden. I ask the Taoiseach and our Government to act on this and to update this outdated list and give dignity and support to every person living with a long-term illness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank Deputy Dempsey very much. I understand the case she is making. This has been a long-running scenario where successive governments have endeavoured to try to harmonise existing systems. The long-term illness scheme has survived numerous attempts by officialdom to eliminate it. However, in the past number of years, we have concentrated on reducing the level of the drugs payment scheme to \u20ac80, which was a significant reduction from where it was four years ago. As the Deputy said, however, there is a greater focus and profile on rare diseases now and we do have to examine that issue for those affected and impacted. I will talk to the Minister for Health on the Deputy's behalf. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  Seven years ago, a planning application was submitted for the greater Dublin drainage project, which went through swings and roundabouts and through the courts. A new planning application was put in, which was finally approved. It is going to impact over half a million homes, with tens of thousands of other homes awaiting delivery on foot of this, and yet it is being judicially reviewed. The applicant has a right to a judicial review, but I think what most of the public would be aghast at is that they do so at risk of no legal cost in terms of the application they are bringing that impacts so many people. I know reforms on judicial review are coming, but what I would like to know is when are the planning regulations going to be issued under the new planning Act in relation to the overall cost in cases like this? Can we go further? Are we delivering critical infrastructure in this country whereby if someone takes a judicial review against it, they might face the risk of legal costs? Are there circumstances in which the Attorney General could advise that we could stay within the Aarhus Convention but that there are circumstances in which legal costs could apply? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Some elements of the planning and development Bill relating to judicial review have been commenced but others in respect of costs have yet to be commenced. Very significant progress has been made on that and that should be imminent. We are waiting on amendments to come to Government on that.  On a broader level, Government is looking at all options, and I have asked the Attorney General and the Minister to look at the option of bespoke legislation to drive that project through because the common good is overwhelming here. It is shocking and unacceptable that such a key water project for so many families is being undermined and jeopardised. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathal Crowe","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cathal-Crowe.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathal Crowe  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  A lady called Aisling Thornhill from Farranree in my constituency - a mother of two children, a seven-year-old and a two-year-old, with her partner Graham - is dying and the only thing that will save her is CAR T-cell therapy. She has gone through all the therapies that she and her consultant can give her to this point. If she does not get the CAR T-cell treatment immediately, she will not see Christmas. This is a young mother with two young children. I have often come in here and argued with the Taoiseach and the Government parties. I am not doing that today. I sent the information to the Taoiseach's office, and so have her family and friends. I am pleading today. No mother's life should be at risk because of money. I am asking the Taoiseach to work with the Minister for Health and with me and the family to give Aisling a chance so that she can spend time with her family and children at Christmas and that she will have a future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank the Deputy for raising the issue and for the manner in which he raised it. Aisling's cousins have been in touch and have emailed me. I have spoken to the CEO of the HSE. It seems again to have been a kind of historic clinical issue about a certain age threshold for the application of CAR T-cell therapy or Kymriah, which is a specific type. In any event, there is an urgent clinical review under way today and I would be hopeful there will be a positive outcome insofar as that could be applied to Aisling's case. Obviously, there is a clinical review under way as we speak, and I will keep the Deputy informed on developments in respect of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Go raibh maith agat. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  First, I wish to express my condolences to the family of Patrick Gerard Murphy in west Cork. We are actually laying him to rest tomorrow morning. He would have been good friends with many of us here from Cork in particular, especially myself and Deputy Seamus McGrath in that we would have soldiered together on the council with him. He will be sorely missed.  As the Taoiseach knows, Patrick Gerard would have had an expertise in planning, particularly one-off housing and rural planning, but he would have believed in sustainable planning. The issue I want to raise with the Taoiseach today pertains to planning, particularly large-scale solar farms across east Cork and north Cork. From listening to other Deputies across the House, obviously, energy prices are spiralling, and people might think it is a bit silly of me to be raising it in this context. I am not saying in any way, shape or form that I am against any type of large-scale solar farm, but what I am asking for is that guidelines would be in place. At the moment, we have local authorities operating in the absence of guidelines, with nothing in their development plans and nothing to put structure around what are large-scale strategic applications for planning. I am asking that the Government puts this issue to the fore and consider introducing guidelines. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I thank Deputy O'Sullivan for raising the issue. I earlier articulated our deep sense of loss on the passing of Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy. He was a kind person who made such an impact on his community. I extend our deepest sympathies to his family.  In terms of the large-scale solar farms, first of all, on the energy mix, we do need more solar. There has been a welcome acceleration and growth of solar energy in the country. That is a good thing. On the other hand, there is an emerging issue in terms of the utilisation of very high-quality agricultural land for the purposes of large solar farms. I have asked the Minister with responsibility for the planning area, Deputy James Browne, to review the guidelines, or not so much review as initiate an examination of what guidelines are required. In other countries, they do grade land and then in respect of certain types of land, it is not permissible but other lands it is permissible. The Minister is going to look at that, and it will come back to Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joe Neville","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joe-Neville.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joe Neville  I would also like to reference Patrick Gerard Murphy. I knew Patrick as a fellow councillor. I went to many conferences with him over the years and had a pint and a bit of chat. He was always one for a bit of back-and-forth in the best way possible. He will be sadly missed. I was very sorry to hear about him yesterday.  What I want to reference today is Ireland's energy supply. As we know, it is one of the nation's key challenges.  Demand is rising, as was mentioned earlier in the context of the increase in our population. We are, quite rightly, phasing out fossil fuels and across the country people need certainty on supply and cost. In our programme for Government, we correctly identified the need to scale up investment in critical infrastructure in our electricity grid so as to make it advantageous to customers. While I know steps are in place, I am concerned that the pace of infrastructure delivery, like many facets of our economy, may not match the scale of generation coming on stream. Investment is needed. Apprenticeships need to be expanded and our grid needs to be overhauled. Can the Taoiseach confirm what steps the Government will prioritise in the coming months and in the budget to ensure that the commitments in the programme for Government on energy security, renewable integration and grid modernisation are delivered? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I appreciate very much the points the Deputy has made. He will recall that the national development plan, published before the summer, prioritised the energy grid. The CRU will engage with EirGrid. A combination of the two will result in investment which will probably be triple the level we had in the previous five years. That is necessary because of the population growth and the industry and household need. It is a key infrastructural issue. That is why we are focusing on prioritising infrastructure and making sure that we can invest in the future so that generations to come can have ready access to utilities, in particular electricity and energy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  Evan and Nadia Kavanagh and their three children are renters in Clondalkin. They are now at imminent risk of homelessness due to overholding on their notice of termination since 6 September. The landlord wants to sell to the local authority and applied through the tenant in situ scheme. The application was being processed and the landlord was then informed in July that because the funding had been exhausted, the purchase could not continue. The family do not have enough time on the list to be eligible for a council allocation. They have a child with severe special needs, which means that emergency accommodation is not appropriate. They simply have nowhere to go. So frustrated are they that went public over the summer and spoke to the Irish Independent . Evan made it clear that he is a working family man. He has always played by the rules. He has never done anything dishonest. He said, \"Now, when I needed the Government more than ever, I feel abandoned\". Will the Government provide additional funding to local authorities for tenant in situ purchases where the local authorities have requested it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The Minister has provided additional funding to local authorities. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  Not for the tenant in situ scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Some of it is for tenant in situ. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, it is not a back and forth. Taoiseach, you can take it back to the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will bring the Deputy's case back to the Minister. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  No additional funding has been provided for tenant in situ purchases. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy Catherine Connolly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  It is just not correct, Taoiseach. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Connolly  Over seven years ago, the Government made a very good decision to bring in a policy for sustainable fishing in the 6-mile nautical zone. The policy was to prohibit big boats, over 18 m, from fishing in that zone. Unfortunately, that decision was held invalid by the Court of Appeal on a very narrow ground. The Government went back to basics and had a consultation process to bring in another policy. It was announced in July that the Government intended to implement the new policy from 1 October. I cannot see where the policy directive is. I want to welcome the decision that was made to implement the new policy directive from 1 October so that we will stop the unsustainable fishing of sprat. Where is the policy directive? Can the Taoiseach guide me to it and assure me that it will be implemented from 1 October? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I engaged with the Ministers of State, Deputies Dooley and Christopher O'Sullivan, on this issue following the consultation. Legal advice was also sought. I understand a year was required to implement the policy. I will come back to the Deputy on the actual----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Connolly  It was to be eased in, but it is not----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Deputy, it is not a back and forth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I will come back to the Deputy on the specifics of what she has asked, in terms of the instrument and so on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  Every single year, there seems to be an issue with the school transport scheme and a last-minute collapse in arrangements. As a public representative, I am fairly fed up at this stage. There was a review last year, but things have not improved. In fact, in my view, it has never been worse. This issue does not just affect the child but also the family. I know of a family who were told four days before 1 September that they had no arrangement in place. The mother had spent 17 long years at home caring for her child and got a job, which she was due to start on 1 September. She now cannot start because she has no clarity as to when her child will get school transport. This needs real leadership from the Minister to ensure the Department of education and Bus \u00c9ireann get their act together and ensure there is school transport for all children in this country with special educational needs. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I understand about 170,000 children avail of services under the school transport scheme. I do not have the specifics of the case the Deputy raised but I will talk to the Minister in respect of the issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  As we are out of time, I propose to take Deputies Aidan Farrelly and Roderic O'Gorman, with 30 seconds each, and the Taoiseach to respond. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aidan Farrelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aidan-Farrelly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aidan Farrelly  I thank the Ceann Comhairle. We have record levels of child poverty and child and youth homelessness. We have really worrying waiting lists for children who require life-changing and life-saving medical procedures. We now also have 40,000 children on child waiting lists for cr\u00e8ches and early years education. Despite the Social Democrats offering constructive proposals, we are seeing an ignorance of the facts facing the Government with regard to children. There has now been a U-turn on a second tier of child benefit. Can the Taoiseach explain to us why there is a U-turn when the Government said in June that it was being considered? Why has it been ruled out when we need targeted measures in the budget to bring children out of poverty? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Roderic O'Gorman","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Roderic-O'Gorman.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Roderic O'Gorman  It is now four weeks since the school term started back. Like Deputy Sherlock, far too many primary and secondary school students in my constituency still do not have access to a school bus even though they meet the criteria. Students attending St. Peter's College in Dunboyne, the Catherine McAuley National School and Gaelscoil Thulach na n\u00d3g are still left hanging. Why is that every single August, the Department of Education cannot get this right? When will those kids get the school bus place they are entitled to under the criteria? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In response to Deputy Farrelly, there is no U-turn. There will be targeted measures in the budget in respect of children, in particular financial supports and the prioritisation of the issue of child poverty.  In relation to Deputy O'Gorman, I fully accept that we have a lot more to do in terms of special education. I went through this earlier in a longer reply. We need to ensure that every child and family knows they have a place and where they are going well in advance of the school year. There has to be a cultural ethos in the Department to enable that to happen. I understand the Ministers are working on that agenda. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"An tOrd Gn\u00f3 - Order of Business"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Motion","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Alan Dillon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Alan-Dillon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Climate, Energy and the Environment (Deputy Alan Dillon)  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann, pursuant to Article 29.5.2 of Bunreacht na h\u00c9ireann, approves the terms of the Agreement under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction (known as the 'BBNJ Agreement'), adopted at the United Nations in New York on 19th June, 2023 and signed by Ireland on 20th September, 2023 the text of which was laid before D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann on 16th September, 2025 subject to a Declaration pursuant to Articles 10(1) and 70 of the Agreement relating to the non-retroactivity of provisions regarding certain marine genetic resources and digital sequence information collected and generated prior to the entry into force of the Agreement. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Question put and agreed to."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction: Motion"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_11","debateType":"questions","bill":null,"showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Ceisteanna - Questions"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_12","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","counts":{"speechCount":24,"speakerCount":11},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 1 to 9, inclusive, together.  The Cabinet committee on housing last met on Wednesday, 3 September, and will meet again in the coming weeks. The committee works to ensure a cross-government approach to the implementation of our commitments regarding housing policy. Housing supply has increased significantly over the past number of years, with almost 148,500 new homes delivered since the start of 2020. More people are buying their first home than in any period in well over a decade, with 2024 seeing first-time buyer mortgage drawdowns of over 26,000, supported by Government-backed measures such as the first home and help to buy schemes. However, we know that we must do more and that the scale of delivery of housing needs to be significantly increased in the coming years.  This is why we have prioritised a range of far-reaching measures and the deployment of significant funding since coming into government. This includes the allocation of \u20ac1.4 billion in additional capital funding for housing in 2025, bringing the total capital funding for housing programmes this year to \u20ac7.5 billion to support the provision of new social and affordable homes, bringing vacant homes back into residential use, second-hand acquisitions to prevent vulnerable households falling into homelessness and continuing to support homeowners under the defective concrete blocks grant scheme.  We have revised the national planning framework to enable local authorities to zone a significantly higher quantum of land.  We are implementing the Planning and Development Act at speed to reduce delays and bring greater consistency, clarity and stability to the planning system. We have agreed reforms to rent pressure zones which will strengthen the rights of tenants while helping to stimulate much-needed investment and development over the longer term. We have initiated the process to regulate the short-term lets market to balance the needs of tourism with the aim of increasing long-term rental supply. We have taken action to drive down the cost of construction through new guidelines on apartment standards. We continue to support key delivery partners such as the local authorities and the Land Development Agency, which have a significant and central role to play in the scaling-up of our housing supply. We have also taken action to get things moving quickly, including the extension to planning permissions which are about to expire and the introduction of a single-stage approval process for social housing projects, up to a value of \u20ac200 million.  Housing delivery, along with infrastructure and utility investment to enable delivery at scale, is at the centre of the recently agreed national development plan, which sets out a total investment of \u20ac275.4 billion, including \u20ac28 billion for housing programmes. As the largest ever capital investment plan in the history of the State, it will create the building blocks we need to deliver thousands of new homes through upgrading our water and energy infrastructure, delivery of roads and providing better public transport. We understand that the housing challenge impacts at many levels of our society, but clearly the impact is most acute and difficult for those who are homeless. Last week, the Minister, Deputy Browne, announced the prioritisation of \u20ac50 million for housing acquisitions to support larger families with children and housing first clients to exit long-term homeless emergency accommodation into safe, secure and permanent homes.  Building on these measures already taken, we are now in the process of finalising a new national housing plan for the next five years and beyond. Key issues we are working through as we finalise the plan include the promotion of innovation in the construction sector, the need for private finance at scale to complement unprecedented levels of State funding and ensuring the viability of apartment delivery. We are working with our colleagues across Government to find the right mix of measures to address these challenges. The new plan will be published in the coming weeks and I am confident that we can build on our success to date and achieve further momentum across all different areas of housing delivery over the lifetime of this Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I think the Taoiseach's assertion of such confidence is gravely misplaced, but how and ever. I wish to raise the issue of the Clashduv Road flats in Togher, in the Taoiseach's own constituency. I visited them in May with an Teachta Donnchadh \u00d3 Laoghaire and Councillor Joe Lynch. As the Taoiseach knows, there are similar flats across the southside of Cork city, at Togher Road, Cherry Tree Road, Sycamore Place, Maple Place and Hazel Road. I am sure the Taoiseach is familiar with them. They date from the 1970s and are in a considerable state of disrepair. They are way beyond their lifespans. The balconies of the flats are in poor condition. There are issues with loose masonry. Iron bars surrounding balconies have rusted, and they are jagged and dangerous for children because of the condition they are in. There are really serious issues around damp, cold and mould in the flats, and there are a lot of respiratory issues among residents. Some of the blocks have subsidence and uneven floors. In many of the complexes, there are issues with rodents.  There is a dire and urgent need for regeneration of these complexes. The Housing Commission reported that these flats needed to be completely overhauled, at the very least. Cork City Council has agreed to knock another block of flats on Noonan's Road, yet the residents I met in Togher remain living in appalling conditions. They are very angry about that and understandably so. This is the Taoiseach's city. People are facing cold, damp, issues with rodents, cracks and hazardous fencing. I believe we need urgent regeneration of these complexes. Will the Taoiseach support this and will he ensure the funding is made available to the local authority to carry out that work? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I am taking this question on behalf of Deputy John Connolly. The issue of wastewater treatment plants in our rural towns and villages is one I have raised with the Taoiseach before. I refer in particular, however, to Ballycommon in Cloughjordan in north County Tipperary, which I know he will be aware of from previous discussions here in this Chamber. With the quite large level of investment coming from the national development plan into Irish Water, I appreciate that cities and large towns will have to take a certain level of priority in terms of the numbers of houses delivered, but I am worried about our smaller towns and rural villages being left behind.  In Ballycommon in north Tipperary, 34 houses could be built right now were it not for a lack of capacity in the system. Two developers there would build a plant if they got permission. In Cloughjordan, my own village where I live, we have not seen a private development since the mid-2000s. The council cannot build and new businesses often cannot connect. The housing estate that has developer-provided infrastructure cannot be taken in charge by the council because there is no capacity in the system. These are two examples of villages like many others right across rural Ireland. Will the Government commit to ensuring Uisce \u00c9ireann will provide a scheme of funding for these smaller towns and villages through national development funding and that it will not just be our larger towns and cities that will be looked at? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"S\u00e9amus McGrath","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"S\u00e9amus-McGrath.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy S\u00e9amus McGrath  At the outset, if I may, I will mark the passing of Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy from Cork. I served with Councillor Murphy for 17 years on Cork County Council. He was a great friend and colleague. His untimely passing is dreadfully sad for his family, friends and community. I wanted to add my voice to condolences here, and I thank the Ceann Comhairle.  I thank the Taoiseach for his update on the housing subcommittee and the housing plan. Downsizing options for people are a critical issue and come up quite a lot on the doorsteps. I hope there will be additional policy in the new, updated plan to provide additional downsizing options for people, whether that is a rightsizing scheme such as that run by Cork City Council being rolled out further across the country or suitable retirement-type, single-storey housing being provided for people. Obviously, downsizing needs to be on a voluntary basis and entirely up to the individual, but many people whose incomes have reduced find themselves living in larger properties that were traditionally family homes with additional running and maintenance costs. These people want options but, unfortunately, they are not there at present. I think this has to be a core element of the new housing plan. I ask the Taoiseach to please take that back to the committee and work on it as part of the upcoming plan. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  Last week, the Minister for housing, James Browne, approved significant equity loan funding for the development of 85 new cost-rental homes in Belmayne in Dublin 13 in my constituency. As the Taoiseach knows, many renters find themselves earning too much to qualify for social housing and are not able to afford the market rents. This project and funding, therefore, is very welcome and I would love to see far more of these projects and certainly more affordable housing as well.  On cost rental, is it possible for the Cabinet committee to look at a pathway to ownership in the context of this scheme? I refer to cases where people have proven themselves capable over time of being able to continue and maintain paying those rents. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  Housing is the singular issue of this D\u00e1il and this generation. The new planning framework has gone to the local authorities. What has been the response from the local authorities and what initiatives will the Government take to ensure its instructions to increase the rezoning of land will be carried through at a local level? The development of wastewater treatment plans, and developer-led wastewater treatment plants, would serve small towns and villages very well, as Deputy O'Meara pointed out. There is a pent-up demand for development in small towns and villages but the problem is infrastructure. Of course, there is also the aspect of increasing our energy infrastructure. I know the Government is putting huge resources into development of the grid and the production of electricity, as well as looking at the off-site construction solutions that can ramp up supply rapidly in Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ivana Bacik","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","memberCode":"Ivana-Bacik.S.2007-07-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ivana Bacik  We know the level of homelessness is at record highs. The key to tackling homelessness and the housing crisis is ensuring increased supply, but the number of planning permissions for new housing is falling and house prices and rents are rising. We were originally led to believe the Government's new housing plan would be published over the summer. It was then delayed, and now it is said it will be later this year. When will the Government's plan be published?  Specifically on the Land Development Agency, a report from the Department of Finance has found the agency will only make a small contribution, it seems, to the Government's housing targets. Can the Taoiseach confirm how many homes will be delivered by the LDA this year and next year? Will the Government resource it to ramp up supply, as we in the Labour Party have proposed?  On the student housing strategy, there has again been a delay in publishing it. Yet at this time, as freshers' weeks are in place across the country, we are seeing students struggling to find a secure place to rent at any sort of affordable price.  When will we see a student accommodation strategy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"James Geoghegan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"James-Geoghegan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy James Geoghegan  In relation to the SPV structure for the Dublin city task force, I want to ask when will that be established. Is legislation necessary, and, if so, when will that legislation come? Obviously, all of that relates to the Dublin city task force and a key part of that is getting over-the-shop living in Dublin city centre. Some of that work is under way on a piloted basis on Middle Abbey Street by the Dublin City Council teams but what we need to see is a wholesale approach of getting people living in the city and a mixed typology of housing in the city centre. There are a lot of good things taking place in Dublin at present, such as getting the fruit market open. There will be a tender out for the library in the Parnell cultural quarter, but we have get more people living in the city centre. I need to see that level of urgency when it comes to getting the SPV structure. Hopefully, the budget will be supportive of the work that the Dublin city task force will be doing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We really have to give consideration to housing adaptation grants and to look at them properly. We know they have been reviewed. Both the thresholds and the amounts paid have been increased but this does not cover the cost of building. I am talking in particular about those who fall into disability, whether down to old age, accidents, or children coming of age and needing a greater level of supports. We have all had these sorts of issues and occasionally got them across the line, but every year we have a case where the local authority runs out of funding. It stops taking applications and we all try to make representations on behalf of those worst cases. We need to get a system that works.  We still need to update the situation in relation to CAS funding as regards disabilities. I have spoken to the Taoiseach previously about St. John of God approved housing body not being able to draw down the money it could previously. While there have been solutions to some of the issues, we need that dealt with.  When are we to see the rural one-off housing review report, which last summer was with the Attorney General, because we know the issues that exist in rural areas in relation to people not being able to get planning permission for necessary housing? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  I do not know how the Taoiseach has done it but he has pulled off an amazing feat of illusion. Somehow the Taoiseach has normalised the housing crisis. I want to be clear that it is not normal for people to be still living in the back bedrooms of their parents' homes. It is not normal that rents have skyrocketed and that most young people feel they will not be able to buy their own home. It is not normal to have 16,000 citizens of this country homeless, as we speak, and over 5,000 children, at this moment, staying in emergency accommodation.  It is also not normal to knowingly and willingly push more people into homeless accommodation but that is exactly what the Government has done by scrapping the tenant in situ scheme. I heard what the Taoiseach said to Deputy \u00d3 Broin a few minutes ago. That is exactly what the Government has done. It has tied the hands of local authorities in relation to the tenant in situ scheme. The Government actually got something right in the last term by introducing this scheme. What does the Government do when it gets something right? It pulls the plug. I ask that the Government reinstates fully the tenant in situ scheme and gives local authorities the means and the ability to purchase homes to stop families and children going into homelessness. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Since the Government lifted the eviction ban in April 2023, more than 20,000 households have got eviction notices because their landlord wants to sell. At the time, the Government promised renters that they would be protected with the tenant in situ scheme. If they were on HAP or RAS and their landlord was willing to sell to the council, the council would buy their home. That has turned out to be a lie.  Just over 2,500 households benefited from the scheme before the Government gutted it less than two years after it started. The results are seen in the homelessness figures - a massive rise from 12,000 in March 2023 to over 16,000 today, including over 5,000 children. According to the latest figures, in quarter 2 of 2024, 349 families were prevented from entering homelessness as a result of the tenant in situ scheme and in quarter 2 of 2025, that was down to 122. Will the Taoiseach take emergency action, reinstate the eviction ban, and reimplement the tenant in situ scheme and properly fund it? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There are a lot of questions there. At the outset, I will say that Cork City Council has a good record generally in terms of regeneration. Particularly in one half of that Togher area, there was very successful early regeneration but, in fairness, it did not cover the Cherry Tree Road side or the Clashduv Road Flats. I would, of course, support the regeneration of those flats and, indeed, Noonan's Road, which has been awaiting regeneration for quite some time. Councillors have been particularly involved in that. We will continue to support regeneration.  In response to Deputy O'Meara's point, we have had discussions with Irish Water. I referenced the Cloughjordan case as illustrative of the need to facilitate developer-led wastewater treatment plants in small rural villages and towns because Irish Water has readily acknowledged that it will not be able to get those towns and villages notwithstanding the enormous allocations that we have given to Irish Water. There has to be pragmatism and realism, but it would oversee the construction and installation of those wastewater treatment plants and then would have a monitoring scenario with local authorities in respect of their efficacy and so on. That is something we are pushing strongly. We will get to a situation where that happens and that would release some housing, in particular, across rural Ireland.  Deputy McGrath is correct. Cork City Council was probably one of the first councils to develop a very innovative approach to downsizing and it won a national award for the scheme on the Skehard Road. This was where people moved out of existing three-bedroom or four-bedroom properties that they owned and downsized by agreement. As a result, they had some extra personal funding. In any event, it worked well. That should continue all over the country as an option because we have not used existing housing stock optimally. We have to continue to look at ways of incentivising the utilisation of existing housing stock. Airbnb has absorbed an awful lot of existing housing stock in cities as well to the detriment of the rental market and the residential and housing market.  In response to Deputy Brabazon in terms of the cost-rental pathway to ownership, it is early days yet in terms of building up cost rental as one particular strand within a menu of options for people endeavouring to get housing, either at affordable rent or at affordable purchase cost. That is something we will continue to keep under review.  Deputy Daly raised a number of issues. The wastewater treatment plants issue was similar to that raised by Deputy O'Meara. On the planning framework, it is the case that we need greater speed from the local authorities in respect of following through on the planning framework and they need to rezone more land because the ESRI is saying the Government has adopted a 50,000 per annum assessment of need. That is a needs-based target and we have to work out how we get there. The ESRI is saying we need 50,000 a year. Some are saying we need 60,000. That cannot be done without rezoning and yet it is clear to us that certain CEOs are humming and hawing about rezoning. I have been talking to councillors and proposals have not come to the table. I understand Dublin City Council is saying that it will not rezone and that it has enough land. I believe Fingal is in a similar situation.  There is a housing crisis out there. In response to Deputy Ward, I have not normalised anything. I am very clear about this. The cost of housing is excessive for young couples. That is why we need to rezone land and get more houses built and that has to happen over a ten-year period to get on top of the situation. We have moved from approximately 20,000 in 2019 or 2020 to 32,000, 33,000 or maybe 34,000 a year. That was a big shift from 2020 but we have to go much further than that. That needs both public sector and private sector investment. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  Dropping the 40,000----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy Daly is also correct in terms of the development of the grid and off-site and modern methods of construction. We are driving that because that will also be key in accelerating the construction of housing.  On the rezoning issue, there are legislative options available to the Minister to mandate - he has already instructed, but to go ahead and get it done - but, ideally, the councillors, with the officials, should do it. There will be engagement between the Minister and me and CEOs of county councils to drive that agenda.  Deputy Bacik raised the issue of homelessness and the new housing plan. The new housing plan will be published within the next number of weeks. It made sense that we would get the national development plan done first in terms of having the capital framework over the next five years for the public sector investment underpinning housing announced.  We have not waited for the plan. We have taken measures that, ordinarily, would have ended up in the plan, such as the rent pressure zone review, the change in the apartment criteria and the national planning framework. There is also the initiative the Minister has taken in respect of homelessness, including the \u20ac50 million he announced last week for acquisitions to take families off the homeless list through a more direct approach. I will come back to the Deputy on the student accommodation strategy.  The LDA has a significant pipeline. Although I do not have the exact figures with me, thousands of houses will come onstream in the next number of years. Some significant advance work has been done on particular sites that the LDA has acquired and completed plans and designs for them. As the Deputy knows, it has completed significant projects and there are more to come. There are aspects of that finance report that I do not entirely agree with. The LDA will still have a significant contribution to make, along with local authorities and affordable housing bodies.  In response to Deputy Geoghegan, work is under way on the structure for the implementation of the Dublin city task force, and that is continuing. When we have the details, we will come back to the House in respect of that.  Living over shops in our cities is key and that also applies to the living city initiative. The existing scheme is quite limited and has had limited impact, so it is under review. We have had some discussions on that and apart from any task force, it would apply to a number of cities. There are also towns that could do with commercial conversions of over-the-shop accommodation to residential. The future in many urban centres will have to be more residential. The city living experience is changing.  Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa referred to the housing adaptation grants. I have spoken to the Minister and I am well aware that we have had very substantial grants. I would make the point to everybody that there has never been more capital allocated to housing and to this area. It is enormous funding. We are at the limits of growth in public expenditure and it is significant in terms of the overall fiscal framework. The adaptation grants are very important for senior citizens and people with disabilities.  The rural one-off housing guidelines are necessary. The Minister is working to update them because we need to give greater options to people living in rural Ireland, particularly those living on their own land, given the cost of housing. We need to ensure they are in a position to develop housing for themselves. Given the advances that have been made in wastewater treatment facilities, this is something that should be accommodated.  I have dealt with the question from Deputy Ward. We are not normalising anything. We are very clear that we need consistent and sustainable investment in all aspects of housing in the time ahead.  In response to Deputy Murphy, if we maintained the eviction ban, we would suffocate supply and we would have fewer houses. We are not going with the Deputy's agenda in many respects because we think his agenda would be even more damaging and would not ensure an increase in housebuilding, particularly in the private sector.  The tenant in situ scheme has been very significant in the past two years. It needed refinement so that it is not used by councils as an excuse to just acquire instead of build. It has to be focused and targeted at those most in need. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Government has run out of money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It was never meant for the landlords to sell. The focus was always on tenants who were in danger of being made homeless. Examples have emerged. For example, in some local authorities, no sooner was a house acquired than enormous funds were immediately put into retrofitting it and so on. That was never the original objective of the scheme. It was to get houses acquired to stop them from being sold and to stop someone from being made homeless. Some councils did not operate the scheme as it should have been operated. I know the Opposition just wants to keep on throwing money at every scheme and not review or examine it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  It is a good scheme. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There are issues that the Minister has examined. He found things that, in our view, were not in accordance with the original objectives of the scheme. The scheme has not been shelved or dropped, as has been suggested. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  The Government has run out of money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  My council has run out of money, the city council has run out of money, Carlow and Kilkenny county councils have run out of money and Fingal County Council has run out of money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Many cases were raised with regard to city councils and I tested this with one or two. In some cases that were raised in the House, they got sorted. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Dublin councils have run out of money. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Hold on a second. They got sorted because the council could sort it. They are not helpless either. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The Government has strangled the scheme. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cabinet Committees"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_13","debateType":"question","bill":null,"showAs":"Cabinet Committees","counts":{"speechCount":68,"speakerCount":13},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Ceisteanna - Questions"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I propose to take Questions Nos. 10 to 16, inclusive, together.  The Cabinet committee on children and education oversees the implementation of programme for Government commitments in the area of children and education. It receives detailed reports on identified policy areas, such as child poverty, well-being and education. The membership of the Cabinet committee on children and education comprises the Taoiseach, T\u00e1naiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade, and Defence and the Ministers for Finance, Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation, Children, Disability and Equality, Health, Social Protection, Education and Youth and Housing, Local Government and Heritage.  The programme for Government contains many important commitments intended to improve the lives of all children, especially those children who need our help most. These commitments include: setting an ambitious child poverty target; progressively increasing the child support payment; expanding eligibility for the fuel allowance to families in receipt of the working family payment; and exploring a targeted child benefit payment.  Just last week, the Minister for Social Protection and I published the new child poverty target. The target is that, by 2030, no more than 3% of children should be living in consistent poverty. This would be the lowest figure in our history and would put us among the very best performers in Europe. That said, no figure is acceptable in terms of any child being in consistent poverty. Investment in education is central to this work to address child poverty and disadvantage. The Government\u2019s vision for education is to deliver a world class education system that breaks down barriers and ensures every child can achieve their full potential. That is why we remain committed to building on the work of the DEIS programme, which, since 2006, has been operating to tackle educational disadvantage. We are looking at a DEIS plus programme to support schools in areas with the most deprivation and disadvantage.  The Cabinet committee meets quarterly and met for the second time recently. It will meet again in the period ahead. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mary Lou McDonald","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Mary-Lou-McDonald.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mary Lou McDonald  I want to raise the current situation of Gaelscoil Col\u00e1iste Mhuire. As the Taoiseach knows, it is located on Parnell Square in Dublin. This school was at the centre of a shocking and very violent attack in November 2023. The ramifications of that day are still deeply felt within the school community emotionally and, in some cases, physically. In the aftermath of this horrific event, it was hoped there would be a renewed urgency in delivering a new, long overdue and much-needed permanent school building, something that has been promised for years and years. Despite false deadlines, hopes and promises, this has yet to happen. Construction on the school has been delayed again.  Gaelscoil Col\u00e1iste Mhuire is due to move temporarily to accommodation on Cathal Brugha Street. It is an interim solution to a long-term problem, bringing more questions than answers. When will all the necessary works be completed to allow the school to move to the proposed temporary building on Cathal Brugha Street? Can the Taoiseach confirm that the school will have exclusive and full use of the temporary premises? Most importantly of all, when will the building of the long-awaited and much-needed school building recommence? There cannot be further delays. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ryan O'Meara","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ryan-O'Meara.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ryan O'Meara  I would like to raise a number of cases that have arisen in Nenagh recently regarding school transportation for special classes. A number of new classes opened this year at second level. Three families are in contact with me who, two or three years ago, enrolled their children in the closest available school at the time, which is now their most appropriate school place. However, they are being told by the school transportation section that they are not entitled to school transport because there is a vacancy in a closer school. There seems to be a way to work this out. We are getting letters from schools, confirmation from parents and so on, but we need to examine the policy. We are opening more and more special classes. There are a considerable number opening in north Tipperary this year and we expect more next year. In cases where children are already settled in their most appropriate school environment, families should not have to go through this rigmarole of getting on to TDs or schools to get letters to fit the criteria and a technical policy. We should be able to examine the policy and get that ironed out while these school places continue to be expanded. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aisling Dempsey  The programme for Government committed to reducing childcare costs to \u20ac200 per month per child.  Families across the country are under financial pressure. It is imperative that this commitment is delivered on within the lifetime of this Government. I urge the Taoiseach to ensure it remains a key focus of the Cabinet committee on children and education. Affordable childcare----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Which commitment? Was it childcare? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Aisling Dempsey","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Aisling-Dempsey.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Aisling Dempsey  Childcare, yes. Affordable childcare is not only essential for parents, but also for workforce participation, equality and the well-being of children. I appreciate it is complex and I appreciate the work already undertaken by the Minister, Deputy Norma Foley, to realise this commitment but could the Taoiseach outline any progress to date and when we can expect further progress? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Ardagh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Catherine-Ardagh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Ardagh  I join my colleagues in expressing sympathy to the family of Patrick Gerard Murphy, who was a friend to a lot of us.  Today, I raise the issue of mild general learning disability schools. Department of Education and Youth officials have a widespread misunderstanding of exactly what they do and they are now being forced to redesignate. There are 29 mild schools in the country, 14 of which cater for children at a post-primary level. They are appropriate school settings for children with mild general learning disabilities and the prove of this is in the pudding with 95% of graduates from mild schools entering the workforce, compared to just 30% of those with a mild diagnosis in the general population who go on to enter the workforce.  One such school in my area is Scoil Eoin. It is a wonderful school with fantastic staff but it wants to keep its designation. It is really unfair and it is not inclusive to change the designation of mild schools to more complex schooling. Will the Taoiseach commit to ensuring these schools will not have their designation changed on them by the Department? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Tom Brabazon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Tom-Brabazon.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Tom Brabazon  Since my election to this House, I have been contacted by numerous principals, teachers and parents of primary school children who say they are finding the management of the capitation grant of \u20ac224 per pupil becoming increasingly difficult. The increasing energy costs, insurance costs and other operational costs have increased the financial burden on schools and stress on school principals, in particular. Can this be examined in the context of the upcoming budget? The ask of some of the principals is that there be an additional \u20ac75 per pupil in the grant. Could that be considered? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Erin McGreehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","memberCode":"Erin-McGreehan.S.2020-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Erin McGreehan  The Government has done an awful lot of work on bringing the cost of education down with schemes like free meals and free books. However, another cost that has been placed on parents trying to get their kids back to secondary school is really expensive laptops for each child. Laptops cost from \u20ac500 to \u20ac700 and even more, and every child who starts secondary school - in the schools I am familiar with - have this cost now. That is a huge expense on families. Yes, we have taken away one burden but the education system has put another burden on top of that. If you have a couple of children in school, and children are children so laptops break, there will be quite an expensive run on laptops every few years.  Will there be research into screen time and using laptops for homework and exams. Everything that is done on laptops for children as young as 12 up to 17 years of age. Has the Department of Education and Youth conducted research? The old pen and paper is disregarded and pupils are now on screens constantly, along with that huge expense. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  Last week, the Taoiseach published an op-ed in the Irish Independent declaring that the time to end child poverty is now. That sentiment is very welcome but his analysis was incomplete. Yesterday, my party leader rightly pointed out that consistent child poverty has doubled in the past two years to 8.5% when the Government's target is 3%. Earlier this month, the ESRI published a report that one in every five children - more than 225,000 - are now in poverty when housing costs are taken into account.  The Taoiseach said earlier that he is committed to employment and economically sustainable finances but what good is employment if it is the most unequal market income in the developed world? How sustainable is a doubling of child poverty? At a webinar on child poverty held by the Children's Rights Alliance last week, the deputy Secretary General of the Department of Social Protection rightly said: \"If a family does not have access to secure and affordable housing, it is almost impossible to provide the services required to lift them out of poverty.\" Will the Taoiseach and his sub-committee outline the targeted approach to child poverty, including housing? Will he acknowledge the devastating role his housing policies, that he has voted for over the previous decade, have played in escalating child poverty? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-O'Sullivan.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan  I raise the issue of childcare with the Taoiseach as well. Mary Geary's Childcare is one of the largest providers in the country. It is actually based in Carrigtohill, which is in Deputy O'Connor's constituency, but many of the families who use it reside in my constituency. It has 450 children from 300 families. The parents of those children were recently faced with a fee hike of 34%. This is because the provider decided to remove itself from the public core funding model. It did this reluctantly because there is a situation where some of these large providers are capped at a certain level, which I think is in the region of \u20ac750,000, which they cannot go over. This is an example of a large provider but the pressure that is put on us locally in terms of families trying to source alternative childcare is enormous and has been felt deeply.  A survey carried out online recently by Indeed, the hiring company, where 1,000 parents were surveyed with 70% saying that childcare accessibility has affected their ability to work and one quarter of all respondents finding they either had to cut their hours or rearrange their work schedule to accommodate the childcare gap. This is now more than a family issue; this is an economic issue. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  The discussion about the State failing children will dominate the coming D\u00e1il term but there is no greater failure than the State losing track of and failing children who it is meant to be taking care of. Just a couple of hours ago, we heard that the body of Daniel Aruebose has been found. We know he went missing four years ago, when he was just three years old. He would have been seven now. Incredibly, when reading the story, it appears the State became aware he was missing because of checks carried out on social welfare payments. What does it say about the nature of the State that better track is being kept of social welfare payments than vulnerable children?  Tragically, Daniel is far from the only child to fall through the cracks. Kyran Durnin has still not been found. In 2023, 29 young people known to Tusla died. Earlier this week, a school principal said there are huge gaps and holes in the system and that no one is looking for children who are not turning up to school, which is incredible. What will be done to ensure we stop failing children in this way? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I raise the case of Daniel Aruebose as well and the fact that his remains have been found in north Dublin. It is incredible that a three-year-old boy would go missing from State care. I want to express my deepest sympathies to the relatives of this small boy. Daniel has been failed by the State. It is horrific and damning that we have a situation where the State was searching for the remains of two boys who were either in State care or known to State care and were no longer being tracked by State care. Daniel is among 254 children who have died in the past ten years either in State care or known to State care. Until yesterday, he was among dozens of children who are missing currently from State care.  The children's ombudsman has blasted the lack of structures the State has provided to properly investigate the deaths of vulnerable children. He stated there were no statutory powers to investigate these deaths and no powers to compel information from public bodies and services. We also have had the news that Tusla will conduct well-being checks into 42,000 children whose cases were closed during the Taoiseach's Government's Covid restrictions. That is a very serious situation about that Government's handling of the Covid crisis. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The fact there is not a proper investigation with statutory powers to investigate those is absolutely wrong as well. What funding will the Taoiseach provide Tusla to make sure it can do the work to investigate those closed cases? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Will the Taoiseach provide statutory powers to investigate these shocking deaths? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I also add my voice to the two cases that have been spoken: Kyran Durnin and Daniel Aruebose. The only good news is that at least Daniel's body was found. We are talking about an absolutely tragic set of circumstances and families who had engaged with Tusla.  I have no doubt we all know and are aware of the issues. We know that we need to make sure that, first of all, we have the correct frameworks and protocols for child protection, and that they are then adhered to. There is no doubt we need reviews in these two cases. First and foremost, anyone with information should go to the Garda, but we also need reviews to be carried out, and not behind closed doors. We must ensure that learnings are learnt and less of this can happen in the future, because it is disastrous.  I have spoken here many times previously of the failure to intervene early with families and those who need support. What was brought up at the children's committee was the idea of specialist public health nurses, which was contained within the early years policy framework but was not followed up. The idea is that there would be an initial positive engagement with families involving screening----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  -----so if there is a need for resources, they could be put in early before things become disastrous or tragic. In some cases, it is all about child protection. We need absolute supports and protection of the child. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  We are failing at this point. We must look back and learn so we know where we must go in the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The time for questions to the Taoiseach will conclude at 4.33 p.m. The Taoiseach should bear that in mind when he responds. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  In response to Deputy McDonald, the issue with Gaelscoil Chol\u00e1iste Mhuire was a contractual one. It was not a case of the Government pulling the plug or anything like that. The Deputy and I know that. I will ask the Minister to communicate directly with her. I presume she has been in touch with the Minister for education on the matter and also on the use of Cathal Brugha Street. It is an interim solution. The situation is very unsatisfactory. My understanding from the last time we discussed this is that it is a contractual disagreement.  Deputy O'Meara raised school transport. He is absolutely correct. No one should have to go through that rigmarole. Common sense and flexibility should apply. I will speak to the Minister in respect of the issues he raises.  Deputy Dempsey spoke about affordable childcare. Much progress has been made to date. There was a major issue with places this time round. We are always trying to balance the number of places, access to places, cost, and support for staff. We will have good proposals again coming forward and substantial moneys being made available to the joint labour committee for an increase, but developmental career pathways for people working in childcare is still an issue.  Deputy Ardagh raised the proposal by the Department of education to redesignate 29 schools, which I heard about in recent days. I will pursue that with the Minister. These are very important schools, which fulfil a very clear purpose. I am aware of them in my own constituency as well. A different approach should be adopted. I will have to talk to the Minister for education in respect of this, as well as the Minister of State with responsibility for special education. The school the Deputy referenced in her constituency is Scoil Eoin.  I agree with Deputy Brabazon that capitation is a significant issue. We did increase it significantly during and after Covid to levels that had not previously been seen but I acknowledge that, nonetheless, the cost of living impacts on schools as well, in particular energy costs.  Deputy McGreehan made a point about research into the advent of technology and tried and trusted methods of education. A lot of research has been done which shows that technology is not all it is made out to be in terms of the development of the child, the learning process and creativity, but it can be a significant additional aid to learning. We have to work with schools on how to best ensure a reduction in costs for parents in particular, given the cost of iPads. Mechanisms can be developed in that regard. There are limits to public expenditure. We have done great work in reducing costs in recent years, but there are limits to what we can do.  Deputy Hayes's party specialises in articulating that life in Ireland is miserable. That tends to be the----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I never said that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is how the party goes about it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I did not say that. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Everything is bad. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  The Taoiseach should not put words in my mouth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I am not putting words in his mouth. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I did not say it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  What he is saying is that everything has doubled \u2013 unemployment----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I am quoting the ESRI. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  He said it is the most unequal employment market in the world----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  The Government funds the ESRI. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  -----at a time when we had 500,000 extra jobs in five years. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  The OECD brought us that information. The Department of Finance gives it to us. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes, but who has the highest school completion rates in Europe? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  I told the Taoiseach about the----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Who has the better progression rates? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Deputy Hayes should please allow the Taoiseach to address the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  This country has. All I am saying is that we should have a bit of balance. I know the Deputy might be a bit, you know - but he should take it handy. A bit of balance would be appropriate in terms of the different narratives. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin Hayes","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoin-Hayes.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin Hayes  The Taoiseach is not answering the question. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  We have a lot of things to do. I have always acknowledged that.  We had a national child poverty summit recently. Deputy Hayes might be aware of that.  I can inform Deputy O'Sullivan that approximately 90% of providers are in the scheme at the moment. Some did opt out. I have spoken to the Minister for Children, Disability and Equality, Deputy Foley, who has arrived beside me in the Chamber. There is a cap of \u20ac750,000 for the larger users. If fees are going up by 34% that will have a big impact on the community for the 450 children the Deputy referred to. It seems that some people are going out into the private market thinking they can get that, which is a problem. It is regrettable if people leave the scheme. They should do everything they possibly can to stay in it for the benefit of the parents, and work with the Department in that regard.  Deputies Murphy and T\u00f3ib\u00edn raised the discovery of Daniel today. I do not accept the automatic impulse to blame the State. There needs to be a better analysis of this in advance of jumping to blame. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  We should know whether it has been researched or investigated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn used a phrase which I wrote down referring to a three-year old boy who went \"missing from State care\". This is his classic propagandising of a situation. It is regrettable that he would adopt such a cynical attitude, because that boy did not go missing while in State care. Does the Deputy accept that? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I accept that he was not tracked by State care. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  No, I am not asking Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn that. Does he accept he did not go missing while in State care? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  I accept that his case was closed----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  Could the Taoiseach address his remarks through the Chair? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I apologise. I should have done it through the Chair. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We are over time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  The point I am trying to make is----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  There needs to be a structure to investigate these cases. The ombudsman says there is not. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  Yes, but the chair of the national review panel gave a very robust articulation of its role, and the effectiveness of its role. There are ongoing issues in terms of legislation and so on that can be progressed, but that should not be conflated with what happened with Daniel. We need to await the outcome and get the facts first before we jump to conclusions. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The ombudsman said there is not a statutory organisation to get the facts. That is a damning statement. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I have observed Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn's position on this for quite some time, and the overriding objective seems to be to blame Tusla for every child in the country who goes missing. That is wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Is there any responsibility? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  There can be wrongdoing or neglect in some cases but Deputy T\u00f3ib\u00edn raises it in every case. That is wrong. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  No. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  It is unfair to those working in Tusla and to social workers. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  We will conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  That is what I believe. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  Does the Taoiseach know that Tusla lost track of this boy? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  The Taoiseach is not being correct. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Specialist public health nurses----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The time is up, so we are moving on. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Martin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Martin.D.1989-06-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" The Taoiseach  I apologise to Deputy \u00d3 Murch\u00fa. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Is f\u00e9idir teacht ar Cheisteanna Scr\u00edofa ar www.oireachtas.ie. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":" Written Answers are published on the Oireachtas website. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Cabinet Committees"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_14","debateType":"statement","bill":null,"showAs":"National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030: Statements","counts":{"speechCount":39,"speakerCount":34},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Norma Foley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Norma-Foley.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Norma Foley)  I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the opportunity to mark a major milestone - the recent launch of Ireland's National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. It was fitting that we launched it in the Round Room in the Mansion House, the venue of the First D\u00e1il, and it is here in the Chamber of the Thirty-fourth D\u00e1il that, with the support of colleagues, some of the key aims and ambitions in the strategy will be actioned in the coming years.  I was really taken by the phrase used by David, one the participants in the awareness campaign for the national human rights strategy for disabled people. He said: \"Listen to us instead of telling us what we need.\" For my part, this is at the very heart of what I want this strategy to be about, which is the aspirations, the ambitions and the lived experience of people with disabilities.  Every effort has been made to ensure people with disabilities steered, shaped and structured this strategy. There were focus groups, surveys, interviews and town hall meetings, online and in-person, throughout the country. Expert interviewers were also used to access the voices of people who are seldom heard from, such as children with disabilities and people with intellectual disabilities.  In some instances, people were able to communicate not just with mouth words but with facial expressions, body movements, sound and assistive technology. I know full well there are always means to communicate if we are truly prepared to listen and to hear. In reality, this strategy has come from the people who matter most: those who live every single day with disability.  After all of the consultation, what was identified? The top three issues were access to health and social care, having enough money to cover the extra costs related to disability, and being able to avail of and use public or private transportation easily. There is an unwavering focus in this strategy on clear and concrete actions which people with disabilities want prioritised, rather than just looking at it from an official and often siloed perspective. The objective is to look at issues from a whole-of-life perspective. As one disabled person brilliantly put it, \u201cA person\u2019s life is not divided into Government Departments.\" It is, therefore, fitting that the name given to this first ever national human rights strategy for disabled people was the name requested and promoted by people with disabilities themselves. They wanted a clear human rights focus in this strategy, beginning with the title. I know Shakespeare often mused, \u201cWhat\u2019s in a name?\u201d, but I fundamentally believe, and agree with people with disabilities, that names, language and, in this instance, titles are important because they set the agenda and they carve out the vision we wish to achieve.  The strategy is structured around five core areas: inclusive learning and education; employment; independent living and active participation in society; well-being and health; and transport and mobility. I will briefly outline the ambition behind each of these areas. The first area, pillar 1, is inclusive learning and education. We have made progress in recent years in terms of education for people with additional needs. We have doubled the number of special classes to 3,500 and created 16 new special schools. We have over 22,000 special needs assistants and over 20,000 special education teachers. In total, that is more than 40,000 professionals dedicated to the area of working with young people with additional needs, but we need to do more. We absolutely need to do more. We know from OECD data that education gaps are at the root of persistent disability employment gaps. This pillar directly confronts that reality through starting early and staying the course. By 2030, we want to see significantly improved access, greater transition supports across all education levels and, ultimately, higher rates of achievement for disabled learners.  Pillar 2 is employment. This is about closing the disability employment gap decisively. We are committed to removing systemic barriers and creating real, sustainable opportunities for disabled people to earn, to contribute and to thrive in the workforce.  The next area identified in the strategy is pillar 3, independent living and active participation in society This puts independence, choice and autonomy at the centre of policy. Disabled people must have the right and the means to live where and how they choose, to participate fully in their communities and to lead lives of their own making. That means better access to housing, support services and opportunities for engagement in culture, sport and civic life.  Pillar 4, well-being and health, will improve access to inclusive, integrated health services from early intervention to mental health supports to health promotion. This goal is clear: better outcomes, higher quality of life, and services that empower disabled people to live fully and to live well.  The final pillar, transport and mobility, is about one of the most critical enablers of independence, namely, mobility. According to the 2022 census, difficulties with transport and leisure participation are the most common challenges faced by disabled people. We will eliminate those barriers. By 2030, disabled people must be able to move freely and confidently, whether by bus, train, car or foot, in environments designed with inclusion in mind and policy will be shaped in full consultation with disabled people themselves.  As a country, as a republic and as a society, we must do better for people with disabilities. T\u00e1 s\u00e9 thar am d\u00fainn dul i ngleic leis na deacrachta\u00ed agus na d\u00fashl\u00e1in a bhaineann le m\u00edchumas. Tugann an strait\u00e9is n\u00e1isi\u00fanta um chearta an duine do dhaoine faoi mh\u00edchumas an deis d\u00fainn t\u00fas nua a chur chun cinn. Guthanna comhionanna, gn\u00edomhartha comhionanna, todhcha\u00ed chomhionann; equal voices, equal actions, equal futures - this is the motto chosen by disabled people themselves for this new strategy. Their message is clear: they want to be treated the same as everybody else. Not differently, not better and not worse but the same as everyone else - equal voices, equal actions, equal futures. Time and again, people with disabilities have shared with me their strong view of \u201cnothing about us without us.\u201d How right they are. People with disabilities have been at the heart of developing this strategy. They have carved and shaped every aspect of this strategy. That is a first in this country and it is an important first. I am determined that not just should they carve out the strategy, but that people with disabilities should be at the heart of its implementation. As a consequence, people with disabilities will sit on the various implementation groups for the strategy. That is as it should be. The Taoiseach, Deputy Miche\u00e1l Martin, will also chair the delivery committee, which will report to him every six months. This is in conjunction with the dedicated unit within the Department of the Taoiseach, the Committee on Disability Matters and, of course, the implementation groups. This is where the accountability will be, ultimately through an Taoiseach meeting every six months for updates, reports and progress. The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 can be a game-changer for disabled people in this country. I look forward to working with each one of you in this Chamber and, indeed, everyone outside of this Chamber, to make sure it does what it sets out to do: equal voices, equal actions, equal futures. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  In fairness, I do not think anybody will have any major issue when they read the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. There is nothing wrong with the names and there is nothing wrong with the pillars. Like the Minister, anyone who has spoken to disability groups, or those who have had to deal with the realities of disabilities, will speak about all those particular issues that impact. We are talking about the cost of disability, the inability to get social care and healthcare, the added cost related to that and, obviously, transport. We all know it is an absolute disaster in relation to school. Even where circumstances and situations are dealt with, at this moment in time, that causes a huge level of stress for families. With disabilities we can sometimes over-concentrate on children because of the huge failures there are. We have to recognise that it impacts more widely. We are looking for a framework that will provide for people from cradle to grave.  The reality is that we need to see the action plan. The Cabinet subcommittee on disability and the disability unit in the Taoiseach's office are fine, as is the strategy. It will be about the action plans and how the Government is held to account and how it holds itself to account. I think the Minister would accept that there have been failures, particularly from the point of view of parents. Talking about children, there have been huge issues in recent times and this comes across the Minister's desk. It is fair to say we need to deal with the child protection issues, whether that is in the cases of Kyran Durnin or Daniel Aruebose. I think we are all glad his body was found, but we need to make sure the review mechanisms and the proper guidelines and protocols are in place and that they are adhered to. It is not only about investigating these cases; it is about making sure no more cases happen.  I also raise the issue of specialist public health nurses, which were planned for previously. The idea is that they would engage with families and screening would take place and if it is the case that families need additional supports, they should get them. Everyone was taken by Gillian Sherratt and Stephen Morrison, the parents of Harvey Morrison. We were lucky to have them at our think-in recently. While the Taoiseach has spoken about complex and clinical issues, I think we will all accept that there have been failures in dealing with children as regards spina bifida and scoliosis and probably across the board in Children's Health Ireland, CHI. We need to have some sort of plans about delivering what is required. I was very taken by what Stephen said. He said children, in particular his son and others, were being failed from birth and even before it. That should not be possible.  I recognise there was huge engagement with those with disabilities, but I have received complaints from Physical Impairment Ireland and Voice of Vision Impairment about the lack of engagement with them. We need to make sure it happens because it is about those who have to live the reality. They need the plans and strategies to be based on their requirements. We were lucky that at this think-in we also had Cara Darmody and her father, Mark.  There are huge questions about the assessment of need, AON, legislation. It does not relate specifically to the Minister's brief but it does have an impact on huge issues. What will happen? There are proposed changes. At the end of June, 16,593 children had not been dealt with in relation to an AON. Looking towards the end of the year, the figure now is 23,903. This will not work at all. The children's disability network teams, CDNTs, are missing staff from positions. Some 445.3 positions are unfilled and even if they are filled, that will not deal with the requirements of those waiting. On in-school therapies, the Minister said we are only talking about 45 schools being served this year but no one has been appointed to a position yet.  I could go on for considerable time. No one will doubt that. We need to see action. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this strategy and I hope we will see quick and thorough implementation. I was struck by the word \"choice\" on page 12. It is one of the values that underpins this strategy, but the Government must create the spaces where people have a choice. It is up to the Minister and the Government to ensure there are choices. For example, today people with disabilities do not have choices in education. Their parents typically ring around several schools to try to get their children a school place, which they deserve, and they take what they get. That should not be the case.  Again, there is no choice of transport for many people. The mobility allowance and the motorised transport grant have been gone since 2013. The primary medical certificate has been reviewed. The disabled drivers and disabled passengers scheme has not been fit for purpose for a very long time. A new scheme is now being developed by the Department of Transport. Everything is far too slow. We still have a situation, particularly in rural areas, where people cannot get access to the blue badge or the primary medical certificate. They are totally isolated and in rural areas they are being robbed of their independence. This has a huge impact on them and their families and on their mental health and well-being.  Similarly, there is no choice in housing, because much of the time, people cannot access accessible housing. It is not being built. We should have far more ambition in housing, be it for older people or our disabled citizens, so that they have access to living independently. We should have far more little villages and community areas with housing, where people can live together, but independently and have their own space. We should be developing much more of that housing, but we are not.  Employment is one of the five key pillars. We are one of the worst, if not the worst, in Europe for employment for disabled people. We need to look at the supports provided, especially by the Department of Social Protection. We need to look at what needs to be fixed and changed to ensure more people can gain employment where they so wish.  Another key pillar is inclusive learning and education. Hundreds of children today are without an appropriate special class place. What a shame it is in our country in 2025 that children are sitting at home today who should be in school but are not. In some cases they are not in school because the building has not been finished on time. That should not be the case. This strategy needs to be implemented and it needs to be done quickly. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  I was at an event about mental health a number of years ago where a presentation was given by an expert in the field who works on the ground. The person put up a photograph of a car that was held up, not by four wheels, but by plans and policy documents. She was illustrating the point that policy documents and plans are not in short supply. We have any number of them in mental health and the same goes for disability. We had a disability strategy that was never properly funded. Her point was that the car will not go anywhere without resources and that we have to look at people's experiences. Regarding children with disabilities, parents have to struggle almost every day to get the basics for their children. We saw it in recent months when trying to get access to appropriate school places for children with disabilities. Many of them still do not have one and we are tabling a motion on that today. A number of families in Waterford struggled. Additional classes were put on in Waterford schools, but some of those schools are still waiting for the classrooms - the physical space - or teachers.  I am dealing with two cases at the moment of two young men, Joshua who is 18, and Nathan who is 18. They are waiting for access to day care services. They are early school leavers and they are being told they cannot get a date for when their placements will start. This is the response from the HSE.  I must inform you however that it is unlikely that we will be in a position to commence services before the end of September. This is due to a number of factors i.e. the delay in agreeing the funding required; the large numbers of school leavers this year and difficulties we have had in identifying suitable locations for all applicants which required two new settings; and a staff recruitment process.  Through no fault of their own, those parents and young school leavers who are now young adults cannot get access to those day services because of staffing problems, because funding was not released and because the planning was not done. It is the same across the board. We can have all the plans we want and they can be wonderful and the words can be wonderful, but the resources must be made available. I have seen it in my constituency in Waterford with parents and children, especially those with disabilities.  I will mention before I finish one young campaigner, Karl Cretzan, who has cerebral palsy and is wheelchair bound. He advocates day and night, not only for himself but for people with disabilities about public transport and other areas. What people like Karl, Nathan and Joshua want to see is, yes plans, but also resources and delivery. Unfortunately, we have far too many plans and not enough resources or delivery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"P\u00e1draig-MacLochlainn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy P\u00e1draig Mac Lochlainn  My colleagues have summarised the situation well. Plans are well and good, but we need to see fundamental change on the ground. I will share a few personal stories from Donegal where, unfortunately, the failure to recruit a range of professionals has led to appalling outcomes for children with disabilities and their parents. Right now, for children who require psychiatric assistance and medication, it is not available to those who have an intellectual disability. It is just not there.  If this child had medication, they would be able to have a manageable life at home. Without the medication, it is, sadly, a nightmare for the family. I spoke to a family who are completely isolated from social events and their wider family. They are in such a crisis and they can get no help, no psychiatric assistance and there is none going to be there for the foreseeable future.  There is another almost identical situation with another family. It was two separate families, two separate meetings, and they have had to lock off access to their surrounding family who live nearby because they cannot get respite support. I cannot understand how we end up in this situation. I have said this so often over the years. If you ask people whether they would mind their money being spent on children with disabilities, I do not know anybody who would. Imagine being locked in your own home and being unable to leave because your child is disabled. It is going be an awful situation where extended family will be physically attacked and nobody can help, either with psychiatric assistance or respite. That is the reality on the ground and it has to change. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Natasha Newsome Drennan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Natasha-Newsome-Drennan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Natasha Newsome Drennan  For 18 years, before being elected as a TD for Carlow and Kilkenny, I worked as a carer for people with disabilities, supporting them to live their fullest lives possible. The people I worked for are the salt of the earth. As many of us know, working as a carer is so much more than just a job. We grow incredibly close to those we care for. That is why it has pained me so much to watch those with disabilities and those who support and care for them being continually let down by Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael. From the cradle to the grave, they are being failed. Children requiring an assessment of need are left waiting for years to be seen. Parents are forced to watch as their children suffer, denied the correct supports at schools. They are left watching as their whole family bears the mental and emotional strain. What will this Government say in ten or 15 years' time to children who are failed on its watch? What became painfully clear to me as someone working with people with disabilities is that this Government does not plan for these people to grow old. The Government does not plan adequate care for people with disabilities as they age into their 50s, 60s and 70s. It does not plan for who will care for these people when their ageing parents pass on. There is no plan for how to ensure that these parents and caregivers get significant respite. That is the hallmark of Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael in government - little to no long-term planning. Let us be clear: this lies squarely with the Government. Issues will not be sorted if people on the Government benches continue to sit on their hands. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I welcome the opportunity to discuss the national human rights strategy for disabled people. Of course, it has long been awaited and many disability organisations have been campaigning for its publication. It is the first strategy since Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which was way back in 2018. I welcome the fact, as the Minister herself said, that the strategy has taken a whole-of-government approach to progressing the rights of people with disabilities. This is an acknowledgement that disability is not just the concern or responsibility of one Department but extends to many more, including health, transport, education and housing. However, we need to see the ambition from the Government to match the implementation of this strategy. This can be a turning point in Ireland's treatment of disabled citizens but every Department must step up to the plate. Disabled people face many challenges, including long waiting lists for services, in particular therapies and supports, high levels of unemployment and poverty, inaccessible transport and a lack of supports for independent living.  I acknowledge the strategy is based on five pillars that seek to address these barriers. I will address some of these, as a number of concerns have been raised by disabled people and their families with my office over the last number of years. We have recently seen that many local authorities, including the council in my own county of Kildare, have paused new applications for the housing adaptation grant scheme. As we all know, this scheme has been key in supporting older people and people with disabilities to continue to live in their own communities. If this Government is serious about supporting and enabling independent living, then we need to see an increase in this grant, with funding to the levels that are needed by each local authority to meet the demand that is there and to allow people with disabilities to continue to live in their own homes.  Special education is an issue that I have raised with the Minister previously. It is a massive issue for many people who come to me and, I am sure, everybody in this House. It is one, in my opinion, that the Government has failed to act on and get a handle on. My office is constantly in contact with worried parents who are struggling to find a school place for their child with additional needs. Even if they do get a place, it is extremely difficult to get school transport to allow the child with additional needs to get to their school. I have been working with a number of families trying to get a school place for their children with additional needs. I have been in contact with the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, but I have as yet failed to get a meaningful response from that organisation.  I welcome the announcement today by the Minister that school place scheduling will begin four months earlier than has happened previously. I ask the Minister now, and will ask the other Minister later, whether this will allow parents to ring the NCSE, take the burden of 40 or 50 phone calls from them and allow, as I have always said, the NCSE to do the work and empower the SENOs, a point I have raised previously on many occasions with the Minister.  I recently had the pleasure of visiting St. Mark's Special School in Newbridge. What a wonderful school and what wonderful pupils and teachers in a wonderful setting for all those who use the facility. However, we in Kildare South have been promised another special school for a long time. I have raised this issue previously with the Minister and her predecessors. She will be aware that the special school that is there has been located in Naas, which is actually in Kildare North and not Kildare South. As the Minister said to me in a previous contribution, the demand is in Kildare South. That is why there should be a school in Kildare South. Is there an update on providing a school in Kildare South, where the demand is? Many parents are still travelling huge distances to bring their loved ones to school each day. It is causing serious issues for families day in and day out.  Regarding school transport, I am sure that, like my office, the Minister's office has seen a huge demand for school transport over the last weeks and months. This is particularly the case for those with special school needs. I am dealing with one family in Dunlavin, on the Kildare border, who cannot get a school place for their loved one. The problem is that they got the school place but they cannot now get the school transport needed to bring that loved one to school each day. This issue is replicated time and again. The Minister mentioned in her opening contribution the need to resolve this once and for all for people with disabilities. We need to ensure that transport is not a barrier to their quality of life.  I also want to bring up the issue of employment that other colleagues and the Minister have also mentioned. I have dealt with this with a lot of families in Kildare and neighbouring counties over a long period. We need to incentivise employers to provide those places that work for families and those with disabilities. It has come too late for many that there is no employment for them. I welcome the fact that one of the pillars in this strategy is to do with employment. It is long overdue that we concentrate on providing the incentives to employers to allow those with disabilities to get a sustainable job close to their home. In this way they can gain confidence, social skills and the pleasure of working in a particular form of employment. This has been lacking for a long time and it needs to come through this strategy.  Of course, we in the Labour Party support the strategy. We believe that it is long overdue and that the people with a disability who live in this country have the right to have the respect shown to them day in and day out. This strategy is a chance to have that done, but all it will do is sit on a shelf unless the Government is serious about ensuring it is backed up by that cross-departmental involvement over the coming years. I look forward to working with the Minister, as she requested, on the pillars that she has mentioned today. She will not find the Labour Party wanting on those pillars if the Government is serious about helping those with a disability and giving them the dignity and respect they deserve day in, day out. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Marie Sherlock","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Marie-Sherlock.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Marie Sherlock  I very much welcome the fact we are having this debate today, and I very much welcome the words and intent in the national human rights strategy for disabled people. Of course, it is about the timelines and the resources, and we have yet to see any detail on these to implement and make good the fine words in the strategy. I want to raise a number of issues with the Minister. Her Department will have to take much more aggressive and leading role in effectively trying to make real, and make good on, these promises, some of them long-standing, to people with disabilities in this country.  My first point is with regard to the Department of Health. There are hundreds of vacancies, particularly in CDNTs throughout the country and in primary care. We heard the Minister say the places are there but that they cannot be filled and that we now need to do something else and focus the health budget on capital infrastructure. I do not think it is good enough that we are throwing in the towel on recruitment with regard to therapies for children with additional needs in this country. There are waiting lists of two, three or four years for psychology and occupational therapy, and it is not good enough that those children are left on waiting lists. The Government needs to do an awful lot more to ensure those places are filled.  My next point is on the Department of education and the Minister's previous portfolio. Sixteen CDNTs in the country do not have a special school in their catchment area. Summerhill CDNT in Dublin 1 in my constituency is one of these. This means no child in Dublin 1 will ever be at the top of any waiting list for a special school. They will always be down the list because they are not in the catchment area. That has to change.  With regard to the Department of further education and training, a wonderful system provided by the National Learning Network throughout the country provides specialist training to those persons, young adults in particular but adults of all ages, with a disability. Often they are people in very vulnerable situations. This year, the number of places in the City of Dublin ETB has been cut from 268 to 252. When we asked the question as to why this is happening, we were told the City of Dublin ETB effectively has to remain within its budget allocation. What is it, Minister? Are we going to ensure the National Learning Network places for adults with a disability are there to provide them with an opportunity in life, to try to get some sort of training or perhaps go to employment or do something else, or will the Minister remain within the stricture that the budget has been filled and we have to leave these people until next year or the year after? To my mind, that is not good enough. It is at odds with the intent of the strategy. We need to make sure the proper resources are in place so that if a young adult, or an adult of any age, with a disability wants to access the National Learning Network, they are not barred from doing so because of budgetary issues in any of our ETBs in the country. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The next speaker is Deputy Devlin. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cormac Devlin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Cormac-Devlin.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cormac Devlin  I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle and welcome him back. It is good to be back in the Chamber. I welcome the opportunity to examine the Government's National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025\u20132030. This strategy will only matter if it changes the daily lives of people with a disability. As the Minister said in her opening remarks, those challenges are there to be met. The strategy must turn rights into real solutions, including accessible ramps, usable routes and services people can depend on.  A few years ago, when I was cathaoirleach of D\u00fan Laoghaire\u2013Rathdown County Council, I spent a day using a wheelchair with Se\u00e1n O\u2019Kelly, a disability activist. On that day we travelled on the DART from Dalkey to Blackrock, and I saw how quickly independence gets negotiated away. We had to give notice to use a ramp to get onto the DART. We discovered that two wheelchair users cannot board the same bus and that someone with a buggy impacts on a person with a disability accessing the bus, and we wrestled with heavy internal doors just to reach a bathroom marked \"accessible\". All the while, I experienced what Se\u00e1n called \"being blanked\" on the street. That day taught me one thing, which is that spontaneity should not require 24 hours' notice. This strategy can change that, if we deliver.  With regard to the public realm, walkability audits will be carried out in every town and city of over 5,000 people, producing fix-lists for crossings, kerbs, pavements and street clutter. Every local authority will appoint a full-time access and inclusion officer, a named person whom people can contact. That is accountability that people can ring.  With regard to transport and mobility, we need less pre-booking and more travelling. Advance notice requirements on rail and bus must fall year by year. Local Link should expand where transport is thin. We need a pathway to 100% wheelchair-accessible fleets. Personal mobility schemes must also work in practice, with a modernised disabled drivers and passengers framework and a fit-for-purpose adaptation scheme.  On independent living, we must move faster on decongregation and ensure housing follows universal design. We need a national policy on personal assistance so supports are reliable, portable and rights based.  With regard to children and youth mental health, families should not be stuck in an obstacle course. A single front door for assessments of need and therapies, shorter waits and a single access point across primary care, disability and CAMHS must be delivered.  On education and work, we need to build inclusive learning and open a stronger pipeline into the public service and the private sector. Disabled people are not a niche workforce; they are part of Ireland's workforce.  I thank the Minister and her officials for their engagement, particularly their direct involvement with the strategy, but delivery is the real test and I have a number of requests. I ask the Minister to publish the first programme plan, with timelines and KPIs, confirm when access and inclusion officers will be in place and publish the walkability audit schedule, set annual targets to reduce advance notice on transport and report operator compliance, and expand the Irish sign language interpreter pipeline and guarantee access in emergencies and healthcare.  Oversight matters. The strategy promises biannual reporting to the Cabinet committee on disability. It would be good to see public dashboards so progress is transparent. The test is simply whether a person can move through their day without asking permission at every doorway and live with independence. Every citizen deserves no less. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peter Roche","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Peter-Roche.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peter Roche  I welcome the publication of the strategy and give credit to the Minister for bringing it to the Chamber. For too many families in Ireland, strategies and promises have come and gone, so to speak. Sometimes what remains is a very real sense of letdown. I do not speak today in abstract as a member of my staff is the mother of a lovely ten-year-old girl with Down's syndrome. For those ten years, her lived experience has been that unless she shouts the loudest, her child's needs go unnoticed for the best part. What families are looking for is equality but they often end up with exhaustion. Parents should not have to fight every single day just to secure the most basic services for their children. There is nothing more heartbreaking for any parent than to watch their child's progress stall or, worse still, regress because the supports that should have been there were absent, delayed or inconsistent.  The strategy before us speaks of equality, participation and choice but these words will mean nothing unless they are backed by urgent action that tackles waiting lists, makes inclusive education real, lifts the crushing cost of disability for families and ensures housing, transport and healthcare are designed for everyone. The strategy can offer great hope instead of hopelessness but we need to replace exhaustion with confidence. This is a whole-of-government commitment to remove barriers in education, work, health, housing and transport and in community life.  As a legislator but also as a father and a neighbour to families in my east Galway constituency, I urge the House to fully embrace and follow through with this new action plan. We cannot afford another five years of delay. The next five years should be the years when rights are promised and lived. What is key in all of this is implementation of the strategy. I commend the Minister on bringing it to us. I certainly look forward, as do many parents, to vast improvements in this regard. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Martin Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Martin-Daly.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Martin Daly  Equal voices, equal actions, equal futures. I welcome the publication of the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030, which is shaped by people who live with disability. This is a landmark moment. This is the first national strategy since Ireland ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. It commits this Government to a whole-of-government response to equality, participation and choice not merely as aspirations, but as rights that must be achieved.  However, we must be honest about the gap between the strategy and its five pillars and the lived experience, especially in rural constituencies such as my own constituency of Roscommon-Galway. This year, 17 new school leavers across six towns are entering adult day services with the Brothers of Charity service in Roscommon. Funding was provided for a vehicle but there is no ongoing funding for staff to operate it. The hours required to transport individuals are deducted from the service day itself. When that day is already limited to six hours, every minute lost is significant. I am very appreciative of the extraordinary work of providers like the Brothers of Charity and Ability West and their staff, who do everything possible to stretch limited resources to meet the needs of families. However, even with their dedication, the current funding model forces services to shorten the day and families to structure their lives around it. Working days are cut short, careers are put on hold and household incomes are reduced not by choice, but because the service model does not align with the realities of modern work and family life. This is not a marginal issue. It is a structural barrier to participation. It limits the opportunities of disabled people to learn, socialise and build independence. It also constrains their families' ability to participate fully in the workforce and in society.  The national strategy is ambitious and rightly so. Its commitment to a mainstream first approach and to individualised supports is exactly what is required. However, that mission must be matched with sustained and predictable investment. We must ensure a service day that is long enough to meet need, fund staffing so that transport does not erode the day itself and deliver fairness for rural service users, who cannot be disadvantaged simply because of their geography. If we achieve that, this strategy will not be a mere statement of intent but a turning point that delivers genuine equality of participation and that fulfils the promise we made under the UN convention. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Mark-Ward.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Ward  It is the first day back in the D\u00e1il and it is important that we talk about Harvey Morrison Sherratt. Harvey was born with complex health conditions, including spina bifida and scoliosis. Harvey spent years on waiting lists for life-changing spinal surgery. Harvey died on 29 July this year. Harvey was just nine years of age. Harvey lived in my area of Clondalkin and, over the last couple of years, I have got to know his parents. I was away when Harvey died but I took the time to contact his parents to offer them my heartfelt condolences. When I returned home, my first port of call was to visit the family to offer my condolences. I take this opportunity to publicly offer my heartfelt condolences to Harvey's parents, Gillian and Stephen, their wider family, their neighbours and their friends on the loss of Harvey. I pledge to continue to support them in their fight for justice for Harvey and to ensure that no other child has to suffer the way he did. I spoke to Harvey's dad, Stephen, just this morning in the car on my way in here. He informed me that the family have yet to receive any words of condolence from the Minister for Health. This is the very least the Minister could do.  Harvey may have died but, from speaking with his parents, I know that only strengthened their resolve to get justice for him. They are calling for an independent statutory public inquiry into spina bifida and scoliosis care at CHI. CHI is responsible for the oversight and management of waiting lists. It has also allowed non-medical grade devices to be placed into children. This is inhumane, negligent and, in my opinion, downright criminal.  Last year, I spoke about Harvey being removed from CHI waiting lists for urgent scoliosis surgery without the consent or knowledge of his parents. The T\u00e1naiste, Deputy Simon Harris, said back in 2017 that no child would have to wait more than four months for surgery. The T\u00e1naiste broke his promise to Harvey and to other children. Harvey spent more than three years waiting on life-changing surgery. While his parents waited, their lives were on hold while Harvey suffered. During Harvey's three years on the waiting list, his spinal curve caused his ribcage to twist around his lungs and heart, severely restricting his breathing. We have all seen that heart-wrenching video that was put on social media. Harvey spent the last two Christmases of his very short life in hospital. Eventually, Harvey underwent the first of two spinal operations but it was too late. However, there was remarkable improvement in that short time. His breathing improved and he started eating solid food for the first time in six years. However, by the time these operations took place, the curvature in his spine was so severe that the outcome was tragically limited compared to the situation had Deputy Harris kept his promise that this surgery would be done within four months.  This morning, we heard of more increased waiting times for children with scoliosis. Unless there is a radical overhaul of CHI and real accountability, including at ministerial level, Harvey will never get justice and there will be more Harveys. We have a chance to do the right thing here. Harvey's legacy must be that there will be no more Harveys and that he gets justice. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I thank the Minister for being here. The Government's newly launched national human rights strategy for disabled people is strong on aspirational language but we have yet to see any details on implementation such as funding commitments, staffing benchmarks or timeframes to back it up. For a sector that is so deep in crisis across all areas, including educational placements, access to therapies in residential services, employment and transport, a disability strategy with meaningful targets has never been more urgently needed.  In fairness, there are action plans for this strategy to follow. The first is to be published within three months of this document's publication. It is imperative that these contain clear timelines, benchmarks and funding commitments. As much as we should welcome the human rights-focused language of this strategy and its emphasis on consultation with disabled people, the document will be largely meaningless if its implementation is not funded in upcoming budgets. We have had visionary Government documents on disability reform in the past that have essentially come to nothing because they were not followed by political will to invest in services and to vindicate the rights of our disabled citizens.  It is extremely worrying that the strategy contains no clear commitment to upholding the rights of children with additional needs to be educated within their local communities. While Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities is clear on a disabled person's right to \"an inclusive education system at all levels\" in the communities in which they live, the Government's strategy only commits to \"Develop a Roadmap for Inclusive Education ... to take account of ... Ireland\u2019s commitments under the\" UNCRPD. This is vague non-committal language that will offer no comfort to families facing lengthy gruelling commutes to their child's school.  Another crisis skirted by this strategy is that of waiting lists in primary care services. The strategy aims to \"Deliver actions to ensure more timely access to primary care therapy\". There is also reference in the document to building capacity in primary care but, crucially, there is no commitment to staffing targets for these services in either the disability strategy itself or the roadmap documents it refers to. The strategy does clearly commit to a single point of access approach to services across primary care, disability and child and adolescent mental health services, CAMHS. While this will certainly help prevent children being passed from one waiting list to the next, it will not paper over the cracks of chronic underresourcing of primary care services and the continued recruitment restrictions imposed on them by the pay and numbers strategy.  As I confirmed earlier this year through parliamentary questions, the neglect of these services by successive governments over many years has led to children throughout the country routinely waiting many years for supports such as occupational therapy, physiotherapy, psychology and speech and language therapy. Within those figures are instances of children waiting nine and a half years for occupational therapy in the Dublin north area, seven years for physiotherapy in the north Lee area in Cork, six years for speech and language therapy in the Dublin north west area and an incredible 13 and a half years for psychology in the same area. It shocked primary care clinicians when the Taoiseach claimed during Leaders' Questions in July that a recruitment embargo had not been applied to these services. An embargo certainly was employed from November 2023 to July 2024. Since then, the Government's pay and numbers strategy has continued to hamper recruitment. Even prior to these restrictions, there had been chronic underresourcing of primary care for years and the redirection of large numbers of young people from children's disability network teams when the progressing disability model of care was rolled out.  Children basically went from one waiting list to the next without the necessary recruitment following them. The disability strategy refers very briefly to the over 1,200 disabled people aged under 65 who are residing in nursing homes due to a lack of specialised residential services, rehabilitation and statutory home care supports. There is no indication, however, of how the Government will commit to the findings of the ombudsman's Wasted Lives report into their circumstances, which is now four years old. In the action plans to follow this new disability strategy, it is vital that the Government moves beyond aspirational language towards clear timeframes, staffing benchmarks and funding commitments. We also need to see an unambiguous commitment to uphold the right of people with disabilities to be educated within their local communities and to plan for creating that capacity. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sin\u00e9ad Gibney","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sin\u00e9ad-Gibney.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sin\u00e9ad Gibney  I thank the Minister for being here. We welcome the opportunity to make these statements and broadly welcome this new strategy that sets out a human rights-framed vision for disability action over the coming years. Of course, we have to also highlight that the waiting still goes on, particularly for the disability community. Reports, analyses and strategies including this one are very welcome, particularly as this one is framed in the prism of human rights, but let us be clear that what we need is long overdue action. We are starting from such a bad place that we need to see real aspiration, bringing us back to our vision for a truly inclusive society. The reality for those born with a disability or those who acquire a disability through the course of their life in this State today is that the outcomes they are facing in education and employment, the key planks identified in the strategy, are so much worse than they are for any other individual. We have a long road to travel before we land at a really inclusive society.  I want to talk about those two planks, employment and education. As we heard from other speakers, in terms of employment we are an outlier with one of the worst sets of statistics for disabled people's employment across Europe. Only 36% of people in the disability community are employed. That drops to 17% for people with intellectual disabilities, and to below 20% for disabled women in Ireland. It is not only about the economic impact. During Leaders' Questions earlier, Deputy Cairns raised the fact that 76% of people who are disabled are facing poverty. It is not just about the economic impact of not being able to access labour; it is also about the autonomy and dignity that flows from that. They are not able to provide for themselves or their families. They are not able to achieve the satisfaction we all seek in work that we do. AHEAD, the employment-focused NGO that deals in disability rights, has found that it is not just about jobs and numbers for people with disabilities. It is about accessing the kind of work they want to access and that their talents lend themselves towards. It is about opportunities for advancement within that, and trying to get to the point where individuals are actually competing alongside their peers in a true fashion and not just always dealing with what is available to them as someone with a disability. The infrastructure around that is another issue dealt with in other planks of the strategy in terms of transport and so on. Access to labour is dependent on us having a decent infrastructure for people to access.  On the specific experience of people with intellectual disabilities, it is wonderful when we see people employed in those roles but sadly it is incredibly sporadic. There are no consistent structures or programmes available to people with intellectual disabilities to access employment. We are so far behind other countries in this. In Spain there is a now a legislator, Mar Galcer\u00e1n, representing her constituents in a regional parliament in Spain. We are so far from that. This brings me to my second area: education. The two are inextricably linked because accessing employment relies on us having access to education throughout our lives. Even today during Leaders' Questions, the Taoiseach was celebrating that we have opened 16 special schools this year. The fact that we are talking about special schools again as being the point of achievement tells me that we have drifted so far from what inclusive education should be. People in my office spoke to a constituent recently whose two children are sent out in taxis to different locations, passing by the school that is just metres away from their home and their neighbours, so they can access appropriate education. We know this is an issue for so many people. That mother asked my colleague why her child does not have a voice and why she does not matter. We have moved so far from what inclusive education should be. We should be able to access the education that is suited to our needs regardless of the ability or disability we have. I welcome the strategy and the ambition that it holds. We have a lot further to go and we need to see the follow-through on an inclusive society and a shift in perception on disability. Equality is not a favour to those among us with disabilities. It is a recognition of the humanity of those individuals. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Keira Keogh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Keira-Keogh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Keira Keogh  I attended the launch of the strategy last week. It was the most gorgeous event, surrounded by people from all sectors of society but most importantly the disabled voices in the room. While it was a beautiful event, the strategy itself felt different. We hear time and again from disabled people. They tell us there should be \"nothing about us, without us\". That is what makes this strategy feel different, because it is woven with the voices of disabled people who are at its foundation, with hundreds of contributions from disabled people, their families and carers shaping it. I also felt at the event that the disabled voices there were very excited about the strategy, in the songs they sang and the speeches they gave, but also in the conversations over coffee we had at the beginning. It is really important that we carry that with us, and ensure that these disabled voices and the voices of their carers and families are with us every step of the way as we deliver the strategy. There was a really clear visual demonstration at the event of the whole-of-government approach we keep hearing about. Several Ministers were present at the launch. I hope their presence marks the step change we have been promised. It shows the political will is there to deliver the strategy in collaboration across Departments. As we know, disability does not fit neatly into any one Department.  In my office we use a traffic light system for representations - red if we have not been able to deliver, orange if something is still in process, and green if we have been successful in helping somebody navigate the system. I think of the primary medical certificate and a young girl who needs an altered car to get to work, to an appointment or to go and see her friends. We know a legislative change is needed to take the primary medical certificate out of the Department of Finance. She is still waiting and that representation is still orange. I think of respite and a young boy who has graduated from early intervention and is now with one of the section 39 organisations, which does not have the capacity to give him the same respite he was getting. His representation is still orange and his mother has put a surgery on hold because she does not have the respite she needs to recover. I think of school places. I have been engaged with really frustrated parents and principals who technically had a school place but in reality some were still at home. Another boy was in a school but did not have the right resources. Today finally, the last one has turned green, even though there are still some physical and human resources needed. We have to keep moving towards green, translating the commitments we have made across classrooms, workplaces, hospitals, housing and transport systems into real, tangible improvements in daily life. Disabled children must be able to go to school with their siblings and neighbours and must be given all the support they need to achieve their potential and ambition. Disabled young adults must be able to live in a home of their own with individualised supports that they need, not in nursing homes away from their communities. Disabled people must be able to move through our transportation system, our streets, our public and commercial spaces with the same freedom as everybody else. We can do this by keeping universal design at the forefront of everything we do. I am a really proud member of the disability matters committee and I will be responsible to hold this Government to account on delivering the strategy. We all need to remember the theme, which is equal voices, equal actions and equal futures. This is the theme of the strategy as chosen by the disabled voices and it must be the measure of all of us in this Chamber. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Albert Dolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Albert-Dolan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Albert Dolan  When I was first elected to the D\u00e1il just over nine months ago, I was really heartened by the leadership shown by Deputy M\u00edche\u00e1l Martin to appoint Deputy Norma Foley as Minister for children and disabilities, to have focus at Cabinet level and to have cross-departmental focus on disabilities. The new disability strategy is a welcome step forward and it is welcome that people of all levels of ability were included in the formulation of this strategy, but the test of this strategy will not just be the words on the page; it will be what happens in people's lives. Success will be children getting therapies in their schools without years of waiting. Success will be when young people can move into jobs with the right supports in place. Success will be when transport, housing and public spaces are designed so that accessibility is the norm and not an afterthought. Last week, I witnessed a positive example in St. Oliver's Special School in Tuam where I attended the opening of the school. It is an incredible investment in children and families and one we should all welcome. However, unless the supports are there for the school to expand, it will end up turning children away in the years ahead and this cannot be allowed to happen. I ask the Minister of State to engage with St. Oliver's Special School, which I know is under the Department of Education and Youth, but there is an opportunity with the HSE to provide additional space at the back of the site to allow more capacity in the school. Ability West is the patron of that school, and it is willing to engage on that issue.  Across County Galway there are other opportunities where proper planning and funding would change lives. At Toghermore campus in Tuam equine therapy has the potential to be transformative. I have met with representatives of Ability West and heard of their ambition for the site. That ambition they have needs to be matched with the ambition of Government to support it. We do not have equine therapy in the west. We have it in the east, south and midlands but we do not have it in the west, and we need to encourage that investment. Almost 1,000 hours of therapy could be provided weekly in north County Galway. Second, in Athenry, the Brothers of Charity and the HSE are jointly renting a facility that to this day remains vacant. They do not have the capital to turn it into a transformative educational and training facility. That is there and ready to go. I again ask the Minister of State to work with the Brothers of Charity in Galway to try to achieve that. I regularly visit the Hidden Gem cafe in Gort. It shows us what real inclusion looks like. Every time I visit, I see the dignity and community that comes when people with disabilities are at the heart of the project. It truly is a heartwarming experience. Every time I go in, I am greeted with a smile. It is incredible to experience that social inclusion and the positivity that emanates from it, and it should be replicated across the country.  I welcome that this strategy puts accountability at the highest level, with the Taoiseach and every Department responsible for delivery. That gives us a chance to move from aspiration to action, but it will only succeed if people with disabilities remain central to every decision. I welcome that element of this strategy, if resources of course match the ambition that Government has. Once Government puts the resources in, this plan has a real chance of being a game-changer, and that is what it makes it exciting. People with disabilities have contributed to this plan. They are involved in this plan, and they understand how this plan can and will work, and Government has the ambition to make it work. Disability policy in Ireland has come a long way but it still has a long way to go. Our responsibility now is to plan for the future where accessibility and inclusion are built in from the start, where no child is turned away and where every community is open, welcoming and equal. That is what success should look like and that is what this strategy must deliver. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Maurice Quinlivan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Maurice-Quinlivan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Maurice Quinlivan  I welcome the publication by the Government of The National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. It has been suggested that this is a roadmap for inclusion of citizens who live with a disability. We have been down this road before and without a legal framework, I fear this strategy will not have any meaningful impact at all on the lives of those living with a disability, but I might be wrong. Each pillar title of the strategy represents an area where this Government and its predecessors have failed to advance services and supports for those living with a disability, be that in terms of inclusive education, employment or independent living. Pillar 1 is education and inclusive learning. There has been a failure to deliver for students with additional needs. These students have a fundamental right to education, but a failure to provide and deliver sufficient school infrastructure has meant that many of them are denied the supports needed to offer them an appropriate education. What action does the Department intend to take to address the serious shortfalls in the services for children with additional needs at Le Ch\u00e9ile national school in Limerick? The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited this school with me last week, and I have raised it in the D\u00e1il on a number of occasions. I hope some action is taken in respect of that school very soon.  Pillar 2 is employment. We lag far behind our European counterparts. The European Disability Forum's Human Rights Report 2023 notes that this State's rate of employment for those with a disability is the lowest in the EU. I have seen so often the level of talent and creativity in those of our citizens who live with a disability. To date, many of these citizens have not had the employment platform to showcase these talents. This must change.  Pillar 3 is independent living. Those with a disability are too often denied independent living opportunities, but they are just another cohort of people who have been impacted by our housing crisis. Some 13% of adults aged over 25 within the home have a disability. A disability allowance payment is simply not sufficient to support independent living given the cost of housing. Funding for housing adaptation grants has already run out in Limerick so necessary conversion works cannot be commenced. This is an absolute scandal.  We also have a problem in this State when it comes to providing a guarantee of rights to people with a disability. They have few rights at present. It should not take the inspirational work of teenage disability rights campaigner Cara Darmody to prompt change and action. When it comes to providing assessments of need for children with a suspected disability, the Government is in constant breach of the law. The State is basically repeatedly breaking the law every day with regard to children with disabilities and this has to stop. The State is legally required to carry out an assessment of need within six months of an application yet the HSE estimates that by the end of this year almost 25,000 children will have been waiting more than six months, with 15,000 already waiting more than six months. An assessment of need is vital for children and their parents. It is crucial in supporting parents as they seek to access services such as occupational therapy, speech and language supports and provisional special assistance within school settings. I would contribute a lot more, but I have run out of time. I am chair of the disability matters committee and we will pursue all of this stuff during this D\u00e1il term. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important issue. The State has ratified the UNCRPD and the Government now has a strategy. I welcome all of that but let us see how we are doing on it. The diagnosis of autism has increased. That is obviously because there are more diagnoses being done. That is good, but it is too slow. There is a 16-month waiting list for a lot of families. That is simply too long and must be improved. The convention asked that we promote and protect people with disabilities, so they have equal rights such as inclusive learning. I will address the issue of children with autism or other special needs, who need access to a children's disability network team. There is a chronic shortage of staff on those teams in County Laois. What is happening is that the assessments are either delayed and the therapies are further delayed or are not available at all.  Some progress has been made in the area of transport. At one time people did not have access on to a bus or anything like that. Progress has been made and I can see that when I use public transport. However, we have a lot more to do there, particularly in rural Ireland. I commend the work of the Irish Wheelchair Association, which has particularly highlighted this. When I was first elected as a councillor a number of decades ago, one thing I did was go around with the late Margaret McRee who has since passed on to her eternal reward. She was in a wheelchair.  I was amazed to see the difficulties there were trying to navigate through towns, on footpaths and everything else. That must be improved. The fact people have to pre-book 24 hours in advance at minimum to get onto public transport needs to change. Is my time up? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  It is. I call Deputy Healy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  Disabled people are entitled to live life to the full. They must have an opportunity to take full part in society, education, healthcare, housing, employment, justice, transport, entertainment and so on. This strategy fails to outline an urgent concrete implementation plan, and such a plan is needed if Ireland is to comply with its obligations under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The strategy is generalised, non-specific, lacking in detail and lacking in funding, and this Government is again failing people with disabilities. The key to disabled people taking their rightful place in society is assessment at an early age. Every child is entitled by law to receive an assessment of need within six months of referral. Successive governments have been breaking this law for years. Apparently, governments are above the law.  I first raised this issue in the House in January of 2017 with the current T\u00e1naiste and then Minister for Health, Deputy Harris. The position now is monumentally worse. Some 16,500 children are waiting for assessment. Thousands of them have been waiting for more than two years. Over 40,000 children are on waiting lists for various therapies, including occupational therapy, physiotherapy, speech and language and psychology. This is shameful, and there is no plan in this strategy to tackle these outrageous waiting lists. When is this Government going to put together a concrete plan to eliminate these waiting lists? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Catherine Connolly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Catherine-Connolly.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Catherine Connolly  I welcome any strategy that has human rights in it. I, therefore, welcome the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People. However, if I go to the back of it, I see that there is a fundamental misunderstanding. On the last page, it states that their message is clear: people with disabilities want to be treated the same as everyone else. That is not accurate. They do not want to be treated the same as everyone else because that would not be treating them as people with a disability who need carefully planned services and carefully planned assistance. There is a fundamental misunderstanding there. Then, we go to the background to this. That is the human rights strategy.  Let me take the Minister of State back as quickly as I can in my two minutes and 30 seconds. In 1993, we had the Commission on the Status of People with Disabilities; in 2004, we had the National Disability Strategy; in 2005, we had the Disability Act, which the Government is utterly not complying with; and in 2007, we signed the UNCRPD, and ratified it in 2018. We signed the optional protocol in 2018. In 2012, we had Value for Money and Policy Review of Disability Services in Ireland. We had the National Disability Strategy Implementation Plan 2013-2015; the Comprehensive Employment Strategy for People with Disabilities; National Disability Inclusion Strategy; and so on. The Action Plan for Disability Services is taking us up to 2026. What did the Taoiseach tell us at the national dialogue? The system is not delivering for disabled people, despite all of that.  Now, we have a strategy, and the strategy has no plan. We are going to get the first plan in December. Is the Government on target for that? We have no idea where the monitoring committee is. Has it been set up?  Then, we look at the human rights. What does it tell us? The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission, IHREC, stated that \"Viewed on its own, the Strategy also does not include enough concrete actions and targeted measures to allow effective monitoring of implementation.\" It went on to state that it does not adequately address key issues central to the full implementation of the UN convention on rights, and that it does not include \"access to justice, inclusive education and the need to urgently address institutional safeguarding issues.\" AHEAD, the NGO, stated that the strategy commitments are often aspirational and in many areas, there is little detail with concrete evidence - I am losing my words here I am going so quickly - and that disabled persons organisations are highlighted but they are under-resourced and understaffed. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  In my brief time, I do not really have time to comment on the whole national strategy on disability. I just want to focus on one little boy who kind of sums up the attitude of this State to people with disabilities and particularly disabled children, namely, Harvey Morrison Sherratt, whose life was undervalued from the word go. Ironically, his parents were strongly encouraged to have an abortion when his diagnosis was made. They would not be entitled to an abortion in this country even now, ironically. However, it is symptomatic of the way that people are treated who do take on and do choose to go ahead with having a disabled child. Harvey got very late treatment throughout his infancy. His parents had to lodge complaints to the HSE before he was aged one. He had severe pain caused by spinal curving. Finally, in 2022, he went on the spinal surgery list with the aim to have the operation in August. That surgery never happened. In April 2023, they received a letter to cancel it yet again. Harvey was in hospital five times that year and saw four different surgeons, and in August 2024, Harvey was removed from that waiting list with no explanation ever being given to his parents after 30 months waiting on a list. Eventually, they saw a surgeon in his private clinic and Harvey eventually got surgery in November 2024. At this stage, his curve was 130 degrees double what it had been when he went on the list. Unfortunately, as we know, Harvey died within eight months. Harvey's parents, who I have spoken to, want a public inquiry into CHI, spinal surgeries and these complex procedures. The Government has consistently refused the calls in this D\u00e1il for such an inquiry. We have had unlicensed springs. We have had unnecessary hip surgeries. We have had \u20ac19 million misspent. We have had the orphan report, the HIQA report and the Ombudsman's report. They want the publication of the Dixon and Nguyen reports. Why has Simon Harris not met these parents? He has talked the talk in the media, but he has never arranged to meet Gillian and Stephen. Why not? It is the least he could do if he is serious about addressing this issue and finding out more. Why is the Minister of State still setting her face against a public inquiry? She knows we will all be back here in a year's time, and she will be conceding one. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Naoise-\u00d3-Cear\u00fail.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Naoise \u00d3 Cear\u00fail  I would like to first welcome the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People. I particularly commend the fact that it was developed in partnership with disabled people, and the five key pillars in terms of inclusive learning and education, employment, independent living and active participation in society, well-being and health and transport and mobility.  Two Thursday's ago, I met with representatives from Dara Community Living, which is based in Celbridge in my constituency of Kildare North. They are doing incredible work with people with disabilities, and their service users shared many of their stories with me and the benefits of independent living. In looking at the five particular pillars, independent living and active participation is a core pillar of that, and the other pillars come in under those auspices as well. Some of the stories that were shared by the services users include that of one particular man, Paul, who has now gone on to write his own book. He is living independently. He has care staff who help and assist him with his day-to-day living. I heard from others as well. It is incredible to see the new lease of life that people with disabilities gain once they have that independent living.  What is more they have the opportunity to actually gain employment. We know that quite a number of people with disabilities are not in work. Some 32.6% of disabled people are in work compared to an EU average of 51.3%. What I would love to see as part of this strategy as it develops is working to really help people with disabilities gain employment because it comes back again to that piece around independent living and giving people with disabilities a role that they see fit and with which they are comfortable.  Many of them have excellent jobs on farms, for example. Michael, who I met, is working on a farm and loves working with the chickens and the animals. Other people are working in retail or in coffee shops. What they are looking for most of all is that ability to gain employment. Dara Community Living is doing excellent work in helping those people gain employment, but also gain their independence through independent living.  I welcome the strategy. I ask that there be a particular focus on the independent living aspect. Obviously, employment plays a key role in that. As I said, I would like to welcome the strategy and commend the work of Dara Community Living and all other service providers throughout the State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rose Conway-Walsh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"Rose-Conway-Walsh.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rose Conway-Walsh  I welcome the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030. However, the Minister and I know that the road from here to Mayo is paved with good intentions and unimplemented strategies, many of which have been outlined here. The subsequent action plan and its implementation will be the test of whether the strategy will bring about genuine change or is just another collection of words.  The fact is that the Government is breaking the law, as Cara Darmody continues to point out again and again, as regards assessments of need. The tragic and avoidable passing of Harvey Morrison Sherratt over the summer must bring an end to the neglect of children with significant medical needs in the State. My sincere condolences to his parents, Gillian and Stephen, and my deepest gratitude to them for the campaign they are leading to save the lives of other children who wait for operations. I fully support their pursuit of a full independent statutory inquiry.  Mikey Henry from Mayo is a young person who has experienced the consequences of a failure of care in Children's Health Ireland, CHI. His story has been raised by me and others in the House He is 17 years of age. When his parents first tried to access an operation to address his scoliosis in 2022, the curve in his spine was 82\u00b0. This week, the curve in his spine is 130\u00b0. Mikey's scoliosis has deteriorated to the point that it has damaged his lungs and left him struggling to breathe on his own, requiring oxygen during the day and a mask at night to breathe. This has happened despite promises in 2017 from the T\u00e1naiste and then Minister for Health, Deputy Simon Harris, that by the end of the year no child would have to wait more than four months for scoliosis surgery. This is evidently not the reality for families up and down the country.  In the Irish Independent today, Mary Regan reported that the number of children waiting for spinal surgery continues to rise. Right now, there are 135 children on the waiting list, an increase of 108 since the start of the year. Only seven children have received surgery abroad since the previous Minister for Health instructed the HSE to send any child waiting more than four months for surgery to the UK or New York to receive their life-saving treatment. We know some children are not medically fit to travel as their scoliosis has deteriorated.  When I spoke to Harvey's mum, Gillian, last week, I asked her what immediate steps need to be taken to ensure no other lives are lost. She outlined two very practical and immediate measures. The first was insourcing. Why are we not bringing in consultants and surgeons from abroad to carry out life-saving surgeries and operations as a matter of urgency? The second was the ring-fencing of a small section of private hospitals to carry out surgeries on non-complex patients, thereby freeing up public hospitals for more complex surgeries where multiple treatments are required. I ask that the House be updated on a weekly basis until all of the children on the waiting list have received their life-saving surgery. If we are not about saving lives here, what are we about?  I also want to raise the necessity of Mikey and other children and young adults being provided with suitable transport, which can carry the oxygen tanks they now need, in order to meet the needs of the families and children with scoliosis who have been failed over and over again in so many ways. What kind of stupid bureaucracy denies these children and families something as basic as transport? This has to be sorted out. This is the first day back of this D\u00e1il. If we cannot save the lives of these children, what are we doing? We absolutely have to do this. We have to do everything possible and have accountability. We did not have accountability for Harvey, but we need accountability for the other children who are waiting. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I beg the indulgence of the Leas-Cheann Comhairle to pay tribute to Fianna F\u00e1il Councillor Patrick Gerard Murphy, who represented Bantry, Castletownbere and Skull electoral area and whose untimely death took place last Friday. His funeral is taking place as I speak this evening. Patrick was a councillor decades ahead of time. He had a great ability to bring people from right across the political divide with him. He was hugely intelligent and well spoken in politics but also in community. I am so sorry I cannot be with the people of Castletownbere and Eyeries tonight and tomorrow for the funeral of their greatest son, but Patrick Gerard would know that I have to be here. He would say that the show must go on. My sincere sympathies to him and family. It is appropriate that we are talking about disabilities as Patrick was in a wheelchair for many years. He fought that bravely and never in any way let his people down. He always worked hard for those people. I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for giving me the chance to pay tribute to him.  I welcome the publication of the national human rights strategy for disabled people. It is long overdue. Too many of our citizens and families in every parish in this country have been left waiting for basic dignity and fairness. The strategy is a step in the right direction and we should say that clearly. People in rural parishes and urban estates will not measure this plan by the glossy brochure launched in the Mansion House. Rather, they will measure it by whether their son finally gets his spinal surgery, their daughter finally gets access to a speech and language therapist or a parent caring for a child with profound needs finally gets the respite that has been promised time and again. This is the test and on that test the Government has failed too often.  The strategy refers to health and well-being, which is welcome. However, let us face the elephant in room, namely, the disgrace of children waiting for surgery and the scandal of children waiting two and three years to be assessed for basic supports. That is where the Government's credibility will be judged.  The Independent Ireland Party has been clear. We would abolish means testing for carers. We would pay carers properly and give them the training they deserve. We would build the residential and respite facilities that families have been begging for and expand training for occupational and speech and language therapists so that children are not left languishing on lists. Families do not want more pillars or promises. They want services they can see.  Education is another area where the plan must deliver. The Government talks about roadmaps and transitions, but where are the dates, resources and extra therapists in schools? Where are the supports for children moving into apprenticeships and college? We support inclusive education. The Independent Ireland Party backs apprenticeships, fairer access to grants and proper training for SNAs. Inclusion must mean that no parent has to fight every step of the way just to get their child a place, assessment or fair chance.  Employment is another area where the words do not match the reality. Too many people are trapped. They want to work, but they are terrified of losing their disability allowance or secondary benefits. The strategy states it will tackle benefit traps, which is welcome. We will hold the Government to account on that. The Independent Ireland Party believes in simple and flexible welfare rules. If a person takes up a job and it does not work out, they must be able to receive their payment again without months of bureaucracy. While targets in the Civil Service are well and good, the real challenge is creating jobs in every town and village and helping small local businesses to employ disabled people with real support.  Housing is central to dignity. The strategy is tied to the national housing plan, but housing for disabled people has been kicked down the road for years. Our policies are clear, namely, modular homes, cuts to VAT on building materials and bringing derelict houses back into use. If we marry those measures with universal design standards, we would see disabled people living independently in every parish in Ireland. Housing not a favour; it is a right to dignity and independence.  Transport and mobility are the keys to inclusion. Without them, equality is a false promise. Accessibility is not just a line in the strategy; it is the difference between being able to take up a job or not and being able to meet friends or being stuck at home. The strategy refers to accessible door-to-door journeys. We welcome that, but let us see what happens in practice. It means fixing the broken mobility schemes, upgrading buses and trains so they are fully accessible and, crucially, rural transport links because equality is not just for Dublin. If a person cannot get from a rural parish to a hospital appointment or a job, then all the fine words in the strategy mean nothing.  On accountability, people with disability and carers are sick to death of reports and reviews that go nowhere. Committees and glossy action plans mean nothing if nothing changes on the ground. We want hard targets which are costed and measured and timelines to be published in plain English. Progress should be measured not in press releases but in reduced waiting lists and better services. We support giving disabled persons organisations a real seat at the table and not token consultation but instead genuine power to shape delivery. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  At the moment, this is no country for young children and for many people who have disabilities. This day last year I raised with the then Taoiseach, Deputy Simon Harris, the case of Harvey Morrison Sherratt. I raised the facts that he had been taken off a waiting list unbeknownst to his family, had been left in excruciating pain for his condition to develop and never had the necessary operations he needed to be able to regain health. Tragically, over the summer, Harvey Morrison Sherratt died. I do think we have reached a watershed moment in terms of how people with disabilities have been treated in this country.  To lose a child is the most tragic experience any parent will ever have to go through. To lose a child in such excruciating circumstances for the want of proper treatment is absolutely wrong. It is incredibly wrong, so much so that this State must take responsibility for it. We have a situation where Simon Harris promised when he was the Minister for Health that no child would have to wait for over four months to have the operation they needed. Yet we have a child who waited over three years for the operations. It is absolutely wrong. We have seen Harvey's parents, Gillian and Stephen, in the depths of horrendous grief, having to campaign for the rights of other parents and children to have the operations they needed in a timely fashion. They have also campaigned for justice for Harvey too.  It is wrong that we have a Government that has pushed back against having a proper investigation into what is happening in CHI. Nobody here can stand over what is happening in CHI at the moment. It is drowning in dysfunction. We have had nine separate reports, many of them not even published yet and some of them not made available to the parents, in relation to the dysfunction happening. There is a toxic management culture within CHI. Money is being spent without proper oversight. Children have had unauthorised springs inserted into them. Many children have had operations forced upon them. These are children who did not meet the threshold for those operations. Indeed, the waiting lists for children awaiting operations are now actually increasing. The buck has to stop somewhere. Somebody has to be held responsible for this. If there is no responsibility, there will be no change. This is one of the reasons we have asked for a proper public inquiry, along with the family, in relation to this issue. We will be tabling at the next opportunity a motion of no confidence in Simon Harris. There must be change in relation to this.  I also wish to speak about Cara Darmody and the phenomenal campaign she has run over the last year. It is incredible that she has had to go and stay outside the gates of Leinster House overnight on many occasions just to be able to put the issue of assessments of need front and centre. I am glad to be able to say that she has actually achieved a number of commitments from the T\u00e1naiste in relation to this. She has received a commitment that the right to an assessment of need will remain in law. She has received a commitment that a deadline for a new assessment of need law will be placed and this will happen before January 2026. She has received a 100% commitment not to change the six-month waiting list to assess autistic children. She has also achieved the objective of getting extra funding into this area.  I understand the T\u00e1naiste has said the Government is going to see if it can recruit therapists from the private sector to help with the waiting lists in this regard. I hope this is under way, because I have been talking to some therapists and they have not heard about it yet. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  If we are to make sure children get the assessments of need that are necessary and if therapists are going to be recruited, then they need to know it is happening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  This strategy sets out a whole-of-government approach to disability. Individual Departments and State agencies are responsible for delivering on these commitments. I am just going to read into the record these individual commitments. They are that:  We will create a more inclusive educational system for disabled children and young people that will respect the rights of everyone to choose and access the learning environments that meet their needs.  [...]  We will improve retention rates and progression for disabled children and young people as they deal with transitions within education ...  [...]  We will help educators and staff to create learning spaces that are friendly and supportive of all disabled children and young people.  [...]  We will maximise opportunities and access for disabled people to get meaningful work in the civil and public [service].  [...]  We will actively promote the hiring and career advancement of disabled people across the private sector.  [...]  We will provide the right supports at the right time for disabled people to access work or return to work.  [...]  We will deliver the right individual supports at the right time so that disabled people using disability services can maximise their opportunities to live independently and choose to be an active part of their local communities.  [...]  We will increase the participation of disabled people in social and cultural life, including in arts, tourism, and sport ...  [...]  We will enable disabled people to have meaningful engagement in political life and public fora and to actively engage in elections on an equitable basis as citizens.  [...]  We will improve access to supports and enable disabled people, particularly those with more complex disabilities, to live a full life in the community.  [...]  We will enhance the effective delivery of the National Housing Strategy for Disabled People (2022 \u2013 2027).  [...]  We will support the inclusion of disabled people in their local communities by continuing to improve our services and by creating accessible environments ...  [...]  We will ensure that disabled people have access to justice on an equal basis with others and that they do not unnecessarily enter the Criminal Justice system ...  [...]  We will create a more accessible and inclusive mainstream health service ...  [...]  We will ensure that disabled people are treated with respect and dignity, have their welfare promoted and receive support in an environment in which every effort is made to promote welfare and prevent abuse.  [...]  We will enhance disabled people\u2019s overall health and wellbeing.  [...]  We will ensure that all disabled children and young people are supported to access the mental health services they need.  [...]  We will achieve a quality, accessible, equitable and timely service for all disabled children and their families based on their needs.  [...]  We will ensure that disabled children and adults can benefit from improved access to oral healthcare.  [...]  We will ensure that disabled people are made aware of the supports available to them in accessing the National Screening Service through improved targeted promotion.  [...]  We will ensure that disabled children and adults who develop hearing loss can benefit from appropriate and timely interventions.  [...]  We will take a \u201cwhole-of-journey\u201d approach applying Universal Design principles in the development of infrastructure and services to improve the accessibility of our transport system across the country.  [...]  We will support those who cannot use or access ... public transport, or who may need private transport to get to and from public transport, by providing disabled people with enhanced personal mobility options. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy's time is up. He will have to please conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Miche\u00e1l Carrigy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Miche\u00e1l-Carrigy.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Miche\u00e1l Carrigy  We as a Government will be judged on delivering each one of these commitments. I ask that the Government put every resource possible into doing so, and I know it will. I know the commitment is there to ensure we deliver on all these commitments. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Barry-Ward.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Ward  I remember speaking many years ago to a resource teacher in Loughlinstown in my constituency. He was saying that if you ask a child in the classroom to throw a balled-up piece of paper into the bin, they can all do it to the same extent, except it is much easier for the kids sitting at the front of the class than it is for the kids sitting at the back of the class. What this is about is levelling the playing field. This applies to disability as much as it does to educational opportunity. We must, therefore, be looking at levelling the playing field for people, irrespective of what challenges they face, so they can achieve as much as they possibly can.  I pay tribute to those who have been involved in organisations like Changing Places Ireland. I worked with them when I was on the county council trying to ensure we had not just proper and accessible bathrooms in public spaces, but facilities for people who need much more than just an accessible bathroom, where hoists and other facilities are required. I welcome that the group has achieved charitable status. I acknowledge the work of people like Ann Healy, Aaron Daly, Aisling McNiffe, Annette Monaghan and the tireless work they have done, along with my colleague, Councillor Vicki Casserly, in this space.  This endeavour, though, must expand to more than just that. Let us look at employment. We provide grants to people who require assistance, for example. We help them with a payment to allow them to do what they need to do. If they then get a job and start working, however, and make too much money, they will lose out on that grant because it is means-tested. They still face the same difficulties, however. They still have the same problems getting to work and with employers who cannot or will not facilitate them. This must change.  Transport has to change. If I am a wheelchair user, I should not have to call D\u00fan Laoghaire Dart station in advance to let them know I will be getting off the first carriage so someone can come out with a ramp and put it down so I can get off. I stood in Woodbrook Dart station as we opened it, but that new fully accessible station still needs ramps to get people on and off the train. They talked in Iarnr\u00f3d \u00c9ireann about how they are bringing in these fabulous new trains that are going to be level with the platform and will allow, for example, mobility impaired people to get on and off unassisted. That is wonderful and I welcome it, but it is still two years away.  If we really want to level the playing field and if we really want to say to people with any type of disability that we are there to support them and to give them the same opportunities that anyone else has, we must be serious about it. We cannot say, \"Yes, we are working on it and it is coming in two years' time.\" Now is the time to do it. We also need to work in terms of the supports we provide to people through social protection to ensure they have the same opportunities. This includes employers. There must be an incentive there to ensure this, because employers do sometimes need to make allowances for people with disabilities. Most employers will do it if they can.  What we want to do is make sure that it is not difficult for them to do that and that they have the capacity to do it. That is a key part of levelling the playing pitch too, because we know that people with disabilities are much more likely to suffer from unemployment. A total of 75% of them suffer from unemployment. That is fixable for many of those people. They want to work but, because of whatever challenge they face, they cannot do so and they cannot find an employer who either wants to or can make the changes that are needed.  Let us level the playing field. Let us put in place the measures they need to do what they want to do in order that they contribute the same as everybody else. Then we will have a more inclusive society, but also one that is better for it because all of them will be added in to the mix, delivering what we all want to deliver to make this a better place. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Carroll MacNeill","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Carroll-MacNeill.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister for Health (Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill)  Before I begin speaking on the national human rights strategy for disabled people, I want to take an opportunity to reflect on the far-too-short life of Harvey Morrison Sherratt and to extend my sincere sympathies in the D\u00e1il to his family, Gillian, Stephen, Lyla and Remy, and his extended family. The pain felt by those around Harvey can never be eased. What we can do now and are determined to do is to drive change, but I do want to acknowledge that.  In the weeks since Harvey's passing, I have asked the HSE CEO, Bernard Gloster, for a timeline of Harvey's care from a multidisciplinary perspective. I have received a draft, but we do not regard it as a final complete document until his parents have had an opportunity to feed in their perspectives. It will only be final once it is agreed and discussed and we have had the opportunity for Bernard Gloster, at the family's convenience, to agree a timeline of care. It is not for us to determine that by ourselves; their voices must be heard. I will also meet with Harvey's parents, Gillian and Stephen, with the T\u00e1naiste shortly.  We will continue to drive improvements to try to get a better service in CHI. While we are here to speak about the national human rights strategy for people with disabilities and I would like to discuss that, I am conscious that when we speak about disabilities there are a group under the care of CHI for whom we are not, in my opinion, delivering timely enough services. Though we are doing more outpatient clinics on Saturdays - this year there have been 16 - which has resulted in an increase in the number of patients referred for surgery through better diagnostics through attending to people at an earlier stage of the order of an additional 700 as a consequence, we have recruited a new surgeon who began on 11 August, and we have put in more resources time and time again in terms of MRI machines, theatre capacity and additional human resources, I am still not satisfied with the timelines for surgeries or the referral pathways identified for 2025. It is a matter of fact that the 2025 plan that was received to the Department in relation to the surgical spinal plan was sent back as not being sufficient. I am not satisfied with the international referral pathways and have lots of questions about why there is a decrease in international pathways and an increase in referrals to Blackrock.  Some of the measures that we are taking to try to address the waiting management of it is a centralised management of dealing with cases and key workers to be able to respond to parents. Though I am not satisfied that neither of these things is in place today, I am told that they will be done by the end of September.  On restructuring the theatre plan, because of the capacity of the new surgeon to do more work and seeing what we can do with additional theatres in Cappagh, though I would have expected this to have been done already, I have examined the reasons for the cancellation of surgeries - literally all of the reasons for the distribution and why surgeries were cancelled because of a clinical reason, a matter within the hospital or a parental matter - and looked through those different reasons and tried to understand it better, but I cannot overstate my frustration with this. This is why I have asked Bernard Gloster to commission a specific audit into three practice areas in CHI, two of which are to be surgical - one neurological, one spinal services and one other medical profession to be determined by the auditor - to examine exactly how these pathways are occurring, exactly what is happening, and how people are referred to different processes or not. I have also put in a strong qualitative element to try to understand and be able to talk to parents on how it is that this was referred to them or that was referred to them, but not this or not that, to try to get a much better picture. I expect to have that audit by the end of November or the beginning of December, subject to the auditor.  I really would like to speak about the human rights strategy for disabled people but I appreciate I have used my time on that matter. It is important. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  I welcome this opportunity to speak on the strategy this evening. The aim of this national human rights strategy for disabled people is about ensuring disabled people are supported and empowered to live a full life.  I will touch on a few issues. Regarding transport and mobility, the strategy commits to taking the whole journey approach. I have raised it here through parliamentary questions on a couple of occasions. Even with the current transport strategy, there is no wheelchair access or lifts on the railway lines to Cobh, Fota and so on. We are talking about encompassing and empowering people. We have a lot of beaches in east Cork, such as Inch, Ballycroneen, White Bay, Ballybranagan, Youghal and Ballycotton. That is our secret and we do not like to tell anybody about it, but there too there are very few ramps. The beaches are not wheelchair accessible.  I welcome the fact that this strategy is coming, although maybe a bit late. I want to turn back to the part where the strategy states at the start that we want to ensure that disabled people are supported and empowered to live a full life. I have raised on a couple of occasions the case of Katie Byrne, who is from Cobh. On 24 September this year, she will be 15 years waiting for a hip operation. I have her file with me. The Taoiseach was talking about it today. I note the thickness of the file. I have gone to three health Ministers and one disability Minister on this. This girl is still waiting for the operation and is classed as disabled. I heard the Taoiseach say today that is a clinical decision here and they will have to look at it. I will quote, without mentioning any doctor's name or anything, from the very latest medical report that Katie Byrne got here in Ireland. I will not even mention the county. This professor said:  While I appreciate the local surgeons concerns, I can assure you that this will not set her back from walking. She will be up out of bed using a walker within a day or two of surgery. Her muscles will work better due to the improved hip mechanics so they will seem stronger not weaker.  We are on about empowering people and letting them live their own full lives. As I said, I have been dealing with this family for the past two years but this poor girl has been waiting 15 years for a hip operation. I have had, as I said, three health Ministers here and we cannot get answers. I am using this opportunity to appeal. There is an old saying. We all have parents and they say, \"Doctors differ and patients die.\" This poor girl has been suffering for 15 years. I am appealing to the Minister and the Minister of State tonight. If they want this national human rights strategy for people with disabilities to succeed, they have to take these cases individually and they have to think outside the box. As I said, while some people's opinions may differ from others, the job is here. No matter what it costs and no matter what the opinions are, it is about doing the right thing. I appeal to the Minister to look at this case and use this human rights strategy as a template to do the right thing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gillian Toole","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Gillian-Toole.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gillian Toole  I welcome the publication of the strategy and, most important, the commitments within it because that, in effect, is the roadmap. It will, most definitely, underpin the work of the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Disability Matters and it will be our reference point. Indeed, we are already taking elements of it and incorporating them into the work plan of the current term.  Is the plan of action like to be published in December? The timeline was approximately three months.  Key to this will be accountability and then the oversight of delivery. As for the Cabinet committee reports, where and when will they be available? As for the senior officials group, who are they and will that information be available? As for the delivery and monitoring committee, who are they and when will the reports be available?  Funding of the Department is key, obviously, in the run-up to the budget deliberations.  More as a comment than anything else, we must remember, first and foremost, that we are human beings rather than human doings and that is where the strategy is so important. GDP, of course, and economics are very important, but it brings that focus back. If we design our systems and services for disabled people, we will provide outcomes for everybody in society and enrich it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I am glad to get the opportunity. Even though so many people with disabilities are allocated home care or home help, often the home help never turns up, or at least not the amount of it that is supposed to be given to people. I have a case of a mother and daughter. The mother is minding the daughter for the past 35 years. The daughter got an acquired brain injury. She had strokes and several things and she is speechless. She has so many different problems. The house is fitted out. There is no home anywhere fitted out like it is fitted out to care for this girl.  The mother is now sick. She was promised three visits by two people each day but only one person is coming once a day. She is sick herself. This is not fair. If the HSE does not have the staff, I cannot understand why. I have been highlighting this for two years for several different people. Why can the HSE not employ contract workers? This poor mother is over 70 years of age. I know she wanted me to mention her in the Chamber but I will not do so until I have full authority. She is suffering and she has suffered for the last 35 years in seeing after her daughter. Now, when she is not able to see after herself, she needs the three visits each day from two people, given a hoist is needed to get the daughter out of bed, put her to bed and those little things. They would manage the rest themselves over the 24 hours of the day. It is not fair to give them an allocation and have no one turn up.  I am sick of it. I am not blaming the Minister of State; I am blaming the HSE. Something will have to be done about it. It is time to call \u201cStop\u201d. I do not want these glossy magazines or reports on anything. The facts are there, and the Government knows it. They must be seen after. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Barry Heneghan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Barry-Heneghan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Barry Heneghan  I welcome the publication of the strategy, which is anchored in human rights and our obligations under the UNCRPD. It is worth remembering that when this was ratified, it was my predecessor, the former Minister of State, Finian McGrath, who got it delivered. The progress was slow but I am delighted to see it has been made.  I want to raise one concern that was brought to me by multiple DPOs, which was that engagement in the design of the strategy was restricted to the DPO network. While disabled persons organisations must be central in everything we do in government, multiple DPOs have reached out to me to say they were not consulted, including two in my constituency. I feel the net was drawn too tightly. One of the organisations within the network cannot, under the current structure, be considered a true DPO.  That said, this strategy deserves strong backing. It is going to give us the framework that is needed. However, while frameworks and reports are one thing, the next step is delivery. We must now turn the commitments into action. I welcome that the Minister of State has published the network and that there are major commitments in the programme for Government regarding disabilities.  It was great to see Joan Carty, advocacy manager at the Irish Wheelchair Association, at the launch. I look forward to working tirelessly with Joan when the voices of disabled people are heard and acted upon. That is what we must do. The strategy sets the direction. The challenge for us now is to match it with action and delivery to make an impact. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Hildegarde Naughton","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","memberCode":"Hildegarde-Naughton.S.2013-07-19","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Children, Disability and Equality (Deputy Hildegarde Naughton)  I thank all Members for their contributions to this discussion. As Minister of State with responsibility for disabilities, I have witnessed at first hand the passion and commitment that disabled people bring to advocating for a more inclusive Ireland, and for continually highlighting the need to provide more and better services. The Government and I are very conscious of the struggles endured by disabled people and their families and loved ones. We are firmly of the belief that disabled people should be able to access the right services, at the right time, within their own communities, and they should be supported to live independent lives with the same access to opportunity as all other citizens. That is why the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 is so important.  Time and again, disabled people have shared their strong view of \u201cnothing about us without us\u201d. That is why engagement with disabled people and their representative organisations was key in the development of the national strategy, which included 34 focus groups, five town hall events, almost 500 responses to a national survey and more than 80 written submissions received by the Department. Disabled people and their representative organisations have given generously of their time in the development of this document. I give my heartfelt thanks to them.  This strategy would not be so ambitious without their input and determination. Thanks to that input, the National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030 reflects the lived experience of the very people it is designed to support. This experience is essential to ensure that everything that we aim to achieve in the months and years ahead makes a real difference to individuals and their families. From these engagements, we learned that the key issues impacting the day-to-day lives of disabled people include access to a good education, access to good jobs, reliable and accessible public transport, and the necessary supports to live independently and healthily in their communities.  The scope of ambition of the strategy fulfils the Government\u2019s commitment to progressively realising Ireland's implementation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in ways that will have the maximum benefit for disabled people. In the context of disability, human rights are grounded in the equality, dignity and choice of disabled people. This requires the structures and cultures we exist within to be conducive to the full, effective and inclusive participation of disabled people. Realising these rights requires an institutional, environmental and attitudinal alignment with the UNCRPD that comprehensively covers all areas of a person\u2019s life.  To achieve the ambition we so clearly set out, we will need stakeholders to hold us - the Government - to account, and tell us what is working well and what needs to be changed. There are many good things happening in the area of disability and incredible work being done in communities across Ireland, and we want to build on this. However, many disabled people rightly believe their needs are not being met and that we need new ways of doing things.  For example, we continue to recruit therapists from a range of disciplines for our CDNTs and our special schools, but we know there are not enough. That is why we must also invest in third level places for therapists, in alternative therapies and in initiatives like autism assistance dogs and Variety Ireland's recycle mobility trikes, which are so important. While the Government is investing in a massive house building programme, not enough homes are being provided for people with disabilities. We know that when appropriate housing is provided, in places like Glensheen Court in Ennis or at Killorglin in County Kerry, which I recently visited, it makes a massive difference to the lives of disabled people and their families, particularly elderly parents who know their child will have a lifelong home to call their own.  We know that disabled people, for a variety of reasons, are less likely to have a job. Organisations like the Together Academy show that many people with a disability who want to work can, but only if the right supports are in place. Disabled people are often prevented from enjoying the same opportunities as other citizens across a range of areas, including education, transport and participation in community life. This is a reality and a lived experience that we must acknowledge, but it is not a reality that I, as Minister of State with responsibility for disability, accept.  We must change how we do things and give disabled people the same rights and opportunities as every other citizen. That is what the strategy is about and why it is so important. The strategy calls out where we need to do better in areas such as increasing respite places, the provision of more day services, growing the number of Irish sign language interpreters and harnessing the power of assistive technology. It highlights how we must deliver supports to employers and disabled people to remove barriers to work, conduct walkability audits to make our towns and cities accessible and remove barriers that prevent disabled people from enjoying public spaces like parks, galleries and museums or from partaking in cultural events.  It falls on each Department and each Minister to make sure that happens. No one Department or Minister is responsible; we all are. To ensure the commitments outlined in the strategy are met, robust delivery and monitoring structures have been co-designed with stakeholders to ensure oversight and accountability. There is a strong focus on collaboration, and delivery will be underpinned by programme plans of action every two years. These programme plans will set out how the key priority actions under each commitment will be delivered, who will be responsible for their delivery and the timeframe for delivery.  At the highest level, the Cabinet committee on disability will oversee the strategy, and all groups responsible for delivery will be accountable to this Cabinet committee. The delivery and monitoring committee is central to implementation and will meet twice a year. It is responsible for overseeing and directing the delivery of the strategy. This group will be chaired by the Taoiseach, underscoring the top-level commitment to progressing delivery. The newly formed disability unit in the Department of the Taoiseach will play a key role in co-ordinating efforts across Departments that are leading on pillars and will support collaborative delivery.  The pillar groupings will comprise a mix of Departments, agencies and stakeholders working together to identify and deliver on the best course of action to achieve the stated ambitions. The inclusion of disabled people themselves is an integral part of this new approach, with the setting-up of a disabled persons organisation group where members will sit alongside Departments in pillar groupings, ensuring the representative voice of disabled people is directly integrated into decision-making. The chair of the DPO group will participate in the delivery and monitoring committee. The commitments within the strategy and the monitoring and implementation structures designed to support them were developed through the large-scale national public consultation and the close co-design with disability stakeholders, ensuring the resulting strategy will make meaningful, transformative progress and will realise its ambitions.  I take this opportunity to thank colleagues across government for their commitment in developing this strategy, which we must view only as a beginning, an excellent starting point from which we must all continue to build to ensure the strategy\u2019s full implementation and effectiveness. In fact, it is the cross-government framework of the strategy that provides the foundation upon which each of the five pillars is built, and it will therefore be cross-government collaboration that will be the prerequisite for the strategy\u2019s successful implementation.  The publication of this national human rights strategy for disabled people is an important achievement in the first year of this Government. Developed in partnership with disabled people, the strategy represents a significant step forward for the realisation of disability rights in Ireland. The Government has promised a step change in the delivery of disability services in Ireland. This strategy, and its built-in enforcement mechanisms, is the blueprint for how we will get there. It is only by matching our words and promises with action that we can earn the trust of disabled people. That is why we recognise this strategy as the beginning of a journey together and not the final destination. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"National Human Rights Strategy for Disabled People 2025-2030: Statements"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_15","debateType":"motion","bill":null,"showAs":"Special Education School Places: Motion [Private Members]","counts":{"speechCount":48,"speakerCount":38},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"M\u00e1ire Devine","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/M\u00e1ire-Devine.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"M\u00e1ire-Devine.S.2016-04-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I move:  That D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann:  notes that:  \u2014 the right to education is a fundamental right for every child, as enshrined in the Irish Constitution and international conventions;  \u2014 despite two D\u00e1il motions in 2025 calling for the provision of appropriate school places for every child with additional needs in their locality, the Government has rejected these calls;  \u2014 the Minister for Education has, to date, repeatedly declined to provide the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting a school place for the 2025\/2026 academic year, disaggregated by county and educational setting (primary\/post-primary, special class\/special school), despite a commitment to do so before the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Education and Youth;  \u2014 as of mid-June 2025, there were an estimated 260 children without any offer of an appropriate school place;  \u2014 the \"Equality in Education\" campaign has identified a further 168 children who have received an offer of a place but cannot take it up due to delays in essential building works, a situation which effectively denies them their education;  \u2014 numerous families have been forced to initiate legal proceedings to secure a basic school place for their child, a stressful and unnecessary course of action;  \u2014 these figures represent a significant undercount of the total number of children with additional needs without an appropriate school place, as they do not include:  \u2014 children with additional needs being home-schooled while awaiting an appropriate place;  \u2014 children undertaking excessively long and burdensome daily journeys to access education; and  \u2014 children placed in inappropriate settings (e.g., in mainstream classes awaiting a special class placement, or in special classes awaiting a special school place);  \u2014 the failure to invest, plan, and deliver adequate school infrastructure and supports has left many hundreds of children with additional needs without appropriate education;  \u2014 the comprehensive Report on the Review of the Education for Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004 revealed profound dissatisfaction with support services, finding that 49 per cent of parents and 38 per cent of staff surveyed described their contact with the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) as \"unhelpful\" or \"very unhelpful\", while 41 per cent of parents and 46 per cent of staff reported similarly negative experiences with Special Educational Needs Organisers (SENOs);  \u2014 the widespread denial of essential Special Needs Assistant (SNA) support, through the effective imposition of a cap on numbers or a narrow reinterpretation of SNA duties, is causing severe hardship; and  \u2014 delays in clarifying SNA allocations to schools are creating unnecessary stress and anxiety for school leaders, parents, and children alike, destabilising the start of the school year;  condemns the Government for:  \u2014 its abject failure to strategically invest, plan, and deliver appropriate school places and supports for children with additional needs;  \u2014 effectively denying children access to education based solely on their additional needs, thereby violating their fundamental rights; and  \u2014 creating an environment where parents are forced to resort to legal action to vindicate their children's basic right to education; and  calls on the Government to:  \u2014 immediately publish the exact number of children with additional needs still awaiting a school place for the 2025\/2026 academic year, broken down by county and educational setting (primary\/post-primary, special class\/special school);  \u2014 immediately publish the exact number of children with additional needs who have a formal offer of a school place but are prevented from taking it up due to delays in building works, broken down by county and educational setting;  \u2014 establish a time-bound School Building Delivery Task Force with the mandate to ensure the expeditious and priority delivery of special schools and special classes, this task force must include relevant technical and departmental expertise and incorporate continuous engagement with local school communities and parents;  \u2014 initiate an independent review of the role, function, and resourcing of the NCSE and SENOs to improve efficiency, transparency, and performance;  \u2014 commit to a significant investment in the recruitment and retention of SNAs and Special Education Teachers (SETs) to meet current and projected demand;  \u2014 review and reform the SNA and SET allocation model to ensure it is needs-based, transparent, and timely, and to ensure the voice of the child, their parents\/guardians, and school leaders is central in the decision-making process; and  \u2014 publish and implement a costed, medium-to-long-term strategic plan to guarantee that every child with additional needs has equal access to appropriate education within their own community, ending the crisis-driven approach of many long years.  I welcome the opportunity to introduce this motion on an issue of profound urgency and fundamental justice, namely, the ongoing and shameful denial of appropriate education to children with additional needs in this State. The right to education is a fundamental right for every child, as enshrined in our Constitution and in international conventions, yet this Government has systematically failed to uphold this right. I welcome affected parents from the Equality in Education campaign, among others, to the Visitors Gallery. They are most welcome. In truth, I am sorry they have to be here.  Despite two separate D\u00e1il motions earlier this year calling for the provision of appropriate school places, the Government rejected these calls. The Minister for education has repeatedly declined to provide this House with the exact number of children still awaiting a place for September, despite a clear commitment to do so. I hope the senior Minister joins us for this really important debate. This refusal is an insult to this Parliament and, more importantly, to the parents and families. As of mid-June, an estimated 260 children had no offer of any school place. This number is likely to have decreased significantly by now. The Minister of State should clarify this but, as always, the devil is in the detail. This is not about offers. It is about physical school places with the necessary supports and resources. The Equality in Education campaign has identified at least 168 children who have an offer but who cannot take it up due to delays in essential building works or school transport. It is an offer on paper that is, in fact, a cruel illusion in reality. Is uaf\u00e1sach \u00e9 sin.  Numerous families, exhausted and abandoned by the State, have been forced to initiate legal proceedings to secure a basic school place for their child, a stressful and arduous course of action that should be unimaginable in any republic. These figures are a significant undercount. They do not include children being homeschooled while awaiting a place, children undertaking excessively long and burdensome daily journeys or children placed in settings that are inappropriate, such as in mainstream while waiting for a special class or in a special class while waiting for a special school.  This failure to invest, plan and deliver has left hundreds of children behind. It is compounded by a support system in crisis. The recent EPSEN Act review revealed profound dissatisfaction, with nearly half of parents describing their contact with the NCSE as unhelpful or very unhelpful. The widespread denial of essential SNA support through what amounts to an undeclared cap is causing severe hardships. Delays in clarifying SNA and SET allocations are destabilising schools and causing untold anxiety. We condemn the effective denial of education based solely on a child's additional needs, which is a clear violation of their fundamental rights. We condemn the creation of an environment where parents are forced to resort to the immense stress and financial burden of legal action simply to vindicate their children's basic right to education.  Our call to action is clear. We demand immediate transparency and call on the Department to publish the exact number of children awaiting a place and those blocked by building and school transport delays, disaggregated by county and setting. We demand immediate delivery and the establishment of a time-bound task force to fast-track building projects. We demand systemic reform and an independent review of the NCSE and SENOs to restore trust and efficiency. We demand investment and a commitment to recruit and retain SNAs and SETs with the reformed, needs-based allocation model that centres the voice of the child, parent and school leader. Crucially, we demand a lasting solution and the publication and implementation of a costed, medium- to long-term strategic plan with multi-annual funding to finally guarantee that every child with additional needs has equal access to appropriate education within their own community.  The time for deflection and excuses is over. The time for action is now. I commend this motion to the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Sh\u00f3nagh-N\u00ed-Raghallaigh.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Sh\u00f3nagh N\u00ed Raghallaigh  \u00d3 toghadh m\u00e9, t\u00e1 m\u00e9 tar \u00e9is labhairt leis na sc\u00f3rtha teaghlach, teaghlaigh a bhfuil iachall orthu troid l\u00e1 i ndiaidh lae ar son an rud is bun\u00fasa\u00ed at\u00e1 de dh\u00edth orthu, oideachas ceart d\u00e1 p\u00e1ist\u00ed. Parents are sick and tired of fighting. They are carers and workers, often raising other children too, and they are forced to become part-time activists and policy experts on top of that, just to secure the supports their children need. Is \u00e9 seo an tr\u00ed\u00fa seachtain ar ais ar scoil agus f\u00f3s, fud fad an St\u00e1it, t\u00e1 p\u00e1ist\u00ed a bhfuil riachtanais bhreise acu ina su\u00ed sa bhaile fad is at\u00e1 a gcuid dearth\u00e1ireacha agus deirfi\u00faracha ar scoil sa seomra ranga. T\u00e1 oideachas cu\u00ed di\u00faltaithe d\u00f3ibh de bharr oibreacha a bheith curtha siar agus easpa \u00e1iteanna speisialta go h\u00e1iti\u00fail.  The Minister reneged on a promise to tell the House precisely how many children have no choice but to stay at home. Being offered a place in an as yet non-existent classroom does not count as a proper place. Sadly, at this stage, families are all too familiar with the reality of delay, distraction and indifference. Is cinnte gurb \u00e9 cur chuige easnamhach an Rialtais c\u00fais leis an bpraiseach ina bhfuil muid faoi l\u00e1thair. We know the Department is refusing to sanction places where there is a clear demand. In County Kildare, there is a distinct under-provision of mild and moderate special classes, disproportionately affecting children with disabilities like Down's syndrome.  Effectively, we have a tiered system in operation, with some disabilities privileged over others. Families are constantly having to choose between bad or worse. One family in Kildare are choosing between a 120 km round-trip commute to a special class in Meath or an 80 km commute to Dublin, which is closer to their appointments. What the family want is for Caoimhe to go to school in her community.  Labhair m\u00e9 le han-chuid pr\u00edomhoid\u00ed at\u00e1 faoi bhr\u00fa \u00f3n Roinn sp\u00e1sanna neamhoiri\u00fanacha a thiont\u00fa ina seomra\u00ed ranga. I am aware of many SENOs blocking special class placements recommended by educational psychologists. In all these cases, schools and families are wrangling with a system that is meant to help. Instead, it gatekeeps essential supports at every corner. Sinn F\u00e9in will not stand by while children with additional needs are treated as less than.  We will fight with families until they are cherished and counted as much as every other child in this State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Earlier this year, Deputy Conor McGuinness and I met with parents of children with disabilities from Waterford city and county. At the time, those parents were heartbroken because they had no idea if their child would have an appropriate class place. Many of them were sent on a wild goose chase, as they were told they had to contact schools themselves. In some instances, they had to contact 14, 15 and 16 schools only to be told each and every time they made a phone call that there was no special class and no place for their child. I arranged meetings with the local SENO and the National Council for Special Education. I was taken aback by the fact that they could not tell me how many children were waiting for special classes. They did not have the data. They could not tell me how many additional special classes were going to be put in place. They told me that it simply was not possible to provide special classes in some of the schools. I picked up the phone to school principals across Waterford city and county, as did Deputy McGuinness. Those same schools told us they could provide special classes, but they needed physical space and additional supports. I went back to the National Council for Special Education and the SENO and, lo and behold, the classes were eventually put in place within a couple of months. We had meetings with the Minister of State, Deputy Michael Moynihan. We had a Private Members' business debate here not so long ago when parents again came to the Public Gallery. Rebecca Meehan from Dungarvan in County Waterford was one of those campaigners, among many others.  The lack of joined-up thinking and planning right across the system was breathtaking. from the National Council for Special Education and the Department right down. That is an absolute failure. It is not fair on those children. We are here again with a motion because, while there were improvements in some areas and additional classes, some of the classes that were announced in Waterford city and county are not available as the additional physical space or resources were not made available. That infuriates the principals and teachers in those schools but also the parents.  We need a proper plan. It is not beyond us to fix this problem. We are here every year and every year we fall behind. As an Teachta O'Rourke said, more than 230 children are still waiting. It is going to get worse unless this Government and the Department get on top of it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoin \u00d3 Broin","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Eoin-\u00d3-Broin.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoin \u00d3 Broin  In the 11 years I have been an elected representative in Dublin Mid-West, every single year as the school term approaches, my office receives calls from desperate parents who do not believe their child will have a school place come September. This year has been no different. The parents do not come to us at the start of that battle, but near the end. They have spent months or, in some cases, years battling for those places.  The key problems remain the same today as when I started in this job. We simply do not have enough places in our schools and where there are places, there is a lack of follow-on places. Despite the fact that we know the number of children with additional needs in junior schools, there is not adequate planning to ensure they have appropriate places moving through senior school or into secondary school. The delays in building new schools, units or extensions are extraordinary. It is six, seven or eight years in some cases. Lucan Special School and Saint Mary's Boys School in Lucan are just two of the schools where there are ongoing delays.  When parents and their children finally secure places, there are real question marks about the adequacy of those places. That is no criticism of the teachers, principals or SNAs. In many cases, the schools are too far from where the parents are; school transport is not provided or is then withdrawn; or the conditions in which the teachers, SNAs and the young children get their education are wholly inappropriate.  In the most recent case I had, the mother battled for over a year. It was only last week, some weeks after the school term started, that she finally secured a place. The thing she said to me that really struck home was the lack of any support or adequate information and communication as she battled for a very basic need for her child.  The issue is very simple: the 1916 Proclamation promised to cherish the children of the nation equally, yet every single year the Government is failing children. It is time to stop. That is why we have tabled this motion. I commend the motion to the House. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"David Cullinane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"David-Cullinane.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy David Cullinane  Hear, hear. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Claire Kerrane","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Claire-Kerrane.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Claire Kerrane  Why is it a secret as to how many children with additional needs are without an appropriate class place? Whether it is one, ten or 100, it is one child too many, as we are talking about a child who is unable to go to school in Ireland in 2025.  There are two calls in particular in this motion tonight that I want to highlight. They are reasonable and sensible. They are to establish the school building delivery task force, to ensure the delivery on time and to meet the demand for special classes and special schools, and to publish and implement a costed medium to long-term strategic plan to guarantee that every child with additional needs has access to an appropriate class place. We need to plan. I do not know how many times that has to be said. It is not rocket science. A child who is born today does not need a school place tomorrow. There is adequate time to plan, but it is not being done. I cannot understand why that is the case.  I had a prime example in my own constituency in Ballinasloe. Scoil an Chro\u00ed Naofa in Ballinasloe town has been waiting 29 years for a promised new school. The school has three special classes and it would love to open more. Children in the area have recently gone to an autism spectrum disorder, ASD, class in Loughrea. They were promised a school bus but there was no school bus on day one of the school term. The school had to arrange taxis. The issue has since been sorted, but if the school in Ballinasloe got the new school it was promised 29 years ago, with the class places that are required, we would not be splitting up brothers and sisters, some of whom must trek to Loughrea. This can be solved, but we need to plan. The Government needs to sort this out once and for all. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor D McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-D-McGuinness.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor D. McGuinness  Every child with additional needs has a constitutional right to education. That is something my colleague Deputy Cullinane and I raised with the Minister of State at the start of February this year. It is not simply a right to education but to a suitable and appropriate school place. Families are doing everything in their power, but they are being failed by this Government. In Dungarvan and Waterford, it took months of campaigning, public protest, sleep-outs and the threat of legal action before the Government moved to act. Parents and guardians had to fight tooth and nail just to be heard. Not every parent has the capacity to take on the State. Many are exhausted, dispirited and worn down. The Government is taking advantage of that. That is not acceptable and I am not going to stand for it.  This summer, there were at least 260 children without any school place at all and while some have since been offered a place, in many cases there is no room. Children are being put into corners, cupboards and corridors. In other cases, transport has not been provided, which means children cannot even attend the hard-fought place their parents secured after much campaigning.  Across the State, parents and guardians have been forced to campaign, protest and litigate just to secure what should be guaranteed, their child's basic right. Educators and school leaders too are doing everything they can to vindicate that right, but they are being left without the resources they urgently need and the political will that is needed to resolve this crisis.  This is part of a litany of failure where children are routinely denied services, treatments, adequate care and their rights by the State in everything from healthcare to social care, education and housing, and where parents must fight the Government rather than being supported to secure what should be automatic. This was foreseeable and it is preventable. It is a direct result of a failure to plan. Let us not see the same failure from the Government next year. The Government must plan now. That is why we are bringing forward this motion: to demand transparency on the numbers and a real plan for delivery of special education places, and investment in SNAs and SETs to meet demand.  The time for excuses is over. The Minister must publish the figures, deliver the places, resource schools properly and end this crisis once and for all. Let us not see a repeat of this next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pa Daly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Pa-Daly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pa Daly  I thank the Leas-Cheann Comhairle for the time to raise this important issue. The Equality in Education group has said that 168 children have been offered an appropriate school place but cannot take it up due to delays in essential building works. We believe there is a certain amount of waiting list manipulation going on. A place in an unbuilt school is not a place. A place in a cubby hole with no changing facilities for two children is not a place. Even when special transport is granted to a school that does not to exist, that is not a place. The problem has been going on for years. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have been in power for years and it seems they are doing nothing about it.  The policy of the Government and the Department states that where there is a demand, a service will be provided. They should tell that to the parents in Murhur National School in Moyvane in north Kerry, where an empty classroom was available and the principal and the board of management were in favour of it, but children there are travelling outside the county, to Glin, County Limerick, for a school place, as no place was provided for them.  There is a vague promise that there may be provision next year, but that is not good enough for the people there. I was contacted by one parent who works in education. She told me that there are two early intervention classes in the whole of County Kerry, but 22 in the neighbouring county of Cork. How does that feel to the parents looking at other children are getting ready for school while their own child has to stay at home? Cork has 22 classes and Kerry just has two. There are six places in the whole county of Kerry, but some children stay on for a second year so in reality there are three or four early intervention classes. We all know the good work that can be done when intervention is made early. I ask the Minister of State to intervene to provide more places for people, particularly in County Kerry. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ann Graves","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Ann-Graves.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ann Graves  This time of year is about going back to school for many families. That means getting the school bags, getting the books together, and getting the uniforms ready. For many families there will not be a school place for their child to get ready for. Sinn F\u00e9in is tabling this motion to highlight the terrible injustice and to put pressure on the Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael Government to listen and to act now. It is shocking to consider all of those families that have been abandoned by the Government. I am working with a family in Swords. The dad contacted my office in a desperate state about his daughter with additional needs who cannot get a school place in their local school. I raised the matter directly with the Minister for Education and Youth in a parliamentary question asking what options are open to this family and their child. The written response I received was totally unacceptable. She suggested the family contact Tusla education support services, which they did, only to be told to go on to Facebook and access a private tutor. The Tusla education support service followed up with a phone call to the family and advised them again to go onto Facebook to try to get homeschooling for their daughter. You could not make this up. It is a clear indication of a broken system.  I have tabled another parliamentary question to the Minister asking once again what options are open to this family who are in desperate need of a school place for their child. This is one of many similar cases. What happened to the promise that every child is entitled to a school place? The Equality in Education campaign identified a further 168 children without a place in school. It is all guesstimates because the Minister will not provide the actual numbers of children that do not have a school place. In Fingal East I know there is a number of such cases because parents are contacting me. The school term has commenced and they have no place to go with their children.  We need solutions. These families deserve better. I call on the Minister to publish and implement a costed, medium to long-term strategic plan to guarantee every child with additional needs has equal access to appropriate education within their own community, finally ending this crisis-driven approach to children's education. I will, of course, support the motion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Education and Youth (Deputy Michael Moynihan)  I move amendment No. 1:  To delete all words after \"D\u00e1il Eireann\" and substitute the following:  \"notes that:  \u2014 a child's right to education is enshrined in the Constitution and, under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD), must be accessible on an equal basis with others in the community in which they live; and  \u2014 the Government is committed to ensuring that each child and young person with a special educational need has an appropriate school place, in line with their Constitutional right and Programme for Government commitments;  notes that the Government will:  \u2014 progress work on the development of a more inclusive education system for children with special education needs by supporting them to attend their local school;  \u2014 continue to expand the number of special school places, special classes and special education teaching hours as required across the State;  \u2014 improve communication and outreach to parents of children with special educational needs to streamline the process by which parents apply for specialist school places, reducing the burden on them and improving the timelines, including the introduction of a common application procedure;  \u2014 continue to increase investment into the area of special education to ensure that every child can reach their full potential;  \u2014 support additional schools and students to benefit from the Summer Programme 2025;  \u2014 ensure that the National Council for Special Education (NCSE) will continue to engage intensively with parents and all educational partners to continue to increase capacity;  \u2014 ensure that available capacity across schools is maximised to make provision for children with special education needs; and  \u2014 prioritise school building projects delivering additional capacity for special classes and at special schools; and  further notes:  \u2014 the continued significant State investment of \u20ac2.9 billion in supporting the provision of special education, a 48 per cent increase since 2020;  \u2014 97 per cent of all children and young people enrolled in schools, including the majority of children and young people with special educational needs, are supported to attend mainstream classes with their peers;  \u2014 the significant increases in the allocation of Special Education Teachers (SETs) and Special Needs Assistants (SNAs) to support children with special educational needs in our schools which facilitates them in prioritising the allocation of all of these resources to children with the greatest level of need, including the completion of all SNA reviews and appeals for September 2025, there are now over 23,000 SNAs in our schools, an increase of 43 per cent since 2020;  \u2014 there are almost 21,000 SETs working in our schools whose sole role is to support children and young people with special educational needs, this is a 23 per cent increase since 2020, approximately 15,000 of these SETs support children and young people in mainstream classes, supplementing the work of mainstream teachers;  \u2014 the strategic initiatives introduced to provide for the continued, accelerated delivery of special class places in mainstream schools and special school places, the number of special classes has doubled over the last 5 years to over 3,700 and 16 new special schools have been established;  \u2014 407 new special classes have been sanctioned for the 2025\/26 school year and over 300 new special school places are being provided, including over 100 places in five new special schools opening presently;  \u2014 over 3,700 special classes have been made available across the country for the 2025\/26 school year, ensuring that children can continue to access a special class in their local area avoiding the need for long distance travel;  \u2014 the commitment to prioritise investment in special education and school places as part of \u20ac7.55 billion in National Development Plan (NDP) capital funding for 2026-2030;  \u2014 the Minister of State at the Department of Education with special responsibility for Special Education and Inclusion and the NCSE have used statutory powers to compel one primary school in County Kildare to open two new special classes and the NCSE initiated S67 proceedings against a number of schools to ensure that children and young people with special educational needs were enrolled;  \u2014 confirmation from the NCSE that all, bar a very small handful of children in Dublin, known to them by the mid-February cut-off point, have been placed for this school year and that there are available special class places for these children and young people;  \u2014 the progress being made by the Department of Education and Youth and the NCSE in introducing new measures to support improved forward planning for the 2026\/27 school year which brings forward the date of notification and will see the majority of new special classes sanctioned by 31st December, 2025;  \u2014 the streamlining of funding to ensure schools can access funding for repurposing accommodation;  \u2014 the significant investment in the expansion of staffing at the NCSE to assist families of children with special educational needs in all aspects of their educational journey, including accessing a placement appropriate to their needs;  \u2014 a new Education Therapy Service is being established which will commence initially in special schools and subsequently extend to schools with special classes and mainstream provision, it is intended that the service will be rolled out on a phased basis in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025\/26 school year, with a wider roll-out for the 2026\/27 school year, it is expected that recruitment of therapists for this service will be initiated in Q4 2025;  \u2014 the continued expansion of the Summer Programme, which has seen a 52 per cent increase in school participation since 2022, with over 1,900 schools taking part in 2025, and the introduction of the hot schools meals programme this year to support schools;  \u2014 the extensive review by the Department of Education and Youth of the Education of Persons with Special Educational Needs (EPSEN) Act 2004, which was published during the summer and the work underway to implement recommendations;  \u2014 ongoing work on the first SNA Workforce Development Plan by the Department of Education and Youth, which recognises the essential role played by SNAs in our school, which is engaging with SNAs, schools, unions and other stakeholders, and which is underpinned by a new national training programme for SNAs delivered by Atlantic Technological University costing \u20ac1.9 million;  \u2014 the work underway on the SNA Redeployment scheme which for the first time, will allow SNAs in posts which may no longer be required for reasons such as falling enrolments, reduced care needs or changing demographics, to be redeployed to a school which has a vacant\/new post;  \u2014 the significant level of funding and supports being provided to schools to deliver accommodation for special classes, including school building projects, the repurposing of available rooms, and the provision of modular accommodation;  \u2014 the new pilot single application system for admission to post-primary schools, including admission to post-primary special classes, being rolled out by the Department of Education and Youth this year across five areas; and  \u2014 the renewed focus of the Government on the area of disability services, with a particular focus on improving the delivery of services for children with disabilities.\".  I welcome the opportunity to address the House this evening to provide an update on special education provision which is a topic of particular importance to children and young people with additional needs and their families who seek appropriate school places each year.  Since taking up my position in January of this year as Minister of State for special education and inclusion, I have met with many families and advocacy groups who have raised concerns regarding the provision of special classes and special school places. I share their desire for us to do better and I will continue to meet with them and listen to the concerns. The key issue we are here to discuss is the provision of special education and special school places. I will focus on the provision of places for the start of this school year and I will then touch on the forward planning work under way for the next school year, 2026-27, and beyond.  Since we took up our new roles earlier this year, both Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy McEntee, and I have had a weekly meeting with the chief executive of the NCSE and senior departmental officials to track the progress in providing new special education places for this school year. The provision of these new places has been my number one priority over the past number of months.  I sincerely understand the challenges parents are facing in securing a special class or special school place. Parents of children and young people with additional needs should know where their son or daughter will be attending school at the same time as other parents. This is something I am committed to working towards with the Department and the NCSE.  It is important to remember that the vast majority of children with additional needs continue to be supported to access mainstream classes with their peers. These students are supported by their classroom teachers and can access additional special education teaching and SNA supports if required. At the start of this school year, we have over 23,000 SNAs and almost 21,000 special education teachers working within our schools whose sole role is to support children and young people with additional needs. Notwithstanding this, there will always be a place for specialised placements. For children with more complex needs a special class is provided and for those with the most complex needs a special school place must be provided. At the start of this school year, over 20,500 students with more complex needs will be enrolled in special classes and in special schools. That is an increase of 67% in the past five years.  The accelerated delivery of additional special education places by the Department and the NCSE, working closely with the schools, is providing 400 new special classes and over 300 new special school places annually. This equates to 2,700 new special class and special school places being provided each year across the country. The Department and the NCSE are forward planning to provide the same level of additional capacity for the next school year as well. Deputies are well aware that my Department and the NCSE constantly review the measures being taken to support the forward planning of this provision. Following this ongoing review, a new parents notification process was introduced by the NCSE ahead of this school year. This was to address a significant issue where new special classes were being opened and, in some cases, were being filled by children who were not previously known to the NCSE. I sincerely thank parents and families for their co-operation with this new process.  The NCSE reported that almost 3,300 verified notifications for children and young people seeking a special class or special school places for this school year were received by the mid-February of this year. Through the provision of over 2,700 new places and the availability of another 1,200 or so places through the normal movement of students, almost 4,000 places were available. Therefore, sufficient capacity was available to meet the needs of the almost 3,300 children known to the NCSE by the mid-February timeline, and indeed many children coming forward after this timeline. It is important to clearly state that the NCSE will always work to support families coming forward after the cut-off timeline for the parents\u2019 notification process. This was the case last year and it will be the same for the upcoming 1 October cut-off point for notifications this year. We have brought forward the deadline to October this year so we are in a better position into the next school year. We hope to be in a position to offer the places available and that children are offered places before the end of this year for next year, to avoid all the stress and anxiety for families and children going into the school year. This is a commitment we have given and we are working very hard towards it. A total of 407 new special classes have been sanctioned by the Department and the NCSE for this school year, with new special classes in each and every county. Of these,103 are new special classes being established across schools in Dublin. This is the single largest annual increase in special class provision in Dublin. Well over 300 new special school places are being provided. Approximately 150 of these are being provided in Dublin and 75 in Cork. Again, these are the highest annual increases in special school places in both counties.  I am happy that after extensive work, five new special schools are opening, providing over 100 new special school places. These new special schools are opening in Nenagh, Castleblayney, the northside of Cork city, and Belmayne and Lucan in County Dublin. These new special schools are in addition to the 11 new special schools opened in recent years. This will bring the number of new special schools opened in Dublin to six and the number of new special schools opened in Cork to four since 2019. The new special school in Castleblayney is the first special school to be located in County Monaghan. I thank the local education and training boards for taking on the role of school patron for these new special schools.  We also acknowledge the various project management teams and contractors who have worked night and day over recent months to get these new special schools ready. While I have provided details on the additional capacity, the NCSE reports that all children seeking a special class or special school place outside Dublin, and the vast majority of those in Dublin, known to them by mid-February 2025 have been offered school places.  In the past two weeks, the NCSE has been supporting a very small number of children - and I mean in the single digits - to access available special class places in Dublin. Decisions on whether families access these places are a matter for families and individuals, but regardless, the NCSE and the Department will continue to work with this small number of families to support them and the children to access places.  While children being enrolled in these new special classes and places is positive news, I am aware that some children have had a delayed start to their school year due to the completion of necessary building work and I am quite aware of the anxiety and challenges caused because of that. I assure the families of these children that these works are being advanced as quickly as possible and that we are checking in several times weekly to see their progress.  Well over 80% of new special classes for this school year are being provided in existing school accommodation. The NCSE has worked closely with schools that are waiting for modular accommodation to provide special classrooms to put in place contingency arrangements. Teachers and SNAs have been allocated and recruited by these schools and are available to support students. In many cases, students enrolling in new special classes are already attending mainstream classes in the school and can continue to do so. Some schools are using alternative accommodation within the school temporarily, and with the assistance of other schools.  We are forward planning, as I said. We brought forward the date this year to 1 October so we will know what the need is earlier in the year. We will know the figures and I can confirm to the House that the Department and the NCSE have met patron bodies in recent weeks. Throughout the summer, we have been putting building blocks in place to make sure that after 1 October when we know the need and locations of the need, we will engage with school authorities to open special classes and know the need for special schools.  The Government is committed to opening additional special schools to ensure there is capacity. I have put everything I have into this job since I was appointed in January this year and I assure the House and the parents who are here that I know the struggle they are facing. I understand it 100%. The Department and the NCSE will work day and night to make sure the challenges being faced by children with additional needs are met forthwith. We have an awful lot of work to do. We have achieved an awful lot in recent months. We have it down to single digits at the moment. We have an awful lot of work to do and we will continue to do it to make sure the system we have in place from 1 October onwards brings certainty earlier in the calendar year, that we can start any building works earlier----- "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  I thank the Minister of State. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Moynihan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"Michael-Moynihan.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Moynihan  -----and that we will have a place for everyone. The most important thing is that we have sufficient capacity in schools. We must work to ensure we meet the needs of every student and every family and that is the commitment I give to the House this evening. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Joanna Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Joanna-Byrne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Joanna Byrne  I will use my time to highlight an unbelievable situation. A DEIS school in my constituency was originally denied the recommended SNA allocation. The reason given to the school for this decision was a freeze or cap on SNA recruitment. When the Minister was questioned in March about this ridiculous freeze, we were told that if the school feels it has insufficient SNA support to meet the needs of its students, an application can be submitted to the NCSE requesting a review of its allocation. This school had undergone a thorough review with the NCSE. The special educational needs organiser, SENO, recommended the increase. The children's needs had been clearly outlined and the school was effectively denied this increase in SNAs because the Department did not sanction it. This was all under the watch of this Government.  After meeting the school principal and vice principal, I raised this matter directly with the Minister for Education and Youth who passed the buck to the Minister of State. Neither appeared willing to meet the school or address these concerns. Despite the school doing everything expected of it, it was let down by the Minister and her Government. Sadly, the story can easily be replicated across many other constituencies. Parents and principals can relate countless examples of their continuing fight for school places, SNAs and special classes. In recent weeks ,the school principal has informed me that the appeal of the appeal of the SNA allocation has been allowed by the NCSE. Thankfully, it will move from 2.5 SNAs to four in the mainstream school. This was entirely as a result of the school's determination and the support of the school community of Marymount National School. Resources were drained for another appeal in a school already overstretched.  For the Minister of State's credibility, he should not only support this important motion, but implement the proposals in it. I call on him to pay particular attention to the call for a review of the national cap on SNAs so that families and schools in Drogheda and beyond do not find themselves in another fight for supports down the line. The fact is that the failure to invest, plan and deliver adequate school infrastructure and supports has left many hundreds of children with additional needs without appropriate education. The children of Drogheda, the children of Louth and the children of Ireland deserve so much more from the Government. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"M\u00e1ire Devine","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/M\u00e1ire-Devine.S.2016-04-25","memberCode":"M\u00e1ire-Devine.S.2016-04-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy M\u00e1ire Devine  I do not doubt the Minister of State's sincerity. I believe he is sincere about trying to resolve this, but with all due respect, his response did not reflect the experience of people on the ground. Why else would these mammies and daddies be in the Gallery tonight? C\u00e9ad m\u00edle f\u00e1ilte to them for keeping up the good fight.  It is like d\u00e9ja vu . I stood here in February with the Minister of State and explained how my constituents in Dublin South-Central who are parents fight every day for special places in schools, a fundamental right promised in our Constitution. Wonderful grassroots groups such as Families Unite for Services and Support, FUSS, Equality in Education and D12 Autism work tirelessly for families. The lack of school places and transport arrangements should not come as a surprise. Parents have to beg for places and now some are burdened by the added obstacle of no transport. They may finally be given a place at a school far from their home - we will take the Minister of State to task on those numbers - but now a lot of them cannot get their children to the school doors because of a lack of transport.  Elaine O'Reilly is a warrior of a mammy who lives in the Liberties in Dublin 8. Like many others, she fought for years for her son, Dawson. She found out in June that he had a place - yippee - in Dublin 2. Elaine does not drive so Dawson was granted a transport ticket by Bus \u00c9ireann. Bus \u00c9ireann needs to step up to the plate. There is a recorded message with no information. She ended up hailing a taxi in the rain to bring him to school. The cost is \u20ac60 per day. Repeated requests for an interim grant from the Minister of State's Department went unanswered until today when transport suddenly materialised at 4.30 p.m. Others remain, unfortunately, distressed and in limbo. Why are grants not available when the school year begins? A cost of \u20ac300 per week on taxis to school is not affordable.  It would be remiss to say that the Minister of State and his predecessors took their eyes off the ball because the eyes of Fine Gael and Fianna F\u00e1il were not on the ball for the past few years. The belated attention, the lastminute.com solutions are just not working. They have failed. The Minister of State must try harder. He must do better. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Thomas Gould","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Thomas-Gould.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Thomas Gould  Like the previous speaker, I do not doubt the Minister of State's sincerity, but it is a load of bull. I will be honest. I will be straight with him. Every year we come here and parents of children with additional needs are being let down. One Minister after another comes in with the Taoiseach and T\u00e1naiste telling us all they are doing. However, people have children with additional needs at home who cannot get to school. Why are those children not being treated the same as every other child? Why are those children being victimised and discriminated against? Does the Minister of State know why? It is because the Government does not give a rat's ass about them. I am sick and tired of listening to figures and hearing that the Government is doing this and that. I had a meeting last night with parents. They were given school places, but no transport. Children from Knocknaheeny, Mayfield and Ballyvolane are being sent to Rochestown and Carrigaline. That is an hour each way. Parents have to take time off work or school and cannot drop their other children to school yet the Minister of State comes in here and tells me that there is a review and the Government will know in October. It should know today. It is its job to know today. How dare the Minister of State come in here and disrespect those parents, not just the parents in the Gallery, but those all over the country who have to deal with this?  The Government talks about forward planning. Fine Gael has been in government for 14 years and Fianna F\u00e1il for nine years. What have they been doing? I have parents crying on the phone to me because their children cannot get to school. I had a woman on our meeting last night. Her child has never been to school and the Minister of State is telling us about forward planning. I have one simple question. There are children in Cork who have no bus places to Scoil \u00c9anna, St. Paul's, Scoil Bernadette, Rochestown, Carrigaline, east Cork and Carrignavar. When will those parents have access to buses to bring their children to school? I spoke to representatives of Bus \u00c9ireann. They will not even take the phone calls from the parents. It is a disgrace; that is what it is. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Cathy Bennett","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Cathy-Bennett.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Cathy Bennett  I welcome the parents in the Gallery. These parents suffer every day because this Government is not doing its job. Every child deserves a place in school and every child with additional needs deserves a place in school. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have failed, and continue to fail, children. It is the ordinary families like the parents here tonight who break their necks and are left simply to cope on their own, to pay for every intervention their children need. An estimated 260 children were without an offer of an appropriate place at the start the summer but we know that the scale of this is far greater, with campaign groups identifying a further 168 children. Others who have been offered a place face uncertainty due to delays in building works and also with no transport. This is a failure. It is a failure to plan, a failure to invest and a failure to deliver adequate school infrastructure and supports over successive Governments. It is either a failure of priority or basic competency. In my constituency of Cavan-Monaghan where we have secured an additional 18 spaces for special education in Castleblayney, it is not nearly enough, as the Minister of State said earlier. This school is not open yet. He said that at the start of October he is going to start to plan for the future. What happened all the years that he has been in government that he did not plan? The school in Castleblayney was only a stopgap, with 18 places for all the children in County Monaghan who have special needs. What we need in County Monaghan is a permanent special school, not a school with just 18 places. We need a permanent school and I have been told that a letter as sent to the Department offering the ground for a permanent school and the Minister of State has not acted on it. The time for a crisis-driven approach to special education must come to an end. Sinn F\u00e9in's motion outlines what this Government needs to do and these are the measures that every TD should support. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  Unfortunately, this is like rinse and repeat. Earlier, the Minister of State spoke about the fact that the number of children who do not have appropriate places is in single digits. In fairness Equality in Education has the number at 168. That is the number that the Minister of State could not provide. He has promised to come back with those numbers. If we could have a real conversation in relation to what the numbers are, or what the actual need is, and how we can actually address this particular issue, it would be helpful. It is all well and good talking about a single point of application but we know that this is only going to be piloted in a number of schools next year. We all welcome the fact that in October people will be able to make an application to the NCSE. We also accept that all that information should be available, particularly for kids going into secondary school. It is not that they dropped from Mars. These kids are known about. This information is there and none of this makes any sense whatsoever. What we need to see is that we have the correct information and then ensure that these kids are dealt with properly. I brought up the issue of Rampark National School earlier. It relates to a child who does not have an SNA and who is severely impaired visually. Teachers and others are speaking about the health and safety issue that has arisen. They came from a childcare setting where they have a greater level of supervision and protection. They are now in the class. The school is actually saying at this stage there are health and safety issues. The child has tripped and there are issues relating to bones. I also brought up the issue of school transport and I will be following that up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"John McGuinness","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","memberCode":"John-McGuinness.D.1997-06-26","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Leas-Cheann Comhairle  The Deputy's time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Ruair\u00ed-\u00d3-Murch\u00fa.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa  I accept that. The fact is we do this every year. We do the exact same thing. We need a solution because it is not right to have these parent having to go through the trauma of this and then to show up here and to be advocates. They just want to be parents and they want this Government to deliver for their children. Sin \u00e9. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Eoghan Kenny","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Eoghan-Kenny.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Eoghan Kenny  I welcome the motion from Sinn F\u00e9in and the opportunity to raise these issues and concerns relating to school places for children with additional education needs. The Labour Party will absolutely support the motion. This is the third motion on this subject in 2025, including one of our own. The reality for a significant number of children with additional education needs and their parents has not changed. The number of parents contacting my office and the offices of colleagues across this House is actually increasing. However, I will acknowledge the role that the Minister of State has played. There has been slight progress. He has worked well and I appreciate that, but the scale of the progress that we need is significant. When it comes to additional educational needs, the State is completely failing children and their families and has done so for a long time. As the motion outlines, there is no centralised system within the Department or the NCSE to deal with applications for a special school place. This fact immediately presents parents with difficulties. I could not believe when I learned it that the NCSE has no centralised application system. Any private company across the country that would deal with significant numbers at this scale would have a centralised system to deal with these numbers. There is a significant lack of accountability when it comes to these numbers, and we cannot track the number of children who require an appropriate special educational needs setting. Parents are in limbo throughout any process they may follow to get a school place for their child, so much so that they will travel long distances in the morning and the afternoon after school to get to and from a school that provides for their additional need and that is of course if they can actually access that school place. That is not actually a solution. It is an exception they make to ensure their child's education. It should not be a solution to it. It should be the case that if children want to go to a school, they are able to access the school in their own locality. We all know that the best thing we can do for children with additional needs is integrate them into their communities. I have children in my own family who have additional needs, and the best thing we can do for them is to integrate them into their communities. I will share this very personal circumstance. I have a cousin at home who is five years old and deaf. He travels to Cork city every day to go to school. His sister, who is four, is now attending school in Mallow. That is the difficulty that child faces. It is upsetting to hear it and it is upsetting to accept it, for my uncle and my aunt who have to accept that and explain the conversation to that young child. That is the difficult part of it. The paradox we are faced with is that we have never had more teachers or SNAs in our system. We have 407 new special classrooms and five new special schools. However, significant challenges remain, and that is the fundamental issue.  I also want to speak to the significant issue of appropriate school places. I am educated on this. I taught in schools where appropriate settings had to be put in place.  I understand the need for an appropriate school setting for a child with special educational needs, that is, for that child's own needs. Children who have special educational needs are not all the same. Therefore, not every setting is appropriate for every child. No longer in this country can we have a special educational needs setting that does not give a child the good education they deserve and need.  The number of SNAs can never be capped. There should never be a freeze on SNA provision in this country. If the NCSE or a special educational needs officer in an area tells the Department that SNA provision must be given to a particular school, then it must be done.  I also want to focus on school transport, which is under the remit of the Minister of State and I appreciate this. During the summer I called for an overhaul of the school transport system. It is very easy for me on this side of the House to say we need an overhaul of the school transport system but we know, the Minister of State's colleagues in Government know, and every person who comes to us during the summer looking for school transport knows that there is very little I or any other TD can do. I am sick of ringing Bus \u00c9ireann and speaking to it about specific cases. It is a system that is failing children, and in particular children with special educational needs. It is deeply frustrating and upsetting to come across families who have found a special educational needs setting for their child but cannot access it because of transport. This should not be the case and the Minister of State and I both know this. I will say there is no quick fix to this and that is absolutely accepted.  I want to focus on assessments of need. There are more than 15,000 children in the country, with an estimation of there being 25,000 children by the end of the year, waiting on an assessment of need in the country. This is before any therapies are involved. In a country so affluent, we are a fantastic country for waiting lists. They will remain with us unless appropriate plans are established and put in place. No child in this country should be without the necessary therapies, supports and resources they so badly need because of a waiting list issue that has sprung up over many decades. I am more than willing to work with the Minister of State and the Department on policy initiatives that would help this situation. At the centre of this are children and they are what is most important. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Mark Wall","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","memberCode":"Mark-Wall.S.2020-03-30","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Mark Wall  I thank Deputy Kenny for sharing his time. I also thank Sinn F\u00e9in for tabling this very important motion. In recent months not a week has gone by when my office has not received calls from worried parents looking for a special school place for their children. I am worried about the numbers the Minister of State has given us this evening. Like other colleagues, I am dealing with at least four families who do not have a place at present. This is half the number the Minister of State has spoken about. My biggest problem is the NCSE. I have been ringing it and emailing it since July, as has my office, and I get no response from it. This is simply not good enough. The parents are at the end of their tether looking for the special education places their loved ones so deserve. Something needs to happen. We are elected to represent these people. They come to us looking for assistance but the NCSE is simply not responding to me. I can send on the cases to the Minister of State. I have a litany of emails I can send on to him.  I am sure the Minister of State is familiar with St. Mark's Special School, which was recently built in Newbridge. It is a fabulous school. It shows the model of what can be done. It is a fabulous school and a fabulous community. It has moved into a new school building. We were promised a second special school for south Kildare but what we got was a school located in Naas, which is in north Kildare. When I spoke to the Minister for education previously, she told me Kildare South has the need for a special school but it was located in Naas. It is a fabulous school but, unfortunately, it is full. Parents are still coming to me looking for this.  I welcome the Minister of State's announcement today that he will put the NCSE on notice to come in four months earlier than last year. The question I have today is the same as the one I asked the Minister for education previously, which is whether this will mean that parents will not be ringing 40 or 50 schools looking for a special education place for their loved one. Will this mean the NCSE and the SENOs will do the work and take the burden off those parents who need a place for their children? We have people sitting in front of us who have made 40 or 50 calls and are at the end of their tether, and it is so disappointing for them and their loved ones. This is what we need from the Minister of State. If the Minister of State has this, and the NCSE will do this, it would be a massive step forward for us in special education. It would take the burden off the parents. I can give examples of 47 schools being contacted in one case involving a young family in Newbridge, 39 schools being contacted in another case, and 42 schools being contacted in another case. This involved an average of 40 to 50 phone calls looking for a special education place. It is not good enough. The NCSE and the SENOs should be doing this. I hope the Minister of State ensures this happens for everybody next year. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Conor Sheehan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Conor-Sheehan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Conor Sheehan  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for tabling the motion and I thank the Minister of State. I want to speak in particular about a special education teacher allocation for a particular school in my constituency. It is St. Mary's national school on Bishop Street. I contacted the Minister of State directly about this in recent days. According to the Pobal social deprivation index, it serves the most disadvantaged area in the entire country. It is the electoral area of John's A. The school has been rejuvenated and has grown its student population by 76% in the past four years. With this increase in enrolment, it has opened a second autism class and enhanced its commitment to inclusive education.  The allocation the school had in 2021-22 equated to a ratio of 25.3 pupils per SET. The September 2025 allocation equates to a ratio of 33.9 pupils per SET. This is even after a review by the NCSE and an increase of 0.5 of an SET on the original allocation for this year. Basically, there are equivalent DEIS schools in Limerick where the ratio is in the low to mid 20s. For example, last week the Minister of State visited Le Ch\u00e9ile primary school in Limerick. It serves a very similar student profile. It has 20 more pupils than St. Mary's but it has four more SETs. The fact of the matter is that St. Mary's current SET allocation will have significant repercussions on the school's ability to support its student body, especially people with additional needs. Basically, the school cannot buffer this with mainstream teachers. This will undermine its ethos, hinder parental trust and challenge its ability to maintain the high standards it has. Without additional SET resources, the school risks failing to meet the diverse needs of its expanding population. I ask the Minister of State to please intervene with the NCSE on this matter. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jen Cummins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Jen-Cummins.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jen Cummins  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for tabling the motion. It is a disgrace that the Opposition has to constantly fight the Government on this issue of special education. It is a monumental and completely avoidable situation that it has to be brought up. The amount of anger out there is absolutely avoidable. I have to say the promises and plans made before the end of the school year were empty promises and shoddy and undeliverable plans. Fantasy special education places, and I mean that, are what we see. There is messing around with numbers so it looks like every child has a place but the reality is they do not. Since August we have seen many families who do not have an appropriate school place for their child.  In my constituency of Dublin South-Central, Clogher Road Community College is a case in point. I raised this earlier in the year in the Chamber. The board and the principal want to open a second autism classroom but they have not been able to get in contact with the Department. Miraculously, the school was sanctioned by the NCSE the following week after my discussion in the Chamber. I spoke with the principal, Lesley Byrne, this week who told me nothing has happened. It is still only sanctioned by the NCSE and the Department has not done anything. It needs to operationalise what will happen. In theory, it is there but in practice and in reality, it is not. They are fantasy special education places.  In Stapolin Educate Together National School in Baldoyle, in the constituency of my colleague Deputy Cian O'Callaghan, there is an absolutely ridiculous scenario. The school has two autism classes and a developmental language class. There are over 50 children on a waiting list for an autism class. Six of those children have letters of eligibility for an autism class from the NCSE but, due to the lack of appropriate places, these children are in mainstream classes rather than an appropriate school place. The school would like to open two more autism classes and a mild general learning disability class but the Department has said no because it is trying to open ones in schools that do not already have them. Can we not have things happening at the same time? We can do two things at the one time.  Another vital piece of the jigsaw is that children and young people need transport to school. In Dublin 12, there is a 16-year-old young person, whom I will not name, who is not able to get to school because the driver is often not available at the very last minute and there is no back-up. It is the same for a primary school child, who is also in Dublin 12. This child cannot get school transport at such short notice. This happened so many times last year that the number of days that young person missed was incredible. If it was a parent, he or she would be involved with the EWO but it was not her fault; it was the fault of the transport. This is fantasy school transport.  I am like a broken record saying that children in this country have a right to an education, not only under our Constitution but also under the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. It is not just an education but an appropriate education. What we are seeing now, however, is the Department of education and the NCSE's fantasy school places while nothing is happening. It is absolutely infuriating. We have to do better. It is about time the plans the Government had for all of these spaces are made a reality because, quite frankly, they have not been. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Liam Quaide","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Liam-Quaide.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Liam Quaide  I commend Sinn F\u00e9in on its motion. At the Committee on Disability Matters this morning, the Minister of State told us that the number of children without a special education placement for this school term was in single digits. It is fair to say there was some respectful scepticism among committee members about that claim. I raised with the Minister of State the fact that there is a world of difference between a school placement in a child's local community and a school placement that is a very long distance away from that child's home. We know many families are caught up in gruelling school commutes that add hugely to the challenges they face. The Minister of State's officials confirmed that no data is gathered by his Department on the journey times children educated outside of their own areas endure every day. If data on additional needs placements is to be meaningful, it must reflect the degree to which children's right to be educated in their community, where they live, is being upheld. In the Minister of State's responses to parliamentary questions on this subject, the terminology that comes up is \"pathway to education\".  It has been brought to my attention by the campaign group Families Unite for Services and Support, FUSS, that it has information on significant numbers of children who have been offered placements in schools for which no buildings yet exist. I have been informed that a school on the northside of Dublin recently notified families who had been offered places that, due to building delays, the predicted opening date for 12 special education places in two classes is being pushed out to 2026. It is reported that the options for those families are home tuition or a return to preschool.  The figures the Minister of State quotes need to reflect the realities on the ground in special education provision. As things stand, a single-digit figure for children without a school placement is a mirage covering over a huge depth of unmet need. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Jennifer Whitmore","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Jennifer-Whitmore.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Jennifer Whitmore  I am not sure the Minister of State quite understands the depth of feeling out there in relation to this issue. What the Government, Ministers, the Taoiseach and the T\u00e1naiste have said and are saying, always with heartfelt commitment and promise, is that children with special needs will get the support, school places and SNAs they need and that they will have all of the services they need. It is repeated all of the time that this is a priority for this Government. However, the reality on the ground is very different. What we are trying to express to the Minister of State is the difficulty for parents and children when those services are not there for them; the disruption, upset and trauma for families; and the potential of the children themselves being stifled because the State is not stepping in to give them the resources they need.  I will specifically talk about issues that have come across my desk in Wicklow. This is not the first time I have raised this with the Minister of State. I am not sure whether there is a policy discrepancy between what the NCSE is actually implementing and what he is being told but, on the ground, things are not being done correctly or implemented properly. A school in Wicklow was told that the Department had sanctioned a special classroom but the NCSE then told the school that it could not have that even though the school had enrolled children at that point. The school is trying to facilitate and support those children when the NCSE is now saying not to call it a special classroom because it is not one formally, even though one had been sanctioned. Will the Minister of State explain how that is happening? How can a school be told in 2024 that a classroom was sanctioned, on the basis of which it offered places to children, only for it to be told that it would actually have to manage it some other way? There is an impact on the school, on the teachers who are trying to work around this and on the children, even though the school is doing absolutely everything it can to prevent the children being impacted.  New Court School, a special school in Bray, does not have a sufficient SNA allocation. There are 16 students who do not have a school bus service because the bus was cancelled, or rather it was not cancelled but that the contract could not be filled. A number of those students are now not able to go to school because their parents have no way of getting them there. It is not just about the places but also about making sure that, when there are places, children have the supports they need and can get to the school. That is the problem. There are also mainstream classes that do not have sufficient SNAs. In Scoil na Cor\u00f3ine Mhuire in Ashford, there are two SNAs for more than 300 students. The school has tried and it has appealed but it is getting nowhere.  I know the Minister of State took up his job relatively recently. I hope he is trying his best. I really ask that he bring the messages we are giving him to the NCSE and get answers because it is consistent, it is happening all the time and it is parents and students who are really feeling the brunt of this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Rory Hearne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Rory-Hearne.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Rory Hearne  As we start a new term in the D\u00e1il, it is utterly scandalous that there are children all over this country who do not have an appropriate school place. The Government says that it has offered places and, as my colleague said, that only a small number have not been offered places. However, the reality of the places that parents are being offered and that children are being sent to is that some of them do not exist because the buildings do not exist yet or that the places are not appropriate. In my own constituency of Dublin North-West, I have written to the Minister for education. The parents and I hand-delivered a letter for Riley, Lucy and Teddy, all of whom are children with additional needs and autism who have no appropriate school place yet. They are the reality. The Minister of State is making empty promises. It is more empty promises. These school places are not a reality.  Riley's family received 13 different refusals from schools. He has been offered a place in a class but it is not what is needed. What he needs is a place in a special school. Lucy's parents received an offer contingent on the opening of the new autism class. I will refer to what Lucy's parents, Rachel and Aaron, said to me. They have asked me to refer to this. They said that, after a school place offer in March of this year, they were told it was subject to building works. In September, Lucy is still at home. There is no start date or interim plan and there has been no communication throughout the summer from the Department of education, the NCSE or the school. The building works are due to be completed in mid-October but still no start date has been confirmed. What is an absolute disgrace is that they have been asked to pay for photocopying and for arts and crafts supplies by the school despite the class not being open. Lucy's case is not an isolated one. There are many children across this country who do not have an appropriate school place. The Minister of State can say he is doing all he can but the reality is that he knew about this issue. He was part of the previous Government. Fianna F\u00e1il and Fine Gael have been in government since the foundation of this State. Children with additional needs and children with disabilities have never been a priority.  They have never been invested in as they should be, namely as equal citizens of this country. They have a constitutional right to education. That constitutional right is being denied by the Government. As has also been pointed out, the Government is in breach of the law in relation to access to assessments of need. It is utterly unacceptable that this Government refuses to take responsibility for these children. We will continue to raise these cases and push the Government as hard as we can until children have the education-appropriate places that they deserve. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Seamus Healy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","memberCode":"Seamus-Healy.D.2000-06-22","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Seamus Healy  The right to education is a fundamental right for all children. It is enshrined in our Constitution and in international conventions. Many children with additional needs are denied that right today. There are still children awaiting school places for the 2025-26 school year. That is absolutely shameful. There are a further 168 children with allocated school places who cannot take them up because the facilities are not available. There are hundreds more children without appropriate school places who have to travel far away from their own localities and environment. I am aware of children who travel as far as 25 miles from their homes. This is absolutely unacceptable. I am also aware of schools that are ready, willing and able to establish special units but that have been rejected by the Department. Bansha National School in County Tipperary is a case in point. Children pass these schools on a daily basis on their way to designated schools located miles away.  These figures are only the tip of the iceberg. There are many more children awaiting appropriate school places. They are placed in mainstream classes while awaiting special class places or they may be in special classes while awaiting special school places. Even when appropriate school places are allocated, school leaders and parents point to significant difficulties in schools, including in the context of the National Educational Psychological Service, the National Council for Special Education, special educational needs organisers and the allocation of special needs assistants. Furthermore, many families have had to take legal proceedings against the State in the courts in order to secure school places for their children. This heaps huge pressure on families that have had to fight every step of the way for everything for their children. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Charles Ward","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Charles-Ward.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Charles Ward  September is a very exciting and important month for many children as they return to school. For some, however, the excitement has been unfairly and cruelly stripped away as their parents struggle to find appropriate school places for them in their localities. As a parent, I cannot imagine the heartbreak facing parents who are unable to secure such places for their children. The Minister for Education has declined to provide the exact number of children with additional needs awaiting school places for the academic year. This indicates that there are many parents who have sadly faced the heartbreak to which I refer this month. Over the summer, it was estimated that more than 400 children would be unable to start school properly this month. If that is the case, it is a disgrace. Shockingly, many of these children did not get an offer of an appropriate school place at all. Some received offers of places but they could not take them up due to essential building works being carried out. It is unacceptable that these building works in schools like Little Angels in Letterkenny have been delayed and that children's education has been delayed. I was delighted to see the school in question officially opened. The Minister of State had a hand in that, and well done to him. I hope no parent is obliged to endure the problem which the parents at this school had to endure.  I take this opportunity to ask the Minister, Deputy McEntee, to reconsider the proposal for redesignation of special needs schools for children who have mild general learning disabilities set out in Circular 0039\/25 and actively engage with schools on the matter. The proposed reclassification of schools would result in many children being returned to mainstream education. Parents and teachers in Donegal have told me this would not be in the children's best interests. Mainstream schools do not have the resources necessary to provide the right environment for these children to thrive.  I call on the Government to support inclusive education in the upcoming budget, to introduce special needs co-ordinators in schools with three or more special education posts and to ensure that this role is recognised as a senior management position with a pay grade similar to that of a deputy principal. No child should be denied the opportunity to grow, thrive, learn and go to school. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Ruth Coppinger","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","memberCode":"Ruth-Coppinger.D.2014-05-23","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Ruth Coppinger  When is a school place not a school place? When it is a sanctioned school place. The verbal gymnastics the Government has been engaging in have been going on for a while, not just under the Minister of State's watch but under that of his predecessor. We have been asking for a long time for a figure in respect of the number of children who still do not have places. Now we want the figure for the number who were told they had school places but who do not have school places. I do not have time in my very brief slot here, but the children of the parents involved in Equality in Education and FUSS, who are campaigning and some of whom are in the Gallery, were awarded places but are not starting school. I will quickly read out the names of a few schools, namely Belmayne, St. Mochta's, Libermann, Corpus Christi, Lucan special school, Whitechurch school, St. Mary's boys' school, Finglas parochial, Holy Spirit boys' school in Ballymun, Killeshin in Laois, Holy Rosary Firhouse, St. Canice's boys' school, and Bayside. I want to add Danu special school, which the Minister of State has heard me harping on about an awful lot. Imagine that, for the second year in a row, there are children not going to school. Why did the Minister of State tell them they would have a building when they do not? There was no way there was going to be a building. They do not have a building for the second year in a row. The Minister of State visited months ago. The building is still not there. What a way to treat people.  Although I am running out of time, I want to mention school transport. The child of a woman in Tyrrelstown in my area was rejected by 21 schools but got a place in Dunboyne. There is absolutely no way to get from Tyrrelstown to Dunboyne. She was told that there was no school transport for her child. Another child was awarded a place in Baggot Street at the school for dyslexia. That child has no school transport either. Why are people not being given access to school transport?  Why was an autism conference for the whole of Europe that was held in Ireland and that was hosted by AsIAm opened by Deputy Norma Foley, who could not provide school places when she was Minister for Education and who is now Minister for children? It really was an insult for an awful lot of parents - they relayed this to me - that somebody who is causing problems for people with autism would open a conference on autism. The fee for an ordinary parent or family to attend that conference was \u20ac255. That was absolutely disgraceful. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  In the short time I have, I want to raise the issue of special school places in County Laois. The Saplings school in Graiguecullen had to move out of the building it was in. It is now located in the village of Killeshin in prefabs. The construction work started on a new school in March 2023, However, after ground works were carried out and the walls were built on the greenfield site at Fruithill, provided by Laois County Council, work stopped in late 2023. The school was told that work would resume but no details were given. Two years have passed. I am aware that funding for this project is not provided by the Department of Education, but it needs to be progressed. The funding was provided by the immigrant investor programme handled by the Department of Justice. This must be sorted out. That programme is now closed, but the Saplings school is only half built. The project needs to be got up and running again. The application was made in the pre-Covid years, so the building costs have escalated massively. That is the reality. As I understand it, \u20ac4 million was allocated by the Department of Justice. We have a big problem with funding, but the Department of Justice cannot fund it because the programme to which I refer is closed. It cannot be done through private donations because there is a gap of between \u20ac2.6 million and \u20ac3 million. The school, which has 30 special, high-dependency students, cannot raise in the region of \u20ac3 million. Those are the facts. Currently, the school is located in Killeshin village in prefabs. The principal's office is in an adjacent cloakroom in the local community hall. The site where the new school is to be built has bushes and weeds growing up around it. I ask the Minister of State and his officials to come back to me on this matter.  In the context of an issue I raised regarding St. Francis school, I acknowledge that the two modular classrooms are being provided. I acknowledge the Minister of State's work on that.  I know I raised it with the Minister of State before and I acknowledge that, but the Saplings school, at the other end of county, needs help and I ask him to come back to me on it. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","memberCode":"Paul-Murphy.D.2014-10-10","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Murphy  What we have had tonight from the Government is a display of gaslighting par excellence . It is incredible and really cynical, because the audience is not the children who are affected. It is not the parents in the Gallery because the Minister of State knows they know that a school place does not necessarily equal a school place. The audience is the public who are concerned and think it is horrifying that there are children with additional needs who do not have appropriate school places. The message to them is not to worry, all bar a small handful of children in Dublin have been placed for this school year, when the truth is it appears the problem is even worse this year than last year. We had a motion in the D\u00e1il this time last year, which referred to 120 children then without an appropriate school place. The Government is now saying all bar a small handful, but the Minister of State and everyone here knows that it is playing with words. Thanks to the amazing activist parents in the Equality in Education campaign we know that for 206 children, at least, being placed for this school year in reality means being offered a place that does not physically exist either because it has not been built yet or has not been staffed yet. The Minister of State had a great euphemism earlier talking about how for some children, there is a delay to the start of their school year due to construction work. A delay for some until November and for others until March or April. At what point does an education delayed equal an education denied for these children? On top of that, there are 96 children who have no offer whatsoever. Of them, 42 are at home with no home tuition and no preschool. We need an end to the spin. Give us the honest figures so we can see just how many children are left without appropriate places. The Government likes to say it is doing everything it can. The last issue I raised with the Taoiseach before the summer recess was this. He told me they were going to work might and main to make sure every child has an appropriate school place by September, but is that true? I am not talking about the personal effort of the Minister of State. I accept that. However, there are different decisions the Government could make. It could double capital funding for the school building programme. It could lift the ridiculous SNA cap and immediately begin a mass SNA recruitment campaign. It could fast-track training and upskilling of special education teachers. It could engage in a genuine way with the parents, who are telling us the true story from the ground and who are the real experts on this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Peadar-T\u00f3ib\u00edn.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Peadar T\u00f3ib\u00edn  Cuirim f\u00e1ilte roimh an r\u00fan seo agus roimh an iarracht rochtain a fh\u00e1il ar oideachas le haghaidh gach uile ph\u00e1iste sa t\u00edr. Is \u00e9 an t-oideachas ceann de na cearta is t\u00e1bhachta\u00ed sa t\u00edr seo. One of the key objectives of the Proclamation of the Republic is to cherish all the children of the nation equally. An education is one of the most important rights that exist in society. Education facilitates the growth and development of children but it also helps them reach their full potential. Yet, we have a situation in this Republic where not all children have equal access to education. Not all children are treated equally, and indeed some children are being excluded from the education system. I stated in a contribution earlier that this is no country for young children and it is certainly not a country for many children with additional needs. Many children are being locked out of the education system and the figures the Government is giving us are not even specifying exactly how many children are actually in class at the moment. The figures we are getting are misleading. I read reports today that some principals are being told to accept children in their mainstream schools and they will get support in terms of SNAs, etc, down the track. Here we are in the third week of September and some of these children who are supposed to be in class have not seen the inside of a class yet. I am reading of another eight-year-old child who has never been to school. His mother has gone looking for a school in every single part of the county with no success. Shockingly, the State has no entity to even follow up why this child is not in school yet.  Aont\u00fa has asked questions repeatedly as to how many children have been suspended or expelled from school just because they have additional needs. In my town I have a constituent. He is in senior infants. He has been repeatedly suspended from school and is being threatened with expulsion. He is waiting for an assessment of needs. The schools simply cannot handle him. He has been left without a diagnosis and a treatment and is being deprived of the right to an education. He is just a small child and he is being excluded from school at this stage. I believe families are being broken by this Government. Many of them, especially those who have children with round-the-clock needs are being left abandoned. Many cannot get carer's allowance due to the high qualification threshold for assistance. They cannot get treatment or support for the children due to the lack of diagnosis and the waiting list for assessments of need. They cannot get respite and these parents are left so physically exhausted they are finding it hard even to struggle to ask for help. The figures included in this motion are shocking. There were 260 children as of June who did not have an offer of a school place. We know that due to building works in some areas, a further 168 children will in reality not have an offer of a classroom. We do not know the number of children whose parents are homeschooling them at the moment because of the lack of places that exist in schools. Figures we received also show there are 117 vacancies in CDNTs across the country. In CHO 1 there has been a drop of 22% in the area of therapy in the last year. The HSE is the largest employer of CDNTs, but 44% of those staff places are vacant at the moment. Some 43% of all psychologist posts are currently vacant. In one CHO area it is incredibly 62%. Children are being radically failed by this Government. Even the most basic right, the right to education is being taken away from them and that has to change. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Michael Collins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Michael-Collins.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Michael Collins  I am glad to be able to speak on this motion. Let me start by saying clearly that I welcome it. I welcome it because every child in this country has the right to an education. That right is not something that should be up for debate. It is in our Constitution. It is in international law, and it is in the heart of every parent who wants the best for their son or daughter. However, what we have seen from Government is delay, excuses and an attitude that parents should be grateful for whatever crumbs are thrown their way. I am telling the Minister of State now that parents are not grateful. Parents are angry, and rightly so. They should not have to drag the State through the courts just to get their child a school place. That is a disgrace. We were told in June that there were 260 children with additional needs who had no offer of a school place. Another 168 had an offer but could not take it up because the building work was not finished. What good is an offer on paper when the classroom does not exist? That is not education. That is the Government spin. What is worse is that we know these numbers do not tell the full story. They do not include the children being homeschooled because there is no proper place for them. They do not include the children travelling hours every day to access a school miles from their community. They do not include the children dumped into inappropriate settings waiting for special classes or a special school. This is the hidden crisis, and it has been ignored for far too long.  This motion calls for the publication of county by county figures, and that is right because we need transparency. However, the Minister of State should not need to be dragged into publishing this. Parents deserve honesty upfront. If you cannot even tell families the truth about the numbers, how can you ever solve the problem? The motion also calls for a task force to deliver school buildings. That sounds good but let us not kid ourselves. We have seen task forces come and go. Parents do not want more committees and reviews. They want bricks and mortar. They want schools delivered on time. They want classrooms ready for their children when September comes, not promises that fall flat by Christmas. There is then the NCSE and the SENOs. The reality on the ground is that too many parents and teachers find them unhelpful and sometimes even obstructive. Families are sick of battling bureaucracy. They want support and not red tape. A review might help but only if it actually changes the culture from blocking to supporting.  Independent Ireland has been clear about where it stands. We more SNAs. We want smaller class sizes. We want schools given the resources upfront so they can actually meet the needs of children instead of begging for crumbs from the Department. We have said time and again that principals and teachers know their pupils best. They know better than an official in an office who never set foot in the classroom. That is why we support a needs-based model that puts trust back into the hands of school and parents. Let us not forget transport. For far too many families, the school places they fought tooth and nail to secure are miles away. Children with additional needs are being forced into punishing daily journeys. That is not fair on the child. It is not fair on the family, and it is something Independent Ireland has called out. We need a proper transport service so that no child is left exhausted before they even step into the classroom. We have that situation. I know the situation from Coomhola, Bantry, down into Schull was resolved, but that took nearly two years. There were exhaustive efforts by some parents out there, which was very unfair.  We also had the situation of the Ballinadee bus, which I think may be resolved tomorrow, but there are problems and a crisis. I know this is a slightly different issue than the transport service for schoolchildren, but it is connected in its own right. I refer to the right for children to get to school in Kilcoe and Ballinadee. We have a fight to get just the basic rights. They had a bus last year, but they are not going to have it this year. I am astonished by how this can happen without some kind of an explanation to parents out there, and they deserve that right, surely be to God. People have to go to work. This is a tough country to make a living in and the parents of Ballinadee and Kilcoe have been terribly wronged.  The over-70s issue is something the Minister of State really needs to sit up and look at to understand that drivers aged over 70 are well capable of driving and taking children to school. I have much more to say on this issue, but I will stop because my time is up. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Richard O'Donoghue","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Richard-O'Donoghue.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Richard O'Donoghue  I have just spent two long days at the ploughing championships with Independent Ireland. We have had people of all ages and from all walks of life with different problems coming into the tent to talk to us about concerns they have and looking for support. We had people with children with special needs come into us and ask us what had gone wrong and what they could do to help. Why are the resources not being put in place? Why are the Departments with responsibility for disabilities, education and health not talking to one another to see how they can sort problems? People said that if they wanted something, they went to one Department, which would then ask them to go to another Department to get assessments to try to get places for children. If they got the assessments done, they were told that the Department was sorry, but it had no place for them.  With the Minister of State's own family background, I know that he is the right person for the job. I know he understands the concerns. Knowing all this, I need him to kick for touch and make sure that a difference is made and these three Departments talk to one another so that we deliver for people in Ireland and ensure that the most vulnerable have an equal opportunity to education as their siblings, neighbours or friends.  This Sunday - I hope to see the Minister of State there - there will be a fundraiser for Holy Family Special School in Charleville. The Minister of State knows that, being from that area himself. There is a fundraiser going on for a school that looks after special needs in Charleville, County Cork, in the Minister of State's constituency. It is based behind St. Joseph's Foundation, which is another fantastic organisation that looks after children and adults with special needs. The school has to go out and fundraise for additional resources, and it has come to me. There is a motorbike run on, and I am going to have to try to stay on the motorbike to help the school raise money and raise awareness. I have no problem doing that. Last Sunday, I was in Meanus in County Limerick  with Greybridge Classic Club raising funds, again, for this same school in County Cork because we had people from the area who wanted support. These people are asking the people of Ireland, through our vintage clubs, motorcycle clubs and whatever means they can, to fundraise for children with special needs to help them get an education the same as their siblings and friends'. They have got to do that, which we have no problem helping. There is a massive shortage of funding.  I said this at the start, and I say it with all sincerity: I believe the Minister of State is the right person for the job, and I look forward to working with him. I look forward to pushing the boundaries within his Department and the Departments of education and health to make sure we can deliver for those children equal opportunities to equal education and also support the families that have been trying to home school to give their children what they need and help them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Danny Healy-Rae","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Danny-Healy-Rae.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Danny Healy-Rae  I thank Sinn F\u00e9in for this opportunity to talk again about this very important topic. Many parents face a challenge when they find out that their children have special needs. It is another challenge or big burden on many of them to ensure their children get a proper education. We know that every child has a right to education, and it is not fair that children with special needs are not always given the same opportunities that they rightly deserve. Concerned parents often contact me distressed that their children are unable to secure places in special education classes or that there are no special needs teachers in their schools. Too often, they have to fight for primary school education and special needs teachers, and when they then move on to post-primary school - I raised this before - they have to do it all again. Surely, they should be on the system and not have to replicate their efforts again. When a student is diagnosed, supports should follow through from primary to post-primary education automatically. The parents should not have to fight for this again. Every child has a right to education.  Another problem arises in that the Department says that it has X number of SNA places and that the country is covered. In many cases, however, this is not so. In very rural places, there is an awful distance between different schools. A school with an SNA for a child 7 or 8 miles away is no good if there is no transport, which often happens. We need to ensure that these SNAs are placed locally where the children are. They are entitled to receive support locally.  Many children with complex needs are still without necessary school places and parents all over the country are worn out from fighting for school places for their children. They should not have to fight for the basic right to education. Many schools have issues with funding in order to open new special classes because there is a shortage of space to expand. They do not have the room, staffing or resources. Many rural schools do not have the necessary facilities for additional sensory spaces, which many of them require and would benefit from. It is not fair that schools are not provided with the necessary funding to cater for special education classes.  There continues to be a lengthy delay with assessments, and probably the worst part of the whole thing is that children are not assessed in time. They have to be assessed. The sooner they are assessed, the sooner the matter can get resolved. Many parents wait for years for an assessment in the public system and often have to resort to paying for a private assessment for their children. This is only the first step for them. What about the families who cannot afford to go private? These assessments should be carried out as early as possible, and more therapists are needed in this area to avoid delays with diagnoses, which impacts the child's education.  It seems to me that autism and many of these complex needs are on the increase. We need to do more to find out what is causing it and if there is a reason. It seems to me that many more are presenting than in my younger days. Even when I was going to school, it did not seem to be an issue at all at that time. There were very few anyway. I am wondering what it is, and I have asked this question here before in different debates. Is there something causing it? Is it lack of some vitamins or what is it? We need to address that part of it as well because there could be something that is causing it.  Special education is the most important thing tonight, but I have heard other Deputies raising other issues. I have been making a request for many years to look at the issue of drivers who are being disallowed - only by Bus \u00c9ireann, or CI\u00c9 - from driving a school bus once they are past 70 years of age. They are able to drive it in every other context. They can take the children to football matches and drive it for the local rural transport, but they cannot bring children to school.  I have seen many a good driver park up for the last time when they reach the age of 70 because they are no longer wanted. It is ageist because people are living longer and are active for longer. If Bus \u00c9ireann wanted, these people would undergo another medical rather than having one a year. It could be an independent medical test that people agree to undergo. It would be of benefit because many men and women are able to drive, but the Bus \u00c9ireann or CI\u00c9 school bus section is stopping them from doing so. I cannot understand it. I ask the Minister to address this. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Carol Nolan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Carol-Nolan.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Carol Nolan  T\u00e1 \u00e1thas orm labhairt ar an r\u00fan seo anocht. Beidh m\u00e9 ag tac\u00fa leis an r\u00fan, a bhaineann le hoideachas speisialta. I will support the motion, in particular the call to establish a timebound school building delivery task force with a mandate to ensure the quick and priority delivery of special schools and classes. This is an aspect of the school accommodation crisis more generally, on which I have repeatedly focused over the years. I have raised the issue a number of times here.  I have, of course, raised the issue with the Minister and Department of Education and Youth's planning and building unit during sessions of the Committee on further and higher education. There is another issue affecting many schools, namely, the lack of communication from the National Council for Special Education, NCSE, with school principals. That was flagged to me by school principals. They are told to open a special class, but there is very little communication in terms of getting prepared for that and having resources in place. I call for such communication to be improved.  I recently submitted a parliamentary question to the Minister requesting a list of the 45 special schools to be included in the new national therapy programme. Astonishingly, I received no clarity or information. All I was told was that the new education therapy service would commence in some special schools at a later stage in the 2025-26 school year and that the schools selected for inclusion in the initial phase will be informed by engagement with colleagues in the HSE and the National Council for Special Education. The response went on to state that it is anticipated that the school selection for the initial phase will be complete in the early 2025-26 school year and that schools will have the opportunity to engage with the education therapy service. This is unacceptable because there is a vacuum.  The Minister recently visited Offaly School of Special Education, for which we are very grateful, and saw first-hand how the staff are doing their very best. There are excellent staff in school, but they need to be part of the education therapy support service. I hope that will happen and schools will be given clarity as soon as possible.  I refer to children who are waiting for assessments for a long period of time. I had a case on my desk recently concerning someone who was told it would take two years for an assessment. Parents are forced to pay privately for these assessments and it is very difficult for parents in the current climate where the cost of living is constantly rising. Anything that could be done in that regard will be greatly appreciated. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I am happy to provide a response from my colleague, the Minister for Education and Youth, Deputy Helen McEntee, and to contribute on behalf of the Government to the debate on special education.  As a public representative, I meet many parents of children with additional needs who experience huge challenges in securing appropriate places for their children. They should not have to deal with that level of additional stress in their lives. We need to do more and do better to ensure families have much earlier clarity on school places in their local areas. My colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, has been very clear that this is his number one priority as Minister for special education and inclusion. It is also a key priority for the Minister, Deputy McEntee. Like so many others, I look forward to seeing the progress being made by the Department of Education and Youth and NCSE in working towards delivering new special classes and special school places for the next school year, that is, 2026-27, and having that confirmed by the end of this calendar year. It will be welcome to have clarity much earlier on.  As a Dublin-based TD, I welcome the provision of the 103 new special classes across schools in Dublin this year. That brings the overall number of special classes to 705. I also welcome the significant increase in the provision of special school places for Dublin in this school year. I look forward to the new Lucan Community Special School opening for 30 students in the next month.  I welcome the focus of Department and NCSE on those remaining medium and larger primary and post-primary schools with no or just one special class opening new special classes for the next school year. It is important that all schools play their part when it comes to opening new special classes and that it is not left to some schools to open multiple special classes. We need a geographic spread.  While the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, focused on the issue of special classes and school places in his contribution, I will speak to some of the other issues relating to the provision of special education. Ensuring strong delivery of additional school accommodation for special education is a key priority for the Government. In July, the Government announced a capital allocation of \u20ac7.556 billion for the Department of Education and Youth for the period 2026 to 2030 under the new national development plan. As part of this NDP allocation, the Department will place a strong emphasis on provision for children with special educational needs, with a particular focus on meeting annual school place needs. We know it is a problem every year.  The Department is preparing an NDP plan which is due for publication later in the autumn. This plan will optimise outputs from the national development plan allocation, with a strong focus on maximising school capacity, progressing priority projects where local capacity across schools in the area is deemed insufficient, and ensuring that what is provided is affordable, provides value for money and meets the functional needs of our children and society.  As Deputies, we constantly hear of the challenges faced by families who have received multiple refusal letters as they apply for admission to special classes or schools for a child with additional needs. We need to make the admissions process much simpler and fairer for families. The earlier confirmation of new special class and school provision will be a key element of this. The Government is committed to introducing a common application procedure for school admissions, and I am happy that the new pilot facilitating a single online application for schools is progressing well.  Families who need a special class place or mainstream place at post-primary level for the next school year, 2026-27, in Athenry, Celbridge, Clonakilty, Greystones, Tullamore and Killina will be able to apply online using a single application form as part of a pilot project to streamline the admissions process. This pilot is a first step towards a national common application system. It will be a game-changer for families, especially those who have children with special educational needs. A separate trial across primary schools, supported by the NCSE, is happening in Dublin 15 for admission to special classes and is continuing for the next school year. I understand more schools have now joined the pilot. I encourage all schools in Dublin 15 with special classes to join the pilot.  The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, are very keen to see the additional funding and staffing allocated to the NCSE result in improved support for parents and schools at local level. Following the provision of an additional \u20ac30 million in 2023, the expansion of the service in the NCSE has undergone transformational change. This commenced with a workforce planning study which examined the various roles and responsibilities in the organisation. Based on this, the NCSE carried out structural changes, including an increase, from 73 to 120, in the number of special educational needs organisers, SENOs, recruited by the NCSE. They are now operating on a county basis, which has allowed for an integrated community-based service conducive to the development of key relationships between NCSE staff, parents and schools when it comes to the provision of services for children and students.  I am really happy to see that there are 27 SENOs and 14 managers working across Dublin to support parents and schools. The sole role of special education teachers and special needs assistants allocated to schools is to support students with special educational needs. For the start of this school year, close to 21,000 special education teachers and over 23,000 SNAs have been allocated to our schools. This represents a 23% increase in special education teacher numbers and a 43% increase in SNA numbers since 2020. Some 15,000 of these special education teachers work to support students attending mainstream classes. The Minister, Deputy McEntee, and the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, are committed to securing additional funding for further teacher and SNA supports for students in the upcoming budget.  One programme and support much welcomed by the parents of children with complex special education needs is the summer programme. I am happy to report this important programme continued to expand, with a 52% increase in school participation since 2022. Over 1,900 schools took part in the programme this summer. I was delighted to visit one in my local area and see the fantastic work being done with children. A number of these initiatives, funding measures and supports are ensuring the continued growth and expansion of this programme. For example, the hot school meals programme, which was introduced this year, supports schools running the summer programme.  One of the most eagerly anticipated developments in the area of special education is the plan to develop a new education therapy service for schools. Many Deputies referred to it today. The new service being developed by the Department of education and the NCSE will commence in special schools and will subsequently extend to schools with special classes and mainstream provision. It is intended this new service will be rolled out on a phased basis in some special schools at a later stage in this 2025-2026 school year, with a wider roll-out for the next school of 2026-2027. It is expected that the recruitment of therapists for this service will be initiated in the coming months of quarter four of this year. I know this new service when introduced will have the potential to have a really positive impact on the lives of children and young people with special educational needs and their families. I look forward to tracking the progress being made in the development of this important new service.  In conclusion, while I fully appreciate the valid frustrations outlined here, I do not believe the motion from the Opposition takes account of the progress made to date and the ongoing commitment of the Department of education and the NCSE, which are working with schools to deliver an education system of the highest quality, one where every child and young person feels valued and is actively supported and nurtured to reach their full potential. The Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, provided a detailed update in his contribution on the special education places for this school year and the work under way in terms of forward planning for the next school year also.  We have so much work to do to address the challenges facing the parents of children with additional needs and those children themselves. I think the earlier confirmation of new special classes and special schools will be key to ensuring that parents of children with additional needs can expect to have clarity when it comes to school places at the same time as parents of children attending mainstream schools. All of us in this Chamber will be monitoring the progress being made on the common application trial and the development of the new education therapy service. I ask Members to continue to monitor this and to continue to look at and advocate for this issue, as so many people did here so passionately tonight. I ask the House to support the Government's countermotion. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Donna McGettigan","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","memberCode":"Donna-McGettigan.D.2024-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Donna McGettigan  It is clear to anyone paying attention that we have a serious capacity issue when it comes to providing school places for children with special needs. Every child is entitled to the best quality education the State can provide, and this means schooling that meets their needs and is based in their own community. Yet parents in my constituency of Clare are having to place their children on buses or face commutes to bring their children to a school - one the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, visited himself - that meets their needs in Ennis.  Some parents simply cannot find places for their children with special needs in their own community or even transport to bring them to those schools. This is a failure for these children and their families. The Education Act 1998 states it is a function of the Minister:  to ensure, subject to the provisions of this Act, that there is made available to each person resident in the State, including a person with a disability or who has other special educational needs, support services and a level and quality of education appropriate to meeting the needs and abilities of that person...  Families are struggling to try to access facilities and services for their children. They too are being let down by the Government. It is shocking that the Minister is unable to state how many children still lack the special education places they require. We are working off estimates showing it is approximately 260 children. However, as the Equality in Education campaign was able to find an additional 168 children, the actual number may even be higher again.  These children get one childhood. As these are their formative years, denying them the chance to thrive to their full potential is scandalous. In many cases, they also have to see their siblings having the opportunity to learn, socialise and thrive that they are denied on the basis that they have special needs the Government is failing to provide for. Alternatively, if given a place, they could be shoved into a cubbyhole. In addition to the urgent need for the Government to provide funding and resources immediately, it must also future-proof the services so we do not end up here again. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Paul Donnelly","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Paul-Donnelly.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Paul Donnelly  Fine Gael has been 14 years in power and Fianna F\u00e1il has been ten years in power and yet they are still talking about forward planning. It is absolutely ridiculous. Every single child has a right to an education. It is not provided to all children because some are denied that right. Parents are forced to campaign, to protest and to demand and to share their stories. They were again promised this year that no child would be left behind. Well, it is untrue because we know children are being left. We just do not know the exact number, and this tells a story in itself. What is more frustrating and causing deep anger is that many parents were informed their child had secured a place, only to find out there were no rooms in the schools. Danu special school only recently had its classrooms delivered, in the past few weeks. This is a year and a half since those children and the school were told they would have new additional places.  Why did it take a year and a half for this to happen after they were told they were getting places? We still do not know the answers to why this was the case. Is a year and a half really forward planning? One parent who got a school place then lost their school transport. Why was this? It was because the existing transport was too expensive, so the Department cancelled it. That is grand. It was too expensive. Bizarrely and disgracefully, though, it cancelled the contract and now cannot secure another alternative, leaving that child at home. How ridiculous is that? Can the Minister of State find out who made this decision and ask them why they cancelled the bus contract without an alternative? I ask this because that child is now at home.  Lastly, the report of the task force in Dublin referred to by the Minister of State to support the forward planning provision was submitted to the Minister, Deputy McEntee, and to the Minister of State, Deputy Moynihan, on 1 July 2025. When will those who put the huge amount of time, effort and work into it see it published? "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Johnny Guirke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Johnny-Guirke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Johnny Guirke  Every year, families do not fight for a favour, they fight for a basic right: the right to a school place or a school bus for their children with additional needs. This is not a one-off problem. It is one that circles back year after year, with no lessons having been learned from the previous year. In too many communities, children with additional needs cannot even access education in their local schools. Places are not there where they live, so they are pushed to attend distant schools. Even then, a place is not guaranteed. It is as if education has become a lottery. I spoke to a parent in County Meath who told me their child endures a three-hour round trip every day just to get to a school that should be within reach. This shapes a child's life and often hinders his or her ability to integrate into their local communities. Parents of children with additional needs are worn out. If they are not fighting for a school place, they are fighting for a seat on a bus or an SNA. It is a constant battle after battle that many families face and solutions seem out of reach.  This year, many children with additional needs have got tickets for school transport, while parents are then told at the last minute that no bus operator has been hired to do that school run. What needs to be looked at is why operators are not tendering for these school runs or why the process cannot begin sooner. This Government has led to too many of these children being denied the education they deserve. By allowing these gaps to persist, the State is effectively denying children access to education, thereby violating their rights. We demand a clear, funded plan to guarantee sufficient school places for children with additional needs within their local communities. There should be no more endless reshuffles, no more arbitrary delays. We demand reliable transport and support services, with transparent communication between transport providers, schools and families. Education for children with additional needs is non-negotiable. Every child deserves parity of access and quality of school provision. These parents and children deserve more than excuses. Every child with additional needs must be able to access a suitable school place and reliable transport without fear of another unnecessary battle in the future. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Matt Carthy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Matt-Carthy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Matt Carthy  The Government is denying the constitutional right to an education to many children with special needs. One of those children is a gorgeous young boy from Monaghan called Sonny McElvaney. Sonny has made developmental progress beyond what was ever envisaged, primarily because of the efforts of parents. He should have started school a couple of weeks ago. However, Sonny needs a full-time SNA and one has not been allocated. The school that he attends already has one SNA but also has another student who needs a full-time allocation. Sonny's mother started engaging with the NCSE last November. No parent wants to acknowledge that their child needs full-time, one-on-one care. In this case, however, it is clear-cut. The occupational therapist that Sonny has dealt with has stated it. The school that he is to attend has stated it. The preschool where Sonny had a full-time SNA has stated it. All the reports from every professional who has ever met Sonny state that he cannot attend school without a full-time SNA.  If this case is anything to go by, the NCSE is dysfunctional. I have been engaging with it directly on this case since June. This morning, for the third time, I received a response which states that schools are expected to redeploy their current SNA allocation to students with the greatest level of need. In other words, for Sonny to get his entitlement, another child has to be denied theirs. That is scandalous. That is what is happening under the NCSE.  What the Minister of State read out tonight is essentially a speech that has been delivered by the NCSE, the very institution that is failing these children. It is failing to recognise what every other person who is dealing with these children recognises, namely that they need support. Those schools are ready to welcome children like Sonny but they need the Minister of State to grab the NCSE by the scruff of the neck and ensure that these children, who are being failed by it and by the Minister of State, get what they are entitled to. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I want to start my concluding remarks by saying that some of the utterances from Deputy Danny Healy-Rae were ignorant, ill-informed, insensitive, offensive and disgusting. He should withdraw them. They represent the height of ignorance.  The debate, otherwise, was important. It is incredibly frustrating. I say that on my behalf and on behalf of anyone with an interest in this matter. The term \"gaslighting\" was used. The Minister of State is taking people for fools. He and the senior Minister continually refusing to answer basic questions or provide information that we know they have is deliberate. This undermines the Minister's bona fides in relation to his job.  I ask the Minister of State to withdraw the amendment and look at what we are asking him to do. In every measure that we are calling for, we are asking the Government to leverage the energy of parents and school leaders to deliver solutions and appropriate school places for every child. The bureaucratic barriers that are being put up time and again should be done away with and the energy of parents who are fighting for their children and who are absolutely to be admired should be leveraged. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  Thank you, Deputy. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I mentioned FUSS Ireland and the Equality in Education group, but across the length and breadth of this State, parents are fighting for their children. That should be leveraged. The Minister of State should work with them and deliver for them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I cannot address what Deputy Danny Healy-Rae said, but Deputy O'Rourke is free to write to me. We can put the matter to the Deputy that way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Darren O'Rourke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Darren-O'Rourke.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Darren O'Rourke  I will, thanks. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Deputy is not present. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Amendment put."},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  In accordance with Standing Order 85(2), the division is postponed until next week's division time. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Special Education School Places: Motion [Private Members]"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_16","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  I wish to advise the House of the following matters in respect of which notice has been given under Standing Order 39 and the name of the Member in each case:  Deputy Malcolm Byrne - To discuss levels of State support for amateur drama and musical theatre.  Deputy Claire Kerrane - To discuss the downgrading of maternity services at Portiuncula University Hospital, Ballinasloe.  Deputy Brian Stanley - To discuss the imminent closure of the Leprino Foods company in Portlaoise.  Deputy Barry Ward - To discuss expansion of Irish-language medium primary and secondary schools.  Deputy Colm Burke - To discuss the establishment of the task force for Cork.  Deputies David Cullinane and Conor D. McGuinness - To discuss day services for children and young adults with disabilities in Waterford.  Deputy Eoghan Kenny - To discuss the recent fish kill on the Blackwater River in Cork.  Deputy Pat Buckley - To discuss inheritance tax discrimination for childless citizens.  Deputy Pa Daly - To discuss the reopening of Rattoo round tower.  Deputy Gary Gannon - To discuss the urgent need for expansion of neonatal facilities at the Rotunda Hospital.  Deputy Louis O'Hara - To discuss the need for comprehensive development guidelines in relation to energy developments.  Deputy Mark Wall - To discuss the lack of available childcare places in Kilcullen, County Kildare.  Deputy Tom Brabazon - To discuss the sustainability of the fishing sector.  Deputy P\u00e1draig O'Sullivan - To discuss the delays businesses and potential employees experience while applying for work permits.  Deputy Ruth Coppinger - To discuss the regulation of commercial drone delivery.  Deputy Maurice Quinlivan - To discuss the ongoing crisis in capacity at University Hospital Limerick.  Deputy Ruair\u00ed \u00d3 Murch\u00fa - To discuss the failure to provide an SNA for a primary school child.  Deputy Thomas Gould - To discuss the lack of school transport for children in special schools in Cork.  Deputy Matt Carthy - To discuss the impact of delays of SENO allocations on pupils and families in Cavan-Monaghan.  The matters raised by Deputies Colm Burke, Malcolm Byrne, Pat Buckley, Gary Gannon and Brian Stanley have been selected for discussion. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","debateType":"topical","bill":null,"showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"parentDebateSection":null,"containsDebate":false,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","speakers":[],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_18","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Urban Development","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  As the Minister of State will be aware, the programme for Government sets out quite clearly that a task force will be set up to deal with the challenges that exist in Cork city centre. There is a need for major redevelopment and for an overall plan to deal with those challenges. In real terms, a lot of progress has been made in Cork city but we need to work through how we can grow and develop the city centre into the future. We have already set out proposals in respect of improving the transport system from Ballincollig to Cork University Hospital, Munster Technological University and University College Cork, the city centre, the railway station and on to Mahon.  In the past eight weeks alone, over 1,150 social or affordable housing units have been identified for construction in Cork. At the ESB site in Wilton, there will be 350 units, 600 units at the Tramore Road site, which previously belonged to CNP, and 217 units at the Sextant bar site. There is development in some areas, but we still have a lot of buildings in the city centre that are vacant and that need to be totally refurbished. In addition, we need to use compulsory purchase orders to move on those properties that have been lying idle for a considerable period.  We have to have an overall strategy. For instance, in the area in which my office is located in Blackpool, we have a flood relief scheme that has been going on since 2013. Twelve years on, we still have not turned a sod in the context of dealing with that issue. We need to have an overall plan. The important issue is that we need to put in place a task force to deal with that. Such a task force would not just involve the city council; all of the relevant Government agencies and community groups must also work together to develop and grow the city centre. For instance, I offer the simple example of one project I was working on when I was Minister of State, namely having a day centre for people who are homeless. We have more than 600 people in the city who are homeless and who are in night shelters from 6 p.m. or 7 p.m. The following morning, they are back out on the street. That is manageable when there is fine weather. When the weather is not fine, however, they have nowhere to go. We need that day centre. We have identified a building. It is 13 months since I attended a joint meeting of the city council, the HSE and the Departments of Health and housing. The project has still not been progressed in the meantime. A task force is essential to make sure that all of these projects move forward. We also need to make sure that it deals not only with the needs of businesses, but also with the social needs of the area as well. We need to sit down and discuss matters.  A task force was set up for Dublin.  There is now a very good programme. A plan was introduced and there is a programme of action to be taken, which is now up and running. There is a clear timeline for delivery in that area in Dublin. I wish all those involved in the Dublin project well but we also need to do this in Cork. It is the second biggest city, and we need to grow and develop it. That is why we need a task force. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Minister of State at the Department of Public Expenditure, Infrastructure, Public Service Reform and Digitalisation (Deputy Emer Higgins)  I thank the Deputy for raising this very important matter, not just for his own city but for all of us across Ireland. As Ireland\u2019s second city, Cork occupies a very important position in the economic, social and cultural life of the nation. I would go so far as to say that Ireland\u2019s overall success is closely bound to the success of Cork city.  The Government is very aware of the challenges faced by our urban areas, such as Cork city, particularly in the wake of Covid. During Covid, we saw reduced footfall, changed retail habits, increased vacancy and dereliction, all of which led to a perceived sense of our towns and cities being less safe than before. It is fair to say that our capital city has demonstrated the worst effects of this in recent years. That is why, in May 2024, the Government appointed the Dublin city task force, chaired by David McRedmond, to take a holistic view of the measures required to rejuvenate Dublin city centre, north and south. The aim is to make Dublin city centre a more thriving, attractive and safe cityscape, and a desirable location to live, work, do business and visit. As Deputy Burke said, the Dublin city task force took an evidence-informed approach and made a series of recommendations. A roadmap for delivery of the task force report was published in June 2025.  These actions reflect the programme for Government commitment to implementing the recommendations of the Dublin city task force. As part of this, the Government has also undertaken to apply this task force model to other cities, towns and regions in need of revitalisation, starting with a task force for Cork city. We remain committed to this, acknowledging that Cork city faces many of the same challenges as Dublin, particularly around policing and safety, dereliction and cleanliness. With Deputy Burke and other representatives, I met with Cork Chamber of Commerce earlier this year. It was very clear that Cork city needed investment. The day centre that Deputy Burke spoke about in his contribution was referenced at that meeting. I know it is something the Deputy has advocated and campaigned for over a long period.  Cork city\u2019s unique character and potential as our second city will, however, demand a tailored response. Cork city\u2019s potential is fully recognised in its current development plan, which sets out how the city will grow and develop until 2028. The strategic vision is for Cork city to take its place as a world-class city, driving local and regional growth, and embracing diversity and inclusiveness. Intrinsic to this is Cork\u2019s wealth of heritage assets and cultural amenities, which need to be invested in and protected. Other priorities for investment include large-scale regeneration projects in the Cork docklands and in Tivoli, and the development of a much-enhanced, citywide public transport system.  I can assure the Deputy that the Government is not lacking in plans or vision for Cork city. The modern idea of a city is changing and there is an onus on us all to reimagine Cork city centre in that context. This is about how we sustain business, invest in the public realm, make our streets safer and get more people living in the centre, right in the heart of things. The joined-up thinking of a task force, bringing together relevant agencies and local expertise from different sectors, would be of great benefit in galvanising our collective efforts. I fully agree with the Deputy about this being needed. However, it is important that we get the terms of reference and the focus right. With that in mind, the Taoiseach has been in discussion with the chief executive of Cork City Council on how best to go about this, and he has asked officials in his Department to further consider the optimum approach in consultation with officials in Cork City Council. The outcome of these deliberations will be finalised and announced in due course. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Colm Burke","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","memberCode":"Colm-Burke.S.2011-05-25","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Colm Burke  My concern is that it would be delayed further, given that we are already over 350 days in government. Even if we set up the task force in the morning, it would take 12 months to get the report and further time to set up an implementation mechanism. I am concerned about the timeframe in which this task force will be set up.  It is also important that the task force is inclusive. I accept that Cork City Council is playing a very important part in the development and growth of the city in the work it is already doing. For example, flood relief schemes are progressing. This is about making sure we include everyone in the process, for example, the city council, the chamber of commerce, the business community and the community organisations. If we go back to one of the best long-term plans that was done for Cork city and county, it was a combination of all of those elements together that produced the LUTS plan for Cork, which planned out where we were going over the following 20 years. I served on the Port of Cork for ten years and we were instrumental in making sure the Ringaskiddy development went ahead. Contracts have since been signed for the Ringaskiddy bypass road and work has started on that. There is also the whole process of moving all of the companies located in the Tivoli-docklands area down to Ringaskiddy, thereby opening up a whole area of land to be developed. However, the city centre is important and we should now do the work on that. The Tivoli-docklands area will not be developed until the Ringaskiddy bypass is completed.  We need to forward-plan for the city centre. There are many buildings that are underutilised but are suitable for either business or residential accommodation. We need to make sure we bring them all back into use and they are fully occupied. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for his observations and his support for the desire to work together on the rejuvenation of Cork city to make it a better place to live, work and experience its wonderful culture. The people of Cork have an immense and justifiable pride in their beautiful city but even the proudest Corkonian will admit there are a number of areas where we could do better to enhance the city's vibrancy and vitality, and the Deputy has listed some of them. There is no doubt that the growing population in Cork presents both challenges and opportunities. We need to tackle vacancy and dereliction, and we need to make sure that Cork's streets are vibrant, as well as safe and clean. The ingenuity of Cork people is recognised throughout this country, and no one should doubt their ability to lead the way in making the city the best it can be.  The approach of the Dublin city task force and the roadmap for delivery provides a very good example of how State agencies and key stakeholders can work together to plot a course for a city's rejuvenation. As the Deputy mentioned, inclusiveness is a huge part of this. He spoke about how he was part of the initiative that brought together the city council, chambers of commerce, businesses and community organisations. That combination of the right people around the table bred the success of Ringaskiddy.  We want to build on this in line with the programme for Government commitment but we also want to take a fresh approach for Cork city. As I said in the opening statement, it is important that we get the terms of reference and the focus right. I understand the Deputy\u2019s frustration around timelines. If it happened yesterday, it would not be quick enough for the Deputy, and I understand that because it is all about delivery and progress. I can assure the House that there will be further intensive discussions on this in the coming weeks and that the next steps for Cork city will be announced in the very near future. I will ask the Taoiseach to keep Deputy Burke fully up to date on that. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Urban Development"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Tax Code","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  I congratulate the Minister of State. They say love is blind and marriage is an eye-opener.  We in Sinn F\u00e9in believe in a tax system that is fair. As part of this, inheritance tax is an important tool to tackle inequality and invest in public services to deliver a fair society. However, the current system is highly discriminatory towards beneficiaries of estates left by people with no children.  The capital acquisitions tax, CAT, regime applies a rate of 33% on gifts or inheritances above a certain tax-free threshold that depends on the beneficiary\u2019s relationship to the person who gives them the gift or inheritance. For spouses and civil partners, inheritances are tax-free. Children inheriting from a parent can receive up to \u20ac400,000 tax-free. For other relatives, a tax-free threshold of \u20ac40,000 applies, while non-relatives can receive up to \u20ac20,000 tax-free.  The threshold that applies to the beneficiaries of an estate of childless adults is, quite simply, discriminatory and extremely unfair to all of Ireland's 1 million childless citizens. Among them are a significant number of LGBTQ+ folk, who face added barriers when it comes to growing a family or who simply do not wish to have children. Thankfully, Irish society has changed greatly in recent decades, and more and more people now live in situations where the traditional family model does not apply.  Lately, I have been contacted by several constituents who do not have children and this issue is of real concern for them. One woman has spoken to me and said she has no children of her own but her younger cousin lives with her and acts as her carer. She intends to leave the house to her cousin. However, if she does, she fears her cousin will have to sell the house in order to cover the capital acquisitions tax bill. I am not advocating for anything to be taken away from parents and their children. Instead, we are simply advocating for equality and an end to the discrimination faced by all childless citizens. It is not fair or equitable that a nephew inheriting a home valued at \u20ac400,000 from a childless uncle will have to pay a tax bill of \u20ac118,800 while a child inheriting a \u20ac400,000 home from a parent will have to pay a tax bill of \u20ac0. For example, the Taoiseach can pass assets of up to \u20ac1.2 million to his three children tax free while the childless assistant can only pass assets worth \u20ac120,000 - ten times less - tax free to nieces and nephews.  The Government now knows very well the profound financial impact the current discriminatory rules will have on childless citizens and their loved ones. Their loved ones will be faced with additional punitive taxes, running into tens of thousands and, in many cases, hundreds of thousands of euro solely because of their childless status. For so many elderly childless constituents, time may sadly not be on their side. I will continue to call for an overhaul of the inheritance tax system, as the current rules are so blatantly inequitable and discriminatory. They are unfit for purpose, given the varied family structures that operate in Ireland today. Budgetary matters can never be allowed to supersede equality matters for childless citizens. Whatever economic challenges may lie ahead in this country, the burden of inheritance tax must be urgently reformed for the betterment of all our citizens.  I have dealt with a lot of elderly people who do not understand what capital acquisitions tax is. There is a fear out there, especially in the current climate where houses are so scarce. Family members are actually terrified and do not know whether they can will their properties back to their kids, cousins or whoever and what will happen. Will there be an initial financial burden, which there is? That is why I wanted to flag it here tonight in the hope the Minister of State will be able to give me an answer for those constituents to whom I have been talking. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter in the House today. As he is aware, capital acquisitions tax is a tax on inheritances or gifts on an amount over a particular tax-free threshold. It is a beneficiary-orientated tax, which means it is payable by the recipient of the gift or inheritance as opposed to the person providing that gift or inheritance. Capital acquisitions tax, CAT, plays an important role in ensuring we maintain a broad tax base and it raised \u20ac854 million last year. For CAT purposes, the relationship between the person giving a gift or inheritance, the disponer, and the person who receives it, the beneficiary, determines the maximum amount, known as the group threshold, below which CAT does not arise. The Finance Act 2024 increased each threshold and the estimated cost was \u20ac88 million annually.  The group A threshold, which is currently \u20ac400,000, applies where the beneficiary is a child of the disponer. For clarity, it is useful to note that the definition of children for CAT purposes includes any stepchildren, adopted children or certain foster children. Any of those can avail of the group A threshold in respect of gifts or inheritances received from that disponer. The group B threshold, which is currently \u20ac40,000, applies where the beneficiary is a brother, sister, nephew, niece or lineal ancestor or lineal descendant, such as a grandchild, of the disponer. The group C threshold, which is currently \u20ac20,000, applies in all other cases. Where a person receives gifts or inheritances that are in excess of the relevant tax-free threshold, capital acquisitions tax at a rate of 33% applies on the excess benefit.  In the past year, there has been a focus brought to the group B threshold and access by disponers who are single or childless to their beneficiaries benefiting from the group A threshold. Ireland is not unique in providing a distinction in relation to how children are treated for inheritance tax purposes compared with nephews, nieces and siblings. There are a number of exemptions and reliefs from this tax that may apply, depending on the circumstances of the case, some of which do not require that any specific family relationship applies. One such exemption is the dwelling house exemption. Where a person takes an inheritance of a dwelling house, that person may be able to avail of the dwelling house exemption. I know the Deputy cited that in one of the examples from one of his constituents. To quality for the exemption, the inherited property must have been the disponer\u2019s principal private residence at the date of his or her death. The beneficiary must also have lived in the house for three years prior to the date of the inheritance and must continue to live in the house for six years after that date. In addition, the beneficiary must not have a beneficial interest in any other residential property. Detailed guidance on the dwelling house exemption is published on the Revenue website.  In addition, nieces or nephews of that disponer may qualify for favourite niece or favourite nephew relief in respect of gifts or inheritances of business assets. The relief allows a niece or nephew who qualifies for the relief to avail of the group A threshold. Qualifying nieces or nephews are those who have worked substantially on a full-time basis for a period of five years prior to the gift or inheritance being given in carrying on, or assisting in the carrying on, of a trade, business or profession. A number of other exemptions and reliefs are available, including the small gift exemption and agricultural and business relief.  In conclusion, I note that the existing CAT regime, as with all legislation, was created with the benefit of advice from the Attorney General. As a result of this, all legislation in this situation enjoys the presumption of constitutionality unless the courts find otherwise. The Minister assures me that he is not of the view that the current CAT regime is unconstitutional. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Pat Buckley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","memberCode":"Pat-Buckley.D.2016-10-03","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Pat Buckley  I thank the Minister of State for a pretty in-depth response. Sometimes, it can be fairly flippy-floppy here. I welcome her response. I have had a case where a beneficiary was living for more than three years in a house but did not know what the actual rules were and was panicking because that person did not know whether to buy it.  Since there has been a proper response, I will delve into it more myself. I understand what the Minister of State said about the Attorney General and what he said but it is nice to have it discussed. I welcome the information on the bands and group thresholds. It has actually opened my eyes. I probably should have read it from A to B. I am desperate, as I normally read something three times - three times, all the time.  I welcome the response to this and I thank the Minister of State for it. I will certainly take it back to my constituents. Maybe they could read it a bit more than I could at this time. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for his constructive engagement on this. I really hope the information that has been provided on the record of the D\u00e1il tonight is of use to his constituents and many other of our constituents, too. Just to clarify and confirm, the Minister for Finance and his Department are satisfied to the constitutionality of the existing CAT legislation. This matter was considered earlier this year by the tax strategy group. It noted in its capital taxes paper that Ireland was not unique in providing a distinction as to how children were treated for inheritance tax purposes compared with nieces, nephews and siblings. There has been a long-standing differentiation between direct familial relationships and more distant relationships maintained in the Irish legal system since the foundation of the State. That is reflected in the Constitution, Article 41 in particular.  It is important to be aware that any changes to the CAT regime would be considered in the context of various competing demands on the public finances and budget 2026 but we will take on board some of what the Deputy said in his initial contribution. I really hope that the information provided here is of use to him, his office and his constituents. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Tax Code"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_20","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Arts Funding","counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  Along with others, I congratulate the Minister of State on her recent wedding and wish her every success. I appreciate her being here to take this debate this evening.  We are talking about the role of amateur theatre and musicals right around the State in all of our constituencies. In terms of the numbers who are actually involved in amateur theatre and musicals, it is estimated that after the GAA, it is the largest voluntary movement in the country. Think of the people who are involved, both onstage and behind the scenes in our theatres, providing those productions and the audiences right around the country for whom they provide great enjoyment, but also the role of amateur theatre in challenging us and making us think as well as entertaining us.  Even though a lot of these productions are amateur, the Minister of State will be very much aware that the quality is professional. In order to attain that, it costs a lot of money. A lot of these groups spend a lot of time fundraising to be able to put on those productions.  Their national representative bodies, the Drama League of Ireland, the Amateur Drama Council of Ireland, and the Association of Irish Musical Societies, which run festivals and try to ensure standards and provide training programmes, essentially do not receive any form of State support. While some support was provided during Covid - we all know about the impact on the arts then - we have not seen a structured way of funding and supporting these organisations, so that they can both manage their activity at a national level but also help with development, training and education costs.  The Oireachtas committee on the arts, of which I was a member in the previous Oireachtas as well as in this one, recommended clearly that a funding stream would be put in place. This is not covered at the moment by the Arts Council, although when the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, appeared before the Oireachtas committee recently, he did indicate that this may be a channel for so doing it. Given the importance of all of these groups in helping to build our communities, we should have some way of channelling funding to support their management and administration at national level but also their development at local level.  When I look at what happens with sporting organisations \u2013 the Minister of State is aware that I am very supportive of how we support sport \u2013 national governing bodies in sport receive funding through Sport Ireland to support the administration of the organisation but also for development and engagement and to build activity within the sport. We do not have the same level of commitment in the arts. The Minister of State knows how important the arts, theatre and musical groups are in building communities and we must consider a structured system of support for all of those organisations.  Within my constituency, we are very fortunate to have three very active musical societies in the Gorey Musical Society, the Carnew Musical Society and the Avonmore Musical Society in Arklow. We have wonderful theatre groups the length and breadth of the constituency. I will not start to name them because there is a danger that I will forget some. They run from Tinahely to Kilmuckridge. I have been very involved with the Gorey Little Theatre group. We all know the difference these groups make within our communities but, given the growing costs and challenges, we must support their development. The State does need to step in and provide resourcing. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy very much for raising this issue. The Government places great value on culture and the arts sector. As outlined in the programme for Government, we recognise that they are essential to a well-rounded society, providing opportunities for education, expression and community engagement. Deputy Byrne gave a very interesting statistic, for the want of a better word, when he said that, after the GAA, this is the largest voluntary movement in Ireland. It is fantastic to have that said and acknowledged here on the floor of the D\u00e1il. I thank everybody who volunteers their time, talents and efforts for that cause. I know Deputy Byrne does a lot of that himself, and I acknowledge that too.  Under the Arts Act 2003, the Arts Council has primary responsibility for the development of the arts in Ireland and budget 2025 provided record funding of \u20ac140 million for the Arts Council. I appreciate what the Deputy says, which is that funding needs to be channelled through a structured stream to the groups that support, govern and develop the arts, namely, the groups on the ground. Notwithstanding that, the Arts Council recognises the value and the distinctive role amateur arts practice plays, its important contribution to the vitality of the arts in Ireland, and its many societal benefits. I know Deputy Byrne is an active member of his local theatre group, and he commended and complimented the groups that are active on the ground in his area. They are an example of the non-commercial, professional theatre production that happens in Ireland. We want to support artistic excellence in the standard of practice and level of ambition.  The Arts Council invests funding in a range of art forms and developmental projects, including Creative Schools, Creative Places, Creative Europe and Culture Night. As we all know, Culture Night takes place this Friday. One example of what will happen is that, in collaboration with RT\u00c9, opportunities are being created for artists at all levels. Details of all these programmes are available on the Arts Council's website. I encourage everyone to enjoy Culture Night this Friday. In its most recently published music policy, Advancing Music: Music Policy and Strategy, the Arts Council's music, opera and theatre teams are working together on the development of a new approach for the support of music theatre and musical theatre artists and organisations. Additionally, a network of cultural infrastructure exists throughout the country with the majority in the ownership of local authorities. Annual support, including programming and revenue supports, is provided to these arts centres by local authorities and the Arts Council. The Department provides capital grant funding to assist development and to maintain these arts and cultural facilities. These arts centres are where amateur and professional artists and audiences meet and this is a key part of the Arts Council's strategy of investing in public engagement.  Within the Department of culture, there are a number of measures in place to support the arts at amateur and professional levels. They include annual funding for Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann; the music capital scheme, which provides funding for the purchase of musical instruments; the small-scale local festivals and summer schools scheme designed to support local cultural festivals and summer schools; and Creative Ireland programme funding to support a wide range of creative projects nationally.  Notwithstanding the existing supports, I am sure the Deputy is aware of the intention of the Minister, Deputy O'Donovan, to widen the range of art forms and organisations supported by the Arts Council, something the Deputy himself recommended in the committee. That is particular to community and other groups. The Deputy will also be aware of the ongoing review by the expert review group, which is under way and is being chaired by Professor Niamh Brennan. The Minister looks forward, as I am sure does the Deputy, to receiving that report and to any recommendations she makes when the review is completed before considering the next steps in regard to the Arts Council.  The Minister asked me to assure the Deputy that he has reviewed the Oireachtas committee's report, The Development of Local and Community Arts, published in July 2024. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  The Minister of State should conclude. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  One of the key recommendations is to develop an arts capital and equipment programme for investment in local and community arts of a similar scale and structure as its sports capital and equipment programme. As part of that, we will look at the feasibility of a minor capital works scheme under the Arts Council. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Malcolm Byrne","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","memberCode":"Malcolm-Byrne.D.2019-11-29","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Malcolm Byrne  I thank the Minister of State very much. Like her, I encourage everybody to get involved in Culture Night. Many of the activities in Culture Night will be led by people who are involved in local community theatre groups and musical societies right around the country. There has been an enormous and very welcome commitment to significant increased funding for the Arts Council, and the introduction of a basic income scheme for artists, as well as a number of measures the Minister of State mentioned, but none of them are of benefit to the amateur musical theatre or amateur drama sector in Ireland.  The Brennan review into the Arts Council is a little bit more about governance. We need to look at the structured funding schemes for the arts in the same way as sport when it comes to building communities. This Government is very clearly doing it for sport but we need to put the arts on a level playing field. There is a very clear commitment in programme for Government to the arts capital programme but the maximum sum in the scheme E capital programme for an arts centre is \u20ac50,000, which is minimal for a capital programme when we compare it with the sports capital programme that I also strongly support. I was at a sports club this evening where incredible investment is happening, which is right, but we must do the same with arts venues around the country. We need a dedicated funding stream to support amateur theatre and musical groups because of the number of people involved. The Minister of State knows that people involved in drama groups and musical societies around the country love it and have a passion for it but there are costs involved and we must put a funding stream in place to support them. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy Byrne for raising this important matter. It is timely that we are discussing it a couple of days in advance of Culture Night. I also thank the Deputy for his obvious passion for this subject matter and the active role he plays in the amateur arts world in his community.  Ireland is renowned for producing world-class art, both amateur and professional. That is why it is this Government's ambition that we continue to do that into the future. The Government places significant value on culture and the arts sector. That is why it is distinctly called out in the programme for Government. We recognised in the programme for Government that they are essential to a well-rounded society, providing opportunities for education, expression and community engagement. I hope we will achieve that over the lifetime of this Government. I will pass on the Deputy's specific ideas and feedback to the Minister and ask him to consider how those can be used to better support arts organisations.  We have spoken about professional artists, about local dramatic societies and about the really amazing work that groups like Comhaltas Ceolt\u00f3ir\u00ed \u00c9ireann undertake up and down the country. I take this opportunity to thank everybody involved in Fleadh Cheoil na h\u00c9ireann which I believe took place in Deputy Byrne's neighbouring constituency and in the Ceann Comhairle's constituency. I commend everybody involved in that. It was absolutely terrific. I was lucky enough to spend two nights there. It was an amazing showcase of the talent, both amateur and professional, that Ireland offers. That is something the Government is committed to supporting. As I have stated, the Government has committed to examining the feasibility of minor capital works grants schemes to support arts and culture facilities that are not supported through the Arts Council. I will take Deputy Byrne's feedback in relation to that cap on board and present it to the Minister. These plans are, of course, resource dependent, as is everything, and as we are getting towards the crunch when it comes to budget negotiations this year, I expect this to be discussed there. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Arts Funding"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_21","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Hospital Facilities","counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  I thank the Minister of State for taking this issue tonight.  A couple of week ago, I visited the neonatal unit of the Rotunda Hospital, which is just off Parnell Street in my own constituency of Dublin 1. While there, I met the clinicians there who are being asked to work in conditions that are incredibly unsuited to the importance of the work and to the vulnerability of the babies who they care for while there. The impression you could not help but leave with is that although there are amazing clinicians in the Rotunda, who offer the very best of care where possible, the systems, the building and the rooms they are asked to work in and perform their duties, are simply not suitable for purpose in a modern republic in 2025. Indeed, it was not suitable when my own younger brothers were in that neonatal unit in 1994. The Rotunda has put forward a proposal that is not about luxury or even about expansion for its own sake but is about basic standards of care. The plan it put forward includes 19 new post-natal beds, a state-of-the-art new neonatal intensive care unit with 46 separate spaces for babies, a new labour ward with appropriate numbers of bathrooms and a midwifery-led unit on the ground floor. That stands in stark contrast with the current facilities I witnessed where 37 babies, some who were critically ill, were sharing one small space. Clinicians were stretched to the limits and infection control standards simply do not match the level of care the babies, their families and the clinicians who work there deserve. The Rotunda is the busiest maternity hospital in northern Europe. Thousands of babies from the most vulnerable populations are born there each year and 40% of all the babies in Dublin are born in the Rotunda Hospital, yet the infrastructure is dangerously outdated. There already have been multiple infection outbreaks in the unit in recent months directly linked to overcrowding and inadequate space.  I am aware there are objections raised in the planning process to the expansion. However, I want to say with all urgency that I see no building in this city as more important that the little protected structures that I witnessed in those incubators that day, as well as their survival and dignity. It is the most critical infrastructure. I understand that, strictly speaking, this matter lies with the planning system. I am not immune to that fact or reality. However, we stand here in the national Parliament where there is a picture of the Rotunda Hospital on the wall behind me. If this Parliament cannot take a stand and make not only requests but demands and an urgency known to those who stand in the way of such critical infrastructure, we certainly have to find a way. I am sure the Minister of State will agree that what the expansion of the hospital needs cannot be achieved through a delayed, dragged out, planning process that may take a decade. It requires urgency and may require intervention. I am somebody who believes in the architectural heritage of this city. I am somebody who loves the fact that walking through Dublin you can feel its history. I live just around the corner from the Rotunda Hospital, off Mountjoy Street, so I understand the importance of the history of the area. However, there is no history more important than the future of the babies who I witnessed in those incubators. I appreciate the Minister of State may be tied in her response but I also appreciate that working collectively together, we may find a way. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank Deputy Gannon for his Topical Issue on this subject. I was born in the Rotunda Hospital and my mother used to work there, so I appreciate the opportunity to address the concerns relating to the expansion of neonatal facilities at the Rotunda Hospital. I do so on behalf of the Minister for Health, Deputy Jennifer Carroll MacNeill.  As the Deputy said, the Rotunda is one of the busiest maternity hospitals in the whole of Europe. More than 8,600 babies were delivered there in 2024 and more than 1,300 babies were cared for in the hospital\u2019s neonatal intensive care unit, the NICU. This NICU is one of four tertiary NICUs in Ireland, providing essential support for some of the sickest infants and their families. The Deputy will be aware that the critical care wing is a planned development on the existing Rotunda Hospital campus to address high-priority clinical areas. The new wing will provide additional NICU capacity, more single rooms, more delivery suite capacity, and a new theatre. This development will increase capacity at the hospital and ensure that the hospital can provide for the increasing number of presentations. The HSE has advised that this project is currently at stage 2B of design, and is looking to progress procurement of enabling works. In August of this year, the Master of the Rotunda, Professor Sean Daly, wrote to both the Taoiseach and the Minister, Deputy Carroll MacNeill, among others, concerning the development of the critical care wing. Professor Daly noted concerns raised from An Taisce and the Dublin Civic Trust regarding this development despite engaging with them at a local level. He advised that the Dublin Civic Trust has indicated its intention to appeal the planning decision. It is important to note that neither the Minister nor the Department of Health, as the Deputy noted, have any remit over planning regulations. Planning regulations lie within the remit of the Department of housing, which has responsibility for the implementation of the planning Act 2024, including the design and implementation of planning regulations under the Act. Neither the Department of Health nor the HSE can comment on the review of planning regulations currently under way. However, while the planning process for the critical care wing progresses, the Government is investing to ensure the Rotunda continues to deliver the highest standards of quality care, including for neonates.  The hospital's budget has increased to \u20ac109 million this year. This is an increase of 47% or \u20ac35 million since 2020. The HSE has purchased an additional building, Hampson House, to extend capacity. Hampson House was officially opened in January this year. Over 100,000 outpatient and ambulatory patients are expected to attend there annually. Several service improvements are also being driven by the hospital and through the national maternity strategy. The Minister for Health visited the Rotunda in June to launch a new NICU resource for parents. This welcome pack has been designed for parents of babies transferred to the Rotunda NICU, and particularly those who have been unexpectedly transferred from maternity units around Ireland. It includes a variety of immediate practical support and guidance, including leaflets, toiletries and gift vouchers for accommodation and groceries. This is just one example of how the Government will continue to support the Rotunda Hospital to meet the needs of the women, infants and the families it serves. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Gary Gannon","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Gary-Gannon.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Gary Gannon  Yes, that is completely as I expected. I understand and accept completely that as legislators, we do not, nor should we, have a role over planning but we do have leadership roles. We do have voice. We are elected to represent the people of our constituencies and to have a say about what is common sense, what is basic humanity and what is just nonsensical. I found it unfathomable when I walked into that room and saw the clinicians and the babies in the incubators. I did not get a chance to meet their parents that day but I can only imagine when they walk into that room and see the little cots that are separated less than a metre from each other, which is absolutely no way in accordance with medical best practice. I cannot understand how any body designed to protect our heritage, which it does a good job at, could not simply look and see how that pales into irrelevance when it comes to the future, which is actually the children in these incubators. I do not want anybody to interfere with a planning process. That is not what we are after here. However, we do want to find a way. Maybe that is through legislating for critical infrastructure, which the Rotunda expansion absolutely is. That could be done fast.  The Government will get support across the Chamber as it applies or speaks with the authority of the offices of the Minister for housing, the Minister for Health or the Cabinet. I imagine they will have the full support of the rest of us across the Opposition. Let us call this what it is: a nonsense objection to critical infrastructure that genuinely risks costing lives. We cannot separate ourselves from that as leaders in our communities, as a Cabinet and as people who have been asked to act on behalf of the people of Ireland. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  It is my understanding that at this point no objection has been lodged. I hope the Deputy's passionate plea tonight has an influence on whether it will be lodged.  I thank the Deputy for raising this important issue. Increasing capacity at the Rotunda Hospital to ensure it can meet the needs of women, infants and families is a priority for the Government. The health needs of women and infants presenting to our services are becoming more complex. The National Maternity Strategy \u2013 Creating a Better Future Together 2016-2026 is in its final year and it has been driving national reforms across our services to better meet those needs. Of the \u20ac28 million new development funding, over \u20ac100 million in capital funding has supported that strategy since its development and significant investment has been directed into the Rotunda Hospital. Three additional consultants, a registrar, 13.5 full-time equivalent midwives and nurses and ten health and social care professionals have been funded at the hospital through that strategy. Significant capital funding has supported refurbishment, the purchase of training, equipment for emergencies, birthing aids, monitoring equipment and research projects.  In addition post-natal hubs are currently in development in Dublin. They will be run jointly by the Rotunda Hospital, the National Maternity Hospital and the Coombe hospital. This is supported by funding of \u20ac400,000 from the women's health task force. These hubs will provide a range of services and supports for women, infants and families in the weeks immediately following birth. The staff in the Rotunda neonatal intensive care unit, NICU, care for some of our most vulnerable patients. The NICU welcome pack is a small example of the kind and supportive way in which they carry out their important work so well. The Government will continue to invest in the Rotunda Hospital's infrastructure and services. The primary motivation for investment and development of the Rotunda is to continue to provide the highest standard of care now and in the future for women and babies. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Hospital Facilities"}]}},{"debateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_22","debateType":"debate","bill":null,"showAs":"Company Closures","counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"pdf":null,"xml":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"containsDebate":true,"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","speakers":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null}},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null}}],"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"text":[{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I raise this important issue because 132 workers at Leprino Foods in Portlaoise received the news on 18 and 19 August that the plant will close and will be wound down over this year and next year. This is an important facility. When it opened there were great hopes and I certainly had great hope because at last we had a large, substantial manufacturing plant in the constituency. The record of IDA Ireland has not been good, but more than 100 jobs were being created in the new business park. It was very important and it was happening at last.  It is estimated that over 12,000 people commute out of County Laois to work every day, many of them to this city. We need to change that. We need to create more jobs in the constituency. Some of those 132 people who will lose their jobs are couples and the Minister of State can imagine the impact of that if they have mortgages or such commitments. For IDA Ireland and Enterprise Ireland, the record regarding Laois is awful. There are only 154 jobs in IDA Ireland-backed companies in the county. It is the lowest number in the State. IDA Ireland made two visits to Laois in the past 12 months. Some of its visits are e-visits; they are not physical visits. In 2021, it made three visits; in 2022 two visits and last year, two visits. It is the worst record of IDA Ireland performance I can see in the charts I have. Westmeath had 20 visits and I do not take that from it. That is well and good for Westmeath.  Laois County Council has pulled out all the stops. It has created a business park and lots of jobs and new industry are being created in that business park, including Alpha Drives where the Laois Rose of Tralee works as an apprentice electrician. She started there. It is great to have those jobs. Laois County Council has been supporting start-ups and, as I said, it developed the Togher business park, which is at the crossroads of Ireland. It is on the junction of the N7, N8 and N80. As Minister of State, Deputy Higgins will understand the importance of that.  In contrast, IDA Ireland has not performed. It has hardly been seen around the place. Other Deputies and I have met IDA Ireland over the years. Councillors have also met it and put it to the organisation, but I do not see any improvement. IDA Ireland is getting a substantial amount of taxpayers' money from the Minister's Department. Last year or the year before it got in excess of \u20ac80 million. I think it is approximately \u20ac90 million at the moment. I am open to contradiction on that. It has well-paid senior staff.  In the past, we heard all the excuses. The location was the problem. Now the motorways are there. The N80 is being upgraded by the county council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland. As I said, the Togher business park is at the crossroads of Ireland. Lack of infrastructure was another excuse. Now, in the centre of Laois we have first-class infrastructure, including roads. This is less than 1 km from the junction of the N7, N8 and N80.  A lack of serviced land used to be cited as a problem. We do not have that now. We have the Togher business park developed by the council and there are 50 acres owned by IDA Ireland less than 1 km away from the council's site.  The Minister of State will tell me she cannot direct the IDA to do this, that or the other, but questions need to be asked of IDA Ireland about Laois. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  I thank the Deputy for raising this matter, which I am taking on behalf of the Minister, Deputy Peter Burke. We were all very concerned to learn of the difficulties being experienced by Leprino Foods in Portlaoise. The Minister extends his sympathies to all employees and their families who may be affected by this decision taken by the company, and he knows that this news will be very concerning for all the workers involved and their families.  I understand the Minister received a collective redundancy notification from Leprino Foods EU Limited on 19 August 2025. The Deputy will be aware that Ireland has a robust framework of legislative protections and supports for workers who are affected by redundancy. Under the Protection of Employment Act 1977, employers planning collective redundancies must undertake a 30-day consultation and information process with employee representatives and notify the Minister for Enterprise, Tourism and Employment of the proposed redundancies at least 30 days before they take effect. The Department of Enterprise, Tourism and Employment and the Department of Social Protection will support the company and its employees in any way they can. Enterprise Ireland supports both national and international food and drink manufacturers and will continue to engage with them to set up in Ireland, supporting them to scale, expand and access our world-leading food innovation ecosystem.  IDA Ireland has continued its strong commitment to regional development, which is one of four key strategic objectives of its 2025-29 strategy, Adapt Intelligently. This ambitious strategy aims to secure 550 foreign direct investment, FDI, projects outside Dublin, accounting for 55% of all planned investments. The overarching goal is to create 75,000 new jobs nationwide and generate a projected \u20ac250 billion in economic impact. IDA Ireland has also set ambitious targets for every region, including the midlands region. The FDI performance in the midlands has been strong over the past five years, with employment among IDA clients increasing by 26 and a significant ecosystem of well-established companies across life sciences, technology, global business and financial services and engineering and industrial technologies.  As the Deputy said, 145 people are currently employed across five IDA Ireland-supported companies in County Laois. He expressed dissatisfaction with the growth in that area and in particular with the number of visits IDA Ireland has undertaken to the county and I will pass that message on to the Minister. However, as he pointed out, we now have new motorways, upgraded infrastructure, and upgraded and new serviced sites, all because of Government investment.  These are going to make County Laois an even more effective location for investment.  IDA Ireland partners with clients and key stakeholders to build on the strength and competencies of the midlands region, with the particular focus on high-value manufacturing, services and research and development opportunities across a number of established clusters, whether they be in life sciences, technology, global business services or engineering technology trends. It has created, and will continue to create, new opportunities across the region in areas including data analytics, smart manufacturing and cybersecurity. It will also look at new approaches to working, such as co-working hubs.  A core objective of IDA Ireland is to deliver a competitive property offering that supports FDI and the growth and expansion of indigenous clients within the Enterprise Ireland portfolio. The IDA's current strategy includes a partnership with Laois County Council to deliver an advanced planning permit in Portlaoise. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Brian Stanley","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","memberCode":"Brian-Stanley.D.2011-03-09","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Brian Stanley  I thank the Minister of State for her reply. If 145 people are employed in IDA-backed companies in Laois, that is actually a decline of nine from the last figures. It is very disappointing. As question has to be asked about why Laois is being ignored time and again. I know everybody will back his or her own corner but I think if one looks at the map of the 26 counties and at the number of IDA-backed jobs in various counties, Laois is way down at the bottom despite the fact that it has that excellent infrastructure and a huge workforce that is commuting out of the county. The location is the best I can see outside of Dublin and other people remarked on that as well.  I want the Minister of State to bring this to the senior Minister, Deputy Burke's attention. Why is Laois being ignored time and again? What is the IDA doing about developing the 50-acre site that it owns on the edge of Portlaoise? Nothing has happened there yet. What is the IDA doing, along with Enterprise Ireland, to get a replacement industry into the Leprino factory? It is a new plant and was only in production for four years. We had great hopes for it. There needs to be support from the Department for the workers in terms of transitioning.  Overall, I am giving the Minister of State and the Government a message because it is the Government that funds these bodies. I do not have a problem with that, but we need jobs. I agree with that but the IDA and Enterprise Ireland need to up their game. We need to see that, the same as everybody else, taxpayers' money from people in County Laois gives people bang for their buck. Two visits in a year is an awful record for a State-backed body and it needs to change. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Emer Higgins","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Emer-Higgins.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" Deputy Emer Higgins  Ireland has seen very positive jobs growth in recent years, and we are now at virtually full employment. However, announcements like this show that we can never become complacent and take any jobs for granted. It shows that there are challenges in certain markets that are beyond the State's control at times. Inflationary pressures, energy costs and the recent increase in US tariffs have created additional challenges for businesses across the country. The Minister, Deputy Burke, can assure the House that the State will provide appropriate supports to employees impacted by this particular closure. The Intreo office of the Department of Social Protection will proactively help them to access opportunities available for employment or appropriate training and development options.  As a Government, we will continue to focus on building the resilience of businesses and on keeping innovation at the heart of that. The IDA continues to work effectively with national and local stakeholders to ensure that each region has the necessary conditions in place to foster enterprise and innovation and attract investment and talent. The IDA enjoys a close working relationship with all key stakeholders across the four counties in the region and is heavily involved in a significant number of initiatives across that region to improve the value proposition of FDI, including the just transition, the midlands regional enterprise plan steering committee, the ICT network, the ATIM cluster steering committee and the regional skills forum. There are loads of them. The availability of quality business parks and strategic sites shows that there is a critical component of the regional value proposition there, which is there to be able to win investment into the regions. It is crucial that the midlands region have a competitive and sustainable property offering to enable the attraction and retention of investment in jobs. The IDA has made considerable investments in land, buildings and infrastructure across the midlands region.  As the Deputy mentioned, the IDA acquired 18.46 ha of land adjacent to the business and technology park in Portlaoise in October 2022 and an additional 4.25 ha last year. That land is currently available for promotion on the business and technology park in Portlaoise and is almost 30 ha at this point. IDA Ireland continues to assist Enterprise Ireland companies with their property requirements as they set up and scale. "},{"speaker":{"showAs":"Verona Murphy","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/member\/id\/Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","memberCode":"Verona-Murphy.D.2020-02-08","role":null},"textType":"speech","text":" An Ceann Comhairle  That concludes business for today. The D\u00e1il stands adjourned until 8.47 a.m. tomorrow. "},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"Cuireadh an D\u00e1il ar athl\u00f3 ar 9.45 p.m. go dt\u00ed 8.47 a.m., D\u00e9ardaoin, an 18 Me\u00e1n F\u00f3mhair 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"summary","text":"The D\u00e1il adjourned at 9.45 p.m. until 8.47 a.m. on Thursday, 18 September 2025."},{"speaker":null,"textType":"heading","text":"Company Closures"}]}}]},"contextDate":"2025-09-17"},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-09-08","lastUpdated":"2026-04-03T03:12:07+01:00","debateSections":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"debateSectionCount":0,"divisionCount":0,"questionCount":0,"billCount":0,"contributorCount":153},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-08\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-09-08\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"}},"contextDate":"2025-09-08"},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-07-29","lastUpdated":"2026-04-03T03:11:46+01:00","debateSections":[],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"debateSectionCount":0,"divisionCount":0,"questionCount":0,"billCount":0,"contributorCount":153},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-29\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-29\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":null},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"}},"contextDate":"2025-07-29"},{"debateRecord":{"date":"2025-07-17","lastUpdated":"2026-04-03T03:11:33+01:00","debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Public Expenditure Policy","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_3","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_3.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","showAs":"Protected Disclosures","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_2","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_4","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_4.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","showAs":"Flood Relief Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_6","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_6.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Flood Relief Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_5","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_7","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_7.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Planning Issues","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_8","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Priority Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":17,"speakerCount":6},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_9","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_9.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Office of Public Works","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":10,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_11","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_11.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Water Services","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":14,"speakerCount":6},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_12","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_12.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Capital Expenditure Programme","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_13","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_13.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","showAs":"Flood Risk Management","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_14","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_14.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Public Sector Pensions","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_15","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_15.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Public Procurement Contracts","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_16","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_16.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Coastal Protection","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_17","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_17.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"National Development Plan","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_10","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile (At\u00f3g\u00e1il) - Other Questions (Resumed)"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_18","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_18.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_20","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_20","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_20.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_21","showAs":"School Transport","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_21","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_21.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_22","showAs":"Departmental Strategies","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_22","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_22.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_23","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_23","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_23.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_24","showAs":"Irish Language","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_19","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Sonra\u00edodh Uain D\u00f3ibh - Priority Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_24","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_24.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_26","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_26","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_26.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_27","showAs":"Schools Building Projects","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_27","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_27.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_28","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_28.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","showAs":"Energy Conservation","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_29","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_29.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Mental Health Services","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_30","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_30.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Departmental Schemes","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_31","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_31.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"School Curriculum","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_32","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_32.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"question","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_33","showAs":"Information and Communications Technology","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_25","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_25","showAs":"Ceisteanna Eile - Other Questions"},"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_33","formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/dbsect_33.xml"},"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_34","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":115,"speakerCount":15},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_34","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_35","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_35","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"questions","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_36","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":50,"speakerCount":20},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_36","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","showAs":"Taxes Consolidation (Development of Regional Film Industry) (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_37","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/49\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Taxes Consolidation (Development of Regional Film Industry) (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/49"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_38","showAs":"Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025: First Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_38","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/50\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Occupying Power (Securities and Handling of Settlement Goods) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/50"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_39","showAs":"Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_39","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/51\/dail\/1","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Wildlife (Amendment) Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/51"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_40","showAs":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Second Stage","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":20,"speakerCount":14},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_40","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/44\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/44"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_41","showAs":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_41","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/44\/dail\/motion\/referral","isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Proceeds of Crime and Related Matters Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/44"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_42","showAs":"Message from Select Committee","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_42","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_43","showAs":"Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":7},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_43","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/5\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Central Bank (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/5"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_44","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_44","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"topical","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":false,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_46","showAs":"Housing Policy","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_46","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_47","showAs":"Hospital Overcrowding","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":26,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_47","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_48","showAs":"Disability Services","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_48","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_49","showAs":"Financial Services","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_49","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"debate","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_50","showAs":"Animal Welfare","parentDebateSection":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_45","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"debateSectionId":"dbsect_45","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate"},"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_50","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateType":"motion","speakers":[],"debateSectionId":"dbsect_51","showAs":"Criminal Justice (Promotion of Restorative Justice) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members]","parentDebateSection":null,"counts":{"speechCount":9,"speakerCount":5},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/dbsect_51","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"containsDebate":true,"bill":{"event":{"stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/93\/dail\/2","isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","showAs":"Criminal Justice (Promotion of Restorative Justice) (Amendment) Bill 2023: Second Stage [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2023\/93"}}}],"debateType":"debate","counts":{"debateSectionCount":50,"divisionCount":0,"questionCount":28,"billCount":7,"contributorCount":137},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/main","chamber":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail","showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann"},"formats":{"writtens_pdf":null,"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-17\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"}},"house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","committeeCode":"","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","chamberType":"house","houseNo":"34","houseCode":"dail"}},"contextDate":"2025-07-17"},{"debateRecord":{"debateSections":[{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_2","showAs":"\u00c1bhair Shaincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Matters","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_2","speakers":[],"debateType":"topical","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","containsDebate":false,"counts":{"speechCount":0,"speakerCount":0},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_3","speakers":[],"debateType":"topical","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_4","showAs":"Medical Cards","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_4","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_3"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_5","showAs":"Middle East","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":8,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_5","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_3"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_6","showAs":"Trade Relations","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_6","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_3"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_7","showAs":"Special Educational Needs","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":4,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_7","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_3"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_8","showAs":"Housing Policy","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":6,"speakerCount":2},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_8","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_3","showAs":"Saincheisteanna Tr\u00e1th\u00fala - Topical Issue Debate","formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_3"}}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_9","showAs":"Dental Treatment Services: Motion [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":34,"speakerCount":27},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_9","speakers":[],"debateType":"motion","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_10","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 Cheannair\u00ed - Leaders' Questions","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":124,"speakerCount":16},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_10","speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_11","showAs":"Ceisteanna \u00f3 na Comhalta\u00ed Eile - Other Members\u2019 Questions","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":5,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_11","speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_12","showAs":"Ceisteanna ar Pholasa\u00ed n\u00f3 ar Reachta\u00edocht - Questions on Policy or Legislation","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":114,"speakerCount":24},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_12","speakers":[],"debateType":"questions","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_13","showAs":"Compulsory Purchase Order Bill 2025: First Stage","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":7,"speakerCount":3},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_13","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","stage":"1","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/48\/dail\/1","showAs":"Compulsory Purchase Order Bill 2025: First Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/48"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_14","showAs":"Health (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":52,"speakerCount":20},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_14","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/46\/dail\/2","showAs":"Health (Amendment) Bill 2025: Second Stage (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/46"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_15","showAs":"Health (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_15","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail","stage":"motion","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/46\/dail\/motion\/referral","showAs":"Health (Amendment) Bill 2025: Referral to Select Committee (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/46"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_16","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Messages from Select Committees","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_16","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_17","showAs":"Pride: Statements","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":36,"speakerCount":34},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_17","speakers":[],"debateType":"statement","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_18","showAs":"Transfer of Passenger Name Record Data: Motions","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":11,"speakerCount":7},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_18","speakers":[],"debateType":"motion","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_19","showAs":"Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025: From the Seanad","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":31,"speakerCount":8},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_19","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":false,"houseCode":"dail","stage":"seanad_amd","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/39\/dail\/seanad_amd","showAs":"Planning and Development (Amendment) Bill 2025: From the Seanad (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2025\/39"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_28","showAs":"Teachtaireacht \u00f3n Seanad - Message from Seanad","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_28","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_29","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025: Message from Select Committee","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_29","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_30","showAs":"Estimates for Public Services 2025","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_30","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_31","showAs":"Planning and Development (Street Furniture Fees) Regulations 2025: Motion","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_31","speakers":[],"debateType":"motion","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_32","showAs":"Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation (Transfer of Functions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_32","speakers":[],"debateType":"debate","bill":{"event":{"isBillStage":true,"houseCode":"dail","stage":"2","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/47\/dail\/2","showAs":"Aircraft Noise (Dublin Airport) Regulation (Transfer of Functions) Bill 2024: Second Stage (Resumed) [Private Members] (D\u00e1il)"},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/bill\/2024\/47"},"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}},{"debateSection":{"debateSectionId":"dbsect_37","showAs":"Endometriosis Care in Ireland: Motion (Resumed) [Private Members]","containsDebate":true,"counts":{"speechCount":1,"speakerCount":1},"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/dbsect_37","speakers":[],"debateType":"motion","bill":null,"formats":{"xml":null,"pdf":null},"parentDebateSection":null}}],"chamber":{"showAs":"D\u00e1il \u00c9ireann","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/def\/house\/dail"},"counts":{"contributorCount":170,"debateSectionCount":24,"questionCount":0,"billCount":8,"divisionCount":5},"date":"2025-07-16","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/main","debateType":"debate","house":{"showAs":"34th D\u00e1il","uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/house\/dail\/34","houseCode":"dail","committeeCode":"","houseNo":"34","chamberType":"house"},"formats":{"xml":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/akn\/ie\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/mul@\/main.xml"},"pdf":{"uri":"https:\/\/data.oireachtas.ie\/ie\/oireachtas\/debateRecord\/dail\/2025-07-16\/debate\/mul@\/main.pdf"},"writtens_pdf":null},"lastUpdated":"2025-11-04T03:25:06+00:00"},"contextDate":"2025-07-16"}]}